Pastor’s Blog

By Bob Brite

Two-and-one-half truck loads and a lot of work later, we have the first of our “stuff” removed from the “old” facility of First Christian Church and placed (kinda, sorta) into the “new” facility of the SpringHouse Ministry Center. A goodly number of our folk, one each from Open Source CC in Rochester and Lake Harriet CC, chipped in, along with the strong efforts of some folk I hired off the street or from the neighborhood to add to our efforts. This second move (after we moved the
community in worship on the 15th) went much more smoothly than I anticipated it would, particularly since I had little clue a couple of weeks ago as to what was going to go and what was to stay on this trip. The Holy Spirit was there to guide us, I’m sure. Special thanks goes to Mark Peterson, President of Community Emergency Services, for the use of their truck, and his and one other volunteers’ work as driver to get the job done.
We still have our previous facility to sort through – what is left that needs to be sold or tossed or given away—but we still have some time with which to do that.
My goal is to have the additional “stuff” sorted and taken care of by the end of April (whether it happens that way will also be a work of the Holy Spirit, of course.)
In Dennis’ sermon on Sunday the 22nd, he talked about a time when, having to move, he finally got rid of a lot of “stuff” he’d been hanging on to but not using for years. It reminds me of all of the “stuff” I carry around and don’t use as well; it may be time for another sorting through and disposal on a personal level as well as a congregational level. The most important “stuff” we got over into the new building, however, is ourselves; we are, after all, what makes us a church, not that other “stuff.”

I’d like to see YOU on Sunday!
Bob

By Bob Brite, Transitional Pastor

I’ve got a couple of things to lift up to you this week.  First of all, our Office Manager, Chris Wogaman, will be leaving us at the end of January; downsizing to part time will not get the job done for him, and he will be seeking fuller-time employment.  My thanks goes to Chris for keeping my back and getting a lot of things done that I generally don’t have time for.  Deb Murphy will be taking over office duties on an interim basis for about 3 months, and one of her tasks will be to put together a job description for what a 15 hour-per-week Office Manager position will look like as compared to 30 or 40 hours.  It is all part-and-parcel of our transition towards becoming a “medium-sized” Disciples church as compared to a “big” Disciples church.

A second matter is one that I’ve lifted up before, but with which the discussions need to take place further in this time, and that’s the matter of our distribution of assets following our move to SpringHouse.  Following our sale of the building, we totaled out about $3.7 million (not including our endowments or trustees’ other funds).  About $1.45 million is going towards construction and organ moving.  That leaves about $2.25 million to work with for the future ministry of FCC and new church starts as well.

From almost the beginning of the transition process the church’s conversation process has focused on two pieces: 1) Having a sustenance or “Living Towards the Future” Fund that would give the congregation some extra support beyond that of congregational giving for the next 10 – 15 years, and 2) Starting new congregations in the Twin Cities area.  In last month’s Board meeting, discussion of the former amount was in the area of $1.2 million; used wisely in our down-sized circumstances, that could provide anywhere from 10 – 40 years of support, depending on what the congregation does in future budgets.  Leaving $150,000 for contingencies, that would leave about $900,000 for the other work.

It takes about $400,000 to start a new church if you do it right.  About $100,000 would go to Open Source Christian Church in Rochester (which was severely underfunded to start) to help them in their start-up process; that means there’s $800,000 left, enough to start two new churches.  Conversation in last month’s Board meeting centered on whether we should give all of that money to Church Extension this year, or hold half of it back.  We hope to continue that discussion in this month’s Board meeting and at the Annual Meeting as well.  I’m telling you all of this so that you can be informed for the discussion!

I’d like to see YOU on Moving Sunday, THIS SUNDAY!

Bob

On an interactive web-site I visit semi-frequently, one where you have to post a profile of your personality, I describe myself as a “Professional Thinker.”  (Yes, it’s a dating web-site, and I’m not crazy about admitting off the bat that I’m a Christian pastor.)  And it’s true; I spend a good deal of my time thinking, reflecting on the life of God in the world, reflecting on the world with all its joys and struggles, reflecting on how best to build the body of Christ here at FCC.

