From Thursday night to Sunday noon, lay representatives from local United Methodist Churches, clergy (active and retired), and others, gathered for our Annual Conference. It was an interesting time for listening, worshiping, and experiencing the living presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit. While there were times when I know that God was looking down and frowning at what we were doing, there were also times when God was clearly present in the testimony of others! Here are a couple of sites that give the daily happenings at AC.
News from Friday at Annual Conference
News from Saturday at Annual Conference
Monday, June 16, 2008
Prayers for a stranger...
Last night, as many throughout Belfast slept in preparation for a new week, an individual, or individuals, cut a screen leading into our sanctuary and entered the church. In the darkness of the night, they collected a variety of small items (computers to coffee makers), money from the preschool downstairs as well as the food cupboard, and then loaded them into a vehicle. When the first person for the preschool arrived, they found the damage and losses.
When I was called at 6:10am, I headed for the church and arrived just before the local police. Over the next few hours we looked at doors broken by big feet, possible pieces of evidence, and discussed what had happened. Feelings of anger, guilt, frustration, and violation were common. There were tears as well as words of comfort. The church staff gathered in the sanctuary for prayer.
As we reflected on the events of the evening, our prayers were of thanksgiving that no one was in the facility when the individual(s) was there, that there was no real damage to the building, and that no one was hurt. We also prayed for the stranger whom we may never meet. We prayed for healing, for understanding, for guidance, and for peace.
It's sad that the building was broken into but God will restore the sanctity of the space just as God, through Christ, restores us when we've been violated. It's going to be strange to walk into the facility and not feel safe but I know that the real enemy is the One who is evil, not those who get lost in evil ways.
I don't know why, but as soon as I heard about the stranger and walked through the building seeing the damage, I prayed that one day we would meet and that we might be able to walk through the process of restorative justice together. I know there are people who are just evil and may never enjoy the healing presence of Christ, but I think they are the distinct minority and that many have stories, that once told, can lead to a new life of hope.
Wherever you are stranger, know that tonight there is at least one person praying for you...
When I was called at 6:10am, I headed for the church and arrived just before the local police. Over the next few hours we looked at doors broken by big feet, possible pieces of evidence, and discussed what had happened. Feelings of anger, guilt, frustration, and violation were common. There were tears as well as words of comfort. The church staff gathered in the sanctuary for prayer.
As we reflected on the events of the evening, our prayers were of thanksgiving that no one was in the facility when the individual(s) was there, that there was no real damage to the building, and that no one was hurt. We also prayed for the stranger whom we may never meet. We prayed for healing, for understanding, for guidance, and for peace.
It's sad that the building was broken into but God will restore the sanctity of the space just as God, through Christ, restores us when we've been violated. It's going to be strange to walk into the facility and not feel safe but I know that the real enemy is the One who is evil, not those who get lost in evil ways.
I don't know why, but as soon as I heard about the stranger and walked through the building seeing the damage, I prayed that one day we would meet and that we might be able to walk through the process of restorative justice together. I know there are people who are just evil and may never enjoy the healing presence of Christ, but I think they are the distinct minority and that many have stories, that once told, can lead to a new life of hope.
Wherever you are stranger, know that tonight there is at least one person praying for you...
Friday, June 6, 2008
Follow Me
As we reflect on what it means to follow Jesus, what it is that we must give up to be a Christian, this video suggests that maybe that which we fear giving up is just extra baggage that makes any journey a difficult one. What do you think? What am I carrying that makes my following of Jesus so difficult? Maybe if I give up that which I am carrying I can make it to the top and experience the living presence of Christ in an amazing way!
Insight from a distance over time
In November 2007, I had the honor of participating in the New England United Methodist Church School of Congregational Development. One of our main speakers was Tod Bolsinger, the pastor at the San Clemente Presbyterian Church and also the author of "It takes a church to raise a Christian".
