Musings - Change, new traditions and staying in step with the Holy Spirit
Several things: First, I thought I had better say something about the possibility of LOG moving. The possibility is significant enough that everyone at Lamb needs to know it is out there. This is a very difficult, even agonizing decision with which the elders are wrestling. There are several reasons why it is difficult. One is that we initially prayed about staying and felt strongly that we had leading of the Spirit, confirmed by a sizable drop in the rent. This seemed clear to us.
However, since that time the Episcopal Diocese has been pretty unresponsive to the maintenance issues at the building. One case in point - there is a serious leak in the roof and its is nearly 6000 dollars to repair. We don’t believe this should be our responsibility to repair a building we don’t own. Think about it relative to a house or apartment rental - would you want to be held responsible for repairing serious maintenance issues related to the house or apartment you were living in? In addition we are anticipating a significant increase in the cost of heating oil. This alone could put Lamb in financial distress, even calling into question whether we could maintain our current staff, and missionary commitments. This has caused us to wonder what the Lord might be doing and to consider whether leaving might not be wise. We don’t have to leave, but we have not felt free to re-sign a lease and so we are in a kind of month by month situation. Please pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and direction. We have one very interesting possibility, in the area, but we are compelled to wait. If God puts this together I think everyone would be encouraged, with the real possibility that this next move might be our last.
Second, why the new emphasis on study and community gatherings/meals? As I mentioned in my message of last Sunday (8.31.08), after considerable thought, prayer and study we as an eldership were persuaded that these things were timely and necessary. Let me break that down. I spent a good deal of time thinking, praying and studying relative to the future direction of Lamb. This, I believe is a principal responsibility of the Senior Pastor. I then shared my sense of this with the elders and Mary Anne in the form of a written document, which by the way, includes more than just the four items I’ve mentioned - Worship, Study, Outreach and Community building. We as a group of leaders, responsible for governing the church were in agreement (I would not have gone forward without that consensus). This describes something of the process that we engaged in to arrive at the current focus.
Now - we depend on the support of the people. Just because we believe that plurality of leaders is the biblical way to govern the church still requires the ‘Amen’ of the people. If you don’t support it then we end up with what amounts to a ‘no confidence’ vote. Therefore you are being called upon to trust and support what we have determined is timely and necessary. But, Pastor, what if I don’t share the same view of things? Then I guess we both have a problem. Either you must decide to support these things even if your not entirely convinced or you may have to decide that Lamb isn’t the place for you. My experience of 20+ years tells me that leaders have to lead, they can’t constantly put their fingers in the wind and try to please everyone. No church has any prospects of progressing together unless they can submit themselves to godly leadership. This is a great challenge of the present day. We have been awash in individualism for so many decades that many Christians find it very difficult to take any direction unless it agrees with what they want to do anyway. Leaders are compelled to govern by consensus - i.e. ‘Hey guys, do you want to try this?’ This is nothing like the leadership which we find though out the scriptures. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews pulls no punches - Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you (Heb. 13:7). Wow, that almost sounds archaic and relative to the spirit of the age it is. But it is the Word of God and we are called to listen.
However, what we have chosen can, if embraced with joyful enthusiasm, become a great blessing to the life of the church and the quality of our common life. We are attempting to add two new elements to the pattern of our shared life: a common meal and a shared study time. We realize that Saturdays are chore times for most of us. Therefore we are asking for only one morning a month. We believe that this commitment will enrich our lives greatly, build the depth and quality of our understanding of God’s truth and pass along a legacy of substantive Christianity in a Christian culture awash in superficiality.
Next, integrating a pattern or tradition of regularly sharing a meal as a community (along with a community meeting) is an attempt to build and strengthen the quality of community life we experience as a congregation. My hope is that is will spill over into regular informal hospitality being practice throughout the church. I believe that it is the warmth and blessedness of informal fellowship around the table that is one of our greatest missional potentialities. We have a quality of life in our families which needs to be shared. The tradition of gathering every 6 weeks as a community for a meal together is a small way that we can stir one another up to good works, and to share in one another’s lives.
Finally, the news of my sabbatical may have come across as sudden. Please forgive that. Talk of it among the elders has gone on for over a year. The decision to implement this came sometime ago, but the announcement of it came rather late in the process. I hope that you are not troubled by that, because it was by no means capricious or arbitrary. Honestly, I am a hard man to wrangle down on matters of this nature (consider that I’ve never in 20 years done anything like this). But now that I have begun I am delighted that it is here for me to use to refresh my heart and mind and to enrich my studies of the Word. I am available during these six months, and I continue to meet with men regularly, to pursue prayer, to meet with the elders and to oversee the work of the church. I am attempting to spend between 20 and 25 hours a week reading and studying. I am trying to read 500 pages per week. Just to give you an idea of how that is going this week (9.1 through 9.5) I was able to complete only 300 pages. So it is a challenge. Please pray for me. Also I am making a serious attempt to get myself back in good physical condition. Since I broke my leg 5 years ago I have experienced a steady decline in my health (almost entirely related to lack of exercise). In January of this year I attempted to do something about that, and have maintained a five day a week pattern of exercise. This past Friday (9.5) I joined the Montclair Y with the intention of taking things up a notch and developing a more comprehensive program of cardio-fitness and strength training. I believe this is good stewardship and something that God blesses.
I hope this helps you get a sense of things in the church, and in terms of where we are going. One of the things that I believe will bless us greatly is having a chance to hear some of the gifted teachers that we have right here at Lamb. I am filled with joy at the prospects of Ben Stamper, Kevin Houk, Todd Polyniak, Gary Patti, Kevin Gann and Mary Anne Dahmen preaching. I am very confident that you will be enriched and strengthen by what they bring to the body. Pray for them.
Peace…
September 6th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I believe a sabbatical is wonderful. After all, all Israel (including the land) had a sabbatical every 7th year, and even a jubilee after the seventh seven. And when the land was not given it’s sabbatical rest, the land became unproductive (Numbers). So, I anticipate that this sabbatical will be a great blessing for you and for the body of Christ as the Lord renews and inspires you. Wonderful!!!
Also, I really enjoy the messages that the Lord gives the other elders. We have a very varied and talented group of leaders.
September 21st, 2008 at 1:03 am
Sabbaticals seem to be in style this year! :^)