The Pastor's Blog
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Archive for October 2009
Dear Members and Friends,
The story of the Christian faith as well as the story of our roots in Judaism is one of victory over seemingly impossible odds. From Moses’ duel with the Pharaoh and his magicians to Gideon’s unlikely conquest of the Midianites to David’s vanquishing Goliath; to Jesus’ own victory over death, the biblical narrative is one that inspires hope. Of course, the very definition of faith includes the belief that things are going to be better even when there is no rational reason to think they will; especially when there is no reason to think they will.
As of the 8th of October, I will have been a pastor for thirty-one years and the churches I have served have seen their share, and sometimes more than their share of difficult times. There have been tragic deaths to children and youth. There have been marriages rent asunder that were seemingly happy. There have been sudden and devastating losses of income for families. There have been those who were struggling with addictions to drugs and alcohol. All of these things and more have been a part of the tapestry of the years. My churches were not, of course, unique in this regard. Every congregation goes through hard times sooner or later because misfortune is simply a part of life.
The challenge, as always, is in how we respond to the trials and tribulations of life as individuals and as a community of faith. There a number of options. We could choose surrender; just throw up our hands in defeat and simply fade away. We could make just enough concessions to the circumstances to get by but without any expectation that things will improve. We could make some radical changes in how we are constituted as a church and in how we do ministry that would enable us to continue and thrive but in a way that would break with our history and tradition. Or, we could solve the root causes of our current troubles by taking an honest look at ourselves to discern where we are strong and doing well and also to discern where we are in need of God’s transforming power.
One church I served some time ago took the congregational inventory that is one of the initial steps in the Natural Church Development program that is available through our conference. The inventory measures eight areas that define a healthy church. The basic principle is that if a church is strong in a majority of these areas, it will most likely thrive.
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