From The Pastor

Thanks to all of you who attended our Town Hall Meeting on Sunday in the Social Hall.  Many very worthwhile things were shared as we gathered together, and a lot of good can come out of this.  Keep the follow up to this event in your prayers.  It is so important that all of us work together, continue to listen to each other, and  find ways of moving forward in ministry.

One thing that was mentioned  yesterday was a need for a new vision for our church that will focus our ministry and our life together.  I agree that this is a foundational element that we need to put in place.  We will begin that process right away, and it will be very interesting, and even fun, to see where God leads us in that process.  It is important, however, to bear in mind that a unified vision of ministry is not something we can pull together in a week or two and be on our way.  It will take some thought, some prayer, and some significant discussion to get to the result we want.  Then we need to understand that the result will be a STARTING POINT for our work, not an end goal.

I want you to be thinking about dreams and visions you would like to see happen in this church.  We need to talk about those dreams and visions, and they will help us understand God’s dream for the church.  Perhaps we need have a specific vision for children and youth (most every church wants that).  Perhaps we want to have a special vision for missions or evangelism.  We will start having these kinds of discussions soon, so be thinking about your ideas and how God might have spoken to you about this.

Having a vision, though is also a difficult thing.  When any group gets a new vision and focus in place, it means making some hard choices about how we do things.  It may mean letting go of some programs we are currently doing that some people like.  It may require us to hire new staff or make changes in our physical structure.  It may mean making changes in many ways.  It may also mean making difficult decisions in the future.  If someone wants to start a new program that isn’t in line with the new vision, we may have to say “Thanks for the idea, but it’s not a good match for us at this time.”   If financing is an issue (which it almost ALWAYS is), we can’t be afraid to step up to the plate.  We may have to look at creative ways of raising money or finding volunteers or resources, but if we are going to be true to a vision that God gives us, we can’t sit back and say, “we just didn’t have them money this time.”

We talked a lot at our Town Hall Meeting about renewing commitments and holding feet to the fire, not letting things slip away from us.  That has to be important to all of us.  We can’t take leadership roles and then let sports leagues or civic clubs keep us from being active and getting the job done.  It is so easy to get distracted from our church these days.  So many things are GOOD things to do.  So many opportunities are before us that never were there before.  Some of them are optional things, but many of them are important things, and we have to have strong commitments to the church AND the vision to move forward with it.  

You’ve heard me say it before (and you will again).  These are hard days to be a church.  We need to have strong leadership from the pastor’s office, we must have strong leadership from the lay people of the church, and we must have a unified vision and a commitment to working together.  In an almost all volunteer organization, that is a great challenge.

Please keep this challenge in your prayers every day.  Join us at the prayer time in the Chapel to lift this up together (5 p.m. on Sunday afternoons).  Think and pray about what God might want you to do and what constructive role you might play in our church’s future.

It’s easy to say we want good things to happen, it’s hard to make good things happen.  The wheels of progress sometimes turn slowly.  It’s hard to keep communication at it’s maximum efficiency.  It’s hard to keep the calendar coordinated.  It’s hard to cross every T and dot every I.  It takes a LOT of work and it all must be undergirded by a LOT of prayer.  But we can do it.

There were a lot of us leaving the Town Hall Meeting wanting those good things to happen,  so let’s pray and talk and work and dream and make it happen.
       

                                                            God bless,
                                                            Pastor Mark

FROM THE PASTOR….    Wow, what a weekend!  Gaslight is always an amazing event in the life of our church.  Major kudos to Caroline Westfall and the Gaslight Committee and EVERY SINGLE INDIVIDUAL who pitched in and helped -  whether a lot or a little.  It went SO WELL, and although we do not have dollar figures yet to report, the success of the event is really defined in a spirit of cooperation and a monumental task that comes together and works out well.

            It seems like every year we, in the beginning of  the process, all wonder how it will all get done.  Every year we seem to be nervous about things happening.  Every year we wonder if people will sign up or show up.  Every year we get nervous, but every year it has come together.  I think this year we were especially organized and plans were especially well executed.  All the worries and anxious moments were overshadowed by the success, and we can certainly put our feet up and breathe a sigh of relief and be proud of what we accomplished.

            A couple of lessons come alive in this event, I think.  Lessons that we forget very easily and often, no matter how many times we learn them. The first is that God is faithful.  God supplies all of our needs according to his riches in Glory.  God always comes through.  God always watches out for us.  When we do our part (and sometimes even when we don’t) God does God’s part.  If we fill the water pots, God turns the water into wine.  If we step out of the boat and keep our eyes on Christ, God will keep us from sinking.  If we cast our nets to the other side of the boat, the catch comes in.  It’s so easy to worry, so hard to trust, but God always is faithful.

            The second is that big jobs get done with small steps.  When the task seems too big, we get stunned by the enormity of it, but every job, big or small, gets done the same way, one step at a time.  We take each step, ask God to bless it, then ask God to guide the next step.  One step at a time even the biggest task will get done.  With a little focus, a little perseverance, and a little faith we move forward.  It’s true when we’re sorting out personal issues at home. It’s true when we’re getting a project done at work.  And it’s true with things at church.  With many things, it doesn’t matter where you start, just dig in and do something, then do the next thing, and take the next step, and it’s amazing what happens. 

            One day at a time, life happens.  Trust God for some direction.  Depend on God to be faithful, and amazing things will happen in each of our lives, and in a corporate life as a church.  Gaslight illustrates so well how God can work with everything, if we just let him and cooperate just a little!

FROM THE PASTOR…. …. ….

 

I hope you notice as you read through this newsletter that we will be finishing our series on United Methodism, led by Rhoda Peters.  It has been a very enlightening and helpful time of learning about the ins and outs of who we are.
            We are concluding that series this week with a time to talk about things we would like to see happen in our church.  It is more and more important as days go by to get a firm handle on where God is leading us and we want to be in the future.  It is harder and harder to make things happen as days go by.  That means we must be more and more intentional about what we do and how we do it.  Sessions like these are very important to getting the ball rolling for our future.
            It used to be that churches could get by with just doing the basics and being warm and friendly because the church was much more prominent in people’s priorities.  And while we have a lot of people who have the church as a high priority in their lives, there are so many people who do not.  And the people who do have church as a high priority are also involved in so many other things.  That all works to make things harder on the mission of the church. 
            More and more people are working on Sundays, more and more are caring for elderly or sick relatives.  More and more people are snow-birding or traveling for work.  More and more people travel in seasons other than summer for pleasure purposes.  More and more youth  activities and sports teams play on Sundays.  There are so many things that are affecting participation and commitment levels in every church that we have to work harder and harder to get the same things done.
            KNOWING WHAT WE WANT TO DO AND WERE WE WANT TO BE is a critical element of getting things done.  No longer can we afford to just limp by and see what happens.  Ministry must be intentional.  It must be focused and driven.  We have to find creative ways of getting things done.  We have to be flexible and also be committed to making things happen.
            One of my seminary professors said once, “To hold on to favorite traditions of the past we must often let go of favorite traditions of our past.”  It sounded crazy at first, but it’s true.  If we want vital children’s ministry (for instance), we must adapt what we do to a new day and a new generation.  We must incorporate technology and modern methods into sharing the Gospel story.  It’s true in so many other areas too.  And again, it’s more and more important to know where God wants this church to go.  God speaks through each of us, and I hope you will come be a part of this conversation on Sunday night. 
 
                                                            See you in church!     
                                                            Pastor Mark