Transition

Note: This newsletter article was written for Mill Plain and Longview with two different endings.

We are living in a time where change is the norm and not the exception. Last week I was in the a retail store with my phone asking some questions about my cell phone service, when I showed it to the sales person he reacted like I had pulled out an antique, “Oh, I remember those.” I’m thinking, “Good grief, the phone isn’t even two years old yet.” I haven’t yet begun to think of switching to a newer phone but clearly there will be a day my phone will no longer be able to function as I need it to.

With change being a way of life the question for many is how and when do we choose to make a transition in our life with these changes? Making a transition is a choice. We cannot control the changes around us, but we can control our response (or non-response) to them.

When Jesus was preparing his disciples for the time that he would no longer be with them he made attempts to help them make the transition. He taught them intentionally about the presence of the Holy Spirit. He took time to reflect on what they had achieved together. He reminded each of them of their value to the continued ministry and he gave thanks to God for their faith. Soon the disciples are confronted not only with the life of Jesus but with his death and his resurrection as well! The disciple’s choice is how are we going to respond, what will be different in our life because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Pastoral changes are hard. Each situation is unique, no two situations are the same. In each change that is made we have a choice of how to respond and the people around us will be responding in a variety of ways. Some are grieving what is being lost, others are looking forward to what will be gained. Making a healthy pastoral transition takes into account both the grief and the anticipation of the clergy and the congregation. In order to receive one another well we also need to do our best to say goodbye well.

I have arranged for a couple of Sunday’s off between Longview and Mill Plain (my last Sunday at LUMC is June 15) in order for me to make as healthy of a transition as I can. Two weeks is still a short time to consider all the emotions of saying goodbye and preparing to say hello. Yet, I intend to do my best to spend that time resting and considering the possibilities of the future with Mill Plain UMC. I will also be giving thanks in prayer for the people of Longview UMC.

Longview UMC ending
So Thank You Longview United Methodist Church. Thank you, for receiving me with love, for being graceful when I made a mistake, for having the courage to say what you believe, for caring for my family and helping my daughter to grow in her faith, for the ways that you care for and love one another, for your passion for justice, for giving your time and energy so others would be welcome, for sometimes setting aside your desires to make room for guests, for standing up as a beacon of diversity in this community, for supporting others as they become disciples of Jesus Christ.

Mill Plain UMC ending
I am thankful for the opportunity, that all being well, I will soon be the pastor of Mill Plain UMC. I am thankful for Brian’s three years of leadership and service for the Church. I am thankful for Steve Lewis being available to preach so often in this interim period. I am thankful for all the staff, especially Ev, Debbie and Jeff for their ministry. I am thankful for all the work going on behind the scenes to prepare for my arrival. How will you give thanks for what was and prepare for what will be?

Easter is coming, Easter is coming!

It seems like important days should be fixed on the calendar. We always know when Christmas is going to be. There seems to be little doubt when we will celebrate the Fourth of July. And we always know when the most important day of the Christian year is going to be . . . or do we?

Why is Easter day so early this year? March 23 is the second earliest date Easter can begin. Easter as the central holiday of the Christian faith has always been an important time but what day is it? Easter Sunday is set by this easy to remember formula; it is on the first Sunday after the first full moon after March 21st. Why March 21st? Because it was the date the church understood to be the vernal equinox. This was a great compromise in the early church between those who wanted Easter to begin on the Julian calendar and those who wanted to stick with the lunar calendar.

Really though, I think it is good that it is hard for us to know on any given year just when Easter is coming. Easter should be a surprise! It is God’s greatest surprise after all. The idea that God loves us so much that life continues even after death.

So enjoy the early Easter this year, it won’t come around this early again until 2160 and if you don’t like an early Easter in 2011 Easter will begin on the second latest date possible April 24.

A call to ministry

This month we will be taking a quick tour through the book of Exodus. If Genesis lays the foundation for the Bible then Exodus provides the framework for the rest of the structure. Exodus is the story of oppressed minority people who discover what it means to live as God’s people. The story begins with a call from God to an unlikely leader, someone who is running away after committing a homicide. A leader who is supposed to speak for the people yet he has a speech impediment. A leader who doesn’t want the job, yet he is convinced of God’s call and reluctantly moves forward.

This is the time of year when we seek people who are willing to help lead the church in ministry. The Lay Leadership team meets to nominate people to serve on the committees of the church. Those committees are Lay Leadership, Trustees, and Staff Parish Relations (SPR). We also have teams that are vital to the function of ministry. Currently we have three teams for the ministry of LUMC those are Worship, Missions and Social Justice / Outreach. We call the first three “committees” because that is what they are called in the United Methodist Book of Discipline. We call the other three “teams” because they are created for a particular task and they are less structured as they are not bound by the Book of Discipline.

