My favorite definition of a coincidence is "a minor miracle for which God gets no credit."
Today a gentleman from out of town stopped in to the office to see if a man who had died in a house fire 27 years ago was from our church. By "coincidence," I happened to be in the neighborhood when that house fire occurred. And so while the deceased wasn't from our church, I was able to direct this gentleman to the correct church.
Now, this wasn't a "big deal," and if I hadn't been able to help him, he wouldn't have been surprised. But how cool to have been there, remembered the fire, and also be able to direct this man where he needed to go. It's a small issue, but just another example of how staying in one place for a long time makes you a part of the history of the community.
When I first came here I would listen to the "old timers" talk about community people and go through their "genealogies:" "You remember Sadie, don't you? She was married to Barny Evers, John Johanson's first cousin who used to live in the Bowers house." I thought it was so funny! No, I can follow the genealogy and usually know most of the people!
And that's no coincidence.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Still More ...
I hate to sound like a broken record, but a couple of weeks ago a young couple showed up in our worship service. The husband worked with one of our members, so I assumed that was their connection with us. But the next week they showed up along with her mother -- and I realized that this was one of those networking connections from years ago. I had met her parents and worked with them on some projects at least 25 years ago. That connection certainly wasn't the only reason they chose to visit our church now, but it didn't hurt to know that as they walked into our church at least one familiar face was waiting!
I simply cannot over estimate the cumulative value of years of community service that are now coming to fruition. These are the sorts of contacts that a pastor who moves every five or six years (or who never gets out of his church and into the community) will never see!
I simply cannot over estimate the cumulative value of years of community service that are now coming to fruition. These are the sorts of contacts that a pastor who moves every five or six years (or who never gets out of his church and into the community) will never see!
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Long Term Benefits
This past Sunday was a classic example of the value of being a long-term pastor -- as reflected in three visitors who attended for the first time.
The first was a couple whom I had first met over 25 years ago when we moved to town. They were interning at another church in town at the time and then moved away. But when they returned to town recently they decided to follow-up on our old relationship.
A second visitor was a gentleman (and his wife) whom I had visited in the hospital 15 years ago after he had suffered a stroke. He was not a member of our church, but I had met him through one of our members and stopped in to see him. Despite the fact that he recovered from his stroke so many years ago, he has never forgotten my visit! The couple lives an hour north and are active in a church near their home but drove down Sunday just to see me and thank me again for that simple act of pastoral care so long ago.
A third visitor was a young woman who had been employed at another church in town. A year or two ago she wrote me a very kind but rather critical letter about an article that had been published in the local paper about our youth ministry. The article implied that we were calling our youth ministry the largest in town, and her letter questioned whether that statement was true and whether such a claim truly mattered anyway. Rather than be defensive about it, I paid her a brief visit in which I apologized for any misunderstanding and assurred her that the statement was made by the reporter and not by any of our staff.
So imagine my surprise to see her in our worship service Sunday. Afterward she told me that she had been released from her job with the other church, so she and her husband were looking for a new church home.
Having a long-term relationship with your church also means that you gain a long-term relationship with your community. The "payoff" for these relationships is not always (or often) immediate, but it's gratifying when it comes!
The first was a couple whom I had first met over 25 years ago when we moved to town. They were interning at another church in town at the time and then moved away. But when they returned to town recently they decided to follow-up on our old relationship.
A second visitor was a gentleman (and his wife) whom I had visited in the hospital 15 years ago after he had suffered a stroke. He was not a member of our church, but I had met him through one of our members and stopped in to see him. Despite the fact that he recovered from his stroke so many years ago, he has never forgotten my visit! The couple lives an hour north and are active in a church near their home but drove down Sunday just to see me and thank me again for that simple act of pastoral care so long ago.
A third visitor was a young woman who had been employed at another church in town. A year or two ago she wrote me a very kind but rather critical letter about an article that had been published in the local paper about our youth ministry. The article implied that we were calling our youth ministry the largest in town, and her letter questioned whether that statement was true and whether such a claim truly mattered anyway. Rather than be defensive about it, I paid her a brief visit in which I apologized for any misunderstanding and assurred her that the statement was made by the reporter and not by any of our staff.
So imagine my surprise to see her in our worship service Sunday. Afterward she told me that she had been released from her job with the other church, so she and her husband were looking for a new church home.
Having a long-term relationship with your church also means that you gain a long-term relationship with your community. The "payoff" for these relationships is not always (or often) immediate, but it's gratifying when it comes!
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Reading through the Bible
I suppose there are a dozen "Read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year" books out there. A couple of years I used the Chronological Bible in a Year, but found myself frustrated that I didn't get to the New Testament until what seemed like November. So late last year when I came across "Seasons of Reflection," published by the International Bible Society, I decided to give it a try. What a delightful edition of the Bible! For each day you read an Old Testament, New Testament and Psalm or Proverb portion. In addition the editors do their best to present the texts in chronological order (Job follows the Pentateuch, for example).
Since the Bibles are only about $6.00 each (including shipping), we ordered them for our people and sold out several cases. What is even more encouraging -- a lot of people are keeping up with their reading, asking me questions about it, and sharing how enjoyable the experience has been! Over the years, we've tried a number of through the Bible programs, but this is by far the most successful. Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn't comment to me about how meaningful the readings have been or discussed some issue that their study has raised.
Check it out on www.IBSDirect.com.
Since the Bibles are only about $6.00 each (including shipping), we ordered them for our people and sold out several cases. What is even more encouraging -- a lot of people are keeping up with their reading, asking me questions about it, and sharing how enjoyable the experience has been! Over the years, we've tried a number of through the Bible programs, but this is by far the most successful. Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn't comment to me about how meaningful the readings have been or discussed some issue that their study has raised.
Check it out on www.IBSDirect.com.
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