On June 5th, on his blog "It takes a church", he reflected on his time in Maine. Though I know you can easily go to his blog with a click of the mouse, I am adding his complete column just in case you are more comfortable staying here. What I really find interesting are questions 2-58 in his "talkback session". It creates concern in my heart and a challenge in my soul, to remind folks that we have been given everything we need to do God's ministry, to grow the Kingdom, we've just got to take the time to figure out what God intends for us to do with our abundant blessings. In a world that is so good at forcing us to compare what we don't have with what others have, we need to remember that in God's kingdom, God has given us everything we need, and faith in that understanding brings us great peace!!
Here is the blog writing....
One Question in Maine
Last fall I was invited to speak to a conference of Methodist pastors and lay leaders in Portland, Maine. The organizers of the conference had read It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian and asked if I would be willing to come and address a group of the "movers and shakers" who were looking at new ways of church.
Now, usually, I decline outside speaking engagements because I love my church and love being at my church and have plenty of challenges speaking and teaching within my church. But when I agree to speak somewhere it is usually because it is 1) with a friend I want to spend time with, 2) in a place I want to visit or 3) I think there is something I will learn by doing it. This one fell definitely into #3. I wasn't sure what I would learn, but I had a hunch that there could be something in this setting that God wanted me to get at.
So, I flew off to Portland, Maine for a quick turn around trip (left on a Thursday, was back on a Saturday and was preaching on Sunday back at SCPC). I gave three talks on the theme of the church as the answer to Jesus' prayer "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This set of talks has been my standard "road set" for a year now. It's the theme I most want to encourage people to consider. I like to raise a missional vision for what the church is supposed to embody for the world and I always challenge them to consider that their home church, whatever stripe it is, whatever bent, wherever it is located, is supposed to be the embodiment of God's will, the foretaste of God's new creation, a glimpse at what we long for when we speak of "heaven" or "resurrection" or "new Jerusalem." That the CHURCH is God's demonstration of his character, his love and his truth. And I challenge people to consider what that vision means to THEIR church and THEIR lives.
And then I usually leave.
But this time, they asked if I would do a "talkback with the speaker" session; a Q & A with people who want to follow up on the issues I raised in my talks. So, that afternoon, approximately 60 of the 300 or so people who attended the conference came to my "talkback". I asked the group if we could get all the questions they wanted to discuss on the table and then we'd decide where there was the most interest and energy. So, I went around the room and gathered up all the questions. It went something like this...
Question #1: "How could we get our church more involved in some place like Africa, the way your church is?" Question #2-58: "How do you turn around a dying church?"
Over and over again that was the theme: Our church is dying and "renewing it" is killing us as leaders. We so want to lead into the vision of the Kingdom that you talked about it, but no one is following. What can we do?
I hadn't spoke about church turnarounds, or leadership issues, or bringing change. I had spoken on a missional vision, of the church being the embodiment of the Kingdom. I had wanted to encourage a group of movers and shakers by giving them a grand sweeping vision of what I contend the scriptures lead us to see of what God wants the church to be and that vision had only raised more discouragement.
And this has got me thinking. A lot.
I am a big VISION guy. I believe with all my heart that without a vision, people perish and that without a biblical vision churches become stagnant, complacent and consumeristic. Recently, I have been polled and surveyed and interviewed because SCPC is one of the few growing churches in our denomination and for the better part of ten years, my explanation for why has been our "missional vision".
But more and more I am thinking that Vision, while necessary, is not nearly enough. And the huge challenge of our day is not only recapturing a biblical vision for the church, but re-learning what it takes to lead into that vision.
The "Methodists in Maine" that I met were a great, earnest, sincere, hardworking, Bible-believing, Kingdom-committed bunch. But like most churches in America today, we are facing some uncharted territory in a culture that at every turn is opposing the way we are best at living out our faith and presenting the gospel. And in many ways, I see these same forces at work in my church, too.
To meet this challenge we are going to need a clear, biblical vision and a whole different set of strategies, skills, habits and behaviors. Vision and practices. A clear picture and a new set of skills. And exploring why this is so, and what we need to do about it is about the only conversation that I am interested in being in these days.
