Saturday, August 05, 2006
NAVIGATING BETWEEN FAMILIARITY AND CHANGE
As I reflect on this summer, I realize that this is an incredibly
unique time in our life as a congregation. Personally, I feel like I’ve spent a lot of energy navigating between all that is familiar and all that is changing.
On the one hand, familiar ministry continues to take place. Each Sunday I join Pastor Del in leading worship for our three Sunday morning services and our evening Worship Beyond. I continue to share in meeting with ministry teams and doing planning, offering counseling and pastoral care, and participating in the kinds of transformational trips and experiences we’ve come to expect: our confirmation immersion to the Border, the ELCA National Youth Gathering, our Summer Camping Retreat weekend, Confirmation Camp at Sky Ranch.
Yet in the midst of the familiar, I’m also keenly aware of all that represents the changing texture of our life together. The space we call “home” has been irretrievably altered, both outside and in – things don’t look the way they used to, and during this interim time we can no longer accommodate all the activities we once did. As we look to the fall, all of our planning has had to take into account our temporarily limited space. To say it has been inconvenient at times is an understatement!
At the same time, Pastor Del and I continue to work with our staff
changes. Just as we’ve begun to get to know our new Contemporary Worship Director, Josh Carr, we now face saying goodbye to Julie McNitt and learning to know and work with the three individuals who will replace her!
Perhaps the most tangible sign of the changes afoot have been our Open House Conversations, where we are beginning to discern what worship and learning might look like as we move into our new sanctuary. It’s not an easy process to weigh the needs and desires of the many different members of our family of faith!
How does one navigate between familiarity and change during a time of transition? I believe one key is to remember who we are and to what we are called. For me, our mission statement remains central: we are a people living in God’s love and reaching out with hope. We would do well to let that vision continue to guide us!
It’s also helpful to be reminded of the congregational goals we set for ourselves before we ever undertook the changes that are now occurring. Those goals included our desire to:
* Expand our potential for worship
* Develop our ministry of caring by promoting health and wellness
* Build upon our ministry to youth and their families
* Expand our outreach to our local and global communities
* Grow in our ability to empower people for their lives of discipleship
* Provide necessary support for our ministries
Perhaps the greatest tool to help us navigate our way in the days ahead is prayer. As a praying congregation, each and every one of us has a role to play helping pray our way through the transitions ahead, assuring that it is indeed God’s hope, not our fears, that lead us forward on our journey!
Pastor Jim
unique time in our life as a congregation. Personally, I feel like I’ve spent a lot of energy navigating between all that is familiar and all that is changing.On the one hand, familiar ministry continues to take place. Each Sunday I join Pastor Del in leading worship for our three Sunday morning services and our evening Worship Beyond. I continue to share in meeting with ministry teams and doing planning, offering counseling and pastoral care, and participating in the kinds of transformational trips and experiences we’ve come to expect: our confirmation immersion to the Border, the ELCA National Youth Gathering, our Summer Camping Retreat weekend, Confirmation Camp at Sky Ranch.
Yet in the midst of the familiar, I’m also keenly aware of all that represents the changing texture of our life together. The space we call “home” has been irretrievably altered, both outside and in – things don’t look the way they used to, and during this interim time we can no longer accommodate all the activities we once did. As we look to the fall, all of our planning has had to take into account our temporarily limited space. To say it has been inconvenient at times is an understatement! At the same time, Pastor Del and I continue to work with our staff
changes. Just as we’ve begun to get to know our new Contemporary Worship Director, Josh Carr, we now face saying goodbye to Julie McNitt and learning to know and work with the three individuals who will replace her!Perhaps the most tangible sign of the changes afoot have been our Open House Conversations, where we are beginning to discern what worship and learning might look like as we move into our new sanctuary. It’s not an easy process to weigh the needs and desires of the many different members of our family of faith!
How does one navigate between familiarity and change during a time of transition? I believe one key is to remember who we are and to what we are called. For me, our mission statement remains central: we are a people living in God’s love and reaching out with hope. We would do well to let that vision continue to guide us!
It’s also helpful to be reminded of the congregational goals we set for ourselves before we ever undertook the changes that are now occurring. Those goals included our desire to:
* Expand our potential for worship
* Develop our ministry of caring by promoting health and wellness
* Build upon our ministry to youth and their families
* Expand our outreach to our local and global communities
* Grow in our ability to empower people for their lives of discipleship
* Provide necessary support for our ministries
Perhaps the greatest tool to help us navigate our way in the days ahead is prayer. As a praying congregation, each and every one of us has a role to play helping pray our way through the transitions ahead, assuring that it is indeed God’s hope, not our fears, that lead us forward on our journey!
Pastor Jim
# posted by Anonymous @ 10:22 AM 
