What happens when you sense God calling you to do something you have never done and do not fully understand? What do you do if you're young, a newer Christian and inexperienced? I think the answer is the same whether you are young or old, experienced or inexperienced.
What happens when you sense God calling you to do something you have never done and do not fully understand? What do you do if you're young, a newer Christian and inexperienced? I think the answer is the same whether you are young or old, experienced or inexperienced.
Look to the Bible - done. Research - did that. Talk to trusted Christian friends and mentors - check. Wait on God - and then some. The other obvious answer is to pray. I had already been praying. All are important. The unsettling aspect for me was that praying for clarity and understanding and pursuing all of these other things eventually became an easy diversion from what had already become obvious - obedience. Fear God more than I fear man. Obey God's promptings. The answer never changes. It looks easy on paper, but why is action our last option in response to God's direction? For many of us it does not seem to matter whether it's in response to conviction through the Scriptures or God impressing things upon our hearts by His Spirit - movement seems difficult in response to God's revelation.
In Scripture, it does not take long to see that God's sovereignty is always preferable to humanity's best understanding. People who walk by faith in Christ are asked to do things that they do not fully understand and are never given all of the specific details. The Apostle Paul wrote that "we live by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). When we are at home with the Lord, there will be a lot that we finally understand, but until then we 'make it our goal to please him' (2 Cor. 5:9) whether we fully understand the details of where He leads us or not. He understands and His plans are for a reason and are perfect. Shouldn't faith in Christ give us confidence (in Him) instead of paralysis? Maybe paralysis in our faith happens because we are misplacing our confidence and who we want to please.
Five years ago I was serving as an associate pastor in a congregation (Rock of Ages LBC in Saskatoon) where I genuinely wanted to serve until my retirement - and I was only 25 years old! Around that time, God seemed to begin guiding me to a disturbing prayer: "God, you must have established us as a church for more..." It was not a prayer born out of frustration with the people in the church. It was a cry prompted by God for the people who were not a part of His church. It was about His mission. Admittedly, I had only been a Christian for a handful of years and really had no idea what He might be calling me to do in response to that prayer. Apparently God is not always concerned with our amounts of experience or expertise. I had such a profound experience in prayer one day that God shook me to the core and changed my plans forever. It was a defining moment, yet utterly unclear. It was so significant that when I went home my wife thought I looked physically ill. We realized that the plans we had made were gone and the direction of our lives was changing forever.
I committed to praying and getting serious about what this meant. I really did not feel like I had the freedom to share it with people since the church I was a pastor at was in the middle of bringing a church plant to a close. I am not always the sharpest person around, but I did not think it would be wise to say "Hey, let's try something like that again!" They probably would not respond favorably to this idea in the midst of pain and difficult questions. A few months later, God seemed to direct me to begin talking about what I was sensing as His call for me, but to me the timing did not seem any better. Obedience. I approached the pastor I served with, and the Elder Board of the church, and asked them to pray, test and approve whether this was for me as an individual (meaning I should bless them and move on) or whether this was for us as a church (and they would bless me to move on with their support). The look on most of their faces told me that they hoped I was joking. I told them this timing and proposal was probably laughable and that I did not understand God's timing, but I was not joking. We met bi-weekly for 6 months trying to talk this through. I lacked the proper understanding or language to convey concepts clearly. It was messy-very messy. It was also frustrating. But fortunately for everyone involved 1 Peter 4:8 says, ‘love covers over a multitude of sins'!
The reality was I was not proposing a change in the Gospel, but I was talking about a change in vehicle and culture (the church's and the world around us). One elder summed it up well when he stated, "It just seems like you are talking Japanese and I am talking English and I really want to understand but I do not speak Japanese. I know in my gut that you are on to something and saying something important, but..."
Looking back now, an easy way to sum up my call was this: To reach people no one else is reaching (which also means doing things that other people are not doing) and be the church with those who do not think they belong in a church. It meant Christians living as a sent people. It meant faith and life being de-compartmentalized where being the church means anytime and anywhere. We felt God calling us to reach out to those who had been hurt by the church, disillusioned about Christianity, skeptical, or spiritually searching. Those people are simply not showing up to worship services that are being offered - we get to go to them.
Early on, we had a lot of resistance from people within the church about the type of movement we felt God calling us to. Some people thought that it could not be done. Some thought it should not be done. Others did not understand. We found out again what most people already know: we are scared of what we do not understand (see, you can identify a little with people who are searching for God or skeptical of faith!).
