Pastor Erik-- February 2010

At the annual meeting a few weeks ago, we heard a statistic about declining demographics in the ELCA nationally that identified the date 2046 as the day the ELCA “turns out the lights” unless major change and renewal take place. During that same meeting we adopted a resolution “that we at Bethlehem Lutheran Church commit to become the “leading edge” of what the ELCA church of 2046 might be should it survive, and we will experiment with what that future might be as part of our continuing ministry together, thus becoming an exciting example right here in the heart of our own Synod.”

One of the questions our worship team has been has been asking for quite a while is “What will Lutheran liturgical worship look like a generation from now?” Lutheran scholars and teachers of worship and liturgy teach that worship is more than simply repeating a particular ancient pattern, but all that we do and say (in worship particularly) is meant to proclaim Christ. Worship is meant not only for us to passively receive Good News for ourselves, but to engage a community of faith in our calling to proclaiming Christ in word and deed in the world. Our worship team believes that Lutheran liturgy in the future will emphasize creativity, flexibility, and interactivity—while staying connected to the liturgical patterns that have helped the people of God encounter Christ in worship for nearly 2000 years. As part of this new commitment to becoming the “leading edge” of the Lutheran church, we will be beginning to experiment with some new ways of proclaiming Christ in worship.

During the season of Lent (which begins with Ash Wednesday on Feburary 17) we will be on a wilderness journey in our worship gatherings. Like God’s people who left behind the difficult (yet reassuringly stable) life slavery in Egypt, we will be leaving behind some things as well. Our comfortable way of encountering God on Sunday mornings will be disrupted a bit symbolized by the moving of furniture—the altar, the pulpit, the font, the pews—but we will center ourselves around the presence of God at the heart of our lives even as we journey into the unknown. In their wilderness wanderings, God’s people were reminded that God journeys with them, and in the wilderness God brings us together to support one another. During Lent we will encounter God in different ways, through movement, through conversation, through the worship space itself. And yet, at the core will be the ancient pattern of the liturgy, and some “touchstones” that remind us that we are not cut off from God’s action with us and with God’s people in the past. Here’s some of what you can expect:

Our worship gatherings in Lent will continue to follow the basic four part pattern of ancient liturgy: Gathering, Word, Meal, Sending. Within each section will be something to ground us, to keep us centered, to bear the wisdom of tradition into our lives today. In the Gathering we will gather as Christians have for nearly 2000 years “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” and we will sing a hymn from our list of “Old Favorites” to remind us that we carry with us the faith that has brought us this far on our journey. During the Word we will hear the ancient texts of the Scripture proclaimed and we will confess our faith as Christians have for nearly 2000 years with the Apostles Creed. During the Meal as Christians have done for nearly 2000 years we will proclaim Christ in, with, and under the bread and the wine with the words of institution Jesus spoke at the last supper (“In the night in which he was betrayed…”) and will pray together the prayer he taught his disciples, which we call the Lord’s Prayer. And during the sending we will receive the blessing that God’s people have received since the wanderings in the dessert (“The Lord bless you and keep you…”) and will be sent forth as Christians have for nearly 2000 years, to embody the Good News of Jesus in the world.

In and among this framework we will be experimenting with some different and creative ways to embody and proclaim the message God has for us through these 5 weeks. The first several sections of pews will be removed and the altar table brought into the middle of the sanctuary as a symbol of the disruption and discomfort that comes as we may a new journey into the unknown of the wilderness. And yet, on this table now at the center of our gathering, the Bible, the baptismal font, and the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper will remind us of God’s presence in the midst of our wanderings. Around the altar table we will gather in chairs facing one another, to remind us that we are not on this journey alone. During the Gathering section we will speak together about the journey we are on through a responsive litany. During the Word we will encounter God through our neighbor as we interact in various ways with one another. During the Meal we will participate in the proclamation in various ways with symbolic actions and movements. During the Sending we will be sent forth in a number of creative ways with the charge to not let the encounter with God end as we leave our gathering place, but to carry it with us into the rest of the world and into the rest of our lives.

This season of Lent will be a time of stretching as we lean into the future God has in store for us. It will challenge us, disrupt us, and perhaps disturb us. But we will again and again be reminded that God has promised to journey with us even into the most frightening of wilderness experiences. Like the ancient people wandering in the desert dreaming of the Promised Land, we will continue to confess “God shows the way!”

Because we know this journey will be a challenging one for many of us, we will be also starting a monthly afternoon service called “Rock of Ages,” that will follow the form of Lutheran liturgy this community has been more used to. We will sing only our “Old Favorite” hymns, won’t be using the more creative and interactive elements, and will commune with wafers and individual cups. The first of these services will be February 28^th at 1pm.

