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pastoral
message For
the Emissary this month I thought it would be best to give to you in written
form my thoughts and ideas as they were presented at the town hall meeting,
which took place June 6, 2010. Our
mission: Bringing Jesus to people and people to Jesus through celebration,
education, and service. These are the
ways that we believe God has called us to make an impact with the community
around us. And sure, there is always
more that could have been done, I believe we have done the best of our
abilities to be faithful to that Mission. In
terms of celebration: At the beginning
of the year we implemented the service changes. We joined together to make it happen, and
whether it’s a direct result or not I do not know, but attendance is up in
both services, and it seems that different people are worshiping at different
times, depending upon the week. This
is wonderful as it brings us together as one church where we freely worship
at both types of services. I would love to continue to see such flexibility
for the sake of the gospel. As we are
looking forward, one of things that I believed worked well for us was the
combination of services that we held during confirmation. It was such an awesome celebration to not
only be one church, as we always are, but to actually worship together as one
church. Of course, we do not want to
base what we do off of feelings alone, but I could not help but feel a great
power of unity as we worshiped as one on that Sunday. So, with regards to this year and the
future of Emmanuel in this realm of celebration, we should be looking forward
to worshiping in one service more often.
The Elders have already met and have given the suggestion to BOML (no
pressure BOML) to approve the idea of meeting at one service quarterly with a
pot luck or picnic afterwards so that the strong unity that I believe already
exists in this congregation will continue to grow. I know some of you at times feel that we
have two different congregations because of the types of services, but we
have to do everything we can to stop these thoughts from taking place,
because we are one church, confessing one Creed, sharing in one Christ. So, I firmly believe that if we can
intentionally create opportunities for us to worship as one, we might be able
to alleviate those feelings of separation. With
respects to education: Christian
education is not just my goal and my emphasis, but it is the church’s
emphasis, included in the constitution you all have signed. I have seen some real growth in this
area. Our children and youth continue
to have strong Sunday schooling and VBS
programming. Adult education
continues to be solid as we offer a second class for the adults. All of these classes have dedicated
teachers who are trying to serve our God to the best of their abilities. Education of the scriptures is happening
here, praise God! But, I think we can
do more. And, I know I said the same
thing last year, but I am going to say it every year until we follow through
on it, “We need everyone’s commitment.”
We need your commitment to be here to feed us about your knowledge of
the scriptures in adult bible class.
If we are not all present, then we are all missing out. I hope I do not sound disappointed or
frustrated, because I am not, education is increasing here, praise God, but
as long as the scriptures are the true word of God- which they will always
be, we must continue to strive to be in them- always-together. So then, for the next year: One small thing that I would like to see is
that meetings no longer take place during Sunday school time. Minimal celebrations are good- we need to
celebrate, but committee meetings and all other activities need to be done at
another time, because those activities are not as important as the word of
God. Strong words? Maybe, but this is an important
concept. A
second growth area that I would like to see in this area is another midweek
study. The time is something that has
not yet been determined but I will be leading another study, if not all year
at least in segments throughout the year- not happening during advent or
Lent, as special services are already in order. These studies are not to fill up your calendar
with more church activities, but it is simply another opportunity for you to
be spiritually fed in case you have to miss some of the other opportunities
that week. This study may be a weekly
morning study for the retired folks, or could consist of a pre-work breakfast
Bible study, it could be an evening marriage enrichment, or a single
fellowship group or maybe two or three of these things combined. I know some of you are ready to step in and
continue to serve in these capacities, so that you will let me know when you
are ready. But, be on the look for
these growth studies that will be available, praise God! With
regards to Service: Emmanuel has
continued to respond wonderfully to the call in serving with the bag lunch
program. At this time the funds for
such a project are running low and we will have to evaluate how to continue
this program, or we may have to look for another way to serve our community if
we are not able to continue with the lunch program. There are a lot of possibilities; food
pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, ESL programs, and more. But we will have to continue to focus our
attention outward, so that we might continue to make a difference to the
people in our community for the sake of Christ. Also
under the category of service, which will be a big goal for us this coming
year will be the usage of our facility.
Though finances are tight, we are looking to see how we might be able
to use this facility to glorify God in the mission and sustain us in our
finances. There are many possibilities
and we have to be serious about calling upon our Lord and finding direction
into the vision of this congregation.
As this process continues we must pray for unity. Not that we are not united now, nor am I
seeing disunity down the road.
However, as challenges approach there may be the temptation to take it
out on one another. Differences are
good- they lead to beneficial discussions, but we must remember in all things
that we are one church. May God
continue to bless us on our journey.
Amen. God’s
blessings to you and your household, Pastor
Jacob T. May |
Pastor
Jacob |
