Pastor’s Report

Congregational meeting, Sunday, January 22, 2006

Pastor Timothy Thompson

 

Teething is not fun.  It’s painful for the baby and when the baby is unhappy you can bet mom and dad are not too happy as well.  Adolescence is no walk in the park either.  Slapped around by your own hormones, wrestling with identity and independence… If we had the choice as children, I think we’d seriously consider opting out of adulthood altogether! 

 

There are times in life when the normal, healthy processes of growth are accompanied by pain and struggle.

 

Atonement is in one of these times.

 

There are a great number of things that shape congregational life, but one central reality for us right now is that we are in a generational transition.  Like passing the baton in a relay race, it’s normal for this to be a temporary slow-down.  The regular, smooth stride of running suddenly gets awkward and unbalanced.  We are experiencing this most clearly in two areas: our financial struggles, and in who leads and carries out our programs and ministries.  This has actually been emerging over several years, but the financial aspects have been masked somewhat by our ability to subsidize the General Fund budget, covering part of the cost of the mortgage from the Building Fund.  The absence of that subsidy for the first time in 2006 brings out our financial struggle clearly for us.

 

This generational transition is the most apparent aspect of why Atonement is struggling.  It is normal and healthy and what we should expect to see at this time in our life.  It’s a bit out of context, but what Peter says in his first letter describes it well:

 

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 1 Peter 4:12 (NRSV)

 

Now, while the generational transition is the most apparent part of our struggle, it is not the most significant.  The most significant issue we are struggling with is the emergence of a missionary context right here in our own society. 

 

Previously, congregational life was oriented towards

·       preserving the faith (and our institutions) so we could

·       hand it over to our children who grew up in the midst of the congregation. 

 

In North America today, congregational life needs to focus on

·       presenting the faith so we can

·       deliver it to adults (and their children) who grew up apart from the Church. 

 

 

So, we have generational transition within Atonement, and transition to a missional environment around us.  Those are the “big two,” but hardly the only two.  In the midst of this, we’ve also been dealing with:

Major staffing transition: saying farewell to Pastor Kisten, Cheryl Broostin and Cathy Soldner (all within 6 months), and saying welcome to solo-pastor Tim, Melinda Hoelscher and Dwight Williams.

 

Facility challenges: parking lot, sanctuary leaks, and air quality concerns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Without going into it here, you should also be aware that there are two colossal shifts also taking place in the Church globally and especially here in North America: the emergence of a postmodern world view and an end to “Christendom,” which is the active support of the Church by the civil government and society.  So we are experiencing changes in things that have been stable for roughly 300 years (the modern world view) and 1700 years (the cultural support for the Church.)  For the relay runners, this is the equivalent of two major earthquakes that happen to be taking place at the same time we are trying to pass the baton!!  So, if congregational life feels rather difficult and “shaky” to you, well, rest assured there’s a very good reason why.)

 

So!  What’s the good

word for us at this time?

 

There’s nothing to be faashamed about in our struggle.  Some of it is simply a natural feature of a normal phase in congregational life.  A lot of it is because we are actively working on the real challenges of our time instead of ignoring them.

 

 

Lastly, then, what should we do in order to address our challenging situation? 

 

In a word: Focus.

 

Both our internal transition and our external challenges require that we concentrate our time, energy, finances and attention on the most important things.  God has given us our Mission, Vision and Values to help us do just that.  The Growth Task Team has worked to translate them into concrete ideas.  And now the Council has provided us with six specific goals for 2006:

 

 

Details on these goals are included in the Congregational Meeting packet and will be available on our website www.Deliver4Jesus.org.

 

My friends, Jesus has provided everything we need - not merely to survive, but to thrive and even to lead in our own day.  We have what we need to find and lead people to him, and we have what we need to lead other believers and communities of faith in how to deal with the challenges of this time.  

 

May God bless us with Joy and strength in the year to come.

 

Pastor Tim