2009 Annual Pastors report

2009 has been a momentous year for the Community of Bethlehem Lutheran Church. We are in the third year of a process of Transformation supported by our Synod and the Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission branch of the ELCA. Our year began with some dramatic property changes: the removing of the two large trees that stood in front of our building, which we both mourned and celebrated. This was part of living into the purpose statement we developed for our property: “To make clear that everyone is welcome and help everyone encounter God in this place.” With renewed openness and vision, we saw our property continue to transform over the year: a new sign, plans for landscaping redesign, our beautiful statue of Jesus teaching children done by Spokane Artist Ken Spiering, and a whole host of changes to the inside of our building. Whatever our neighbors may know or not know about us, it’s clear that things are changing at Bethlehem Lutheran.

In the spring we started to face the reality of our budget challenges. Though in the previous two years we’d received 49 new members and with it a ton of new energy for mission and ministry, our financial situation had not been keeping pace with that growth. Our leadership realized that our path was not sustainable, and that something major needed to change by Christmas of this year if we were going to “keep on keeping on” with the way we have been doing ministry. What that might be, none of us were sure, but in our conversations as a congregation we claimed our guiding principle “God shows the Way” and said we were ready for whatever God had in store for us.

And God did show the way, that very same week, when we were approached by Bethany Presbyterian about the possibility of sharing space with them for two years while they figured out where God was calling them to re-root after having to leave their building which is in the path of the North South Freeway plan. And the “negotiations” over the summer seemed blessed by God as well—and it seemed like a partnership that was meant to be. This fall we began the adjustments to our new partnership, which came to include Emmanuel Metropolitan Community Church as well, because as long time renters at Bethany, they too were homeless. We switched our worship time to 9am, gave over some space to be used for the offices of the other churches, and began to adjust to an increasingly active building (which we are also using to host many of the AA groups from Bethany as well.) We celebrated with a joint Reformation Day service, so large (over 275 people in attendance) that we held it in a tent on the lawn—something that wouldn’t have been possible before as the altar was placed right on the spot one of the trees had once been.

And yet, despite the newfound blessings and the energy of our partnerships and new ministries, our congregational life seems to be more and more difficult to maintain. The influx of money from our new partners is an amazing blessing, but still not what we need to pay for our ministry as we have come to structure it. We end this year with a budget forecast more in trouble than three years ago when we began this transformational journey. Our grant funding from our ministry partners is ending, and the economy has not helped us out at all. We’ve been trying to “do more with less” (at least since 1990, when our income was nearly identical to today) and haven’t found a way to be sustainable as we are. In addition to our financial concerns, volunteerism is down, hope seems to be fading, and our fear increasing. Many of us have begun to seriously wonder, will Bethlehem Lutheran still be around a year from now?

I have a renewed sense of hope and vision that God is up to something among us. And I believe that if we embrace it, it will be a blessing not just to us, but to so many--to other Lutherans, to other Christians, to people who are outside of churches, to God's world. The question before us is: Are we ready to boldly go where God is calling us? This is a question we each need to ask ourselves and that our community as a whole needs to be clear on. And its not a question that can be answered "Maybe" or "Let's see what happens"--we've tried that approach for three years as we've prepared for this journey, and the last few months have shown us what it looks like to say "yes" but mean "maybe". It's exhausting and counter productive--and leads us closer to having no choice but "no"--to not act is to act, to not choose is to choose. Now is the time to get going, to claim "Yes" or to claim "No" as individuals and as a community. And I truly believe that if we can claim "Yes" to embrace the difficult and uncertain future trusting only in God to bring us through, that God will bless our efforts beyond anything we can imagine.

I'm getting more and more glimpses of this every day as I see the people just outside waiting to see if we are serious before they jump in with both feet. It's like the question I heard somewhere about the way churches do "evangelism": "Why do we think people who aren't here yet will be more committed to this than we are?" The willingness to "go for it" and acting despite our fear will be contagious and I believe will release a well of creativity that has been kept just below the surface. Like the trees, the "way we've always done things" has become a sacred cow, an idol, and is are keeping us from having the freedom to do what we feel called to do. It’s time now to create some space for God to do a new thing among us.

