Ministry

Wednesdays

/ The Pastor

Wednesday/hump day is a strange animal for me.  I have very mixed feelings about this day ~ and the feelings depend on the time of the year.  If you haven’t read my previous post titled “ups and downs” I commend that to you ~ but you can still continue reading this post without being lost.

During the “down time” (May – August) Wednesdays are a quiet and relaxing day (even those Wednesdays that contain council meetings in the evening).  My secretary is not in and the phone usually is quiet (knock on wood) and there are no classes.  On these Wednesdays I take my time getting ready in the morning.  I usually try to get to my office by 8am on Mon, Tues and Thurs but these Wednesdays I usually stroll in sometime between 8 and 8:30am ~ almost like I am getting away with something when Vicki isn’t here 🙂

During the “up time” of the year (Sept – May) Wednesdays can be crazy.  It’s then that I have release time and confirmation classes ~ and Wednesday Night Live is in session along with some adult classes.   During this time of the year the second Wed of the month is especially crazy with ministerial meetings at noon AND church council after supper.  Those second Wednesdays are long ~ where extra coffee is usually required.

Wednesday are unique and require a whole different mindset than Mon, Tues and Thurs (Friday’s mindset is, well, nothing as that is my Sabbath Day).  But as I mentioned in my previous post, I see “ups and downs” throughout the year as a gift from God to keep me fresh in ministry.  I am wondering if Wednesdays (during the “down time” of the year) are that “mini gift” each week to mix things up for me.  It is like a fueling station before I hit Thursday (my worship and sermon prep day).  During the “up time” of the year, Wednesdays are a weekly reminder that it is only by the grace of God that I can do all things.  I can’t risk getting complacent when I am teaching my kids and leading adult studies week in and week out.  Maybe, just maybe, Wednesdays (and especially those 2nd Wednesdays) are God’s way of kicking me in the butt each week; reminding me of his incredible faithfulness.  And I know that God is faithful because for 7 years God hasn’t failed me yet on a busy Wednesday.  Praise be to God!

So today I am preparing for a Bible study I am leading tomorrow and preparing for a wedding I am presiding at this weekend.  It’s a quiet day.  I might even clean up my messy office (but don’t count on that).  Thank you God for Wednesday’s and all those “Wednesdays” in our lives that you gift us with.  You never cease to amaze me with your faithfulness and love.

-edh-

Ups and downs

/ The Pastor

I never cease to be amazed at the ups and downs of pastoral ministry.  I am not referring to bad times and good times; joys and sorrows but rather the pace of ministry.

The month of August feels like a warm up run.  You know the real “workout” is coming but in August you are just getting ready.  There are no confirmation or release time classes yet, but I am busy making sure things are ready for the kids; working on the schedule and lesson plans.  Wednesday Night Live isn’t up and running yet but we are busy recruiting teachers.  Even though it feels like we are “off and running” it doesn’t feel busy or rushed…yet.

September hits and now one can say we are “off and running”.  Nearly every weekend is packed.  My weeks are filled with more lesson planning and Bible studies…which is on top off the sermon and worship prep (that is a constant in the weekly schedule).  Then of course in all this madness you have the occasional meeting, funeral and other surprises to make things interesting.  This pace keeps going through mid-May.

This faster pace is made even faster (and sometimes more crazy) with Christmas, Lent and Easter.  But just like speed work is good for a runner, these little bursts of speed in the year are good for the soul.  I mean, after all, it’s Christmas, Lent and Easter…my favorite times of the year.

May hits and all of a sudden things slow down to a crawl.  No more confirmation, release time or Wednesday Night Live and adult small groups take a summer break.  Now my schedule is dominated (in addition to sermon and worship prep) with more visiting and reading.  Reading is a nice change of pace (something I don’t do nearly enough during the rest of the year).  This slower pace maintains itself until August when the whole cycle begins again.

Currently we are in the slow pace (obviously since you know it is June).  I have knocked out a few books already and currently working on 3 more right now.  I am getting caught up on my visits.  And I am thinking about new and exciting things for the fall.  I like this slower pace, but I know I can’t stay in this pace forever…nor do I want to.

I am thankful for the ups and downs of pastoral ministry.  It is energizing and it is humbling.  It is energizing because I have more time to feed my soul during the down times and humbling because during the up times I am reminded that I only can do it by the grace of God.  And I think the up times come just in time because any longer I think I would risk complacency in my faith.

So for the time being I will enjoy the slower pace as I get ready for the faster one that will hit in September.  Until then bring on the books and the visits over a hot cup of coffee.  Fill my soul, O God, and let it overflow.

-edh-

Really?

/ The Pastor

I recently read a little blurb in the March issue of The Lutheran.  Check this out:

A British university study suggests that people of strong faith can spread
religion through a “believers’ gene” that is part of their DNA.
The Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a prestigious journal
of Britain’s Royal Society of scientists, theorizes a “predisposition
toward religion.” Author Robert Rowthorn suggests that people with
strong religious beliefs tend to have more children and this, combined
with a genetic predisposition to believe, can explain the expansion of religion.

