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We started the Hong Kong Women's Walk to Emmaus #40 last night. Things are going well. When I got up this morning Jana had emailed me that Randy Hart was not doing well and that this might be the final hours of his life here on earth. Randy is a man of God and we will be with him again. Be in prayer for the womens walk and for Randy. Prayer for Randy's family and for God's mercy. Thank you New Covenant for your commitment to prayer. In Christ, AC
The first seven or eight years of my tenure at New Covenant I met with a group of people every Thursday morning at 7:00 a.m. at Jimmy's Egg on Broadway. The group had only one purpose – to help me guide this church forward without veering off into a "pot hole." Every Thursday I met with this "same" group of individuals. During the year or so before our move to 2700 S. Boulevard we stopped meeting. During the move I started meeting with other groups and the Thursday morning group seemed to be redundant. This group had no bearing on my tenure at New Covenant or my remuneration. They were an "advisory" group.
The week before this past Thanksgiving I started meeting again on Thursday morning but this time with a twist. My plan is to meeting with a group of New Covenant people every Thursday morning but not with the "same" group of people. My plan is to meet with a different group each Thursday morning. We have the next few Thursday's scheduled but, if you would like to join one of those morning breakfast meetings, call Jana Janzen at 562-3213 or email her at jjanzen@ncovenant.org. She will schedule you to be a part of one of those morning meetings.
One of the greatest gifts you can give is the gift of connection. We are all aware (or at least most) that connecting with others in our facility is a huge challenge. Maybe you knew that. Maybe you have become aware of that because of the "sheets." It is such a large facility and it is very spread out. On Sundays you really don't have to connect with very many people at all. We can "come and go" at ease without connecting. We can come into worship and spread out leaving large voids in the worship center that cast a perception to the unaware that this place is empty and going nowhere. The truth is that we have come a long way in our journey as a church. There are a lot of positive things happening in hearts and lives. And, we have a long way yet to go!
As a church we are on a mission… a mission to connect people to God and each other. We are called by Jesus to make disciples… devoted followers of Christ. In order to do that it takes commitment. Commitment is not always convenient. At times it cause's discomfort, but that is true with discipleship. When I go to the gym I listen to books and sermons. Recently I was listening to a sermon by Andy Stanley at North Point Community Church in Atlanta (iTunes, North Point Community Church. Sermon Series: Take It to the Limit, part 1: Less is More). He was talking about how we connect with God in the margins of our lives and when we fill our lives up so full the margins get filled. When the margins get filled, there is no room for God to work. It is inconvenient to make room for God. We are busy. There are demands. We have responsibilities. But it is inconvenient to create space when the margins are full. It's inconvenient to make room in our lives for others. But that is exactly what God is asking us to do… make room for Him and for those He brings to us as a church.
I am sorry if those "sheets" caused you discomfort. I apologize if you were displaced or offended. That was not the intent or goal to offend anybody. We knew that covering those back sections certainly could be disruptive. Our goal was and is to make changes to our Sunday morning experience that helps us be more effective in reaching people for Christ. Worship is the first place that most people encounter this family called New Covenant. We have had 173 people come to New Covenant looking for a place to call home since July. I was told by Outreach through Marvin Nelson that some of our visitors saw the empty spaces in our worship center and concluded this church is not going anywhere. Hospitality is what will help them determine whether or not this could be home. I am sure that some of you are thinking that if hospitality is one of the keys then those sheets certainly didn't or don't convey a very appealing atmosphere or hospitality. If you thought that, you are right. What we are dealing with most of the time is a set of negatives. Which is the most negative… having voided spaces in the worship center that conveys the place is empty? Or all sitting together as a congregation, conveying energy and connection? I know we all have an answer to that question. But is our answer from a point of view of the mission of the church or our convenience?
The black sheets are off. Last Sunday I challenged you as a church to move forward… fill the front. We will use the "ropes" in those back sections to help guide people forward as we have done in the first service since we started that service. When we need those sections we will use them. We will take the ropes down. If you, because of particular situations in your life, need to sit back there – do it. But for us as a church – let's commit to making this a collective effort to connect with God and others. Humbly yours, AC
(PS – Tomorrow I will write a blog called "Safe to Fail or Fail Safe")
This Sunday is one of the most important Sundays of the year. This Sunday is when we will make our commitments of Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service and Witness for the coming year of 2008! You remember that when you joined New Covenant these five words were used in your member covenant… the pledge you made to Christ's Church called New Covenant UMC.
You have already received your pledge card for 2008. When we mailed you that card we included a guide called a "a Five Step Discernment Process" to help guide you in your decision for 2008. Use those guidelines. Pray about it. Talk it over as a family. Come to church on Sunday ready to make your commitment to the ministry of your church for 2008!
Oh yes, one more thing. Don't forget that the time changes this Sunday. Be sure and turn your clocks back one hour Saturday night so that you don't miss our great time of worship.
Sunday night’s “Trunk or Treat” was a huge success. I think the last two years we have had about a 1,000 people attend. About 5 or 6 years ago the “Trunk or Treat” event was basically for New Covenant kids. Some time ago our children’s ministry team made the decision to open up the event for the community. They expanded their understanding of the experience and began to see it as an outreach event. They let the Holy Spirit lead them. I want to thank Jami Majors, the children’s ministry team, the outreach team, Mark Welch in communications and all of your who volunteered. You made the difference and you made this a great event for our church and the Edmond community. Thank you!
