Calm me down...

Prayer for an Average Sunday

~ Kenneth G. Phifer

Eternal God, look now upon me as I wait,

stilled for a time,

subdued and quiet.

You know that it is hard for me to wait.

It is hard for me to be still.

I rush from one thing to another,

churning up my life

into hectic waves of accomplishment.

When night falls, I confess I feel a bit guilty

if I have done nothing except be myself.

I even come to prayer with the feeling

that it is apart from life,

that when it is over I had best do something.

Even in church I want to sing a hymn

or take up an offering.

And then when church is over,

I plunge back into my world where the action is.

O Lord, do I have it wrong,

twisted around?

Are there more occasions than I realize

when I would be a better person

if I didn't do anything but just stand there?

Do I fail to hear the real needs

of loved ones, friends, and neighbors,

because I am too busy figuring out

what next to do for them,

or maybe to them?

Am I so absorbed in running the world

that I am not aware of you

and of the things you have to say to me?

Calm me down, I pray.

Calm me down

to the place where I can remember

how many times you have managed to keep me going

when I thought I could not make it.

Calm me down

so that I can recall times of steadiness and fear

when a courage was infused in me

that enabled me to hold on.

Calm me down

so that I can accept my limitations without panic

and in the knowledge that I cannot do everything.

In many ways I do not do anything.

In some ways I do the wrong things.

In the silence before the mystery and the meaning,

I stand waiting,

still,

quieted by wonder.

For life is filled with mystery, meaning, and wonder.

The mystery of being itself.

The meaning that keeps breaking through to me,

meaning encompassed in words

like faith, hope, and love.

And I wonder why when I pray, I believe,

and why when I believe, I pray.

May I be assured that what I do matters

and what I say counts,

because you are in me and for me.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

-- Kenneth G. Phifer, A Book of Uncommon Prayer

Nashville: The Upper Room, 1981

(a book given to me by my church family at Searsport (Maine) United Methodist Church when I graduated from high school ~ it's inscribed June 5, 1988 ~ that I've carried with me all these years)

Notes from Orlando, Day Two

Greetings from steamy Orlando -- day two of the School of Congregational Development.

The day began with Mark Beeson, senior pastor of Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana, whose talk was called "Innovate or Die." His presentation was very inspiring. A few nuggets:

• Most of the people in our churches are underchallenged. Our churches are full of what Beeson calls "high capacity" people, and we ask them to do things like hand out bulletins, when they are capable of so much more.
• If you can do your ministry by yourself, your vision is too small.
• The most dangerous person on your team is not the person going backward while everyone else is moving forward, and not the person going completely in a different direction -- everyone knows they're completely off. The most dangerous person is the one who's just a little bit off, who claims to be on the same page when you confront him/her. This person will wear you out, Beeson says. You need to deal with it.

I'm a little confused about Granger Community Church, though. Apparently they're a United Methodist congregation -- at least that's how they were presented today -- but I get conflicting information when I do a Google search. Their own website says "nondenominational." What's the deal?

I went to two excellent seminars: "Creating a Discipleship System," with Claudia Lavy (formerly of Ginghamsburg Church, now part of the consulting team Deepening Your Effectiveness); and "Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit" with Lovett Weems of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership. Both were very helpful.

A few nuggets from Lavy:

• The church is called to the ministry of life transformation. We get so caught up in the day-to-day stuff of the church that we forget our calling: life transformation.
• Lavy's workshop included a quick run through some excellent stuff about the stages through which people develop a deeper and deeper trusting relationship with God. I recommend the book Deepening Your Effectiveness: Restructuing the Local Church for Life Transformation by Dan Glover and Claudia Lavy, which provides an in-depth look at these steps and how they ought to impact the ministry we develop.
• Particularly helpful: at stage 3, the new or rededicated believer is asking the question "How can I help?" Be careful! When we take energetic new believers and invite them to serve before they are spiritually developed, we push them on a road to burnout and cynicism. The real question they're asking is "How can I fit in?" So how can we invite them to deeper spiritual development? The question for us: Do we want actively serving believers or spiritually developed servants? Lavy says our churches are full of actively serving believers, but they're drying up on the vines because we're not providing the spiritual nourishment they need to become spiritually developed servants.

A few nuggets from Weems:

• In 1784, Methodists were called "the most insignificant religious body." Eighty years later, in 1864, Methodists were the largest denomination, and 50% larger than the next largest denomination. How did that happen?
• We should develop "so that" statements for everything we're doing -- i.e. "We offer Vacation Bible School so that..." Everything should be organized to accomplish the mission.
• Thousands of churches across the country have said, "We love our traditions more than our children." We refuse to change, even if it means we are failing to pass on the life transforming message of God's love to the next generation.
• In the early days of a church, that church will be very responsive to the needs around them, but gradually that changes. Instead of looking upon the world as our parish, we begin to look upon the parish as our world.
• "Leadership is helping God's people take the next faithful step." -- Scott Cormode
• An alarming statistic: from 1980-1990, there was an increase from 1.8 million to 4.3 million people who claim prison as their primary residence. From 1990-2000, that number saw another 70% increase.
• A district superintendent is not the steward of the United Methodist Churches in his or her district -- pastors do that. A district superintendent is, rather, the steward of the United Methodist witness within that geographical territory. This is an important distinction.
• The primary question a district superintendent should be asking: How do I improve the quality of pastoral leadership for the pastors in my district?

Ready for a Wellness Exam?

