Michael Johnson

"as I imagine the proportion of comments to this blog post as opposed to the one previous will amply attest." So do you think this will get more or less responses than your previous blog ; )?

"we are getting awfully distracted by many things."  This is so true.  On a related note, we as a denomination need to make the same choices as you and I do in my home and congregations do. There is so much we would love to attend to--especially with our broadsweeping view of the reformation. But if we want to attend to more and more and more, more so than we have the energy or income to do well, we get spread so thin we are not effective at any of it.  I and many others in local ministry have had our salaries frozen since 2008--that is one of the sacrifices to make it through difficult times. In those same days we as a denomination seem to have added one good thing after another, after another. And we are told that ministry shares are declining. Hmm. What do we call it if our income is declining, yet we keep projecting more responsibility and new projects?

I do hope we do not drive ourselves into a hole that we implode financially as has happened with Faith Alive.  The seeds for Faith Alive's demise were laid with decisions made back in the 80s--not just with changes in the publishing world the last five years.

What this overture does call us to is making hard decisions about what is core to us as a denomination for task and what may be discretionary. Something has to give somewhere or we may kill ourselves as a denomination.

Nice letter of empathy, Rod. I ditto your prayer for this woman and the thousands and millions in similar or worse circumstances.

Sounds like a very interesting way of communicating the disciplines within a narrative!

Well put Karl. It reminds me of a quote I heard Allan Hirsch say recently: "The key to the health and extension of the local church is discipleship." I think something similar could be said about Classis. "The key to the health and effectiveness of a classis is the discipleship of delegates." I need to keep reminding myself that it is not about me and even "it is not about my church."

That should be "goodreads.com" rather than "goodbooks.com." I hope my mistake did not create confusion.

Thank you gamaoli for your gracious words of affirmation. We desire to provide CRCs and other churches with a tool that works well to grow people of character and impact (growing, active disciples). It sounds as if we were successful in your case. We are grateful.

A well put important reminder.

Very to the point, grace-filled and optimistic! Thank you Karl. Someone should submit a write in-- Karl W. for Executive Director ; )

"I see signs that the denominational leadership is committed to shifting the paradigm from leading the congregations to resourcing the congregations.  Yes, I'm oversimplifying.   Yes I am naively hopeful.  Yes I know that this is a little more daunting than I'm saying.... nevertheless, I see hope here."

I know in my own life I need to often come to the end of my own efforts before I finally give up all effort and place before God in intercession a bad habit that only he can change. I have seen churches who finally when they have come to the end of their old ways of trying and fighting, can submit and do some nonsensical things to them that God uses to breath life. Possibly we as a CRC need to come to the end of ourselves before we are open to the new wine skins God has for us. I hope we have come to the end of ourselves because none of us would want it to get worse.

 

"Congregations feel lonely, used, on their own to thrive or fade."  Glad to see you write this. I hear some congregations tell me about feeling used, but unfortunately I have not seen that feeling make its way into our CRC culture public discourse yet.

"a shift taking place -- denominational leadership and agency priorities are edging over toward partnership, seeing congregations as constituents whose partnership must be earned, not as resource machines to be taken for granted.  Congregations are being seen as partners in ministry, not customers to sell stuff to. "

 

I expect this would help.

Have you written anywhere about what you have observed in classis that have felt demoralized and at the end of their rope and how God began to turn them around?

I wonder if there is not room as well for classis to resource each other (peer learning) and not just relying on the CRCNA as a resource pool.

 

Thanks again.

 

From the floor of Synod: I am pleased to see a spirit of finding a way together through changing times, even though we may see things differently. We need each other.