Hey CNN! Over Here!!

CNN is all-a-twitter, wondering what the new Pope will say in his first Christmas Eve mass.  The Pope is a popular guy.  Over 80% of Roman Catholics and over 70% of everyone else surveyed say that they like him.

This Pope drives a little, older model car.  Not a limo.

This Pope was caught leaving his little apartment to spend some time in a homeless shelter.  He also sent some immigrants postage stamps and phone cards so they can contact their families back home.

I loved it when he allowed a precocious little boy to wander around his pulpit while he was preaching.  And, it was very moving when he singled out a disfigured man in a very large crowd, offering him a special blessing.

All of that is very likeable and draws the attention of the TV cameras and world media.  I’m very glad that a preacher is being portrayed in a positive light, for once.

Here is the deal, though.  We have preachers and church folk in the Potomac Highlands District who are doing things like that all the time:

·       We have churches where precocious kids roam the sanctuary, sometimes their parents are there, too, many times not.  But, these kids are being loved.

·       We have churches feeding senior citizens, kids who don’t come to church at all, and anyone else needing some assistance.

·       We have pastors who could be making a lot more money (some were) but they have heard a call to offer the hope found in Christ and they find their riches in a lost soul found, a lonely soul loved, and when the “least of these” are greatly valued.

·       In the Potomac Highlands District there are youth who are finding protection and direction; college students who are challenged to invest in the lives of others; and, prisoners who are learning that God offers them freedom.

·       In the Potomac Highlands we have folks investing themselves in faraway lands where God is saying to society’s throw-away-people, “I have a future for you.  I love you.”

·       Etc.

·       Etc.

·       Etc.

I don’t think CNN is going to come running with cameras turned on.  But, tonight, the heavens have taken notice and they are rejoicing because Christ is being formed in you (Galatians 4:19) and through you, a good work is being done.

Oh, and the DS notices, too.  THANK YOU!  Merry Christmas.

 

THE RIVER

About 10 years ago I stood on the banks of a river with my arm around a shivering teenager.  A flock of church folks encircled us and sang “Shall We Gather at the River”.

Together we walked into the river.  Her journey to that river had been a long one; born in Hawaii, moving to rough neighborhoods in the southwestern U.S., parents unable to care for her, an aunt and uncle in West Virginia who decided to take her in.  “I baptize you in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Dying with Christ.  Be raised with Christ.”

She served as liturgist in one of my churches.  I would be there to pray with her aunt when she went astray.  I picked on her when she ran over a fence and the neighbor’s goat escaped.  I watched her graduate; did her wedding.

This evening her family will gather around her ashes and memorialize her.  Her tire blew out.  As she tried to get the car out of the road another driver struck her.  At 23 years of age she died.

THE CRADLE AND CROSS

At Christmas we hear the good news that God so deeply loved us that Jesus willingly came into this world in vulnerable flesh and blood.  God, in Christ, would be born into a cradle of poverty, and live in rough neighborhoods where even infants were not safe.  He, also, would come to a river and identify himself with all who would go astray, all who need grace.  His life would lead him to a cross.  To new-life resurrection.

There is great mystery in what Christ choose in becoming human, in identifying with those who needed saving, in dying and rising.  But, I do know that there is a passionate, loving anger in Christ.  God’s heart is broken by the way this world breaks us.  So, God became incarnate in Jesus to defeat death; to not give tragedy the last word; to promise a new creation.

On the phone, speaking across the miles to Aunty, I say, “I know you are angry.  God is angry at what this broken world does to us.  Only Jesus can do something about this.  You are loved.”

Indeed, this Sunday, perhaps on Christmas Eve, as you gather before a manger scene cradle and a cross know that you are loved; deeply, sacrificially loved.  The cradle, the river, and the cross testify that no matter what happens in life, you are loved.

A Warm Welcome Can Transform Lives

"Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." Romans 15:7

It’s been a long time since I’ve been the new guy in town.  My family had thirteen years of rooted living in Greenbrier County.  We knew people.  We expected to get into conversations when we went to the grocery store.  We usually knew which “Bob” folks were referring to, even though they didn’t use a last name, just because we were familiar with Bob’s life.  We knew the routines of the ball teams, the church meetings, the schools.  All of that has changed.  We’re the new people.

In my experience as a pastor and as a “new guy” I’ve noticed a few things.  Small communities and small churches want new people.  New people are a sign of vitality.  We’ have a God-given call to reach new folks.  And, they bring new gifts and energy.

But, let’s be honest, small communities and small churches are sometimes made nervous by new comers. When you don’t encounter a new comer often it can be hard to know how to act or what questions to ask. Should you give them some space, ask for their life story, invite them to lunch?

