Hello Church,
I have a stick shift car. When I get to a certain speed, I have to manually shift to second gear in order to go faster. Otherwise, I am only going to be able to go a certain speed.
The church is a stick shift car.
1st Gear: God calls people to be His church, sending Christ to save and the Holy Spirit to teach.... shift
2nd Gear: The pastor leads the church to establish an overall vision of a preferred future... shift
3rd Gear: Leadership teams are put into place to accelerate the vision into dreaming and planning specific ministries..... shift
4th Gear: Laity take up opportunities to help implement plans designed by the leadership.... shift
5th Gear: The result of engaging, effective ministries attract people to discipleship, increasing leadership, increasing laity, increasing the number of ministries being implemented.
The church is a stick shift car.
We are currently in 4th gear. Some cars only have 4 gears.
For those who consider Emmanuel your home church, you are invited to pay attention to the Tuesday and/or Thursday emails. The next shift is up to you.
Monday, April 29, 2019
Monday, April 22, 2019
A Cynical View Of Easter And Why Pastor Joe Is Not Worn Out
Hello Church,
I made it through another Holy Week. How tragic that pastors often think this way. Not 'I had another awesome Holy Week', but 'I MADE IT THROUGH another Holy Week.' How tragic.
Here is an explanation from just one pastor.... the only one I have the most hope to understand... me.
Faith is written with permanent marker on my heart. It won't go away. Christ compels me to continue driving forward, seeking goodness. We had a good Holy Week and a good Easter Sunday. However, my permanent marker won't go away. It's the day after Easter Sunday and it's still there.
There is a price to be paid for this.
I sometimes lament my lack of creative excitement. For example, I look around and see the glamour of Easter in other places. Churches, specifically, catch my eye. Extra special events; bigger-than-usual plans; higher energy; etc are done with Easter Sunday specifically in mind. However, I look at myself and I see none of that desire. Easter is great, but my desire to put extra creative excitement into it is lacking. I sometimes lament this. And I know there are people in the church who lament having such a pastor as well.
But I also understand myself. It's the permanent marker.
Creative excitement cannot last. I know this. Next Sunday every church will be back to the normal. People who participated last Sunday won't be seen again for many months (maybe a year exactly). And who will be the one to continue driving Faith forward? It won't be the people who expended extra-special energy into Easter and want to rest until Mother's Day or Memorial Day or Pentecost.... or Christmas. It will be the people who have Faith written on their hearts with permanent marker; Faith that reads just as clearly on any given, normal day. I am one of those. And I do not lament it nor apologize for it.
Let me be a bit more transparent and show a bit of my frustration with church life. The desire to be a day-to-day, grind-it-out, marthon-running disciple is too rare. I don't claim to have it all together, but that is my point. Because I don't, I understand the necessity of having God's Holy Spirit working on me every moment.... not just when creative excitement is before me.. not just when Easter or Pentecost or Christmas conks me on the head. Even more so, I believe having the ups and downs of 'extra-special' events hurts me. My day-to-day grind of following Jesus has difficulty handling the emotional ups and downs of 'extra-special' celebrations in the church. This is because the Sunday after is always back to normal... and often times the people that were 'all in' are suddenly gone again. I want every Sunday to be normal... to be normally exciting.
Maybe this is why I have been called Scrooge in December and why Doubting Thomas (the Sunday after Easter) is just as significant to me as Mary running to the disciples on Sunday morning. I want even-keel.... because the permanent marker won't go away. I want my Faith to be equally legible all 52 Sundays of every year, regardless of the occasion.
And I want a church to be willing to pick up the pieces when all the excitement goes away. I want a church that will drive forward when other churches are resting from partying too much. I want a church that is the consistent mainstay of a community through all the grind. I want a church that has Faith written with permanent marker upon its heart. I don't want an especially great attendance on Easter. I want a normally great attendance every Sunday. I want a church that leads the charge when other churches don't see the man-made advantages of such.
Easter is here. New leadership is in place. Now it is time to start doing.
Are you worn out from all the special excitement last week?
I am not.
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
I made it through another Holy Week. How tragic that pastors often think this way. Not 'I had another awesome Holy Week', but 'I MADE IT THROUGH another Holy Week.' How tragic.
