Pastor Erik--April 2008

Last month I wrote about our Guiding Principles, and how I wasn’t going to tell you just how we are supposed to use them. I know this was less than satisfying for many of you, who are still trying to wrap your heads around these six statements and what they mean. I’m with you. It’s not clear how God is going to continue to transform us through these statements. But…I’ve got another example to share—one that took place even before these guiding principles were put to paper (or bulletin, or business card, or giant full color poster, or T-shirt). And once again, it has to do with our doors.

Back in September, I wrote about how I saw in the process of replacing our front doors what I thought would be one of our Guiding Principles—the principle that came out “Everyone is Welcome”. Well, now it’s clear to me that God had us using all of our Guiding Principles in that process—even though we didn’t consciously know what they were yet. And here’s how:

1)Jesus is Lord and Savior. Conversations about our broken doors and whether we thought they ought to be repaired (again) or replaced have been going on around here for years. Some people wanted new doors, some people didn’t think we needed them. Hours and hours were spent in council meetings on whose opinion should win, but nobody wanted to hurt anybodies feelings, and so nothing ever seemed to happen. That is until the conversation started to move away from “what do we want/need/think is best” and towards “What is God calling us to do?” Jesus—not me, the council, or even the congregation—is Lord, and when we started to think in this way it lead to…

2) Everyone is Welcome. When we started to think about what God is calling us to do and be, and how we proclaim (or don’t proclaim) Jesus to the world it quickly became clear that we believe “Everyone is Welcome” but our old, clunky, broken doors were communicating “Everyone Stay Out!” In a clear use of our emerging Guiding Principle, the old doors were quickly gone, funds raised, and new ones installed—not because somebody wanted it and they one, but because we together saw how we weren’t living up to something very central to us, and were communicating to the world exactly the opposite of what God was calling us to.

3) Love Changes People. Though the process to replace the doors happened quickly, there continued to be different opinions on whether this was the right move or the right time. Rather than pushing for their way, those who felt called to lead us into getting new doors helped us gently see the possibility of change, loving us into a new future. It was actually the kids who got most excited about this, each week they pasted a picture of one sort of door we might want to get onto the old doors. Little by little the dream began to spread, lovingly rather than by force, and pretty soon the congregation was alive with talk of the vision of new doors. Rather than conflict, I heard those with objections being heard, their opinions valued and listened to, and instead of being the “loosers” were part of the process, whether they every thought replacing the doors was a good idea or not.

4) We are Called to Work in God’s World One of the best reasons against the doors that was raised was “wouldn’t this money be better spent in helping the needy?” If we believe “we are called to work in God’s world” we should always ask this question—and carefully weigh our decision. As the people of God we should not simply think of ourselves, our own needs and wants, but should always be mindful of our role in the world and the plight of those who struggle to survive. But rather than a selfish “we want our church to look pretty” decision, in the end the motivation for the new doors was welcoming those outside our community, done not for us, but for others—following God’s call to hospitality.

5) God Uses Ordinary People Like Us. Though the council had gone back and forth about the old doors, this transformation happened not because of a council decision, but because ordinary people felt called to lead, and to hold us to our Guiding Principle “Everyone is Welcome”. The official vote came long after the vision had been stirred, a good portion of money raised, and real excitement built over this transformation. And though there were a few people who contributed a large amount of money, each of us who put even a few dollars into the plate for the doors helped to make this happen. In small and large ways God used us to make this transformation happen, a visible sign to us and to all who enter that God is at work at Bethlehem—that we are being transformed from the inside out. And through something as simple as some new doors.

6) God Shows the Way. In the end, the success of our new doors had little to do with our efforts, our casting of the vision, or anything else that we did. Instead, because we took the time to listen to God, to pray and dream about what God might want us to do and the sort of church God wants us to be, God lead us into transformation. And through this process we got a taste of what it looks like to engage in transformational ministry, to use our Guiding Principles (even if we didn’t know it at the time), and to follow God’s lead.

