As I ponder all that has happened and what is coming up in Alabama. A couple of things have come to mind. Some of asked why we did not stay and hang on. Well, first it was wearing on both of us and affecting our relationship. I attended a church planting conference this past week and there was many ideas and strategies on how to plant a church and what to do and not do. Some speakers even acknowledged their disagreement with their other speakers. It was refreshing to see Christians disagree, yet respect the other. However, there were two things all agreed upon. First, be in the Word of God and seek Him as you plant your church and secondly, your marriage is more important than the church! So one answer to why we would not hang on...I love my wife and family to much to allow harm to come to them.
As we are preparing to leave, the issues that have been kept hidden from much of the congregation are coming to light (not from me) and people are upset with the manner in which I was treated. Could have I stayed and fought these issues and won? Yes, I could have, but to the glory of who? Me. God has spoken to me and what He has told me was vengeance was His and He would take care of the situation in His way and He would receive the glory. He was going to take me out of this situation before I completely burned out and would not be able to continue in ministry and place me where He could use me for His Glory. When He brought me to that place of understanding, a great burden was lifted from my shoulders and I knew without a doubt I was "In His Grip!". I could leave and not be concerned with what would happen with the church or the childcare center. I was freed to leave!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
No Pain No Gain!
So here I was left to work through the details of the call. Looking over the call documents, there was not much to cause me any concern. What I was left with was the work done in the past four years in Virginia and all that has happened to me as well. The good, the bad, the ugly came to mind as I reviewed the ministry here. There were other things that came into play as well. First, what about the house! We are in a down market, with housing prices having dropped by an average of 47%. We bought our house at the height of the housing market. Now we are upside down in the market. It was a heavy burden to think about. The housing value had already dropped to the point our down payment was gone and now we were under the mortgage value. Not a good place to be and finding ourselves facing a call. But in the end, this could not be a factor in the decision. I had to place that aside and concentrate on ministry.
Secondly, was the current ministry state or should I say the lack of ministry. Christ Community had gone through her share of struggles from the worship wars of those who wanted traditional worship settings only. We had a blended service to meet all the needs, but did not have the facilities to offer two services on Sunday. The joys of rented facilities! It has it's shares of problems and one is not having enough time in the morning to do all we wish to do. Several families decided they knew better and tried to force the issue. Well, conflict resulted and enter in Peacemaker Ministries. After several weeks of conflict resolution, there was some healing and restoration, but not getting what they wanted, they left. The "remnant" took on the motto..."the view from the windshield is bigger than the view from the rear view mirror." We moved on. Even though we had moved on the residual effect of the conflict had done it's damage. As much as I tried to work through the issues, one more would pop up. It was frustrating. But I had to put my feelings of hurt, anger and frustration aside as I sought the Lord's will for my ministry.
This was painful! I wanted to rest my decision on those things that gave me justification to move on. It would be so simple to make the decision based on what had happened or based on financial decisions. What was I to do?! What was the basis of my decision? It was hard and in seeking the counsel of other pastors it was not any easier. So many things to consider, but when it all boiled down it came to one things...where would God have me minister. Where would my skills be best used? Which ministry needed me the most? That is what I needed to focus on. All other aspects of the call did not matter. Then one morning I woke up and was thinking of Prattville and I was excited! Linda even commented I was whistling and she had not heard that for a long time. Through the pain there was gain. I sensed a peace. I sensed a need. I sensed His presence in my ministry in a way I had not felt in a long time. I sensed His calling. His calling me to another ministry. His calling me to Alabama!
Secondly, was the current ministry state or should I say the lack of ministry. Christ Community had gone through her share of struggles from the worship wars of those who wanted traditional worship settings only. We had a blended service to meet all the needs, but did not have the facilities to offer two services on Sunday. The joys of rented facilities! It has it's shares of problems and one is not having enough time in the morning to do all we wish to do. Several families decided they knew better and tried to force the issue. Well, conflict resulted and enter in Peacemaker Ministries. After several weeks of conflict resolution, there was some healing and restoration, but not getting what they wanted, they left. The "remnant" took on the motto..."the view from the windshield is bigger than the view from the rear view mirror." We moved on. Even though we had moved on the residual effect of the conflict had done it's damage. As much as I tried to work through the issues, one more would pop up. It was frustrating. But I had to put my feelings of hurt, anger and frustration aside as I sought the Lord's will for my ministry.
