Sorry. The title is from an old song- I think!? Anyway, here we are. We all got kind of numb from the drawn-out, rainy Spring. Then, "BAM!": the sun starts shining and its July 4th. Well, at least its not hot yet. That's coming Saturday! Although it seems like we've lost some time somewhere, we haven't been at a loss of things going on at FBC.
First, we just finished VBS. The title of this year's program was "Under Construction." A couple of gifted folks in our congregation actually wrote this program! The program told the STORY: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Renewal, and Heaven. This is the great STORY found in the Bible with Jesus Christ being the center of the story. I know that all sounds like a lot to bite off in one week of VBS, but the program was outstanding. It helped the young folks get a big picture about how the world works and what matters most. Obviously, Jesus is the hero of the Story. Each day, about 120 kids and 50 volunteers were present. The daily schedule included a lesson, music time, a craft, activity time and, of course, a snack. This year's VBS was a success because of the message we shared and all the folks who turned out to help share that message. (Get this: a few folks even took vacation days from work in order to help out!) That's why we're here: to glorify God by helping people find and follow Jesus. To everyone who had a hand, large or small, in VBS, thank you!
Second, the Deacons have been busier than usual this year. Our Deacons are charged with serving the congregation in ways that promote the spiritual health of the congregation. You've probably seen them preparing and distributing communion, planning and carrying-out fellowship events and working with the Benevolence Offering. A few of you might have even been visited by a Deacon. These are some of the more obvious things done by the Deacons. The Deacons have been working hard in another way, though. Since the beginning of the year, the Deacons have been praying, studying Scripture and carrying on a dialogue. In each meeting this year, the Deacons have been looking at the issue of membership, specifically, membership in our congregation.
Congregations have to periodically address the issue of membership, if for no other reason, to "clean up the roles." The issue of membership has presented itself to our Deacons from a different angle, though. We have visitors all the time, our congregation is growing, our congregation is increasingly diverse with regards to denominations folks have come from, we have two worship services, etc. These factors have caused the Deacons to ask, "Now, what is membership all about again?" Great question, and I commend the Deacons for asking it. Every generation has to grab a hold of for itself and own the Gospel and what it means to be the Body of Christ.
I'll let you in on some of the Deacons journey so you can follow along for yourself. The Deacons have been considering Acts 2:41-47 where a snap shot of the church emerges "fresh from the box," so to speak. They have also been searching the greetings of each of Paul's letters where he describes the nature of each church and what is right about them. The "one another" passages sprinkled throughout the New Testament have also weighed in on the Deacons thoughts. All in all, this has been a very thought provoking and challanging process. Some of the discussions have been pretty deep. Here are a couple preliminary conclusions the Deacons have come to so far. One, if our congregation's purpose is "to glorify God by helping people find and follow Jesus," then membership must have something to do with discipleship. Two, we hope the heart of all our members is something like, "I want to follow Jesus here, together, with all of you." Want to join in the dialogue? Check out the Bible passages above. Look at our constitution and membership covenant. Talk to a Deacon or me. Leave a comment below. This is a great dialogue to be having given all the good things going on at FBC.
Well, that's about it. Apart from "Jesus is Lord," I don't know much else right at the moment.
Bob Adelsperger
First, we just finished VBS. The title of this year's program was "Under Construction." A couple of gifted folks in our congregation actually wrote this program! The program told the STORY: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Renewal, and Heaven. This is the great STORY found in the Bible with Jesus Christ being the center of the story. I know that all sounds like a lot to bite off in one week of VBS, but the program was outstanding. It helped the young folks get a big picture about how the world works and what matters most. Obviously, Jesus is the hero of the Story. Each day, about 120 kids and 50 volunteers were present. The daily schedule included a lesson, music time, a craft, activity time and, of course, a snack. This year's VBS was a success because of the message we shared and all the folks who turned out to help share that message. (Get this: a few folks even took vacation days from work in order to help out!) That's why we're here: to glorify God by helping people find and follow Jesus. To everyone who had a hand, large or small, in VBS, thank you!
Second, the Deacons have been busier than usual this year. Our Deacons are charged with serving the congregation in ways that promote the spiritual health of the congregation. You've probably seen them preparing and distributing communion, planning and carrying-out fellowship events and working with the Benevolence Offering. A few of you might have even been visited by a Deacon. These are some of the more obvious things done by the Deacons. The Deacons have been working hard in another way, though. Since the beginning of the year, the Deacons have been praying, studying Scripture and carrying on a dialogue. In each meeting this year, the Deacons have been looking at the issue of membership, specifically, membership in our congregation.
Congregations have to periodically address the issue of membership, if for no other reason, to "clean up the roles." The issue of membership has presented itself to our Deacons from a different angle, though. We have visitors all the time, our congregation is growing, our congregation is increasingly diverse with regards to denominations folks have come from, we have two worship services, etc. These factors have caused the Deacons to ask, "Now, what is membership all about again?" Great question, and I commend the Deacons for asking it. Every generation has to grab a hold of for itself and own the Gospel and what it means to be the Body of Christ.
I'll let you in on some of the Deacons journey so you can follow along for yourself. The Deacons have been considering Acts 2:41-47 where a snap shot of the church emerges "fresh from the box," so to speak. They have also been searching the greetings of each of Paul's letters where he describes the nature of each church and what is right about them. The "one another" passages sprinkled throughout the New Testament have also weighed in on the Deacons thoughts. All in all, this has been a very thought provoking and challanging process. Some of the discussions have been pretty deep. Here are a couple preliminary conclusions the Deacons have come to so far. One, if our congregation's purpose is "to glorify God by helping people find and follow Jesus," then membership must have something to do with discipleship. Two, we hope the heart of all our members is something like, "I want to follow Jesus here, together, with all of you." Want to join in the dialogue? Check out the Bible passages above. Look at our constitution and membership covenant. Talk to a Deacon or me. Leave a comment below. This is a great dialogue to be having given all the good things going on at FBC.
Well, that's about it. Apart from "Jesus is Lord," I don't know much else right at the moment.
Bob Adelsperger
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