Isn’t Transformation fun?

Pastor Erik

Pastor Erik--March 2008

At our annual meeting at the end of January, our congregation adopted these Guiding Principles:

• Jesus is Lord and Savior
• Everyone is welcome
• Love changes people
• We are called to work in God's world
• God uses ordinary people like us
• God shows the way

These six statements represent those things that are most central to our life together as followers of Jesus in this place. They came from months of Bible study, prayer, and conversation by many people in our congregation. As God continues the work of transformation among us, these principles will help us make decisions, help engage us in mission, and help draw us more fully into God's dream for us.

In the past month, many people have asked “Just how are these Guiding Principles supposed to work?” It's a great question to ask, because if we just agree that these statements sound good, adopt them, but never put them to use they really won't impact us. If they are really going to serve as guides, we will need to seek to use them at every opportunity. Part of our task of the next several months is figuring out together just how these Guiding Principles will guide us. What sort of changes will we need to make together? What sort of callings might we take up (or put down!) because of them? How will we continue to check the principles themselves against God's Word and what we believe God is calling us to do and to be? Its up to every one of us to help our congregation claim these Guiding Principles and figure out how to live them out more fully and in new ways.

“So, pastor,” you might be saying to yourself, “what you're saying is you're pretty much not going to tell us how Guiding Principles are supposed to work.” And I suppose that's true, but not just because I want to be difficult. There are several reasons that our use of Guiding Principles can't just be laid out by me and followed by everyone else. The first reason is that they aren't just my Guiding Principles, or the Guiding Principles of the Transformation Team or the Church Council—they are our Guiding Principles. Another reason is that a big part of using them comes from the process of figuring out how we are going to use them, together, as a community of faith—to guide our life together as a congregation, to guide each of us as we seek to follow Jesus, and to guide our interactions with the community outside our walls. But the main reason I'm not going to just tell you all how we're going to use the Guiding Principles is that I actually don't know how they are going to work on us, or just what God has in store for us as we seek to live them out. But I'm excited see!

Over the next several months there will be many opportunities for us to use, think about, and apply our Guiding Principles, both in hypothetical situations and in the real life decisions we make together. And we should be prepared for God to transform us through them—and in ways we can't even imagine. To illustrate, I'll share a story from another Transformation congregation much like ours in Phoenix, Arizona: Alleluia Lutheran Church. They adopted a set of Guiding Principles (which are actually quite similar to ours) and they decided to propose a hypothetical situation to the congregation as a way to help people see how they might work. “Suppose,” they said “the City of Phoenix was looking for a solution to help homeless people find shelter on the coldest days and they asked our congregation if we would be willing to share our facilities to help.” Instead of pitting it as an argument between one side that thinks this is a good idea, and one side that thinks its a bad idea, they used their Guiding Principles, asking “If we were to take these principles seriously what sort of decision would we make?” When they used their Guiding Principles (Jesus is Lord, God welcomes everyone, Everything we have belongs to God, Everyone is on God's team, and Everyone needs a neighbor like us) they decided that choosing to help with the homeless project would be more in line with their principles (and closer to God's dream for them) than deciding not to. “God's welcome really is for everyone, including the homeless,” they decided, “and since our stuff is really God's stuff and we are part of God's team, we should share what we have with them—and doing so is being the sort of neighbor we would like to have.” If this sort of proposal were in front of them, they said, they would participate.

Well wouldn't you know it, that very same week—completely out of the blue—they got a letter from the Mayor of Phoenix asking if they would be interested in participating in a program very much like their hypothetical one. Who would have thought! It seems as though God was calling them to be serious about their Guiding Principles! Through their Guiding Principles God has continued to challenge them and is transforming them from a dying little Lutheran congregation, into a thriving, relevant, disciple-making community of faith. I look forward to see what God is planning for us as well!

