For those who don’t know me… I served here as the pastor for caregiving and was an active part of the teaching and preaching staff from 1988-2000. I gave birth to two of my three children while here (those two are now an ob/gyn in Seattle and an internal med doc and soon to be dad in Tampa; the other is a photo/food stylist).
Time does not stand still. Wow has ministry 
changed… from then to now.
When I was on staff I would preach four services – one on Saturday night and three on Sunday morning; we sold part of our property to Presbyterian Homes to create Kirkland Village, which helped to pay for the new gym/worship and Christian ed wing we built. When I left, FPC was a 3200 member congregation; we had eight full time pastors, two full time and two part time music staffers, and over a dozen support/maintenance staff. We had 200 K groups and a very active children’s and youth ministry. We had over 200 people offering caregiving ministries to the congregation. It was an exciting time… while many churches were shrinking… we were growing.
More important was what I learned about what a life in faith looks like: how to agree to disagree in loving community; the nature of Koinonia; how to facilitate the growth and maturity of program and people; how to listen for Holy Spirit’s voice; the difference between Chronos and Kairos time; how to take risks and not be afraid to fail… but let failure be your teacher.
Times are quite different now. New skills and innovative thinking are essential. Creative models of ministry are mandatory. Years ago you sent out a newsletter and that was it. Now you send out an email blast, text messages, video clips, announcements at gatherings… and still people say, “I didn’t know that was happening!” Ministry has become way more complicated… people’s expectations greater and communication… much more complex.
I am honored and humbled to be here this morning on your 150th rich anniversary celebration. I want to talk with you briefly this morning about “Letting Go and Holding On.”
We are quickly approaching the season of gift giving. My mom was a masterful gift wrapper and bow maker – you almost didn’t want to open the gift and ruin the wrapping! Christmas morning was a delight to the eyes! Now I grew up in the recycle era – we often used the colorful newspaper sections to wrap gifts and pieces of string and twine left over as bows; my kids have grown up in the Amazon era – they give the gift in the Amazon packaging – don’t really think about wrapping! NOW the gift within the wrapping could have been the same book for each generation… but the outward presentation was quite different.
The church can learn from this metaphor. The Creator, The Christ, Holy Spirit are who they’ve always been… but how we present them has changed significantly because times have changed. It is well documented that about every 500 years we have a massive shift in culture: in 476 the Fall of Rome; 1054 the Great Scism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox branches of the church; in 1517 we had the great Reformation (based in large part on the invention of the printing press) and now we have another 500 year shift that has unfolded in large part due to the advances in technology… first and foremost the internet, which offers us a global perspective at the touch of a finger! The late Phyllis Tickle called this “the Great Rummage Sale” … a time when we must decide what should be let go of and to ask: What do we want to hold on to?!
This progression should come as no surprise to those of us who have put our faith in Jesus Christ. It is a core tenet of our faith: God gives life, eventually things die and God, in grace…gives them new life. And the cycle repeats: life, death, new life. From my perspective… Pennsylvania may the best state in the union to observe this great truth. What is prettier than a red bud bursting forth in spring or a bright yellow tulip being birthed in early April…
Summer with its amazing vegetables and fruit to nourish us (ah the home grown tomato of Pennsylvania)… fall is a burst of golds, reds, rusts, and orange as the leaves prepare to fall to the ground in preparation of winter. And though winter feels cold, damp and dreary… the earth is preparing to burst forth again with new life just around the corner.
When I left FP back in 2000 I had a challenging call: to engage those who had left the church, those who had lost faith in God, those who were on the outside looking in. For the record… it was not easy to give up the music I loved in worship, the community that I was an integral part of, the liturgy that spoke to my soul, the comfort of a job, a collegial staff, a beautiful office, to head out with no building in which to gather, no secure salary (I took over a half pay cut), no people (other than my family), and no known leaders to help me lead. BUT I had a sense of call to those outside the church and the faithfulness of God who would go with me.
Here this truth again as it is undeniable to people who are paying attention: the church of Jesus Christ is in a period of ‘letting go.’ We are in the midst of a great rummage sale. Letting go of what? Perhaps you will indulge me to offer you a sampling:
For many faith communities today, a building is difficult and expensive to construct, maintain, insure, and faithfully utilize, so many communities are forgoing buildings and conserving limited resources for staff, neighbors, and ministry. Some communities are combining; others are renting out their buildings…. I believe you are creatively addressing your building here at First Pres in beautiful and creative ways.
Another example: while Sunday is traditionally our Sabbath… many faith families are discovering that they need to offer other times to gather, study, pray, worship, share in life together due to the work and schedules of young families.
The recent model of Christian ed (begun about 200 years ago), is beyond challenging for many congregations today. Sports coaches are claiming Sunday as a key time and parents feel the pressure (i.e. if your kid does not go to practice, they don’t play). And the 225 “nones” (no named religious affiliation) and “dones” (those done with institutional expressions of faith) that we interviewed for our book Hear Us Out, were clear that many were brought up in Sunday School and it didn’t work for them… so we need to hear their input and look at new and creative ways to pass on our faith to children.
Accurate or inaccurate… many nones and dones perceive the church to be quite rigid in its teaching of dogma, rules and creeds. In fact, emerging generations appear to be open and even interested in learning about Jesus and faith… but they want to do so in an environment where their questions, doubts, curiosity and wonderments are received and welcomed… not shamed or shut down. The exciting news is this: they want to be active participants in discussions and conversations.
