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The January 25 Presbytery meeting, our first held by video
conferencing, was more than I could have hoped for! I was deeply moved at
how the worship service proceeded. I thought the folks at the various sites
became ever more comfortable with the video format as the day went on. Phil
Brown, Synod Executive for the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, who joined us in
West Fargo to witness this historic event, was very impressed. Phil wrote:
“How special and
helpful to be included in the maiden voyage of your conferenced presbytery
meeting. I thought it to be very well done, and, I know, we always have
plenty to learn from these experiences to improve on our processes...in the
meantime, how far you’ve come and the rest of us are watching to learn.
Thank you.”
Of course, none of this
could have happened were it not for the countless hours Andrew Thostensen
donated to the Presbytery to make this breakthrough in the use of technology
possible. But Andrew isn’t going to let us rest on the success of this one
event! He wrote me,
“It has been a long
road, but I think now we can see on a broader scale what potential this
system can have not only for saving the Presbytery resources, but especially
for forming new linkages and innovative outreach and learning opportunities.
I think our next challenge will be to use this to:
·
Do pulpit supply exchanges to
save churches a few bucks—Matt Stith preaches one Sunday for Minot from West
Fargo and Bob Edwards preaches for West Fargo from Minot on another Sunday;
·
Put together a Presbytery-wide
weekly Bible study;
·
Have some more in-service
trainings and especially do some more leadership trainings. (How about new
Elder/Deacon training?);
·
Have the youth use this to
somehow strengthen their linkage with the Presbytery on a more ad hoc or
spontaneous basis;
·
Get the press involved in this so
we can show the media that we are just not about closing churches; we are
about adapting and using all of the tools that God gives us to spread the
good news;
We need to think more
broadly than just committee meetings and an occasional Presbytery meeting.
What we really need to do is be innovative because to date we have only just
scratched the surface of being in community with each other across the
Presbytery.
One other thing: What
happened last week across the Presbytery was something that was historical,
at least from a Presbyterian viewpoint. I think we need to get the GA press
people on this and report this more broadly so people know that there are
other ways of spreading the Good News.”
To which my enthusiastic
reply is, “AMEN!”
One of the things I love
most about the Presbytery of the Northern Plains is that in the face of
grave challenges our churches and church leaders are willing to look to
God’s future with the vision and hope of true pioneers. Folks who not only
see what is, but what might be, and who are willing to take great leaps of
faith for the sake of Jesus Christ.
This willingness to go
to the “edge of God’s new frontier” is not limited to the use of advanced
technology. It also includes the ongoing work that is taking place among our
congregations as they find new ways to participate in ministry with one
another.
A recent article in
“Presbyterian Outlook,” written by Phil Tom, associate for Small Church &
Community Ministry in the Evangelism and Church Growth division of the
General Assembly Council, PC(USA), Louisville, KY, is titled “Smaller
membership churches become partners to share mission.”
(http://pres-outlook.com/tabid/2102/Article/6725/Default.aspx)
In the article Tom talks
about small congregations on the East Coast who are joining together to
engage in mission and ministry in a variety of ways. Too bad he didn’t look
west of the Mississippi River; we could have told him a lot about how our
churches are working together to “get off Survivor Island and back to robust
ministry!”
The reality, brothers
and sisters, is that here in the Presbytery of the Northern Plains we are
empowering church leaders – clergy, elders, and deacons – to:
·
Stretch themselves beyond what they
believed they could be stretched;
·
Be creative, willing to push into
uncharted and unknown territory;
·
Be proactive rather than
reactive;
·
Be willing to take the risk of
failure.
And these leaders are in turn
challenging the congregations they serve to put it all on the line for Jesus
Christ.
By surrendering their
fears and their future to Jesus Christ the faithful Presbyterians who make
up the Presbytery of the Northern Plains are testifying to the world that
God’s Kingdom is becoming in our Presbytery, and as the Kingdom
becomes so, too, are we more and more being transformed into the
disciples God in Jesus Christ created us to be.
