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Parenting Seminar at Lino Lakes Elementary

2012-01-30T15:01:00.002-06:00

Everyone in the north Metro is encouraged to attend a parenting forum tomorrow night, Tuesday, January 31 at Lino Lakes Elementary STEM School. Vicki Bohling-Philippi will give a talk called “Positive Parenting & Discipline.” The event will begin with a meal at 6:00 p.m. followed by the presentation. Child care is available. The meal, the presentation and the child care are FREE. The school is located at 725 Main Street in Lino Lakes.

Chain of Lakes Church is helping to sponsor the presentation.

This is quite an opportunity for all of us to grow in our parenting skills. I know that I will be taking notes and looking to learn how I can be a better parent. Everyone is welcome to attend. If you have elementary kids, but don’t attend Lino Lakes Elementary STEM—please do come. If you don’t have kids at home, but are interested in kids and how to seen them raised in a positive way—please do come.

As you say prayers tonight, please pray for a successful event tomorrow night. I am very hopeful about this new partnership between Chain of Lakes and Lino Lakes Elementary STEM School. Tomorrow night’s event is the one of many opportunities our new congregation has to bless the families who attends the school.

Surfing for God at Chain of Lakes

2012-01-26T07:12:00.001-06:00

This Sunday the youth and children at Chain of Lakes will be “Surfing for God.” During Sunday School everything will be taught on computers. We’ll have a large number of computers set up for the youth and children to use. It makes sense to use computers at church—we use them in our work and our home. Our youth and children certainly use them at school. Everyone child and youth who come will have a wonderful time.

I want to invite the community to participate on Sunday. If you have a youth or child that normally doesn’t come to a church, bring them on Sunday. We will welcome them with open arms. While they are with us we will use the most relevant methods of teaching. They will be “Surfing for God!.”

Surfing for God begins at 10:30 a.m. with worship. We worship at the Lino Lakes Senior Center—1189 Main in Lino Lakes, located a half mile east of Miller’s on Main.

Jeff Gravon

2012-01-21T15:12:00.003-06:00

I'm flooded with memories today as today is the third anniversary of the passing of Jeff Gravon, one of my best childhood friends. The picture above is the plaque that I developed for him and stands today at the Worthington YMCA.

You were the best, Jeff!! Saying prayers for his four great kids!

Welcome Wyatt Thomas Irlbeck

2012-01-19T10:01:00.002-06:00

One of the privileges of being a pastor is welcoming new babies into the world. When new babies are born to people in our congregation, I do my best to make a visit to the hospital. Last night I had the privilege of visiting Wyatt Thomas Irlbeck who was born early yesterday morning. What a gift!

Presbytery meeting

2012-01-17T15:01:00.003-06:00

The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area had its regular January meeting this past Saturday at Arlington Hills Presbyterian Church. I was privileged to have Mary Ann Archer from Chain of Lakes Church attend the meeting with me. Mary Ann has expressed an interest in attending the Presbytery meetings. She is a retired lawyer who most recently headed the staff at the library of William Mitchell Law School. Mary Ann is one of the seven families who originally were part of Chain of Lakes.

The two of us set up a table and passed out the most recent newsletter for Chain of Lakes. I always enjoy this time of talking to people about the mission and ministry of our new church and responding to questions.

I came into the meeting when Chaz Ruark was talking about the Fellowship Meeting which will take place this month in Orlando. Many of the first speakers talked a lot about their growing concern about a split within the PC(USA). I’m sure the concern is real, but I have to admit this wasn’t an energetic way to start a Saturday morning meeting in January. I sat in the back row of the sanctuary and witnessed a large number of people using Facebook on their phones or I-Pads. There wasn’t much interest in the back rows about what was being shared with us.

We made it through the morning agenda at a very fast pace. We elected commissioners to General Assembly via voice vote—quite a contrast to the brawl that took place two years ago when we elected commissioners. Barbara Van Loenen shared a moving presentation about being vulnerable.

During the Board of Trustees report Rocky Rockenstein shared a report on the most recent developments regarding the Chain of Lakes proposed property. At the Blaine City Council meeting this past Thursday—January 12—the Council seemed receptive to the proposal for access to our new property and to moving the berm. They rightly expect our new congregation to talk to the neighborhood about these ideas.

We were so far ahead of schedule that we broke for lunch at 11:15. We had a lengthy amount of time to talk to people and eat lunch.

Immediately after lunch, we enjoyed a stirring sermon by Dr. Margaret Aymer, Associate Professor of New Testament, at Interdenominational Center in Atlanta. The text of the sermon can be found here: http://mayog.posterous.com/do-something

The most interesting part of the meeting was the report on a possible “Gracious Separation” policy that was shared with the Presbytery. A group has been working for while to develop a policy and procedure for churches that want to leave the PC(USA). The draft of the policy that was shared with the Presbytery can be found here: http://www.presbyterytwincities.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/1-14-12-PTCA-gracious-separation-policy-draft-01-09-12.pdf

The group who developed the policy come from different theological viewpoints. It sounds like they worked together very prayerfully, thoughtfully, and deliberately. The Presbytery Council also shared their input. From what I heard the Council spent over four hours at one meeting going through the policy.

The next steps are two forums that will take place where people can share their viewpoints about the policy and then the Presbytery will vote in March.

I have great respect for the people who served on the team who put together the policy, the staff, and the members of the Presbytery Council.

However I have serious reservations about this policy.

First, I have questions about the process. It seems very rushed to me—someone who is an outsider to the process and only learned the specifics of the policy for the first time this past Saturday. The schedule is to vote on this policy at the March Presbytery meeting. That is a fast timetable for a significant decision.

Furthermore the Presbytery was not allowed to ask questions about the policy at the meeting this past Saturday—which really makes no sense to me. We were permitted to ask questions about the process, but not about the content of the policy. For a Presbytery who is trying to model authenticity I think this decision was wrong. I really don’t understand the rationale for it.

Granted two informational sessions are being held over the next two months about the policy—one in the Cities and one outside the Cities. But why not get all the questions out there in advance? Why not have at least two Pre-Presbytery meetings about the policy? Why not give the Presbytery a lot of time to discuss this significant issue?

This process seems very rushed to me. This policy deserves thoughtful and thorough contemplation. Voting on March seems very fast to me. I hope a new timetable will be set forward.

It seems to me that the Presbytery is being set up for a contentious meeting in March.

Second, I have serious reservations about only asking a church to pay five years of per capita as an exit fee. I won’t share all my reasons for this in this already long blog. I will say that I think this amount is too low.

By passing this policy the Presbytery is encouraging churches who want to leave the denomination to withhold per capita. This policy sets up the possibility that a congregation could leave the denomination by paying their withheld per capita. That doesn’t seem right to me.

Any sort of sort of exit fee should be based on some percentage of the value of the property and buildings of the church.

Chain of Lakes Church is being given a piece of property that will be worth over a half a million dollars. That money was given by the Presbytery to our new church. After we charter we could then leave the denomination and only pay five years of per capita? We wouldn’t be expected to pay back to the Presbytery this gift of property that was given to us? That money was given by Presbyterians in expectation that it would be used to further the ministry of Presbyterian churches.

I will listen closely to the people advocating this policy and encourage comments on this blog. However as of today I would vote “no.”

Questions Thinking People Ask about the Bible

2012-01-12T10:07:00.002-06:00

This Sunday, January 15th I am starting a sermon series called, “Questions Thinking People Ask About the Bible.” For the past month I’ve asked people at Chain of Lakes Church to ask the questions they’ve always had about the Bible, but never had answered. I received a large number of questions—including questions from some children at Chain of Lakes.

I particularly enjoyed the questions the children asked. They asked them in a response to a Facebook query I made. Their questions were:
• How many times does the word "water" appear in the bible?
• Will the Bible have a number 2, like Toy Story or Cars!!!" Basically, will there be a sequel?
• Why is God the only one who is a hero in the Bible?"

I’ll be responding to their questions during the Time for Children on Sunday.

This Sunday I’ll be addressing the questions, “Why should I pay attention to the Bible? What gives the Bible its power?

I asked people on my Facebook page their thoughts about these two questions and have received a lively response. Check it out at:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/hmoorepaul/posts/2604600353441?notif_t=feed_comment

I can’t wait to preach on these questions this Sunday. We will be worshipping in a reflective style on Sunday based on a Taize service. Worship begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Lino Lakes Senior Center, 1189 Main. I believe that everyone who comes will experience the presence of God and learn something new about the Scriptures.

Having Teen Challenge in worship

2012-01-10T14:59:00.002-06:00

This past Sunday representatives from Teen Challenge came to Chain of Lakes to share their message of rehabilitation with our congregation. This was the second time that folks from Teen Challenge have been with us in worship. This past Sunday we were blessed to have 30 guys from Teen Challenge be present in worship with us.

According to their web site at mntc.org the purpose of Teen Challenge is to assist teens and adults in gaining freedom from chemical addictions and other life-controlling problems by addressing their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

One person with whom I talked shared that came to the program because he had six DWI’s. I would have never guessed that.

Another person shared with me that meth/amphetamines destroyed his life.

One person who I talked with after worship shared how he had destroyed his family through his own use of drugs.

As I listened to the stories this past Sunday I thought how every problem is at its core spiritual. The men from Teen Challenge were able to identify their ongoing problems as spiritual problems. The faith (along with a very disciplined program of rehabilitation) that was being developed at Teen Challenge was helping them on the road to recovery.

Their presentation also illustrates the importance of telling stories in worship. The stories we heard in worship were not that different from the ones we could read in the Scriptures. They are stories of people who have experienced terrible problems—and through their faith have and through other resources have become and are becoming the people God desires for them to be.

I highly recommend Teen Challenge to churches interested in having them in worship.

Teen Challenge at Chain of Lakes Church

2012-01-06T09:25:00.000-06:00

I want to invite the community of Blaine, Lino Lakes, Centerville, Lexington & Circle Pines to a marvelous worship service that Chain of Lakes is sharing this Sunday. We have a marvelous worship service planned. We have the privilege of hosting “Teen Challenge.” Teen Challenge is helps teens and adults gain freedom from chemical addictions and other life-controlling problems by addressing their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. On Sunday the people from Teen Challenge will sing for us and share their stories of being restored to God through this program. Their stories are quite amazing and remarkable. If you have a friend who has struggled with some type of addiction, I encourage you to invite that person to worship this Sunday.

This is the second time that Teen Challenge has been in worship at Chain of Lakes Church. The last time I was touched by the honesty and authenticity of the sharing about addictions. We have people at Chain of Lakes who are authentically recovering from addictions. The stories of people at Teen Challenge happen everywhere.

After worship we will enjoy a meal. This will be a chance to continue the conversation with the people in Teen Challenge. On Sunday we will encourage people to give financially to the ministry of Teen Challenge. Just write a check to Chain of Lakes and mark on the check that the donation is for Teen Challenge.

Worship will begin at 10:30 a.m. The address of our worship site is 1189 Main Street in Lino Lakes. A map can be found at the Chain of Lakes web site at www.colpres.org.

More about Teen Challenge can be found at www.mntc.org.

We bought a Zoo

2011-12-27T21:19:00.000-06:00

Last night my sister’s family, Hannah and I got out of the house after a day of Christmas celebrating to watch “We bought a zoo.” I had wanted to see the movie last week with Hannah, but she and a friend convinced me to watch latest Chipmunks movie. There is no comparison between the two.

“We bought a zoo” is one of the best family movies I’ve seen. It’s worth watching and discussing with a child.

Some reviewers have righty criticized the movie for its formulaic plot line. Benjamin Mee, played by Matt Damon, tried to escape his grief from the death of his wife and negotiate the challenge of suddenly being a solo parent to two children. He quit his job as an adventure writer and took on the adventure of buying a zoo in the countryside. The zoo is not open and in danger of being closed. The staff of the zoo is overworked, but committed to the zoo’s success of the zoo. Mee’s task is to learn how to run and eventually open the zoo while keeping his family together and not going bankrupt.

The movie was partly based on a book by the same name that took place in England.

The movie clearly plays on the viewers emotions, but I didn’t feel manipulated. Rose, played by Maggie Elzabeth Jones was cute and even joyful as the seven year old daughter of Mee. The number of camera shots that showed how adorable she was bordered on excessive, but her effervescence carried the effort. Mee and Kelly Foster (played by Scarlett Johansson predictably fall for each other. However their relationship developed so slowly so it wasn’t clear at the end of the movie if a permanent romance was in their future.

I enjoy a movie when it takes me out of my life and helps me consider something completely different. I was captivated by the adventure that Mee took in order to rehabilitate the zoo. (It seemed similar to redeveloping a church.) Even though he was ultimately did open the zoo, there were no guarantees during the process that it would work. It was hard work for Mee, and I felt the difficulty of the task. Even if the ending was classic Hollywood, I felt Mee deserved his success. He risked a lot and put in the effort.

Since this clearly was a family movie, the theme fit the genre. As I drove home after the movie I talked with my nephew about the importance of hard work in achieving our dreams. A dream is more than a wish—it’s the culmination of much effort. I felt the challenges and difficulties that Mee experienced. It’s a classic American message, and one that is always worth passing on to future generations.

2011-12-22T15:22:00.000-06:00

Everyone in the community is invited to Christmas Eve at Chain of Lakes Church. We will be worshipping at 4:00 p.m. at our Worship Center in Lino Lakes, 1189 Main Street. Child care is available.

We’ve been working for about two months to put together a high quality Christmas Eve worship experience. Pastor Ken Mc Cullen will share a drama, Kellie Burriss will be singing, I will share a sermon, we will enjoy Communion, and we will conclude the service by singing Silent Night by candlelight.

I am especially glad that the first $300 of our offering will go to help low-income kids at Lino Lakes Elementary STEM school. The money will go to provide backpacks of supplies for families who need them. The backpacks will be packed with basic needs supplies like soap, shampoo, crayons, markers, dishwashing liquid, and family games

Mary Beth Higgens—counselor at the school—shared with me how needed these supplies are for kids. Some families weren’t able to participate in a drug awareness poster contest because they don’t have the markers and poster board at home to participate.

I think it’s fabulous that our congregation can support such an important ministry during our Christmas Eve service.

A candle is waiting for you! Please come.

Happy Birthday, Hannah

2011-12-16T07:49:00.002-06:00

Eleven years ago today at 10:38 a.m. in Rochester Methodist Hospital God gave Amy and a blessing that we cherish every day.

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

Clergywomen

2011-12-15T07:59:00.004-06:00

At our recent “Disciples at Chain of Lakes” orientation I was asked about the characteristics of being Presbyterian. I responded that one reason I’m proud to be a Presbyterian is we celebrate women in leadership. We ordain women to be clergy—now called Teaching Elders; we ordain women to serve on the councils of the church—roles now called Ruling Elders.

I read with interest the recent article in the Star Tribune by Katherine Thomas about women serving as priests in the Catholic Church.
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/135544578.htmllink
She was responding to an article that the Strib had written about female Catholic priests.

Even though my Catholic friends don’t ordain women to the priesthood I have deep respect for that tradition. My wife is Catholic, and I go to Mass with her almost weekly. I also have deep respect for my friends on the conservative, evangelical side of the religious aisle who don’t believe that women should be ordained.

However, I couldn’t disagree more strongly with their position. God calls women to ordained leadership in the church.

The logic of Thomas in the Strib article was especially specious. She essentially wrote that the church can’t ordain women because it is not true. Since women's ordination is not true, then the church can’t make something happen.

However my friends in the Catholic church aren't following an eternal truth--they've invented this truth. They've come to this conclusion based on their interpretation of the Scriptures and tradition. To say that there is an eternal truth that the church is following is false. Their truth is based on their interpretation.

And I believe their interpretation is wrong. Two weeks ago I gave a sermon on Mary, the mother of Jesus.
http://blip.tv/chain-of-lakes-church/the-story-through-the-eyes-of-those-who-have-been-there-mary-5813246
Mary went to great risk to bear Jesus, she traveled with Jesus with when he was older, she was at the foot of the cross (unlike most of the male apostles) when Jesus died, and she helped choose the apostle who replaced Judas. (Acts 1:14).

Mary was not excluded in her service because she was a female. She was a disciple, a minister, a leader. If Mary was physically alive today it seems incomprehensible that she would be excluded from sharing the sacraments with the people.

The women who bore Jesus couldn’t share Jesus?

The Scriptures are clear that God gives a variety of gifts—1 Corinthians 12. These gifts are not apportioned to people based on gender. To exclude women from ordained leadership is to block the working of the Holy Spirit.

I have had the privilege of knowing many female pastors in my career. My sister is a ordained Presbyterian pastor. To think that a group of men could exclude these women from sharing their gifts seems contrary to what God wants in the world.

Faith Sharing

2011-12-06T16:57:00.000-06:00

This past Sunday I shared a Faith Sharing exercise at Chain of Lakes that worked wonderfully. So wonderful that I want to do it again.

The Faith Sharing exercise helped people develop an understanding of their own journey of faith. Everyone has a story—it’s their journey of faith. Their story is not right or wrong—it’s a story. I believe it’s very important for people to know and be able to articulate the story.

I shared thirteen questions with people. I started off by sharing my story by going through some of the questions. I then broke people up into groups of two and had them share their story with another person. I gave them ten minutes—which was way too short of time. When the ten minutes was up I asked each person to share one thing they learned about the person with whom they were paired.

The sharing was powerful—very powerful. When we were done one person suggested that we include “faith sharing” as a Core Value at Chain of Lakes.

Too often we think Evangelism is about sales. We want to convert someone or get them to come to church. Evangelism can be converting and bringing people to church. But many folks aren’t comfortable in sales and have had bad experiences with people trying to do the “sales” part of Evangelism.

I think Evangelism is about sharing our faith—this starts with knowing our own story. I know that the following questions worked for us at Chain of Lakes this past Sunday.

Faith Sharing
(Sample questions that might help you develop your faith story)

1. What are some of your first remembrances about God?
2. What was church like when you were young?
How many churches did you go to?
What was the church building like?
What was the pastor like?
Did you go to Sunday School? What was that like?
How would you describe your parent's faith?
Did you go through confirmation? What was that like?
Did you participate in church as a teenager? What was that like?

3. What have been some significant events in your life during the past ten years? What role do you believe God played in those events?

4. Describe one or two times in your life when you've felt God's presence?

5. Name some times in your life when you had some tough questions for God. Perhaps you doubted God's existence, were angry with God, or just didn't understand something that had happened.

6. In two or three sentences write about who Jesus is to you?

7. How would you describe your faith today?

8. In what ways would you like to grow in your faith in the next year?

9. What do you like/dislike about Chain of Lakes Church

10. If Jesus walked into this room and asked you to ask him two or three questions, what would be your questions?

11. How is my life different because I follow Jesus Christ?

12. What is God doing right now in my life that is good news?

13. Who are the people who have been important in my faith development?

Tangled in the Tinsel

2011-12-01T14:51:00.003-06:00

The following is a Press Release that we issued to the media about this wonderful event taking place on Saturday, December 10. I'm very pleased that our new congregation is giving so much to help low-income kids at Lino Lakes Elementary STEM School. This is fabulous!

Chain of Lakes Church, a new Presbyterian church forming in Blaine & Lino Lakes, in cooperation with Homeward Bound Theatre, is presenting “Tangled in the Tinsel” on Saturday, December 10th at 6:30 p.m. The presentation will take place at the Lino Lakes Senior Center, 1189 Main Street in Lino Lakes. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and can be purchased by calling the Chain of Lakes office, 763-208-8049.

The church is giving one third of the sales of the tickets to help low-income children at Lino Lakes Elementary STEM School.

“We are very excited that in this season we can share a wonderful event that not only will be entertaining to families, but will also help children in poverty,” said Rev. Paul H. Moore, Organizing Pastor for Chain of Lakes Church.

The new congregation has adopted Lino Lakes Elementary STEM School as one of its local ministry focus. They supplied backpacks to the school in September, are raising money for low-income children, and will be sharing a speaker series on family issues in early 2012.

“We are delighted that Chain of Lakes Church has decided to help our school,” said Mary Beth Higgins, school counselor at Lino Lakes Elementary STEM School. “In these days of declining resources for schools, Chain of Lakes Church has helped fill in the gaps for us.”

Homeward Bound Theatre is presenting the comedy sketches. The focus of the arts organization is to share performing arts experiences that promote family values and positive relationships.

“We encourage the community to come out on Saturday, December 10,” said Moore. “Not only will they enjoy a wonderful program, but they will be helping kids at Lino Lakes Elementary STEM School.”

Child care will be provided for the event.

Black Friday

2011-11-25T15:26:00.005-06:00

Last night I joined millions of others in America to travel out to participate in Black Friday shopping. My nephews, their Dad, and I have established our own yearly ritual on the day after Thanksgiving. We look at it as a “guy thing," somewhat similar to hunting without the guns. We had gone through the ads sharing the big box specials, knew our route, had a sense of the prey for which we were looking, got a late night nap, and left the house in the dark.

I completely support the workers who have protested the earlier start of Black Friday. I’ve always enjoyed Thanksgiving because it’s a day to enjoy family, food, and some football. I love Thanksgiving partly because the culture hasn’t taken the holiday to provoke our consumerist urges. The people who have to work on Thanksgiving have no choice, but to leave their families to go to work. I was stunned that the Star Tribune actually wrote an editorial criticizing the workers who protested the earlier start of Black Friday.
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/134350223.html
Their logic that the workers should just be happy to have a job, so thus shouldn’t protest having to work hours on a national holiday makes no sense. Principles of justice and fairness don’t depend on the unemployment rate.

We left the house at about eleven and found the Wal Mart in Woodbury. The parking lot was almost full. I found a parking spot that probably is used once or twice a year. When I walked a quarter of a mile to the entrance I got in line. The number of people in the store had obviously exceeded the fire marshal’s limit. I waited in line for ten minutes before my daughter, Hannah, and I walked through the doors.

I never could have imagined a store being so packed. We heard that the store was offering waffle makers for $2, but so had many, many others. Many people had televisions in their carts, but Hannah and I were just happy to find an item on our list. The hardest thing for us was to find the check-out line. There were lines everywhere.

We finally found the checkout line. It weaved through the store looking like a caterpillar. After a half hour we purchased our stuff and looked for our next conquest.

Which was Best Buy. It was now after one in the morning. We don’t make it to Woodbury often, so took some wrong turns before we found the parking lot. I drove to the entrance of the store and saw a line at least two hundred yards long. I could do the line once, but not twice.

So on we went to the Target in Hudson. The store was crowded, but not overrun. I wanted to buy a camera that had been advertised for $60. I made it to the electronic desk and shared the serial number of the camera. No such camera. I was offered a camera that was $450. I asked if they had the Target circular that I had seen earlier. They found the circular, but I didn’t find the camera for which I was prowling. The attendant again asked if I wanted to buy a camera that was four bills. I’d come back another time.

I found some stuff and got in another caterpillar line. When our group had made our purchases we celebrated over a warm Target pretzel smothered in butter. It was 2:00 a.m. I don’t know if I could describe the snack as an early breakfast or the celebration of finding our prey.

We stumbled into the house at 3 a.m. I don’t like the rampant consumerism of our country, but I’m not going to be a hermit either. I didn’t purchase any items that I couldn’t have bought at any other time in December. But I do have some stories to share.

A night to remember

2011-11-09T07:47:00.001-06:00

Last night the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area squeezed into a room at Presbyterian Homes Boutwells Landing for our November meeting. Many important items of business took place including the passing of next year’s budget and the retirement of three pastors. However my focus for the meeting was completely on the vote the Presbytery took regarding a property purchase for Chain of Lakes Church.

This property purchase was the culmination of a year of work that two separate task forces completed. The task forces were made up of folks from Chain of Lakes and from other Presbyterian churches. Both task forces represented the best of Presbyterian connectionalism. As the Organizing Pastor of of the new church I was very happy that I didn’t have to be the chair or orchestrate the process of either task force.

The property is located on the northern edge of the Lakes Development in Blaine. As I mentioned in a blog last week it is a terrific piece of property. It’s near hundreds of new houses and ideally will have visibility and access to Main Street. No churches have a permanent location within the Lakes Development. I can hardly imagine a better location within our geography for a church.

I was very confident about the vote last night as the hard and difficult work had taken place in the last sixty days. In that time an agreement has been reached with the sellers plus the three committees of the Presbytery (Church Development Team, Board of Trustees and Presbytery Council) had agreed to the terms and financing for the property.

The hard work had been done—last night became a night to remember.