Will people all of a sudden flock to our Sunday worship service because we rearranged the furniture (literally or figuratively)? Absolutely not. But are people interested in being a part of a faith community that is deeply rooted in the ancient faith that began with Jesus, but isn't so tied to old ways of doing things that it is afraid to act boldly and embody that faith today? Absolutely. I talk to people all the time in coffee shops and pubs that remember fondly the deep peace and the sense of God's presence they got from the liturgy in churches they used to be a part of, but have left faith communities who refused to actually embody the presence of God the liturgy is meant to bring into our experience. Communities that were more concerned with preserving and repeating what had been done before that it cost them the life of their community now and into the future. Instead of reinvigorating the "community" element, our congregations have invested an ever increasing amount of time and energy into keeping the "church" from crumbling around them. The "church" may live on, but without the vibrant "community" that is its soul. To use Bonhoeffer’s distinction, we’ve become Kirche (church structure/building) without its Gemeinde (church-community). And the call I hear over and over from people outside the church and from an increasing number of people inside the church (especially the under 35 crowd) is all about the Gemiende and we should build a Kirche that is able to create the space (physical and spiritual space) for that to happen.

I know that we are afraid to loose some of our dear members, especially those older ones who will experience "going for it" as pulling the rug out from under them. I am no longer afraid of this, I believe it will happen and it is part of the call of God for this community to change--and part of that change is saying goodbye to people we love who can't or aren't willing to join us on this journey. And that is a time for sadness, for mourning, and for caring for our brothers and sisters. But I want to encourage us to also remember that Bethlehem Lutheran is not "The Church". Let's remember the bigger picture, that God is blessing Spokane through over 15 ELCA churches--many of whom are struggling much as we are and would be blessed beyond measure to find Lutheran Christians committed to the liturgy as American Lutherans have done it for 75 years, who adore the stability of worship space and format that doesn't change, who are willing to give sacrificially to keep that way of being Lutheran Christians alive as long as possible. Perhaps that is the calling of other Lutheran communities--but I can't see that as our calling. And if you are feeling like Bethlehem is on a journey you don’t feel called to be a part of, let us mourn with you, and bless you on your journey to the places God is calling you.

God has blessed us with a moment where it is possible to embrace something totally new, to see if we can't be a part of figuring out what the Lutheran church will look like 30 years from now, to try to figure out how to honor our heritage and traditions in a way that deeply connects to the generations that will be part of God's mission when we are dead and gone, to do as generations before us have done for nearly 2000 years: pass along the faith of our fathers as a blessing to our children and our children's children. Will God be upset if some of our members moved to an ELCA church across town? Or to another Christian denomination? Will God be upset if we close down operations here and disperse our members and financial resources to profoundly bless the other things God is up to in Spokane and in the world? I can't see why he would be. I do think God will be upset if we are too afraid to loose what we have (even as it slips away from us) to embrace the gift God has laid before us.

I almost want to say to us, (quoting our Synod's Guiding Principles) "No Fear, Transformation!" but I don't think that's quite right. Because I don't want us to deny that we are afraid. I think we need to name our fears, to bring them to the light of day, to talk about them and support one another through them--but finally to not give into them. Let's not let our fears overpower us (this is the power of evil) but to trust so deeply in God to be with us in the midst of our fears, and to lead us from darkness into light. I say we look at our fear in a very Lutheran way, as "Law" and "Gospel". Let us allow our fear be the "law" that shows us finally that we can't rely on our own strength, but instead let the law (our fear) turn us to trust even more deeply in Christ--and the "Gospel" is again (and again, and again) that powerful reminder that God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit has already done for us what we can never do for ourselves. We have spent the last three years re-rooting ourselves in scripture, in prayer, in community, in seeing what God is up to in the world, and in preparing to go into that future that God has in mind for this community. And God has given us everything we need to step boldly into that future--to not be afraid but trust that where he is calling us is where we are meant to be. And more and more that call for Bethlehem seems to be "Loosing our lives for Christ's sake, and for the sake of the Gospel" so that we can find life abundant.

As I see it, the decision before us is: Do we loose our life by spending the next year closing down and celebrating God's ministry through Bethlehem for 55 years? Or do we loose our life by being willing to risk the response to the call of God we have been hearing? I hope we are willing to embrace that loosing of our life by laying it all on the line for the possibility God is giving us glimpses of. But if we aren't, let's be clear on that too so that we can honor the gifts and ministries and history of this community, and can release the resources we have so that this bold transformation can happen somewhere else.

2010 will be a year of great Transformation for us, whichever path we choose. I believe God has called us to be the people to make this journey, and that now is the time he has given us to make it. It’s an adventure into the great unknown, but a leap of faith we can make confidently, knowing that God has been with his people through bigger challenges than this, and will be with us now. God shows the way, and calls us to follow. Ready?

