Initial Article & Sermon

June 2006 Newsletter Article

There are several areas that I see will take priority for the next few years if we are going to thrive and flourish as a mission center for God on the Near West Side of Cleveland. In no particular order, they are:

1.) We need to evaluate and settle on a format for our programmatic work now being done by the Mission Council, as well as the other temporary changes made last fall. This should be part of an overall, and long-overdue, look at our Constitution and By-Laws.

2.) We need to be more intentional about nurturing our leadership, spiritually and with specific training, as well as consistently developing new leaders for the future.

3.) We need a comprehensive long-term mission plan that helps us decide how to wisely and faithfully invest our time, energy, and money in ways that are unique to our congregation and specific to our setting and time.

4.) We need to create and invest in a coordinated and creative plan for evangelism, telling the Good News of what God is doing in, with, and through our congregation.

5.) We need to consider additional opportunities for worship that allows others who may not find our traditional service the most fulfilling way to praise God.

God's Grace Is Abundant,

Pastor Allen

Update: This five-point plan has been received by the Board of the Church on Sunday, June 25 and a group was appointed at that time to begin work on the Constitution and By Laws.  The New Worship Initiatives Team concept was approved by the Worship Team in June and an initial grant was given by the Mission Council at its August meeting.  The Mission Council also approved the concept of an Evangelism and Publicity Team, working on point 4.

The following sermon offers a more theological and in-depth vision of what I see needs to happen in the coming year.  I look forward to ongoing feedback and support from the church and community.

Sermon For June 25, 2006 ~ To Thrive And To Flourish

I would like to use this valuable sermon time today to talk very personally and candidly about what I have discerned are the five most pressing needs of this congregation for the immediate future as we proclaim the creative work of God, the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.
These are several areas that I see must take priority for the next few years if we are going to thrive and flourish as a center of proclamation, community, and service, initiated in our baptisms, nurtured and commissioned by our weekly feast of the Lord’s Supper. I will be asking the official Board to respond to these at our meeting this afternoon.

1.) I use as the text for my first point 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

We need to evaluate and settle on a format for our programmatic work now being done by the Mission Council, as well as the other temporary changes made last fall. This should be part of an overall, and long-overdue, look at our Constitution and By-Laws. Such talk often gets glazed over looks, and, if done incorrectly, can bog down a community. But, if done well – and it does need to be done – having clear and consistent guidelines for how we do our work as church can free us up to really embrace the mission God has for us in this new day.

A healthy, consistent, up-to-date Constitution and By-Laws allow the Spirit of God to work more freely in helping us maintain the common good. I invite anyone who is interested in renewing our Constitution & By-Laws to contact me in the coming month.

2.) For my second point, I turn to the prophet Isaiah, the 55 chapter: “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!... Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food… Listen, so that you may live.” (1-3 selected).

We need to be more intentional about nurturing our leadership, spiritually and with specific training, as well as consistently developing new leaders for the future. We’ve done this somewhat well over the past few years, and we’ve consistently chosen good and faithful leaders. Now we need to be more intentional about deepening our spiritual roots to enable us to spread out our branches farther.

Specifically three things need to be done better: We need to show appreciation for each other’s work and wisdom. The Board Meeting today will be primarily devoted to giving thanks for all that you have done to live out God’s mission in this church in the past year. The next thing that is critical is to give leaders a clear sense of what is expected of them and then give them the resources to do their jobs.

 On Sunday, July 9th we will install our new Board Members and Officers and there will be a more systematic series of workshops throughout the year to give our leaders the resources they need, such as the Publicity workshop on July 18th. Finally, we need to have enough of a variety of spiritual growth opportunities that everyone can find a place to be nourished in the Spirit.

Whether you have been in the church since your name was placed on the cradle role, or your visit here today is the first time you’ve ever stepped foot into a church, we all need to be fed, and fed well. If you would like to lead a class or retreat, please let me know.

3.) For my third point, I read from the book of Habbakkuk: “Write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time.” (2b-3a)

You’ve heard me say this so many times, you can probably recite it yourself: We need a comprehensive long-term mission plan that helps us decide how to wisely and faithfully invest our time, energy, and money in ways that are unique to our congregation and specific to our setting and time. This is essentially calling us to the finest STEWARDSHIP of God’s resources.

You may remember our attempt a couple of years ago at a BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Perhaps it was a bit premature, and many of our leaders were just too tired to consider looking at the “big picture” or there wasn’t enough of a consensus. We cannot postpone this much longer, because as we grow in membership and programming, we need to be working in a united manner, not scattered. People feel called to a church that has a strong sense of its character and its mission in the world.

 This mission cannot be the personal agenda of any one person or small group of people. It has to be claimed by the whole church together. We may lose some who do not agree with the chosen approach, but we will need to have the grace to bid them farewell, but have the confidence we are on the right course.

4.) My fourth point takes us to the book of the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 16, beginning at verse 13, “On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’”

We need to create and invest in a coordinated and creative plan for evangelism, telling the Good News of what God is doing in, with, and through our congregation. This is one of the reasons why I believe Pentecost is such an important holiday and season. It reminds us that our task as followers of Christ is not finished until all God’s children are part of the Circle, all have heard the meaning of communion in their own language.

Now, part of the issue is that as the mainline Protestant Church in America has declined, we’ve gotten frightened. Many specialists have arisen to address our concerns, and not all are wise and not all of their ideas are applicable to this congregation. Evangelism will never be a “one-size-fits-all” enterprise, because the gospel of Jesus Christ fits each individual believer uniquely. Franklin Circle Christian Church must learn from the church growth & evangelism specialists, and then chart a course that attracts the people of our neighborhood looking for a church doing our unique brand of mission.

Like Lydia, the good people out there who yearn for a fuller relationship with God and a community of care, service, and nurture will be convinced first and foremost by conversations with other people of faith who say, simply, “Look what I found! You should find it, too!”

5.) For my fifth and final point, I turn to Psalm 150: “Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise God in his mighty firmament! Praise God for his mighty deed; praise God according to his surpassing greatness! Praise God with trumpet sound, praise him with lute and harp! Praise God with tambourine and dance; praise God with strings and pipe! Praise God with clanging cymbals, praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”

Finally, we need to consider additional opportunities for worship that allows others who may not find our traditional service the most fulfilling way to praise God. Over the past year I have been very pleased with the work of the Worship Team and Staff as together we have really honed this worship service and made it, what we might call a Fine and Faithful Traditional Worship Service.

But even as we were doing it, I was realizing that just as there are many gifts in the Spirit in the one Body of Christ, there are many different ways of worshipping God. It was for this reason that I prepared an in-depth presentation, which I gave to the Worship Team, that I would be pleased to offer again to help show the need.

I am more certain of this than I am of anything else: Franklin Circle Christian Church would find enormous benefit in carefully and prayerfully crafting a worship experience, in addition to, not in place of, our primary Sunday Morning service, that invites folks to worship God in a different way. Now, we need to discover this together, and if given the okay from the Board, I will call upon a core group of folks who will commit to a year of study, exploration, experimentation, and preparation, to listen to what God is saying to us as we expand upon the wonderful worship we already have, so that more and more of God’s children can “Praise the Lord!”

Five tasks that I see before us this year. It is ambitious, but I believe if we embark upon this journey, we will gain far more than we will lose, and the energy and enthusiasm that will come from seeking God in new ways will bring new life to this church and to me, as your pastor.

May it be so. Amen.

Rev. Allen V. Harris

Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Cleveland, Ohio