Wow…I think someone needs to tell these people that they have too much time on their hands but more importantly about the work of the Holy Spirit.  Then again…maybe they have figured out how the Holy Spirit “really” works.  Who knew that God programs us at the DNA level to believe.  The next thing you know is that on CSI, while they are doing a DNA profile, you will hear them say, “Hey look…we have a Christian.”

But seriously…this is just another sad example of how people just can not leave some mysteries up to God.  There is this insatiable desire to try to figure God out.  We can’t just leave things up to faith.  I mean…there are some things we can not fully explain.  I think this is just another attempt to remove God from the picture and become gods ourselves.  Surprise, surprise.

For me…the wonder of creation is that I don’t totally understand it.  I love being surprised.  If everything was calculated, figured out and predetermined ahead of time life would be incredibly boring.

“Believers’ gene”…nope.  It’s just good ole fashioned parenting.  No mystery there.

-edh-

Mistakes

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

What is the best mistake you have ever made?

I can’t remember being asked a question like that before yesterday, so when it came it caught me by surprise.  I mean…it almost sounds like a contradiction ~ a good mistake?  Often times we want to put mistakes in our rear view mirror as quickly as possible and move on.  I have heard it said that we shouldn’t dwell on our mistakes.  I HAVE been told to learn from them but I have never really looked back and pondered what my “best mistake” was.

When I was asked that question I paused; looked off into the distance as if I would find something out there, and tried to recall some past mistakes.  Recalling mistakes was not the hard part, but trying to prioritize the “good ones” was difficult.  Maybe I have moved on too fast from mistakes without soaking in what I learned.  Maybe I have not connected certain learnings, skills or knowledge with past mistakes.  I am not sure what it was.  After what I deemed an uncomfortable silence I started talking about a conflict I was involved with, early in my ministry, that involved a break down in communication.  I rehashed the situation briefly and began to recall what I did wrong.  I learned through that particular situation to be more aware of what various groups in the church are doing and to be more proactive in communicating with leaders in the congregation.  I learned that I need to keep my emotions more in check and to exude a non-anxious presence during a conflict.  At the time I did not enjoy the situation but I would say that was one of my “best mistakes”.

So…what is your best mistake?

-edh

Up and down

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

I have an up and down week coming up.

Tomorrow is Sunday (so that is naturally an up).  At the country congregation I serve (Belmont Lutheran Church) we are celebrating the sacrament of Holy Baptism.  It is one of the favorite things I get to do as a pastor.  I get stand up there with the family and sponsors sharing what baptism means; encouraging them to follow through with their baptismal promises and then pour water on the baby’s head in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  It is a wonderful time and one I truly cherish and look forward to.

Also tomorrow I am continuing my sermon series in the Old Testament with the story of Abraham (but I am only preaching that sermon at Belmont…more on that in a bit).  The story I am focusing on is chapter 22; when God commands Abraham to sacrifice is son, his only son, the one whom he loves.  I know, I know…it seems strange to preach such a text on a baptism Sunday but the sermon focus was planned long before the baptism and the baptism was planned without any thought to the sermon focus.  But I think God brought both of these events together for his glory.  I am excited to see how all of this plays out together.

At Salem (instead of the sermon on Abraham) we are hearing a faith story from a saint of the congregation.  David had a stroke back in June of 2010 and has traveled a difficult road.  I have always known him to be a man of faith but the stories I have heard him tell me have given me goose bumps.  Finally…back in December…I asked David to share these stories with others and he agreed.  So tomorrow I am going to “interview” David as he shares his incredible journey.  The only down side is that we won’t have time to hear all his stories.  I guess people will just have to go and visit David to hear more…which he won’t mind.

Now the down part.

On Tuesday I am burying a saint of this congregation who died on Thursday night.  When Cindy went in for surgery back in November we expected her back in town in 5 to 7 days…that never happened.  She never got off the ventilator.  After a long battle her body finally began to shut down before she went home to meet her (and our) Lord.  This is going to be a hard funeral for many  but I know Cindy and she is going to want to truth of the Gospel proclaimed…so that is what I am going to do.  Funerals are bitter sweet for me; I mourn the loss of the deceased and mourn with the family, but I also get to proclaim the Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus in the midst of mourning (and to some who probably haven’t heard).  I don’t look forward to people dying but I look forward to God using me during these times.

So its going to be an up and down week for me but I know that God will be glorified in all of this.  I know that God will use me to proclaim the Good News of Jesus.  I know that God will not leave us.  And I know that God will continue to sustain us.

Up or down…God is faithful.  How can we not praise him for that?

-edh-

All good things…

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

The above title was the title of the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  The day that episode ran was a sad day for me being a huge fan of the series, but as the title suggests all good things come to an end.

