Easter is over, on toward summer!

I hadn't realized how long it's been since I last posted, but preparations for Palm Sunday and Easter took so much of my time, I'm just now getting a chance to breathe again. A little.

We saw 283 people between two services Easter morning...apparently an all-time high for the church (which celebrates its 30th year in September). Then there were the 40 or so folks who braved the chilly, damp morning air for the sunrise service at Moore Dam (on the reservoir). All in all, it was a great day.

The senior pastor left yesterday for three weeks: visiting his mother and dying father in Arizona; then on to Tennessee for a family reunion or get-together or some such thing for his wife's family. This leaves me holding down the fort for the next almost three weeks, including two Sundays!

This Sunday we will focus on Mission/Ministry, and the team that recently went to Honduras will report. Then we'll highlight opportunities this spring and summer for people to engage in. Next Sunday is communion Sunday and the Sunday before National Day of Prayer (May 4). My first communion service.

It's already been an exciting few days.

About hardware, not software...

It's nice to have basic tools for ministry. This post concerns itself with a piece of hardware which I have not had permanentl installed in my office until last week: a phone!

Before, we used a portable to give me phone access. The base remained in the office, and I took the portable handset into my office. When a call came in that was for me, the admin would "page" the handset, signaling me to pick up the call.

Problem was that construction of the building caused so much static I couldn't stay at my desk during the call. This made it hard to take notes or look something up.

We installed a phone system which gives me a phone in my office, three in/out lines, voice mail and the like. Now I just need to arrange for a server network so I can gain internat access from my office PC.

I know, I know. I'm never happy! :)

Student Ministries ever evolving

We've made a hard decision to halt the weekly Sunday evening meeting for Junior High and Senior High students. They're not coming. Well, precious few, anyway. Considering the amount of time needed to plan and prepare for a two-hour session, the dwindling trend has frustrated all leaders.

Are we throwing in the towel? No. Just admitting that the changes we tried this year still aren't addressing the needs (known and unknown) of the kids and their families. So I talked with the SH leader and asked him if he'd be terribly upset if we stopped "banging our heads on the wall" and pulled the plug on the current program. Nope, no problem.

When I served in Connecticut, kids travels up to 20-30 minutes to get to church for meetings. NO brainer. But up here, that kind of travel means you pass through a mountain notch, or several towns. Roads lack street lights and guard rails. Moose and deer amble at will across roads at the most inopportune times.

So now we're trying to think more radically. Why does our ministry meetings have to convene at the church? Does the venue scare off non-church kids in the community? What about the meetings prevents kids from inviting their friends? How can we encourage and build small groups in the various towns? How can we build on the strengths of the leaders we do have, rather than try to fit them into a ministry paradigm that looks good on paper, but has delivered woefully inadequate results? I should note we've tried for the 18 months I've been here to solicit and encourage people to give youth ministry a try. I've extended open invitations; specifically asked individuals to pray and get back to me. Nada. No one.

Almost all the parents who adamantly claimed, when I arrived, that we had to get the youth ministry off life-support, did not commit to support the ministry in practical terms: making sure their kids showed up!

We'll meet next Sunday, then take three weeks off (Palm Sunday, Easter and the church's quarterly business meeting). Then we'll meet one final time for this year (April 30). I've scheduled a parents' roundtable discussion for May 7 and plan to invite all parents.

Perhaps we can finally build a family-based support ministry that reaching teens and helps their parents in raising them.

Are memorial services really worth it?

Found myself in Connecticut last weekend for a memorial service. Not one I especially wanted to attend. A ten-hour round-trip drive is not high on my list of recreational pursuits. Though we held a funeral for my mother-in-law the week before Christmas, the folks attending the service were my brother-in-law’s family’s friends and acquaintances, not my father-in-law’s. Dad needed to process with his friends in the Connecticut church he and Mom attended for years.

Three pastors participated in the service. Friends from three churches attended. Sounds like a lot, but there were about 100 people who came to support Dad and the family. One of my nieces needs to talk to someone: she’s still stuck on the day of her grandmother’s death.