Before the meeting I handed out “I love Chain of Lakes” stickers that Jennifer Huehns, the administrator of Chain of Lakes, made. Enthusiasm was high as I quickly distributed all sixty stickers I had brought. I was very pleased that eleven folks from Chain of Lakes came to the meeting.

The voting for the new property came right before dinner. John Ivers shared some history of the project, I gave a report sharing how we are doing at Chain of Lakes, Dave Nyberg shared a report on how this piece of property will benefit the ministry of our new congregation.

Walter Rockenstein, chair of the Board of Trustees, then led the body through the votes. The Board of Trustees had done an outstanding job of sharing materials which clearly explained what was taking place. After his presentation opportunities for questions were given to the Presbytery. No one had any questions. Knowing the irascible nature of many Presbyterians this was amazing. The first vote to purchase the property was then taken. It was---------------------------UNANIMOUS. The financing plan was then presented and a vote taken. It was also unanimous. The final two votes were easy. A third property task force was established to satisfy the contingencies of the Purchase Agreement and to authorize leaders to sign documents when we close.

The contingencies are significant to the people at Chain of Lakes Church. We want to move the sound barrier on Main and do it in a way that is acceptable to the neighborhood. We also want access to the property off of Main.

Once the votes were taken it was time to celebrate and not be concerned about the heavy lifting that lies ahead. After the Presbytery applauded for the votes, I started singing the Doxology. The people of the Presbytery soon rose and joined in the singing. It was a powerful moment of celebration. I still get chills as I reflect on our offering of praise to God. As a Presbytery we were united in how God had brought us together to take a very significant action which will have a long-lasting impact on the world.

The picture at the top of this blog shares the smiles of the people at Chain of Lakes as we celebrated this gift of property that the Presbytery has given to us.

If the spirit of last night’s Presbytery meeting is any indication, it is very clear that God is not through with the Presbyterian Church. Truly we experienced a night to remember.

Great Day!

2011-11-07T19:07:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was a great day in ministry. At Chain of Lakes Church we’re looking at Spiritual Gifts during our stewardship drive this year. In the sermon I talked about taking risks with the gifts we have to love someone. In the story of the parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) Jesus applauded risk taking. The first two slaves risked a losing a large amount of money to double what they were given. I talked about how the Presbytery is taking a risk on our congregation in purchasing a 8.89 acre piece of property for us. They are risking that God wants a vibrant, new Presbyterian church in Blaine and Lino Lakes; they are also taking a risk that the people of Chain of Lakes Church want this type of church.

The entire sermon could be seen here: http://blip.tv/chain-of-lakes-church/sharing-our-gifts-in-love-5714222

After worship we enjoyed a wonderful luncheon and program. At the program Dave Nyberg unveiled the world premiere of video he made about Chain of Lakes Church. He interviewed folks who shared how our new congregation has had an impact on their lives. I was especially touched by the interviews with Mary Beth Higgens, counselor at Lino Lakes Elementary, and James Chapman, leader at Manna Market. Both shared that Chain of Lakes helped each of them at important times. We are helping the school with money for kids who aren’t able to purchase milk and helping to sponsor a speaker series next January. Chain of Lakes partnered with two other churches to sponsor a walk for Manna Market last August. The proceeds of the walk helped Manna Market purchase a new van.

But my stomach was turned upside down after the video. A woman—who was unchurched three years ago—shared that the video was powerful, but didn’t share the unspoken ways our new congregation has helped people. She said that she receives something from Chain of Lakes that she is not receiving in any part of her life. She said she always leaves our congregation on Sunday in a better place than when she came. Another woman then shared that when her husband was going through a difficult time she was often asked whether she has support from others. She replied that her support is her church—Chain of Lakes Church. Wow!

After worship Amy, Hannah, and I drove down to Plainview, Minnesota for the installation of their new pastor, Rev. John Curtiss. John is going to do a terrific job at Plainview. I felt a little chagrined about coming to the installation service as a former pastor, but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to visit with the people who I came to love deeply over sixteen years of ministry. It was a privilege to worship and visit with the people of the church. I don’t have too many opportunities to sit in that sanctuary to worship. This is a place that our congregation built, where I preached at least 600 sermons, a place where I officiated at least 80 funerals, at least that many baptisms, and many weddings. It’s a sacred space to me.

I told John later that there isn’t a place in that building that doesn’t bring at least one story to me. As we were leaving the building I told this to my daughter, Hannah. She pushed back on this statement to ask what memories I had of the door facing the main street. I said that I remembered the many times that I led a casket out of the building and into a waiting hearse.

I am very excited to hear about what God is going to do in that congregation and with their new pastor.

It’s cool that I get paid to have such moving experiences. Could there be a better job than that of a pastor?

Presbytery vote for property

2011-11-03T09:46:00.002-05:00

This Tuesday, the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area is voting on a Purchase Agreement for a piece of property that will locate Chain of Lakes Church for their future ministry. I am thrilled that this action will be taking place and encourage the Presbytery to vote in favor of the motion.

The property is located at the northern edge of the Lakes Housing Development—adjacent to County Highway 14 (125th Ave NE) in Blaine. The picture above is an aerial view looking north.

Hundreds of houses are near the property. When started the Lakes Housing Development and adjacent developments were the largest housing development in the history of Minnesota. During my first year as an Organizing Pastor I met with a realtor who sold houses in these developments. He shared that when the development is fully built out it will have 10,000 residents and 3,000 housing units. Since that meeting I discovered that over 107,000 people live within five miles of the property and the growth rate within five miles is expected to be 5.55 percent a year until 2015.

I still remember the first time I took my daughter, Hannah, to see the property. As I drove near the property all we could see were houses. She remarked to me, “Daddy, if you had a church here a lot of these people could come to Chain of Lakes.”

For the last year the Property Task Force—a sub-committee of the Church Development Team—has worked to worked to secure a property and develop a finance plan. It has been a treat to work with the group. This group is a demonstration of the power of our Presbyterian connectionalism. The Task Force has been made up of Chain of Lakes people and folks from other Presbyterian churches.

The Property Task Force developed some ways to finance the property that passed through the Board of Trustees, and the Presbytery Council. The Church Development Team is in favor of the Purchase Agreement.

The Property Task Force has made presentations at many Presbytery meetings in 2011. In March three lay folks from Chain of Lakes shared their excitement about our new church; in May Ward Sessing, the chair of the Property Task Force, explained what the Property Task Force was doing; in July a pre-Presbytery gathering was held and then a detailed presentation was shared during the meeting.

Providing a piece of property for a new church is a longstanding tradition within our Presbytery. New Presbyterian churches in Apple Valley, Columbia Heights, north Minneapolis, Rochester, the Philips neighborhood, and Plymouth were given land and also buildings in some cases.

At Chain of Lakes we are encouraging folks to attend the Presbytery meeting on Tuesday to share our excitement about this property purchase.

The Purchase Agreement contains some very reasonable contingencies that we at Chain of Lakes requested. If the Purchase Agreement is approved a team of people will immediately gather to fulfill these contingencies.

The bottom line on the property decision is this—the location is excellent, the price is right, and the folks from Chain of Lakes are excited about this exciting step in their journey of ministry.

The story of Brenda

2011-10-31T15:00:00.007-05:00

At Chain of Lakes we're focusing on Spiritual Gifts for the next month. We want to create a system where people identify their gifts and then are equipped to use them in At the end of my sermon yesterday I shared the story of Brenda. I'd like everyone reading this blog to reflect on this question, "what would happen to Brenda in your church? Are you willing to re-organize the way you do ministry so that Brenda could live into her dreams?" To watch the sermon go to: http://blip.tv/chain-of-lakes-church/a-vision-for-spiritual-gifts-5690942

Let me wrap up this sermon with a story about Brenda. This isn’t a historically true story. But a story like hers has happened many times in many different churches. Brenda has the spiritual gift of administration. What that means is she has the God-given ability to organize and manage information people, events, and resources to accomplish the objective of a ministry. She also has a deep passion to help kids with autism. She didn’t know that she had the gift of administration.

She moved to a new city. There was a church near her. It was called “Recruitment Presbyterian Church.” She attended one Sunday. When she walked in the door of the church she was greeted warmly. The people of the church were glad to see her. They were generous and kind and engaging. After attending a few Sundays Brenda decided to connect with the congregation.

One Sunday she went to worship and someone made a passionate plea to help with their hospitality ministry. The church needed door greeters. They really needed someone to say “yes.” They didn’t have anyone for the next Sunday and the person doing the announcement said he would be willing to get on his knees so that someone would be a door greeter. Brenda thought—I can do that. So she signed up. She was a door greeter about twice a month.

Often when she would drive home after worship she thought about some of the kids she knew who had autism. Every now and then she wondered if Recruitment Presbyterian Church would start a ministry to help these kids. One day she shared her ideas with some of the good folks at Recruitment Presbyterian Church. They responded by nodding their head and saying “good idea.” They never gave her any direction or ideas about taking the next step.

A while later she was talking to another parent from Recruitment Presbyterian Church about her dream of helping kids with autism and the parent said, “you know, we’re just happy that kids come to Recruitment Presbyterian Church and when they are here that they behave. I don’t think our congregation would know how to handle kids with autism.” When she sat down and reflected on this conversation she thought, “the people are really friendly here, but they just want warm bodies. They don’t want to live out their dreams.”

One Sunday a friend of hers at work invited her to attend Spiritual Gifts Presbyterian Church. She had no reason to attend because she liked Recruitment Presbyterian Church. She said, “yes.” When she came to the door she was greeted by a man who was warm in welcoming her. Later that day the man told her that he had the gift of hospitality and he loved using that gift to greet people. During worship the Lay Leader read a story about Jesus from the Scriptures that opened up the story to her in a new way. She had heard the story many times, but never she had never heard it read in such a compelling way. Her friend told her that people could do readings in worship if they had the gift of teaching. After worship she was amazed at the presentation of the food at fellowship. She had never seen so many different types of food presented in such a beautiful way. Later she found out that people could only serve fellowship if they had the gift of serving.

That week a person shared a coffee mug with her at her door. She enjoyed the two minute conversation with the person. She found out that the person who brought the mug had the gift of evangelism. When she was talking to her co-worker that week she mentioned that people really liked serving at Spiritual Gifts Presbyterian Church. Her co-worker said that the congregation had made a switch a few years earlier to a system of shared ministry. People weren’t recruited anymore. They were encouraged to identify their gifts and then encouraged and supported to use them in order to live out their dreams.

She went back to Spiritual Gifts Presbyterian Church the next Sunday and while she was there she took a Spiritual Gifts inventory. When she did it she discovered she had the gift of administration. She always had thought she had this gift, but now it was confirmed. Later that week someone from Spiritual Gifts church called her. “Could I come over and meet with you,” the person said. “I know you’re not part of our congregation, but I want to encourage you to use your gift of Administration. It doesn’t have to be for our church, but we know that if people use their gifts the world is a better place.”

They made a date for lunch. During the conversation Brenda she shared that she wanted to help kids with autism. “That’s wonderful,” the person said. “It would be a natural for you to use your gifts of administration to help these kids. You could do that in a church or not. With the gift of administration you have the ability to organize a program that would help these kids.”

When she heard that she realized that this was true. Brenda decided to go to the local school and share with the counselor her desire to help these kids. Surprisingly the counselor said that she had been thinking herself about designing a program to help kids with autism, but she needed someone with the gift of Administration. Brenda was awe struck. She had the gift of administration, and she was willing to use it. The counselor knew of a program that they could do, but the problem was they didn’t have a place to hold the program. Brenda responded, “I’m sure that Spiritual Gifts Presbyterian would host this.” She was so excited that she drove immediately over to the church. The pastor just happened to be available. Brenda shared with the pastor that the church had helped her identify Administration as a spiritual gift. That had led her to talk to the counselor about helping kids with autism and now they needed a place to host a program. Would Spiritual Gifts Presbyterian Church do it.

The pastor smiled. Of course they would do it.

Soon Brenda ran an one-day after school program for kids with at Spiritual gifts Presbyterian Church. Her gifts and passions had intersected. The program made a difference.

About two months later someone called her from Recruitment Presbyterian Church. Brenda hadn’t been to worship there for those two months. “We’re filling out the greeter schedule for the next three months,” the person said on the phone. “We have some slots to fill. Would you be a greeter?” Brenda thought to herself. She liked the people at Recruitment Presbyterian Church. She didn’t mind being a greeter; it wasn’t that hard. But she was having such a blast living out her spiritual gifts of administration and living out her dream of helping kids with autism. She felt guilty saying no, but there was no way she could say no to her gifts.

Being surprised by God

2011-10-26T07:42:00.001-05:00

One of my delights is being surprised by God. This past Sunday was M.E.A. weekend in Minnesota. Traditionally this is a day of low worship attendance in churches as many families are traveling out of town. Amy, Hannah, and I spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of M.E.A. weekend visiting with friends in Rochester.

I woke up very early this past Sunday thinking and reflecting on what was going to happen in worship at Chain of Lakes. I wasn’t anticipating a large turnout of people, and I wasn’t anticipating that we would have any first-time guests. But I also know from experience that God frequently will surprise me.

So I prayed the following—“Lord I’m not expecting a large turnout today at Chain of Lakes, and I have no reason to think that we will have any first-time guests, but would you surprise me? This congregation is your congregation, and I’m asking for your Spirit to work in a wonderful way today.”

Wow—was I surprised. We had a higher attendance than our weekly average; much higher than I anticipated. We had two families visit us for the first time. They both came because they found the web site of our congregation—colpres.org. During worship I offered the ritual of anointing. As Kellie Burriss—the Music Director at Chain of Lakes—sang, I invited people to approach me. As this happened I would ask each person if they had a particular prayer request. I would then anoint the person’s forehead with oil and pray with them.

A large number of people came forward to receive anointing. Some were in tears. These were special moments complete with the pregnancy of the Spirit.

Praise God for surprises. No matter what we think will happen in worship or in the church, God is always working in wonderful and surprising ways. I pray that all of us will keep faith in this surprising God.

Speech by Father Joe Keefe

2011-10-19T16:34:00.002-05:00

I recently received a speech given by Father Joe Keefe. He was previously the priest at Pax Christi Catholic Church in Rochester. I was so moved by the speech, that I wanted to share it on this blog. Father Keefe is struggling with Lou Gehrig's disease

"One question for people who are not overly distracted is, How do I have eternal life with Jesus and His Body? Or How do I get to heaven. I have discovered something about that question by being sick. And I read over the readings for the coming Sunday about the wedding garment. and the commentary by St. Catherine of Siena says that the wedding garment is poverty, just as I had discovered. So, How did Jesus /Heaven give me that necessary garment and what is poverty?

How did I get poor? My speech got worse in January 2010 and I got some honest feedback that I was not getting better as I thought. I asked the friends on our priest vacation, “How do I know when I should resign?”To sum up their answer, “How about now.” I went to Bishop Quinn “I won't get enough rest if stay pastor of Pax.”
He accepted that and said, “Joe you are still a priest.”

As I went I said to myself “What have you done?” Given up this parish leadership? I had to admit that some of my importance came from being the pastor of Pax. And for sure one source of my importance is knowledge. And the speaking of knowledge. These were going away and I was becoming poor. Next my joy in eating was taken away by weak lips, tongue and swallowing and in September I noticed a a shortness of breath. Another poverty. Now every time I want to contribute I can't. I am a poor child.

Then comes the second Sunday of Lent the Transfiguration. I have never liked to preach on this. But this I time I saw something different because Christ is making me poor. I was attracted to words from heaven,” This is my beloved Son.” not, this is my miracle worker. Not, this my teacher. This is my Son. So am I the beloved son because I am baptized into Him. You and I are beloved sons. For persons that have wedding garments, that is the only source of their importance. I do not give it to myself either. I am poor.

Poverty is not limited to the financial, although I'm getting poorer that way, too, because Medicare is my primary provider now.

It is like Jesus told the Rich young man who went away sad, “get rid of all your sources of importance, be poor, and follow me. Jesus does not play games Either He is the source of your importance or you are on your own and on the road to purifying fire.

Opportunities for being poor:
Last Tuesday morning there were 3 blood draws that didn't work with all the painful poking into my tired veins. Then a call that they couldn't download the talk I wrote that was to be read for me at 90 priests' gathering for my 40th and I said, “no problem, I print another. But all of sudden my printer did not work and my laptop froze. That's an opportunity to be poor, to have the wedding garment.

So having the wedding garment is not protection against mornings like that because He wants to know if I consider Him the only source of my importance, still more, that I am the beloved son in the midst of everything going wrong.

You will be given that garment each day. How do you keep it on each day?

Offering:
Offering is: I am poor and you God are rich in Love beyond measure so I offer this to you so that I can walk with You.

When I had the Tuesday morning of poverty, I offered continuously. How? I wasn't born yesterday, just seven months ago. So I know Him and and His faithfulness and I offered my anger, sadness, my being overwhelmed. What does He do? He shows possibilities. I had given the talk to a friend and I called that friend who brought the copy to me. The rest of the day of full of grace. The talk was met with a standing ovation by three bishops and all the priests. How lavishly He treats this poor child.

When we went to a lake home near Hayward in late August we forgot my week's supply of daily doses of medicine. I was angry and wanted to throw something. But then the Lord woke me up and said “I am here! Are you?” I said “Yes and I offer this to you.” The first thing I did was to turn to the person that forgot it and say, I forgive you.” He always opens possibilities when you offer. That was just the beginning. Our cell phone would not get a signal. So two trooped out into the twilight and found, on a lonely driveway, two young boys, who let them call on their phones. They called Maureen on her cell phone Sunday night as she and Dave came in the door from the Cities. She called Msgr Don Schmitz, she knew his cell # because he's a friend. Don was coming to Hayward later and waiting for Fr. Fr. Tom Jennings from Luverne who was delayed. Next, Maureen called the Apartments where I live and on this Sunday night got someone, who let her come, they questioned her, and then let her into my apartment to get the medicine. She called Fr. Schmitz back and Maureen and Dave drove to Cannon Falls to hand off the goods to Fr. Schmitz. Fathers Schmitz and Jennings bought the medicine with them. He put every person in place and He gave me Peace, when I would have given myself anxiety.

Do not censor your opportunities for wearing the wedding garment.

Being sad, angry, jealous, lustful, prideful, overwhelmed, not knowing, getting what you wanted and still being restless etc. These are opportunities to realize poverty, how poor I am. Last Tuedsy was St. Francis Day. St Francis was called Il Poverello, The Little Poor One. The church is as certain about his wedding garment as she is about Mary's garment; For she said, “You have looked with favor upon your lowly servant.” Jesus let himself die as only a poor man dies. You can live this way every day, with assurance that you are being saved now, and eternally. Then, and only then, can all the way to heaven be heaven as St. Catherine said.

Thank you all for helping me with your prayers and other ways of caring so I could receive this gift of Lady poverty."

Fr. Joe Keefe

October 8-10, 2011

Fun service at Chain of Lakes

2011-10-08T09:55:00.001-05:00

St. Francis day (he was the patron saint of animals) was this past Tuesday, October 4. Instead of organizing a separate service at Chain of Lakes we decided to devote an entire worship service to animals, which will be Sunday, October 9. We won’t bless animals, but instead will explore the relationship between God and animals and God and pets. We’re going to have fun answering questions people have about pets, hearing a faith story about a woman’s relationship with her pets, and being blessed by very special music. All are welcome!

Attending Leadership Institute at Church of the Resurrection

2011-10-03T15:55:00.003-05:00

Last week five folks from Chain of Lakes joined me in attending Leadership Institute at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, Kansas. This church was started in 1990 has grown to be one of the largest Methodist churches in the country. Every fall they share a Leadership Institute event. Through small classes, large group talks, and worship participants learn how Church of the Resurrection has become so successful. This was the sixth time I’ve attended Leadership Institute, and this was the largest group I’ve taken to the event.

By far the best workshop for me was lead by Martha Grace Reese. She has developed a wonderful process for mainline churches develop the practice of evangelism. I bought all four of her books and look forward to using them at Chain of Lakes. One quote she said that resonated with me is “it’s hard to teach people how to do evangelism if we are not clear on why we do evangelism.” At Chain of Lakes we have done a lot of work on the “hows” of evangelism. We could grow in teaching people the “whys.”

Adam Hamilton once again did an extraordinary job of teaching. He shared five basics that every church needs to get right. He said that the basics are: 1) It’s all about relationships with people; 2) Leaders clarify the purpose; 3) Leaders help churches or ministries to discern God’s vision; 4) Leaders honestly face shortcomings and pursue excellence; 5) Meaningful, moving, well-led worship.

Bill Hybels spoke on Friday morning. He shared five ideas that he would share with church leaders. He imagined himself on his death bed and being asked to share these five. They are: 1) Vision—taking people from here to there; 2) Get the people engaged; 3) make worship memorable; 4) pace yourself for the long haul; 5) pay attention to whispers from God.

The best part of the conference was to listen to the excitement of the folks who attended from Chain of Lakes. They were touched by the ministry and mission of Church of the Resurrection and very interested in taking some ideas back to the north metro for ministry. I’ve shared that I rate a conference a success if one idea is still implemented in six months. I’m hoping and praying that six ideas will be implemented from this conference in March 2012.

Notes from each workshop and plenary session will soon be posted at cor.org.

A tribute to Margie Powell

2011-09-29T21:58:00.002-05:00

Our family is mourning the passing of Margie Powell, my Dad’s only sister. In visiting with her last Thursday my sister said Margie wanted to go to sleep like her mother did when she passed away. She did so last weekend after a ten year struggle with cancer.

Her funeral was today at the Methodist church in Terrill, Iowa. I wasn’t able to attend as I’ve been attending a church conference this week with five other people from Chain of Lakes Church.

Margie was the oldest in her family. She enjoyed and endured having five younger brothers. The above picture is with her five brothers. She lived most of her life on farms in northwest Iowa. She helped on the farm when she was growing up and then helped run a farm with her husband, Vern. She taught Home Economics and Art in the local schools and also worked as the school librarian.

Margie had a tremendous work ethic. She helped Vern, with the farm work, especially during planting season. She picked rocks every year. She always had an immaculate house and loved to cook and sew. She sewed clothes for her ten granddaughters. My Dad shared that at the funeral the pastor told about how the chemotherapy affected her hands so that she could not handle sewing very well, especially the small detail work. After the death of Vern, she was the primary care giver for her mother-in-law, Irene Powell. She sometimes read a book in a day.

Despite battling cancer for ten year, being tired because of the treatments and losing her hair many times she hardly ever complained. The chemotherapy affected her ability to ward off infections, and it was an infection which eventually took her life.

My Dad shared with me how Margie accepted responsibility. When she was a high-school senior, her parents took a long trip to Alaska. She was primarily responsible for all the household chores for her five brothers. Her mom and dad could trust her with this responsibility.

Margie was very dedicated to her family. I rarely ever remember attending a family event when she wasn’t present. If anyone in her family needed help, Margie was there. She attended almost every wedding or special celebration of her nephews and nieces. She attended my wedding, ordination and installation services. Our family has many special memories of family gatherings on her farm near Terrill. We all squeezed into her house, laughed, and enjoyed each other’s company.

Praise God for the life of Margie Powell!

Diversity Village

2011-09-22T16:42:00.000-05:00

Last week I received an E-mail with the following information. I found the information to be so compelling that I decided to share it on this blog.

THE DIVERSITY VILLAGE
If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following:

There would be:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both North and South
8 Africans

52 would be female
48 would be male

70 would be nonwhite
30 would be white

70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian

89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual

6 would possess 59% of the entire world’s wealth, and all but 1 would be from the U.S.

80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition

1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth

1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education

1 would own a computer

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.

Rally Day at Chain of Lakes Church

2011-09-15T06:57:00.003-05:00

We have a terrific Rally Day scheduled at Chain of Lakes Church for this Sunday, September 18. Rally Day is the day that faith communities come together to launch their fall ministry season. Usually Rally Day is held the Sunday after Labor Day, but our congregation decided to commemorate the ten year anniversary of 9-11 last Sunday. It seemed too much to mix Rally Day with that commemoration.

We have some exciting opportunities for children this Sunday at Rally Day. Bill Eisenmann, a professional story teller, will be with us. During the Time of Children and during Sunday School he will share stories about friendship. After worship the children will enjoy a carnival with a Rocket Bounce House, games and food.

