We will also celebrate FCC’s 133rd birthday on Sunday, Feb. 14, with worship in the Fellowship Hall followed by a potluck dinner honoring the people who have been members of our congregation for 50 years or more as well as the new members of our congregation. An entree, rolls and beverage will be provided for $5 per person or a maximum of $15 per family.  Everyone is asked to bring his or her favorite vegetable, salad, or dessert to share.  For those unable to bring food, a contribution of $8 per person is suggested. Reservations must be made by Noon on Monday, Feb. 8.  Contact the church office at office@fccminneapolis.org to make reservations.

Finally, beginning on Fat Sunday and throughout Lent, First Christian will be showcasing the photography of our own Deb Murphy. Her works, “Thin Places, Sacred Spaces” were part of an installation at United Seminary last fall. Stop by after worship in the West Hall to look and stay tuned to how it will become a part of First’s Lenten Prayer Practice.

Please join us on February 14. All are welcome!

Pastor Bob Brite.

The central question that the Transition Team and others keep coming back to time and time again in the life of FCC is:  What is the ministry of First Christian Church of Minneapolis?  Numerous surveys have been taken over the years, numerous goal-settings and projects have taken place, numerous things have been tried in the life of the body, but the challenge of answering that question concretely has loomed over everything that’s been done.  Transformation in ministry cannot take place unless that question can be answered.

Of course, part of the answer, expressed concretely in conversations about three years ago, is that the church exists for the spiritual comfort of its members; in other words, the church is for “us.”  That’s true, but only a small part of the truth; if a church exists for itself it’s only a social club that invokes God on occasion, and such a body without a defined ministry will die, and perhaps should.  Two years ago the elders defined goals of transformation – in worship, in spirituality, in leadership, in diversity, and in ministry to the neighborhood (remember those, folks?)  We’ve made progress in a lot of those areas, but the central question still remains:  What is the ministry of FCC?

One of the points that came up in Transition Team discussions last week was that starting a new worship movement in FCC wasn’t going to give the church a future unless we ALL work on transforming who we are now.  So what is the ministry of the body of FCC to be?  I hope you all work hard, thinking and praying, to answer that question, and share that answer with a Transition Team member?

I’d like to see YOU on Sunday!

Bob

1.  How does one develop faith?

The starting point is recognizing that life is based on faith, not concrete existence.  Faith life begins with accepting that what is, is.  Once you recognize this, it becomes more of a spiritual journey rather than just a material one.  Developing faith means finding a faith orientation (ours is Christian), and finding out what things that are meaningful within that orientation, and finding a community that supports your journey.   Development of faith is a lifelong journey. God’s self is mystery, and our job is to explore mystery that we might grow as souls.  Why?  Because the next journey is even more challenging and exciting – we’re to use this world to get ready for the next.

2.  Some people describe the Bible as the inerrant word of God.  What is your opinion?

I prefer to talk from the Bible, not about the Bible.  God provided God’s input into the writing of the Bible.  I don’t care about inerrancy – that was an idea that was developed in the late 19th century.  The Bible is full of mystery; it’s a book of questions, not all the answers.  We need to work through the questions.  The Bible doesn’t proclaim inerrancy for itself;  we need to take the Bible for what it is and explore it, delve into it, try to work meaning from it.  It’s our guidebook through the mystery;  faith grows through our interaction with the Bible.

3.  If there’s only one God why are there so many religions?

I start by recalling Paul’s words in 1 Cor 13: “Now we see through a glass darkly.”  In the human journey, God is mystery.  In the human journey, through geography, politics, through people pursuing their own ideas, religions developed historically.  Most of the early religions were polytheistic, and then monotheism came in.  Different faith traditions are ways of trying to understand life and the creator of life, God.  We claim the Christian faith, but I don’t want to call it superior because of the history of Christianity’s mistakes.   But I claim the Christian ideals which are also in other traditions.  Seeing God as a God of love is about as high an aspiration for God as we can give to God.  This is right, good.  holy.  There are so many religions because we don’t see perfectly, we don’t see clearly;  the world is big and we have different understandings.  Is there validity in different understandings?  Yes.  We all have to understand the fact that we all don’t get it.  I’m in an interfaith forum of Christians, Muslims, and Jews – we come together because we all wish to be people of faith.  I believe in God through Christ, which is from my point of view the best way to understand God.  But it’s for God to judge which faith path is the best.  The temptation is to say mine’s the best, but if we are to truly follow God as mystery you have to keep and open mind and respect other viewpoints.

