What Is the Spirit of Your Church?

Recently, my spouse and I have been visiting different churches. They've all been United Methodist, so they all have similar liturgy and we sing out of the same hymnal (actually the words are all on a screen as well). The people are friendly and welcoming; the music is good and at a couple of churches, great. But some seem to be filled with God's spirit and others seem lacking.

I realize that God is everywhere, even if we can't feel him. So I'm not actually sure what we are feeling. Perhaps it's the spirituality of the people there or perhaps it is the Spirit of God calling to us.

I'm not super spiritual, so the whole thing has been rather surprising. But it does remind me that all churches can reflect the presence of God. And I'm not talking about friendliness or a sense of warmth. It's much deeper.

We once had a church which always felt to me as though there was discord brewing. It was unsettling to attend, so I went as little as possible. But it was on the charge, I was the pastor's wife, so I did have to go occasionally. But even feeling a sense of darkness in that church is better than feeling nothing, which describes how both my spouse and I felt after visiting a couple of churches lately, which brings me to the question: Does God Spirit reside in your church? Can people, members and visitors, feel the sacredness of the worship service. Is there a "right spirit"? Or is there a spirit of discontent? A spirit of evil? A spirit of discord? To find out, you might ask your visitors for first impressions.

Again, this doesn't have anything to do with how friendly people are or how good the sermon and music are. But can people easily and freely spiritually connect with God at your church?

This is what people are looking for. A place where they can serve and experience the presence of the living Christ. Is doesn't matter how many programs you have, because if your church doesn't make room for God, it will be empty soon anyway.

Grace, Kathy

Attract Families to Your Church and Keep Them Coming Back

Every church needs this new book by Linda Ranson Jacobs! This book comes out May 1 and is for every pastor, every children's and family minister, and every Sunday School teacher.

Make your church family friendly. Navigate through the changing tides in ministry and become a church that families want to attend.  Reach out to all kinds of families: two-parent families with children, blended families, boomerang families, adult children of divorce and their families or lack of families, single adults whose family is the church, grandparents parenting again, childless families, co-habitation families, and children with three legal parents. 

This book gives practical helps and suggestions for ministries, worship, small groups, and even facilities. Author and family expert Linda Ranson Jacobs will help you to create a welcoming place for everyone.

Buy it here:

 http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/search.aspx?ddlSearchScope=&txtSearchQuery=9781426774300

Here is what churches have to provide to attract today's families:
1. A strong children's ministry that caters to the individual needs of their child.
2. A safe place for their children.
3. A place that meets the adult's need for spiritual growth.
4. A place where adults and children feel loved and accepted.

Contents
1. The Church That Might Have Been
2. What Parents Want
3. Taking a Page out of the Book of Nehemiah
4. Creating a Family-Friendly Church for Single-Parent Families
5. Nontraditional Families Are the New Normal
6. Other Common Family Structures
7. Looks Count and So Do Church Attitudes
8. Keeping the Family in Family Ministry
9. Electronic Steeples: Social Media and the Digital World
10. Making Worship Family Friendly
11. What to Do with Those Challenging Kids
12. More Help Attracting Families to Your Church

Linda Ranson Jacobs is a popular church consultant, author, trainer, program developer, and a family expert who regularly writes and speaks to church leaders throughout the United States. Linda is the developer of HLP4 (Healthy, Loving, Partnerships For), a website for single parents and those working with single parents, the creator of DC4K, (DivorceCare for Kids), and a contributing developer of the H.E.R.O.E.S. CARE Project, (Homefront Enabling Relationships, Opportunities, and Empowerment through Support).

I kid you not, your church will benefit from this book. Costs under $12.
Kathy

Communing with the World

I received a call from the church secretary last week, asking  if I could bake a loaf of Liberian Rice Bread for World Communion Sunday. Because I like to bake bread, I was delighted to make a bread that called for some interesting ingredients. I was also interested to see how the bread would look and taste.
 
I took the bread to church. When I arrived that morning, I walked into the sanctuary to see the altar filled with loaves of bread representing the many cultures and parts of the world: Native America, the Mediterranean, Pacific Islands, Middle East, Central and South America, India, and Africa. The variety in color and texture of each loaf reminded me of the diversity of our brothers and sisters around the globe who would join me as I received Communion.
 
There was also a blessing of each loaf using these words: "Bless O Lord this (name of bread) and the people of (the country) whom you claim as your beloved."  All of the bread was consecrated as the body of Christ.
 
The meaning of World Communion was visually represented in a way that brought deep meaning to my experience and participation in the service of remembrance that Christ gave to us, his disciples.
 
How did your church honor this annual celebration?
 
Jacquie Reed 
Fishers, Indiana

View from "My" Pew

I am beginning a new chapter in my life this week--starting a part-time hospital chaplain internship. There are four other students in the program, and I am the only non-clergy.