We also have some exciting opportunities for adults this Sunday at Rally Day. I am starting a sermon series called, “Being Friends in a Facebook world.” The sermon will be shared by more than me—a surprise speaker will also share. Jennifer Huehns has created a video of the ministries at Chain of Lakes Church that we will enjoy. On Sunday we will announce two different small group opportunities that we are offering this fall at Chain of lakes.

Everyone at Chain of Lakes is encouraged to bring a friend to worship. Our office mailed 1,000 postcards to a targeted group of people in our area about Rally Day at Chain of Lakes. The front of the post card is the picture at the top of this blog. I’m hopeful to see many new faces at worship.

I can’t think of a better place to be than worship at Chain of Lakes this Sunday at 10:30 a.m. I wish the day and time were here right now!

September Presbytery meeting, Twin Cities Area Presbytery

2011-09-14T10:49:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I left around 1:30 p.m. for the September Presbytery meeting of the Twin Cities Area Presbytery that was held in Austin, Minnesota. This was the second meeting in the row where Presbyterians in the Twin Cities have had the opportunity to travel into the Area. (Still hoping that the name of our Presbytery will be changed.) The day was a beautiful one to be on the road.

I had the privilege of having John Ivers ride with me to the meeting. During Presbytery he shared some personal reflections about his involvement in church development. John has given much of his time during the last decade to church development in our Presbytery. Every new church development and re-development in our Presbytery has been buoyed by his leadership. Chain of Lakes Church would not exist if he hadn’t persevered with the desire he had to see a new Presbyterian church in the north Metro.

When we arrived at the Presbyterian Church in Austin, I quickly found my tablemate, Martha Rockenstein. We've been sharing a table at most of the recent Presbytery meetings. She talks to people about Presbyterian, Christian education materials, and I distribute the most recent newsletter of Chain of Lakes Church. We both enjoyed talking to people as they arrived at the meeting. I was particularly heartened to talk to John Curtiss—the new pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Plainview.

During the meeting the Church Development Team announced that the proposal for property purchase for Chain of Lakes Church has been turned down by the sellers. Many people at the meeting shared their disappointment with me. I responded by saying that I’m not really that disappointed. We have many good properties we are looking at for Chain of Lakes. The negotiations for these properties change almost daily. Saddleback Church—the largest church in America—didn’t have property for the first ten years of their existence. Having property would be a big benefit to the ministry of Chain of Lakes, but I believe it will happen on God’s time. That could take place next month or longer.

The meeting got off track during the Committee on Preparation for Ministry (CPM) report. The CPM presented Kerri Allen as ready for ordination. The final step on her ordination process is to be examined by a Presbytery. The CPM proposed that the Presbytery of Chicago (she has a call within that Presbytery) conduct the examination. The Presbytery quickly became bogged down in a debate about whether our Presbytery or the Presbytery of Chicago should conduct her examination.

This is the type of polity question that some people love talking about deep into the night. However most people don’t understand the issues surrounding it and wonder why we tangle ourselves in such debates at Presbytery meetings. I would much rather talk about how to deepen discipleship in our churches or debate how to reduce the poverty rate in our country—which is now 15%. Fortunately (after a barely tolerable amount of debate) the Presbytery voted to let the Presbytery of Chicago conduct Kerri’s examination.

I enjoyed the wonderful dinner that the saints from the Austin church prepared for us. During dinner I had the privilege of talking to a retired psychologist from that church. After dinner a youth band from the Austin church shared a beautiful song. After singing “Here I Am” John and I left for our two hour sojourn back to the north Metro.

First Day of School

2011-09-06T17:00:00.000-05:00

No matter if we have children at home or not the first day of school connects all of us. Each of us has a stake in the success of the education of your children and youth.

Our daughter Hannah entered fifth grade this morning. I shared with her what happened on my own first day of school in fifth grade. I remember getting re-acquainted with many of my classmates after going to school in Kansas City. One of my closet friends, Jeff Gravon, gave me an appropriate guys welcome—cuffing me in the back of the head. At the end of the school day my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Basche, was asked if our class would have any homework. Everyone groaned. We then cheered when she said that we wouldn’t have to take anything home.

We had a typical first-day of school in the Moore household. We took pictures of Hannah; she asked us if I was going to take a video—which I’ve done before. We shared other first-day-of-school stories—in particular we laughed about the day when Amy told the bus driver that he had to change the location of the bus stop.

We had typical confusion in our neighborhood. A bus pulled up ten minutes early to the bus stop. I went over to talk to the bus driver. While talking to him he discovered he had the wrong address. That prevent many of the adults of the kids in our neighborhood from wondering if they were late. The bus that finally did pick the kids up was at a different corner from last year and was traveling a different direction. We adults wondered if that would work—change is difficult!

Here’s wishing a wonderful year to all students, teachers, administrators and all others who have devoted their lives to education!

Vacation Bible School--and a request to help others

2011-08-25T09:55:00.001-05:00

Vacation Bible School is one of my favorite ministries. Even though we are a new church we have already established a tradition of quality Vacation Bible School at Chain of Lakes. We’ve celebrated a wonderful VBS this past week. We’ve averaged 27 children a night—many from outside our congregation. The activities have been very well organized and enjoyed by the children. I’m very impressed by many adults who have spent a lot of time with kids this week. Thank you!! The quality of a children’s ministry depends on the number and commitment of adults to this ministry. One of my ministry philosophies is “the congregation is the youth and children’s minister.” This philosophy has been lived out this week at Chain of Lakes.

Tonight is the last night at Vacation Bible School. If you have a chance, come over to the Senior Center and check it out. You’d be welcome for dinner at 5:30. A special thanks to our Children’s Ministry Director, Joanne Shingledecker, and the Education Team for the excellent work they’ve done to plan Vacation Bible School.

This Sunday the children of Bible School will be sharing their gifts in worship. Our Music Director, Kellie Burriss, has done a wonderful job of preparing the kids to sing on Sunday. The children will be sharing the Scriptures and being ushers and door greeters. The theme of service will be Praise. Sunday will be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Children’s Ministry at Chain of Lakes.

As part of Vacation Bible School we’re collecting backpacks for Lino Lakes Elementary. Our goal is to collect 20 backpacks. You can help us!! Go to colpres.org and click on the backpack link. Please bring a backpack or supplies to Vacation Bible School tonight or to worship this Sunday. The backpacks will be delivered to Lino Lakes Elementary next week.

You can view more pictures of Vacation Bible School on my Facebook page. They will soon be loaded onto our web site.

The Help

2011-08-20T09:44:00.005-05:00

On Thursday night my daughter, Hannah, and I set out to see the movie, “The Smurfs” at the Andover Theater. As we were standing in line I saw that “The Help” was playing at the same time. I read "The Help" with my on-line book club and have wanted to watch it ever since it came out. After seeing the movie was rated PG-13 and being convinced that there weren’t too many inappropriate scenes, I convinced Hannah to watch it with me. The movie was based on a book written by Kathryn Stockett.

As soon as I walked into the theater I noticed that many women were sitting together in groups. Obviously some book clubs were taking a night out to see “The Help” together.

The main plot revolved around the successful attempt by Skeeter to write a book detailing the stories of the African-American servants working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s.

Three women are the primary characters. Skeeter is a young woman who came home to Jackson after graduating from college. She befriends Aibileen, an African-American woman who cleans houses and lovingly cares for the white children of those houses. Aibileen’s best friend is Minny—a more confrontational woman who can’t help but tell her white employers what she thinks of them.

Issues of race, power, sexism and the implications of segregation permeate the “The Help.” The movie shares how each character is marred by the system of Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s. Skeeter is treated coldly by her female friends because she’s more interested in being a writer than getting married. Aibileen has always wanted to be more than a maid, but she was born into a family where her grandmother and mother were maids. She writes a hour every night, but it’s almost impossible for her gifts to help her transcend her fate. Minny tells the truth and suffers the consequences from a system that isn’t interested in her views.

My favorite character was Celia—a white woman who lived in the country. She hired Minny after Minny couldn’t keep a job. Celia was shunned by the young woman of Jackson. She needed Minny to teach her how to cook and care for her house. Celia was so scared by her thoughts of how her husband would respond to the hiring of Minny that she kept it a secret.

My heart went out to Celia. She didn’t fit in with a culture that primarily valued women for their ability to keep house and have babies. She wanted to bond with her friends—but they scorned her with an ugliness that can only be called sin

I didn’t need a scorecard to know the heroes and the villains of the movie. This wasn’t a nuanced description of segregation. There was no middle-ground.

I’m glad Hannah watched “The Help” with me. It gave us a chance to leave a world that values Facebook and brand clothes to talk about issues that really matter. There was something at stake in what happened in the movie. Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny didn’t change the world, but they shared stories that illustrated the ugliness of their age. Their courage transcends time.

50 years of marriage

2011-08-13T12:41:00.001-05:00

Last weekend my family had the privilege of celebrating my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. On August 5, 1961 my dad and mom were married at the Congregational Church in Mantorville, MN. On August 6, 2111, about 175 of us gathered in Geneva Hall of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Worthington, MN to acknowledge and celebrate their last 50 years together.

My sister, Pam, and I started planning the day last January when she and her kids spent a weekend in Blaine. Our hope was to have a party where my parents didn’t have to do much. By May it appeared obvious that this hope wouldn’t be accomplished. When the details seemed to be getting out of control my parents, sister and I gathered in June to make the final preparations. We divided tasks and then watched my mom go to work. Through this experience I re-learned that if my mom wants to organize a party it is going to be big.

Our family is blessed to have enjoyed a number of significant celebrations at our home church. We celebrated my ordination in 1993; we celebrated my sister’s ordination and then her wedding in 1997. This doesn’t include the countless celebrations of church life when we were growing up. The celebration last Saturday was just as much one of the blessings of a church as the blessings of a marriage.

I was overwhelmed by the large number of friends of my parents who attended. I came away from the celebration realizing again that my parents are gifted in developing friends. It was wonderful seeing their friends I hadn’t seen in a long time—people like the Barbers and Dykes and Hudsons and Todds. All were a part of our family’s life when we were growing up. The celebration last Sunday was about my parents wedding, and it was just as much about these friends who were an important part of our family.

The program was supposed to be twenty minutes—but when preachers plan something it always goes long. Pam’s husband, Scott, and my wife, Amy, did a marvelous job of being masters of ceremonies for the program. Though the program lasted 45 minutes, I doubt if anyone was bored---there were too many stories to share.

My sister and I are privileged to have parents who love and like each other so much. My mom and dad do everything together. They are best friends and enjoy being in each others’ presence. I don’t remember my parents ever having a fight in my presence until I was in college.

It’s truly special when a celebration encompasses church, family, friends, and marriage.

Beautiful night for a walk for Manna Market!

2011-08-04T13:37:00.000-05:00

I’m very proud of our Outreach Team for initiating the idea that turned into a walk for Manna Market which took place last night. We raised $2,540 for Manna Market. We had a beautiful night to walk and the setting was wonderful. One of the Kids Clubs from the area set up carnival games for kids to play. This walk was a partnership between Chain of Lakes Church, St. Joseph of the Lakes Catholic Church, and Church of the Nazarene. We’ll soon have pictures on our web site. If you’d like to see them right now, you can go to my Facebook page.

The idea for the walk originated at the April meeting of our Outreach team. I approached James Chapman about the idea. We sent a letter to many of the local churches. Steve Robach from St. Joseph of the Lakes Catholic Church wanted to help, so the three of us became the organizing committee. I had a blast working with Steve and James. We didn’t have a lot of time to put this walk together, so we were very pleased with the results. We’re already talking about what we learned from our experience and how we can expand it for next year. Without the presence of Chain of Lakes Church this walk for Manna Market would never have taken place.

Way to go Chain of Lakes!! We're starting to make an impact in the world!

Walk for Manna Market

2011-08-02T07:50:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, August 3 Chain of Lakes Church is partnering with St. Joseph by the Lake Catholic Church and Church of the Nazarene to sponsor a 5K walk for Manna Market. We’re gathering at St. Joseph church at 6:30 p.m. The address is 171 Elm Street in Lino Lakes.

The idea of the walk is simple. We’ve asked people to raise money for Manna Market. Peole who raise $200 or more will be entered into a drawing to win an iPad. Those who raise $50 or more will be entered into a drawing to win an iPod and other prizes.

The point of this blog is to encourage people to come walk tomorrow night. So would you consider coming and walk?

Manna Market is a ministry where low-income people in Anoka County can receive fresh food—vegetables, meat, and fruit. Many food shelves do not offer fresh food. Manna Market does.

I’ve had a blast working with James Chapman (Nazarene Church) and Steve Robach (St. Joseph Church). None of us have any illusions that this walk is going to change the world. But we do think that the partnership we’ve developed can be a model for future partnerships. None of us is working on this walk to help our own organization—we’re doing it to help people who need help.

We already have ideas about how we can expand the walk for next year. But for now—come join us tomorrow night at 6:30! You can help our community and maybe win an iPad!

Celebrating differences--in a different way

2011-07-30T09:30:00.002-05:00

This last Tuesday night I led the a book discussion on the controversial book called “Love Wins.” We had a large group for a July night in the summer—8 from Chain of Lakes and 5 from Presbyterian Church of the Way. This book has become controversial because the people who disagree with the book freaked out about what was written. Rob Bell asked the question of whether the traditional view of Hell exists—the one where people are tortured for eternity. Because of that some people on the conservative edge want to throw Rob Bell out of their community.

This willingness to throw people out of the community is not specific to conservatives—those on the liberal side do it too.

On Tuesday I shared three traditional views that the church has taught about Hell. Those views are the classic position that people are tortured in Hell forever; the view that people’s bodies and souls are annihilated at death; and the view of Universalism where everyone eventually experiences heaven.

I shared with the group that I would love to be in a church where all three views of Hell were expressed among people AND where the community saw these differences as a strength. My dream is Chain of Lakes will be a group of people who sees differences in theology as something very special—that eventually we have the courage to celebrate differences.

These differences won’t undermine our unity. Instead we see that following Jesus will lead us to different understandings of the Scriptures and our tradition.

If you are reading this and are part of a congregation, let me ask this question, “How deeply does your congregation celebrate different understandings of the gospels?” If people come to different conclusions on an issue, do you see that as a strength, or do you do the classic Minnesota thing and try to ignore these differences—eventually not talking about them.

The world needs a church where we tolerate different views and celebrate them. Look at our world right now. For the last month we’ve had stories every day how the Congress and President can’t sign a deal to extend the debt ceiling. The story everyday is the same. People can’t agree. It’s Groundhog day every day. Same story—different actors.

I don’t know what the people at Chain of Lakes thinks about the current debt crisis. I hope over time that Chain of Lakes Church would be a place where we expected some people to agree with Obama’s plan; and we expected some people to agree with the Senate plan; and we expected some people to agree with the House plan. We didn’t see different views as a sign of weakness, but as a sign of strength. If we heard a view that was different from our own we would not heap scorn on the person, but instead we would invite the person out to lunch to listen to their views.

I believe that the world is waiting for this type of church.

Love Wins Book Discussion

2011-07-23T12:29:00.000-05:00

Staring this Tuesday, July 26 we at Chain of Lakes Church are partnering with Presbyterian Church of the Way in sponsoring a book discussion on Rob Bell’s book “Love Wins” at Carbone’s Restaurant in Circle Pines. The discussion will take place on the next four Tuesday evenings—7/26, 8/2, 8/9 & 8/16. I’m leading the discussion for three of the four weeks. We’ll meet at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to have a meal beforehand. Carbone’s is an excellent Italian restaurant and is located at 9200 Lexington Ave in Circle Pines.

Bell’s book is the most controversial religious book of the year. By questioning whether Hell exists, he received the wrath from many on the conservative edge of church. The polemic against him was strong and unrelenting.

During this book discussion we are going to try to put this controversy into perspective. People have debated the doctrine of Hell for thousands of year. These arguments aren’t new—but the current passion that people have about them have raised the stakes for what a person is to believe. When we gather we’re going to share light and not heat. We’ll look at what the Bible says about Hell. We’ll look at different views of Hell that the church has held. We’ll encourage people to develop their own perspective on Hell. We’ll do all this while discussing “Love Wins.”

I’m excited about this gathering and encourage people to attend. People don’t need to have read the book before attending the first gathering this Tuesday night. Registration is helpful, but not required. If you know that you are coming, E—mail me at pastor@colpres.org

Presbyterian partnership

2011-07-14T15:27:00.001-05:00

Last night was the first Wednesday night worship service among six north Metro Presbyterian Churches. We gathered at Presbyterian Church of the Way (PCOTW) to worship. We at Chain of Lakes helped co-host the service with PCOTW. Originally we were hoping to have the worship service at the Lino Lakes Senior Center, but it wasn’t available last night.

This worship service is a result of a Presbyterian partnership group that has met for at least a year. Representatives of Chain of Lakes, PCOTW, Arlington Hills, North Como and the Presbyterian Churches in White Bear Lake and North St. Paul have gathered to see if we can partner in effective ways. I haven’t attended the meetings, but have read the minutes. The group is discussing how effective partnership can take place in music sharing, maintenance, technology, administration, procurement, advertising, and social media.

Last night we worshipped together. We picked beauty for the theme of worship. All the songs had the theme of beauty. Kellie Burriss did a terrific job of sharing a solo after the sermon. I shared some reflections in the sermon (which I called a faith story) about the beauty I experienced recently when my family traveled to the Rocky Mountains. The Spirit was wonderfully present during worship. I talked to one worship leader afterwards who shared that it was very nice to attend a service and just worship instead of being a leader.

I don’t know where the Presbyterian partnership will lead, but last night was a very successful start to our common worship. Approximately 70 people attended and people from five of the six churches were there. The service can be viewed at: http://blip.tv/chain-of-lakes-church/presbyterian-partners-beauty-5374311

The next service will be Wednesday, July 27th at North Como Presbyterian at 7:00 p.m. The final Wednesday service will be on Wednesday, August 10th at North Presbyterian Church at 7:00 p.m.

Road Trip

2011-07-07T16:19:00.003-05:00

I have always enjoyed road trips. My parents were both teachers, so when I was a boy our family would frequently go on long road trips in the summer. I remember traveling via car to the West Coast for at two weeks; the summer after my fifth grade year we camped our way to the East Coast and then came back through Canada; on Christmas vacation during college my family drove 40 hours straight from Big Pine Key, Florida to Minnesota. In 1996 a high school friend asked me if I would drive a car from Salem, Oregon to Minneapolis. I flew out to spend a few days with him and then reveled in the three day trip.

My wife, Amy does not match my enthusiasm for road trips. Until this past week our family has never gone on an extended road trip via the car. However when some friends asked me last winter to officiate a wedding in the mountains outside Estes Park, Colorado I couldn’t help but lobby for a road trip. So last Wednesday Amy, Hannah and I loaded in the car for a two-day trip in the car. By road trip standards it wasn’t long—a little over 1,000 miles. But for the three of us this was something new. I had half jokingly asked the congregation at Chain of Lakes to pray for the three of us the Sunday before we left.

We had some normal hiccups on the trip. The first night we were planning on staying with some family in Omaha, Nebraska. I had been warned that the high water there has caused some road closures, but I assumed that detour information would be shared. My naiveté cost us an extra hour of driving. We thought we were caravanning to the wedding in the YMCA camp. We missed the caravan, received incorrect directions and then I drove way too long in the wrong direction. I thought the camp would be just around the corner. Twenty miles later Amy shattered this fantasy. We were a hour late to the wedding; and my guilt was terrible. Fortunately everyone was in good spirits and the wedding went off wonderfully. Now we have a story to share.

The beauty of the road trip is we see things that we could never imagine. The above picture shares one of the few entertainment options that rests above the Interstate in Kearney, Nebraska. Also on a road trip at a certain point we all have to be in charge of keeping ourselves entertained. Eventually we had no choice but to play a game, engage in conversation, or choose to enjoy the scenery.

There is something uniquely American about taking a road trip over the 4th of July weekend. Doing it with my lovable red heads was priceless.

Break

2011-06-29T11:33:00.002-05:00

I'll be on vacation for a while, so will be taking a break from blogging. I anticipate getting back to sharing a blog once or twice a week on the week of July 10th.

Celebrating Reunion at Carleton College

2011-06-21T13:45:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of celebrating my 25th college reunion at Carleton College. Carleton has always done a terrific job of organizing reunion weekends. They bring back one class every five years to a reunion, so the class of 1986 was joined by the classes of 2006, 2001, 1991, 1981, 1976, 1971, etc. I think that people from the class of 1936 were present.

My reunion experience began when I received a call from a football teammate. I was buying an anniversary card when he called “out of the blue.” I almost didn’t pick up the call as I didn’t recognize the area code. Paul Wetherbee was calling. He wasn’t sure if I remembered him. Remember Paul? He, Paul Liimatta and I anchored the left side of Carleton’s defense for two years. The three of us listed weights and played hand ball together. I’ll never forget #89.

Because of a way-too-busy weekend I was only able to participate on Saturday, one of the three days. Unfortunately the alumni parade was thrown into disarray from a sudden thunderstorm. Most of us abandoned the parade and ran into the Chapel for a ceremony. The class of 1986 sat directly behind the speakers (See above picture). At the ceremony the 25th and 50th anniversary classes presented special financial gifts. The class of 1986 gave $414,000 and the class of 1961 gave 7.1 million. I was astounded at both figures.

I had the opportunity to hear new President Steven G. Poskanzer speak for the first time. I was impressed by his commitment to a Liberal Arts education and the story he shared about his daughter trying to decide on whether to attend Carleton. After her dad was selected as President, she took a trip to Carleton. She queried many of the students about how it would be for her to attend a college where her dad is President. One of the students told her, “no one really cares who the President is!” She is going to be a freshman at Carleton this fall.

One special highlight was attending the C-Club luncheon. At the luncheon five people were inducted into the Carleton athletic Hall of Fame. It was very moving to learn about these five athletes’ stories and to listen to the passion of the people who introduced each inductee.

I had the privilege of connecting with Coach Bob Sullivan—my football coach when I attended Carleton. He took me over to his house and gave me a plaque from my playing days. Just seeing Coach Sullivan was worth in itself the drive to Northfield. He is one of the most optimistic, positive, and hopeful people I’ve ever met. It’s a privilege for me just to spend time with him in a car.

Twenty-five years goes by too fast. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was receiving my diploma on June 6, 1986. I’ll always be grateful that I attended Carleton College. Spending time with some of my classmates this past weekend was a gift that I regret only happens once every five years.

11 years ago today

2011-06-16T17:16:00.001-05:00

Eleven years ago today I had the privilege of giving my life to Amy Moore during our wedding celebration at First Presbyterian Church in Rochester, Minnesota. Last night Amy and I celebrated our anniversary and reminisced about that day.

In our minds we’ve been together for 13 years. I met Amy on the Monday after Father’s Day in June 1998. I fell in love with her immediately—it took her a little longer to be smitten. We were engaged on the Monday after Father’s Day in June 1999, and then were married on the Friday before Father’s Day in June 2000.

This weekend brings back plenty of memories.

Last Thursday night I went to the Twins game with our daughter, Hannah. While there she asked me if her birth was the most important event that has ever happened to me. I told her she was a close second to my meeting and marrying Amy. Without our relationship she would have never come into the world.

On this special day I want to lift up the Scripture from Ruth from which our wedding vows were based.

“Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
Where you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God my God.
Where you die, I will die—
There will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
And more as well,
If even death parts me from you.” Ruth 1:16-18

My love and fidelity to Amy has never been stronger.

Delivering Welcome Bags

2011-06-15T16:16:00.001-05:00

Last night I delivered welcome bags to people who have recently moved into new residences in Blaine & Lino Lakes. This is a new ministry that we developed in 2011 at Chain of Lakes as part of our outreach focus.

The concept is easy to understand. We are like the old Welcome Wagon. We asked local businesses for coupons that we can give to new people. We add information from Chain of Lakes. We put all the information into a blue canvass bag that has the Chain of Lakes logo printed on it.

The purpose of the ministry is two-fold. One is to welcome people who have recently moved into our geographical area. Over time we might put in information from the local cities and school districts. We had a brief conversation with a rep from the local YMCA about putting one of their program guides into the bag. Sharing this information is one way that our congregation can live into our Core Value of Hospitality. We understand this to mean that “we will go out of our way to welcome people as Jesus welcomed them, with an open heart and open arms.”

The second purpose is to share information about Chain of Lakes Church. When people move into a new area they ultimately will make a decision about attending a church. During that decision-making time, we have an opportunity to share information about our congregation. Hopefully someone will come to worship after receiving a welcome bag.