What was interesting (which really means: amusing now and frustrating then) was that even though most people agreed that ‘it' was a foggy idea, everyone still had an opinion about ‘it'. There was even one lady who openly wondered if I was still a Christian - apparently someone had forgotten to teach me that the place and time we gathered for worship would affect my standing before God in Christ. Oddly enough, we had amazing responses from all of our non-Christian or alienated and hurting Christian friends and contacts. There was something quite unexpected that happened when people found out that our hearts were for them connecting with God and that we were willing to try new methods and means to go to them without changing the message. I was not telling them that God was perfectly happy with them and their lifestyle, but I was responding to them out of the great length that God has gone to in Christ to pursue me and call me His own. We were just letting them know that He goes to the same length for them.
Often times it seems like our faith gets managed, tamed and degraded to speculation. It is almost like trying to study the moon without ever considering stepping foot on it to experience it first-hand. I have yet to meet a kid who wants to study moon rocks, but I have met lots who want to be astronauts. New generations are seeing that fewer and fewer Christians are living out their faith; they are seeing are more and more Christians who just want to study or be spectators or consumers.
Finally I came to the point where I just needed to get out and be obedient instead of theorizing about it. I could not answer every single question being asked and spell out all of the details in a variety of proposals. So I prayed for God to allow us to fly under the radar for a while. I am convinced that He directed me to pray that way because He was already planning it. A month later he moved our sending church to call a new pastor and buy a new building. While that meant our launch group decreased by about 75% because of the excitement of a new pastor and building, it allowed us to get going and it stopped the questions we could not yet answer. Starting with 10 people was not easy though. Fortunately, God moved our sending church and our Canadian churches to financially support us to make this at least financially viable. I do not think we would have made it this far without this stability in the start up phase. It is also appropriate to say thanks to those who formerly made up the Church of the Lutheran Brethren Home Mission department - Armin Jahr and Stan Olsen were key catalysts and provided key support, coaching and resourcing during this process.
Currently, we are basically a church of 20-36 year olds and children 8 years old and under. We have moved worship gathering locations 8 times over the last 3 years due to finances, growth and other needs. On any given week, there may be more people gathering in mid-week groups of 5-12 people than there are at a worship gathering on Sunday. We are beginning to work through what ‘Mission Shaped Communities' (MSC) of 20-50 people look like while we continue our mid-week groups and worship gatherings. We shall see how valuable MSC's will be in sacrificial living, connecting with people outside of the church and evangelism as they stretch us in our faith. We're still learning and growing. We are also still making mistakes and still fight the urge to institutionalize and manage Christ's living, dynamic church.
With all of this said, there are at least 2 important things I've learned that I want to share with you. First, dDo not make action your default setting if God is not prompting you to change or move. Second, fearful and frustrated people usually start wars and do not facilitate lasting change. This should be obvious, but here it is anyway: the only change worth pursuing is the transformative and redemptive change born of God and not our depravity. It is no secret that the broader church generally seems afraid of change, but I think there is also an unstated fear and frustration these days of staying the same. Change for the sake of change is not usually helpful. Change because of fear and frustration is rarely positive. So we get caught in the middle, get paralyzed, and get wounded by the cross-fire. Change is inevitable and unpredictable and a part of the Christian faith. Every time Jesus announced that the Kingdom of God was near, He announced change. Every time we hear God's voice in the Scriptures and the convicting presence of the Holy Spirit, we encounter change. Change is actually a key part of walking with Christ.
The people of Journeys were once described as ‘a church with boots on.' That resonates with me. I'd rather have boots on, be obedient and face uncertainty, than have my foot firmly planted on brakes that stop movement and make faith unnecessary. It is definitely not ‘safe,' but neither is the Savior we follow.
Pastor Riley Sexton serves Journeys Church in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
An Interview with Pastor Jack Storry
Faith & Fellowship: How would you describe what's been happening in your congregation recently? You've gone from Rose of Sharon to a rather unique name.
Pastor Jack Storry: Greater Grace in Portland, Oregon has experienced transition over the last few years in three major areas; and we have seen God's grace in very wonderful and tangible ways. Change doesn't have to be scary or traumatic!
F&F: Describe the change for us.
PJS: The first area of change was in our name. When organized (we just celebrated our 50th Anniversary in October of 2008) the name Rose of Sharon was taken because of a popular Christian song which talked about Jesus as the "Rose of Sharon." The name also fit because Portland is the "City of Roses." However, as time went on, it was discovered that "Rose of Sharon" was not a name for Jesus in the Bible. Because our name was unique we were continually asked what it meant; and we had to explain the original intent, but then acknowledge that our name had no real biblical basis. After a lengthy process of considering a name change, the name, Greater Grace, was offered at a business meeting and it seemed appropriate because we are a church that focuses on, and trusts in, God's Grace. The use of "Greater" indicates that God's involvement in the life of the Church, and in our lives, is greater than any other thing which impacts us.
