Ephphatha

so i have been wondering lately when it is okay to "plateau" to use a word that the ELCA EOCM uses as a scare tactic. here is the thing, since the very beginning advent has exceeded mosts everyone's expectations- including my own. the growth has been a blessing from God indeed, but at sometimes that kind of fast growth creates an sense of insecurity and fatigue. however, we have been able to maintain great ministry throughout.

recently, our growth has plateaued a bit, not seeing many new faces for the last 3 or 4 months. part of me wants to panic as I feel a need to continue and push forward and extend our welcome to those in our community that still are sitting at home on sundays- there is such a need and we i believe have a way of meeting that. the other part of me wonders what can we learn during this "dry time" and perhaps what part of this is healthy for any congregation. i guess my biggest fear is complacency- that those have gathered here now for a while are getting comfy with who we are and what makes us up. to me complacency leads to death....

so what insight do you have?

Labels: the church

I have heard this song on the radio quite a bit lately. Yes, its true I listen to country music with some regularity. I must admit as I heard this song today driving home from worship a mix of emotions crossed over me until I ended up landing on being sad. I am saddened by the fact that so many people hear this song and many of them will take it as Gospel Truth. I am also saddened that so many people I know would agree with this suggestion- that God must be too busy to worry about me, and my issues- otherwise wouldn't I have heard something back from him? Country Music often times has some interesting theology indeed- but I would tend to agree more with Garth Brook's "Unanswered Prayers" over this one- how about you?

In the face of my sadness over the state of country music as well as the state of so many people we had our monthly healing service tonight. And I got to say...God was not to busy to be in our place obviously! Due to bad weather our numbers were pretty low (seven) yet the spirit was there in a major way. It is so amazing to see in a quiet setting the work of God, as she seemingly reaches into our world and touches us where we are at. This service has become to me one of my most anticipated monthly events and I am convinced that for the future of our church this must be a central part of our identity. From experiences like this I believe God cries out "I am not too busy...come to me you who are weary and weak, come to me and I will fill you".

So...what do we do to further the promise of God's presence in the face of a culture where so many think "God must be busy?"

Labels: the church, theological ramble

I had breakfast today (as I always do on Tuesday mornings) with the other two pastors in the village of Lake Ann. Pastor C who is a United Methodist Pastor and Pastor R who heads the Wesleyan church. I have come to value these meetings and the relationships that have developed out of them. Today however was kind of a downer...Pastor C, apparently after a hell of a week, basically resigned from the church (a little history here- the LA United Methodist Church, has historically been the Church in the village of Lake Ann- lot's of history, almost everyone who has family roots in Lake Ann has at one point belonged to this church). As he put it he stood up Sunday from the pulpit and answered some allegations that had been brought forth from the president of their staff committee. He then walked out and let the chips fall.

Well apparently things have gotten to this point because he feels he is heading in a different direction from the church...after nineteen years that is easy to imagine. But in addition to that he feels he is heading in a different direction than the denomination. Now, that to me is a bit troubling. C's main point is that he wants to be focussed on outreach, social ministry, being the church in the world, missional, etc...and I am confused as to why the UMC is not for those things. Or are they? I don't know enough about the denomination to make a judgment but would be surprised if this was entirely the case. I get the fact that all mainline denominations are struggling to embrace a changing culture and a changing population in which the church has been pushed to the margins. But, to suggest a denomination is not focussed on outreach and mission is startling. Is this the case? Obviously, on some level, C felt this was so- but why? What is it about our denominations which oppress ministry? I would like to say this is not the case...but I think at some level it is- when maintenance ministry becomes the focus- and has become the reality in many of our churches, outreach is lost and mission becomes an afterthought.

So...I am bummed- bummed out that I may be losing a good colleague- bummed out that there is some confusion going on in his head and with his call, bummed that time and again I hear critics of the church pointing to the hypocritical way we operate and also that all we care about is those like us- yet in this is hope...I have hope in the many good things that churches are doing, and hope in people I meet every day who long to make a difference because of the way they feel the spirit leading.

Dear God, continue to send your spirit to stir...stir in our lives, and push us to uncomfortable places where ministry can take place.