Here is an explanation from just one pastor.... the only one I have the most hope to understand... me.
Faith is written with permanent marker on my heart. It won't go away. Christ compels me to continue driving forward, seeking goodness. We had a good Holy Week and a good Easter Sunday. However, my permanent marker won't go away. It's the day after Easter Sunday and it's still there.
There is a price to be paid for this.
I sometimes lament my lack of creative excitement. For example, I look around and see the glamour of Easter in other places. Churches, specifically, catch my eye. Extra special events; bigger-than-usual plans; higher energy; etc are done with Easter Sunday specifically in mind. However, I look at myself and I see none of that desire. Easter is great, but my desire to put extra creative excitement into it is lacking. I sometimes lament this. And I know there are people in the church who lament having such a pastor as well.
But I also understand myself. It's the permanent marker.
Creative excitement cannot last. I know this. Next Sunday every church will be back to the normal. People who participated last Sunday won't be seen again for many months (maybe a year exactly). And who will be the one to continue driving Faith forward? It won't be the people who expended extra-special energy into Easter and want to rest until Mother's Day or Memorial Day or Pentecost.... or Christmas. It will be the people who have Faith written on their hearts with permanent marker; Faith that reads just as clearly on any given, normal day. I am one of those. And I do not lament it nor apologize for it.
Let me be a bit more transparent and show a bit of my frustration with church life. The desire to be a day-to-day, grind-it-out, marthon-running disciple is too rare. I don't claim to have it all together, but that is my point. Because I don't, I understand the necessity of having God's Holy Spirit working on me every moment.... not just when creative excitement is before me.. not just when Easter or Pentecost or Christmas conks me on the head. Even more so, I believe having the ups and downs of 'extra-special' events hurts me. My day-to-day grind of following Jesus has difficulty handling the emotional ups and downs of 'extra-special' celebrations in the church. This is because the Sunday after is always back to normal... and often times the people that were 'all in' are suddenly gone again. I want every Sunday to be normal... to be normally exciting.
Maybe this is why I have been called Scrooge in December and why Doubting Thomas (the Sunday after Easter) is just as significant to me as Mary running to the disciples on Sunday morning. I want even-keel.... because the permanent marker won't go away. I want my Faith to be equally legible all 52 Sundays of every year, regardless of the occasion.
And I want a church to be willing to pick up the pieces when all the excitement goes away. I want a church that will drive forward when other churches are resting from partying too much. I want a church that is the consistent mainstay of a community through all the grind. I want a church that has Faith written with permanent marker upon its heart. I don't want an especially great attendance on Easter. I want a normally great attendance every Sunday. I want a church that leads the charge when other churches don't see the man-made advantages of such.
Easter is here. New leadership is in place. Now it is time to start doing.
Are you worn out from all the special excitement last week?
I am not.
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
Monday, April 15, 2019
Experience This Week Differently
Hello Church,
This Holy Week is different for Emmanuel.
First, we are having Maundy Thursday (7:00) AND Good Friday (7:00) services. Amelia UMC will be participating with us. We are not used to doing both, but I hope you will attend one or both of them. Each service is unique and adds to the story leading up to Easter.
As I get busy preparing for the week, I am trying to not get distracted. A post-leave lesson learned is that my doing can get in the way of my believing. The significance of productive tasks tend to substitute for they 'whys' of doing.
Faith must trump tasks. I invite you to think through this. Faith should drive our tasks. Our tasks should not drive our Faith. It is similar to 'salvation by faith' vs 'salvation by works'. Jesus leads us to Faith which leads us to actions. Sometimes we think reversing that is a good thing. It is not.
Second, I hope I will see you at Amelia UMC for the Sunrise Service (7:30) and breakfast (8:00). The youth have worked hard at getting the service ready for us. Not only should we support them, but we should let them inspire us on THE most important day of our Faith. What better way to start an Easter morning than to watch young people lead us in worship??
Third, our 10:30 worship service will have a different look. We will be talking about resurrection, but it will not just be a history lesson. It will be a practical look at how we are living into resurrection through our new vision and leadership. You want proof we are a new thing? It isn't just the empty tomb. It is what the resurrected Christ is driving us toward.
