This month:
STORIES
•A startup in a pastoral size Nebraska church
•Small groups study the Acts of the Apostles and their daily missions
•For outreach to children, start this junior choir program and offer a music camp next summer
•“Generic” start-ups for clergy
•And if one’s work is in the military . . .
•“Letters to the Editor” – one pastor’s mission in the wider world
RESOURCES
•“Changing Your Mind: Contemplative Prayer and Personal Transformation”
•“The Mission of ‘Doing God's Will’”
“LETTERS” from THE EDITOR
•Wanted: Entrepreneurs for member mission
•The daily missions of single parents
•For pictures of Christians in their daily mission fields
•The full meanings of baptism and evangelism
•Einstein’s other theory of relativity
STORIES
A startup in a pastoral size Nebraska church
Ruth Tomlinson liked the member mission vision when it was presented at the clergy conference for the Diocese of Nebraska in January. She is the pastor of Trinity Church, in Norfolk, NE, about 125 miles from Omaha. Sunday congregations average 70 - 80. In this startup year as pastor, she is preparing the ground for this new vision step by step. She had begun a morning Bible study in the fall into which she has now incorporated the “oral” method (from WTMATM, pp. 165 - 7) with its emphasis on how does this passage speak to my life today. A second group meets in the evening with her husband as co-leader. Further, she sees her storytelling style in preaching as a natural opening to connect daily life and living God’s mission wherever you are. To help her, she requests, “Send me your stories, ” and the responses have been good. For July, she has eight people from her midweek Bible study classes studying the Sunday readings on how they speak to them. What they share with her will become part of her sermons. And, no doubt, what they see will point to their sense of being on mission. In addition, she has already begun to incorporate into her sermons the language of “Monday through Saturday ministry” and love and justice as “where God is found.”
A “Leadership Academy” open to all members of the congregation precedes each vestry meeting for about an hour. The vestry members are the primary participants. The evening begins with oral Bible study and is followed by the topic of the month. To help to lay the groundwork for member mission, she began to work with the vestry on the value of intentionally leading change in a congregation. They discussed Gil Rendle’s Leading Change in the Congregation (Alban Institute, 1998). This provides something for them to hang member mission on rather than treating it as another program.
For last month’s topic, the Academy used the worksheet from “Basic Tools 2 – Reflecting on our six daily arenas” (go to www.membermissionpress.org > Making the Vision Work > Basic Tools) to discuss their ministries in the six fields of daily life. They liked it and commented, “Haven’t we already been doing this?” and “We didn’t know we were doing as much as we are.” Most importantly, while they were quite aware that God was helping them to do these things, they had never made the connection that what they were doing might be part of the church’s ministry! Also, while some have been members for twenty years or more, all are learning things about each other they had never known. Since beginning the Leadership Academy, the vestry meetings which follow the Academy get more done in less time. Ruth calls all this taking slow baby steps with an eye to long-term success.
Contact: The Rev. Ruth Tomlinson, Trinity Church, 11 S. 9th Street, Norfolk NE 68701; 402-371-3080; rmtomlinson@yahoo.com.
Small groups study the Acts of the Apostles and their daily missions
This summer, Susan Snook, Associate Rector at near-corporation size St. Anthony on the Desert in Scottsdale, AZ (congregations average 325) is coordinating seven pilot groups on how mission took place in the early church and its guidance for mission today. For example, the inclusion of the Gentiles calls for the inclusion of all kinds of people today; and the work of the deacons waiting on tables for the poor calls us to look at how we serve people today. The focus is on both the treasuring and use of the gifts of all within the church and the church’s treasuring and use of all the gifts in the community it serves; and on how the members are serving each other and how their church is serving their surrounding community. The call is clear for all to find their place in the life and outreach of St. Anthony’s. Further, the study cannot help but suggest that each participant live out this kind of valuing and serving others in all of their individual Monday to Saturday living. The small-group format will help people become closer to others in the community, and also help them find a group which will support them in their Christian journey of ministry and faith.