To learn more about our Guiding Principles, the process we went though to develop them, and more about Transformation in general (including a link to Alleluia Lutheran Church) click on the “Transformation” link at www.BethlehemSpokane.org.

Pastor Erik--February 2008

It's hard to believe that its time to start thinking about Lent already.

As I write this, my Christmas lights still hang on my house (no matter what I claimed I would be up to on Epiphany Sunday afternoon!) and a heavy blanket of snow which fell yesterday makes it hard to imagine spring as anything close to right around the corner. Nevertheless, Ash Wednesday is on February 3rd this year, one day later than the earliest it can possibly be—in fact the earliest it will be until the year 2160. The system for choosing the date for Easter is unbelievably complicated and has to do with the phases of the moon, the vernal equinox, and a 2000 year debate over which calendar one is meant to use. Suffice it to say, Easter comes 40 days after Ash Wednesday and it always falls (for Christians in the West) between March 22 and April 25th (inclusive). Sundays during Lent are not counted in the 40 days, because while Lent is meant to be a time of prayer, fasting, and preparation for the celebration of Christ's resurrection, every single Sunday is a “little Easter” when we gather together to celebrate Christ's resurrection. Sundays are times to celebrate and feast—no fasting allowed! I have to admit, as interesting as it may be to ponder church church calendar, our family calendar this month is dominated by another date—February 16th—the day Tauni is due to give birth to our second daughter. The Bethlehem church council has voted to give me some leave to be with my family during this important time and so our Lenten time together this year will be a bit different. For two weeks following the baby's birth I will be on paternity leave. On Sundays during those two weeks we will be having “Hymn Sing” services where we will sing our congregation's favorite hymns (and there are many!) from the lists you all have submitted in the last several weeks. I have to admit, I'm disappointed that I will miss these. If you have an emergency and need pastoral care during these two weeks, call the church cell phone number (252-0445) which will be forwarded to a local Lutheran pastor who will be filling in during my absence. After that, for four weeks I'll be preaching and leading adult education on Sundays, I'll be in the office on Tuesdays from 9:30-12:30, but otherwise working half time from home. I'll check messages and email and will have my cell phone back in case of emergencies. Our Wednesday night Akaloo education program with our other 6 cluster churches is on hold for Lent (we start back again March 25th). On Ash Wednesday we will use a service that combines the Ash Wednesday ritual from our new hymnal together with Taizé prayer. Throughout Lent we will continue our Bethlehem tradition of Wednesday night soup suppers (6:15pm) and will be joining together in Holden Evening Prayer (7:00pm) led by our some of our congregation's many gifted singers. There will be no soup supper or service on the Wednesday before Easter (March 19th), but we will be celebrating a full Passover Seder Supper on Maundy Thursday (March 20, 6:30pm) as we did last year to much acclaim. Good Friday (March 21, 7pm) will again be Taizé prayer, there will be no Easter Vigil this year, and Easter Sunday we will worship at 10:30am. As we welcome another child into our family Tauni and I appreciate Bethlehem's willingness to give me a bit of time away from our church family. Please pray for us as we enter this new journey—and may God be with you on your Lenten journey.

Pastor Erik

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Bethlehem Lutheran Church's Guiding Principles (Passed at the Annual Meeting January 27th 2008)

• Jesus is Lord and Savior
• Everyone is welcome
• Love changes people
• We are called to work in God’s world
• God uses ordinary people like us
• God shows the way

Pastor Erik--January 2008

In the early 1990's there was a show on TV called “Quantum Leap” that remains one of my favorite series. It starred Scott Bakula as “Dr. Sam Beckett,” a physicist from the future whose experiments with time travel had gone awry causing him to be (perhaps forever) suck “leaping” into various points in history. Each episode would begin with Sam “leaping” into someone else's life in a new time and place. Only the TV viewers saw and heard Sam; when he looked in the mirror he (and we) got to see who he had become. Each episode was the story of one such “leap” as we followed Sam (as the show's intro explains) “striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.” Sam was guided by a hologram named Al, a friend from the future who helped Sam navigate his new surroundings and fulfill his purpose in that time and place.

