How Do You? (and other parenthetical thoughts...)
Carla, my wife (and bestest friend in the whole wide world!), and I were talking the other day. (Which kinda makes it sound like that is a rare occurence...not true!) I asked her this tough question that I now share with you. How do you plan for the future when you don't know what the future holds? How do you plan for tomorrow and still be faithful to today? Some wise words of Jesus (as if there were any other kind!):
Matthew 6:33-34 "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (NIV)
He makes it pretty clear that we are to live our lives faithfully in the moment. I'm down with that. (I say things like that to make me sound young!)
But, how do we prepare for the things of tomorrow that we really should prepare for? Cornerstone is at a very exciting time in our short history. Our attendance is up about 30% over last year. Our giving is up about 35% over last year. We are clearly a church on the move. Praise God...He is just awesome!!!
And yet there is this looming question of "where do we go from here?" We meet in rented space which we are rapidly outgrowing despite a recent expansion. Property in Cranberry Township is prohibitively expensive. What's a church to do? (Or what's a pastor to do?)
Any ideas from the blogosphere? I want to plan and I want to be an effective leader for the future of ministry here. AND I want to be faithful right now. The big question is HOW DO I DO BOTH? HELP! (Please comment, and feel free to use parenthetical statements in your response!)
8 comments:
I'm finding an almost continual need to reinvent myself in ministry.
On the one hand, we are to proclaim the never-changing truth of the gospel.
On the other hand, God, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, changed by becoming incarnate in the "stuff" of creation.
So, God is both constant (never changing, always perfectly just, holy and transcendent) and dynamic (never the same from one moment to the next; very, very immanent). We are called, in a sense then, to model God, and never allow the gospel message to change, while always adapting our ministry approach to the changing currents (have you read Hesse's Siddhartha? a truly elegant way of expressing this thought...). It sounds like an evangelical process theology. "All things to all people" and all that.
At any rate, that's where I'm living regarding the "what's a pastor to do" thing.
Keith,
Thanks for the thoughts...very interesting indeed. Hadn't really considered it like that before. Do you feel the same pressures? Thanks bro!
Others?
I definitely feel these kinds of pressures; "pressure" may not be the best word for me, though. It's daunting, trying to stay a step ahead, but it's also exciting.
We've been pretty full at our 11:00 service the past few weeks and I'm keenly aware that we may soon be facing some crowding issues, if this wonderful trend continues. We do have plenty of room at our 8:30 service, but that doesn't seem to be where many of our new (predominantly young) faces want to gravitate. A good problem to have, I guess.
The bigger issue isn't numbers, but how do we then turn this growth into real discipleship. That's the more difficult road, for my money...getting folks to deepen their faith through active prayer, Bible reading & study, outreach to "the least of these", etc. Otherwise, it's just numbers, and I don't want to be too shallow (and I know you feel the same way).
Another thought on reinventing oneself: "reinvent" literally means "discover again", so maybe it's all "just" a matter of discovering again that first love, and our initial call (or, as the Bishop might say, "believe again").
Hey, Brett! Eric's been keeping me updated on what's going on with Cornerstone. and i do remember some people telling me that property there is really expensive. as of yet i have no solutions in mind. but then again i don't know much about buying property and expanding a building and all that.(when our church wanted a new gym, we just bought a building a few blocks away from ours!)
so the only solution that i can think of is praying, which i'm sure you've done plenty of. i'll be sure to be praying for Cornerstone too.
"...do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
I think our faith in this Matthew verse is going to be what we need to lean on. Its difficult because of the reality of the world challenges we face in Cranberry Township. I think this is an awesome thing to preach on so we can pray as a church for our future but through our faith leave it in God's hands ultimately.
Looking at it from another side, perhaps a second service will meet the needs of those seeking a Christian Church community and a relationship with Christ, who are unable to make our 10:30 service. I know that brings another set of concerns. Such as, if we add another service how can we be sure that enough of our current Cornerstone family will attend to welcome the newcomers...what will the new dynamics be with our family not all together @ the same service, etc. As you know Brett through prayer "WE Cornerstone" will find our answers and sometimes we just have to take that leap of Faith.
- SH
Shan,
I love the new moniker! And I love the thoughts...you're right where I am. It is clear that this will have to be our next step: another worship service. I appreciate the faith with which you're approaching this!!!
Keep running the race!!!
Good points Helene. It does seem like the 80/20 thing holds even in the Kingdom...20% of the people do 80% of the ministry...
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