Whether it is taking the
risk of faith to go to Kenya to minister among our brothers and sisters, or
to serve among our Native American kin folks at the Bdecan Presbyterian
Church, to reach out to at-risk youth through the KIN program at First
Church-Grand Forks, or, as First Church-Bismarck and First Church-Fargo are
doing by sending mission teams to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, the
disciples of the Presbytery of the Northern Plains are willing to step
outside their comfort zones to make a difference for Jesus Christ.
Our churches are taking
seriously the mandate of our mission statement to care for, connect with,
and challenge one another. United Church in Jamestown takes its VBS on the
road to share with congregations in south central North Dakota. First
Church-Minot provides leadership and resources to smaller congregations in
northwestern North Dakota. Our goal for our spring youth retreat is 125
participants! Across denominational lines yoked congregations of
Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Evangelical Church of North America,
and other stripes of Christians serve in ministry together, holding fast to
the truth that “Jesus Christ is LORD, and if you take that seriously,
everything else is negotiable!”
As we enter the year
2008 the opportunities to broaden the scope of our collaborative ministries
are expanding. We currently have eight congregations without pastors. By
this summer we will have at least four more congregations in need of
pastoral leadership.
All of these
congregations are, or are beginning to, engage in a process of prayer,
discernment, and visioning to ascertain what it is God is calling them to do
in their ministry and then to identify what type of pastoral leadership is
needed for them to faithfully pursue the ministry God has entrusted to them.
I have been proactive on their behalf, in the past two weeks contacting all
of the Presbyterian Church (USA) seminaries and sending personal letters of
invitation to over 40 seminary graduates, saying, “Come join us in the
beautiful Northern Plains!” I am already receiving responses from these
graduates, and in some instances Personal Information Forms (PIF), which
suggests to me that they, too, are capturing a glimpse of the wonderful
ministry opportunities that might await them in our fellowship.
One graduating senior,
who will soon be sending me his PIF, wrote:
“I’m meeting with my
CPM on Feb. 2 for my final assessment and will hopefully be sending my PIF
after the meeting!”
Another candidate wrote:
“Thank you for you
inquiry. I would love to explore this with you, but (there is always a
but!) my wife was accepted as a student at PTS and is currently completing
her first year. She is working toward a dual MDiv/MSW degree to pursue a
pastoral counseling future. I truly appreciate the opportunity, but it
would be a bit of a commute! When she completes her degree, I will be open
to such a move, and indeed would love the opportunity to visit with you at
that time!”
Prior to their becoming
minister members of our Presbytery, Cheri and Marli Danielson, who are
currently serving as temporary supply for the Tri County Parish, wrote to
me, following a conversation about the ministry vision of the Presbytery of
the Northern Plains:
“How could we not be
attracted to Northern Plains? It was exciting and, frankly, unusual to be
brought in on your presbytery's vision for ministry/mission. It's something
that appeals to us, and we can picture ourselves happily being
part of it.”
In May I will lead a
workshop at Columbia Seminary’s Center For Life-Long Learning as part of the
Rural Ministry Conference - "Strengthening Rural Ministry: Creative
Practices in the New Rural.” In the invitation to lead the workshop, one of
the conference organizers wrote to me:
“…you and I spoke on the
phone about the rural ministry conference being planned at Columbia
Seminary. I was in Atlanta at the time and phoned you after a
recommendation from Shannon Jung. Even as I look yet again at my notes from
that day, the stuff you are doing sounds fresh and cool…Would you be willing
to participate as a workshop leader --- presenting the new kinds of parish
configurations and ministry teams that you told me about? I've been
bragging about (the Presbytery of the Northern Plains) all over Kansas and
people just keep wanting to know more about how you are succeeding up there
in North Dakota.”
Jesus said:
“You are the light
of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a
lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light
to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so
that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven”
(Matthew 5:14-16).
Sisters and Brothers, the flame of faith is burning bright in the Presbytery
of the Northern Plains. Let it “radiate Christ’s passion, and blaze with
holy light!” (“Find Us Faithful”)
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