We were talking on Tuesday, getting acquainted, sharing church stories. Someone mentioned how people are attached to a certain pew, always wanting to sit in the same place each week. 

I shared that my only anxiety the first Sunday in a new church was that I would sit in someone's pew. However, I quickly added another perspective, "Sitting in the same pew every week might be the only consistency some persons have amid the chaos or suffering happening in her/his life. Knowing  the same place is waiting each week may provide comfort and eliminate having to make a decision."  

 

There have been times when I have faced personal challenges, and I sought "my pew" the same way I would greet a close friend or family member. The familiarity of place, of having my seat in God's house, offered me grounding and stability when parts of my life were crumbling, especially since I usually sat by myself.

 

Although I have heard stories of persons asked to move or change places in a pew, I want to offer another perspective to consider.

 

Jacquie Reed, 

Fishers, Indiana

From Vibrant to Dying Church

Had a conversation with a friend who recently visited a church. She said that the attendance was slim on Sunday but full during the week, because of the church's preschool ministry. In fact seeing 3 school buses in the marketing lot was what made her choose that church to visit in the first place. During her visit she learned how the church was stuck in the past and refused to grow, driving away prospective new members. With the age of the congregation, it is only a short matter of time before the church will have to close--a very sad story.

But as she talked the name of the church rang a bell in my head. I remember also visiting that same church years before. At that time it was alive and was active in Lay Witness Mission program, which was a successful renewal movement. The church also hosted what was then called "contemporary worship." In fact, several big name Christian music folks got their start performing in that sanctuary. As far as I could see, no church member flinched when the musicians brought in their guitars, drums, and sound equipment.

So what happened? This church went from being on fire for God to being wet blankets, saying "no" to anything new and different.

Perhaps they need to be reminded of their past. Or perhaps their success was frozen into tradition. I don't know, but, as we all know, it is up to every generation to pass along our Christian witness in a way that it will be received by new people; not so that they will do it like us, but so they can adapt it to their own situation and then pass it along to others.

Like it or not, to shine a dependable light into the world's darkness, our Christian faith has to have the Church as an institution. Faith is more than that, we all know, but the Church as a gathering place and organization is necessary. But the Church cannot exist for long without fresh air, which breathing the Holy Spirit provides.

Pray for your church.

Grace,
Kathy

Happy Monday, Need some good humor to begin your week? Check out this clip about Wrong Worship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n453yVHMpbw

We've all seen it. And it's all too true.

Grace and Peace,
Kathy

Other Duties as Assigned

This had never happened to me before. A church member died and the family began the funeral preparations, but the funeral was scheduled for a time when my husband--the pastor--was going to be out of town with the youth. While the church does have retired pastors that the family could have called on, the family wanted someone to officiate who actually knew their beloved mother. And needless to say, none of the retired pastors did. So the family asked if I could do the funeral. As it is, I am ordained as a deacon and am officially eligible and credentialed by the church to perform funerals. However, I think they would have asked me even without all that. When the family did ask me, I felt I had to say "yes." Because I did know the deceased and thought it was an honor to be asked.

When I arrived where the funeral was held, the family introduced me around to the rest of the family. But I could tell that they really didn't really know what to call me. The first time, they said I was the pastor's wife and I added that I was an ordained deacon standing in for my husband. The next time they introduced me again as the pastor's wife. This time I just said that I was the officiant. Then the next time they introduced me as the pastor's wife, I just went with it. And for the rest of the morning as well.

What they didn't know (and probably didn't need to know) was that this was my first funeral. And I would not be sad if it were my last. Still the service went well and the family was appreciative. All-in-all, we buried their mother with grace and dignity. Several people spoke and I really didn't need to do much. Surprisingly however, my nerves held and I was also to sustain that non-anxious presence. But who would have ever thought that holding a funeral service was part of my "job" as the pastor's spouse?

What opportunities have you had because of your position as the pastor's spouse?

Grace, Kathy

Separation of Church and State

Dear God, As we approach the celebration of July 4th, we remember the men and women who serve our country, particularly in the armed forces. We pray blessings on them and their families. We pray for their safety and courage. But we also pray for our enemies. We pray that they will also seek peace and understanding. God, we know that honorable peace is possible only with you in our midst. So we pray that you guide us all in paths that will lead to truth and justice, where all persons are respected and have opportunities for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In Jesus' name, amen.

As we think about the place that God holds in our county, we automatically recall that famous phrase,
"wall of separation between church and state." This phrase first appears in a letter written by founding father, Thomas Jefferson, to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802. While there are different interpretations about Jefferson's exact meaning, the letter indicates that he meant that government should not interfere with religion, that is, that legislatures should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Because, for Jefferson, belief and worship are matters between humanity and God and not humanity and government.