+Pastor Erik

Pastor Erik--January 2010

Our stewardship season has drawn to a close. For the past several months, our church community has spent time in prayer, considered what God is calling us to do together, and each of us has made commitments of time, talent, and treasure based upon how we feel called to be a part of what God doing in and through Bethlehem Lutheran Church. As we tally the numbers on the financial side of things, its clear that there are some major changes in store for us in 2010—that God has in mind something very different than the way we have been operating. During the month of January we will be preparing together a budget and plan for mission in 2010 and will be making decisions on this at our annual meeting on January 31^st. We will need as many people as possible participating in this process, so we can get a clearer vision of where God is calling us go and what God is calling us to do with the abundant resources he has given us to use in his mission in the world.

Here are the facts (in round numbers): As of December 13^th (at the end of our stewardship campaign), the giving estimates you all submitted for 2010 give us an operating budget of just over $70,000. (There are likely to be more gifts coming in, but its hard to tell just how much.). Sharing of our building costs with Bethany Presbyterian, Emmanuel Metropolitan Community Church, Hearts and Rainbows Preschool, and the AA and other support groups, frees up an additional $20,000 (though only for the next two years for sure). That brings our total up to just over $90,000. This is an amazing abundance and comes from both small and large gifts: 7 commitments were for $300 or less for the year, 16 were for $300-$3000 and 7 were over $3000 (some significantly over $3000). Whether your resources are meager or plentiful, you have committed generously to God's mission through Bethlehem (and these figures don't include the gifts of time and talent which are no less valuable). Thank you for your prayerful and abundant gifts to God's mission. Through you, God has unleashed $90,000 for his purposes in Spokane (and that doesn't even include the other places we share our gifts). And in these uncertain financial times, that's nothing short of a miracle.

The question before us now is: “How is God calling us to best use these amazing gifts for his purposes in mission for the sake of the world?” Although our stewardship campaign may be over, the task of stewardship is not a once a year thing—its a way of life. How are we as a community going to be good stewards (caretakers, managers, trustees) of the gifts God has entrusted to us? Or, in other words, how can we use this $90,000, our building, and the gifts of time and talent of our community in the best possible way—in the way God is calling us to?

I recently discovered Bethlehem's financial information from 1989 and the budget for 1990. 20 years ago we had an income nearly identical to what we have today and we gave nearly $12,000 to the synod for the work of the wider church. As I've read the annual reports of the years since then the theme has been “Let's keep what we've got going for another year.” And with some creativity (and a bit of begging) we have. But as you know, 20 years ago a dollar was worth significantly more than it is today, and it seems like our costs for everything from electricity to health care keep going up—doing things the way we've always done them just costs more and more every year and so we've had to do less and less. Our draft budget for 2010, based on a trimmed down version of the way we've done mission and ministry at Bethlehem for our entire history, comes in at just over $130,000 and that's before we include the over $10,000 shortfall from our 2009 budget.

In the past we've kept things afloat by holding bake sales, working at baseball games, serving coffee at rest areas, by pressuring one another to just give more, and by failing to keep our commitments to the synod and the ELCA. For the past three years we've kept things going with the help of a Transformation Grant from the ELCA. But we're at the end of that help and need to figure out how it is God is calling us to use our resources in mission for the sake of the world. We've reached the point where “just trying harder” isn't going to come up with the additional $40,000 - $50,000 we need to keep doing things the way we have always done them. Perhaps our problem is that God is calling us NOT to do things as we always have, but to engage in mission and ministry in a whole new way. And while we're falling short on resources to do what we've always done, perhaps we have more than we need to do what God is actually calling us to do.

In the past year we've gotten clear on how God wants us to use our building—not keeping it for ourselves but sharing it widely. Today mission and ministry take place in and from our building pretty much every single day of the week. Prayers are prayed, quilts are sown, couples are counseled, the Bible is studied, God is worshiped in many ways, forgiveness of sins is given and received, alcoholics find community, drug addicts find ways to stay clean, and lonely people find others to share their lives with. And from all of these communities God multiples our efforts, sending us forth to visit the sick, help our neighbors, care for the poor, and make a difference in God's world. Sharing our building in fact hasn't diminished our resources, instead God has given us more: $20,000 more to use for mission rather than keeping up a building and new partners for living out God's mission together. In some ways it doesn't make sense, but God's economy is like that—the more we give, the more we receive.

The question before us in the next month is this: How can we do with our finances the same purposeful reflection and transformation that we've done with our property? How can we reshape the ministry that we have to make the best use of the financial abundance God has provided for us? I truly believe that God gives us the resources that we need to do what God is calling us to do. $90,000 and a prominent building on a major road are amazing gifts—and its no wonder God is calling us to use them for the sake of others. Our task as a community is to figure out just what we think God is calling us to do with these gifts and then to set about doing it. It's not going to be easy, its going to take our entire community to figure out, and it will likely mean making some tough choices and perhaps even putting our survival on the line. But we can trust that God has something in mind for us—perhaps a new mission we haven't even dreamed of yet—and not only will God show us the way, but will give us what we need to do what he is calling us to do.