In each situation Sam had a particular job to do—saving someone from one disaster or another, or stopping someone from making a life altering decision, or any number of other wrongs—and he and Al spent much of their time figuring out just what that purpose was supposed to be. Very often, however, Sam's purpose didn't become clear until the last few minutes of the episode—and often not at all in the way that Sam, Al, or the viewers expect. Once his purpose had been fulfilled Sam would “leap” into the next situation, into another time and place, just as unclear as to what his new purpose was meant to be. As the series progresses, it becomes clear that Sam's “leaps” are not just random chance, but that there is some method to the madness. Sam's seemingly minor actions have huge consequences: wars are averted, tragedies minimized, and life is better for everyone—with effects way beyond the people Sam interacts with. And as Sam “leaps” from life to life he, and Al (and the viewers), begin to wonder if maybe Sam's little purposes aren't part of a bigger mission—and that, perhaps, the method to the madness might just be God.

In the next couple of months we will be talking a great deal about mission and purpose as we continue our work of Transformation. Now I know trying to base our Transformation work off of anything other than the Bible is downright silly (especially some old TV show...somebody call the Bishop!). But I bring up “Quantum Leap” because I think it helps illustrate a key distinction as we continue in this work: the difference between “mission” and “purpose.”

Most organizations, businesses, non-profits, and even some individual people have developed “mission statements”—key statements about what that group is all about and how they go about their work. Many churches (including ours) develop mission statements as well, though more often than not they occupy some forgotten file drawer or are posted and forgotten. In thinking about mission and purpose it is essential that we remember that the Church's mission (and I mean the whole Christian Church on earth) is really God's mission. The Church exists not because its good in and of itself, but because it is a way that God works towards God's mission in and for the world. We play a part in that for sure, but whatever the Church is about (and whatever Bethlehem is about) is always going to be in relationship to what God is about.

But like the larger mission for Sam's “leaping” throughout history, just exactly what God has in mind for all creation is not always so crystal clear (though “putting right what has gone wrong” is not too bad!). In Adult Ed we have been reading a book called “Living Lutheran” and one of the exercises is to pray the Lord's Prayer but to repeat the line “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.” This is in part to remind us that God's dream for us, for the world, and for all creation isn't completed yet—that the kingdom of God, while here on earth, is not fully completed—and won't be until God's reign is fully expressed “on earth as in heaven.” God is continuing the work of creation, loving and blessing the world until it is as God wishes it to be. That is God's mission, and we, as the Church, are called to take part in it.

Like Sam, Bethlehem Lutheran has found itself in a particular time and place. Our job is not the same as God's—it is not our role to save the world and make it the way God wants it to be. But nevertheless God has a purpose in mind for us: it may be large, it may be small, but it is particularly ours (and may lead to other purposes as well). We may or may not get to see how our purpose fits into God's larger mission, and we may never know the full impact of our living out of God's purpose for us. But my hunch is that once we are able to figure out our particular purpose right now in God's larger mission—and seek to live it out faithfully—some hints of the larger pattern will start to appear to us too. That's what happens in the Book of Acts as the disciples try to live faithfully as followers of Jesus by eating and praying together and telling the story of Jesus. Suddenly they found themselves being called and sent to the ends of the earth—a purpose they never even imagined, but it became clear this was where God was calling them. And God used them as they lived out their particular purpose for the bigger mission that God had in mind. And their guide (the Holy Spirit) is even more helpful than a hologram named Al. It's the Holy Spirit who guides us too as we seek to figure out our particular purpose in what God is up to in the world—even if God's whole mission is not entirely clear to us. And so we are called to “leap” into the time and place into which we have found ourselves, trusting that as we seek out our purpose that God is using us in ways we don't even realize, and along the way will begin to see that we are part of something much larger than ourselves—the mission of God in the world.