If I could offer some thoughts that might help small churches and small communities let new comers know that they are welcomed and wanted:

·       New comers who have recently moved into the area can be grieving the place they left.  They may struggle with the emotional energy needed to take the initiative in making new friendships.  Gentle introductions, friendly welcomes, and taking the time to express interest in their lives brings emotional energy to those who are grieving the place they left.  “Hello, my name is __________.  I’m ______________.  I am very glad to see you.  Can I sit with you today?”

·       New comers will have doubts about whether they are welcome to be a part of a community or church if those already present do not quickly make effort to welcome them.  Churches – If folks at the door do not take interest in a visitor and make effort to welcome them you reduce your chances of getting them back next week.  And, if folks inside the church stare and whisper rather than welcome new comers, you are not likely to see them again. Folks who study such things have said that visitors come to conclusions about a church within the first five to ten minutes of their visit.

·       Newcomers will be confused.  If a church makes an announcement, “Contact brother so-and-so if you want to go to the game”, you are not likely to get a new comer to attend.  They don’t know who brother so-and-so so is and they may not know how to contact him. Personal invitations with offers of sincere hospitality work.

·       If a church or community spends a great deal of time talking about things that only people already in the group would understand the newcomers will probably feel like the group or church is a closed group.

·       One has to think like a new comer to welcome a new comer.  Churches – if no one takes on the ministry of welcoming people the pastor will be the one to do it.  If the pastor is the one who welcomes YOU WILL LOSE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF YOUR VISITORS.  Visitors believe that pastors are paid to welcome people.  However, visitors tend to believe that welcoming lay folk do so because God is in them.

·       Churches who welcome well are gracious, not pushing new comers to become officers or to quickly take over ministries.  And, yet, churches that welcome well can make room for new comers to become a part of the ministries of the church (even in the church kitchen).

·       Warm welcomes in congregations are reinforced by tangible reminders of that welcome.  Many churches provide an informational brochure about the church or a simple gift with the churches name on it (coffee mug, pen, etc.).

A small church I pastored, located on an out of the road, was a warm and welcoming congregation.  A couple with two small children decided to visit one Sunday.  The way that congregation welcomed them has helped to change that family forever.  In time, the couple was married and the family was baptized.  The congregation enveloped them in friendship.  They were transformed.

I am very grateful for the welcome that First UMC, Romney, has given my sons and wife.  The church family there has been gentle, open, inviting and sincerely hospitable.  They now how to welcome new people.

United Methodist Communications offers many resources to help a church strengthen its inviting and welcoming ministries; training, door hangers, social media resources…  Check them out at  http://shop.umc.org/training/welcoming-ministry. 

As we are grateful for the gracious way that Christ has welcomed us into God's family, let us, also, seek and welcome others.

A New Thing

"For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."  Isaiah 43:19 NLT

This verse from Isaiah is a commonly used scripture when a new pastor is beginning at a new charge or a new DS is starting a tenure.  And, indeed, I'm new.  So, some things will be different.

I'm a lot taller than Dallas.  Well, not really.

I've got a lot more hair than he does.  Not true.

My pants tend to be longer than his.  NOW THERE IS A REAL CHANGE!

He was a pastor in the Potomac Highlands District before becoming superintendent.  I've been in the Greenbrier District for 17 years.  I don't know the churches, the roads, the back stories like Dallas did.

I have children still at home.  This Fall I'll be going to band performances on Fridays and ball games on Wednesdays.  I'll be guarding most of my Saturdays for family time.  I may not be available like Dallas was. 

I'm a different person.  I'll live out the roll differently.  How so?  I don't really know yet.  But, it'll be different.

In the Isaiah scripture the Lord says that a pathway will be made in the wilderness and rivers will be created in the dry wasteland.  This act of salvation will be similar to, but different from, Israel's journey out of Egypt and through the sea.  This time they will come out of exile in the north and return to the land through the wilderness.  God is saving, but in a new way.  In a nutshell, the Lord is saying, "I'm saving you, like I saved your ancestors, but I'm doing it in a new way.  Now, remember that I am a savior, but forget how I did it in the past.  I'm doing a new thing."

For those of us who resist change, let's remember that the Spirit still leads us.  But, that same Holy Spirit leads us in new ways.  To be included in what God is doing today we often need to forget how God's work was done in the past and to be willing to join God in a new thing.

+Mike

 

Small groups can be life changers.

Is your congregation planning a small group study for this Fall? Here are some resources to consider:


http://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Our-Spiritual-Identity-ebook/dp/B00CBQFZLA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375130891&sr=1-1

 

Trevor Hudson, a Methodist pastor in South Africa, has provided a great book for small groups.  Trevor has an uncanny ability to teach deep subject matter in simple terms.  His stories, suggested practices, and resources help small groups go on a journey together to discover that they are indeed, God's beloved. 

 

http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=444074&rank=4&txtSearchQuery=john+ed+mathison

 

John Ed Mathison, the great story teller and preacher from Alabama, offers a practical guide to transformed living.  Participants consider God's plan for them and their church as they study the themes of prayer, presence, gifts, and service.