Musings from a Pastor, Educator, Wife, and Mother





Monday, September 24, 2012

What's My Motivation?

What motivates you in life? For me often times it is writing a list so that I can then experience the satisfaction of checking things off of it.  A friend of mine said a few weeks ago that his mom is the kind of person who sits down at the kitchen table with her morning coffee and at the top of her "to do" list writes, "make coffee" just so that she can mark it off.  Kindred spirits, she and I.  Other times it is a deadline fast approaching that motivates me, paying bills for example.  The best motivation comes when you are inspired to do something!  When sheer joy or love drives you to finish that book, write that article or finish that project. One of the most important and exciting things for me to do in the past few weeks has been to prepare for my besties' wedding.  There has been nothing too great or too small that I would not do to help her.  After all, this is part of a bridesmaids' job!  Buying a fancy dress, showering her with gifts, and taking her with friends to the beach for a weekend before the wedding has been such a blast.  Indeed, our continued friendship has motivated me to try and be the very best bridesmaid that I can be!  


I'm sure you know where I am going with this: what is our motivation when it comes to the life of the church? We know that when it comes to the task of giving of our time, talents, and treasures, there are many times when climbing that particular mountain appears to be too steep!  How can we motivate each other to pack up our gear and begin the arduous climb? How do we motivate one another to join us in the journey to become as generous to our church as perhaps we are in other areas of our lives? "What", you might ask, "is my motivation?"

I love this statement from McKenzie and Miller in "Climb Higher."  They write, "God continues to express generosity and give to us in ways we can hardly imagine--not because of what we do, but because of grace.  God's gifts come to us without strings attached.  Our gifts to God should be returned in the same way." Grace, the ultimate motivation! 

I could talk about generosity in the church being budget driven, but if you are like me, reading a bunch of numbers and line items can be intimidating and your eyes begin to glaze over.  Fiscal responsibility is very important and all of us should be aware of the church's expenses and the need to fund our various ministries, pleading with members to help out when times are tough isn't necessarily the best approach. Another option is to merely plea for help in a crisis situation.  This might lead a congregation into a panic or to believe that the church is no longer viable.  While a congregation should always be told if a financial crisis has emerged, it should be a vision for ministry that inspires the congregation to resolve it.    Some churches attempt to divide the amount of funding needed to sustain ministries equally among its members.Families are told what is needed and their portion and are called to respond accordingly.  Wow, um...insulting (in my opinion). This sounds a lot more like being guilted into paying dues rather than out of being lead through prayer to give as they are able.  We also have to be careful not to encourage a "giving to get" mentality.  Have you ever heard a testimony from someone who said that after they increased their tithes to the church they recieved a promotion or a raise? Our tithing should not be based on a bartering relationship with God.  Remember, God blesses us by grace alone and those blessings preceded and exceeded any gift-giving on our own part. 

I have shared this quote with our congregation before: "We don't pay the utility companies because we love paying utilities.  We budget for utilities because of the many different ways in which the building is used for ministry."  So, what is our motivation? Instead of talking about money lets talk about ministries.  

One of our best kept secrets at ACHPC is probably our music program.  When visitors come to our church they are blown away by the amount of talent we have in our small congregation.  It reminds me of a song Martina McBride used to sing, "I'm little but I'm loud."  I hope that for as many folks that come to me on Sunday morning to tell me they enjoyed my sermon, they tell our pianist, choir director, guitarist and choir members how fantastic they are.  While I do not like the notion that worship is a performance, I do on occasion encourage church members to clap after an anthem because the choir deserves to know that they have helped that congregation come closer to God in that moment.  That the Holy Spirit's presence was felt due to their inspiring music.  It isn't just about praising them, it is about glorifying God and in those moments thanking God for the talents they share with us each week! I look forward to occasions such as Joy Gift and Palm Sunday when they are able to breathe new life into our worship.  Having laity participate in worship each Sunday by leading the liturgy is crucial to our continued vitality, it helps members to take ownership of their worship and spiritual health.

I think we are also strong in our Christian Education at ACHPC.  We may not boast multiple Sunday school classes, but why should we?  What is the benefit of being fragmented when such wonderful, thoughtful discussion happens in one room?  The curriculum for the upcoming year for both adults and youth strives to connect real life, newsworthy events and personal narratives with the scriptures.  How do the scriptures help us to respond to what is happening in the world?  The Men's Fellowship Group and the Girls' Day Out study does the same thing, although with a different context.  We know that thoughtful study is an important key to our inspiration, it is what helps us to flesh out our theology and apply our faith to daily living.  