We’ve gotten the names of new residences from the city of Lino Lakes and the Star Tribune Sunday real estate section. One man from Chain of Lakes takes this information and makes a map of where the residence is located. Two lovely women then stuff the bags and put them out for people from Chain of Lakes to distribute.

I decided that I want to distribute five welcome bags each week this summer. I see this as a way to share the importance of this ministry to the rest of our congregation.

Last night was the third time I’ve gone out. The first week no one was home; last week I distributed five bags to people who were home.

It was raining last night, so I felt a bit sheepish about delivering bags. I wrote about my hesitancy on my Facebook page. A long-time friend encouraged me to get out there. So I did. I first delivered two coffee mugs to guests who visited for the first-time this past Sunday. I wrote about our coffee mug ministry in a blog on February 4, 2010.

After delivering the bags I distributed welcome bags. I went to four homes—two people were home. I distributed two bags. I decided not to drop off the bags unless the people are home.

When the person comes to the door, I share that I am with the welcome wagon. I say that I discovered that the person is new to the area and want to welcome them. I give them the bag and say that we want to share coupons from area businesses. I tell them that I’m with Chain of Lakes Church—a new Presbyterian church. The person will usually say thank you or something else. At some point I’ll ask the person when they moved. If the person seems interested in having a conversation I might ask him or her if they have connected to a church. I’ll encourage the person to come to worship at Chain of Lakes and then leave. Most of the conversations take less than three minutes. I have yet to have a negative experience in talking to a person

I make a record of every conversation and share it with the people who are coordinating the ministry. Our goal is to distribute fifty welcome bags each month.

I have no idea if we will receive new guests in worship from this ministry. But I think this ministry is worth a try. Please pray for this new welcome bag ministry at Chain of Lakes. Pray that we can share hospitality with people and that people might “dip their toe in the water” at a worship service at Chain of Lakes Church.

A big thanks on the last day of school

2011-06-09T08:57:00.000-05:00

Today is our daughter, Hannah’s, last day of 4th grade. A big thanks to Julie Engelmann and Scott Zachmann for teaching her this year.

I grew up in a household that valued education. My dad taught English at the local community college, and my mom taught kids with learning disabilities in the local elementary school. It was assumed that my sister and I would take our education seriously, do well in school, and go to college.

The climate for education doesn’t seem to be that different than it was a year ago when I wrote a tribute to everyone involve d in education. Budgets are flat; classroom sizes are large; test scores seem to overshadow everything. Everyone has an opinion about education—often negative. Our state politicians haven’t even passed a funding budget this year. I haven’t heard of any momentum to pay back the accounting shift that “borrowed” money in the last budget cycle. Our politicians are “borrowing” money from education to balance their budgets.

I think the last day of school should be a day to make a tribute to everyone involved in education. Just as our country gave a tribute on Memorial Day to our veterans who died, I think our country owes a tribute to everyone who has dedicated their lives to educating children and youth. I don’t think it would be out of line for our communities to gather at our local school with a honor guard and give a rousing ovation for everyone involved in education.

Thank you, teachers, bus drivers, custodians, coaches, para-professionals, administrators, librarians, crossing guards, and everyone else involved in education. Your commitment deserves our thanks. Thank you!

Ascension--shifting our gaze

2011-06-02T17:26:00.004-05:00

Today is the celebration of the Christian holiday of Ascension. On Ascension the church remembers that 40 days after the resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven. The story can be found in Acts 1:1-11.

An excellent link that shares how Presbyterians view the ascension can be found at: http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/theologyandworship/ascension-day/

One of my favorite parts of the story is what happens after Jesus was ascended into heaven. Two men in white robes—most likely angels--(messengers of God) came to the disciples as they were looking up to heaven. “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11

I have many take aways from this verse. One is the importance of not getting overly focused on heaven. I believe in heaven, salvation and want to encourage everyone to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. However getting to heaven and gazing upon heaven is not the only part of the Christian faith. In addition to gazing at heaven, we are called to gaze at the earth and the conditions of people here on earth.

We have much work to do to develop and create the kingdom of God here on earth. Our own country has a high rate of unemployment, politicians having a hard time compromising, a growing rate of poverty. We have plenty to gaze upon here. I hope the church can take a role in gazing upon the earth.

If our celebration of ascension can broaden our gaze to the conditions here on earth, then the holiday will have special meaning.

Memorial Day weekend

2011-05-31T16:58:00.004-05:00

This past weekend Amy, Hannah and I celebrated the high school graduation of Joey Henning, our nephew. Many of Amy’s family came to celebrate with Joey. He graduated from Ellsworth High School in Wisconsin and is going to attend St. Thomas University this fall.

Friday night was the actual graduation. I was very impressed that the planners of the ceremony were able to fit in two student speeches, an award to a teacher, music, and the distribution of diplomas in less than a hour. I wrote on my Facebook page that attending a small town, graduation is extra special. In a small town almost everyone knows almost everyone. The students who graduated were not just numbers or names to the adults present. Many present knew the stories of each of the students.

My wife, Amy, was thrilled that her high school English teacher received the teacher of the year award at the graduation ceremony. Her teacher is retiring this year after 40 years of teaching. She was influential in Amy deciding to go to college.

It’s been a blast getting to know Joey over the past twelve years. The first time I met him was the summer of 1998. I was dating Amy. She took me to Ellsworth to meet her parents and sister’s family. Joey was only six at the time. He was swimming at Amy’s parents’ pool when I first met him. That night he teased Amy & I about dating each other—in a way that was endearing coming from a six year old. I knew at that moment that I liked that kid.

Now Joey is well over six foot tall and has muscles that make me wonder if I should give him a guy slug. He’s become an accomplished golfer. Today he’s representing his school at a sectional golf tournament. If he makes it in the top ten he will go to state. I’ve already asked him if he’ll give me golf lessons this summer.

Yesterday I was able to participate in the yearly ritual of Amy’s family putting flowers on the graves of Amy’s relatives. We drove to the cemeteries in Eau Galle, Durand, rural Tell, and Mondovi. We ended the day by visiting Amy’s aunt Ginny, who recently suffered a fall. Ginny’s attitude amidst adversity is an example to all of us.

Last weekend was the first time I’ve been away from Chain of Lakes Church on a Sunday since the first Sunday of the year. It was wonderful celebrating the weekend with family.

Check out some of the pictures I took at: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1804020379442&set=a.1804017139361.2099886.1207857227&type=1&theater

Attending Festival of Homiletics

2011-05-25T12:52:00.001-05:00

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Festival of Homiletics in downtown Minneapolis. This is a national preaching conference that takes place in difference cities every May. This is the third time I’ve attended the conference. Over 3,000 people from all fifty states and many countries attended the conference.

Some people wonder how preachers put together sermons every week. One way is we go to conferences like the Festival of Homiletics. The purpose of Festival of Homiletics is to have preachers preach and lecture. Over thirty sermons and lectures were presented by an array of nationally known preachers and teachers. For some listening to so many sermons and lectures about sermons would be boring. I told my daughter, Hannah, that I heard 12 sermons and lectures last week; she told me she would have no interest in that. However for pastors the Festival of Homiletics is like entering a candy shop.

The best presentation I heard was shared by Krista Tippet, creator and host of the radio program, “On Being.” This program started as "Speaking of Faith.”

Tippet sees her radio program as an opportunity to offer voices of wisdom; it’s an opportunity to listen and ask questions of a noted thinker. She said that listening is needed in our world—and Christians aren’t known for listening.

She encouraged us to take our words seriously. She said that people are starved for fresh language to approach each other. She encouraged us to use words that undergird truth, imagination and spirit, words that shimmer, enliven for the common good

She also encouraged us to rediscover the art of asking questions. She shared that the media often asks the wrong questions and because of that the responses really don’t lead anywhere. Often the media puts two answers against each other; the answers are on the extremes.

She quoted the work of Frances Kisling to encourage us to spend time developing human relationships with people of different views. Kisling was President of Catholics for Free Choice and engaged in many conversations with people who had a different view of abortion than her. Kisling said that when talking to people of different views that we should ask ourselves, “What can I see that is good in the position of others?” and “What troubles me in my own position?”

Hearing Krista Tippet speak inspired me to spend more time listening to her weekly show.

I loved listening to sermons last week at the Festival of Homiletics. I wish that the Festival of Homiletics would set up small groups who could interact with the speakers. I would have enjoyed asking questions about preaching of every person whom I heard. For me only listening to sermons and lectures is not enough. I missed the opportunity for interaction.

The end of the world?

2011-05-23T15:11:00.011-05:00

So let me get this straight. An 89-year old man predicts that people will be raptured into heaven on May 21st at 6:00 p.m. and then three months later the world will end. The media gives him all sorts of attention even though people have failed to predict the end of the world since Jesus was on earth, and the man had failed once before in 1994 to predicting the end of the world.

Why does the media give this man and his teachings any attention? Like the Terry Jones event, the media fell into the trap that Harold Camping set. I wrote about the Terry Jones event at: http://chainlink-chainoflakesncd.blogspot.com/2010/09/terry-jones-and-burning-of-koran.html

Camping was wrong about predicting the end of the world, but he sure raised a lot of money for his radio station.

Yesterday thousands of preachers across the country went into a pulpit and shared a sermon. At Chain of Lakes Church Rev. Barbara Anne Keely shared a sermon about the Road to Emmaus. The site of the sermon is here: http://blip.tv/chain-of-lakes-church/on-the-road-5194050

I wouldn’t have expected the media to cover her sermon, but what she said had more legitimacy than what Harold Camping predicted.

In no other occupation besides religion does the media pay so much attention to off-the-wall ideas and crack-pot theories.

I had a few laughs with my family over the weekend about the impending rapture as I’m sure many others did. But the coverage of this story is not funny. Because of this story atheists have even more reason to question the legitimacy of Christianity. People who are on the fringes of the church will view the church less seriously.

People like Harold Camping will have much less impact if the media stops giving them so much coverage.

Forum on Immigration

2011-05-16T15:02:00.002-05:00

The following is an Press Release our congregation recently issued about a forum we're sponsoring this Wednesday, May 11 called, "Myths of Immigration"

In an attempt to address important community issues, Chain of Lakes Church is sponsoring a presentation called “The Myths of Immigration” Wednesday, May 18, at 7 p.m. at the Lino Lakes Senior Center, 1189 Main St. in Lino Lakes.

The presentation will be led by Katherine Fennelly, Professor at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

“With the controversy that took place last summer in our community of Lino Lakes with regards to the English only issue, we thought it was important to share a research-oriented perspective on Immigration,” said the Rev. Paul H. Moore, organizing pastor of Chain of Lakes Church.

The presentation is free and open to the public. There will be a question-and-answer session following the presentation.

Fennelly has written extensively about immigration issues and teaches several classes on the topic. Her research interests include public policy related to the integration of immigrants and refugees in the United States, and the preparedness of communities and public institutions to adapt to demographic change.

“Obviously Immigration is a controversial issue. We hope that no matter what opinion a person has about this issue, we can share a presentation where people can find common ground. At Chain of Lakes Church we want to do everything we can to address important community issues and to do so in a way that brings people together,” Moore said.

Last fall the congregation hosted a talk by Kashif Saroya, a leader of the Islamic Resource Group of the Twin Cities.

Chain of Lakes is a new church sponsored by the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The congregation celebrated its grand opening worship service in January 2010. Worship services are every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at the Lino Lakes Senior Center.

Additional information is available by contacting the church at (763) 208-8049 or by visiting the church on the Web at www.colpres.org.

A significant night at the Presbytery

2011-05-11T09:27:00.004-05:00

Last night I drove to Peace Presbyterian Church in St. Louis Park for the May meeting of the Twin Cities Area Presbytery. I arrived early as the Property Task Force had some important business through which to work. The Property Task Force is planning to have the Presbytery vote on a piece of property for Chain of Lakes Church at the July meeting. After that I sat in the sanctuary and listened to the presentation by Cindy Bolbach, Moderator of the General Assembly.

After her presentation I handed out newsletters for Chain of Lakes Church. While doing that I had the joy of meeting members of the Pastor Nominating Committee of Community Presbyterian Church in Plainview and Rev. John H.G. Curtiss, the pastor whose call to serve the church in Plainview was approved last night. I rejoiced with them over their excitement that John will be their new pastor. I have prayed almost daily since I left the congregation that God will call the right pastor to serve that church. It appears that these prayers have been wonderfully answered.

But clearly the event of the night was the Presbytery’s vote on Amendment 10-A. (More information about 10-A can be found under the Bills & Overtures link at: http://presbyterytwincities.org/resources-2/presbytery-meetings/presbytery-packet/

Put most simply the passage of 10-A means that a person’s sexual orientation will not exclude that person from ordination or installation as a pastor or elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Many events came together to make last night’s meeting monumental. The resulting yes vote on 10-A was the 87th affirmative vote by the Presbyteries which was the final vote needed for passage. (No one could have predicted in advance that Twin Cities Presbytery would issue the final vote.) The Moderator’s appearance heightened the significance of the night. Close to three hundred people packed into the sanctuary of Peace Church, a number that the building couldn’t adequately handle. Local television stations had cameras at the meeting. I know from following the Twitter feed that people all over the country were following the vote. The Star Tribune and Pioneer Press had front page coverage of the meeting in today’s editions.
Strib article is here: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/121605074.html

Pioneer Press article is here: http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_18036950?source=rss&nclick_check=1

The New York Times wrote an article about the vote at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/us/11presbyterian.html

Believe me—most meetings of the Twin Cities Area Presbytery don’t gather this much attention.

The debate over the ordination of gays and lesbians in the PC(USA) has gone on for too long. It has divided our precious denomination into camps and sometimes feels like war. Churches and individuals on both sides of the issue have left the PC(USA). I have always been in favor of the ordination of gays and lesbians, but also want to work together with people who have a different view on the issue. I’m respectful of the pain that this issue has caused people on both sides.

My dream is to build a congregation where people can find power and strength in what unifies their understanding of the gospel. I want to build a church that interweaves the strengths of the conservative and liberal traditions. I anticipate and hope that people at Chain of Lakes Church will have different views on the ordination of gays and lesbians. Despite our different views we will live into our Core Value of healthy disagreement and ultimately find ways to share the complete gospel and thus impact the community.

But the meeting last night was to take a vote. The liberal side was well organized and made a compelling case for passage of 10-A. I especially appreciated David Colby’s argument that the current language of the Book of Order puts the person and teachings of Jesus as subordinate to the confessions. Andy Lindahl started off the conservative side with a heartfelt case about God’s design for sexuality. Unfortunately the speakers after him veered away from respect and shared their opinions out of anger. I think a compelling case can be made against the ordination of gays and lesbians, but that case wasn’t made last night.

After the presentations it was time to vote. We voted in secret ballot. The final tally was 205 yes, 56 no, and three abstentions.

I know that on this day the reaction to this vote by the world-wide Presbyterian community will be swift and even voluminous. After I finish this blog I’m choosing to continue the work that God has called me to build a strong Presbyterian congregation in the north Metro. After the celebrations and denunciations about what happened last night are over, I ask all Presbyterians to re-commit themselves to starting and developing strong Presbyterian congregations. Without strong congregations it really doesn’t matter who is eligible to be ordained. I’m happy about the vote last night, but my ultimate joy will be determined by the witness that Presbyterians make to Jesus Christ in our local churches.

Welcome Sherri Varsho, new child care worker at Chain of Lakes Church

2011-05-05T16:25:00.003-05:00

I am very pleased to announce that Chain of Lakes recently hired Sherri Varsho as our new Child Care worker. Sherri will be present in our Child Care space every Sunday during worship, Sundy School and other events. She is a homemaker, has a five-year old son, and loves to be with kids. The Education team interviewed three candidates for the position and unanimously recommended that Sherri be hired. Hiring her is another reflection of our Core Value at Chain of Lakes to invest in future generations. We are passionate about creating an atmosphere where children, youth, and young adults grow in their faith.

If you have children and are interested in attending worship at Chain of Lakes, please know that your children will receive wonderful care. No matter if your child is an infant or four years old, we will provide excellent care!!

The Morality of Killing bin Laden

2011-05-03T11:42:00.006-05:00

As I was reading the opinion section of the Strib this past Sunday night, my wife, Amy, called out that the media was reporting that Osama bin Laden had been killed. I don’t function well after ten at night, but I stayed up to watch President Obama’s speech. Ever since I’ve tried to keep abreast of this extraordinary event.

Since Sunday night I’ve been thinking about the morality of this action. I was blessed to sort through some of my thoughts yesterday with a group of Presbyterian pastors at a pre-arranged gathering.

With all the humility I can muster I’ve come to these conclusions: 1) as a citizen of the United States I believe the killing was just; 2) as a follower of Jesus Christ I’m torn, but ultimately do believe that the killing of bin Laden was just; 3) as a one human being living on the earth I believe the earth is safer today than it was 48 hours ago; 4) this could be a kairos moment where everyone—particularly those of us in the church—can re-commit ourselves to creating and living out the Kingdom of God--especially the values of peace--here on earth; 5) I mourn that our world is in a place where killing an enemy of the United States is necessary; 6) violence does beget violence, and I pray and will continue to pray that no one else will die.

I wasn’t surprised that bin Laden was eventually found and killed. I didn’t wake up on Sunday morning thinking that bin Laden would be killed on May 1, 2011. But ultimately I believed that the United States would find and punish him for masterminding the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001.

I’m amazed at the operation that the Navy Seal team executed. Though our ends are obviously different, I wish that teams in the church could operate at that level.

As a follower of Jesus Christ I’m torn about whether the killing of bin Laden is just. I have committed my life to living out the commands of love and peace that Jesus taught his followers. I am passionate about creating and living out the Kingdom of God and its values—especially of peace—here on earth, and I believe that the church is the best institution in the world to cultivate the Kingdom.

However I am not a pacifist. I have reluctantly come to believe in the principles of the Just War Doctrine. I believe the war that the United States declared on Al-Qaida was just. If that war is just, then a logical conclusion to the declaration of war on Al-Qaida is the killing of bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaida.

A strong case can be made that over the long-run the capture of bin Laden and a proper trial (like a Nuremburg trial) possibly could have been better for the world. But telling the Navy Seal Team to capture and not kill bin Laden would have put members of that team at risk, and no certainty exists that a trial like a Nuremburg trial could be properly and peacefully pulled off.

I am mortified that anyone would proclaim that bin Laden has gone to Hell. We humans have no authority to make that judgment. Proclaiming that bin Laden is in Hell is an affront to God. Only God is capable of that decision and none of us—obviously!—is God. Sharing our misguided opinions that someone is in Hell can create terrible damage. I am not a Universalist, but I trust God in making all decisions about a person’s eternal fate. Ironically I shared these thoughts in a sermon on heaven this past Sunday. Watch it at: http://www.blip.tv/file/5091714

Furthermore I believe that violence begets violence. Already the expectation exists that Al-Qaida will attempt attacks to retaliate for bin Laden’s killing. Violence should only be used carefully in limited means. The sooner that the United States leaves Afghanistan and Iraq and Libya the closer we all will be to a time of peace. I can find no relationship between NATO’s attempt to kill Muammar Gaddafi last weekend and the United States killing of bin Laden.

We live in an imperfect world. It is sobering that bin Laden was killed last Sunday. No "U-S-A" chants will be coming from my mouth. My hope is that this event will cause all citizens of the earth earth and especially people in the church to re-commit to creating, developing, and sustaining institutions and practices of peace.

Twins versus Rays--brutal

2011-04-28T08:52:00.004-05:00

Last night I had the privilege of using the first of my Twins’ seasons tickets. For the second year in a row a group of guys in my neighborhood are splitting a 20 game package. Our seats are in lower level—section 130 in left field. The seats are much better with the addition of the new scoreboard and Twins tower.

I shared on my Facebook page that it was a bad omen when snow greeted me as I left the office to drive to the game. Gary Wassam was willing to venture out into the snow to attend the game with me. We shared in our yearly ritual of eating at Wendy’s before watching the Twins.

We made it to Target Field without a hitch, found our seats, remarked at how late arriving the crowd was, and settled in with hopes that the Twins could extend their three game winning streak. We weren’t impressed that Hughes, Butera, and Tolbert made up the bottom of the Twins’ order. We thought that the Twins would be fortunate to score five runs.

The Twins needed a shut-down start by Francisco Liriano.

Our hopes were quickly dashed. The game started at 7:10. At 7:16 Ben Zobrist hit a triple making the score 3-0. Sean Rodriguez immediate singled Zobrist home and in six minutes the Rays had scored four runs. Could that be a record?

The Twins had some opportunities in the first and third innings to give us hope—but Justin Morneau didn’t deliver in either inning. When the Rays scored three runs in the fourth the outcome was sealed and the game became about the weather.

It snowed—at a baseball game—on April 27th. I made a comment on Facebook about snow at the ballpark and received a Semi-Pelagian (figure it out) response that we Minnesotans wanted outdoor baseball, and this is what happens in outdoor baseball. I agree, but it doesn’t make the experience any less brutal.

I have now attended Target Field the first time it rained during a game—Twins versus Boston last April—and the first time it snowed.

Wass and I were amused by the appearance of Santa Claus, a gorilla, and winter wonderland music played by the organist. We also had three guys in our section who were individually dressed in a completely green, orange, and blue outfit. As I was driving to the game, the two announcers on Dan Barreiro’s radio show said the heaters at the ballpark were not working. Thankfully this information was incorrect. For the last three innings we stood under the radiant heat.

We left at the bottom of the seventh thinking. We didn’t miss much. I love the Twins and outdoor baseball, but last night was brutal.

Dinner with Jesus

2011-04-21T07:16:00.009-05:00

The day that the church calls Maundy Thursday is unfortunately overlooked and underappreciated in the church. When Jesus was reclining at a table and celebrating a Passover meal with his disciples, he changed the way all of us practice our faith. By taking a loaf of bread, blessing it, breaking it, giving it to his disciples and then saying, “Take, eat; this is my body,” Jesus (among many things) illustrated his sacrifice on the cross; by taking a cup, giving thanks for it, and then saying, “drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin” Jesus (among many things) illustrated that forgiveness would from then on come through him. When I stand behind a Communion Table and share these words with people, I often am amazed at the revolutionary nature of Jesus’ words and actions.

Not all churches celebrate Maundy Thursday, but we do at Chain of Lakes Church. Tonight we will gather at 7:00 p.m. at the Lino Lakes Senior Center to celebrate what we’re calling “Dinner with Jesus.” We won’t be eating physical food, but instead we’ll be remembering what it was like for the disciples to share that Passover meal with Jesus. We will be sitting in concentric circles around the Communion Table. We’ll sing, pray, share our burdens with each other, celebrate Communion, and leave in silence. I encourage people in the north Metro to come. Directions to the Senior Center can be found at colpres.org. Child care will be available.

During worship we will take an offering for the scholarship fund of Bentley Ducharme. Bentley is the son of Trevor Robinson--Trevor died in a drug overdose recently in Blaine. Taking this offering is one way that we at Chain of Lakes can response to the brokenness in the world. We, at Chain of Lakes, have no connection to the Robinson family. However, we still want to help. I talked this week to Bentley's aunt. She was touched that a community who doesn't know her family would reach out with such kindness. I see this offering as one way that Chain of Lakes Church can live out our Core Value of "Outward Focus."

The word “Maundy” is the Latin word. It means commandment. The commandment that we remember today is the new one that Jesus issued. He commanded all of us to love one another just as he loved us. I’m wondering if all of us can take steps today towards living out this commandment

Today—Thursday, April 21, is not an ordinary day. The world is pausing to remember and celebrate the revolution that Jesus started in the Upper Room. I’m praying that churches will be packed tonight.

The richness of relationships

2011-04-19T17:35:00.000-05:00

Palm Sunday is one of my favorite days of the church year. I am inspired to think that Jesus would actually enter Jerusalem on a colt—a demonstration of peace. As I said in the sermon I delivered on Sunday, Jesus could have bombarded the sky with such an intense display of lightning and thunder that the entire town of Jerusalem bowed at his feet. Instead Jesus entered Jerusalem by giving up power in order to display a different kind of power.

At Chain of Lakes Church we started our tradition of the Palm Sunday processional. We gathered in our fellowship hall and marched outside behind a banner that the kids of Chain of Lakes made. The children led the march. At certain parts of the march we waved palms and shouted, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna.” The march was inspiring—partially because our attendance was so high and the line extended a long ways.

