Musings From Behind The Pulpit
Six months ago, in the April newsletter, I declared that "The year 2014 is going to be a very good year for this congregation."
I observed that it had already "gotten off to a great start" with a highly successful Global Mission Dinner, the experiment with the Lenten Faith and Fellowship chats, the "Momentum For Life" classes, and our successfully hosting the first ever UNY Road Trip. [And, of course, the $4,100 reduction in our annual multi peril insurance premium.
But I made it clear that the reason I was most confident was that in 2014 you would have a better pastor - even though he would still be me. I was (and I am) determined to do everything I could (or can) to help this congregation move forward after a couple of years of congregational "plateauing."
I have tried very hard to keep my promise of leading this congregation through a "very good" 2014. A few examples:
By the time I wrote the April article I had already begun the "Momentum For Life" classes. I used our summer "reflective intersession" to create the worship series on "Acts." I even I gave out "summer reading assignments," asking that you read both "Acts" (in preparation for this Fall's worship series) and also the book "Five Practices for Fruitful Living." And then the first week in September, we began the brand new "Covenant Bible Study."
These were opportunities - not just "fill in the empty spot" activities. They were not just routine, convenient things for me to do.
In fact, holding the "MFL" and "CBS" evening classes on Sunday night is not very convenient for me. Not only does it mean gearing up on two separate days, but I usually need mental rest after leading the morning worship. However, Sunday night is a significantly better time for many in the congregation. Therefore, it was (and is) important for and to me to schedule the classes that evening.
I have sought out new resources. The "CBS" was published this year and we are among the first congregations to use it. [A few years ago we likewise began to use "Worship and Song" within a month of its publication.] I attended the September "Dynamic Worship" workshop in Sandy Creek and am working on incorporating some of the concepts in our services. I am in the process of examining Rev. Emmanuel Cleaver's ideas on the pastoral role as set out in his book, "Pastor On Track."
This year, I have attempted to accommodate those who prefer a shorter community time at the beginning of our worship services.
My first approach was to put together a "highlights" sheet to amplify our announcements. However, I still had a tendency to amplify more than some would have liked and found it was taking me at least an hour and a half to try to save five to ten minutes.
Thus, I recently discontinued the "highlights" and am working hard at trying to mention only items not in the bulletin. [Warning: This, of course, means you have to read them!] I do worry that we will lose the enthusiasm for congregational activities that can be conveyed orally, but I pray that I am wrong and that my worry will prove unnecessary.
In order to provide a resource, Betsy and I restructured the September newsletter to set out what is going on here throughout the rest of the year.
However, despite this effort and the many successful activities of others (yard sale and read-a-thon to name a couple), I can't honestly say that 2014 has yet reached "very good year" status.
Admittedly we have experienced challenges that might well have broken weaker congregations apart, but still the loss of some members and the more frequent absence of others has been discouraging.
In reviewing all this, I returned to April article. As I read it, I recalled how I had presented my expectations through the acronym "ICE." I recalled too, that for each letter of the acronym, there were three "positive characteristics" which we were to seek and one "negative characteristic" which I urged us to try to avoid.
But as I looked at the specifics under the letter "C," I was stunned to discover that I had included "challenges" as one of the positive characteristics.
Why in the world did I do that?
That's a hard question to for anyone to answer, let alone someone who can't even remember putting the word on his list.
I finally reached the only conclusion that made sense: that the Holy Spirit had intervened. That being the case, I also concluded that I had better broaden my thinking on the subject. Only then was I able to stop seeing the challenges we have faced this year as negatives, and begin to see them as presenting us with opportunities for growth in faith.
With my soul revived, I became convinced that our Christ like response to them may well be the best reason to continue to believe that we will use the final three months of the year to together make my prediction come true.
After all, there is indeed. "a balm in Gilead" - and that balm is in Potsdam too.
Jim