In addition to our study and worship, we fellowship with one another each and every week!  It is a delight for us to have luncheons and dinners together, to sit down and spend that quality time just being in relationship.  But, it is amazing what 10 minutes after worship can do to lift one's spirits, energize them for the coming week, share in a smile that can spread, one to another.  Make no mistake, the stories of the Bible are encounters with neighbors, relationships are at the core of  each one!  

There are churches that are twice the size of ours in number but can't seem to find the time to take care of one another.   Our family ministry is by far one of the most wonderful things we do.  While I try my very best to visit with our members when they are ill or struggling, I simply cannot do all that I would like.  I could never do enough in all honesty, but with help from congregation members, we are able to show our love and support to members. The cards, the flowers, the food, mean so much to people.  I would encourage everyone that you do not have to wait until you are the person signed up to do family ministry to reach out to folks.  Our prayer list is in the bulletin each week for a reason.  After you've prayed for our members, call them, visit them, and pray with them!

The amount of work we do in the community is also phenomenal. When people call us and ask for help with groceries, we can direct them to the local food bank because we are always collecting food for their shelves.  When people need help with their rent or their electric bills, we are able to provide for them because of the congregations generosity with funds as well as the time our members spend working to raise money at the Railroad Festival.  We assist with Habitat, we do an angel tree, 2-cents-a-meal, the list goes on and on.  In fact, we may have too many irons in the fire.  But, they are each so very good.  

Make no mistake, the success of these ministries is directly linked to our congregations generosity. Generosity of tithes, generosity of time, generosity of talents. I ask my congregation to think about the impression these ministries have had on your life. When it comes to generous giving, what is your motivation?






Monday, September 17, 2012

An Attitude Of Gratitude

When I was a little girl my mother trained me to say, "Thank you Momma, you're a good woman."    It's true she is a good woman. She is like a fine wine or a product that has become more valuable with inflation over time, she is an incredible, extraordinary woman!  She taught me to have an attitude of gratitude.  In fact, not only should I show her my thanks and gratitude for the ways in which she cares for me, but I should also give her a compliment to remind her (and me) of just how fantastic she is.  It probably wasn't long after that when I began to say, "you're the best momma in the whole wide world!" If I haven't said it enough recently Mom, I am saying it now! 



McKenzie and Miller write in their book "Climb Higher" that nurturing generosity calls for a clear vision and committed leadership.  They go on to say, "But more than anything else, to attain the summit of enduring and effective stewardship requires inspiration! We are inspired to give, meant to give, and in the giving we are inspired or animated with new life.  In our giving we become like God." For the authors inspiration is crucial to stewardship.  They point to the most well known verse of Scripture to make their point, John 3:16.  What did God do because of his love for us?  He gave. He gave of himself out of great love for his creation.  

God is the giver of all things in our lives and when we seek God's guidance on how to use the gifts he has given us, we can find ourselves in a closer relationship with God.  Winston Churchill is quoted as saying, "we make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give." For the authors of "Climb Higher" Christian stewardship is grounded in gratitude, revealed in prayer, and lived in faith. If we are to be serious about enduring and effective stewardship, we need to create an attitude of gratitude!  A few weeks ago in worship we filled out gratitude cards and placed them in the offering plates.  It was wonderful to see the outpouring of thanksgiving from members, for family, friends, a a happy home and good health. 

We have a church member who has been diagnosed with cancer this summer.  He is a pillar in our congregation, he is an inspiration for all of us and we all feel the void ,see the empty seat in Sunday School and Worship since he has not felt well enough to be with us on Sunday mornings.  I went to visit him last week after he discovered that the cancer had spread and surgery was not going to be an option for him.  When he and his children who had all gathered there in the doctor's office heard this news his children were upset, understandably so.  But ever upbeat he said, "Don't be sad, look at what God has done, he has brought us all together today."   In all things, he gives thanks. 




When we can begin to reflect on our lives based on the sheer multitude of blessings we have received rather than the difficulties we face; life can become more bearable, in fact it becomes deeply enriched because suddenly we can name the ways in which God is working in our lives! Out of gratitude we turn to the Lord and say, "thank you Lord, you are a good God." We then ask God, based on all that he has given to us, what would God have us do?  How does God desire that we use our wealth, our health, our time and our talents to build up God's kingdom?  It is about being open to listening for God's call and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us in living out that call. 

 Last week at our session meeting as we had the inevitable crunching of numbers and pouring over the church's finances, our Clerk of Session said, "I have decided to increase my giving by an additional 10%."  In doing this he showed his dedication to the church's ministry.  He also demonstrated his dedication to being a leader in the congregation.  This was not a moment of patting himself on the back, this was an honest moment of generosity by which he followed up his words with actions.  He had encouraged church members in the newsletter to increase their giving if they felt so moved and in then did so himself.  