This was painful! I wanted to rest my decision on those things that gave me justification to move on. It would be so simple to make the decision based on what had happened or based on financial decisions. What was I to do?! What was the basis of my decision? It was hard and in seeking the counsel of other pastors it was not any easier. So many things to consider, but when it all boiled down it came to one things...where would God have me minister. Where would my skills be best used? Which ministry needed me the most? That is what I needed to focus on. All other aspects of the call did not matter. Then one morning I woke up and was thinking of Prattville and I was excited! Linda even commented I was whistling and she had not heard that for a long time. Through the pain there was gain. I sensed a peace. I sensed a need. I sensed His presence in my ministry in a way I had not felt in a long time. I sensed His calling. His calling me to another ministry. His calling me to Alabama!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
God has His plans
As I said in the last post, God had other plans for us. The evening we before we left to visit Alabama, I received a call at 10:10 pm. I was just getting ready for bed and the call came from Patrick O'Neil. He identified himself and said he was calling from Seoul South Korea. First thought was a scam. Some rich business man died with out an heir and I would like your help in getting the fortune out of the country. But is was not a scam, but an inquiry if I would be interested in interviewing for the International Lutheran Church in Seoul! I said sure, why not! We talked about the call and he said he would send some information and if I was interested to contact Lutheran World Missions and get and application to fill out. We thought and prayed about it for a couple of days and decided it was the perfect time for us to pursue a foreign mission call. Both the kids were stable and on their own, our parents are all in good health, so why not.
So now we have two potential calls before us. South Korea and Alabama! Talk about random and what a world apart these two calls where. The Korean church was an English speaking church with a mix of English speaking Koreans and Ex-pats from around the world. A week or so after our Alabama visit, Gary Faith called and said they were going to submit my name to the District mission board for approval. He said, unless they knew something he did not know, I could expect a call from them. They were going to meet the following Friday (March 6th). During that week I also had a phone interview with the Team from Seoul Korea. I was upfront with them and told them I would probably have a call coming within the week from another mission field. Their time table was to announce who would be receiving the call in mid April.
Friday, March 6th Gary Faith called and told me the mission board voted to extend the call to me and to expect the call documents the following week. They came on Monday. I was excited, yet nervous. I had never been in this position before and was not sure what to do. The upcoming Thursday was our Circuit meeting and I arranged for a meeting with my Pastoral Assistant - Rev. Monte Frohm, Rev. Ralph Wiechman (Circuit Counselor) and Rev. Art Umbach (District Facilitator). In the meeting I informed them I had received a call and was looking for guidance. All knew of the "issues" that I had been facing (another time perhaps I will elaborate) and suggested this may be a good thing for my ministry. Their counsel was to tell my Council president and vice president and head elder of the call via phone and then on Sunday inform the congregation. I did just that. The reaction from several members of the congregation was saddness and disapointment in my receiving a call and possibly leaving. I informed them to keep me in their prayers and I would give them an answer on Sunday April 5th. Now the personnal prayers and deliberation began and dispite all that has happened to me, it was not an easy process. I wanted clear direction and an answer from God, but He wanted me to work through everything first.
So now we have two potential calls before us. South Korea and Alabama! Talk about random and what a world apart these two calls where. The Korean church was an English speaking church with a mix of English speaking Koreans and Ex-pats from around the world. A week or so after our Alabama visit, Gary Faith called and said they were going to submit my name to the District mission board for approval. He said, unless they knew something he did not know, I could expect a call from them. They were going to meet the following Friday (March 6th). During that week I also had a phone interview with the Team from Seoul Korea. I was upfront with them and told them I would probably have a call coming within the week from another mission field. Their time table was to announce who would be receiving the call in mid April.