This past month of so (of inactivity on this blog) I have once again been doing some soul searching about the future of this blog.  I went through a period of soul searching not so long ago and decided to keep blogging.  I felt then that was what I was meant to do, but things are changing.  I am not exactly sure what it is.  It might be that this blog has just run it’s course.  But I think a larger part of my decision involves trying to focus more energy on my ministry here at Salem and Belmont.  I am a firm believer that to have a “successful” blog (and I am being careful to claim any success here), one needs to put a lot of time and energy into it.  And my energy for blogging is waning.  So I guess as the writers of Star Trek have said, all good things must come to an end 😦

My plan is to keep this blog active for those who stumble across the many ramblings I have posted here.  When comments are left I will respond (I get email notifications).  And who knows…maybe something will strike me and I will post something, but I am not going to commit to regular posting anymore.

There are so many of you out there that have been so encouraging to me.
When I went through dry periods, you hung with me.
When I had questions you put in your two cents.
When I needed to vent, you listened.
When I needed to flush something out, you where there.

I have learned a lot about faith from many of you.  Your comments to things I have written have challenged me and I will never forget that.

Thank you for this awesome experience and for sharing yourself with me and with the world on this blog.  I pray for God to bless your ministries as you serve this awesome God that we have.  And….I look forward to crossing paths with you someday…if not in this life then in the next, because as Christians…redeemed through the cross…we know that we WILL see each other again…so this is not “good bye”…this is only “see you later”.

So with that…until we meet again.  God bless!

-edh-

Life through the cross

/ The Pastor / 13 Comments

Life through the cross

This is the wind break wall on the ramp leading to the sanctuary at Salem Lutheran Church.  You will notice that a robin has built a nest on right cross arm.  When my wife noticed this she said to me, “There’s got to be a sermon illustration in there somewhere.”  I think she may be right.  My first thought was “Life through the cross“. Corny…maybe…but leave it to a pastor to do theology with a picture like this.  I guess one could say that I am a theologian of the cross 🙂

So…

What would you call this picture?

What scripture comes to mind when you see this?

-edh-

Integrity

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

I just have to share this ESPN story with you.  I saw this last night and I was blown away.  Through this story I was given a dose of hope that there are still honest people with integrity out there…and in the professional sports world.

Basically…a golfer in a playoff calls a 2 stroke penalty on himself that cost him his first PGA tour win (and cost him nearly a half a million dollars).  Had he not said anything, no one would have noticed what he did.  I know I wouldn’t have because I was not aware of this rule.  But for Brain Davis, integrity is something that is ingrained and should not be compromised (even when no one would know the difference).

If I were ever in that situation I hope I would do the same thing.

What do you think of this?

-edh-

Post Easter vacation ramblings

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Hi there…my name is Eric…

OK…enough of that…<“we all know you haven’t been around for a while”>.  I hope it doesn’t worry you that I was just talking to myself.  Maybe I need a longer post Easter vacation. Maybe I need some more coffee (which doesn’t sound like a bad idea).  Maybe I need…well…we could go on for a while here so I won’t bore you.

In any case…Easter is done (at least the day of Easter is, we are still in the Easter season) and my vacation is over.  Now I am back in the office and I was greeted with another death in the congregation.  Nothing quite like being thrown into the fire right away.  But hey…the life of a pastor.

I spent the morning attempting to clear off my desk (notice the word “attempting”) and now the call of this 70 degree day is tempting me to leave the office.

<Must…do…some…work…>

Wow…this post has turned strange very quickly.  Maybe I DO need some more coffee 🙂

Anyway…I just wanted to check in with you and share a couple things that you will be seeing here shortly:

(1) I am working on an adult class on Paul’s letter to the Romans.  I have always been intrigued with this book and decided I wanted to dive deeper into this with some people.

(2) I am continuing my preparations for my educational event that I will be attending in June at Virginia Theological Seminary.  I have a case study to write, a book to read and a couple congregational projects to do.  And this is all due on June 15.  I need to get to work.  I hope to share some insights with you here.

(3) More ponderings as a pastor (me) serving in a rural context.  Now that the program year is coming to a close in a month or so, I am hoping to do some more writing.

OK…enough rambling for now.  Hopefully you long time readers aren’t too worried about me.  And hopefully you first time readers aren’t being scared away.  I am really quite “normal” (whatever that means).

So with that…God bless your day…and I hope to see you again soon 🙂

Take care.

-edh-

All things new

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

Last night we watched the movie “The Passion of the Christ”.  I have seen this movie about 5 times or so…and each time something else grabs me.  Granted…it is a hard movie to watch.  The flogging scene and the crucifixion scene gets harder and harder to watch each time, but I force my way through those scenes because it shows me how much Jesus loves me and how serious he was about his mission.

But what grabbed me this year?  It came during the scene when Jesus was carrying his cross through the streets.  At one particular moment he fell down and Mary came running through the crowd to Jesus (as a flashback scene shows she did when Jesus fell down as a child).  When Mary got to Jesus she spoke something to him and Jesus responds, “…today I make all things new“.  I got goose bumps as I thought of what Jesus truly did for us.  Wow!

All things new…indeed.  Praise be to God!

What does it mean to you to hear Jesus say “I make all things new”?

-edh-