Labels: the church

Happy New Year! I hope all is well where you are at. I was very excited by some of the conversations that came out of the last post on here- thanks for your input to you who posted comments and also to the emails I received- it seems that while we can admit there is a problem with what the Church is doing, insomuch that it is not succeeding truly at reaching the un/de churched- there is hope because many of our leaders both lay and clergy are asking the hard questions. Perhaps this is where a change begins, with us, trying to shake things up a bit.

In search of some new energy for our efforts in extending our welcome at Advent I have been reading "I Sold My Soul on Ebay", and have not been disappointed. Mehta is an amazing writer who tells his story and the story of his journey with an awesome energy. I am not finished with the book yet, but so far am inspired by it. He points out the many flaws that the churches of Christianity have, and from his perspective as an atheist much need to change before these churches can move forward to be the communities they set out to be. He challenges the club-mentality which he experienced at the smallest and the largest churches he visited. I wonder why do we think we can get away with that kind of behavior. When did the church become about "us" and "them"? And now how do we begin to change in the minds of those who are so entrenched into that way of thinking that it is about God, and all of us- not just those of us who gather together regularly. As I read scripture, it is clear that God is present now all over and we, as believers, are called and get to share the transformed life and way that comes from our own experience in the Love of Christ. So why do so many still feel so outside- why do so many fear entering the doors of a church, and why are so many of our churches dying? We got something wrong!

Wow, I just reread what I wrote above- kind of a downer! Yet unfortunately it seems to be true across our denomination- churches are declining and struggling to reach those on the edges, heck struggling to reach those on the inside. So where is the good news? I come back to Jesus I guess- our Lord who is a Lord of the resurrection- our God who breathes life into dry bones, and pray that we too as a church, as a denomination, as Christians can embrace the new life that Christ has given us and make an effort to share that by who we are. I hold onto the hope that with those of you I know who are ministering in and out of the church change has already begun, and the future is brighter!

Lot's of rambling once again...but I am convinced the church has to change- can we do it? How?

Labels: the church

Although I feel I should go into my typical mantra of..."I can't believe it has been so long since I have last blogged.....and I am going to try and do better" i think I will skip it.

I was in the car today for about 7 hours and had a lot of time to think and as I was thinking I thought I wanted to blog about my thoughts and see what some of you might think. I tell you other than some nice phone conversations with E+K and L I was getting quite bored with myself.

So anyway....onto my thoughts....

Last night I was sitting in my office at church with a young couple (29). The husband is a new member of the church and his wife is not active at this point. They are expecting a baby in February and are interested in baptism, etc... so we met last night to talk more about Advent, and baptism. While we were talking I asked the wife why she did not go to church (I said it in a non-offensive way, but was very curious as her husband has become very involved). She responded that she never really was part of a church growing up- only baptized probably because her friends were and she felt left out- and as she got older she just never got involved. However, she supported her husband very much in his attendance and participation and wanted to have the baby baptized because she knew it was important to him. The conversation continued and I prodded a little more...she then stated that Sunday's are her day to sleep in and she just can't fathom getting up to go to church- she sees no need for it. We continued talking, and after all of it she is going to come and worship with us a few times to check it out, as I encouraged her and told her how important I think the community that church offers is to everyone.

I could not get that conversation out of my head today as I drove. Her statements, "I have never seen a need for it and still don't" and "I need and love my sleep" made me very uncomfortable. What are we, that being the Church- not just Advent- but what are we as a church missing with people- are we not relevant- is our message lost on deaf ears- what is it that would make us matter and indeed be "needed"? I think the church largely does come across very irrelevant to people- especially those who are de-churched, unchurched- or any other category you want to throw in there. i think so many of our churches invite people to come and sit- take up a place in the building, give some money, and be done with it- that however in my opinion is hogwash- one of the things I thing church needs to do a better job at is challenging its members with the expectation of what Christ calls us to be...and I believe in that expectation, and calling is the relevance that so many of our young adults, heck even our older adults are desperately seeking-even if they don't know it yet...

just wondering...what do you think?

Labels: the church