This week I went to my new primary care physician for a wellness exam, also known as a physical. It was my first time meeting this new doctor, so of course there were lots of questions about family history, about my allergies and asthma, about diet and exercise, and all the rest. The nurse took my blood pressure, height, and weight and asked me about the medications I take. The doctor listened to my lungs, looked at my eyes and ears and throat, poked and prodded here and there... refilled some prescriptions for asthma medications... and made a referral to an allergist. I came away feeling good that I'm being proactive about my health and good about establishing a relationship with a doctor who will provide care should I be sick in the future.

I wonder... do we give our spiritual health the same weight of importance? Are we as intentional about assessing our own spiritual health from time to time? What would a spiritual wellness exam look like?

I can imagine questions like these...

• How is your prayer life?
• What other spiritual practices nurture your faith?
• What habits, practices, or patterns stand between you and a deeper faith in God?
• Who are your spiritual mentors, role models, or companions in Christ?
• What have you been reading from Scripture, and what new insights have led you deeper in faith?
• How have you used the gifts God has given you in service to God and God's people?
• How are you remaining faithful to the practice of worship?
• How have you engaged in works of compassion and mercy, helping people in need?
• How has your faith led you to works of justice?
• When and how have you shared your faith with others?
• How have you encouraged others in their own walk of faith?
• How have you shown Christian hospitality to those whom God sends your way?
• What are you doing to grow deeper in your practice of Christian stewardship and generosity?
• When have you felt closest to God? most distant from God?
• What "prescriptions" do you need to fill (or fulfill or refill) to treat symptoms of spiritual dis-ease?

What questions would you add to the list? Are you willing to undertake a spiritual wellness exam?

new light - rethinking what it means to follow Christ

The journey begins...

Tonight we had our first gathering of people who have expressed an interest in being part of this new church we're planting. It was an informal kind of gathering at our house, around the dining room table. There were eight adults -- fewer than we'd hoped, but there are several others who have expressed an interest who ended up not being able to be with us -- plus two kids. We're trusting that the people who were supposed to be with us were there; that there were no accidents or coincidences; that it's all part of God's vision.

And the energy was good! We shared great fellowship and laughter around the table as we chowed down on Latin cuisine from La Familia, a new restaurant that just opened in our neighborhood. These people didn't know each other, so there was a nice extended period of conversation to begin to get acquainted.

Then between dinner and dessert (a deeeee-licious apple-cranberry-currant pie that we got from the Rosemont Market in our neighborhood, with ice-cream, of course, plus peanut butter cookies that Cally made) Sara and I shared our vision for the community of faith we hope to develop. The Holy Spirit was alive, and it was clear that those in the room shared our vision, were excited about the core values we described, and are committed to be part of this movement! Several shared how the time was perfect for them for various reasons, and nearly everyone shared their excitement, in one way or another, to be part of this community, as well as their sense of connecting with the core values we're proposing.

We will get together again for another one of these dinner & conversation gatherings, and then very soon we'll be starting a weekly small group focusing on discipleship, leadership development, evangelism, and visioning. Over time, we hope these small groups will multiply, with leaders emerging from this first group, until we have around 12 small groups meeting in various locations around the greater Portland area.

Here are some of the early thoughts that we shared on a handout... These are by no means formal statements. It's not our official mission statement or vision statement, and nothing here is carved in stone... maybe carved in Jello, but definitely not stone. These are just some early descriptive statements. Feel free to share observations, questions, feedback... whatever you got, let us have it!

=========

Our Desire: to follow Christ faithfully, individually and in our life together

Our Goal: to create a new United Methodist community of faith in Portland, Maine to reach out to non-Christians and nominal Christians, those with doubts and those with faith, those who’ve had a bad experience with church, and those who have never experienced Christian community, with a particular desire to reach the younger generations noticeably absent from most mainline churches.

Our Name: new light - a United Methodist community of faith
Tagline: rethinking what it means to follow Christ

Rationale for name:
popular expression: “seeing things in a new light”

Scripture references:
new
- “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43: 19)
- Jesus: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34)
- And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ (Revelation 21:5)
- “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

light
- “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3)
- “What has come into being in [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1: 3-5)
- “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’”(John 8:12)
- Jesus: “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5: 14-16)
- “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8)

Core Values:
· community: deepening relationships
· authenticity: being real
· inclusivity and hospitality: all are welcome
· grace: God’s free gift of love and forgiveness which we do nothing to earn or deserve
· creativity: the arts, music, dance, and more!
· service: caring for those in need in Portland and beyond
· Jesus’ message of the Kingdom of God, with a strong focus on peace and justice
· joy
· healing
· transformation: of ourselves, of the world
· everyone in ministry: God has given each of us different gifts, and God calls each of us to use these gifts in ministry
· stewardship of the earth: God’s Creation
· generous stewardship of our resources

Our Focus: loving God, loving our neighbors, making disciples as we go (Jesus’ words in The Great Commandment and The Great Commission)

Matthew 22: 34-40 The Great Commandment
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Matthew 28: 16-20 The Great Commission
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

How can you be part of this?
· participate in the first small group forming this fall
· pray for this ministry, for our life together, for our leaders, and for God’s guidance in your own life
· invest in relationships – with people you already know and with people you meet
· invite friends to join you – pray about whom God is calling you to invite

========

So... these are our humble beginnings! Sara and I are so excited to see where this journey will lead. We have a strong sense that God is doing something big, and we're just making ourselves available. Will you pray for us?