4.  Why are some of the names in the Bible hard to pronounce?
Well, Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic, and even English, are not the easiest languages to learn.  A lot of names in the Bible are used as descriptive phrases. Adam means earth,   just as Smith came from blacksmith.  I know if I had a son, I wouldn’t name him Melchizedek!

5.  Why do good things happen to bad people?

Notice how this question gives a twist on the way we often hear the question.  God’s rain falls on the just and unjust.  Good things happen to bad people because frequently “those that have, get,” they pursue crass materialism and follow the commandment “thou shall not get caught.”  We always asked why is there evil in the world?   Some people use this question to reject God.  But why is there good in the world?  Sometimes it’s the luck of the draw, it’s “them that’s has, gets.” It’s a mess.  But life has more purpose when you pursue it on a spiritual plain than material

6.  How do YOU balance doubt with faith?

Well if I didn’t have doubt, my faith wouldn’t grow.  If I didn’t raise the questions and have the struggles, then I wouldn’t be motivated to look for the insights.  Doubt is necessary to grow.  If you have no doubts, your faith is static. In times of great doubt (and I go through such times a lot) it’s usually a matter of looking back and seeing I’ve been here before, and seeing how God has led me through before.   I know to be patient, and know that God will reveal God’s truth and purpose.  Even though doubt is difficult, God provides light at the end.

courtesy of Eric Celiz/CWS

When the quake struck Port-au-Prince on January 12, Church World Service cleaned out its warehouse of Hygiene Kits to send to Haiti.  CWS needs to replenish their supply for future disasters as well as for Haitian relief.

We are collecting items on February 7 and 14 for the Hygiene Kits and will make at least 30 kits on February 20.  We are looking for people to signup to bring the one of the following items:

• One hand towel measuring approximately 16″ x 28″ (no fingertip or bath towels)
• One washcloth
• One wide-tooth comb
• One nail clipper
• One bar of soap (bath size in wrapper)
• One toothbrush (in original packaging)
• Six standard size Band-Aids®

If you can donate an item, please contact Associate Pastor Dennis Sanders at associatepastor@fccminneapolis.org or call the church at 612-870-1868   and include what you are donating and how much.  You can then drop off your item during the week from 9am to 4:30pm Monday-Friday or on February 7 and 14. There will also be signup sheet available in the church lounge on February 7 and 14.

If you have an questions, please contact Dennis Sanders at the church.

As a look around this sanctuary today I can’t help but wonder what I am  doing up here talking to you.  I am not a lifelong member of this  congregation.  Heck,  I am not even a lifelong member of this  Denomination. However for the past 31 +years the Disciple  denomination has been a big part of the life of my family.  Nancy and I
have moved numerous times. Before each move one of the first things we would do is look for a Disciple church in the city where we were moving to.  You see no matter where we lived we could always find  peace and friendship at church.  From a congregation of 10` to one of  150 it was always the same. Smiling faces coming to you with open arms.  And it is no different here.  My family was accepted here and we have been able to continue our service of the Lord and meet many  great people.  And my hope is that the same opportunity will be offered to others NOW AND IN THE FUTURE here at First Christian Church Minneapolis.

This is the task at hand for not only the transition team but this congregation.  Many questions need to be answered:  How do we maintain a vibrant loving caring congregation?  What is the future going to bring? Where are we going to worship? Are we going to be financially stable enough to continue?  These are tough questions but must be answered in the future.  The loving, caring and serving part is the easiest.  As a congregation I see this as a positive. No matter where we are in the future this congregation I am sure will continue to serve the Lord and the community as we have in the past. We may feel we are not doing enough in the community but remember the size of the congregation today. Daily we continue to find new ways and ideas to serve God and the community.

The financial part is a tough one.  Last year only 57% of income was from pledges the rest from proceeds of the sale.  Next year the numbers are about the same. To ease this financial burden there are a number of options.  But one thing is for sure we cannot continue to survive in this building.  We can continue to stay the current path but in a few years the interest income money from the sale of the building will be gone,  then what? We could live off the rest of the money but what happens when that runs out. Some options to consider too ease the money situation could be to down size to a smaller church or a shared space with another congregation.

