Greetings in the name of Jesus! I frequently
interact with other clergy and church leaders about the
nature of church and what it means live authentically
as Christians. A long time friend of mine, a former pastor,
and now the leader of a pastoral training institute, wrote
this definition of the church as a group of people who
do these things:
• Honor Jesus (worship) •
Remember Jesus (communion) • Breathe Jesus (prayer)
• Share Jesus (evangelism & baptism) •
Relate Jesus (fellowship) • Learn Jesus (instruction)
• Practice Jesus (discipleship) • Serve
Jesus (authentic, giving living)
I like this list. It catches all parts
of our lives and spurred on my own thinking about what
it means for us here as we continue to embrace the future
of this community with the Good News of Jesus. And in
my experience, I’ve discovered the best way we live
out this list is in the process of dealing with complex
and difficult issues within the life of the church community.
There is an idea floating around there
is something wrong when churches experience tensions and
discover that not everything can be done in sweet harmony.
I think it is just the opposite: that the church is the
place to surface all tensions and all disharmony and then
to see how we can honor and remember and breathe and share
and relate and learn and practice and serve Jesus in the
midst of those very problems. Then we show the world what
Christians are really like: people who have been transformed
by the Spirit of the Living God and who do indeed live
out the command to love one another as Jesus has loved
us.
So what are some of the challenges facing
us? Clearly, the major one is the building situation.
Under the good leadership of John Thompson, we are getting
closer every day. But there are still huge hurdles to
get over, and it will take all of us working together
to make this mandatory move. Without doing this, we relinquish
this incredible opportunity to make a major impact on
the lives of the next generation. And the barriers to
those who are handicapped grieve me every time I walk
into the current facility. The time has come and we must
take the risk and move forward. And it won’t be
easy.
Here are some other issues:
• New leadership and reorganization of the Children’s
Day Out ministry. • Better equipping and training
for the important administrative committees of the church.
• Restructuring of our Sunday School program for
children and youth so we can make best use of that time.
• A revamped Confirmation Class: entering into full
membership of the church is a big responsibility, and
our youth need more time to get ready for this step. This
year’s class will start on September 17, and I’m
asking all parents of those children going into the sixth
grade, along with their children and any others who would
like to learn more about what it means to be a fully confirmed
member of the United Methodist Church, to meet with me
at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 10 at the parsonage.
• Starting home groups for our young adults, since
Sunday School space just doesn’t exist for them
to have a time on Sunday mornings for study and fellowship.
• We need to plan for a major celebration on September
24 – the Bishop will be here to honor this great
church’s 130th anniversary, and this is a spectacular
opportunity to let the community know more what we are
about.
Every one of these things – and there
are a lot more I could list, can give us the opportunity
to celebrate joy and the life of Jesus in the midst of
the challenges as we stretch time and money and opinions
and anything else necessary to make this work. I’ve
become more and more convinced that as we find Jesus in
the midst of the committee, we are then able to spread
the word to everyone.
Thank you for being such an incredible
group of people who bless everyone you touch. It is my
privilege to serve you.
