EXPERIENCING THE PRESENCE OF GOD – 5

Working with Brenda Young at Cornerstone Church in Akron, Ohio, was exhilarating and foundational.  I learned a lot through her teaching and modeling.  By 2003, it became clear that she was leading the church in new directions and was beginning to target a younger age group than we had previously focused on. 

Coordinated with that, Superintendent Charlie Young offered me the opportunity to lead a church in the conference.  I believe his words were something like: “You’ve been operating under the radar long enough; the conference needs you to step up and lead a church.”  I didn’t accept his first offer.  However, when he mentioned the New Middletown Free Methodist Church – Debbie accepted the offer!  [Her family farm and five of her seven siblings lived in proximity to this church.] 😆

Actually, I had made an attempt to move to New Middletown when we were leaving East Liverpool in 1995, but the superintendent – at that time – appointed his son instead.  Subsequently, we moved to Maryland. 

So, after much learning and amazing experiences, we quit our job with Shelter Care, packed up and moved to New Middletown, Ohio. 

Turns out, it was the hardest start at a new church that I had ever faced!  The church was deeply divided!  It’s a story of its own, but not a story for now.

Within six months, unity had been restored.  There had been some losses, but there had also been an equal number of gains. 

For the first several years, I tried not to change much, but to be dedicated to serving the people and discerning leadership potential.  Ultimately, the people began to respond and the congregation began to grow.  With the approval of the Ministry Council [think Leadership Board], we made a number of significant changes that would change the dynamics of the church considerably. 

Before long, we were averaging over 150.  We had developed two capable worship teams:  One Generation and Here’s Life!  Actually, we had a third team that played occasionally; we referred to them as the Gospel Team. 

Lay leaders were utilized heavily in the leadership of worship!  I had several that I used for preaching from time-to-time.  Our staff – of about ten leaders – met every Tuesday morning for evaluation and planning.  They were a very dedicated group and hard working! 

We tried hard to avoid predictability in worship.  Without being extreme, we made subtle changes in the worship format from week-to-week.  The music we learned and used was primarily upbeat and joyful.  My only participation in the service was to bring the message.  Other leaders did everything else.  I began writing dramas/skits to illustrate the messages.  I would turn them over to my sister-in-law, Laurie Mahosky.  She would recruit participants and add her own embellishments.  These were often humorous and sometimes quite powerful!  They were always well-received! 

Before long, our pews were being filled every week and we were breaking the two-hundred-barrier!  It was exciting.  For over a year we experimented with two services.  We saw explosive growth among our target group of individuals and couples in their twenties and thirties.  We had to expand our nursery shortly after to accommodate all of the new babies that were part of the congregation! 

We were recognized by our denomination two years in a row as a ‘Multiplying Church’.  It was about this time that we were asked to participate in a national survey of churches.  It was awkward because we were asked to have our people fill out a form during worship that would take nearly ten minutes.

We decided to participate, and our people took the awkwardness in stride.  The responses were immediately placed in an envelope and sent in.  Weeks later we received the results and our leaders pored over them to see what we could learn from these vital responses. 

We were delighted – above all – to see that when asked:  “How often do you experience the presence of God in your church’s worship?”, our people resoundingly responded “Regularly!”

It was a vital affirmation that we were on the right track! 

The worship was vibrant!  Prayer was highly prioritized!  All age groups were fully represented.  There were no open conflicts among the body of believers.  New people were attending regularly; not all stayed, but many did!  Leaders were being continually recruited and trained.  The entire ministry was led by teams! 

I have many memories of sensing the moving of God’s Holy Spirit during our worship times!  And I am grateful for His leadership and for His blessing! 

TRANSITIONING A CHURCH

The Apostle Paul stood between two groups as a type of mediator.  This is wonderfully illustrated in Ephesians 2 [especially noticeable if read in The Message].  Here he tries to bring together Gentiles and circumcised Jews [water and oil]!  This delicate work takes wisdom and a deep, unquestioned commitment to both groups!  No bias can be shown or his work will be nullified.  The Jews and the Gentiles need to know that Paul is totally for them!  Paul performs this task masterfully!  Just observe his tact:

^14-15 The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.

16-18 Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.

Paul - like Christ - has a deep longing for these long-separated groups to be unified in the love of Christ and the fulfillment of His mission! 

On a massively different level, as a pastor I too have stood between these two kinds of groups.

·         New, excited, passionate believers and mature, established, lukewarm believers.

·         Pentecostal believers who long to see gifts exercised and traditional believers who are suspect of anything new and extreme.

These groups need one another more than they realize!  Each group has strengths that the other group needs! Yet often the communication lines are clogged or broken! 

One of the great challenges for me through the years was trying to preach to a growing congregation [which, by the way, is a pleasant challenge!].   How do you meet the needs of those who don’t know the Word yet and need to be taught the basics and encouraged in their new-found faith;  as opposed to preaching to those who’ve been walking in ‘the way’ for years and are looking for ‘meat’ and not just ‘milk’? 

When you focus on the needs of the new believers, the old believers already know this and lose interest.

When you focus on the mature believers, the new believers are lost and don’t understand the concepts.

[Of course, this is only an issue in churches where THERE ARE new believers!]

As with Paul, both groups need to know that you love them and are committed to them.  As the leader of both groups, you cannot show bias.   However, you also cannot allow yourself to be pushed around or manipulated by either group!  You must stand strong in the faith, committed to the Word, and accepting and caring for all involved!  It is a gargantuan task that requires an intimate walk with God! 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1.      IF YOU’RE PART OF A GROWING CHURCH, pray for your pastor as she/he tries to bring unity to the body and give everyone a sense of common direction!

2.      Be deliberate about getting to know new believers/attenders and helping them to – as quickly as possible – assimilate into the ‘body’!  [After four years of attending our current church, I’m still struggling with names and a sense of ‘belonging’.]  Long-term attenders (members?) are known, revered and have a voice.  New attenders (members?) are often unknown, ignored and have no voice.  We must ALL work to change that! 

3.      Develop a church wide attitude that looks at new people as God-sent to add to the beauty of the body and to equip the body for even greater service in the future!  New people are not a threat to established leaders, they are an asset to those currently leading and may represent the potential for new ministries and new directions for the church!