Advent Community

The group formally known as the Acts 8 Bible Study will now be known as “The Advent Community”. We will gather in the fellowship hall at 10:30am every Sunday to listen for the call of God (and go there), to pray together, to support one another, and “do life” together. This is not “Bible Study” in a traditional sense, though we will read the Bible together. We believe God has something in mind for us and we want to be a part of it. Everyone is welcome. Come and see what God is up to among us. www.AdventCommunity.org

Pastor Erik--December 2009

God is going to do what God is going to do. The question is, do we want to be a part of it or not?

On Sunday, October 12 I preached a sermon entitled “What is holding me back from following Jesus?” (you can listen to it here) The Gospel story was Mark 10:17-31 about a rich man who wanted desperately to follow Jesus. He had been very religious his whole life, followed all the rules, done everything right. When he asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus tells him to give his riches to the poor and follow him. The rich man didn’t follow Jesus, but went away grieving because he had many possessions. We explored how Jesus asks each of us “What is holding you back right now from following Jesus?” is it money like this rich man? Is it fear? Is it your family? Is it tradition? Is it too much stuff? What is it for you?

After we pondered this individually (on our now classic sticky notes) I shared what the answer was for me, though it was difficult for me to do so. What is keeping me right now from following Jesus is trying to save our congregation. Over the past three years as we’ve engaged in transformational ministry together, I (along with many of you) have poured my heart and soul into this community, helping to lead us through some difficult but important work to discern where God is calling us, and how we might transform to be better able to go where God calls. This spring our council leaders realized that while many changes were happening and our life together was improving, our finances were still in trouble, and the path we were currently on was simply not sustainable without some deeper transformation and more changes. The council invited us all to take this seriously and make a decision to either step up in a whole new way with time, effort, and finances for the sake of mission or to find a way to live together that requires less resources and less energy to maintain. To either lay it all on the line for mission or to choose to maintain what we have as long as that lasts. And in those conversations, folks by and large enthusiastically said “Let’s go for it!”

But in the months that have followed, the actual response has been less enthusiastic. We’re having an unbelievably hard time getting people to participate, even in things like ushering, bringing cookies, and reading the lessons. Attendance on Sunday morning has gone down, not just the temporary summertime “dip” we have come to expect. Offering is below what we need for our budget, and because of that we’re nearly $10,000 behind in our commitment to the wider church and the world through our Synod. Nearly two thirds of members invited to our “member appreciation event” who RSVPed earlier that week, didn’t show up. Events planned by new members did not find support among the congregation, and now many of those new members have disappeared from our community (some are just not around much and some have decided to join other churches). There have been fewer and fewer children in worship. And complaining is high: about the liturgy, about worshiping downstairs during the summer, about all manner of changes that are taking place. And we are hearing more and more “When is this transformation thing going to be over so life can get back to normal?” This is hardly the “let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work” response any of us were hoping for.

And so, for the past 6 months I’ve been praying fervently for our congregation. “Lord, what is it going to take to save this place? Just when we need to step up into your dream for us it seems like we are taking a step back? What more can we do? What more can I do?” And as I studied and prayed over Mark 10:17-31 in preparation for that sermon in early October, the voice of the Holy Spirit whispered in my ear “Give up what is holding you back, and follow Jesus.” And I realized that in the previous 6 months (and probably longer) I’d been holding on to the “saving” of Bethlehem Lutheran Church as my personal responsibility—or at least to lead the charge that would save it. And God reminded me that this is not my job, and I was not called to “save” this community, but to lead efforts to transform it. And the transformation was not ours to make happen, but God’s. Our job is simply to figure out what God is up to and do what we can to join in. As rock star Bono of U2 once said: “Stop asking God to bless what you're doing. Get involved in what God is doing -- because it's already blessed.” And so, in the face of all this, “I let go, and let God.” And so I pray: “God, if it is your will for Bethlehem Lutheran to continue as your people in mission in this place, let it be so. And if it is not, help me (and all of us) face this reality and live and love one another though it.”

Since that sermon, many people have asked me if I’m “giving up” or “planning to leave.” And I can see how people might have gotten that impression. The answer to both is no. What I’ve given over to God is the “saving” of Bethlehem. I am not intending to fall short on my call to lead us into the future God has for us—even if it’s a future none of us was expecting. I was called to this community to lead our efforts to transform into God’s dream for us and the world—and that is still my calling here. But I had confused that with saving the organization known as Bethlehem Lutheran Church (and maybe you have too). I feel called to be a part of this transformation effort until I simply can’t be any more—at which point God will be calling me to other adventures.