In the sermon I responded to all the questions people had submitted about Holy Week. Our video team had gone out to a shopping center in Blaine a week ago and took footage of asking people their questions about Holy Week. The sermon and video can be seen at: http://www.blip.tv/file/5033482.

When I came home from worship, my family quickly changed clothes and drove to Rochester to celebrate the retirement of Father Joe Keefe. Father Joe is the priest at Pax Christi Catholic Church in Rochester. He recently was diagnosed with A.L.S. and will be going on disability next month. My wife, Amy, was the administrator of Pax Christi for many of the eight years that Father Joe served at Pax Christi. She couldn’t miss this event.

We had a marvelous time at the event seeing and re-connecting with people we haven’t seen for a while. We were touched by the messages that many of the speakers shared about Father Joe. I even saw a family who participated at the Presbyterian Church in Plainview.

After talking to people for ninety minutes we got in line to shake hands with Father Joe. It was a poignant moment. I had listened to this man preach and share the Eucharist for almost ten years. He has a remarkable outlook on his illness and on his remaining time here on earth.

Relationships in the church have an immense richness. They are beginning, changing, and ending. As I was saying good bye and congratulating Father Joe, I was inviting another family to visit us in Blaine. Departure and deepening—all taking place in a fellowship hall at one faith community.

I love life in the church. I am the pastor of one church and participate in another church. I value the different types of relationships in both—and treasure the people that God has brought into my life. I can’t imagine living without a faith community.

All of this happened because a man got on a colt and rode it into Jerusalem.

If you haven’t been connected to a faith community, Easter Sunday is an excellent day to “dip your toe in again.” I’m biased about Chain of Lakes Church and encourage people to check us out this Easter Sunday. We’ll start worship at 10:30 a.m. with a breakfast beginning at 9:30. We have a wonderful Easter service planned. More details can be found at colpres.org. But many other wonderful churches exist. We are all waiting to welcome people back with open arms. Perhaps Easter Sunday is a day that many people can discover the richness of relationships with people in a faith community.

Special Palm Sunday worship at Chain of Lakes Church!

2011-04-13T15:39:00.003-05:00

I want to invite everyone in the north Metro to a special service of worship this Sunday, April 17th at Chain of Lakes Church. It’s “Be My Guest” Sunday, and we have a number of wonderful ministries planned. We’re gathering at 9:30 for a special breakfast. At 10:30 a.m. we will start worship in the Fellowship Hall which is adjacent to our sanctuary. We will process into worship behind a banner that the children of Chain of Lakes made. In the procession we’ll remember what it was like for Jesus to enter Jerusalem. Weather permitting we’ll walk outside and then into the sanctuary. During the sermon I will share a sermon called, “Questions about Holy Week.” For the past three weeks I have been asking people to share any question that they have about Holy Week. During the sermon I will answer all of the questions. I have received almost 30 questions. Questions as diverse as “Did Jesus really die?” to “What happened to Jesus from the time he died until he was raised?” The video team at Chain of Lakes took footage of people sharing their questions about Holy Week. We will share this footage in worship. My daughter, Hannah Moore, will be sharing a solo. We are taking a special offering for One Great Hour of Sharing.

Everyone from Chain of Lakes is encouraged to bring a guest. If you are curious about this new church that is forming in the north Metro, come check us out on Sunday.

We worship at the Lino Lakes Senior Center, 1189 Main Street in Lino Lakes which is a half mile east of the intersection of Main (#242) and Lake Drive. Come join us!

Terry Jones and the killings in Afghanistan

2011-04-06T17:37:00.002-05:00

Two weeks ago Terry Jones held a six hour ceremony at the World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida. The ceremony was held to determine if the Quran, the Muslim Holy Book, should be burned. Unfortunately Jones and his clan ended up burning the Quran.

Last fall, on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Jones threatened to do the same thing. Under pressure from political leaders in the United States—including a plea from David Petraeus, the commander of United States forces in Afghanistan, Jones decided not to follow through on his threat.

On September 8 I wrote a blog about Jones threatened action. I describe him as an angry man with a small flock. I’m heartened that the media paid less attention to Jones’ action this time than last September.

An important question for me is do I think that Jones represents mainstream Christianity? No. In no place in the gospels do I read Jesus encouraging or even hinting people to burn books. I’m preaching a sermon series right now on the Sermon on the Mount. In that sermon, Jesus asked that we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. I believe a more appropriate response for Jones would be to pray for Muslims.

In response to Jones’ action 24 people have been killed in Afghanistan, including seven United Nations workers. The country of Afghanistan suffered days of violent protests. Jones claims that he has received 400 death threats and someone in the Middle East put a 2.4 million dollar bounty on his life.

These killings and threats are terribly wrong.

Just as Jones’ actions don’t represent mainstream Christianity, I do not believe these killings in Afghanistan represent mainstream Islam. Last fall Chain of lakes hosted Kashif Saroya, who is part of the Islamic Resource Center in the Twin Cities. Saroya patiently explained to us that night that the actions like the ones recently done in Afghanistan do not represent Islam. In fact Saroya shared that Isalm is a religion of peace.

I know that many stereotypes about Islam exist in our country. My prayer is the recent killings in Afghanistan don’t deepen these beliefs.

48 hours with Doug Cushing

2011-03-31T10:06:00.002-05:00

Last week Doug Cushing spent 48 hours with us at Chain of Lakes Church. Doug is the coach for our new church. In the Presbyterian Church (USA) new churches are offered the opportunity to have a coach. Rev. Ken Mc Cullen—who is on the Steering Committee for Chain of Lakes—helped set up the coaching program. Research shows that it is vital for new churches and especially organizing pastors of new churches to have a person who can provide counsel and reflections.

Doug was the organizing pastor for Tyger River Presbyterian Church in South Carolina. That church started in 1997 and today has about 200 people come to two worship services. The following link shares history about the development of the church: http://www.tygerriverpres.org/about/history

I have a monthly phone conversation with Doug. I started the conversations with him shortly after I received the call to serve as the Organizing Pastor of Chain of Lakes Church. He asks me to fill out a form and then we talk for about a hour. He lets me discuss what is of most interest to me. He’s occasionally directive, but usually listens and reflects.

Doug’s visit to the north metro last week was the third one he has made. We certainly kept him busy. On Tuesday he met with our staff during the afternoon. He shared with the staff some of his own stories. That evening he met with our Friends group. At the meeting he talked about the retention system of new guests that Tyger River has set up.

I was disappointed that Doug couldn’t prevent the half-a-foot of snow that we received in the north Metro on Wednesday morning. The snow stopped us from having a breakfast with others at Chain of Lakes. It didn’t stop the two of us from having a lengthy conversation about what is happening with Chain of Lakes Church. At lunch the two of us met with Chaz Ruark, Executive Presbyter of Twin Cities Area Presbytery, and Newell Krogmann, contract staff for church development for the Presbytery. On Wednesday evening a group of us from Chain of Lakes shared a meal and had conversation with him. Doug asked people to share their greatest joys and concerns about our new church. The conversation was rich, lengthy, and surely will be continued.

On Thursday he spoke at a luncheon for leaders in the Presbytery. I was pleased that approximately twenty pastors and elders attended the luncheon. Besides hearing from Doug I shared a status report on the progress of our new church, Jennifer Huehns (staff at Chain of Lakes) shared a terrific presentic about how our new congregation uses Facebook, and John Ivers shared a demographic report on our geographic area.

Immediately after the luncheon I whisked Doug to Bloomington where he caught up with his brother, who is the pastor of an Evangelical Free Church. In the next few weeks Doug will write a report about his visit that will be shared with the Steering Committee, the Church Development Team of the Presbytery, and anyone else who is interested in reading it.

It was very heartening to me to hear that of the eight churches Doug has coached, he has received the most enjoyment of any through his involvement with Chain of Lakes.

All of us need a set of outside eyes every now and then. We at Chain of Lakes are very appreciative of how Doug has helped us develop as a new church.

Just War doctrine and rationale for war in Libya

2011-03-29T09:01:00.008-05:00

I would guess that many people working hard in the north Metro haven’t had time to think deeply about what President Obama described as “the international effort that the United States has led” in Libya. (In my mind it’s a war.) I hardly had the time to read a newspaper last week myself.

But I took the time last night to try to understand what is taking place. I listened to most of President Obama’s speech last night and read every word of the transcript.

For me I will not support a war unless it can measure up to the Just War Doctrine. Wikipedia explains Just War at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_War

The seven criteria of just-war theory are just cause, comparative justice, legitimate authority, probability of success, right intention, proportionality, and last resort.

On a scale of 1-10 with ten being the highest I’ve tried to think through each criteria. I don’t know if this exercise of numbering is helpful, but it helped me clarify my own thoughts.

As I share these thoughts please know that I do it with humility and the understanding that I am not familiar with the country, politics, or situation in Libya. These thoughts are meant as a way to have an objective criteria for going to war. They have nothing to do with my thoughts about the military men and women from around the world who are implementing the war.

Just cause: "8" Defending civilians from genocide is a just cause. The question for me is under what conditions will the United States defend civilians from genocide? Right now the governments of Yemen, Bahrain, Iran, and Syria have killed the people of their nation. If the situation in those countries approaches genocide are we going to intervene?

Comparative justice: "2" I don’t think the current bombings are comparative. If our interest was only to protect civilians then why not put a wall of protection around the city of Benghazi, enforce a no-fly zone, and leave it at that?

Legitimate authority: "7" Being asked by the Arab League to intervene and having a United Nations Security Resolution is helpful. Not having Congress pass a resolution keeps this from being a ten.

Probability of Success: "2" If the purpose of the War is to protect civilians and not to remove Gaddafi from power, then what is going to change in the country? I understand that Obama said that regime change is costlier, but not trying to oust Gaddafi makes the probability of success much lower.

Right intention: "5" This is similar to just cause. I question the Europeans’ motives. Was their interest in preventing genocide more to stop a refugee crisis in their own country or truly to prevent genocide?

Proportionality: "8" I think the benefit of having Gaddafi out of power is proportional to the genocide he threatened to inflict. The only thing preventing this from being a ten is the lack of assurance that the new government will be committed to justice.

Last resort: "10" From what the Obama administration shared the United States had to act immediately or the people of Bengazi would have been slaughtered. If the information they shared is correct, they were at the last resort.

Adding up the numbers in this crude model, I’ve come to 42 out of 70. To me this means that military action is barely justified. I’m not sure myself which number is a threshold for military action.

I would be more supportive with a different strategy. I would rather see the goal of the war to be only protect civilians and not be aggressive or be aggressive and try to remove Gaddafi. I realize that the strategies in the preceding sentence are contradictory, but I would have rather seen one of those strategies compared to the middling strategy that has been articulated.

I am very interested in other people’s thoughts. Please share!

New Prague basketball--memories of Jeff Gravon

2011-03-25T10:34:00.001-05:00

The State Tournament run by the Boys Basketaball Team from New Prague High School has brought back many precious memories. In January 2009, Jeff Gravon—the head coach—passed away from cancer. Jeff was one of my best childhood friends. I officiated at his two funeral services and organized a memorial plaque dedication to him at the Worthington YMCA.

I wrote about the plaque dedication before:
http://chainlink-chainoflakesncd.blogspot.com/2010/09/good-way-to-honor-good-man.html

I also wrote about their game in the State Tournament two years ago:
http://chainlink-chainoflakesncd.blogspot.com/2009/03/play-like-champions.html

New Prague surprised everyone—except themselves—by shocking St. Paul Johnson on Wednesday. Johnson was the number one rated team in the state for #3A. The Star Tribune was already using words like “Cinderella run” to describe New Prague’s achievements.

Yesterday New Prague played against Columbia Heights in the semi-finals. I was working so couldn’t attend the game. If they won I was planning on screaming my lungs out for the Trojans at the State Championship game tomorrow night.

New Prague was behind much of the game. Deep in the fourth quarter, They made six three-pointers to pull within three. But alas it wasn’t enough. Columbia Heights won 57-50.

The Star Tribune ran a short article today about how Jeff’s influence still is with the players and the New Prague fans. http://www.mnbasketballhub.com/news_article/show/83349?referrer_id=198777.

Sports has become a multi-billions industry that is overexposed. I loved competing in athletics as a kid and watching games on television. I still enjoying watching games, but I get tired of all the attention which sports receives.

However stories like the New Prague basketball team make athletics worth watching. The coaches and players from New Prague deserve our applause. They’ll always be champions in my heart.

Doug Cushing speaking tonight for Chain of Lakes Church

2011-03-23T11:18:00.004-05:00

Most new Presbyterian churches have a coach. The coach for Chain of Lakes Church is Doug Cushing. He is the organizing pastor for Tygre River Presbyterian Church in South Carolina. He does an on-site visit with us at Chain of Lakes once a year. Yesterday he flew to the north Metro to spend 48 hours with us.

Tonight the people at Chain of Lakes have the opportunity to spend time with Doug. We will meet at the Lino Lakes Senior Center at 6:00 for a meal. After the meal we will sing for a brief time. Doug will then talk about what new churches are doing to be successful, he’ll share his observations about Chain of Lakes Church, and he will respond to all questions. Child care will be provided. We plan on being done around 7:30 p.m.

Doug is a marvelous person. Many folks from Chain of Lakes have already met and enjoyed getting to know Doug.

If you are a leader at Chain of Lakes Church, then I strongly encourage you to attend tonight’s event. We at Chain of Lakes Church can hardly offer a better on-sight leadership development opportunity than this presentation that Doug will share. He knows the wonders and challenges of starting a new church. He will both inspire us and challenge us tonight.

Despite the weather we will be meeting. I urge everyone at Chain of Lakes to attend.

Ugh--a night of basketball rooting

2011-03-18T09:21:00.003-05:00

Last night throughout the state of Minnesota boys basketball teams played in sectional finals. I was most interested in two games—Worthington versus Marshall and Plainview versus Rochester Lourdes. I grew up in Worthington and served the Presbyterian church for 16 years in Plainview, so I was rooting for both of those teams.

I found the Worthington game via the Marshall radio station on the Internet. I turned the game on with Worthington ahead by seven and with about five minutes left. With such a lead I was thinking about how I could arrange my schedule next week to watch the Trojans in the State Tournament. But as any long-time fan knows chickens cannot be counted before they are hatched. Marshall rallied, Worthington took the lead, Marshall went ahead, Worthington tied the game, Marshall scored with four seconds in the game—Worthington lost.

I haven’t followed Worthington all year and don’t know any of the players on the team, but suddenly I was despondent. How can listening to a team lose a game half a state away bring out such sadness?

I went upstairs to visit with my family, and couldn’t help think about the Plainview game. They have been rated #1 in the state all year in class 2A. The only game they lost all year was to Osseo—a 4A team that has consistently been rated in the top five of class 4A. I was certain that Plainview would win. I was already thinking about watching them at the State Tournament next week and hoping they would be playing for the state championship on Saturday. I couldn’t find the game, but noticed a Facebook post by a youth from the church I served in Plainview. He said he was losing his voice by screaming his lungs out. That surprised me. I wasn’t expecting any suspense in the game. I asked the score. He gave the score, but didn’t write who had won. I found the Rochester Post-Bulletin web site on my I-Phone. The Rochester paper gleefully had already shared the shocker—Lourdes had beaten Plainview.

This morning I woke up to read via Facebook that my sister had sat by the radio listening to Redwood Valley play Windom in the sectional finals. My sister is not at all a sports fan, but she posted updates on my wall. First overtime, second overtime, third overtime, and finally a fourth overtime. Redwood Valley won in an upset. Even she—who quite possibly hasn’t seen a game in person all year—wrote that she could hardly bear the suspense.

These dramas are being played out right now in every state in high school basketball and in the NCAA I, II, and III tournaments. The agony and passion matches whatever is showing right now at the Guthrie. The suspense is irresistible.

We leaders in the church can learn lessons from this fandom. Until we can communicate the suspense and drama of faith we will continue to look at empty chairs in our sanctuaries while gymnasiums are packed.

March Presbytery meeting--nFOG & Chain of Lakes presentation

2011-03-16T15:32:00.005-05:00

This past Saturday I participated in the second meeting of the year of the Twin City Presbytery. I had a slow drive to Valley Presbyterian Church as the freeways were partially covered with snow and ice. I took it as a good sign that when I pulled into the parking lot I met Ward Sessing, chair of the Property Task Force for Chain of Lakes Church. Both of us were excited about the presentation that folks from Chain of Lakes were going to share later in the meeting.

When I arrived I quickly set up a table for Chain of Lakes. At every meeting I hand out newsletters from our new congregation and take time to let people know what is happening. I was able to distribute all 15 newsletters while still talking to Martha Rockenstein, the POINT person for the Presbytery with whom I shared a table.

The meeting quickly got interesting when Chaz Ruark shared his reflections on the recent disciplinary case against Erwin Barron. Chaz shared his regret that the media had reported on the case. He wrote a blog about the case at: http://presbyterytwincities.org/2011/03/04/press-presbytery-and-privacy/#comments.

I am still unclear about the rules and regulations regarding privacy in a Disciplinary hearing. At a small group in which I later participated, many of us wondered if the privacy regulations are in the Book of Order or are Presbytery policies. I think the policy of waiting until the Presbytery meeting to announce the decision of a case didn’t serve us well in this situation.

Tim Hart-Anderson spoke and appealed to the Prosecuting Committee in this case not to appeal the decision of the Presbytery’s PJC. To learn more about the case go to: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/117119988.html.

Someone pointed out to me later in the meeting that we Presbyterians have a judicial system where even if someone is declared not guilty of a charge that an appeal can be made—unlike the secular courts.

We then transitioned into discussing the New Form of Government--nFOG. I thought the discussion was wonderfully run and conducted. Our Presbytery has vastly improved the way we discuss overtures and contentious issues. People against nFOG were allowed to speak for ten minutes. Some of the arguments that were raised against nFOG were it will blur the distinctions between governing bodies and that it will be too easy for Interim pastors to become Installed pastors. I rose and spoke in favor of nFOG. I argued that in our Form of Government we we need a constitution and not a manual of operations. Issues like whether an Interim can become the Installed pastor can be in a manual of operations. The vote in favor of nFOG was 118-35.

By far the highlight of the meeting for me was the presentation by folks from Chain of Lakes for the Presbytery. This was one of the first time where members of Chain of Lakes were able to share with the Presbytery their excitement about our new church. Tiffany Godfrey shared her passion for social media and on-line media and what we are doing at Chain of Lakes. She said she wants to get all of her unchurched female friends to come to Chain of Lakes. Jonathan Tse talked about how appreciative he was at how the people at Chain of Lakes welcomed him and his family. He said he was very unsure what sort of reception he would receive. Jonathan became Presbyterian when he lived in the Cameroon. Both of his daughters have been baptized at Chain of Lakes. Dave Nyberg talked about the many times he’s witnessed a “wow moment” at Chain of Lakes. He talked about the Grand Opening service, and watching Bill Fink be baptized last Easter, and watching a man who has never participated in a Bible Study learn about the Bible.

I could hardly have been happier about these presentations. I know pride can be a sin, but I’ve rarely been more proud of the folks at Chain of Lakes. They were terrific.

After these presentations, I left the meeting—I had to get finish my own preparations for worship at Chain of Lakes.

nFOG and the quorum

2011-03-09T12:18:00.001-06:00

I am very much looking forward to the next Presbytery meeting of Twin Cities Area Presbytery which is this Saturday, March 12 at Valley Presbyterian Church starting at 9:00 a.m. In the afternoon folks from Chain of Lakes will be giving a report about the progress we’ve made at our new congregation this year. We’ll have members of the Steering Committee share their experience of being at Chain of lakes. I’m very pleased that already in 2011 we’ve had 10 new families visit Chain of Lakes during worship—some of them have already indicated to us that they want to connect to our congregation.

I am also looking forward to voting on the new Form of Government, nFOG. Last week I wrote a brief blog about why I believe nFOG should be adopted by our Presbyteries.

The main principal that attracts me to nFOG is its attempt to make our constitution an actual constitution and not a manual of operations. A blog which I follow that addresses specific arguments against nFOG is http://pcusa4nfog.wordpress.com/

I’m please that the Bills and Overtures Committee of our Presbytery voted in favor of nFOG by a vote of five to one.

Let me share one example of why we need nFOG. It’s on an issue that I think would be non-controversial—the issue is the setting of a quorum by the Session.

According to our current Form of Government,
“A quorum of the session shall be the pastor or other presiding officer and one third of the elders but no few than two, except for the reception and dismission of members, when the quorum shall be the moderator and two members of the session. The session may fix its own quorum at any higher number.” G-10.0202

Since when did “dismission” become a word?

The proposed nFOG says this about a quorum:
“Sessions shall provide by rule for a quorum for meetings; such quorum shall include the moderator and either a specific number of ruling elders or a specific percentage of those ruling elders in current service on the session.” G-3.0203

The nFOG stays on the level of principle; the current FOG is too descriptive.

I haven’t taken the time to explore the history behind this part of the current Form of Government. I’m sure that this section (like all sections) has evolved over time. It wouldn’t surprise me if at some point in the last hundreds of years the Presbyteries voted on an amendment about a Session setting a quorum.

I don’t think we need the Form of Government telling a Session how to set a quorum. I trust that all Sessions can be smart about setting their own quorums.

Is having a quorum important? Yes
Should the Session think through the issues of a quorum? Yes
Should the Session have a higher quorum for receiving and dismissing members? Maybe, but this regulation need not be in the Form of Government. I have a feeling (though I don’t know this) that the regulation was put in the Form of Government because a Session tried to dismiss members of a church at a meeting that wasn’t well-attended.

I understand the desire to put this regulation into the Form of Government; however it’s my experience that we can’t regulate every situation in a local congregation. Let’s learn to trust the wisdom of the Session and not make a regulation.

Vote for nFOG! Have fewer regulations about a quorum!

Thanks Dad & Mom

2011-03-03T16:58:00.001-06:00

Forty-seven years ago I came into the world at the hospital in Primghar, Iowa. I shared the story of my birth on my blog last March 3. My wife, Amy, has taught me that the people who are forgotten in a birthday are the parents. My parents were far from perfect, but my sister and I both have benefited from their parenting skills. Today I want to acknowledge two things my parents did two things well.

1. They always took my sister and I to church. I didn’t like going to church when I was a child. I have great respect right now for Westminster Presbyterian Church in Worthington, Minnesota, but as a child I found it to be very cold. I went to Sunday School and sat in cold chairs in a cold room, and listened to cold people lecture from the Bible. When I went to worship I was expected to sit still, listen to the sermon, and try to understand words that were way over my head. No child care, no children’s bags, no children’s time, no getting up to share the love of God. The church wasn’t kid friendly. I didn’t like to go, but my parents always took my sister and I to church. It would have been more convenient for them to skip church—they wouldn’t have to listen to my raucous complaining about going to church. They endured—and today my sister and I are Presbyterian pastors.

I’ve always believed that the decision for a child’s participation in church is up to the parent. Going to church is not like attending a precinct caucus. Nobody should take a vote in a household on whether to attend church. If the parent wants the child to attend, then the child will attend—no matter the preference of the kid.

I apologize in advance if I sound harsh. I’m not intending to sound harsh. I just want to thank my parents for not taking a vote in the Moore household about whether I should have attended church.

2. My parents supported me in what I wanted to do
Besides forcing me to go to church, my parents supported and helped me live out my interests. In Junior High I became passionate about playing the violin. The best violin teacher lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota—60 miles away. My dad got out of bed early on a Saturday morning, so we could leave the house at 7:30 a.m. so that I could take violin lessons. He gave up almost most of his Saturdays so I could play in youth orchestra and then have a violin lesson. We would get back to Worthington at 4:00. That was how we lived our Saturdays during the school year for four years. Without their support I never would have learned to play the violin or learned the discipline it takes to succeed at a craft.

On this 47th anniversary of my birth, I am a blessed person. My parents helped make it so.

The humility of Moses

2011-03-02T16:04:00.001-06:00

This year I’ve been reading through the Old Testament. It involves reading about two to three chapters a day. So far I’ve been able to keep up on the reading. Doing this type of reading involves quick reading and doesn’t allow time for more detailed study.

This week I was stopped right in my tracks as I read through Numbers. Yes, I know that Numbers isn’t known as the most scintillating book of Scripture in the Old Testament. In my reading this week I’ve become captivated by Moses’ response to all of the criticism he received as he led the Israelites through the wilderness. In particular I was touched by the verse in Numbers 12:3 where Moses was described as the most humble person on the face of the earth. The verse in the NRSV reads: “Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth.”