As the church there are many opportunities for ministry not only on a committee or as part of a team. God may be calling you to a ministry of service within the church or in the community. Some are called to tend to the church garden, spend time with the youth or to sing in the choir. Some are called to work in our public schools, to work in health care or to work with lumber. What if we spent our day recognizing the call that God has for us each day?

I ask that you take time this month to listen to the movement of the Holy Spirit in your life. Where do you find yourself being led into service for God’s kingdom? Do you have a passion working with children and youth? Are you being called to help others recover from an addiction? Do you know how to fix things? I encourage you to take time to thank God for the gifts you have in all your daily activities and to seek to use your gifts for God’s service.

Awareness of God's Gifts

When I was a student pastor in San Angelo, Texas I had one shining moment in each week’s worship service. I called for the ushers to come forward for the offering. There were three pastor’s on staff, and two other full time program staff people. There was a lot of worship leadership to share. So my one consistent moment in worship was to ask the ushers to come forward as I would say “Let us now share in God’s gifts and our offerings.” This was a subtle thing but I had to remember to say “God’s gifts” not “Our gifts.” It is a simple way to remember all of our stuff belongs to God.

That simple statement significantly raised my awareness of God’s gifts. What if in your prayers this month you were constantly able to thank God for the gifts you have received. When your paycheck comes this month can you give thanks to God? When you buy groceries at the store, can you say a prayer of thanks for all the people, time and effort that have come together so you can have some food? When you are helping another person by giving some of your time to be with them, can you say a prayer of thanks?

I wonder if we stop to consider all the gifts that we have if we wouldn’t join the constant heavenly chorus in giving praise to God. Have you considered writing a thank you note to God for some everyday object that you are thankful for? What would your thank you note to God look like if you gave thanks for your phone or your refrigerator or your car? How would your attitude about those objects change after you said a prayer of thanks?

I invite you to notice the blessings in your life and to freely give thanks to God.

Peace,

Bruce

Recipes

The United Methodist Women are putting together a recipe book. I love to cook. So it seems like I should be able to contribute to the book.

Problem is I never use recipes. Oh sometimes I will look at a book to remember the proper temperature for something or I will take ideas for a particular dish from a book. But I don’t use recipes. Now if I was a baker, I would have to use recipes. Baking is an exact science, Kendra does the baking. I prefer to be an artist, to create in the moment, to allow the ingredients at hand to determine what the meal will be. Sure there is planning involved (sometimes) and lessons learned from failed experiments (ask Kendra about those) but I don’t want to follow recipes, I want each meal to be a new experience. (This drives Kendra crazy.)

Don’t get me wrong, there are basic skills to be learned. There are tools to be used and some foundations of the chemistry of cooking that are necessary for a good meal. There is method to the madness. In my constant search for the perfect Thanksgiving Turkey I have learned the great joy of brining from Alton Brown of the Food Network.

This year I want to encourage LUMC to create “Experiments of Faith.” There are scientist among us who will experiment with great precision. There are others among us who will experiment with an artistic flair. It is my hope that these experiments are the shared experiences we have of God’s grace. Some of the experiments will be new ministry programs. Some of the experiments will become a committee. Some of the experiments will be new relationships. Some of the experiments will involve worship. Some of them will become personal devotions.

This will require an atmosphere of grace as we encourage one another to try new things for the ministry of Jesus Christ. Want to begin a new Bible Study? Sweet! Want to begin a program for children? Go for it! Want to reach out to older adults? Amen! Want to sing a new song in worship? Praise God! Some of our experiments will not turn out as we had hoped. May we have the grace to laugh and learn from our “failures.” Some of our experiments will take off in directions we didn’t think of. In all that we do, may we have the humility to give thanks for all that God is doing in the ministry of Longview United Methodist Church.

Peace,

Bruce

May Newsletter

May Flowers

This Spring Kendra and I have been working in the garden of the Camas Parsonage. We are very blessed to have a wonderful house with lots of yard to enjoy. (Although there is a LOT of grass to mow.) We have weeded the front flowerbeds, put beauty bark around the bushes and even begun wondering about working on some of the lumps and bumps in the lawn. With the help of one of the Camas trustees we have tilled a nice plot to plant a vegetable garden. The corn, pumpkin, carrots, lettuce and radishes are planted and there is more to do still. We have another area where we have planted strawberries and raspberries. The berries might not bear fruit this year, but it is fun to imagine the harvest next summer!

Working in this garden has been a spiritual exercise for me. There is something holy about caring for living things. Whether it is to enhance the look of a Rhododendron bush or to pull weeds so another plant can flourish, God seems to be present in this care giving.