Some of the participants in the pilot groups will become the leaders and hosts of groups in the Fall. Each group will meet for six to eight sessions, a limited-time format which many people find they are able to commit to. They are using a study guide prepared by Susan Snook and Chuck Robertson, the Canon for Congregational Development in the diocese of Arizona. They may experiment with asking, “On the basis of what we have done, how will you live this week?” at the end of each session. [This kind of small group experience can easily lead to ongoing small groups to support the participants in their daily living as Christians. – AWS]
Contact: The Rev. Susan Snook, St. Anthony on the Desert, 12990 Shea Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ 85253-4344; 480-451-0860; susansnook@msn.com.
For outreach to children, start this junior choir program and offer a music camp next summer
At program size (Sunday congregations average 220 - 250) St. Peter’s Church, Cheshire, CT, Sandra Stayner finds that the chorister program for the junior choir has “taken off.” The fifteen choristers are boys and girls third grade and up. They rehearse two evenings per week and meet to tune up at 9:45 - 10:15 am on Sundays. Ten 7 - 8 year-olds are in the novice program to join the choristers the next year. It follows the English Royal Church Music format where music itself is taught as well as how to sing. And, the director enjoys teaching about the liturgy as much as about music. To top it off, a summer choir camp has been planned. It will teach choir and theater and build a small tool shed as part of Habitat for Humanity. Two thirds of the children coming to the camp are from outside the congregation!
Contact: The Rev. Sandra Stayner, St. Peter’s Church, 59 Main Street, Cheshire, CT 06410; 203-272-4041; sandra.stayner@stpeterscheshire.org.
“Generic” start-ups for clergy
So you’re caught up in the reality that the laity in their daily living are the primary missionaries in today’s world. And you sense that supporting laity in their daily living should be central to your congregation’s life. And you wonder just how to begin talking with some of your leaders about these convictions. Well, here are some "generic" ways that are working for many.
1. Lay out the vision. It can be as briefly done as above. For some more theology, go to www.membermissionpress.org > Making the Vision Work > Basic Tools > Basic Tools 1. Also, see “The Mission of ‘Doing God’s Will’” in Resources below.
2. Next, help people see the good things they are already doing with Basic Tools 2. Then, talk with them about how these fields of daily life are mission fields by using Basic Tools 3.
3. For many, the “clincher” for this new vision of mission is to compare congregational missions and member missions using Basic Tools 5. We never forsake congregational missions but we do face their limits. Then, we rejoice to sense the unlimited possibilities of what the members can do in their daily mission fields. The church is in the world – deeply and with both feet – through its members. All of church life is our guide and source of power for carrying out our daily missions. Church is more important than ever. Our Monday to Saturday living is based on Sunday.
4. For some next steps for your congregation, write membermission@aol.com or phone 518-963-7541.
Also, see “Changing Your Mind” in Resources below.
And if one’s work is in the military . . .
[Guards and Reserves returning from – or going to – Iraq might welcome this story. – AWS]
As commander of the Florida National Guard from 1982-92, Major General Robert F. Ensslin saw a two-fold mission – to assure the readiness of the Guard and Reserve to respond to local and national emergencies and to increase public awareness of the service performed by National Guard soldiers and air crews. Too often the Guard and Reserve were thought to be second-class soldiers.
One example of his two-fold mission was working to obtain new equipment for the force, rather than continuing to accept leftover equipment from the regular Army. Securing new hardware for the Guard meant trips to Washington to give strong support to the bills before Congress that would provide modern gear for them. The outcome was a fair share of the new equipment. Further, he finds that respect for the Guard has grown steadily over the years to become the full recognition we now give to our citizen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Drafted during the Korean War, Bob completed Officers' Candidate School, was commissioned, and served as a forward observer for the artillery. He recalls a time that it looked like his unit was sure to be overrun by the enemy. As he turned to prayer, he found a sense of peace came to him. It did not all depend on him. He would do what he could do even if the outcome could be losing his life. After Korea, he, first, joined the Reserves and, in 1955, changed to the National Guard. He continued this service while pursuing his civilian employment, first with Sears, and, then, with his own Ensslin Advertising Agency. He later sold his successful agency to accept Gov. Bob Graham's appointment to lead the Florida Military Department in 1982.
