Surly's Soap Box

As some are aware, I have been blogging about the church I am part of. The Pastor, who planted the church, is moving on, and now the body that is left has to answer some tough questions. This is a letter sent out last week which encapsulates the questions at hand. The names of people and places have been changed because, well, it doesn't matter as much as the chronical of how the people of the church react, and what becomes of us.



Hi everyone:

This past Sunday we continued to talk about God’s plans for the church. As the service closed, I asked people to respond to me this week with a sense of how God was speaking to them personally…basically one of three responses:

1: I am sure about my call and commitment to the church.
2: I am not sure.
3: No I do not feel called into this next chapter of the church's history.

Please respond to me this week and give me a sense of what God is saying to you. I know we have been processing a lot with the Lord.

Some people have asked me various questions and I thought I’d share a number of thoughts with you:



1. I believe the church was created to express a fuller sense of what it means to be the church. We have never sought to duplicate what other churches have done, but rather took two things seriously:

a. Looked at what kinds of experiences we needed and could realistically supply that would help us become more like Christ.

b. Looked at how we could demonstrate the love of God to our surrounding community.



This doesn’t mean that we always “did it right”, but it does mean that we sought to live authentically and realistically. In this next season, it isn’t about how quickly we can provide certain programs, events or services, but rather how we can continue to help one another grow in Christ and demonstrate to others who watch us what that looks like.

Therefore, as you pray and ponder the church's future entreat Christ to express Himself fully through our body.

***(non relevant paragraph omitted)***

Please continue to pray for our transitions.

Peace and Grace,

Pastor




As far as I am concerned, I am sure about my call and commitment to the church. I am looking forward to the adventure of really stepping up to what I feel God as been putting on my heart and preparing me for.

My wife, however, is struggling a bit. She is a very structured person, and with out the Pastor, she feels that bones have been pulled from the chicken. She wants to be supportive of me as I start doing more of the preaching, but can't get past the lack of a firm "chain of command". I think that a pastoral person will rise up from with in our church, but I don't think we will become a single person focused church. We will see.