Pastor’s Corner

Dear friends in Christ,

Early one Sunday morning as I walked to church, a young man approached me with an urgent request, “Where can I find a coffee shop?” I’m not used to engaging people in conversation at 7:15 a.m. on Sunday, and I’ve learned through the years to be cautious when someone approaches me. This question, however, was easy. I knew exactly where three coffee shops could be found. I directed the man to Old Town with perfect confidence that his need would be met.

As I continued my walk toward church, I realized that I had just been a “coffee shop evangelist.” I then made the analogy to being a “gospel evangelist.” (That’s really a redundant term!) What if this young man had asked me where he could find a church? What if he had inquired about Jesus Christ? What if he had said he was seeking salvation? Well, perhaps because I’m “in the the business,” I could have given adequate answers to those types of questions. If such a scenario had happened, it would have made me late for church. After ll, talking about faith issues takes time.

At our June 13th congregational meeting, our congregation voted 35-18 to begin the process of hiring a staff person whose purpose would be to lead us in our ability to have meaningful faith-sharing conversations among ourselves, but most importantly, among those who are not Christians or members of any congregation. This process will take time, patience, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit through our study of Scripture, prayer, and conversation. A beginning has been made on this venture with Pastor Lori Cornell of Calvary Lutheran Church in Federal Way. That congregation used a set of materials with the theme “Unbinding the Church.” Our involvement with these materials will require a period of months with small groups addressing the topic of making disciples by being stronger, more confident disciples ourselves. From that confidence comes the ability to have meaningful conversations about our faith. Then comes the wonder-filled and open-ended work of the Holy Spirit to move the hearts of people to respond to the Gospel of Chris.

Does this mean we’re not hiring a Parish Life Coordinator as many had assumed. It may or may not mean that, but for the immediate next few months, we are on a train which as slowed its speed in order to be clear about which junction to choose. I do not believe we are on a train which is “sidetracked.” As a Council and a congregation, we will continue to review and seek leadership for the routine types of activities we enjoy during the course of each year. At the same time, we will invite a high percentage of our congregation to join in a minimum of a 40-day period of study and prayer as individuals and groups. We expect that 40-day period to be the Lenten season of March-April 2011.

I trust this provides a better understanding of what the June 13th vote means for us as a congregation. Continued input is needed to our Council, and it is entirely possible that another congregational meeting will be held early in the fall in order to “check signals” as our train keeps moving down the track.

Grace and peace,
Philip Nesvig, pastor