It’s remarkable that Moses could be so humble given the pressures he had endured. His own brother, Aaron, and sister, Miriam were questioning his leadership. In fact they were criticizing Moses for marrying a non-Israelite. Moses also had to endure consistently the complaining of the Israelites as they expressed their desire to go back to Egypt.

Many of us in the north Metro have challenging work situations. I’m guessing we have times when we would like to yell or perhaps scream at our boss and/or employees. I would encourage all of us to remember Moses. He was able to stay humble despite tremendous pressures and responsibilities.

Staying humble doesn’t mean we sacrifice our own beliefs or ideas; staying humble doesn’t turn us into a patsy whom our aggressive co-workers can roll over. We can stay firm in our convictions. But we can do it in humility.

What is one quality that all of us would like from our political leader? I’m guessing humility would rate close to the top of the list.

May Moses be our example today of how to negotiate with humility the tricky world of 2011.

Vote yes on nFOG

2011-02-25T11:29:00.006-06:00

Two weeks from tomorrow, the Twin Cities Area Presbytery will be voting on an Amendment to our Constitution that changes the Form of Government, also known as nFOG. Presbyteries across the Presbyterian denomination are voting on whether to institute nFOG. According to the gajunkie blog (http://blog.gajunkie.com/) nFOG has been approved by 21 Presbyteries and disapproved by 26 Presbyteries.

I am more passionate about this Amendment than any other one that the Presbyteries will vote. I usually don’t speak on the floor of Presbytery, but I will at the meeting on March 12. I believe that the Form of Government—one part of the Book of Order—is too easily changed and too frequently debated. We have made a terrible mistake of turning the idea of being Presbyterian into a regulatory system called the Form of Government.

An excellent blog that makes the case for nFOG is http://pcusa4nfog.wordpress.com/. The Presbytery of Twin Cities web site also has informative documents about nFOG. http://presbyterytwincities.org/2011/01/11/study-the-new-form-of-government-nfog/

Last Sunday at Chain of Lakes, my sister and I talked about what is special about being Presbyterian. View the presentation here: http://www.blip.tv/file/4791116/ I made three points—I think Presbyterians are special because we believe that elders and pastors work together; we are not subscriptionist; and we are committed to social justice in the community and this justice is based on our faith. If I had more time I would have talked about our commitment to women pastors, about our fluid form of government where power flows both ways, about our commitments to overseas missions and missionaries, and I would have talked about our commitment to education and public education.

However I don’t think our Form of Government makes Presbyterians special; in fact I think our current Form of Government deeply holds us back from being the denomination that God desires for us to be.

When I started in ministry I would often get asked what it means to be Presbyterian. Before I got wiser I would often give a person a Book of Order and encourage a person to read it. I quickly learned that the Book of Order was a turn-off to new people in our Presbyterian church. I would be shocked if many pastors give a Book of Order to new members on the day that they become a member of a church. For many leaders the Book of Order is a hammer—it’s big brother looking over our shoulders ready to pounce on an irregularity.

As a new church development pastor, I frequently have people ask me what it means to be Presbyterian. I would never give them a Book of Order and say this represents Presbyterian polity. Though the Book of Order does represent our polity, it doesn't represent us well to people who are interested in learning more about being a Presbyterian.

In the next two weeks I plan on reading every word of nFOG and becoming familiar again with the concerns raised about it.

My main argument is we Presbyterians need a set constitution with clearly defined principles and not a manual of operations—which the current FOG has become.

A constitution is meant to be a set of guiding principles that remain in place over time. The United States has existed for over 200 years because we have a firm foundation set forth in our Constitution. It’s not easily changed, though frequently debated. Its simplicity is its strength.

The United States has a constitution of 4534 words. We Presbyterians have a Form of Government—just one part of the constitution—that is much, much longer. If the government can have a short constitution, I believe that we Presbyterians can too.

A new season--the Minnesota Twins

2011-02-23T07:56:00.000-06:00

Even though we’re buried in snow in the Metro, spring will be coming. Today is the first day official workouts for my favorite sports team, the Minnesota Twins. Opening Day is only 36 days away—and that’s no joke. Target Field will entertain the Twins a week later. The first game of my season-ticket package is Friday, April 22 against the Indians.

Last year was my favorite season of rooting of the Twins. I enjoyed seven games at Target Field, they won six of them, and the Twins far surpassed expectations in the regular season. Who would have thought that the Twins would win 94 games without Nathan and only a half season from Morneau?

But the season left us with a bitter taste in my mouth. I still remember the joy I felt going into the top of the 6th of the Twins playoff game against the Yankees. I was watching the game in Kansas City, but hundreds of miles away I could feel the buzz in the crowd. It seemed that this was going to be the year that the Twins were going to shake our Yankee/playoff hex. The Twins had a three-run lead, Liriano was humming, the Yankees looked deflated, the crowd was happy, and then all of a sudden—wham! I don’t think I’ll ever forgive Jessie Crain for the meatball he threw to Curtis Granderson. I cringed as I watched that pitch hang towards the plate—and I was watching the game in Kansas City! Even when we lost that game, I still believed the Twins would win the series. The season was so wonderful that it didn’t seem right for the Twins to lose.

The Twins have spoiled us—six division titles in ten years, but only one playoff series victory.

It’s not fair for fans to expect the Twins to win a playoff series this year, but fans aren’t fair. I see no reason that the Twins can’t win 90 games again this year. I expect Morneau and Nathan to have solid years. The starting pitching isn’t dominant, but it is deep. I trust that Rick Anderson will develop the bull pen over time. I’m not convinced that Casilla is the answer at shortstop, and I wonder if Valencia will have a sophomore slump.

But the Twins have earned my trust. They’ve proven since 2002 that they will make changes if their players don’t perform. If these players don’t perform, the Twins now have the resources to do something different.

The prospect of going to Target Field on a summer night warms my heart. With a foot of snow still on the ground, that vision makes me smile on a cold, February day.

Day on the Hill

2011-02-18T15:10:00.003-06:00

Yesterday Amy & I joined about 850 others at the Joint Religious Legislation Coalition’s (JRLC) Day on the Hill. This is the yearly lobbying effort by the JRLC. The JRLC only lobbies on issues on which the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish & Muslim community can agree.

We rode down to the River Centre with Bob & Carol Cuthill. As we registered I was very pleased to see so many Presbyterian pastors present. The room was packed with people. Governor Mark Dayton was the keynote speaker. Here were a few quotes from his speech
• “I believe in the separation of church and state. I believe in freedom for religion not of religion."
• “Budgets reflect our values. It’s not hard to balance the budget. We could balance the budget by having schools open three days a week; we’d have a surplus is they were open two days a week; we could close half of MNSCU and balance the budget.”
• "I increased the taxes on wealthy Minnesotans because I know they can pay more taxes."
• "We’re here for other people; we’re not hear for ourselves."

After Dayton spoke Fatma Reda from the Islamic Resource Center spoke. Father David Mc Cauley, the Interim Director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference spoke.

Brian Rushce, Executive Director of the JRLC gave issue briefings on saving the safety net, keeping an impartial judiciary, and the budget & taxes. I was very impressed with the large number of facts that Rusche gave us to use. For more information about what the JRLC is advocating in this session go to: http://www.jrlc.org/jrlc-video-library.html?task=play&id=11&sl=latest

After eating lunch we rode over in yellow school busses to the State Capital Complex. We stood in the rotunda of the Capitol as the JRLC shared their awards. Lucinda Jesson, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services also spoke.

After the rally we went to meet with legislators. I was with groups who met with State Senator, Roger Chamberlain, and State Reps, Linda Runbeck and Tim Sanders. The priorities of the JRLC are different than all three of these politicians. They listened and talked to us with respect.

I enjoyed spending time with the “Caring in Common” group from District 53. They meet at Panera Bread in Vadnais Heights on the first Saturday morning of every month to talk about issues. They received the 2011 Interfaith Social Justice Community Award.

Minnesota is a much better state because of the work of the JRLC. It’s rare that a religious organization can unite the three main religions of the our area. I think Jesus would have been very happy with the many religious leaders who were walking around the Capitol yesterday.

New Rules of Marketing

2011-02-15T09:45:00.000-06:00

One of the results of our planning process late last year is we at Chain of Lakes are trying to upgrade our on-line presence and use that presence as an Evangelism tool. At our last Outreach meeting at Chain of Lakes someone brought three books about on-line marketing. At the meeting I asked what book I should read. I was given “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” by David Meerman Scott.

Scott rightly claimed that the old rules of marketing are done. Just putting an ad in a newspaper or sending out a press release are part of the old rules of marketing. He encouraged businesses and non-profits to create and develop interesting stories and then share them across multiple platforms—via a web site, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and video.

He shared many examples in his book of companies and non-profits who successfully used these strategies. Scott talked about the strategies that National Community Church in Washington D.C have used to build their congregation. Their web site—theaterchurch.com—includes a content-rich web site, podcasts of weekly worship, a motivational Webcast series, video, and email newsletter, and Batteron’s Evotional blog. On their staff they have positions for media pastor, digital pastor, and buzz coordinator. Batterson said that more people watch the podcast of worship than attend worship. These podcasts are an entry for people. Folks have a sense of what the church is about before they walk through the door.

I am not trained in marketing or publicity. I think I can speak for most pastors that all of these multiple ways to publicize our churches seem overwhelming to us. I remember when having video projection in worship was cutting edge. Now that is accepted practice in most churches.

At Chain of Lakes we’ve dipped our toes into these new rules of marketing. I’m blogging about twice a week; through my own Facebook page I try to generate traffic on our blog, in the next few weeks we will be launching a new web site; we’re posting my sermons on-line and using Facebook as a portal so that people can view the sermons. We’re already using targeted Facebook ads and decreasing our newspaper publicity.

We have a lot of room for improvement, but at least we’re trying some of these new communication methods.

We are fortunate at Chain of Lakes in that we have people in our new congregation who are very interested in using these multiple platforms to communicate our ministry. I see my role as encouraging everyone who is excited about using these new communication methods. I don’t claim to be an expert on these methods—though I have opinions about them. My role is to stay out of the way and not muck up the plans that our folks have for getting out the word about our ministries. And my role is to remind the people who are revolted by these changes that the Holy Spirit is always calling us to change.

I don’t think that the church is called to be the leader in technological change; however I do believe that we must stay relevant in how we use technology. Jesus was very relevant in his ministry in the 1st century. If he was alive in the 21st century, I believe he would be using video blogs to share his message. I’m proud that one of the Core Values of Chain of Lakes Church is relevance. In the north metro we at Chain of Lakes don’t want to feel old or out-dated.

My head is still spinning after reading Scott’s book. I encourage other religious leaders to take a spin.

Thoughts on the recent large-church pastor proposal

2011-02-08T11:34:00.009-06:00

Last week a group of mostly large church pastors published a letter declaring the denomination to be deathly ill. In the letter they shared a desire to create something new, shared their values, a proposal and invited like-minded people to a meeting in Minneapolis in August.
The entire proposal is here: http://cpconline.org/uploaded_files/A%20Letter%20to%20the%20PCUSA%20February%202011-final.pdf

A web site has been set up that shares more information from the group. That site is here:
http://cpconline.org/fellowship_pcusa

The leaders of the PC(USA) quickly shared a response to the letter. In their letter they shared that the current time is a time of rich ferment and discernment of who the PC(USA) is going to be.
Their letter is here:
http://www.pcusa.org/news/2011/2/4/time-discernment/

Some of the blogs that I’ve found to be helpful on this issue are these:
http://blog.gajunkie.com/2011/02/05/further-thoughts-on-the-pcusa-fellowship.aspx
http://insideouted.blogspot.com/2011/02/response-to-deathly-ill-church-letter.html

I’ve sat around the table with John Crosby—who is one of the seven on the steering committee of the group. He is the head of staff of Christ Presbyterian, whose web site is hosting the information about this group. And I’ve sat around the table with David Lenz, pastor of Hope Church in Richfield, listed as one of the concurring pastors. I was very encouraged by the comments by David Lenz at the September Twin Cities Area Presbytery meeting.
I wrote about that here: http://chainlink-chainoflakesncd.blogspot.com/2010/09/reflections-on-september-presbytery.html

I have great respect for the ministries that the two have developed. I think both of them have much to contribute to the PC(USA).

The men on the steering committee of this initiative have come under sharp criticism for not having any women on their list of signers. In a response to this criticism, they shared that the letter and proposal came out of a network of large church pastors who meet every year for fellowship and to share best practices. These leaders are made up of white males.

It’s not surprising to me that a group of large church, conservative pastors is made up of white males. How many females lead a large, conservative Presbyterian church? The lack of females in the list is more a reflection that large, conservative Presbyterian churches haven’t made the commitment to employing females as their head of staff.

I completely believe that this group of leaders believes in female ordination. If they didn’t, they could have easily moved over to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church—who doesn’t support female ordination.

I completely agree with the statement in the letter that the PC(USA) is divided and fractured. Statistics share the fact that we are much smaller and have less influence than in the past. I also agree with the statement in the letter that “how we got to this place is less important than how to move forward.”

So let's move forward!!

I would take more seriously the values and proposals a lot more if the seven leaders on the Steering Committee had gotten together with leaders of seven large liberal churches in our denomination and from that conversation a proposal came forward. Until more theological diversity is shared in this and any effort, this and any proposal will come across as a “shot-across-the bow” from the conservative or any other like-mided movement within the PC(USA).

It’s my experience that when willing (for the most part) people of different minds are put in a room with a charge and a deadline, they can come up with something that will appeal to the majority.

Example #1—on a much smaller scale. I was part of an effort last summer to put together a strategic plan for Twin Cities Area Presbytery. The group was made up of willing people of different minds who had a specific charge. Through vigorous conversation we were able to come up with something that appealed to the majority of the Presbytery and has already starting making a difference in the life of our Presbytery.

Example #2—on an even smaller scale. One of the eight Core Values of Chain of Lakes is healthy disagreement. We understand this to mean that “when we disagree we will encourage discussion while valuing all opinions. We will speak truth in love, treat others respectfully with dignity, and seek to remain in community.” This value has already helped us move through the inevitable disagreements that all faith communities encounter.

One of my dreams for Chain of Lakes Church is we will be a place where people of all theological and political convictions can land. I believe that the Presbyterian Church needs to have many more congregations who can model and successfully live through these tricky differences.

I am very interested to see what comes out of this initiative started by the conservative, large-church pastors. Wishing for more theological diversity within the group may be a fantasy, but until it happens even the best proposals put forth by the group will not be trusted by many Presbyterians.

Can a Vikings fan root for the Packers?

2011-02-03T16:48:00.003-06:00

I’m not as rabid of a Vikings fan as in the past, but I still care whether the Purple win or lose during a fall weekend. After worship on Sunday my family is going to a Packers’ fans house to watch the Super Bowl. The question for me is, “Can I root for the Packers?” Would I be losing my Vikings purity by donning a green-and-gold uniform and cheering, “Go, Pack, Go!”

I grew up in southwestern Minnesota, so the Packers weren’t the terrible enemy that many folks in southeastern Minnesota and the Metro still view them as. When I was a kid the Packers were terrible. I didn’t see the Packers as a rival because most of the time the Vikings beat the Packers. Even when the Packers won an occasional game against the Vikings in the 70’s it seemed more of an aberration.

I asked football expert, Gary Wassam his opinion on this rooting for the Packers conundrum. The following paraphrased ideas are what he had to say

“The question is whether you can be a gracious loser”
“Even when politicians lose elections the day after is a day of graciousness. It’s not a time to be sad or angry, but a quiet day to reflect.”
“It’s not healthy to be rigid in our love for the Vikings and our hatred of the Packers.”
“Even in the church—and the Presbyterian church—we discuss and debate. Sometimes our ideas prevail and sometimes they don’t. Hopefully we don’t go home feeling like a loser or like a proud victorious winner.”

I can only conclude the following—“Go, Pack, Go!”

"English-Only" in Minnesota?

2011-02-01T09:49:00.003-06:00

Yesterday a bill was introduced in the Minnesota Senate that would make English the official language of Minnesota. I read the entire bill—the link to it is here: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=S0175.0.html&session=ls87.

According to the Star Tribune story, “the bill would make it illegal for the state to require documents, proceedings or other state activities to be in a non-English language. Exceptions are made for defending criminal defendants and protecting "the public health or safety."

I’m against this bill. I spoke out last summer when the Lino Lakes City Council passed a resolution for making English the language of the City. The blog I wrote about that issue can be found here: http://chainlink-chainoflakesncd.blogspot.com/2010/07/letter-to-editor-regarding-english-only.html

One challenge of this issue is it generates more heat than light. Already over 400 comments have been made on the Strib web site in response to the story. Many of these comments are based on strong emotions

Let me do my best to share thoughtfully why this bill is a very bad idea.

I am all for people speaking English. I think a country needs a common language. I have never been convinced that making a law saying that English is the language of the state will compel people to speak English. A better way for people to speak English would be to fund and make more accessible ESL classes; however this bill doesn’t do that. Instead it says that documents of the state have to be printed only in English.

Sponsors of the bill say that making English the official language of the state will save the State money; however no figures were shared about the amount of money that will be saved.

The “savings money” argument is a red herring. The same argument was used by the Lino Lakes City Council last summer to justify the need to make English the official language of the City. Despite the claim, no figures were ever shared to show how much the City was paying for translation costs or how much money would be saved in the future. I still haven’t seen any cost figures.

In my work with people who don’t speak English I have never met a person who didn’t want to learn English. Most people who don’t speak English are adults; many of these adults have children who do speak English. Over time most do learn English

The question I have for supporters of this bill is:
• What problem is this bill going to solve?
• How many people in the state of Minnesota can’t speak English?
• What are the estimates of non-English speaking people who will speak English because of this bill?
• What are the present costs of translating documents into non-English languages?

I appeal to both sides of this issue to use facts and logic in this argument. It is way too easy for supporters to fall into the rhetoric of “if you’re going to live in America, you have to speak English, and it is way too easy for detractors of this bill to use the racism card. Neither approach is helpful.

I’m not convinced that this bill or approach is going to help more people speak English. I’m open to being convinced that I’m wrong—but only if I see verifiable facts. Until then, I will continue to speak out against an “English-only” bill.

The Good Earth

2011-01-28T14:00:00.000-06:00

During January the on-line book club in which I participate has read “The Good Earth” by Pearl Buck. This is a story of the peasant farmer, Wang Lung and his family as they lived in rural China in the early 20th century. The book was the best selling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932. Its success helped Buck win a Nobel Prize for literature in 1938.

At the beginning of the story the Chinese, peasant farmer, Wang Lung married O-Lan. Wang Lung fit the classical Horatio Alger myth that has guided the consciousness of America. He achieved success as a farmer through his hard work, bought land, suffered from a terrible drought, dragged his family to another city where they had to beg for food, came back to their home when an army threatened the city. As they left the city he and O-Lan took some jewels from another house. That money helped them re-establish their life on the land where they previously lived. Wang Lung and O-Lan had four children; they were very successful as farmers. They eventually bought more land and bought the house where O-Lan lived as a concubine. Overtime Wang Lung fell out of love with O-Lan, brought a concubine to live in his own house while O-Lan was alive, and lived through the challenges that his family presented him. He died a very prosperous man.

Wang Lung never lost his love for the land. At the end of his life he shared with his sons his desire that his land would always stay in his family. The last line of the novel displayed the cyclical nature of fortune that Wang Lung experienced. “But over the old man’s (Wang Lung] head they looked at each other and smiled.” It was obvious that the sons would sell the property against their dying father’s wishes.

The folks in my Book Club had a vigorous discussion on how to view Wang Lung. Some saw him as a farmer who, though flawed, became very successful. He was similar to an Old Testament patriarch. His adultery could be excused because the culture in which he lived excused this behavior. Others couldn’t excuse Wang Lung’s behavior.

The question with which I think is worth reflecting on is do the cultural mores and expectations of a society excuse a person from their behavior. Because the culture in China in the early 20th century—at least according to the novel—accepted men having concubines live in their house does this excuse adultery?

This year I’m reading through the Old Testament. This morning I read Exodus 20—the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses. When God gave the Ten Commandments God gave these as universal laws. Just because a culture could accept adultery—through married men living with their concubines—this doesn’t make adultery acceptable. Universal moral principles exist—despite the setting in which they are lived out.

What would happen if a culture accepted stealing as acceptable? Would this make stealing tolerable?

Worship at the Upper Room

2011-01-24T14:17:00.002-06:00

Last night the worship team at Chain of Lakes attended the 5:00 p.m. worship service at Upper Room in St.Louis Park. Upper Room is a church that spun off from Christ Presbyterian in Edina about two years ago. At the last worship meeting at Chain of Lakes Church I suggested that our worship team worship together at other churches to learn about different worship styles. Our worship team oversees the general direction of worship at Chain of Lakes Church.

On November 9, 2009 I shared a blog about attending worship at Upper Room. That blog can be found by going through the links on the right side of this blog.

My daughter, Hannah and I were late at arriving at Upper Room last evening. I left our hosue with plenty of time to spare, but the GPS on my I-Phone didn’t work well. We parked at least two blocks from the church—it was the closest we could get to the church. Upper Room is leasing space from Lutheran Church of the Resurrection.

When we arrived at the building Hannah and I walked through the wrong doorway. I knew the way to the sanctuary. As I came to the entrance of the sanctuary I met Kellie Burriss and her son. She was signing in her son so that he could participate in child care. When I opened the door to the sanctuary, the music hit me with a very strong force. The Praise Band was in high gear. I eventually saw three other people from Chain of Lakes sitting in the balcony, so we went upstairs to worship with them. Kellie gave up on the registration and worshipped with her son.

The ambience of the sanctuary was similar to when I’ve worshipped at Upper Room before. The sanctuary was dark, a large number of candles were lit throughout the sanctuary, different colored lighting shone throughout the service, three screens were lit with the lyrics to the songs.

The order of the service was similar to the order of other new churches I’ve visited in Blaine. The service started out with about 20 minutes of Praise Music; we then listened to a 35 minute sermon; celebrated Communion, heard a short talk by someone from Upper Room about some ministries of the church, and then were released.

I’ve always enjoyed the chance to participate in the faith rituals that Upper Room designs. Last night during Communion we were invited to take Communion by Intinction. We had the opportunity to kneel in front of a mirror, write on the mirror with a sharpie a value we want to be known for ourselves, and then pray. At least 16 stations were set up in the sanctuary. I know that many traditional Presbyterians would squirm at how Communion was distributed—or not distributed. We served the elements to ourselves.

What has always impressed me about Upper Room is the large number of young people who participate. It seemed to be that last night at least 90 percent of the people gathered were 45 and under.

Upper Room seems to be challenged by the facilities they are using. Even with two services they have too many people for their space.

In the past I’ve experienced a wonderful sense of mystery as I’ve worshipped at Upper Room. I missed that last night. Perhaps I missed it because I came to worship late and felt rushed when I arrived. I also missed a sense of organized hospitality. I was greeted by no one—this could be on me because Hannah and I walked through the wrong door.

As Hannah and I drove away I asked her what thoughts she had about worshipping at Upper Room. She didn’t like the lack of crosses in the sanctuary and she missed having a time of fellowship with others.

I very much appreciate what Upper Room is doing in worship. Any church that has the success they’ve had with young people needs to be thanked. We’re still developing our worship style at Chain of Lakes. I can’t imagine that we will look like the Upper Room, but I am glad that our worship team will talk about our shared experience of worshipping there.

Property Task Force 2.0

2011-01-21T14:02:00.001-06:00

Last night the second round of our Presbytery’s Property Task Force met at the offices of Chain of Lakes Church. The first round of the Property Task Force identified some properties in our geographical area that would suit the long-term needs of Chain of Lakes Church. The charge to the second round of this group is to bring a piece of property and a viable funding plan to our Presbytery for approval.

In the Presbyterian Church the wider Presbytery historically purchases the property for new churches. The local congregation then holds the property in trust for the Presbytery. The local congregation is then responsible for paying for the buildings on the property.

Last night I shared an opening prayer for the group. As I prayed I shared that I felt like Abram going off on a journey. We don’t know exactly where we are going or how we are going to get there, but we trust that God is present to us and is leading us every step of the way. The new tagline of our Presbytery is “fearlessly following the Holy Spirit into a changing world.” This Property Task Force will test our Presbytery’s willingness to live into this tagline.

