September 2010 Message from the Pastor

Strengthen

The God Given Talents of our Church Family

One of the tenets of our congregation’s mission statement is to build up or strengthen our membership. You see this expressed every week on the Peace Notes and other places as well (along with the three other tenets which are??) As we prepare for our Fall programming to begin, I want to highlight some of the ways we go about building you up. Since I describe us occasionally as a “spiritual fitness center,” I hope what follows are some prime opportunities for you and your family to get a good workout!!!

Sunday school and confirmation classes are our primary way of helping our children and youth grow in the faith. The curriculums we use are filled with the powerful stories of faith from the bible and contemporary history. Especially in confirmation, we try to keep the learning process exciting so that the kids are not lectured at but participate in discussions and small group experiences. I will demonstrate on the screen in worship in the next few weeks some of the video material we use to bring important questions of faith to their attention. (Questions like: Did God create the devil? and, Why does God let bad things happen?)

Adult classes are offered through women’s circles and retreats, through an ongoing Sunday morning class (starting at 8:30 a.m.) and Wednesday evening classes held during much of the year. We’re preparing the course offerings now for classes to begin in September. You can expect them to combine good “bible class” with forums on other timely issues. We will publish a brochure with the courses listed and also announce them week by week. Plan to try these Wednesday classes as often as you can. We know your time is precious but these classes have been very valuable for participants.

What helps you to grow in the faith? For some of you, it may not be classes or retreats. We know that for many, it is action, especially community service and the reflection that follows that makes for good learning. There is no shortage of opportunities here for this (be it Habitat work days, serving meals at shelters, helping with the rotating shelter, etc.) and we will work hard to see that we have a good variety of such experiences.

For some of you, developing your spiritual discipline is most important. Our NCD (Natural Church Development) has worked hard over the past few years to help you grow in your prayer life, your ability to meditate, study and grow spiritually and we will continue these efforts.

What else will help you to grow? Let me know about your needs and your thoughts for new approaches to this important dimension of ministry. Sometimes I hear that people feel that they learned all they needed to know as children in the church. Perhaps this is true, but I wonder if they know what they’re missing by not participating more in the things listed above. They (perhaps you) won’t know till they (you) come!!!


Pastor Jim Friedrich