Mission

Mid-vacation update

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Greetings and salutations…

I am sitting here in the Holiday Inn in Willmar as my wife visits the fitness center here.  Since I am by myself for a little while, I thought I would take this opportunity to check in.

It has been a fun an exciting few days.  On Sunday I flew to Chicago for a meeting at ELCA headquarters.  It was called the Synod Mission Table Pilot Project.  Thirteen of the 65 synods from around the ELCA were invited to gather and talk about mission strategy.  I was invited to attend this meeting with three others from the synod office including our bishop, a synod minister and the synod council V.P.  We heard some amazing presenters and spent some quality time together discussing some mission strategy for the synod.  I was honored to be included in this meeting and discussion.  We have a tough road ahead of us as SW MN is a synod that is declining in population and worship attendance.  We definitely need to rethink how we do mission and have to do something to encourage our people to be who they were created to be:  evangelists.  I think we have a pretty good plan in place and I look forward to writing more about our efforts as things unfold.

On Tuesday I flew back home and headed up north to the St. Cloud area to join Connie and her family for some time at a resort.  We had some great weather and some fun times together.  Last night we packed up and head our separate directions.  On the way home to Dawson, Connie and I decided to stop in Willmar at a hotel and have some time together and do some shopping before we head to Dawson on Friday.  On Saturday I am running a 18.6 mile road race called the Wild Goose chase.  This will be a great tune up for the Twin Cities Marathon in October. 

Anyway…I probably should sign off and pack a little bit.  We have a fun day ahead of us.  I will be back next week for my regular posts.  In the mean time, God bless you and I look forward to our continued conversations.

Take care!

-edh-

Coffee shop ponderings — My A/C dreams out the window

/ The Pastor / 7 Comments

I always feel humbled when I talk to someone who says they read my blog (I am usually READING comments from people not HEARING comments).  And that was especially true last night at our church council meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting I lead a brainstorming session with the crew (which included a number of newly elected members) do devise some goals for the year.  The catch was that they needed to think in terms of Christ’s mission in the world.  Too often we get caught up in our own agenda and not with Christ’s agenda.  I wanted this group to be more than a group of people meeting to talk about money and little projects around the church.  I wanted them to think of themselves as a ministry team…working to advance Christ’s mission in the world.  I want to move away from a business meeting model to a ministry meeting model (I am still trying to formulate this new model).

Anyway…after the brainstorming session the small groups choose their top 3 or 4 goals they came up with and shared them with the whole council.  The goals that the groups came up with were great.  Some of them include:  (1) Reach out to the inactive members and the new people moving to town; (2) get more people involved with worship (especially the children); (3) pray more; and (4) read the Bible more.  There were other good ones as well, but these jumped out to me…with the addition of one other…

…one of my parishioners/council members said as a goal “Install an air conditioner in pastor’s office” (currently I am without A/C).  Of course I thought that was a great idea.  Then the person who was writing these goals on the white board asked (with a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye) “How does that advance Christ’s mission in the world?“.  To that question another responded, “It helps with pastor’s sermon writing process.”  [The next comment made me laugh] To that response, my parishioner writing on the board said (with still a smile on her face and a larger twinkle in her eye), “Sermon writing…I read his blog, he writes his sermons down at Coffee Choices.” Everyone laughed.  I guess I had that coming…bye bye, A/C 🙂 

Oh well…that is a small price to pay for the privilege of working with such a great and talented group of people with a mission focus and a heart for Jesus.  And I hope this doesn’t sound like I am sucking up to get my A/C because what I said is true.  What is important is Christ’s mission.  But if my comments help get me A/C, then so be it.  Who am I to say that A/C in the pastor’s office is not part of Christ’s mission 🙂

-edh-
P.S.  Did I tell you how AWESOME my church council is 🙂

Looking ahead with Jesus

/ The Pastor / 8 Comments

The Gospel text for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost is from Luke 9:51-62.  This text is a great one about discipleship.  It is about looking ahead (with Jesus) and not focusing on the past.  It is about following Jesus without reservation.  It is about getting off our butts, leaving the sanctuary and actually doing something for the Kingdom.

In verse 58 Jesus says, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  I have always liked this verse.  It serves as a reminder that following Jesus is no bed of roses.  We are not promised riches and luxury (like some prosperity Gospel preachers like to promise).  We are not promised comfort.  We are not promised ease of life.  Jesus had no place to plop down and take it easy.  Jesus has no temptation to enjoy His possessions while forgetting about the outside world.  Jesus’ home was out on the road — with people.  Ministry is "out there" and that is where the Christian needs to look and live.  Christianity is not a get rich quick scheme.  It is not a way to pad your bank account.  Jesus never did any of this.  Christianity is about loving people and serving our God by going to where people are at; proclaiming (through word, deed, and action) that Jesus has died and risen for the forgiveness of our sins.

Another kick in the butt this text gives me is the fact that Jesus does not live in the sanctuary of our individual congregations.  A while ago I attended a meeting at another church in SW MN.  As I walked up to the main door (going into the sanctuary) I noticed a sign that read, "Servants Entrance".  I thought that was neat.  On the other side of the sign it read, "Entering the Mission Field".  I thought that was even neater.  So I stole/borrowed the idea (not the sign) and now a sign like that is taped to the sanctuary door at the congregation I serve.  We enter the building being reminded we are servants and leave being reminded we have a job to do.  We are all missionaries (as scary as that may sound to some people).  Worship may be a safe place to be, but we can’t live in the church sanctuary all week (for a number of obvious reasons).  People that need to hear the Gospel live "out there" in the mission field.  You find these people in your home, school, work place, coffee shop or the grocery store.  They live "out there" not in your sanctuary or on your living room couch.

And lastly…this text reminds me they we are called to follow Jesus without reservation and without gripping on to the past like a security blanket.  History and tradition are fine but when it gets in the way of the future you are heading in the wrong direction.  Nobody drives down the highway keeping their eyes focused on the rear view mirror.  Nobody travels from point A to point B in reverse (unless for the obvious reasons of course).  That kind of silly (and careless) action will only get you hurt while finding yourself coming up short of your destination.  Jesus does not command up to "forget" about the past, he tells us not to "look back" or long for the past to a point that impedes your movement forward.  Simply…remember where you came from, but trust Jesus and follow Him while looking to the future.

In the sea of change that Salem is finding themselves in (see Changes are coming and Changes are coming — part 2, this text is going to be a fun one to preach.  Trust Jesus and look forward.  How can we possibly go wrong?  Take care and God bless.
-edh-