I don’t believe that a piece of property or a building is ultimately important for a congregation. What ultimately is important for us at Chain of Lakes is that we live fully into the Purpose Statement which God gave to us. However I do believe that a piece of property poorly chosen and/or a building poorly designed can hamper a congregation for decades.

At the end of the meeting last night I experienced this wonderful appreciation for the connectionalism of the Presbyterian system. We did have four people from Chain of Lakes at the meeting, and we had three people (and three others who didn’t attend) who are from the wider Presbytery. The three people from outside of Chain of Lakes who attended last night were fully engaged and invested in the conversations we held. They weren’t present to help their local congregations or to receive any benefit for themselves. They were present to help a new, forming Presbyterian congregation. They represented the best of who we are as Presbyterians.

Abram fearlessly followed—I think we can too!

Welcome to the world, Jamison!

2011-01-20T08:49:00.001-06:00

This past Tuesday the heavens opened when Jamison Andrew Gilman was born at the United States Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan. Jamison is the son of Drew and Nikki Gilman—my wife, Amy’s son and daughter-in-law. Amy, Hannah, and I were at a Martin Luther King celebration on Monday night when she received a call that Nikki had gone into labor. Around 3:00 on Tuesday morning Amy received the call that Jamison had entered the world.

Amy is flying to Okinawa tomorrow to celebrate this new birth. Our household is full of joy this week. Praise God for new life!

Evangelism opportunity--Ray Jones coming!

2011-01-12T17:02:00.001-06:00

This weekend we at Chain of Lakes are sharing a marvelous Evangelism opportunity with the community. Ray Jones, coordinator of Evangelism for the General Assembly of the PC(USA) will be flying from Louisville to the north metro. He will lead a Retreat this Saturday, January 15th on Evangelism from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Presbyterian Church of the Way, 3382 North Lexington in Shoreview. On Sunday he will preach at worship for Chain of Lakes Church. Worship begins at 10:30 a.m. Chain of Lakes Church worships at the Lino Lakes Senior Center which is located a half mile east of the intersection of Lake Drive and Main Street (#242).

I’ve gotten to know Ray through my attendance at New Church Development conferences the past two years. I find him to be very warm, engaging, and passionate in helping people (especially Presbyterians) share the gospel in a holistic way.

At the Retreat on Saturday Ray will teach us how in evangelism we engage our culture, engage the gospel, engage the community, and engage discipleship. The Retreat is FREE and open to the public. A small feel for lunch will be collected. Registration is requested, but not required. To register, E-mail info@colpres.org or call 763-208-8049.

Ray is the founding pastor of the 500 member Maclund Presbyterian Church in Powder Springs, Georgia. Before his new church development work, he served First Church in Bay Minette, Alabama and Summer Church in Mississippi. He received his M. Div. and D. Min. degrees from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.

I want people to learn to articulate how God has made a difference in their lives through Jesus Christ,” he said, in ways that will lead them into relationships with people in the world that are centered in justice and mercy.

If you live in the north Metro, come join us on Saturday and then listen to Ray preach on Sunday. Perhaps we Presbyterians can re-claim how to do Evangelism in a way that will connect to hurting people and communities in the world.

Arizona shootings

2011-01-10T11:36:00.000-06:00

The terrible shootings in Arizona lift up another opportunity for church leaders to be intentional about creating a culture of peace. I hope that church leaders will reflect on these three questions

1. How are we doing at teaching people in our congregations to share compassion with those with whom they disagree?
I’m not convinced that the use of language is any more raucous today than in our past; however the use of technology gives more people the ability to spew inappropriate language. One of our tasks in the church is to model and teach compassion for those with whom we disagree. Jesus did teach us to love our enemies. I don’t believe that a person who looks at the world differently than me is my enemy, but I do believe that Jesus wants me to love that person. I don’t think this is easy or happens naturally. I have had many incidents in my ministry when I would have preferred to use my linebacking skills I learned in playing football at Carleton college on a parishioner. But I didn’t—because Jesus called me to love that person. Before blaming others, let’s work harder at loving the other.

2. How are we doing at sharing Mental Health resources with the world?
I don’t know the faith background of Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged shooter. From what I’ve read he seems to suffer from some type of mental illness. I wonder what type of Mental Health Resources he received. Not receiving counseling help is not an excuse to kill six people, but those resources might have prevented the murder of six people. When I served a small Presbyterian church in Plainview, we hired a counselor on our staff. The only cost to our own budget was giving him free space. As we grow at Chain of Lakes Church we will offer Mental Health Resources for the community. If we could do this at Plainview, any church can do this. I believe that every church in America should have a counselor on their staff.

3. How are we doing in our congregations at modeling healthy disagreement?
We have established “healthy disagreement” as a Core Value at Chain of Lakes. We understand this to mean that “when we disagree we will encourage discussion while valuing all opinions. We will speak truth in love, treat others respectfully & with dignity, and seek to remain in community.” It’s amazing how often in our short history as a church that someone mentions this Core Value. Having this Core Value has given people at Chain of Lakes permission to share their opinions. We certainly have a long way to go in living into this Value. I challenge all churches to spend time focusing on modeling healthy disagreement.

Being successful in answering these three questions might not have prevented this shooting in Tucson, but it would create a healthier culture and prevent future murders.

Reading through the Old Testament

2011-01-06T06:58:00.003-06:00

I've preached approximately 800 sermons and in all of them I either mentioned or explored a Scripture passage; I've taken seminary classes on the Bible; I have at least forty commentaries on the Bible in my office; I read the Bible almost every day in my personal devotions; I've taught Bible Studies; I've read through the Bible cover to cover at least twice. And I still find myself learning more about the Bible when I read it.

As I made some New Year's Resolutions for 2011 I decided to read through the Old Testament this year.

I've done this before. In 2006 I read the Bible cover to cover; in 2007 I read the Old Testament; in 2008 I read the New Testament. I tried to read Calvin's Institutes in 2009, but lost interest halfway through. In 2010 I was too busy starting a new church to thing about a reading plan.

I'm not any less busy this year, but just as needy to grow in my own personal relationship with God.

I know that the Old Testament is scary to some people. At times God acts in confusing ways; the people of Israel often went on killing sprees; the laws in Exodus and Leviticus seem out-of-place for life in 2011.

But still—my spirit has already been refreshed in 2011 through what I've read.

Just this morning I read chapters 15-18 of Genesis. I was touched by the compassion that God showed Hagaar. I resonated with the questions that Abram had for God about if and when his wife Sarai was going to have a baby. I discovered—even though I've read this story countless times—that it was 25 years between the time that God promised Abram a son and Sarah bore Isaac. Even though God had made a promise, the promise too a while to happen. This gives me a deepened appreciation for patience.

All of this—in just four chapters of Genesis!!

If you—this blog reader—would like to read through the Old Testament, send me an E-mail. The address can be found via our church's web site—colpres.org. The reading plan I'm following involves reading two or three chapters a day. I'm sure I'll get behind—but I'll just look for times to get caught up. If I get too far behind, I'll just skip ahead to the place of the current plan.

If you join me in reading the Old Testament I would love to have conversation via E-mail about what we are reading. Reading the Bible is always done better in community.

The Scriptures are a treasure that teach us about God, humanity, the world, and ourselves. I'm excited to learn more through reading the Old Testament in 2011. Why don't you join me?

New Year's Resolutions and light

2011-01-04T08:59:00.000-06:00

Like many people I make New Year’s Resolutions. Sometimes I’m able to keep them and sometimes not. This year I made a modest weight loss resolution along with deciding to read the Old Testament in 2011. If anyone reading this blog would like to read the Old Testament and then exchange comments via E-mail, please let me know.

I like the process of New Year’s Resolutions. I have a habit of getting stuck in ruts and the flip of the calendar allows me to be intentional about making some changes in my own life. New Year’s Resolutions gives me an opportunity to live out the aspirations I have for my life. One of my joys during the holiday season was sitting at Barnes & Noble in Rochester and talking with Hannah about the New Year’s Resolutions we would like to make for 2011.

However each of our New Year’s Resolutions pale in comparison with what is going on in the Universe. In this age of Narcissism each of us would do well to see how small we are in relationship to the cosmos.

During my Christmas Eve sermon I focused on the theme of light. The sermon can be viewed by finding the blip TV link at colpres.org. As I worked on this sermon I was especially touched by the words of John, “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.”

Light surrounded the incarnation of Jesus. Light was predicted by Isaiah, it was displayed by the angels and the star that guided the magi, and it was described by John.

The above picture is of Eta Carinae, which according to Wikipedia is a stellar system in the constellation Carina, about 7,500 to 8,000 light-years from the Sun. The system has a combined luminosity about four million times that of the Sun and has an estimated system mass in excess of 100 solar masses.

The light that we see in this picture originated almost six thousand years before Jesus was born. Wow! My weight loss goal seems pretty small when I look at this picture.

I believe that God knows every part of Eta Carinae and knows every part of all the other stars and solar systems in this Universe. With this unimaginable knowledge, God chose to give us light through a tiny baby born to an unmarried, teenage peasant in a non-descript town in the Middle East.

When I look at Eta Carinae I think of the words of the Psalmist.
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
The moon and the stars that you have established;
What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
And crowned them with glory and honor.”
Psalm 8:3-5a

I have dedicated my life to receiving and sharing this light through the church. Without this light I can’t imagine that any of my New Year’s Resolutions will make a difference.

In my Christmas Eve sermon I challenged everyone at Chain of Lakes to share this light in 2011. Would you, this blog reader, commit to doing the same?

Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve at Chain of Lakes Church

2010-12-23T14:39:00.002-06:00

Christmas Eve is my favorite worship service of the year. Last Saturday at a staff party, I was asked to share a favorite Christmas memory. The first thoughts that came to my mind were the Christmas Eve services that we celebrated at the previous church I served—Community Presbyterian Church in Plainview. We poured ourselves into Christmas Eve worship. We would often double our usual attendance on Christmas Eve. Many new people came to our congregation for the first time during Christmas Eve worship.

I encourage everyone who lives in the north Metro to join us at Chain of Lakes for Christmas Eve worship. Everyone is encouraged to come for a time of fellowship at 6:00 p.m. at our worship location—the Lino Lakes Senior Center, 1189 Main Street in Main, located about a half-mile east of the intersection of Main (#242) and Lake Drive (#23). We will enjoy hot apple cider, cookies, and have Christmas carols playing in the background.

We will begin worship at 6:30 p.m. We will enjoy special music shared by Kellie Burriss and Hannah Moore, I’m writing a sermon that is designed for someone who doesn’t normally go to church, and we’ll celebrate Holy Communion. We will close worship by singing “Silent Night” and lighting candles amidst the dark sanctuary. Child care will be available.

We have advertised heavily for this service and mailed a large number of designed cards for the service. On the card we put the slogan, “start a new tradition with a new church.” If you normally do not attend worship, I invite you to join us at Chain of Lakes for Christmas Eve worship.

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

2010-12-16T14:35:00.002-06:00

Ten years ago today at 10:38 a.m. Hannah Louis Moore came into the world. We were experiencing a snow storm outside, but inside Methodist Hospital in Rochester, MN my wife, Amy, and my heart were warmed by the gift of our new daughter. I’ll never forget seeing the nurse holding Hannah after she was born and thinking, “wow, she’s finally here.” Hannah came nine days after her due date, and for a while I wasn’t sure if Hannah ever was going to arrive.

Amy has said often that the person who is forgotten on a birthday is the mother. The mother had to carry the child for an extended period of time. Few people remember this on a birthday. Let me share a tribute and appreciation to Amy for carrying Hannah and for all that she experienced in the months following Hannah’s birth. Few women deliver a baby while their other child, Drew, is in their senior year of high school. Six months after Hannah was born, June 2001, we celebrated Drew’s graduation from high school. Eight months after Hannah was born, August 2001, we moved to a new house in Rochester. Nine months after Hannah was born, September 2001, we watched with horror as the Twin Towers fell.

For each of the past four years of Hannah’s birthday I’ve written a letter to her on her birthday. This year I shared with Hannah my pride about her singing skills. Hannah is singing for the choir at Chain of Lakes Church, St. Joseph Catholic Church—her choir director their called Hannah one of her alpha leaders, and a honors choir through the school district. Hannah has the ability to stand up in front of a large number of people and sing.

Hannah has grown in her love for reading this year. It’s not surprising if she’ll pick some books and spend a hour reading them. I’m looking forward to reading and talking about books with her as she continues to grow.

For lunch today I drove over to Johnsville Elementary and shared a Subway Sandwich with Hannah. She told me that Beethoven has the same day of birth as her. Wow!

One of my favorite pictures in the world is the above picture. This was taken shortly after Hannah came into the world. I still remember how comfortable she felt in my arms.

Thank you, God, for giving Amy & me the gift of a daughter!

December blizzard

2010-12-13T13:36:00.003-06:00

The worst blizzard I remember was the Great Blizzard of January 10-12, 1975. I was a 5th grader attending West Elementary School in Worthington, Minnesota. January 10th was a Friday, and we were let go from school early. The blizzard lasted almost until Sunday. The electricity went out in my house. Temperatures were in the 20 below range and the wind chill was 80 below. We received at least a foot of snow. And the wind!! It never seemed to stop howling.

I eventually got bored during the blizzard, so I walked outside to see how fierce the storm was. I waded through waist-high snow drifts on our 50 foot driveway. At the end of the driveway I fell over. I was too tired to go any farther. At that moment I developed a healthy and fearful respect of Nature that I’ve carried with me until this day. I still remember lying on the snow, looking up at the sky, and thinking that I was not ever going to mess with Nature.

During the first night of the blizzard my family walked down the street to visit with our neighbors. After walking half a block I picked out ice cycles from my eye lashes.

Sunday, January 12th was the first time I ever remember missing church because of the weather. My family had a short worship service around our kitchen table. I probably prayed for the Vikings as they lost later that afternoon to the Steelers in Super Bowl IX.

This past weekend’s blizzard wasn’t as frightening as that one, but it still packed a large punch. I would guess we received about 18 inches of snow at our house in Blaine. The storm was the 5th biggest snowstorm in the Twin Cities since records were kept.

Amy, Hannah, and I spent almost all of Saturday inside our house. I did go outside to shovel three times on Saturday. Fortunately the temperature didn’t drop until Saturday night, so the shoveling was not that cold. After the third time I shoveled Friday night I wrote on my Facebok wall that I was worn out.

Sunday morning I got up at 6:00 a.m. to shovel for the fourth time. I was very fortunate that my neighbor was blowing out his driveway just as I started to shovel. He came over to help blow out the rest of my driveway. Thank God for friendly neighbors!

After I finished shoveling on Sunday I drove over to the Senior Center to see if we would be able to worship on Sunday. Fortunately the workers from the City of Lino Lakes had sufficiently plowed out the parking lot and had created a lane so that we could get to the front door. Without their work we would not have been able to worship.

Our attendance yesterday was very low—and understandably so. As I drove away from worship at about noon I saw many people still blowing out their drive ways. I’m sure many people at Chain of Lakes were not able to get out of their driveway on Sunday morning.

My parents’ furnace went out during this blizzard. They endured temperatures in the 50’s in their house. My sister and I encouraged them to stay in a hotel for a night, but they were made of the same stock as many other hearty Midwesterners. They were going to grin and bear it.

Last night Amy, Hannah, and I watched the movie “White Christmas.” None of us need to wonder whether a white Christmas will happen in 2010.

CODA concert tonight!

2010-12-07T09:57:00.003-06:00

The above picture says what I want to communicate. Please join us for a Christmas concert tonight by CODA at the Senior Center at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $5 and proceeds will go to Manna Market.

"Be My Guest" Sunday at Chain of Lakes Church

2010-11-29T12:17:00.002-06:00

This Sunday, December 5 is a very big day at Chain of Lakes Church. We are celebrating “Be My Guest” Sunday. Everyone at Chain of Lakes Church is encouraged to bring one guest to worship. Preferably the guest is not connected to a church and lives in our geographical area. We worship at 10:30 a.m. at the Lino Lakes Senior Center, 1189 Main Street.

The idea for “Be My Guest” Sunday came from Rev. James York, pastor of North Presbyterian Church. James and I served together on the Property Task Force for Chain of Lakes. At one meeting he talked about doing “Be My Guest” Sunday at his congregation. As he talked about all that they did—and it was quite a list—I was waiting for him to say that they had a low number of visitors attend worship. I almost fell off my chair when he said that they received 47 visitors to worship on that day.

A very effective way to have a congregation grow in numbers is for people in the church to be inspired to invite their friends and family to worship. At Community Presbyterian Church in Plainview we often had “Invite a Friend” Sundays. I like the language of “Be My Guest” better.

We are going out of our way to plan a tight and powerful worship experience on “Be My Guest” Sunday. We are celebrating one year of worship at Chain of Lakes as our first worship service was on the first Sunday of 2009; I am starting a sermon series called “Stepping Off the Treadmill;” we are celebrating the baptism of Manka & Bih Tse; Kellie Burriss will share special music; and we will enjoy a power point presentation of our year together.

I wish worship was starting today, so I could enjoy it!

We have done quite a lot among people at Chain of Lakes to encourage everyone to invite guests to worship. Two weeks ago in worship I shared a simple four-step process for extending an invitation; we also watched a skit about sharing a typical invitation. Yesterday in worship everyone was encouraged to write down names of people on an index card of people whom they will invite to “Be My Guest” Sunday. Everyone put those index cards on a bulletin board. As a community we gathered by the bulletin board to pray over the names of the people. Many people at Chain of Lakes have been carrying a wooden coin for the past three weeks that encourages us to “get a round” to inviting people. This week I started an E-mail list among people at Chain of Lakes asking everyone to share what they are doing to invite people.

If you are not connected to a church and live in the north metro, consider joining us for worship this Sunday. If you are connected to a church, please take some time this week to pray for us as we celebrate "Be My Guest" Sunday.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T09:25:00.002-06:00

I’m very thankful that the Wampanoag Native Americans saved the Pilgrims in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts and thus the first harvest festival that we know as Thanksgiving was initiated. Even though it took 320 years from that date until Franklin Roosevelt made Thanksgiving a national holiday, thankfulness has always been part of our national psyche.

The media would rather this Thanksgiving be defined by body scans and intrusive pat downs. They haven’t reported people’s thanks that we haven’t had a catastrophic terrorist event in the United States for over nine years.

When I talked to a few farmers in southeastern Minnesota they shared that the harvest has never been better. I doubt that many people in our state know this. Instead of this story we hear and read about what is going poorly in agriculture.

We hear much noise about all that is wrong about the church, but I’ve read little about the thousands of Thanksgiving ecumenical services that are taking place this week across the country. The Lino Lakes/Circle Pines/Lexington churches are gathering tonight at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church at 7:00 p.m. tonight. In this Lutheran sanctuary I’m looking forward to hearing the local Catholic priest share a homily. I’m grateful that my daughter, Hannah, will sing in the children’s choir. Though it’s easy to take these ecumenical services for granted, I’m thankful that on one night we celebrate oneness through the sharing of thanks.

Thanksgiving is a day to lay aside whatever separates us from each other; instead the day calls us to grab hold of our common humanity by giving thanks. Sure—gluttony is all around us. We can get sick on too much food, too much football, and too many commercials about Black Friday. Even though we are enticed to start shopping, I’m grateful that we have a day to express our gratefulness.

During this Thanksgiving holiday I encourage all of us to focus on what we have—and to let fade the insecurities of what we don’t have. Life on earth will never be perfect, and we still have heaven to anticipate such perfection. Until then, I’m filled with gratefulness and resolved to continue to express my thanks for all of the blessings here on earth.

The new strategic plan--get on board!

2010-11-18T08:53:00.001-06:00

I’m still singing inside about the approval (131-6-2 in a written ballot) last week by our Presbytery to approve a new Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan includes guidelines, a new vision, values, major focus and ten three year goals. The plan can be seen at: http://presbyterytwincities.org/ptca-strategic-plan/. An article describing the vote of the Presbytery can be found here:
http://presbyterytwincities.org/2010/11/11/strategic-plan-passes-at-november-presbytery-meeting/. The blogs that Chaz Ruark wrote about the plan (he is the Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery) can be found here: http://presbyterytwincities.org/.

I was part of the group who developed the Strategic Plan. I attended two, all-day planning sessions and attended one follow-up meeting in addition to sharing a few E-mail comments to the group. I helped lead a small group conversation about the plan at the September Presbytery meeting and spoke in favor of the plan at last week’s meeting. However I don’t consider my involvement that significant in the development of the plan.

This strategic plans works for me for a number of reasons.

First, the plan is on one page. It’s not a twenty page document that will get lost in a file drawer. The plan is clear, bold, and easily measurable.

Second, the plan was brought through the process of the Presbytery. I know many people still bemoan the lack of implementation of the last Strategic Planning process—known as the Summit. That effort was a two-day gathering of leaders. I attended the gathering and loved the energy of the event. The follow-up to that plan clearly was designed poorly. Task Forces came out of the Summit and did meet, but there was no accountability to the Presbytery or follow-up with the Presbytery. This plan was different. The Strategy group was appointed by the Presbytery Council; the group presented their plan to the Presbytery Council for approval; the plan was shared with the Presbytery for feedback; the plan was then voted upon by the Presbytery. I’m guessing that for some the process happened too quickly—I rejoice that it went through the process!

Third, the new vision is sizzling—“We fearlessly follow the Holy Spirit into a changing world.” This vision encourages the Presbytery, staff, committees, and churches to take risks. What can be more exciting than being led by the Holy Spirit? Phil Gebben-Green did a terrific job last Tuesday of drilling down into the nuances of what it means to fearlessly follow. I hope he submits the comments he made at the Presbytery meeting for the rest of us to read.

Fourth, the plan is a paradigm shift in starting new faith communities. In my work on the committee I advocated for goal #7. That goal is: “Encourage 10 churches to launch new, distinct faith communities in the following 3 years, and welcome new faith communities into fellowship of Presbytery.” We need to re-claim the idea of churches starting new faith communities. Part of the mission of every congregation is to fearlessly follow the Holy Spirit by discerning how they can initiate new faith communities. We can’t wait for a committee of the Presbytery to start new faith communities. This is a task of the local congregation. I would be surprised if ten churches in the next three years can’t imagine how they could start or welcome a new faith community in the following three years. To implement this goals means we would have ten new faith communities by January 2017. Even though we at Chain of Lakes Church are still small—and growing—I will be encouraging us to start a new faith community by January 2017. I’d like us to be one of those ten churches.

Fifth, the plan articulates the need to support congregations. I see the role of Presbytery committees and staff to empower congregations and pastors and not create separate programs. I believe the ministries of the Presbytery should be rooted in congregational ministries.

Sixth, the plan had an advocate (Karen Morey from Best Year Yet) who will hold the Presbytery Council accountable for implementation of the plan.

I hope that this plan also encourages our Presbytery to do a better job of helping congregations during pastoral transitions. We have much to improve on this issue.

Many of us have expectations of the Presbytery Council to implement this plan. If you are on the Council, let me say with the best pastoral sensitivity which I can share that we expect you to make the implementation of this plan your number one priority.

I know that nay-sayers to this plan exist. I understand that our Presbyterian culture encourages skepticism. To the nay-sayers and skeptics I say get on board. You can sit on the sidelines with your hands folded and be critical, and I know there are reasons to be critical. I’ve been critical of the Presbytery in this blog. But if you wait for the perfect plan, you’ll be waiting for a long time. This plan is the best opportunity I’ve seen in 17 years of Presbytery involvement to be united on a common vision. The train is leaving the track, and I hope that everyone gets on board.

Kashif Saroya at Chain of Lakes Church

2010-11-12T05:53:00.004-06:00

This past Tuesday night Kashif Saroya shared a terrific talk about the basics of Islam for the people of Chain of Lakes Church and the community. An edited version of his talk can be seen at: http://www.blip.tv/search?q=chain+of+lakes+church. I very much appreciated his humility and willingness to engage and answer everyone’s questions.

Some pieces of Kashif’s talk that resonated with me:

• When Muslims take a posture of prayer they kneel down and put their head to the ground. Kashif shared that when they do this their heart is higher than their head. This is one function of prayer, isn’t it? When we pray we try to let our mind rest and open our heart to receive and honor God.

• When Muslims bow down on their knees in prayer next to each other they become one.

• Muslims did stand up to condemn the killings of September 11, 2001. The media didn’t cover that.

• Islam is a religion of peace and not war

• Many of the stereotypes we have about Muslims are cultural and not religious expressions.