Our goal in ministry planning is to start something new on the best date possible. You might be asking yourself, what does “best date” mean? Let me try to give you some insight into what that means.
Generally, the best date to start something new in the church is in the fall after school starts. That gives us the best opportunity to have the largest participation and to build momentum going into the fall. We have learned through experience that the energy of the church program and activities parallels the school year. I use to try to fight against that, but I have come to the conclusion that most of the time that is a losing fight.
Back in the spring we decided to “amp” worship up several steps starting this fall. We thought we had picked the “best date”, which for us is the weekend after school starts. For some reason on our planning calendar we had Edmond schools starting August 15th so we settled on August 19th for the launch of our Fall Premiere. Then last week we learned that Edmond schools don’t start until August 20th.
We considered moving the start date to August 26th, but then we realized that the very next weekend was Labor Day weekend. Labor Day weekend is generally a low attendance Sunday for us. We want to build momentum going into the fall church programs so August 26th was not a good option. Probably the “best date” would have been September 9th. School would have started, the holiday weekend would be over, but we felt that was too late. Our hope is to go into and through the fall with the greatest participation and best momentum possible. So, we decided to stick with August 19th.
What does that mean? Well, for one thing it means that we need you to commit to being in worship on August 19th at either the 9:15 or 10:45 worship service. I know a lot of you will be busy buying school supplies, clothes, etc, and that the weekend before the start of school is hectic. We understand! I also want you to know that the commitment to be in worship on the 19th is going to be worth it.
We are planning a great experience for you on that day. I am launching a new sermon series called “Losing My Religion… Finding Jesus”. This series is based on the gospel of John. We are planning great music and adding a few new “creative elements” to that experience. Our hope (goal) is to move you closer to God and to each other. Mark your calendar now and plan to be there. Invite a friend to come with you!
Since last Friday we have not been able to receive email at church. We have people trying to figure out what the problem is, but no luck yet. Something got messed up when we changed over to the new website with the new design. We will keep you posted.
This morning I had a conversation with one of the leaders of The Walk to Emmaus community in Hong Kong. Last month they asked me to help them find two Spiritual Directors for their fall Emmaus weekends. They have been having a tough time finding available clergy help there. I contacted a few individuals here and one seemed to be interested and available. I got a call last week that indicated the person I suggested couldn’t do it.
As I talked with the Emmaus leader he was dealing with a larger question, “Does our struggle trying to find available help indicate that the Holy Spirit is trying to communicate something to us about our community and the way we operates?
By the time we talked this morning I had found a few new possibilities for help. Although I had found some possible help, I told the leader that the question he was raising was a good question. What do the struggles we encounter tell us about ourselves, life and God?
The struggles we have faced in our church community have not been easy. Our expectations after our moving have been different than what we thought they would be. I have asked myself a lot of questions just like the Hong Kong Emmaus leader has asked. We should always be honest and willing to evaluate ourselves.
Through all of our struggles I have come to some helpful understandings…
1. I choose to let God be in control of my life, of my family, and of the church. He is the Lord of life, not me.
2. I will work faithful and hard to accomplish what God has called me to and has called our church to.
3. I will not abdicate responsibility but I will leave the results of that ministry in God’s hands. He is the one that bears the fruit; I have to be faithful to plant the seed.
4. I need to pray more and be more specific about what I am praying for. Our struggle or “fight” is a spiritual one and at the end of the day what real matters in eternity will be done by the Holy Spirit through His church.
5. If God leads you to it, He will see you through it!
There are many great things going on at New Covenant. Sometimes they are not easy to see because sometimes we are looking at the wrong things or in the wrong places. We have made great progress since our move. It is not in the areas that we thought it would be in but I believe the fulfillment of those expectations will come. I am willing to continue the fight the fight, how about you?
I was leaving the church last week at about 5:00 pm on Friday and I noticed a Roto-Rooter truck pulling into the parking lot at the 300 building. I drove over there and Marlin, one of our custodians, was there. I noticed that there was water flowing from an open “manhole” and it was sewer water. Marlin, “Fish” as he is known around the church, said that the line was stopped up and that raw sewage was flowing into the parking lot. He said that they had run a line in both direction but hadn’t been able to clear the line. I told him to call me when he found the problem.
About 8:00 pm Fish called to tell me they had located the problem. Evidently last November the city had been installing new waste water lines in the neighborhood and that when they installed the section where our 300 building line came into the main line they, the city crew, thought that it was an old line no longer in use. So, they plugged the line with cement. Fish said that it was about 300 feet from the building to the main line so it has taken this long for it to fill up. Fish said that the city is supposed to bring a crew back this week to fix the problem. With a facility like ours it seems that there is always something that needs urgent attention. Friday was Marlin's day off. I am glad he was there to take care of this problem. Now I hope the city does their part.
Beth Brown has retired! Yesterday was her last day at New Covenant. She has been with us for almost 10 years. Beth has done a wonderful job at New Covenant as our Church Financial Secretary. Beth and I worked together at May Avenue UMC in Oklahoma City for 4 years and she has been in ministry in church administration for over 20 years. She is a devoted follower of Jesus and we will miss her. Besides all of that she is a friend. Beth, thank you for all your years of service to Christ’s church. May your retirement years be wonderful. Enjoy your grandkids! We will miss you.
