I'm the pastor at Faith Community Fellowship church in Mount Vernon, WA. I was the pastor of Bellevue Christian Reformed Church in Bellevue, WA from 2010-2019. I grew up in Grand Rapids, and then spent 16 years in Ripon, CA. The first 14 of those I taught Spanish at Ripon Christian High School, and the last 2 I was in full-time church-based youth ministry.
In general in life I prefer wine to grape juice and gluen rich bread to gluten free bread. When I first came to our church and found that we served only grape juice and gluten free bread for communion, I was glad to do it as an act of hospitality at the table. Now that I have been here for a little over two years, what began as hospitality has become an act of love and a sign of unity. I now prefer grape juice and gluten free bread at the Lord's Supper because of the wholehearted oneness the elements themselves represent. There is something powerful about sharing one cup and one loaf (rather than two of each) that trumps my prior preference. Should it ever surpise us that God uses the physical aspect of celebrating the sacraments to drive home the deeper truths?
Paul, I hope your council will listen closely to those who cling to wine, and I hope that group will be able to hear the voices of those who desire to eliminate physical barriers. No easy task!
I like the clear navigation of the new site. There is so much information (good!), so the ability to sift and sort effectively makes it much easier to find what I need.
The bullet points here are great, and I hope they are used well. That being said, let's not put too much pressure on ourselves to improve upon the incarnation, no matter how impressive the spin may sound. I've heard the Christmas story for more than 4 decades, and if anything it gets more wondrous every year to me. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Keep up the good exegesis and homiletics, friends!
Posted in: Congregational Feedback: Surveys vs. Listening Circles
Spot on, Sean! Thank you for the insight and a helpful way forward!
Posted in: Should wine or grape juice be served at Communion?
In general in life I prefer wine to grape juice and gluen rich bread to gluten free bread. When I first came to our church and found that we served only grape juice and gluten free bread for communion, I was glad to do it as an act of hospitality at the table. Now that I have been here for a little over two years, what began as hospitality has become an act of love and a sign of unity. I now prefer grape juice and gluten free bread at the Lord's Supper because of the wholehearted oneness the elements themselves represent. There is something powerful about sharing one cup and one loaf (rather than two of each) that trumps my prior preference. Should it ever surpise us that God uses the physical aspect of celebrating the sacraments to drive home the deeper truths?
Paul, I hope your council will listen closely to those who cling to wine, and I hope that group will be able to hear the voices of those who desire to eliminate physical barriers. No easy task!
Posted in: Your Feedback = Chance to Win
I like the clear navigation of the new site. There is so much information (good!), so the ability to sift and sort effectively makes it much easier to find what I need.
Posted in: What to Preach at Christmas
The bullet points here are great, and I hope they are used well. That being said, let's not put too much pressure on ourselves to improve upon the incarnation, no matter how impressive the spin may sound. I've heard the Christmas story for more than 4 decades, and if anything it gets more wondrous every year to me. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Keep up the good exegesis and homiletics, friends!