We had some excellent questions shared during Kashif’s talk. Some of the questions brought a tension to the room (questions about September 11, the reaction of Muslims to the Danish cartoon a few years ago, and the reaction of a few Muslim leaders to the recent Interfaith service held in the Cities last month). The questions were not shared in an argumentative way—people needed answers. Kashif handled them with a spirit of openness. He encouraged people to ask difficult and hard questions about Islam.

We’ve received excellent coverage of the event. This week the Quad Press put an article previewing the event on the front page of their newspaper. You can read the on-line version at: http://www.presspubs.com/articles/2010/11/11/quad_community_press/news/doc4cd9787122660698677049.txt. They had a reporter come on Tuesday evening who most likely will write another article for next week’s edition.

I highly recommend Kashif Saroya to other churches and organizations. He is an oustanding representative of the Islamic Resource Center.

I’m very proud of the people at Chain of Lakes for their willingness to host and sponsor this talk. I already know that through this talk some stereotypes about Islam were broken down.

Islam: Beyond the Headlines

2010-11-04T12:21:00.000-05:00

Everyone in the Blaine/Lino Lakes/Centerville area is invited to attend a talk sponsored by Chain of Lakes Church called “Islam: Beyond the Headlines.” The talk will be on Tuesday, November 9th at 7:00 p.m. at the Lino Lakes Senior Center, 1189 Main Street in Lino Lakes.

Kashif Saroya, a leader with the Islamic Resource Group of the Twin Cities, will lead the presentation. Following the presentation there will be time for questions, answers and further conversation.

Saroya is a systems analyst for Ecolab in St. Paul and president of the Advisory Council of Muslim Youth of Minnesota and director of a summer camp for Muslim youth which focuses on struggles for identity, self-definition and empowerment. He and his wife and their newborn baby reside in Blaine.

This talk came as a result of a blog I wrote on September 8. In that blog I was strongly critical of Terry Jones for wanting to burn the Koran. After that blog I received an E-mail from the Islamic Resource Center. That E-mail started a conversation which resulted in this presentation. Whoever said that blogging can’t make a difference!!

Muslims and Christians have lived together in peace for more than 14 centuries. The recent controversies about the proposed placement of an Islamic center near Ground Zero in New York City, the possible burning of the Koran, and the recent firing of Juan Williams by National Public Radio all indicate the eroding relationship of Christians and Muslims.

At Chain of Lakes we want to do everything we can to break down the stereotypes that exist between Muslims and Christians.

We aren’t promoting Islam as a religion through this talk; however we are promoting deeper appreciation among Christians and secularists for Muslims. Christians, Muslims and Jews all have a common Abrahamic heritage. Instead of looking for ways to be apart, let’s continue to strive for common ground.

Come join us this Tuesday, November 9th!

A plea for bi-partisanship

2010-11-03T17:45:00.002-05:00

Independents—those not deeply connected to a political party—voted for George Bush in 2004; they voted for Barak Obama in 2008; they gave the U.S. House back to the Republicans and almost the Senate yesterday. Our national government changes often because the tastes of Independents in the United States changes often.

Every politician is capable of deception. However I don’t believe George Bush governed that differently than the campaign on which he ran. The same holds true for Barak Obama. In America we receive the government and politicians for whom we vote. Our political leaders are a reflection of us.

I implore our politicians to go out of their way to find common ground on issues. We need bi-partisanship more than ever. My hope is that the next two years both sides of the political aisle can work together.

Two weeks ago I gave a sermon on the relationship of the church to politics. The link for the sermon is here: http://www.blip.tv/file/4261202/ I used a line that Brian Rusche said in a video interview we did of him, “The church is called to be political, not partisan.” He made the statement that visiting an elderly person in his or her home is a political act.

I’m waiting for political leaders who take risks for bi-partisanship. I’m not looking for anyone to take America back, or anyone to demonize the other side, or try to cram an agenda down anyone’s throats. Amy politician who hasn’t learned that Americans aren’t impressed with hubris will probably making a concession speech in a future election.

A first step towards this is for the public to reach out to others in a bi-partisan way. If our political leaders are a reflection of us, then we must look in the mirror. Our political leaders won’t find common ground unless the people do.

Voting & Trembling

2010-11-02T09:40:00.003-05:00

This morning I joined millions of people around the United States as I voted in the mid-term elections. I voted at Northpoint Elementary School in Blaine

It took about twenty minutes between the time I entered the school and the time I left. The process was well organized. I got in line to be marked off as a registered vote, was given a ballot, waited in a short line for an open voting booth, and then entered a voting booth. I would estimate that about thirty voting booths were available for use.

When I was done voting I was given a cover to place over my ballot. I went to a machine and put my ballot into the machine. I was the 150th person to vote this morning at this voting station.

This is the third time I’ve voted since moving to Blaine in June 2009—the first time at Northpoint. I’m still learning who the candidates are. With the help of the Star Tribune web site, I printed out a ballot last night. I spent about thirty minutes researching the candidates and then deciding for whom I would vote this morning. I took this pre-printed ballot with me into the voting ballot.

It’s essential for all of us to remember the sacrifice that millions of people have made in the history of the United States so that we could vote today. My step-son, Drew, is serving as a medic for the United States army in Okinawa. He lives half a world away from his family and friends, so that we can vote. Last month my parents visited the cemetery of soldiers who died at the Battle of the Bulge in Germany. They visited the cemetery with the Aasers, family friends who live in Worthington. The brother of Martin Aaser is buried in this cemetery. He died at the Battle of the Bulge. He died in an effort to preserve our freedom to vote today. These are two examples among millions in the history of the United States of people who have sacrificed so that we can vote in a free and fair election.

I hate war, but I do believe that I wouldn’t have been able to vote this morning without the service of many veterans.

When we vote today I hope our motivation is more than electing the people we want to lead our nation, state, county and city. I hope that through voting we can remember the people who have gone before us. Their sacrifice makes me tremble as I reflect on what is taking place across the United States today.

Teen Challenge at Chain of Lakes

2010-10-25T09:48:00.001-05:00

Yesterday our congregation was blessed to have one of the Teen Challenge choirs sing for us during worship. Between 15 and 20 men—they weren’t teens—came to Chain of Lakes to sing and to share personal testimonies during worship about their encounters with addiction.

Teen Challenge is a drug/alcohol rehabilitation program. The participants are all ages and all genders. The program is tightly structured, faith-based and residential. Teen Challenge serves people whom much of society has given up. Some of the participants who spoke at Chain of Lakes yesterday had been to prison multiple times. In some cases participants had the option of going to Teen Challenge or going to jail for a lengthy sentence.

The guys who sang for us were all dressed in white shirts and ties. They were respectful, courteous and thankful for the opportunity to sing at Chain of Lakes.

As these guys sang and shared their testimony I thought that they would be the people for whom Jesus has a special place in his heart. These guys had been beaten down by society; they had made choices that had gotten them into serious trouble. They were not innocent, but they deserved another chance. There’s no doubt in my mind that Jesus would give them another chance.

As these guys sang and shared their testimony I also thought that these are the people who don’t participate in church. They are a tough group to reach—it takes an extraordinary effort to reach them. Often we in the church know about folks who are suffering from addictions, but we don’t persevere in connecting them to our faith community.

I think Jesus would persevere. He calls us in the church to be relentless to reach the people whom we in the church often label as unreachable.

At the conclusion of worship yesterday I had the guys from Teen Challenge raise their hands towards us at Chain of Lakes; I had the people from Chain of Lakes raise their hands towards the guys from Teen Challenge. Then I asked everyone to repeat the Aaronic blessing:

“The Lord Bless you and keep you
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

This was one of my best moments of the week. The guys from Teen Challenge were blessing us; we were blessing them. It was a service of blessing where everyone's hearts were opened to the movement of the Spirit.

Thank God for Teen Challenge!! They are doing the work that we in the church need to persevere in doing.

Al-Anon starting at Chain of Lakes

2010-10-20T11:25:00.001-05:00

Last winter I visited Val Owens in her home in Anoka. She openly shared her story of living with an alcoholic husband and two alcoholic sons. Through her own participation in Al-Anon she found peace. Val has a special interest in Recovery ministry. Last May she helped organize Recovery Sunday at Chain of Lakes. That was a moving worship service where speakers shared their story of recovery from addictions. At the end of our visit last winter, Val told me that if we ever wanted to start an Al-Anon group she would be willing to do that. Tomorrow night is the first night for Al-Anon. The group will be meeting every Thursday night at the Lovell Office. If you are close to someone who has an addiction or if you suffer from co-dependency, I strongly encourage you to come to Al-Anon. Please keep this ministry in your prayers and also give a special thanks to Val for starting this group.

Attending Leadership Institute at Church of the Resurrection

2010-10-13T14:18:00.000-05:00

Last week two folks from Chain of Lakes Church and I attended the Leadership Institute in Kansas City that was put on by United Methodist Church of the Resurrection (COR). COR is the largest Methodist congregation in the United States. The church started in 1990 and today has approximately 14,000 members.

This is the fourth time I’ve attended Leadership Institute, and the first time I’ve brought people from the church I serve. At Leadership Institute COR literally opens up their church for outsiders to observe. Through large group presentations and workshops led by people at the church, we participants can learn almost anything we want to know about how COR does church.

I brought back too many ideas to share in a short blog, but let me share a few. In a workshop called, “CATCH: Attracting and Connecting Visitors” (and who doesn’t want to attract and connect visitors??) the leader encouraged every church to be clear about three questions. The questions are 1) Why do people need Jesus Christ; 2) Why do people need the church; 3) Why do people need this particular church. These are simple questions, but how a congregation answers these questions will help determine the character of the church’s ministry.

I was especially touched by a video that was shared by Sue Nilson Kibby who works at Ginghamsburg Methodist Church in Ohio. She had a video crew ask people the dreams for their lives. After the person shared their dreams, the person was asked what specific step he or she is taking to live out their dreams. Everyone interviewed answered the question by basically saying “nothing.” How sad it was to see people living with unfulfilled dreams. Seeing that video re-ignited my desire to help people to fulfill their dreams in their life. I’m going to share a sermon series later this month called, “Fulfilling God’s dreams.”

Steve Hawn from Hallmark gave a talk on the strategic decisions that Hallmark has made to change its company. Their research has revealed that people now spend an average of 18 hours a week on the Internet compared to three hours a week a few years ago. He said that this time has to come from other activities that people previously did. Their research showed that people spend less time in retail stores and less time in church.

Though this is disturbing, Hallmark is taking this change of environment to change its strategy. One of the objectives at Hallmark is “staying relevant in a changing world.” Three important steps towards change that he mentioned are 1) Establish a sense of urgency; 2) Rally people around the vision; 3) Create short-term wins. These steps are taken from John Kotter’s book “Leading Change.”

At the end of the conference we were encouraged to write on a sticky note three ideas that we want to implement in our local congregations. The above picture has the sticky notes that one group shared. My three ideas are:
1) Deepen community among young adults at Chain of Lakes
2) Give our Christmas Eve offering to an outside organization
3) Call people servants instead of volunteers.
We’ll see how the Spirit works at Chain of Lakes with these ideas!

Next year I’m hoping that we take a group of ten to Leadership Institute. I highly recommend the conference.

Leadership Institute in Kansas City

2010-10-06T20:46:00.001-05:00

Today two volunteers (Val Owens & Gary Wassam) and I drove to Kansas City to attend the Leadership Institute that United Methodist Church of the Resurrection provides.

Church of the Resurrection (COR) is the largest Methodist Church in the United States. For the past ten years they open up their church through this Leadership Institute. Participants can learn everything we want to about what COR is doing. Tonight the three of us attended a 5th grade mid week ministry called “Wile 1’s Ministry.” Approximately 125 5th graders gathered for mixers, games, big group presentation, and small groups.

This is the fourth time I’ve attended Leadership Institute. I’m especially excited that two others from Chain of Lakes have joined me. I’m doing my best at not attending any Continuing Education events without going with others at Chain of Lakes. Val, Gary and I have already talked more about with the church with each other (eight hour car ride!) than we normally do in a month. The conversation and fellowship that we’ve already experienced was already worth the journey.

For more information on Leadership Institute go to: cor.org

I’ll be taking a blog break until next week.

Using video in worship

2010-10-04T13:47:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we shared the first video during worship at Chain of Lakes Church. On Tuesday night another person from Chain of Lakes and I went to the local Cub Food. We had a video camera and microphone. As people walked in the parking lot I asked them if they would like to participate in an interview. I told them we were from a church and were doing interviews of people. I gave every person who agreed to do an interview my business card.

In a hour I talked to ten people. I started out by asking each person the following question, “If Jesus came up to you and said you could ask him any question about baptism, what question would you ask?” I went on to ask each person if they had been baptized, what they remembered about their baptism, does the church do a good job of teaching about baptism, and what baptism means to them. When the interview was done I asked each person if we could use the footage in our worship service. Every person said yes.

We ended up with thirty minutes of footage. The final video and the sermon I gave can be seen at: http://chainoflakes.blip.tv/file/4199495/

I’ve always wanted to use video in worship and expect that we’ll use more of it in the future.

Over time I fully expect that we will get pushback about using videos in worship. We Presbyterians do a poor job of using visual projection in worship. I would guess that some Presbyterian churches still don’t have a screen in their sanctuary. Off the top of my head I can’t remember ever watching a video in a Presbyterian worship service that the local congregation produced.

The question for me is “Are we willing to use the tools of the culture to advance the mission and ministry of our congregations?” My answer is an overwhelming , “Yes!”

I’m not in love with videos, or power point, or sound systems, or organs, or drums, or electric pianos, or any other piece of equipment that is in a church building or sanctuary. For me they are tools that lead to a more important purpose. If I thought we could advance our mission and ministry by doing jumping jacks in worship, I would do jumping jacks in worship. (For those of you who might have kvetched on that last sentence, don’t worry—I don’t think doing jumping jacks in worship would advance our mission and ministry.)

It’s ironic to me that we Presbyterians—who are so committed to transforming the world—are so unwilling to use the tools in our culture to advance our purpose.

Every piece of equipment in a church building was at one time something new. When Jesus lived he didn’t have a pulpit or a sound system, or an organ, or a piano, or cross, or a baptismal font, or a pew, or a bulletin, or videos. Everything listed in the preceding sentence was introduced into the church in order to advance the mission and ministry of the church at that time.

I believe that the mistake we Presbyterians have made is we have stopped adapting to our culture. And we forget that when we adapt we do it to serve a larger end.

What are your questions about baptism?

2010-09-28T12:13:00.005-05:00

One issue over which every preacher grapples is the starting place of their sermons. Do preachers let the questions, needs and interests of the congregation inform the themes of preaching or do preachers take a prescribed set of biblical readings and then apply them to their congregation?

I started out as a Lectionary preacher. I preached through the three year readings at least twice.

Over time I discovered that I was a better preacher when I let the questions, needs and interests of the congregation inform the themes of my preaching. I understand and have heard the arguments about the value of preaching from a pre-set lectionary. However I just think I am more faithful to the task of preaching when I share theme-based sermons—themes that come from the questions of the congregation.

This Sunday, October 3, we are celebrating the first baptism of a child at Chain of Lakes Church. We are focusing worship this Sunday around people’s questions regarding baptism. For the past two weeks I’ve encouraged folks at Chain of Lakes to submit the questions they have about baptism. “What question do you have about baptism that you have always wanted answered? What is a question about baptism that you’ve felt too shy to ask?”

I’ve received a wonderful and challenging set of questions. In the sermon (and if necessary in an enclosed sheet) I plan on sharing responses to every question.

So let me ask you—the reader of this blog—the same questions. What question do you have about baptism that you have always wanted answered? What is a question about baptism that you’ve felt too shy to ask?”

Please share your questions in the comment section of this blog, or send and E-mail to pastor@colpres.org.

To adequately respond to the questions, I need them by noon on Wednesday, September 29.

Don’t be shy—ask some tough questions!

The above picture was of the first baptism we celebrated at Chain of Lakes that took place on Easter Sunday.

Welcoming Joanne Shingledecker as Educator at Chain of Lakes!

2010-09-23T14:01:00.003-05:00

This past Tuesday night the Steering Committee hired Joanne Shingledecker to be our Children’s Ministry Director. Joanne will be starting with us on October 1. She currently serves on the staff of Presbyterian Church of the Way—she works 20 hours a week.

In my mind the hiring of Joanne completes our initial staff team. We are blessed at Chain of Lakes to have a top-notch Administrator in Jennifer Huehns, a top-notch Music Director in Kellie Burriss, and now a top-notch Children’s Ministry Director in Joanne Shingledecker.

Our Education team interviewed two quality candidates for the position. Joanne has extensive experience in Christian education. She has received certification as an Associate Christian Educator. She has worked on staff for Presbyterian churches whose memberships range from less than 200 to over 650. Her job at Chain of Lakes will be to continue to develop our Sunday School. The building blocks for our Sunday School were put in place by the work of Gary Wassam. Joanne will continue this work. Her task will not be to do the ministry, but instead will be to equip adults to lead this ministry. Our initial plans are for her to alternate between Church of the Way and Chain of Lakes on Sunday mornings. One Sunday she will be at Chain of Lakes and the next Sunday she will be at Church of the Way.

Besides serving as staff at Presbyterian Church of the Way, Joanne recently served as co-chair for the Special Needs Committee for the 2010 General Assembly and was director of Grand’s Camp for Presbyterian Clearwater Forest. She currently serves on the Disabilities Task Force of our Presbytery. She is very well connected with the Educator community within our Presbytery.

In her application for the job she shared the following:
“A successful church education program is led by volunteers. It is important, therefore, that the Christian Education staff have the ability to identify and encourage the development of abilities and gifts of volunteers. Both volunteer and the church benefit when contributions are made by those who have skills in the areas to which they are contributing. It is important that the staff person provide resources to teachers, program areas, and committee chairpersons in order to facilitate the work of volunteers.”

Having different churches employ the same staff person is one important model for churches to consider in the 21st century. Presbyterian Church of the Way has already been an important contributor to the development of Chain of Lakes Church. When I first started at Chain of Lakes I was willing to live in their parish house for free. Ward Sessing, a member of Church of the Way, currently chairs the Property Task Force—a group looking to secure property for Chain of Lakes Church. I look forward to the day when we at Chain of Lakes will contribute to the ministry and mission of Presbyterian Church of the Way.

I am thrilled that Joanne Shingledecker will be joining our staff team. I anticipate that she will make a dramatic impact on the formation of our educational ministries at Chain of Lakes Church.

A good way to honor a good man

2010-09-21T09:52:00.000-05:00

A special thanks to everyone who came to the plaque dedication this past Saturday for Jeff Gravon in front of the Worthington YMCA.

We weren’t able to get a lot of publicity out into Worthington about the event, so I was very pleased that about 30 people showed up. I was especially impressed by the large number of people who came from New Prague. I was touched that some of the players on Jeff’s team, Tim Dittberner, the current coach of the New Prague Boys Basketball team, and the athletic director from New Prague came. Their presence made the event even more special.

Dedicating this plaque was a way to celebrate Jeff’s commitment to youth, and it was a way to let go of the grief that many of us feel about his passing.

Jeff was a very private man. As we were sharing stories this past Saturday, I shared with the group that he would have hated having all of us talk about him in public. I think he would have also been pleased that a group of us were acknowledging the importance of committing ourselves to youth. If he knew that by honoring him we were honoring kids and youth, he would have been satisfied.

I hope that this plaque will inspire many of the adults who pass it to commit ourselves again to the youth and kids.

A special thanks to Any Johnson from the Worthington YMCA , to Wayne Klumper from Worthington, and to Audrey Peters for all they did to make the ceremony happen.
It was a good day to honor a good man.

Jeff Gravon Plaque dedication

2010-09-16T12:38:00.000-05:00

This Saturday, September 18th I will help dedicate a plaque at noon for Jeff Gravon in front of the Worthington YMCA.

Jeff was a childhood friend. He stood up for me in Amy & my wedding; I officiated his wedding. Jeff was passionate about youth. He passed away from cancer in January 2009. I officiated at both of his funeral services. When he died Jeff was the Boys Basketball coach at New Prague High School. His fight with cancer received some media coverage in the Twin Cities.

At the luncheon after his funeral in Worthington I started talking to some folks about dedicating a tree for Jeff in his memory. Over time the idea of dedicating a tree morphed into dedicating a plaque in front of the Worthington YMCA. Jeff spent much of his childhood at the Y. He spent his summer’s playing baseball on the ball fields at the Y. When he was older he did a lot of umpiring for the Y.

Jeff was one of the most competitive people I ever knew. He fought his cancer to his last breath. I shared the following story at his funeral and on the Jeff Gravon Memorial Facebook page. I remember when we played summer baseball in the YMCA rec league. I was not a good baseball player, but one game I was feeling it. I had three doubles. In the last inning Jeff came in as a relief pitcher for the other team. We had runners on second and third. I was at bat. He promptly beaned me. He beaned one of his friends in a summer baseball game, so that he could win. And they did win the game!!

You can check out some other beautiful stories on the discussion link on the Jeff Gravon Memorial Facebook page.

Jeff was one of the most dedicated fathers that I ever met. He would do anything for his children. One of his greatest sorrows was he didn’t get to see Jason, Danielle, Allison and Jordan grow up.

We’ll share some more stories about Jeff during the dedication on Saturday. A special thanks to the Andy Johnson from the Worthington YMCA, Audrey Parkhurst, Wayne Klumper, and the Gravon family for all they did to help set up this dedication.

If you are in the Worthington area this Saturday, come join us at noon.

Reflections on September Presbytery

2010-09-15T10:00:00.003-05:00

Yesterday afternoon and evening I joined other Presbyters at the Plymouth Presbyterian Church for the September meeting of the Presbytery of Twin Cities Area. Besides the “train ride” of a special meeting called in July, this was the first time the Presbytery had met since May. With all of the preparations involved in hosting General Assembly in July, I’m glad we didn’t have a regular meeting in July.

After I arrived I found a small space at a table and began hawking the recent newsletter from Chain of Lakes Church. Until our New Church Development charters, I plan on having some sort of display about Chain of Lakes at every Presbytery meeting. I enjoyed meeting and talking to many colleagues, sharing the recent successes we've experienced at Chain of Lakes, and in particular talking to some of the saints from Community Presbyterian in Plainview.

The meeting got interesting to me when Andy Lindahl, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Austin, shared his experience of serving on the Presbytery's Strategy Task Force—a group on which I also served. He very honestly and tactfully shared his skepticism about serving on the group. He admitted that he had not recently been involved in Presbytery work and was very tired of the infighting within the body. He compared his thoughts about serving to “the last session before a couple divorces.” He then told us that his participation on the Strategy group had connected him to the Presbytery again. He was excited about the document that our group had produced and was looking forward to seeing what came of it.

A little later David Lenz, pastor of Hope Church in Richfield, shared almost the same message. While serving on the Presbytery Council he had participated in a Retreat where the work of the Strategy work was shared. He shared that he felt welcomed into the process. He also honesty and tactfully shared the pain he had experienced from the Presbytery and then shared his hope about the future.

I was moved by both presentations—not “cut to the heart,” but most certainly moved. Experiencing the truth spoken in love with tact at Presbytery is a sign that life within our Presbytery is changing.

After dinner I moderated one of the small groups that discussed some of the Strategy Task Force's work. The one-page document can be found here: http://presbyterytwincities.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/PTCA-Strategic-Plan-08-26-10-PC-Mtg.pdf.

Our group of about 25 generally approved of the document that they read. The document received some push back by folks concerned about the lack of articulation about participating in the world. Some other folks were a bit concerned about the use of the word, “fearlessly” in the New Vision statement that the Strategy Group brought forward. Our statement was, “We fearlessly follow the HolySpirit into a changing world.” The word “fearlessly” is my favorite word in the document. For me it articulates the essential need for the Presbytery to take risks. Risk is something that many religious bodies have difficulty, something I've never understood for our leader, Jesus Christ, was one of the most fearless leaders in the history of the world. Having said that, I could see changing the word, “fearlessly” to “courageously.”

Dr. Cynthia Rigby, professor at Austin Theological Seminary gave the sermon. I missed her Pre-Presbytery talk on Calvin. She very beautifully exegeted Peter's sermon in Acts 2 and shared the nuanced differences between being moved and being “cut to the heart.” I was moved by her sermon, but soon brought back to reality when the business portion of the meeting was resumed right after the sermon was concluded.

How about a prayer, hymn or benedication to conclude worship?

I'm encouraged by the positive energy that is slowly percolating within our Presbytery.