Grief takes time to work through, and we exhibit it in different ways. Most people think of the deceased in the post positive terms possible. I found myself wondering (at times) who the speakers were talking about! They all assumed the best of Mom. And I don’t want to take away from their memories. But the person I grew to know exhibited two personas: one in public and one in private.

Mom is now completely healed of her physical ailments as well as the emotional wounds she never addressed. The result is her children and grandchildren must now face the legacy of those scars.

On active duty (and I don't mean the US military)

The elders and deacons convened this weekend for a "retreat" of sorts. It was a time to get away from the business of church leadership to consider some strategic issues. And to think about spiritual matters that sometimes get thrust aside by the fire fights of every day.

Our first discussion (Friday evening) centered on spiritual warfare. Not theory, but practise. We reviewed the theology of spiritual warfare first. Anyone who thinks a follower of Christ is settling for "wimpdom" doesn't understand what we're called to be: soldiers engaging a spiritual enemy who seeks our destruction.

Against the backdrop of our military presence around the world, mitigating conflicts in several countries; we agreed we face principalities and powers. The armor of the God, interestingly enough doesn't really cover our backs. Which means two things:

1. We must face our enemy face-on. We don't dare turn our back on it.
2. We must cover each others' backs: that's where prayer comes in.

Satan and his followers (demons) are not omniscient, they are very legalisitic, and they are out-numbered by the angels and followers of Christ. And if we follow through on our battle orders from our Lord and Commander, they number even less than when they started out.

A recent discussion with my Junior-High class shocked the kids when they realized that God and Satan are not opposite co-equals. God created Satan (he was originally the archangel "Lucifer"). So there's no way he can be considered an evil version or side of God. We're not talking light and dark sides of some force.

Spiritual warfare is not something openly taught or discussed much in sophisticated, cosmopolitan, southwestern Connecticut where I formerly lived and served. Most problems were attributed to "psychological" and "emotional" problems which were addressed by "therapy."

I've discovered in my 18 month-tenure, that this church takes spiritual warfare seriously. I truly believe its much healthier for it.

I am not Moses

Today’s Daily Bread devotional used Deuteronomy 9 as a base. That chapter falls at the end of Moses’ lengthy discourse reminding the Israelites of what God had done for them. Most of the events cited by Moses are not happy ones: they tend to be rebellious moments for the nation, and in several instances, God was ready to completely wipe out His people. Moses says that in each case, he prayed to the Lord to turn from His wrath—for 40 days and nights! That’s a long time to contend for a stubborn, rebellious people who don’t value one’s leadership. And that’s a long time wondering what morning one will awake to find the Israelites eradicated.

I don’t have to worry—yet—about stubborn, willful people in the congregation here. But it’s encouraging—and telling—that Moses didn’t look for an opportunity to leave his position. Talk about when the going gets tough! The lesson—and encouragement—is that I need to remain faithful to the calling God has placed on my life, regardless of what others do, say or think. And I need to pray for those who through ignorance or stubbornness or rebelliousness, or even sheer stupidity, offend God and incur His judgment.

And we’re not talking non-Christians here. We’re talking about God’s people—His chosen ones! Considering Israel’s history with God, one would think they’d understand by now what a great thing God had going for them. But no, they are so stubborn and selfish—remember, we’re talking about people who know what God is like, have experienced His love, witnessed His protection, and benefited from His provision—and God reaches His “breaking point” several times. But for Moses, the rest of the Old Testament would be blank pages!

Five months and counting...

Five months have passed since we arrived. One of the men in the church stopped by last week. Said he needed to “chill” a while before going into work. His six-month relationship with his girlfriend has taken an interesting turn. And he was at his wit’s end about what to do. So we listened to a CD he’d brought with him, and we chatted…rather, he talked and I listened.

His cell phone went off at one point, and he stepped out of the office to answer (turned out to be his business partner). I overheard him say that he couldn’t talk right now because he was “with his pastor.” That was a shot in the arm for me, only because it indicated that I’m becoming accepted here. By this I mean people are getting used to me being here, and are getting comfortable with my role. And that’s a good thing.

There are so many things to do, some more important than others. Of course, the trick is distinguishing the two. Especially because eventually all will need to be addressed. Some carry the luxury of delay, at least for now, but they will eventually move higher in priority