Sisters and brothers in Christ,

           You may have noticed that I don't write articles for the monthly newsletter all that often. I guess you could say I prefer to write when I feel I have something worth writing.  The word I think worth writing is this: MISSION.

           For generations, Lutherans have had it drilled into their collective noggins that we are saved by grace through faith, apart from our good works for the sake of Christ. That through Jesus' death on the cross and his rising from the dead, Jesus has defeated sin, death, and the devil so that by grace through faith we may have eternal life. This is most certainly true.

           Unfortunately, along the way we have overlooked, forgotten, or never learned the other part to this Easter truth: We are also saved FOR A PURPOSE.  Jesus died and rose to give us a MISSION in life, a purpose in life. This is most certainly true as well.

           Jesus described this mission in several ways.  Our mission is to love God, our neighbors (both friends and enemies), and ourselves. Jesus described our mission as us going out into our communities, our cities, our nations, and to the ends of the earth, to make disciples by baptizing and teaching these new believers everything that Jesus taught.

           Our MISSION is to build relationships with believers and non-believers, so that people may come to know the Father through Jesus and through us, the Body of Christ in the world. Alas, somewhere along the line, we came to believe that opening our doors on Sunday and being nice to visitors was enough. We started thinking that being friendly and a human family was enough.

           Are we overflowing with members? No?!?!  Then we must not be doing what Jesus taught us to do! Jesus did not teach us to be nice or even friendly. Those are too shallow. Jesus taught us to love one another as he loved us. He taught us to do unto others as we would want done to us. Love is not passive. Love is proactive. Our MISSION must be proactive.

           Recently, there were several forums held on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings in February designed to get us thinking about our MISSION as the people of Calvary. To whom is God sending us to love and build relationships? What ministries can we start, grow, and foster to help us love these people so that they may come to know Jesus, to know Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? We also asked ourselves, "Does our building help us or hinder us in living out our MISSION?

           The general consensus was for us to do youth ministry. This is the answer I hear at every church. "We need more youth! Why? Because they are the future of the church! So? So, without youth the church will die!" or so the reasoning goes.  In other words, churches say they need to do youth ministry, not because God is calling them to love youth, but because they selfishly don't want their church to die! Or to put it another way, no one wants to take up their cross and die to their hopes and dreams and embrace the actual people God is sending them to go and love.

           Now those actual people probably do include youth, but they also include long time members who show up on Sunday, warm the pew, but don't get involved in bible studies, fellowship, service projects, or other ministries. God sends us to go and love the unchurched, the dechurched, the nonchurched, those angry with the church, burnt out on the church, and so on and so on, regardless of age, gender, race, language, housing status, etc. We have been sent to love all. This is most certainly true.

           When a church seeks to embrace its mission, the people are encouraged to experiment, to try all sorts of different things. Many ministries will flop, and that is okay because there will be those that work.

           Assuming that we are called to youth ministry, there are some experiments we are going to need to undertake. First off, starting in the summer or perhaps earlier, we will move to having one worship service at 9:30 am. It will be a service that utilizes music that is more attractive to youth and young people. No doubt this will require some people to die to themselves (i.e., let go of their own personal preferences for the sake of being open and welcoming to new believers.)

           Another option being discussed is to change the pews over to interlocking chairs. Why? In part, because chairs can give us more functionality in how we use our worship space. In part, it is easier for us to maintain the proper seating amount so that the church looks neither too full (over 80% filled) nor too empty (more than 50% empty), both of which are hindrances to growth. Thirdly, pews are foreign to people who are not used to church, which also make them a hindrance.

           We are also in the process of hiring an architect to help us remodel - not expand - our space to make it more multipurpose and functional, to eliminate our hindrances to growth (e.g. our too small narthex) and enhance our future ministries. Please read President Rogerson's article on this matter.

           No doubt, there will be more to say on these MISSION matters in the future. These changes and experiments will be causes of anxiety and discomfort for us. Change frequently is. Feedback on how to improve is always welcome.

           At the exact same time, we also know that we can't keep going the way we have been. We need to live our lives from a whole new perspective. Being a Christian means embracing God's change because that change brings new life, now and in the future. God's promises bring joy and comfort. We trust God to lead us through these changes into our MISSION because God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

           This is most certainly true.

 

In Christ's love, Pr. Kurt