Lot's of stuff

Well, it's been a while. And there's been a lot going on lately. We've had confirmation classes, as well as the actual Confirmation Rite itself, plus the great reception afterwards. Our last class of the year was basically a review of the year. But we did this in the form of games. We played a game where I would ask questions about things we've done in the past year; See how you do...:
Which commandment is - "Thou shall not lie"? What was the skill that Joseph had? When the Israelites were led into the desert by God, what country were they leaving, and what land were they going to? How many Testaments are there in the bible? What are the first five books of the bible? In what chapter of the Gospel of Mark does Jesus talk about the son of man separating the people like a Shepherd separates goats from sheep? In what chapter of the Gospel of Mark does the story of Jesus' baptism appear? What is the full name of the book usually called "Acts"? How many Gospels are there? Name a book about a prophet. You get the idea.

Plus, we've started the initial talks for having summer youth activities with youth from another church -- Columbia United Christian Church -- here in the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center, Columbia. This church has a youth group about the same size as ours. And I thought, why re-invent the wheel? Let's combine our efforts, let's share resources! This way we have less wear and tear on our people, and we can have more energy and dynamics as a larger group. It will take more planning, but this is a small price to pay. Now we would each have our own Sunday School of course, but we could combine on other activities, confirmation, etc. So, we've already scheduled some summer get-to-know-each-other activities, and hopefully we'll have a good program for the Fall and beyond.

Speaking of getting to know each other... the people of both Lutheran Church of the Living Word and Abiding Savior Lutheran Church have done more to mingle and know each other. We've had opportunities for some social gatherings as well as religious. We have a Task Force continuing to look into the possibility of merger. But what I'm hearing is variations of "Why merge if we're doing things together? Why not just keep things the same way?" That is certainly a possibility. Right now, the scenario for merger is this -- ONE church, with TWO locations (the locations where the two churches presently exist). Although there are some real draw-backs to a merger; what are the financial responsibilities and what percentage does each "location" pay for certain things, etc. And we would have to be very conscientious about getting our two groups together. But although there are some issues, I think the opportunities for us as one church out weigh the draw-backs -- a coordinated sense of mission and focus to name just one. Plus there is the opportunity to share the two buildings for various events. Well, we're still discerning.
Then there is one more thing this Task Force is looking at -- a project neither one of us has ever done before... We're looking to combine some of our money (mostly using money from the government economic stimulus package checks) into one pot, then allowing people to take small portions of that money to make some more (kind of like the parable of the talents) then coming back after a few months, and bringing the money that was made, and offering that to a ministry/program or two out there that does some good in the world. Hopefully we'll all have some fun, and make a difference in the process.

I've also been preparing to develop a new service. basically I'm looking to start a service that combines the sense of Mystery of the Orthodox tradition, the emotive feel of a "contemporary" service, as well as the chance to honestly address issues of faith. I'm looking at something that offers people a chance to take time in the worship service to connect with God in a different way than what our churches typically offer. I'll explain more as time goes on. I find it hard to explain at this point because I haven't totally thought through this, except to say I see time to really honor the sacred, time to allow people to actually pray together, time for really grappling with real faith and doctrine issues. My driving principles are helping people recognize that God is real, that God is present and that we come to worship in as real and honest a way as we can. The underlying theology is God has reached out to us first. So - what do we know about this God and how can we know it? We'll look at this more.

Well, there is more for sure. but I'm back, and want to out things in writing as we go.