Also, there will be Sunday School and Bible Study at 9:30. The Bible Study will be starting a new journey into the book of Galatians. I hope to see you there as well.
This Holy Week is different for Emmanuel.
First, we are having Maundy Thursday (7:00) AND Good Friday (7:00) services. Amelia UMC will be participating with us. We are not used to doing both, but I hope you will attend one or both of them. Each service is unique and adds to the story leading up to Easter.
As I get busy preparing for the week, I am trying to not get distracted. A post-leave lesson learned is that my doing can get in the way of my believing. The significance of productive tasks tend to substitute for they 'whys' of doing.
Faith must trump tasks. I invite you to think through this. Faith should drive our tasks. Our tasks should not drive our Faith. It is similar to 'salvation by faith' vs 'salvation by works'. Jesus leads us to Faith which leads us to actions. Sometimes we think reversing that is a good thing. It is not.
Second, I hope I will see you at Amelia UMC for the Sunrise Service (7:30) and breakfast (8:00). The youth have worked hard at getting the service ready for us. Not only should we support them, but we should let them inspire us on THE most important day of our Faith. What better way to start an Easter morning than to watch young people lead us in worship??
Third, our 10:30 worship service will have a different look. We will be talking about resurrection, but it will not just be a history lesson. It will be a practical look at how we are living into resurrection through our new vision and leadership. You want proof we are a new thing? It isn't just the empty tomb. It is what the resurrected Christ is driving us toward.
Also, there will be Sunday School and Bible Study at 9:30. The Bible Study will be starting a new journey into the book of Galatians. I hope to see you there as well.
Monday, April 8, 2019
This Bad Habit Is Contagious
Hello Church,
As we move forward into a new thing, my thoughts turn to team work.
The last couple of years we have learned a bad habit. This bad habit was started by me. In the midst of my burnout I stopped putting energy into enlisting support and help in doing tasks. This is because it take more energy for me to get people to 'do' than it does for me to do it myself. So in many cases I became a 'lone ranger' and ran around doing. In the process, I got more burned out because I was always doing and many times I had no help because I didn't seek it out.
This bad habit was picked up by the church. Lone Rangers going around trying to 'hold down the fort'. Frustration spread.....
... but now it is time for a new thing.... here are my new rules for pastoring the church....
Rule #1 - Form a team to make ministry happen, complete with vision, purpose and good leadership
Rule #2 - If the team agrees to do it, you do it.
Rule #3 - If the team doesn't agree to do it, you don't do it.
Rule #4 - If you don't have an effective team, but want something done, see rule #1
As a result of these new rules, I had to make new personal rules. This was my wake-up call and part of what I learned during my leave. Here they are:
Rule #1 - I will take ownership of my actions or in-actions.
Rule #2 - I will not take ownership of other people's actions or in-actions.
Rule #3 - If I make a mistake, I will do what I can to correct it. See rule #1.
Rule #4 - If someone else makes a mistake, I will not let it ruin my day. See rule #2.
As we move into a new church approach to ministry, I am promising not to repeat the same mistakes. This means better teamwork and no lone ranger work. I will encourage the same in you.
In this way, the church becomes the church; the pastor stays the pastor; and God works through all of us in His special way.
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
As we move forward into a new thing, my thoughts turn to team work.
The last couple of years we have learned a bad habit. This bad habit was started by me. In the midst of my burnout I stopped putting energy into enlisting support and help in doing tasks. This is because it take more energy for me to get people to 'do' than it does for me to do it myself. So in many cases I became a 'lone ranger' and ran around doing. In the process, I got more burned out because I was always doing and many times I had no help because I didn't seek it out.
This bad habit was picked up by the church. Lone Rangers going around trying to 'hold down the fort'. Frustration spread.....
... but now it is time for a new thing.... here are my new rules for pastoring the church....
Rule #1 - Form a team to make ministry happen, complete with vision, purpose and good leadership
Rule #2 - If the team agrees to do it, you do it.
Rule #3 - If the team doesn't agree to do it, you don't do it.
