While we are in a transitional phase, between pastors, we will share this space among lay people who have given of their time to keep the message alive for our church family. Written messages will be shared in this space, and recorded messages will be shared under our Audio link. Please enjoy this message from Cathy Neally, and fill out the Outreach Interest Survey!
Good Morning and Welcome
I love our “joy and concern” time. It seemed a bit folksy at first but I quickly realized this open communication is an essential building block that creates and maintains our close-knit church family. Its effectiveness pivots on the congregation’s participation…and participate we do. We are not strangers, who come to church to praise God each week. We know each other; care enough about each other to listen and share the whole spectrum of our lives…our humanity in all its glory and messy pieces.
Some of the concerns we hear are about loss, often illness or death. We mourn both…naturally, we feel a bit threatened by both…facing our own mortality. The season of Lent is a reminder of our mortality…dust to dust. Life on Earth is temporary and mortality is humbling no matter your belief about afterlife.
This past Valentine’s Day week, my family lost a member…while I sat at that funeral I found myself weeping, not just for my only cousin’s husband, but for every significant loss I’ve had in my life. A year ago on Feb 14th, my only sibling passed. Valentine’s Day is supposed to be a happy day…my grandmother’s birthday, a celebration of love. I am blessed, beyond measure, to share love with a wonderful man…the man I will joyously marry this May 14th. For me, Valentine’s week, weekend, and day was a mixture of emotion… that when scrambled left me flipping from joy to sorrow and back to joy. Sounds a lot like life …doesn’t it?
Reflecting, I realized that when we mourn for one loss, it’s challenging not to morn for all the losses, the “senseless and not understood” ones, as well as the “it was bound to happen” expected losses. As we age our way down the road, I wonder if there is a point that those who live long enough have more people they love in heaven than on earth. I am sure that is how centenarians like our Dorothy Bartlett (age 103) must feel.
Life is the gift those who have passed wanted more than the moon. Living our best life physically, emotionally, creatively, and spiritually seems both respectful and essential.
We must take care of ourselves first and then each other as a community as we walk our faith journey. Taking care of self is not selfish, it is self-full….it allows us to have “self” to give to others. Self-lessness is sometimes good, but not full time, it creates people who are running on empty, burnt out and often resentful. And selfishness is a talk for another time.
Our appreciation of this “gift of life” must be intentional… It’s a choice, each day! We choose to employ the teachings of Christ, holding ourselves up to the standard of doing enough good in the world, for ourselves, others and those no longer here.
I think when we continue the work started by those we have lost we show their lives respect. Our work I this effort is not without challenge.
On February 7th, we collectively bid farewell to Rick Price, as our Minister. Many tears were shed for his needing to retire from the career he loved, for our loss as individuals and as a congregation. Life is not always neat and tidy. Life is not always fair.
When blindness creeped into Rick’s world it also creeped into ours, without our permission, so boldly we could not ignore its consequences. So here we are without a full time minister having to listen to folks like me, do their best.
Rick’s leadership style was one of empowerment. I remember when he went on his sabbatical and the membership of this church filled in without a hiccup. We are not floundering today as a congregation partly because of his empowerment and because we are a pretty great congregation.
I see a parallel between the loss caused by death and our church’s loss of leadership. A parallel between the works we have to do as a congregation and what an individual has to do in the grieving period. Our minds are flipping between the loss, the memories, and the joys of our church family and the anxiety of what an unclear future holds, but we are held together in our identity none the less. We “hold in our hearts and hands” the work begun by Rick and those leaders who came before him.
The last 24 years, we grew to expect things to be a certain way and we’ve developed habits. Habits play an important role in the workings of our minds both as individuals and collectively as a community. Our habits give us comfort, so we don’t have to think about every little choice we make. What are your habits? What are our habits as a Church? Is there value in thinking about these? A quote that hung in my classroom was as follows…
- “Watch your thoughts, they become words;
- watch your words, they become actions;
- watch your actions, they become habits;
- watch your habits, they become character;
- watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
Voluntary or involuntary, habits become choices that define character and create destiny.
Habits take time to acquire and time to change. Some affect our lives in positive ways and others keep us from being our best possible selves. We all have areas in our life that are “should and shouldn’t” and the things we have “done or left undone”. Change often seems obvious and simple from the perspective of others, not always as easy to us as an individual or community.
I was thinking about this quote as it relates to us as a church community. Our service follows a pattern, we go thru the bible in a rotation called a lectionary, we raise money the same ways each year, we form a circle after communion, sing the same songs, hear the same lessons, spend time together in the same ways, we pass the peace, have coffee hour, sit in the same pews, we end every week together with the same closure and song…etc. Our community is made up of individuals who are creatures of habit. Our habits are comfort on many levels and reflect our character as a church and it is a good thing. Then there is the saying that goes like this…
“If we always do what we have always done, We will always get what we have always gotten.”
Here we are at a cross roads…Rick is gone… We have money in reserve but it is not an endless supply, our enrollment is steady, but not full of young families with children…it is fair to say those who look at the long term have some concerns.
Some questions come to mind…there is power in the question!
- How will we raise money to support our church?
