“Victimized by nostalgia and buffeted by fear, the church is focused
too much on
merely holding the small plot of
ground that it currently occupies to
confidently reimagine a robust
future.”
-Michael Frost
Frost argues that many
churches today have become so preoccupied with self – the preservation of old
programs, maintenance of old leadership models and a “good-enough” attitude
toward its facilities – that they no longer are a major force in the community
for God. Such churches spend more energy on resentful sadness about what was,
and now is not, than on confidently listening for God to lead them into a
robust future.
Amazingly, I am hearing something different from many
members of this church. I hear that you understand people today expect quality
and our church must meet that expectation in all that we do, that the needs of
people have changed so our approach to ministry must change, and that God will
never be honored with a “good-enough” attitude. These comments and many more
have been on the lips of church members in the short time I have been with you.
These comments are not typical for a church as old as First Presbyterian.
As I complete my first six months as your pastor, I am
continually surprised and delighted by the number of persons who have been
seized with a forward view for our shared ministry. You are not a people who
desire to rest upon past success. God has much more to accomplish – until every
nation has acknowledged Jesus as Lord – and you seem energized by how God will
make you a part of that future. For that I am deeply grateful.
Joy,
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