Friday, March 6th Gary Faith called and told me the mission board voted to extend the call to me and to expect the call documents the following week. They came on Monday. I was excited, yet nervous. I had never been in this position before and was not sure what to do. The upcoming Thursday was our Circuit meeting and I arranged for a meeting with my Pastoral Assistant - Rev. Monte Frohm, Rev. Ralph Wiechman (Circuit Counselor) and Rev. Art Umbach (District Facilitator). In the meeting I informed them I had received a call and was looking for guidance. All knew of the "issues" that I had been facing (another time perhaps I will elaborate) and suggested this may be a good thing for my ministry. Their counsel was to tell my Council president and vice president and head elder of the call via phone and then on Sunday inform the congregation. I did just that. The reaction from several members of the congregation was saddness and disapointment in my receiving a call and possibly leaving. I informed them to keep me in their prayers and I would give them an answer on Sunday April 5th. Now the personnal prayers and deliberation began and dispite all that has happened to me, it was not an easy process. I wanted clear direction and an answer from God, but He wanted me to work through everything first.
Friday, April 10, 2009
The call
Late in 2008, I had a feeling it was time to start looking for a call. The current ministry I was serving in (Christ Community Lutheran - Leesburg, VA) was a church plant using the Open Arms model. I was entering into my fourth year and had planted the church and successful Open Arms Childcare facility. However, the ministry was taking a new direction which I was not certain was one I could minister in. There was some conflict regarding ministry styles and approaches to ministry which caused some problems. My concerns were whether I was the right person to take it to the next level and could I minister in the direction the church was going.
I approached my district president and we decided to wait until the new year (2009) to address the situation. The new year came and I still felt the leaning to place my name for a call. It was just before I was going to see my district president that I received a document from the Texas District regarding my availablity for a call. I took this as the Holy Spirit comfiming my decision to place my name for a call. My district president and I met and I gave him a few districts I would like him to place my name with: Minnesota South (be near our parents), Illinois North (near Chicago), Texas, Missouri (St. Louis) and Pacific Southwest (Southern California).
Mid Febrary came and with it some frustrating decisions from my church council regarding our Open Arms ministry and I was not in a very good mood. I drove around Leesburg trying to calm down and ready myself for the council meeting that evening. After driving around for 45 minutes, I decided to pull into Home Depot and walk around the store. As I pulled into the parking lot I prayed a loud, "Lord, help me I can't take much more of this!" and the phone rang. It was Gary Faith from the Southern District wanting to know if I was interested in talking to him regarding a call to plant a new church! Thank you Jesus! Who says prayers are not answered! We talked for some 40 minutes and I was very frank and upfront regarding my current situation and what they were planning to do. We hit it off and this resulted in another phone call a week later.
Not much happened and then Gary called me back and said they would like to have Linda and me come an visit the area and have some face to face interviews. Off to Alabama we went. To be honest, when we left, we had no feelings on way or another about the plant and the area. But God had other plans for us!
I approached my district president and we decided to wait until the new year (2009) to address the situation. The new year came and I still felt the leaning to place my name for a call. It was just before I was going to see my district president that I received a document from the Texas District regarding my availablity for a call. I took this as the Holy Spirit comfiming my decision to place my name for a call. My district president and I met and I gave him a few districts I would like him to place my name with: Minnesota South (be near our parents), Illinois North (near Chicago), Texas, Missouri (St. Louis) and Pacific Southwest (Southern California).
Mid Febrary came and with it some frustrating decisions from my church council regarding our Open Arms ministry and I was not in a very good mood. I drove around Leesburg trying to calm down and ready myself for the council meeting that evening. After driving around for 45 minutes, I decided to pull into Home Depot and walk around the store. As I pulled into the parking lot I prayed a loud, "Lord, help me I can't take much more of this!" and the phone rang. It was Gary Faith from the Southern District wanting to know if I was interested in talking to him regarding a call to plant a new church! Thank you Jesus! Who says prayers are not answered! We talked for some 40 minutes and I was very frank and upfront regarding my current situation and what they were planning to do. We hit it off and this resulted in another phone call a week later.
Not much happened and then Gary called me back and said they would like to have Linda and me come an visit the area and have some face to face interviews. Off to Alabama we went. To be honest, when we left, we had no feelings on way or another about the plant and the area. But God had other plans for us!
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