Pastor Erik

Pastor Erik--December 2007

Transformation is among us!

Its been nearly a year since we began this process called “Transformation.” Now, you may be wondering when transformation is going to “happen” so we can get on with church life as usual. How are we going to know when we've arrived? When will we be transformed? Or you may even be asking: When can we quit talking about all of this?

In the gospel of Luke similar questions are being asked of Jesus about the kingdom of God: “Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’”(Luke 17:20-21) Like the kingdom of God, Transformation is not a destination exactly, not something that comes so you can say “Ok, we've done it” and just hang out. But, also like God's kingdom, you can see hints of Transformation—signs that God is up to something—the Transformation of Bethlehem is among us!

Here are some of the best signs that God is making Transformation happen among us:

Stuart Shawen

Tim Campbell

Ruth McKee

Sandy Rogers

John Slete

Mel Hayes

Linda Hayes

Nathan Clemens

Rebecca Clemens

Elliot Clemens

Ken Baungards

Vicki Baungards

David Holthaus

Erin Holthaus

Jacob Holthaus

Hannah Holthaus

Sienna Holthaus

These are the people who, in the past year, have felt called to participate in the mission of God through Bethlehem Lutheran Church by becoming members. There are 17 people on this list. For a congregation that regularly has 40-50 people in worship on any given Sunday, this is nothing short of a miracle! And two times this fall we have had 80 people in worship—more than we had this past Easter. And there's no reason to think that this won't continue. I don't think that growth for growth's sake is really what being the people of God is all about, but I also know that people don't join dying congregations. People feel called to participate in a congregation that is on its way somewhere, a community that's tuned in to what God is up to in the world and is seeking to be a part of it. We don't transform simply by adding people, but as we are transforming, people will naturally want to join with us in God's work. And through our Transformation, they have. This is cause for us to celebrate.

But in our celebration, we need to be careful not to think that “we've arrived,” that our Transformation is complete and we can just “be the church” now that we've been saved from the brink of disaster. Like the kingdom of God, Transformation is continuous, an ongoing emerging reality that we now live in. It's not about having enough people to pay the bills and being able to afford a pastor. Its not about having a full sanctuary, or lots of programs and activities, or being known as a vibrant congregation. All of these things are simply means to an end: getting us ready to engage in the purpose that God has for us in God's mission in and to the world. And for us, that's the next step. In the coming months we will be working hard on Guiding Principles—those statements that will lead us to that next stage of mission and participation of what God is up to in the world. We'll be developing a purpose statement, and seeking to find some clarity as to what it is we are to do next. God is calling us to do more that just simply “be”—we are called to transform and to keep transforming so that we will be ready to be part of God's mission and purpose for us. Its an exciting time to be a part of Bethlehem Lutheran Church to see where God is leading us next. Transformation is among us!

Pastor Erik

Pastor Erik--November 2007

Over these past months of Transformation, one question has come up again and again: “How do we recognize the call of God?” The creator of the universe is not prone to cell phone or email conversation, and only rarely resorts to inscribing things on stone tablets or giving grand visions where everything is all laid out—and none of these things seem to be happening to us. So how are we supposed to know what God has in mind for us as a community or as individual people?

We’ve been reading the Book of Acts together every Sunday morning. Actually, we’re on our second time through—having come to the end of the book at the beginning of summer and realizing that we need another run at it. It’s a great and thought provoking book—even the second time (maybe even more so). It’s an incredible (and dramatic) story, and those of us who have been delving into it are coming to realize that it has a message for us and what God is calling us to—even if the specifics on that aren’t entirely clear. Acts is itself a story about the call of God and those who respond to it—and it is chock full of transformation. So I think it’s a good place to start in answering the question “How do we recognize the call of God?”