On June 5th, on his blog "It takes a church", he reflected on his time in Maine. Though I know you can easily go to his blog with a click of the mouse, I am adding his complete column just in case you are more comfortable staying here. What I really find interesting are questions 2-58 in his "talkback session". It creates concern in my heart and a challenge in my soul, to remind folks that we have been given everything we need to do God's ministry, to grow the Kingdom, we've just got to take the time to figure out what God intends for us to do with our abundant blessings. In a world that is so good at forcing us to compare what we don't have with what others have, we need to remember that in God's kingdom, God has given us everything we need, and faith in that understanding brings us great peace!!
Here is the blog writing....
One Question in Maine
Last fall I was invited to speak to a conference of Methodist pastors and lay leaders in Portland, Maine. The organizers of the conference had read It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian and asked if I would be willing to come and address a group of the "movers and shakers" who were looking at new ways of church.
Now, usually, I decline outside speaking engagements because I love my church and love being at my church and have plenty of challenges speaking and teaching within my church. But when I agree to speak somewhere it is usually because it is 1) with a friend I want to spend time with, 2) in a place I want to visit or 3) I think there is something I will learn by doing it. This one fell definitely into #3. I wasn't sure what I would learn, but I had a hunch that there could be something in this setting that God wanted me to get at.
So, I flew off to Portland, Maine for a quick turn around trip (left on a Thursday, was back on a Saturday and was preaching on Sunday back at SCPC). I gave three talks on the theme of the church as the answer to Jesus' prayer "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This set of talks has been my standard "road set" for a year now. It's the theme I most want to encourage people to consider. I like to raise a missional vision for what the church is supposed to embody for the world and I always challenge them to consider that their home church, whatever stripe it is, whatever bent, wherever it is located, is supposed to be the embodiment of God's will, the foretaste of God's new creation, a glimpse at what we long for when we speak of "heaven" or "resurrection" or "new Jerusalem." That the CHURCH is God's demonstration of his character, his love and his truth. And I challenge people to consider what that vision means to THEIR church and THEIR lives.
And then I usually leave.
But this time, they asked if I would do a "talkback with the speaker" session; a Q & A with people who want to follow up on the issues I raised in my talks. So, that afternoon, approximately 60 of the 300 or so people who attended the conference came to my "talkback". I asked the group if we could get all the questions they wanted to discuss on the table and then we'd decide where there was the most interest and energy. So, I went around the room and gathered up all the questions. It went something like this...
Question #1: "How could we get our church more involved in some place like Africa, the way your church is?" Question #2-58: "How do you turn around a dying church?"
Over and over again that was the theme: Our church is dying and "renewing it" is killing us as leaders. We so want to lead into the vision of the Kingdom that you talked about it, but no one is following. What can we do?
I hadn't spoke about church turnarounds, or leadership issues, or bringing change. I had spoken on a missional vision, of the church being the embodiment of the Kingdom. I had wanted to encourage a group of movers and shakers by giving them a grand sweeping vision of what I contend the scriptures lead us to see of what God wants the church to be and that vision had only raised more discouragement.
And this has got me thinking. A lot.
I am a big VISION guy. I believe with all my heart that without a vision, people perish and that without a biblical vision churches become stagnant, complacent and consumeristic. Recently, I have been polled and surveyed and interviewed because SCPC is one of the few growing churches in our denomination and for the better part of ten years, my explanation for why has been our "missional vision".
But more and more I am thinking that Vision, while necessary, is not nearly enough. And the huge challenge of our day is not only recapturing a biblical vision for the church, but re-learning what it takes to lead into that vision.
The "Methodists in Maine" that I met were a great, earnest, sincere, hardworking, Bible-believing, Kingdom-committed bunch. But like most churches in America today, we are facing some uncharted territory in a culture that at every turn is opposing the way we are best at living out our faith and presenting the gospel. And in many ways, I see these same forces at work in my church, too.
To meet this challenge we are going to need a clear, biblical vision and a whole different set of strategies, skills, habits and behaviors. Vision and practices. A clear picture and a new set of skills. And exploring why this is so, and what we need to do about it is about the only conversation that I am interested in being in these days.
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