What are your simple pleasures where you find God to be present? Do you like to take walks and talk with God? Do you have some music that lifts your soul? Does the sound of children playing bring a prayer of thanks?

Each of us has some weeding to do in our life, to rid ourselves of those things that deplete our life. Sometimes to see the beauty in another all we need to do is to highlight the gifts they have. Some of us appear pretty lumpy and rough around the edges, all we need is someone to care. Some of us are ready soil to provide nourishment for new life. Some of us are new to the faith, with questions and struggles and will take time to bear fruit.

Where ever you are in the Garden may you be able to appreciate the simple beauty of life.

March Newsletter

I have been greatly encouraged this month with the participation in our latest small group study Saving Jesus. We have already had a lot of fun with the irony of the title and the open discussions about who is Jesus and what is the role of the church today? One of the problems many people seem to have with Jesus is how the church has failed to represent his values in the world today. In fact, some argue that the church has often aligned itself more with empires and the powerful than Christ.

This year for Lent I encourage you to consider how can you represent Jesus to the world? When you consider the ministry of Jesus and what a relationship with Christ means to you, what actions are you led to take?

Often Lent is seen as a time to give something up, and that is a spiritual practice well worth considering. Lent is a great time to consider those harmful habits that keep us at a distance from knowing God more fully and to give them up. Perhaps this Lent you can take care of your body by giving up cigarettes or by giving up unnecessary calories.

I would like to add to that, the idea of taking something up for Christ. What new thing can you begin doing as a response to the Gospel?

“Praxis” is word we have learned in our Saving Jesus class. Essentially praxis is the practice of our faith, or that which we do because of what we believe. Some of the presenters have suggested that our praxis is of greater concern to Jesus than our words. May each of us will continue to grow as we practice our faith together at Longview United Methodist Church.

February Newsletter

Not in our Town

According to Census information Longview lacks diversity. 90% of our community identifies themselves as white and our largest minority community is Hispanic with 6%. Our African American community is less than 1%. Yet we know numbers do not tell the whole story. We know that there are those in our community who are in a minority culture because they cannot hear and their language is American Sign Language. We know that there is a significant population of people who are in a sexual minority. We know that there are issues many people live with each day because the majority does not consider their needs or life situation.

This past month there was a gathering that I am really excited to tell you about. Some time after racist attacks were highlighted in the news once again, I contacted the Ethnic Support Council and plans were made for a meeting to address these attacks. This last month several community people gathered together at our church to make plans for addressing the issue of hate crimes in our community.

We heard a thoughtful report from representatives of the Longview Police Department, we heard from community leaders and their experience of racism, we heard from pastors who are concerned about our community. This group will continue to meet this month to create some community events to raise awareness of diversity in our community and I very much look forward to telling you about those plans in the near future.

I believe that it imperative in a community that seems so homogeneous that we bring forward issues of diversity. It is not OK to say, “well there really aren’t any minorities here” because that is simply not true. Nor is it OK to believe that there is no race problem here. There ARE groups in our community looking to promote hatred, racism and homophobia. These groups must be told that we will not tolerate this in our town.

As we live out our mission to be a beacon of Diversity on our community we will continue to shine the light of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ into the dark places where hatred resides.

One way you can be a beacon is to get informed about what is happening in our community. I encourage you to attend the community forum being held by the Longview Police Department on February 9th at 7:00 at the McLellan Arts Center. This forum will address many community issues including hate crimes.

Grace and Peace,
Bruce

January Newsletter Article

Building a Relationship

At some point as I was talking with one of my ministry mentors he shared with me a simple idea, “ministry is about relationships.” Seems obvious once it is stated, but sometimes church leaders (and church members) need to be reminded of the obvious. We gather together as a community because of the relationship with each other and the relationship we have with God. When things are working well, those relationships are a gift of grace.

This New Year’s Eve I was able to host a gathering of friends that have been getting together in one form or another for nearly 15 years now. We have celebrated marriages, the birth of children and now we are looking toward our children growing up and on our growing older. This community was formed by the relationships built through the ministry of the church. We met at first as youth at Ocean Park Camp, then as college students many of us gathered together while we were at W.S.U. These relationships are a gift of grace for me and I treasure them deeply.

It is my hope and prayer that as we gather together as the People of Longview United Methodist Church that we would understand being a disciple for Jesus Christ is to be in relationship with God and with our neighbors.

As a growing congregation our challenge is to continue to find ways to build relationships with others. Often we find ourselves at a point where we are comfortable with the number of people we have relationships with. Sometimes we don’t want to form a new relationship (relationships take work after all.) Yet, that is what we must do. We must find ways to continue to foster new relationships with others as well as deepen our relationship with God. Pray for the ministry of Longview United Methodist Church as we continue to work to build up the people of God in this New Year.