This is in large part due to a shift in understanding around how we view authority. Builders, those born before 1946 were brought up with a respect for authority that did not challenge that authority but held their objections quietly within; Boomers, born in 1946-64, held to a common experience that often superseded authority… but Busters/Gen X (1965-80), Gen Y/Millennials (1981-96) and Gen Z/iGen (1997-2012) all question authority; they check your words against the internet or ‘Dr. Google.’
In fact, they are often looking up what you are saying while you are saying it! They are skeptical, inquisitive, searching, and if their questions, doubts and curiosities are not welcome… they don’t return. For example, I was interviewing a large group of 20-somethings and asking why, having been brought up in the church, none of them participated in a faith community… I queried… where do you go when you have wonderments about life, faith, God?… and they immediately answered… Google.
Now that answer was very interesting because it suggests that their wonderments have answers… when I always thought of my faith community as the place to struggle with questions in community that didn’t necessarily have answers. Many of those we interviewed shared stories of going to church and being really curious and being told not to be troublemakers, not to ask questions, not to challenge what was being said… so they left. Others shared their frustration that the church said “All are welcome” but when they arrived with their gay friend… it was clear all were not welcome.
Jesus is clear in our text… if we want to save our lives… we must be willing to lose them. I experienced this firsthand in all that I was asked to give up in order to engage those who were on the outside looking in. But…there is SOOOO much to HOLD ONTO!
I realized I didn’t go empty handed. I took the faith of my mentors and many saints who had gone before me… people like Keith Brown, Sally Brown, Willis and Alice Yocom, my spiritual mentor Nan Condrick, my mom, my pastor in seminary Jim Long… what they taught me, the way they lived their faith, their encouragement and belief in me… all this went with me. Holy Spirit kept me grounded when so many things did not go as planned and there were roadblocks. And God provided new saints to accompany me…when I shared the crazy vision for The Barn (the first community I planted) with a list of people I’d prayed over… the most common response was: ‘What do you need me to do?” and “When do we get started!’
But in letting go of the familiar and known for the unfamiliar and unknown… I engaged God in new ways: through the eyes of the searching, the hurt, the addicted, those in recovery from toxic situations, some who had lost their way… and the journey has been rich. Because God doesn’t call you to go out on a limb and then saw it off! God often calls us to go out on a limb… because that is where the delicious fruit is! So in letting go… I held on tightly to the many things you at FPC and others had taught me.
First thing I had to hold onto was Scripture. For instance… I realized the church had become comfortable in trusting that if they provided great worship, music, CE opportunities, etc. that people would come. But times had changed! We had to go back to what Scripture teaches… “GO into all the world”… people generally were no longe r going to come to us… we had to go to them…where they work, play, hang out.
And First Pres had taught me the value of Koinonia. The New Testament calls the church to create safe places for people to reveal the good, the bad and the ugly; environments where it is safe to name our doubts, fears, successes and failures… and know that you will be loved in spite of your struggles. It creates a safe community. In fact, in my experience, it has traditionally been “the distinguishing mark” of God’s people at First Pres!
Koinonia (fellowship) is not coffee and cookies… but the experience of the kind of unconditional agape love that God offers in Christ. It is essential for us to experience the Divine…isn’t it?! Ten percent of our interviewees, when asked, “Tell me about a place where you belong?” said “nowhere.” And one thing we know from our sacred Scripture is that we all need a place in which to belong and God offers that to us in Koinonia community.
In the current community I facilitate, Blank Slate, we have created a dozen small groups where participants are experiencing Koinonia… most for the first time. Our folks hold many different beliefs but I believe God is overjoyed that all who come through our doors are invited to experience Koinonia… for to experience Koinonia is to have experienced God.
I encourage you to hold on to the great teachings of Jesus: to love our enemies, to seek after justice – particularly for the least, the last and the lost, how does scripture say it? “Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously – take God seriously.” I say this because for many the church doesn’t feel any different than the culture around it. The church is perceived as lukewarm… and the current Christian nationalist movement is very confusing to emerging generations.
When we truly live the great teachings of our faith… people take notice. I just watched a movie about Nickel Mines and the witness of the Amish people after the murder of their young girls. They showed incredible compassion to the wife of the murderer of their children. They sought the hard route of forgiveness… because they realized that to hold on to their rage and desire for revenge would only harm them. They didn’t just speak the words… they acted and forgave… that’s God at work! That preaches!
Many congregations, are shrinking as Brian McLaren says… they are shrinking in size and wrinkling with age. Here’s the advantage to that reality. Our research indicated that emerging generations are more open to mentoring relationships than any other previous generation. Mentoring means mutual give and take; learning from one another. So those of you who are chronologically enhanced: hold on to your advantage! Young adults want to be mentored and hang out with you… if you are open to learning from them! You have a rich faith and life experience to offer them and they have some amazing gifts to offer you in return (like how to fix your computer!).
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?”
I recognize that I have merely given you a sampling of what it might mean to let go and hold on! I hope it may be helpful in some small way.
I understand that this is your stewardship season at First Pres… these are challenging times… your staff and Session are stepping up to the plate with imagination and love. I hope you will support the vision before you with your resources and carry on with God’s vision as so many have before you. I pray for you… I hope you will pray for me… that together we may enhance the glorious Kingdom of God in some small way, here on earth.