I have to admit given the lower offerings, the threats to leave or withhold giving if changes continue, the lack-luster participation of these past 6 months, and the seeming rejection of the next stage of transformation raises my anxiety level. As the stewardship packets come in this month and we meet to discuss what we are going to do with our budget, I wonder if there will be enough support from the congregation to pay my salary—and I don’t know what this means for my family. And even if the finances come through another year, is it going to be sustainable in the long run? And what about participation and volunteering? The truth is, I simply don’t know what all of this means for us as a community of faith. But the call to follow Jesus is not always meant to be clear, and he certainly didn’t suggest following him would be easy. But it is easier together than alone, and it leads us into deeper community and authentic life together. I can’t imagine a harder, or more rewarding, way to live.

I hope that all of this doesn’t sound too pessimistic, because I don’t doubt that God has something in mind for us, and that God is going to transform this community for the sake of the world. It’s just becoming more and more clear that it’s going to be a different sort of transformation than any of us hoped. More “death and resurrection” than “resuscitation.” But I (and we) can trust that God will come through on God’s promises to us—to be with us on our journey even (maybe especially) in the wilderness. And God has a plan, even if the details are foggy (or frightening) to us. Ruban Duran, from the ELCA Churchwide division we connect with in our transformation efforts, once said “God is going to do what God is going to do. The question is, do we want to be a part of it or not?” And that, I believe, is the question before us all.

Pastor Erik--July 2009

In February of this year our congregation entered into the third year of our three-year Transformational Ministry grant, a grant from the “Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission” division of the ELCA to help us reconnect to God’s mission in our congregation for the sake of our neighbors and the world. The grant provided us $15,000 the first year, $10,000 the second year, and now $5,000 this year. It also committed us to engage in the “Transformational Ministry” process, including forming a “Transformation Team,” which we voted on and approved as a congregation at our annual meeting in January of 2007. While the grant funds were intended to support innovative projects for mission and outreach, we’ve been using the funds mainly to plug the holes in our budget, with the expectation (and hope) that the renewed energy, excitement, vision, and mission this process would give us would make our budget and congregation participation concerns go away.

At the May meeting of the church council it became clear that this was not happening to the extent that we had hoped, and we were facing a $3,500+ budget shortfall for the first four months of 2009—a trend which, if it continued, would mean around $12,000 short for the year. Next year, with the grant funds ending, that will be closer to $20,000. In addition, while we have built up a new and energized leadership core, these leaders have been struggling to find people willing to participate in the existing volunteer and ministry needs we have—and we’ve found little excitement around any of the outreach and mission “adventures” we have tried. At the June council meeting we took a hard look at where Bethlehem Lutheran Church is, and realized that the “plateau” we seem to be on is not sustainable, both financially and in terms of leadership and participation. We’ve come to see that we are at a real turning point in our life together—a place to either take on the challenge that God has in mind for us and engage in mission in our neighborhood, or to scale back our ministry to focus on meeting the needs of our existing members. Whatever path we take, major changes are in store for us as a congregation.

The council wanted to extend this conversation to the whole congregation; and so on June 28^th after church we will start to talk together. Since not everyone will have been able to be there, I’m writing this article with some of the things we will use to start the conversation on June 28^th, so we can all engage in this conversation together over the next few months.

First, it is important to be clear on what kind of change we need. Most of us expect organizations like churches to operate on the level of “technical change.” This sort of change assumes that the leaders know what needs to be done, and it is just a technical question of how to get it accomplished. This is where we expect our leaders to figure out a solution for us to follow. However, the crisis we are facing is one that needs “adaptive change” where everyone must learn new ways of operating and the whole organization must adapt to what will be required of them. “Adaptive change” is at the heart of Transformational ministry—where we trust that God will direct not just our leaders, but all of us to engage in the ministry God has in mind for us. This goes along with “there is no they, only us.” Someone else (who we often call “they”) is not going to solve our problems for us. We have the gifts and abilities we need to figure out what is wrong, and to begin together to address our common concerns. God has put before us an opportunity for all of us to rethink what it means to “be church” together—and to together take up the mission of God. But it can only happen if we are all willing to respond to this call and take up this great (and probably chaotic) adventure to figure out what God is calling us to do and to be.