My thinking is more than just sermon preparation, of course; it’s living in the world of visions and ideas and possibilities, sorting out the confusions (or accepting them), trying to be as faithful as I can be in the context of God’s grace.

Being a professional thinker has its good points and bad.  Among the good points is that you can always be ready with an idea or two (or three) that will move a process along.  Among the bad points is that sometimes (or frequently?) you can get caught in an idea that’s not cooperating and end up going around in circles chasing your own tail and being frustrated.

One of the thoughts that is frequently in my mind is the need to surrender my thoughts and being to God’s will.  (This, too, has its share of joy and frustration.)  Letting go and letting God, recognizing that I’m not in charge, but only help, in the creative process, recognizing that the gift of leadership is primarily a role of servanthood – these are all things that are part of my spiritual journey as a pastor and as a human being.

Advent is a journey in surrender – surrendering ourselves to God’s will and way, surrendering ourselves to experience child-like wonder in the birth of a child, surrendering ourselves to live life in love and compassion to the world. May you be so blessed with the gift of surrender as we move towards the fulfillment of this season.

I’d like to see YOU on Sunday,

Bob

I haven’t been into the new building for a while, (I hope to do so sometime this week,) but I understand that good progress is being made, even to the point of painting beginning in some of the rooms. The office managers have met to talk about what sort of equipment can be moved; we’ve asked for bids from three organ companies about moving the organ. All in all, it looks as if the building will be ready sometime in mid-December, which means we need to finalize our own plans for moving our worship services (first, and then the rest of our stuff over the following six months.)

Our conversation to this point has focused on having final Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, and then moving over sometime in early January, maybe as early as New Year’s Day, with the service beginning at our current building and finishing at the new one. There are too many vari-ables right now still to nail down the timeframe, but it’s something people need to be thinking about. Of the many, many groups meeting among the three churches, one of them about to gear up is the “stuff” committee.

Oh, boy! There’s a lot to be accomplished in the next three months!

Of course, after that point of moving, it then behooves us to consider “what happens then?” It’ll be a new set of circumstances in which our ministry will be taking place, hopefully one with more spiritual focus than building focus. The elders are talking it over, and it’s for all of us to talk it over – what will be the ministry of FCC from here on out? What are new ideas that can come forth out of all the changes? Think about it; better yet, pray about it and see what God seems to be saying to you?

I’d like to see YOU on Sunday!

Bob

One of the things I try to do each day is exercise.  Whether it’s walking, biking, weights, or tennis, I usually spend part of my evening engaged in some sort of physical activity.  I’ve found that it helps me to feel better, and it definitely assists in my continual hobby of trying to keep my weight at acceptable levels, considering the fact that I can look at food and put on weight.

The Good News translation of one of Paul’s letters (I can’t recall which one at this point) talks about the importance of spiritual exercise as well.  I know that last year one of the Sunday School classes engaged in a study of Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.

The disciplines such as prayer, study, fasting, meditation, worship, and so on can be regarded as spiritual exercise much in the same way that my above list of sports are forms of physical exercise.  Just as physical exercise stresses the body in such ways that it strengthens the body, spiritual exercise stresses the soul in such a way that it strengthens the soul.  Just as physical exercise is both hard work and good fun, spiritual exercise is the same.

The work and the fun of spiritual exercise is growing in the awareness of God’s presence in our lives.  Please note that I’m putting the emphasis on our awareness rather than God’s presence.  God is always present in our midst; the “work” part is in the arena of increasing our awareness.  The strongest, most illuminative souls on our planet are those whose relationship with God is constantly worked on, just as the top musicians in our world are constantly practicing.

As the summer months move on, I would commend to you working into your daily routines both physical and spiritual exercise; it’ll do your whole self some good!

I’d like to see YOU on Sunday,

Bob