Things are starting to normalize here. All the boxes are unpacked. Most of the blinds are hanged. We still have a bunch of curtain rods to put up. The house is slowly coming together. My brother visited last weekend and helped me put together a huge wooden swingset for the kids. It really turned out nice.
I promise to get some footage of the house up this week. I have decided that I’ll do a quick video walk through of both the house and the church at different points throughout the week.
Things have been very busy, but I have really loved the new position. Some of the things on the radar are to craft various job descriptions for our leadership positions; launch a few new small groups in the fall; find a few guys to play fantasy football; figure out what my next sermon series will be about; and figure out a way to re-launch the children’s ministry here without many church kids to draw from.
I have also been re-thinking home visitations. They have been very beneficial in regards to getting to know the older people in the congregation… but I have been wondering if my generation really wants that type of interaction. If I was just an attendee of a church and my pastor wanted to come visit me, I’m not sure I would be completely comfortable with that. I feel like there has to be a better way to connect with the younger generation. As I explore and think on this, I’ll post on here.
I have also done away with random visitation. I call ahead now for all of my visits. I do this for a variety of reasons… but the two biggest are 1) If I go by their house and they aren’t home, I’ve just wasted time that is very valuable right now. 2) If I go by their house unannounced, who is to say that they don’t have something planned during that timeframe… and most people have a hard time turning a pastor away. So no more random visits.
Planning worship services has been a blast for me. This is something that I rarely got an opportunity to do at either of my last two positions. I was usually able to pick the songs when I was leading worship… but not the actual order. This has been so much fun for me. To tweak and adjust and figure out how to make the service flow a little better. I stole an idea from St. Peters… where I do a quick introduction to the theme very early in the service. I tried that for the first time last week and got positive feedback in return.
Life is moving much quicker now. It’s still a struggle to figure out balance. I have a goal of how many hours I feel like I need to get in each week… but I also don’t want to leave my family in the dust. So that will continue to be a concern to me.
By the way, Aaron is pretty much walking now. I am hoping to get some video of that up this week as well. He also turned one last week. Hard to believe that he’s been here over a year now. Both kids had to go in for doctor’s visits this week and they had seven shots between the two of them. Not fun at all…
Well, that’s all I have for now.
2 comments:
Josh, thanks for this update. I find planning whole liturgies to be one of the most satisfying or fulfilling tasks of the senior minister (I'm not sure I would say it is particularly fun, as much as tedious sometimes!). But I do find it extremely rewarding. My Worship class in college was probably one of the most "life-changing" (which is a slight over-statement) courses I've taken. From Dr. Constance Cherry, I gained a new perspective on the significance of the worship service, and an insatiable passion for quality worship.
Right now? My thoughts are these: Most of the evangelical services I attend lack the following: scripture read aloud, enough prayer with congregation participation, and a celebration of the eucharist. If we plan to meet God as a church any time, it should be on the morning of Jesus' resurrection, yet we can remain satisfied with short prayers, and an entire service where we do not hear God's word or worship our creator, remembering our creatureliness, adoring the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What better way is there to not only remember our Lord but be remade into the church than by sharing in the Lord's supper, with one loaf as one body?
Sorry. I can't really expose here my full thoughts and frustrations.
Good call on calling ahead. Maybe for our generation doing lunch, or being invited to something can serve the same purpose?
good comments from Scott...agree we could always use more prayer and scripture...without those as foundations, what's the point I sometimes wonder...
funny you mention the visit things...I was talking to a friend who went to a church and the new pastor wanted to get to know people and did about 5 home visits before people started wondering if he wasn't just nosey and a pot-stirrer...my friend found him to be very genuine yet people were suspicious and it wasn't long before they got rid of him...assuming there were other things of course but somehow the home visits got him off to a rocky start...which totally blows my mind...but you're right...the older generation misses comraderie and fellowship and younger generations want anonymity, fast-food service type worship, and few connections...sad...I should have been born in the 40s I think.
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