Rule #4 - If you don't have an effective team, but want something done, see rule #1
As a result of these new rules, I had to make new personal rules. This was my wake-up call and part of what I learned during my leave. Here they are:
Rule #1 - I will take ownership of my actions or in-actions.
Rule #2 - I will not take ownership of other people's actions or in-actions.
Rule #3 - If I make a mistake, I will do what I can to correct it. See rule #1.
Rule #4 - If someone else makes a mistake, I will not let it ruin my day. See rule #2.
As we move into a new church approach to ministry, I am promising not to repeat the same mistakes. This means better teamwork and no lone ranger work. I will encourage the same in you.
In this way, the church becomes the church; the pastor stays the pastor; and God works through all of us in His special way.
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
Monday, April 1, 2019
Pastors CAN take a back seat.
Hello Church,
We are in the midst of a new thing. How do I know? Things are happening and I am not necessarily the instigator. This is when it gets scary for me......
For example, I get a facebook notification that the church I pastor is partnering with the Humane Society. Huh? Why am I finding this out on facebook? How come nobody asked me? I never put my stamp of approval on this!
The answer: the church is being the church like they are supposed to be.
How refreshing it is to find out that ministry can happen without my involvement..... that the pastor doesn't have to be and shouldn't be called every time some sort of permission needs to be given.... that leadership can be trusted to lead within the confines of a church vision and sometimes the pastor can follow....
How wonderfully, ecstatically, enthusiastically, refreshing!!!
To go further, did you know there were 2 church meetings yesterday that were about 2 very specific ministry projects and I went to neither one? (and to be sure, I wasn't specifically invited either). Scary for me? Yes! Beneficial for everyone? Yes!
The church gets to be the church without me, the pastor, sticking his biased opinions into every decision that needs to be made. Will I be happy with everything decided upon? No. Does God care? Not as long as the I do the work of establishing an over-arching church vision and putting leaders in place that hold to the vision. Nope, God won't care about my approval.
That said, I can always be available when called upon. Know that I am a very big resource person that any ministry project can go to in order to be helped. I am at the beck-and-call of the church. The church is not at the beck-and-call of me. This is the way it should be.
Emmanuel is re-asserting its Methodism! Lay people at work (and, oh, by the way, Joe is here to help too). I am very proud of our pivot so far. It makes me want to lead harder and louder and with more energy. It's a new thing and I am glad.
Let's keep it going. I'm looking forward to more surprises from the new ministry teams. Just be gentle. It's still scary for me.
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
We are in the midst of a new thing. How do I know? Things are happening and I am not necessarily the instigator. This is when it gets scary for me......
For example, I get a facebook notification that the church I pastor is partnering with the Humane Society. Huh? Why am I finding this out on facebook? How come nobody asked me? I never put my stamp of approval on this!
The answer: the church is being the church like they are supposed to be.
How refreshing it is to find out that ministry can happen without my involvement..... that the pastor doesn't have to be and shouldn't be called every time some sort of permission needs to be given.... that leadership can be trusted to lead within the confines of a church vision and sometimes the pastor can follow....
How wonderfully, ecstatically, enthusiastically, refreshing!!!
To go further, did you know there were 2 church meetings yesterday that were about 2 very specific ministry projects and I went to neither one? (and to be sure, I wasn't specifically invited either). Scary for me? Yes! Beneficial for everyone? Yes!
The church gets to be the church without me, the pastor, sticking his biased opinions into every decision that needs to be made. Will I be happy with everything decided upon? No. Does God care? Not as long as the I do the work of establishing an over-arching church vision and putting leaders in place that hold to the vision. Nope, God won't care about my approval.
That said, I can always be available when called upon. Know that I am a very big resource person that any ministry project can go to in order to be helped. I am at the beck-and-call of the church. The church is not at the beck-and-call of me. This is the way it should be.
Emmanuel is re-asserting its Methodism! Lay people at work (and, oh, by the way, Joe is here to help too). I am very proud of our pivot so far. It makes me want to lead harder and louder and with more energy. It's a new thing and I am glad.
Let's keep it going. I'm looking forward to more surprises from the new ministry teams. Just be gentle. It's still scary for me.
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
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