At the June council meeting we discussed the understanding of our congregation of what it means to be a “real church,” meaning if any of these elements were missing our congregation would feel like we were not living up to what it means to be a church. We’ll do this again on June 28^th so the answers might be slightly different, but our council talked about these 6 elements: For Bethlehem to feel like a “real church” means 1) Having a building (preferably well maintained) 2) A full time pastor 3) Certain programs including worship, Bible study, Sunday school, and visitation of sick and homebound members 4) Enough members to pay the bills 5) Enough volunteers to do what needs to be done 6) Minimal conflict. This seems to be our basic image of what it means to “be a church,” and is connected to the sort of church founding visions that were in place in the 1950’s when Bethlehem began. The goal of a new congregation in the 1950’s was to find enough members to worship, support a pastor, build a building, support some programs and then, once established, to find a nice plateau, set the “cruise control” and things would continue on from there. We might need little adjustments from time to time, but not really any major changes to our trajectory.

Over the past 50 years Bethlehem has at various times fallen off of this plateau, usually connected to the loss of a pastor. And as soon as a new pastor was found, the situation improved and life continued on pretty much as normal. However, as the situation with our budget and lack of participation now is making clear, this simply isn’t the case anymore. Even with 48 new members in the last 3 years, the current plateau financially won’t last much beyond Christmas (or spring of 2010 if we draw down our endowment funds). A big part of this has to do with how the culture has changed—people no longer simply show up at churches the way they did in the 1950’s and people aren’t as excited about simply maintaining church buildings and church programs for their own sake. Churches that are thriving are engaged in mission and ministry not only within their walls, but in their neighborhoods. They are focused more on others than themselves. And they are not only doing “the same thing, only better” or even “the same thing with guitars and drums” but looking for creative ways to live out the Gospel in the world.

As I look toward our future together, it’s becoming clear that this 1950’s model for a “real church” just isn’t sustainable for us. It was the right way to be the church at the time, a faithful way to live out the Gospel in this neighborhood in the day and time and culture in which the congregation was planted, and for much of our history. But it hasn’t really been working for a long time, probably longer than we’re willing to admit. I think right now we are at a crossroads where we either need to decide together to be less than this or more than this. To be less than this “1950’s real church” would mean to scale back our programming, probably move to a part time pastor, focus on worship, fellowship, and caring—spending our efforts and energy on our current members. Something would likely need to be done to reduce the cost of our building (especially utilities)—either through renting out more space or sharing with another congregation (or two). To be more than the “1950s real church” would mean really recommitting ourselves to mission and transformation, and being willing to lay it all on the line for the sake of God’s purpose for us. It might mean any number of creative ways to rethink what we do together, and we will very likely re-emerge a very different community than we are today, though still connected to the rich history and tradition that has brought us to this point. It means each and everyone one of us rolling up our sleeves to engage in some hard work learning what God is up to in our neighborhood and seeing how we can be a part of that. It means giving ourselves away for the sake of others—loosing our life for Christ’s sake so that we may find it. It means being willing to change, adapt, and renew—even if this means changes we don’t personally like. And it means letting the vision of the “1950’s real church” die so God can give birth to something new in us.

If we were going to start a new congregation in this neighborhood in 2009 we would do so very differently than was done in 1950. To start, we would gather together to read the Bible, pray, and talk about what God was up to in our lives. Then we would spend some serious time getting to know our neighborhood—what is God up to there, and where could we make a difference for the sake of others. We would take stock of our gifts and try to find ways to connect the gifts God has given us to the needs and opportunities in our neighborhood. Then, before ever holding a worship service or breaking ground on a building, we would start to work for the sake of our neighbors—as our guiding principle states: “We are called to work in God’s world.” And only after engaging in mission in the world, would we think about how we might come together for worship, to support one another, to build one another up, to connect more deeply to one another and to our newly befriended neighbors. If it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us we might then use our resources to build a building, but depending on what our neighborhood needed it might look more like a coffee shop, a pub, a food bank, a gym, an arts center, a community center, or a gathering space than a 1950’s church. And all the while we would root ourselves in Word and Sacrament, in Bible study, worship, and prayer, in fellowship and support of one another—trusting in the Holy Spirit to use the gifts God has given us to proclaim in word and deed the Good News of Jesus Christ to our neighbors and the world.

The call of God is before us—giving us the opportunity to take up this challenge or to scale back our efforts. Spend some time in prayer and reflection, talk with one another, and then decide which way you feel called to go. I believe God has a grand adventure in mind for us. If we respond to this adaptive challenge, if we engage with this transformative work, if we are willing to put our congregation on the line for God’s mission I believe God will lead us into an amazing future. Is this something you feel called to be a part of? How will you respond to this call? What could God be calling us to do together?

