Kay Greer was kind enough to provide us with some fantastic photos from the recent Souper Bowl Sunday event. I just returned from a BIM Board meeting and all the churches responded generously to this opportunity for supporting our common ministry of providing food for the hungry in our midst. We also have several church members who volunteer at BIM each week. Keep up the good work.
We had an interesting discussion of a book - Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church by Reggie McNeal - at our Session meeting last night. The Session will continue to work with this book as we do some strategic planning. The author suggests we change the scorecard of the church to include more than just amount of dollars received and number of people in worship. For instance, what if we kept a scorecard of how many hours were volunteered in service to the community? That would likely drive more people into service. This is an example of what the author means when he says the question the church should be asking is "How can our church be a blessing to the community?"
Of course, the first step in answering that question is to decide how we define our community. Some churches have a narrower definition of the community than we do. We tend to follow the example Jesus presented in the Good Samaritan parable and say that any person in need is our neighbor. That approach has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage is that we may get overstretched and lose effectiveness. The advantages are that we have more of city-wide and even global perspective on outreach. We work in our own neighborhood through BIM and reach out to the city through the Seafarer's Ministry and Small Steps and bless the world through the Anchor House ministry and our installation of clean water systems in Haiti and Cuba. We help fund and provide teacher training for the Lulwanda Children's Home in Ghana and this summer our youth will go to Guatemala to help build a house for a local pastor there.
We are already a "missional church" as defined by McNeal in that we are more outward focused than inward focused. The second shift he describes, which is "from program development to people development," is the hardest shift according to the author. We are moving in that direction with the new "contemporary issues" class I lead each Sunday. The Session will explore other ways we may make the shift toward developing people within and beyond our congregation for living a spiritual life in this world. That is what we are getting at in our mission statement when we say our mission is "to make disciples and meet human needs." One human need we will need to meet is the need to be growing in a relationship with God, to be helping people find what Paul calls "Christ in you - the hope of glory."
Last Sunday I mentioned a book called Glimpses of Eternity: Sharing a Loved One's Passage from This Life to the Next by Raymond Moody, MD. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to feel less anxious about their own death or who has questions or concerns about the process of death or a loved one who has died. Once upon a time I may have felt less inclined to appreciate the stories Moody shares but I have seen and heard and experienced things over the years that leads me to find this book fascinating and appropriate for Christians. It restores a sense of spiritual wonder about life that is too often lacking in our lives. It would be interesting to read the gospel stories of Jesus' post resurrection appearances and compare them to the contemporary stories in this book. Whether Christians or not and regardless of color or creed or cultural background the stories of shared death experiences are remarkably similar. One result of the experience is a greater sense of peace and less fear of death. One thing I learned from these stories is that no one leaves this life alone. There always seems to be a previously deceased family member waiting in the wings to show the dying person the way to heaven which to say the way home. With that final question answered we are free to serve God without fear in this world. That is what John Calvin meant when he said, "We are saved to serve." That's one of my favorite Calvin quotes and one of my favorite Presbyterian theological revelations. What a relief!!
Peace of Christ be with you,
Pastor Jon
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St. John's Presbyterian Church
5020 West Bellfort / Houston, TX 77035
T. 713.723.6262 / F. 713.723-4015 / Email: office.sjpc@gmail.com
Worship Service: Sunday, 10:30 am / Sunday School: 9:00 am