First, we’ve got to start in prayer. Prayer is a constant activity in Acts—and especially as the disciples of Jesus faced hard, difficult, or confusing decisions. And we’re not talking merely memorized recitations here; in Acts the disciples “devote” themselves to prayer. And through prayer, transformation begins.

Next, it’s about telling the story. Again and again, even when faced with persecution or death, the followers of Jesus tell the story. They tell anyone who will listen (and even some who don’t want to hear it) about Jesus, and how he brings forgiveness, and how his message of wholeness is meant for all people. And they tell their own stories, stories of the amazing and often strange ways God has worked in their lives. Through the telling of the story, not only the hearers, but the tellers of the story are transformed.

Then, we’ve got to be sure to listen for the Holy Spirit and be willing to follow where the Spirit leads. Paul, Peter, James, Barnabas, Stephen—they all found themselves in places they never expected to be, telling about Jesus to people they never expected to encounter, and doing things they never thought possible. And when things got difficult, they listened to the Spirit and went about it some other way—and through this, God led them into ministry they never even dreamed of.

It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? One could almost write a whole self-help book on these three principles: pray, tell the story, and listen for the Holy Spirit. Just do these three simple steps, and you’ll know for sure where God is calling you. But this morning in Bible study something profound hit me. Most of the time, the disciples in Acts had no idea what was going on. From our perspective it looks so clear: “And the Holy Spirit called Paul to thus and so” but as the things were taking place, I’m pretty convinced they were fumbling around just like we do. Paul got knocked off his horse and spent several days blind before some gracious soul came to tell him what the heck was going on. Peter was released from prison by an angel, but thought he was dreaming until he found himself standing outside by himself. Again and again the disciples of Jesus bumble around until they find the place that the message will take hold—trying and failing again and again until God gives a resounding “You’re on to something!” and things work out.

In the coming months, we will be working hard on developing some guiding principles—praying, telling the story, and listening together to get those hints as to who God is calling us to be. We will seek to figure out and articulate what lies a the core of who we are, those things that make Bethlehem Lutheran Bethlehem Lutheran and will give us a clearer picture of where we may be called to go next. Part of this process will be several “cottage meetings” where we will gather in small groups around food or other activities to talk about what it is that God wants our neighbors and the world to know is true about us. I hope you will make an effort to be a part of one or more of these meetings, and participate in the shaping of our future ministry.

Maybe someday when someone writes “The Acts of Bethlehem Lutheran Church” the unfolding of God’s call will be crystal clear, and we will see what God has been leading us to all along. But in the mean time, we’ve got to bumble around like the disciples in Acts—deep in prayer, continuing to tell the story of Jesus and our own stories, and listening for the Holy Spirit for where we are to go next. If we do this, and seek to live faithfully in the mean time, I believe our calling as a people will begin to get clearer and clearer, like it did in Acts as they discovered that the Good News about Jesus was just too good to keep to themselves. God is calling us to find a place in his vision and mission in the world, too.

Pastor Erik

Pastor Erik--October 2007

Sunday, September 9^th started off like any regular Sunday at Bethlehem Lutheran. As people began to fill our sanctuary, we noticed a few unusual decorative elements—colorful cloths and hangings, a globe of flowers representing the world floating in a blue sea beneath the Christ candle, wheat and other plants where we usually see flowers, and the baptismal font directly in front of the altar—hints that something different, something festive was in store for us. When we looked a bit closer, we noticed some drums up by the pulpit and wait, is that a projector? But it wasn’t until the prelude began that we knew we were in for a wholly different worship experience than had ever taken place at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

Rather than the organ, we heard the beat of drums from our parking lot. “Listen! Listen God is calling!” The voices rang out to our neighborhood. “Hear the invitation, sent forth to all. Let us come and worship, answer God’s call.” And then, the drummers and singers made their way into the sanctuary. “Listen! Listen God is calling through the Word inviting, offering forgiveness, comfort and joy.” And you couldn’t help but listen and be drawn in to the invitation to experience God in this place. In addition to the unusual music, during this Global Mission Festival Service we focused on Global Mission, what God is up to around the world, hearing stories of pain and suffering along side stories of miracles God is doing through people just like us (and including us) and how we can be a part of what God is up to. It was challenging, heart breaking, inspiring, jarring and comforting all at the same time.