Pastor Erik--June 2009

              Paul Turner, author of “The Slice” column in the Spokesman-Review was one of the speakers at this year's “Bike to Work Week” kickoff breakfast.  Barb Chamberlain, the organizer of the event, asked him to ride for a week last year and write about it in his column.  It was a big gamble, Barb said in her introduction of Paul, because she knew if it was a good experience for him he would write glowing things about biking in Spokane. But if it wasn't...we'll, you've read “The Slice.”

              Paul took Barb's challenge, figuring even if he hated biking to work, he'd at least have a good weeks worth of sarcastic comments for his column.  But instead, Paul found he actually enjoyed biking to work—and kept it up even after Bike to Work Week was over. And so he was back this year, encouraging all of us at this breakfast event to be, in his words, “bike evangelists” and spread the news about commuting by bike in Spokane.

              This call to be “bike evangelists” struck me as funny, because I was standing there wearing what I had been calling my “bike evangelist” outfit—which is really just my regular bike gear with a black clergy shirt and white tab collar.  I felt amazingly out of place in that outfit standing in Riverfront Park at 8am—even more so than I had felt wearing that same outfit in the pulpit at Bethlehem the day before.  In our culture you aren't supposed to mix things like religion with ordinary things like riding bikes, or commuting, or eating pancakes in Riverfront Park.  Religion is meant to be private, practiced in sanctuaries filled with like-minded people, or in the privacy of your own home.  These are two separate realms and you aren't supposed to mix them.

              But its not so easy for me to separate these two, because riding my bike (to work or otherwise) is a deeply spiritual experience for me.  First, it causes me to slow down.  When I don't have my car, I can no longer pack in appointment after appointment across town, counting on zipping from place to place with only a few minutes to spare.  I've got to plan, be deliberate, make use of the time and energy God has given me to do what is most needful.  Secondly, time on a bike is time with God, experiencing the amazing beauty of God's creation—seeing, hearing, and smelling all those things we miss when we travel at 70 miles an hour.  On a bike you feel part of it all—sun, wind, even rain—and it is so much easier for me to see God at work in the world.  And third, I find time on the bike to be perfect for prayer.  As I pedal down the road or trail my mind and body are occupied just enough that I can find that focused place where distractions are a little bit less, and where I can connect in prayer to God.  Or I'll take the scriptures assigned for Sunday and roll them over again and again in my mind—and find a sermon beginning to take shape.  There's just no way to separate bike riding and religion for me.

              And so I find myself a “bike evangelist.”  A pastor wearing a bike costume on Sunday and a bike rider wearing a pastor costume on Monday.  And as such, I don't really fit into either world entirely.  I want my church friends to know and experience the joy of riding a bike to work (and everywhere else) and I want my bike riding friends to know and experience the joy of a life lived in a community centered in Jesus Christ.   And I must admit, it's easier to say to someone “come ride with me” than it is to say “come follow Jesus with me.” 

              As Christians we do live in two worlds; like dual citizens we live both in the “kingdom of God” and in the “kingdom of the world.”  And we really don't fit entirely into either.  As dwellers of God's kingdom we get caught up in the cares of the world and forget to trust in God alone.  As dwellers of the kingdom of the world we never can quite believe that things are only as they seem for we trust in God's promises.  And God calls and sends us as witnesses into the world, bearing Christ in word and deed to a world that longs to experience him.  We are all meant to be evangelists, wearing our world costumes in church and our church costumes in the world—blurring the line between the so-called holy and ordinary places and reclaiming the entire world as loved by God.  And we're meant to be so caught up in the joy of life in Jesus that we can't help but invite others to come along.

              What excites you the way riding a bike excites me?  What brings you so much joy that you can't help but want others to be a part of it too?  My guess is, for most of us, following Jesus or participating in church doesn't make it high on that list.   Why not?  What keeps us from saying “I've experienced great joy as a follower of Jesus, come with me so that you can experience this too”?   What do we need to change about our life together, or our worship, or our service to others that would get you excited enough, energized enough, caught up in the joy of God enough to say “I want everyone I know to experience this!”? 

              Bike to Work Week Spokane grew from an expected 200 participants last year to over 1500 this year—and pretty much all because of “bike evangelists,” people who love to ride their bikes to work getting out and spreading the word.  And while I know the term “evangelist” brings up images of bullhorns and bullying—no one was forced, no one was tricked, no one was bullied by these “bike evangelists.”  We simply shared our story and our love of biking and encouraged others to come along with us and experience it for themselves.  Come and see, come follow me, you just might find joy here too.   That's what evangelism—sharing the Good News—is all about.