Contact: MG Robert F. Ensslin, 703-960-2249; robert.ensslin@verizon.net. [Bob had been my close friend in Scouting and high school during the 1940s. A coincidence led to renewing that friendship last fall. During that visit, I asked if he had seen any particular missions he believed he was called to take up during his leadership in the Guard. He responded as above. – AWS]
“Letters to the Editor” – one pastor’s mission in the wider world
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“The fix is in unity,” the letter in the picture on the lower right of the newspaper excerpt, calls for taxing all of one’s income by removing the $90,000 cap as the way to pay for Social Security. It is one of many views on how to pay for social security. What’s of interest is that the writer, Bill Cooper, is an Episcopal priest. He writes many such letters.
What led you to write? “Christians care about people – about the elderly, about the disabled, about people who are in need.” Do you see God helping you to write in any way? “The Holy Spirit calls us to care – almost compels me to take the time to write.” How do you respond to someone who says, “I sure disagree with that letter you wrote”? “I say, ‘Let’s hear the basis of your disagreement.’ I’d open the dialogue so each of us understands where the other is coming from. Maybe the Holy Spirit will alter our perceptions.” Why do you stick your neck out this way? “It’s what Christians do. You can’t read the Bible and be a prayerful person led by the Spirit and not be compelled to do such things. It’s comes with the package. Sure I like to be liked but that’s not nearly as important as someone’s old age being put in jeopardy. People in the congregation know where I stand – just by my bumper stickers, not by any tirades from the pulpit. I don’t wear a collar to bully people into my position. I write as Bill Cooper. I don’t sign the letter as ‘The Rev.’ because people will think I’m trying to speak on behalf of the church. I don’t have any right to talk on behalf of the church any more than anybody else does. Having a passion for justice doesn’t come with ordination. It comes with being a biblically formed person.” Why do you risk making others angry with you? “If we are more interested in our careers than in God’s passion for justice, why are we ordained?” Contact: The Rev. William A. Cooper, Jr., St. Thomas’ Church, 8 Brentwood Ave., Tupper Lake, NY, 12986; 518-359-8786; bilmar@localnet.com.
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RESOURCES
“Changing Your Mind: Contemplative Prayer and Personal Transformation” by Brian C. Taylor in the Sewanee Theological Review (Easter 2005). Why is it so hard for laity to see themselves as missionaries? Taylor describes how learning is a neurological mixture of weighting and altering the pathways of thought in our brain. Past fears and pain hamper the forming of new pathways. We can learn but it “takes time and, above all, repeated experience. The brain only learns through repetition.” Contemplate new thoughts – like member mission – and new neural pathways open up. So, leaders, take your time; don’t get discouraged about repeating the same message many times; and encourage people to meditate on member mission! For a copy, call 1-800-722-1974 and ask for the STR office; or write STR, School of Theology, Sewanee, TN 37383-0001.
“The Mission of ‘Doing God's Will’” – Sermon notes connecting member mission with the “moral earnestness” of Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount; a good outline for any presentation of member mission. Preached by the Rev. James Gill at Christ Church, Norway, ME; 5/28/05; Matthew 5:38-48. Go to www.membermissionpress.org > Making the Vision Work > Sermons.
“LETTERS” from THE EDITOR
•Wanted: Entrepreneurs for member mission. Value the vision of every member on mission 24/7/365; resolve to hang-in for the long-term change in congregational life it requires; gather up your resources; be a ”happy warrior” who likes sharp dialogue where all learn from each other; rejoice daily in private and every Sunday in public and at length on stories of the victories of Christ’s agents over whatever blocks love and justice. Qualifications: ability to walk alone while you find your supports and build your team. Salary: ever-growing excitement. Apply now to begin in September.
•Demographers now predict that more than half the children born in the 1990s will spend at least part of their childhood in a single parent home. Plan ways to support the daily missions of single parents.
•Where can you go for pictures of Christians in their daily mission fields? Decide which mission field you want; then look among the congregation for a member already doing it. Even small town congregation offers more than enough people to choose from.
•The full meaning of baptism is joining God’s mission in Jesus Christ to overcome evil, sin, and death. Full evangelism is, then, calling people to join this mission.
•Einstein’s other theory of relativity: “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind” (from The New Quotable Einstein, Princeton University Press).