- How will we increase enrollment and yet not change the fabric of our family?
- Whose job is it to “fix” this situation yours, mine, the new minister or all of us?
- How do we find another minister and tell if he or she will be a good fit?
- How do we take care of ourselves, maintain a balance or homeostasis, during this transition?
- How do we create a rich future built, on the past with elements that will attract others to join our church, yielding a new generation, so First Presbyterian continues beyond its 189 year history?
- How do we be the best stewards of this church family, our traditions, and our existence?
These questions and more swirls in our heads.
Why are some churches steadily getting new members?
I went on a few sites of these rapidly growing churches…one I visited with my family in the Chicago area called Willow Creek (www.willowcreek.org ) , and one in Painted Post called Victory Highway Wesleyan Church (http://victoryhighway.com/).
I open mindedly listened to their music, their sermons, their children’s programing, the events they offer the community, and in general those things they do to meet the need of their parishioners etc. I have gleaned several observations that may or may not be useful to us in planning our coming months. You will hear both similarities and differences. My observations are not good/ bad, I think we would be like the ostrich if we did not see what was clearly going on around us.
- All sermons are online for people to see if they can’t come to church or for people to rehear if a message speaks to them, go to their websites (listed above) and read the message of the week…they are well done.
- They go through the bible in a non-traditional way with 4-6 week themes. They refer to the themes as the DNA of their ministry…each sermon referencing the bible.
- They use audio visual means to communicate and highlight the essence of their message/ lessons…short videos, proverbs, music etc.
- The music is not of our tradition nor found in a hymnal, it is lively and inspires the younger audience …at the church we visited in Chicago they had a full half hour sing a long concert of youthful Christian music like you hear on the Family Life Network radio station.
- They have outreach programs to address cultural problems of individuals and our society…from divorce to substance abuse to child rearing to communication between the generations, to unemployment, to getting your life back on track, to work ethic etc.
- They have community meeting groups each week, some immediately after the church service, some during the week either at church or in homes of the congregation.
- They challenge each person to be an “ambassador of their faith and church”. Asking them to bring someone into the church for events…plays, speakers, book discussions, classes, Sunday church service etc.
- Everything is presented in a multi-sensory way, the words of the music and quotes from the scripture are visually displayed. Videos are integrated into the message. In education, we know the more senses you can stimulate, the more learning that goes on. This style of presentation engages this generation in many ways. It has the same power/ appeal as YouTube, Smart phones, social media, digital photography etc…technology is an integral part of their world.
- They have several ministers.
- They have great PR…a visual website, postcards to advertise events, etc.
We have a small, close knit community of caring individuals that is welcoming to new people. We embrace our faith and invite others to join and share the journey. We are open, friendly and accepting of differences. We want our church to grow and continue to thrive. We engage people in our services with ideas to help us be our best selves so we can serve the community with Christian goodness.
What if we shine more light on the interests and talents we each possess, thereby better frame our identity as a church family? We are so much more than people who come here one morning a week. What if our invitation to join us in our Christian lives also stemmed from our interests? Doesn’t it make sense that the more common ground, we lay as a foundation, to interest people in our church; its values and missions, the better? Rick always challenged us to go out and wrap the world in our love…what better way than to share ourselves?
I don’t think any of us wants to tread water waiting passively for a new minister. We are action people…boy that was clear when the dinner for Rick was over and everyone popped up and got to work. Talk about impressive…no one told people what to do…everyone just knew and worked together so cooperatively. The presbytery’s process is going to be slow. While we wait for the process, we do not have to sit here with our hands folded waiting to be lead like sheep, letting time pass and chancing a membership decline.
The final questions I want you to consider this morning…
What steps can we do now?
Where do we want to place our valuable time? What interests and strengths do we have?”
My actions I bring you this morning, beyond my speech are as follows;
- I have made an “Outreach Interest Survey”. I am asking each person to take the survey. This is a beginning, first best shot survey. Most are areas of interest, not simply one thing…Please mark the areas you are interested in with an I, and those where you have a strong enough interest in to take action to make an area happen.
- I have written the first draft of an Outreach Program Mission and Goal statement, that could guide an Outreach leadership team or committee.
- I will collect and tabulate these surveys after next Sunday. There will be a box or basket on the back table as you come in the church, please place them there. The results will to given to session. The information would then be ready to be used to create a calendar of events for next year, beginning in the fall.
One last quote…please hear this as if God were speaking…
“When you try to figure out the future, you are reaching for something that is Mine. By keeping your future a secret, I am teaching you to depend on Me. Trust My promises to care for you, to look out for you. I will show you the next step you need to take, and the one after that, and the one after that—one step at a time. Don’t try to rush ahead of Me. Just relax and enjoy the journey to your future—one day at a time.” -Jesus Calling for Kids by Sarah Young
You each make up a thread of our congregation and they are fine threads…every one of them. There are amazing talents in this room. Collectively, we make a fine fabric. Go forward to spread our love and faith in the community of Big Flats, its adjacent communities and beyond. Every journey, including the faith journey, starts with a single step. I feel confident the steps we take today and this week will result in good things. Thank you for walking with me this morning.