Transition, or change number two: Our sanctuary was in dire need of remodeling and updating. We left the 1960s and now have a new roof, foyer, exterior and interior paint, sound system, dual video projectors, carpet, lighting and updated electrical, window coverings; and our ‘60s orange pews were replaced with chairs. God's grace is seen in our renovations because the funds were provided by an individual who blessed us in her will when she died. Because of what we have experienced at Greater Grace, we encourage members of other churches to leave a portion of their inheritance to the church in which they have grown in their faith. Two individuals have done this for us in the past ten years and it has been such a wonderful blessing to us.
The third area of transition has been in the pastoral staff. When I came to Portland in 2001, an interim non-CLB pastor had served for about a year and a half. This had not been a positive experience, and the church experienced loss of attendance and spiritual vitality. The congregation did not want to go through this again, and looked for a way to find a pastor to follow me when that transition would come along.
While I know that some pastors have the emotional and physical stamina to be a solo pastor in a small congregation, this was not true for me. In 2006, I realized that it would be advantageous for me to turn the ministry at Greater Grace over to someone younger. The decision was made in 2007 to ask our Seminary to recommend a seminarian in his second year for us to consider, realizing that he would be available in the summer of 2008, about the time I would be 66 years old. Steve Paulson was recommended and we asked him and his family to visit Portland in June of 2007. There was an instant bonding between Greater Grace and the Paulson family, and a letter of call was issued and accepted in the Fall of last year. This enabled me to set a target date for resignation without the concern of the possibility of our congregation being served by another interim if another CLB pastor couldn't be found.
Steve began his ministry on July 1st. This has enabled me to be involved in the required Pastoral Candidate mentoring program and to be available to assist Steve as he began his pastoral service. This transition has been wonderful! Since the majority of our congregation is on the "grey hair side" a younger pastor was needed to bring new insight and energy. It has been my joy to watch God use Steve develop over the months, and to clearly understand that he has come to Greater Grace at a time when someone of his age and spiritual gifts are a God-ordained match for our congregation.
F&F: Any final thoughts on change or transition?
PJS: Change and transition can be hard; even when it comes to renovation and name change decisions. We might consider transition or change to be negative, or we can determine to trust in our faithful God to provide His wisdom and grace in each and every situation we face. If we believe God is leading us to change, why not look to the future with anticipation of His grace, rather than dread?
F&F: Jack, how has this affected your personal ministry?
PJS: Over the past few months, Steve's responsibilities have continually increased as I turn areas of ministry over to his care. He will take the lead pastor role on January 1st, and my resignation will be effective January 31st. We have witnessed God's "Greater Grace" in our church, and a renewed enthusiasm, as a new chapter in the life of our congregation has started to be written. As I look to the future for ways that God will continue to use me (I am not retiring but will seek other ways to serve the Lord) I also look back on the last seven years in Portland with thanksgiving to God in how He has provided His grace to us through transition. Change is always good if change is God's will!
Pastor Jack Storry serves Greater Grace Lutheran Brethren Church in Portland, Oregon.
I was sitting with a bunch of middle school kids on the front steps of our church recently. It was a warm October night the week before Halloween and we had just finished our kick-off event for this age group, Club 68. As I laughed and hung out with these young teens, I remembered something my classmate Roger Viksnes had said to me back at seminary. We were talking about my call to serve as lead pastor at St Peter's. He had visited there years ago as part of a Hillcrest band trip and remembered the steps out front and how teens from the surrounding area liked to hang out there. He said he could picture me engaging these kids and just lov'in up on them, winning them over for Christ. Roger knew my heart for sharing the gospel and reaching the lost, especially kids. Upon arrival, it didn't seem that children's ministry would be a top priority-at first, there were only two kids!
The church leadership was looking for ways to reach out and make a difference in the community. Like all small churches we had limited resources both in manpower and giftedness. We knew we had to focus on reaching the people we could best relate to using the gifts He had blessed us with. That focus became young children and their families, and our programs and outreach events have focused on them in order to present them to the Lord. We have mostly just "loved up on them" with Christ's love and the promises of the Gospel. We've had great success as many families have responded. We started a Friday evening program called Kid's Café which continues to grow with new kids coming every week. We often have a better attendance on Friday evening then on Sunday morning! It's been a struggle to build bridges with the families to bring them to worship, but we've been patient and persistent. We have a monthly Family Café to include the parents and siblings and we have featured the kids in music and programs on Sunday to make connections.