I do hope that we have created and are continuing to nurture a culture in our church that is based on gratitude, prayer, and a willingness to answer God's call, whatever that call may be.  I pray that we might be strong enough to step out of our comfort zones, to go beyond what has always been done, and move to whatever we feel touched or called by the Lord to do. 

  Recall a time when you were nearly overcome with a profound sense of gratitude. What were the circumstances?  Did you feel inspired to do something, say something, or change something? 

Try to remember a time when you were intentional about listening for God's will in your life. What happened?

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Following The Leader, The Leader, The Leader


John Quincy Adams once said, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."


Some days I have to remind myself that leader does not mean idea generator, which I love to do, almost as much as organizing!  Nothing excites me more than thinking up new worship experiences, fun sermon illustrations, worthwhile church programs or activities.  But I believe that being a leader does not mean that I do all of these things by myself, but rather that I empower other people to be not only hearers, but doers of the Word.  I am called to inspire new ways of thinking but also to equip members of the congregation to actively participate in the life of the church.   

As I prepare to begin a visioning process with our session members and hopefully inspire our congregation to also think about what God is calling us to do, I am reminded by authors' Scott McKenzie and Kristine Miller in Climb Higher that "simply knowing where God is leading you in your ministry will not propel you to the top."  Our leadership must be committed to the task.  Miller and McKenzie argue that if one were planning an expedition to scale the heights of Mount Everest, one would desire to have the most skilled of climbers leading the charge.  In the same way, you want to recruit the very best of your membership to lead the way in effective ministries.  In this book, the main topic is stewardship, so the example is that you would want your best stewards in charge of the stewardship campaign.  I believe the theory holds for any committee in the church, you would want your members who are the most hospitable to be a part of your fellowship team or greeters on Sunday morning.  You would want to ask your most compassionate and perhaps prayerful members to help you with visiting the ill or shut-ins.  

This is not even a matter of selecting the person who does the most hosting or gives the largest contributions.  Rather, it is the person who represents the most meaningful commitment.  Miller and McKenzie argue for example, "a person in a leadership role who has not made a financial commitment to support the ministries of your church will derail your vision and be a stumbling block at every turn."   The point is that your leadership should be 100% behind the vision of the church and supporting it with their time, talents, and tithing in whatever way they can.  I must give kudos to our session members here as they try very hard to do whatever needs to be done to ensure the success of any project.  They also make a commitment to stand behind decisions that the session votes on, even if all don't agree, once the vote has been made, all members support one another and present a united front.  I don't know if the rest of the congregation realizes this, but I tell you, they set a wonderful example and I hope to highlight it!  The session should be enthusiastic ambassadors for our ministries within the church not just 'chair committees.'  And they cannot do any of this work alone, they need the help of the entire membership to not only volunteer to be lay readers or man the hot dog stand (which we absolutely do need), they also need people to Show UpI don't mean just be a warm body filling a space, I mean be physically, mentally, and spiritually present in all our various ministries!  If you don't feel like church is fulfilling your spiritual needs as it should, ask yourself why you think that is and what you/we can do about it. 

The leadership of the congregation plays a crucial role in assisting the congregation to fulfill its God-given vision for ministry.  I know that God is calling us to do something quite special, even though we have yet to discern precisely what this looks like.  In truth, all the members of a congregation are leaders in some way, everyone has their gift and their place in ministry, we are all members of the priesthood of believers.  This may require each of us to shift our way of thinking.  For example, instead of viewing stewardship as a way to convince people to give more money, imagine it as a way to inspire people to become more generous in all aspects of life.  Instead of viewing fellowship events as a meal, what if it inspires us to become more hospitable to one another. Instead of coffee hour being about snacks to tide us over until lunch, it helps us reconnect and minister to one another as we take a genuine interest in each others' lives.  

I was taught in any number of scenarios throughout my life that the world needs both leaders and followers.  Sometimes the situation necessitates that the one who is usually the boss steps back and lets someone else take the lead.  I was reminded of this quite clearly last weekend at our youth council planning retreat when I had to say to some of our returning council members, "Hey, you are really good at this...let someone else give it a try."  I think that I am naturally a leader but that does not mean that always have to lead. I can still be a leader and allow myself to follow the direction of someone else from time to time, especially if they have more experience or expertise than I do.  I guess my point is, if you are a leader in the church, own it, become an inspirational ambassador for your church's vision. If you cannot commit to this crucial role, ask yourself, "why am I in a leadership position?"  If you are a follower, think about why it is that you are in that position. Is it because you don't think you have the chops to be a leader? Is it because the opportunity hasn't presented itself?  Is it because you have been burnt out in a leadership position before?  

As we begin to envision the future of our church, I pray that you would be inspired to dream, equipped to participate, and affirmed in prayer that God is calling you and us together to do something amazing.  Amen.