July August 2009 Message from the Pastor

Non-Anxious Presence

There’s a common theme in the literature of church management (I would imagine it’s in other fields as well). The notion is that church leaders need to maintain a non-anxious presence when facing conflict, tensions, and polarizing dynamics that can tear apart a congregation. Parents know this idea well…the more distressed the child, the more you try to keep your calm. The emphasis here is on “try” to remain calm. It sometimes requires good acting skills.

To some extent, maintaining a non-anxious presence can seem like living in denial. We all feel the anxiety and fear that come with troubled times. We’re emotional creatures and it’s normal to have strong, fearful feelings. To act calm when others are in pain can communicate insensitivity as if we don’t really care. We know that denial is not a good way of coping for the most part.

But there is a difference between denial and well-founded non-anxiety or calmness in the storm. A parent who remains calm in the face of the child’s screams and tears is saying, “I know you’re scared but we’ll get through this. You’ll survive, my sweet one! Don’t panic, just hold on to me.”

So it must be in these days of rising unemployment and social insecurity. The parent/leader’s strength comes not from good acting but strong faith. The non-anxious capacity we have comes from the rock of our salvation, the love of God. We all need to remember that God is bigger than all the monsters that threaten our sleep, the creeping worries that eat away at us during the day.

As I contemplate the various perils that I know you and we as a society are facing, I often find myself singing an old familiar hymn. It’s programmed in my mind from countless repetition. (Dad wasn’t always creative in his hymn selections) I’m sure you know it and I hope you find the same comfort I do in singing to myself.

Oh God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come.

Our refuge from the stormy blast

And our eternal home.
 Amen and Amen!


Pastor Jim Friedrich