By serving we have gained a reputation as a church that cares and makes a difference in young people's lives. We look for opportunities to come along side others and be a part of the community. This fall we participated in Faith in Action Sunday, canceling our morning worship so we could be the Church rather than go to church. One of the mission projects that day was to reclaim a flower garden that had gone to seed at the local Middle School. I attended a meeting of Parents Partnership (like the PTA) and met with the principal. This has led to an opportunity to make an impact in the community through service and positioned us to continue reaching teens at the school. We are becoming known as a loving, caring and concerned church.
It's great for me to see so many children sitting in the pews each Sunday. They fill the front when we have our Kid's Korner and put the adults to shame with their enthusiastic singing! We've stretched our resources to offer a program for middle school teens who have graduated from the Café. I look forward to going with them as they grow through the teen years and beyond. In these uncertain times they will know that they are not alone, God goes with them. I am thankful for the opportunity we have to guide them in the path of righteousness.
Pastor Bob Lawson serves St. Peter's Lutheran Brethren Church in North Tonawanda, New York
During the planning for the various constitutional amendments that will be voted on at the CLB annual convention in June 2009 we look to God to guide our decisions.
Over the last few months President Joel Egge and Dr. Ken Peeders have been traveling around the country presenting an overview of the proposed constitutional amendment. Many different ideas, questions and concerns come out of these discussions, which are wonderful in helping us take the right steps in the future of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren (CLB). It is an exciting time of exciting changes, but during all of this I would like us to just take a moment and review the CLB mission and vision statements and turn our hearts to God and what He is doing in the life of His Church. How does the CLB fit into the overall Mission of God?
CLB Mission Statement:
In response to God's person and grace, we worship Him with everything we are in Christ, serve one another in Christian love and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all people.
CLB Vision Statement:
We see God stirring in our church a fresh passion to reach beyond our own comfort to all people among whom God places us. We embrace God's mission to bring the life changing Gospel to unreached people in Asia and Africa, and we sense God convincing us to more intentionally reach out to people who live in our midst in North America as well.
So what is our response to these statements? As we spend time with God in our personal devotions and when we gather in community as His church, I encourage all of us to keep these statements in mind and see how God's Word helps us to interpret and apply our mission and vision statements. How is God speaking to you about the future of your local congregation and the larger family of the CLB? As we consider the practical matters of finances and change "beyond our comfort," what is God saying to us through our synodical leaders and our neighbors down the street? How did the articles in this issue speak to you? These are stories of God working in the hearts, minds and lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ, as they encourage each other through Scripture and prayer. I encourage all of us in the CLB family of churches to dwell in God's Word and prayerfully think about these constitutional amendments. Let us ask God to give us clear direction as we seek out more effective ways to join together in His mission.
Tim Mathiesen is Director of Communications for the Church of the Lutheran Brethren
Ebenezer Church is over one hundred years old and is located in south Minneapolis. Over the past three decades, the community around the church facility has significantly changed, but the congregation has not connected much with our new neighbors. In 2001, the congregation adopted this vision statement: "Our vision is to be a Christ-Centered, community-based, outreach-focused church that intentionally embraces people of all cultures." This sounds great, but the changes required of us to actually become community-based and outreach-focused remain quite a challenge. Yet by God's grace, we are living more and more into this vision that God has given to us.
On the first Tuesday of every August since 1984, neighborhoods across the United States and Canada gather to get to know one another and to increase awareness about local police programs, such as drug prevention, town watch, and other anti-crime efforts. It's called National Night Out. Initially communities held lights-on vigils. Now, many communities hold block parties, festivals, and other events to help bring neighbors together.
Since people would already be looking for something like this, we thought we'd host a block party for the folks that live near our church facility in south Minneapolis. Our youth were serving in local mission with another youth group from a sister congregation in South Dakota, and together with the Evangelism and Service boards of Ebenezer, we planned and threw a party last August that our neighbors still talk about to this day.
We purchased food from a famous meat market in the neighborhood, rented a couple of inflatable games and created a host of other children-oriented games, and gave away prizes donated by local businesses and purchased by the congregation. We handed out fliers to over five thousand homes, and then prayed.
We didn't know how many people would show up. We had done something like this a number of years ago, but didn't have too many people other than Ebenezer folks show up. So, we optimistically planned for 200 people. Well, to our delight, over 400 came to our party that night. We raided any food that we could grill from the church kitchen, and quickly bought more food to serve. We gave away prizes from 6:00 - 9:00 pm. The key to the evening? (It's not very spiritual.) We gave away free iPods! We had advertized this on the fliers, and people young and old all wanted the iPods.
