Ephphatha

Brother, in praying for this situation I realized that you have had a lot of changes this fall. I hear what you are saying about comfy being dangerous. I also appreciate you challenging them in your sermons to not become stagnant.

My prayer is that this is a deep, holy, breath before diving into your community again.

Thank you for your leadership and your love for the people of Advent. It is inspiring, and you are deeply faithful to God's mission in the world. Paz. CK

i have been thinking about your query for a few days now and share with you what has come to me.

a plateau is certainly a level place, but it is also usually a place where you can see a great distance.

perhaps advent is at a place now where there can be some intentional growth internally - spiritually, in biblical literacy, communication, relationally, etc. if this growth is focused and fostered it can make use of the level place to really ground people. i know you have done this all along, but what if sometime was spent focusing on this piece of the puzzle. as people grow and deepen in their own journey, there comes a time when our gaze can then be focused on those we see from the plateau.

here where there has been little growth, i have been in conversation with folks about what they hunger for. maybe its the handwriting on the wall with the book of faith initiative, but at the request of parishioners, last summer i did a sermon/teaching series on revelation and this summer i am working on one that hits the highlights of the bible (abraham, moses, noah, etc).

we have been working on inviting and conversations with neighbors, but there is a sense that if they have to actually explain something they need to know more. (historically here people came because they were related but that is changing.) this also comes into play with out almost weekly bulletin inserts - 2/3 of which are educational in nature.

hope that helps your ministry at advent. if you are plateaued, that is another conversation....

Here's a friendly shout-out from the upper palm area of the Lower Peninsula, in a little town I call Outer Podunk. I'm part of an ELCA parish about 25 miles away from there. If this gives you any perspective...I guess about 20 years ago this particular congregation had imploded to the point of maybe six active families, but has grown steadily since then; we even found ourselves needing to expand our worship space, for the first time since WW I. So don't be discouraged; you have room and opportunity to grow.

My partner and I love northwestern Michigan -- we love the wild places, the cottage lifestyle, the artsy-bohemian/back-to-the-land subculture, the wine and cherries and whitefish and lakes -- if I could think of a way to make a living up there my partner and I would move in a heartbeat. In the meantime we try to get up there a couple of times each year...always have a hard time finding a place to worship...if we know where your church is we'd try to make it there on a weekend we're in the immediate area.

As you say...come back, come back, come back, my friend