Here is the actual text of Jefferson's letter: "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."

As we celebrate our day of independence, let's remember that our God is a God of peace; a God who defends the rights of the least, the last, and the lost; a God who graciously demands and protects the freedom of God's people. Let us not ask if God is on our side, but if we are on God's side and how we can serve with dignity and honor. Let us move forward as a nation acting more like the God's people as demonstrated by the life of Christ.

Grace, Kathy

Almost Advent

Liturgically, the great expanse of weeks and months between Easter and the first Sunday in Advent, called Ordinary Time, ends next week. Once again the four weeks of preparation for the birth of Christ begin.

From what perspective would you have liked to witness Jesus' birth?

Here are a few choices: the angel, Mary, Joseph, the innkeeper,the innkeeper's wife, other
ppeople on the way to Bethlehem, the donkey, the inn, the manger, the stable, the cow, other animals, the star, the people in Bethlehem, Simeon, Anna, one of the kings, the shepherds, Elizabeth, Zechariah, John, the swaddling cloth.

I asked this question to a group of friends and just about every perspective was chosen.

I selected the donkey because then I could have heard every conversation between Mary and Joseph on the way to Bethlehem, as well as during and after Jesus' birth.

Perhaps as Advent begins, your perspective can guide the way to the manger with new insights and thoughts on the miraculous birth.


Jacquie Reed
Fishers, Indiana

Ashes on the Go?!

I was listening to the local news this morning on NPR and heard, "Ashes on the go tomorrow on the circle."

"What in the world? Ashes on the go?" I thought.

I got on the church's website and here is what I discovered. There is a large circle in downtown Indianapolis. Businesses, a few restaurants, and a hotel surround the circle, as well as a large Episcopal Church. Here is the invitation on the Christ Church Cathedral website: "No time for Ash Wednesday services? Come by the circle and a priest will impose ashes. Passersby, downtown workers, visiting guests from out of town, and the spiritually curious are welcome to receive ashes at these times: 7:30-9:00 am;11 am-1 pm; 4-5:30 pm."

Is offering "ashes on the go" to those who are "spiritually curious or just walking by the church" demeaning to a very sacred day beginning forty days of preparation for Easter or just a way to meet the spiritual needs of a very busy society?

What are your thoughts?

Jacquie Reed
Fishers, Indiana

A Lesson in Humility

For this story you'll first need to know that my mother was in the hospital, seriously ill.

At the end of each Sunday's service, people are regularly invited to come to the altar to pray. And this Sunday was no different. So when this person came forward, he did so in the company of others. However this was a little different, because for several years our church had prayed this particular man through a series of legal issues that left him a convicted felon.

Sadly, he still wears his shame; and its weight makes him stoop and look far older than his years. Once very active in church, after his release it took many months of reassurance from many people that we wanted him to come back--as far as we were concerned, God had forgiven him as had those of us at church.

Then my husband signaled me that this person wanted me to pray for him. So I left the choir loft and walked to where he knelt, wondering why me. No one had ever asked me to come forward to pray. But I was glad he came forward and thought perhaps I could help him. However, imagine my surprise, when--while still kneeling--he said he wanted to pray for me and my mother.

So there we were--him still kneeling and me, standing over him with my hand on his head. And there he prayed for me. He had come to help me and my Mom. Time stood still and I'm really not sure what all he said, as I cried and felt the presence of God surround us.

Afterward, I stepped outside to regain my composure. What a lesson in humility. What confronted me was that in my pride, even with good intentions, I went to help him, instead of seeking to be a vessel of God's grace. But grace was poured out on us both.

When I retook my seat in the choir, someone thanked me because they had been praying for him too. What else could I say? "No, he prayed for me and my mother. Through him God helped me."

Grace, Kathy

A New Perspective on Screens

Many churches over the past five to ten years have added screens in the sanctuary. Screens convey announcements, sermon illustrations, as well as the words for hymns, and liturgy.

Recently, my husband, Mike, encountered a different perspective on the use of screens when he visited a couple from India who have been attending church for several weeks. The husband and wife have lived in the United States for thirteen years, however, the husband was much more proficient in English than the wife. The couple is Hindu, but a friend of theirs in India encouraged them to attend a Protestant church to learn more about Christianity.

The couple commented how helpful the screens were as they learned a new form of worship. The screens offered a visual cue to supplement the auditory experience that came from singing and praying -- opening new ways to understand what was happening during the service. And the repetitive scroll of events and prayers offered continuous opportunities to learn English.

Most people who attend the church speak English, but for those few whose command of the language is limited, screens can provide a unique way to teach English and guide persons toward a deeper walk with God.

Does your church use screens in worship? What benefits do you see?

Jacquie Reed
Fishers, Indiana