If Ebenezer Church wishes to be community-based and outreach-focused, we will need to look a lot more like we did during National Night Out than we currently do on Sunday mornings. Above all, we want to remain Christ-centered in all we do.
(To see a video clip of Ebenezer's National Night Out, go to www.myebenezerchurch.com)
Pastor Todd Mathison serves Ebenezer Lutheran Brethren Church, Minneapolis, MN
Pastor Novy Yiu was ordained on September 21st at 59th Street Lutheran brethren Church. Pastor Novy has been the pastor of the Chinese Department in Brooklyn for over four years and the ministry has flourished during that time. Pastor Novy and his wife Marie originally came from Hong Kong and have twin three year old children (Micah & Cherie). Pastor Richard Bridston (Vice President of the Synod and pastor of Bethany LB Church in Staten Island) officiated at the ordination and we were also blessed to have Michael and Deloris Kittelson with us. Mike was able to give an encouraging word to Pastor Novy and the Chinese Department, speaking in Mandarin. There were also a number of pastors present from other Chinese congregations in the city, which the Chinese Department of 59th Street Church often works with during evangelist crusades.
We could not have picked a better weekend. At an unseasonably warm 70 degrees, this Halloween weekend felt like summer, though without the summer crowds that are typical at the YMCA of the Rockies.
Our speaker was Dr. Kirk Militzer, Pastor of Family and Youth at Triumph Lutheran Brethren Church, Moorhead, MN. With the use of video, breakout sessions, discussion and lecture, Kirk led us into the fascinating world of youth culture. Considerable time was spent on looking at the systems in which our youth live and operate.
Kirk also led us to look into the future with our youth. Unless we understand their world-view and what motivates them, we are in danger of both misunderstanding what God is doing among those in this generation and missing the tremendous blessing of walking with them into the future.
As an avid consumer of youth resources, Kirk summarized valuable resources (mostly free) that can help youth workers at any level, whether a volunteer or professional youth worker. (These suggestions are listed on the LB Youth Ministry website for you to check out.) clbyouthworkers.org
On Saturday afternoon we met with program staff of the YMCA to review our plans for next year's convention, YC'09. We were delighted that four out of our six districts were represented.
Moving to a new community usually requires a variety of adjustments in life and lifestyle. But what do you do if the community that you live in does the changing?Between 1960 and 1980, more and more people of Norwegian descent emigrated from Brooklyn, back to their homeland or to more rural areas of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. The vacancies created along 8th Avenue, where 59th Street Lutheran Brethren Church rests, were being filled by Chinese immigrants.
The community was changing. Everything from storefront windows, to smells of Chinese food in the air; this part of Brooklyn went through a drastic change. What do you do? A church that had thrived in its ministry to Norwegian immigrants was now desperate for a new vision.
After much discussion and divine leading from the Lord, the Chinese Department of 59th Street Church was born on March 9, 1980. Six Chinese brothers and sisters came to the first service. Pastor Per Larsen led the meeting which was interpreted into Cantonese by Mrs. Ivy Goon.
It's been 25 years since the group met in the upstairs of an addition that was originally built for Norwegians. On March 6, 2005 59th Street Church's Chinese congregation again met to praise the one true God, to pray together, and to hear the reading and teaching of God's word (no longer translated from English into Cantonese, but from Cantonese into Mandarin). The initial group of six grew to a flock of more than a hundred, and instead of meeting in a small upstairs classroom, they now fellowship in a full sanctuary with plenty of room for growth. God is faithful!
The easy option for this congregation would have been to see all this change as a problem, or even a nuisance. For the handful who caught the vision, they saw a gift from the Lord. In order to see the development, jump back with me to 1948.
P.M. Valder was the last of the Lutheran Brethren missionaries to leave the Chinese mainland and this marked the end of more than 40 years of fruitful ministry to a country that had now barred its doors. But God was at work, and the very same people who had been kept from hearing the Word of God by communist China, were now moving into the vacant apartments and street-side restaurants all around 59th Street Church's neighborhood. Instead of seeing change as a problem, it can be seen as God's solution.
March 6th was truly a day of celebration at 59th Street Church as we lifted our voices to the Lord who is faithful. It was a day of thanksgiving for his vision and provision, and a day of excitement for the future. It was a day where not six, but one hundred Chinese brothers and sisters gathered in a facility originally built for a different language group in order to praise the God of every language.
Pastor Roger Viksnes serves 59th Street Lutheran Brethren Church in Brooklyn, NY