But it wasn’t all new and different. Amidst the drums and songs from Africa, Jamaica, Palestine, Brazil, Nicaragua, and other places projected up on the wall, we recognized our liturgy—bits and pieces that were familiar anchors: the Kyrie, the Apostles Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Word and the Sacraments at the center. Through the ancient pattern of worship God kept us connected to Christians throughout time and around the world—while through the unfamiliar parts we received the gifts of Christians in other places, and through these gifts God revealed himself to us in a whole new way. And it was fun! As we left the sanctuary, young and old were energized, dancing down the aisle still singing “Alabare! I will praise my Lord” as we made our way down to a coffee hour with the most incredible spread of desserts from all corners of the earth that we have ever seen. “People really eat that?” we wondered (as we ate it) “Boy, I wouldn’t have put these things together and called it dessert, but this is really good!” The presence of God was clearly among us as we worshiped and ate together—energizing us—and those who were there just can’t stop talking about it. Even little Emma sang “Uyaimose” all the way home.

Since February we have been engaged in a process of Transformation, opening ourselves up to what God is doing in the world and seeing how we can be a part of it. This worship service is a sign that this Transformation is really starting to take root. And the miracles abound. We had drums and a projector in the sanctuary—treasonous acts in some places—and they actually helped us focus on God. We raised over $150 in small change for world hunger. There were 84 people in attendance on Global Mission Sunday, TWELVE MORE than came on Easter Sunday this year. Think about that! And to top it all off, since the Global Mission Sunday nine people have indicated that they want to join Bethlehem. NINE PEOPLE! And almost all of them are under the age of 40.

Kelly Fryer in an article entitled “Traffic Jams and Transformation” reflects on research done in the past decades in the ELCA about what sorts of factors and techniques help churches to grow. She writes: “There was no single ‘technique’ that DID make a difference over the past decade…It didn’t matter what our newsletters looked like or how often we knocked on doors inviting people to church or how much people liked the pastor’s sermons. There was – get ready – only ONE factor that was a good predictor for whether or not a church grew: The ONLY factor that really matters is whether or not a church has a clear enough vision of where God wants it to go that it is open to change. The real issue, you see, isn’t HOW we do things. The real issue is who we ARE. Are we people who are so confident in God’s love and grace that we are able to try new things and welcome new people and embrace new ideas and dream new dreams? …Are we willing to let ourselves be turned upside down and inside out by a God who wants for us, for our congregations, and for our world more than anything we could ask or imagine?”

I don’t believe that these nine people (or anybody for that matter) want to join Bethlehem because we put on a good show, or because we had drums and a screen in the sanctuary, or for any other reason related to the Global Mission service except that it showed that we—the people of God who gather together here to be Bethlehem Lutheran Church—are listening to where God wants us to go and because of this we are open to change. The Global Mission service came about not because we thought it would be fun, or because we thought it would draw in more people, or for any reason other than the fact that the Transformation team, the council, and the new Global Mission team discerned a call from God that we should be exposed to what God is up to in other parts of the world—that God was calling us to think outside of ourselves. And through responding to that call, God worked amazing and miraculous things in our midst. We were, and are, willing to let ourselves be turned upside down and inside out by God—and God is already leading us into a future that is more than anything we could ask or imagine. And the people who come and worship with us experience this, and want to be a part of it—to join with us in what God is up to in the world. Our Global Mission Service was a great big sign that God is Transforming us—a little bit of our future right here in the present—that calls us even more deeply into figuring out what God has in mind for us. Isn’t Transformation fun?

Pastor Erik