What does the future bring?  That is a different story?  You have already agreed for money to be used to start a second service to try and attract the younger 20-40 generation. Over the coming weeks, the Transition team will be meeting with other congregations in similar situation as ours to gather more ideas on how we should proceed. The Transition team is currently reading and studying the book Were are Here Now; a book about church transformation.   One of the main points of the book is there are no quick fixes or easy answers.  It takes hard work and dedication to transform.

During one of our transition team meetings we were asked to think about what our ultimate dream would be for First Christian Church Minneapolis. My first thought was of a beautiful large church. You know (The spotlight of the neighborhood).  It would be filled Sunday morning to capacity, with music and singing so loud that people could hear as they pass by.    Then I started to think what difference would a large congregation make.  Sure financial condition could improve with more members but in today’s economic environment even the larger congregations are struggling to survive with finances and loss of membership.  With more members more ideas and decisions to be made I thought about the congregation. How close would it be?   Would everyone know everyone? You see,  bigger is not always better.

Approaching is the anniversary of this congregation that was started by those 22 people not in a huge church or sanctuary but in a home. They continued to meet and grow I am sure not always agreeing with how they should proceed. There were trials and tribulations. But through prayer, hard work and compromise a congregation was born.

As we transition into the future we will experience those same trials and tribulations as our brothers and sisters in did in the past. There will be disagreement and much discussion. As a transition team we cannot make snap decisions. Decisions shall thoroughly be thought out and evaluated.   One thing for sure we cannot continue to do things the same. As the old saying goes if you continue to do things the same way you can expect the same results.  All of us need to move into the future with open minds and be willing to accept things that we may not totally agree with.  I am sure each of us has our own thoughts on how we should proceed.  But one thing is for certain we must change and be open to change.

I encourage you to think about what you would like First Christian Church to be in the future.  Much like Pastor Bob asked the Transition Team to do.   Share those thoughts with others as well as members of the Transition Team. Read about how other churches have survived during difficult times.  A couple of weeks ago there was an article about all the things a church in Michigan was doing even with high unemployment.  They continue to move forward in difficult times by working and praying together. They adapted to the changing of the times by serving in different ways.

But most importantly, go to God in prayer about the future.  Pray for his guidance for this congregation and the Transition Team.  Pray for a place that not only us but others can come to and experience God’s love and guidance. You see in the end it doesn’t matter what each of us wants.  It is what God wants us to do that matters.

Let us pray.

Dear Lord, we bow before you today a congregation many emotions.  Some of us are angry, some hurt, some scared and some excited.  Change and what the future might bring is scary.  Help us to get out of our comfort zone and be willing to try new things and be open to new ideas.  Be with the transition as they go about the task of helping to decide the direction of this congregation.  We ask that you comfort those who are hurting or scared and encourage those that are excited.  And we pray that the end decision will be the best way for us to better serve you and your needs of us. IN your holy name we pray,  Amen.

Pastor Bob Brite.

First of all, all-in-all you are a group of beautiful human beings who I think are honestly wrestling with what your future is to be in the wake of a declining past.

You have, in my opinion, have worked at cultivating a deeper sense of spirituality since I’ve been here, again, honestly questioning God and
your personal and congregational purpose in God’s Kingdom, and I certainly want to encourage that continued questioning, deepening your trust in God to provide the answers.  (Though asking the questions in the first place is the important thing.)

I also think that we’ve brought our communication pieces up to date and are regaining a sense of investment in mission and hands-on ministry; my thanks to Dennis Sanders for providing a spirit of leadership on both those fronts.  We’ve made some progress in evangelistic awareness and children’s nurture and education, with a ways to go on both of those fronts.

The biggest hurdle you have yet to face is your own enculturation, your resistance to change, that lies at the heart of the congregation’s soul.

Whether it’s change in the format and style of worship, in the physical settings of the building, in the investment of time in mission and ministry, there is still the tendency to fall into habits of the past rather than embracing visions and imaginings of the future.  There’s a natural tendency to want things the way they have always been, but I will continue to issue the challenge of resisting that tendency in favor of working towards that which can be.

The primary question that needs to be answered in 2010 is, “What is best thing FCC Minneapolis can do and be for advancing the Kingdom of God in the Twin Cities?”  I expect that, by the end of this year we may have an answer to that question.

You can also Twitter your questions in.  Simply go to our Twitter page at www.twitter.com/fccminneapolis.