Trust

I had one of those "I can't believe how amazing our church is right now" moments after Clarence Gilge's funeral yesterday that I want to share with you.  It happened when I walked into the kitchen and saw several ladies of the church serving a meal to Clarence's family and friends.  That's nothing unusual in itself.  We've served funeral meals for years.  But as I saw this group of ladies working together and sharing stories and even smiling and laughing at certain moments, I realized how special this moment was.  They weren't smiling and sharing and sharing because they were related by blood, nor background, nor generation.  They were doing all this because:

A.  The tasks needed to be done.  And...

B.  Since they needed to be done, they might as well enjoy them and each other.

An unusual wave of feeling swept over me as I surveyed them working...a warmth of sorts. Then I realized that the feeling stemmed from the deep trust I had in them, individually and as a group.  I don't just mean trust that they would do a good job with the meal and the dishes.  Most people could do that.  I realized when I felt the spirit in that kitchen that I trusted them with anything...this more or less random group of Genesee Lutheran Parish ladies who had come together on that day.  If a person came in need of assistance, I would trust this group to help them.  If a person came wanting to know who God was and what faith was about, I would trust these ladies to show them.  If Derek or Ali got left behind at church somehow, I would trust these folks to take care of them as long as needed.  Anything that was required, spiritually or in service or whatever, I believe these ladies could and would do. And they'd do it in a way that would well represent God, our church, and our faith.  I'm glad I was present, but I didn't have to be present, watching out for everyone to make sure they got the right experience of God here.  Everyone was already in great hands.

That's a priceless feeling.  I probably could have felt it before with other groups, but there always seemed to be a sense that it was more important to get the task done "just so" or to make sure the forks were put away in exactly the right drawer.  With this group of people now right or wrong, left or right don't matter as much as being together and serving well.  In other words we don't care about jobs or things (in the kitchen or out) as much as we care about people and service and being together in God's name.  That's why I felt I could trust these ladies with anything, anytime, anywhere and with anyone who came to them.

Having enough faith and trust in each other and God to operate like this is a powerful statement.  Thank you to everyone who served yesterday for showing us that.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Our First New Social Event!

Just a reminder that our first new-style social event happens this Sunday at the Parkins residence!  Jennifer and Rich are hosting a St. Patrick's Day dinner at 4:00 on Sunday afternoon.  Let her know if you can come and if you can bring anything!

What makes this event "new"?  Well, it's not one of our super-organized, church-wide affairs like the Spring Tea or Summer Camp-Out.  It's not based at church or organized by me like movie or game nights (which you'll see coming up too).  Jennifer and Rich are inviting their church family to get together and hang out on their own.  They just let us know so we could announce it, but it's them inviting us to gather for an event they think is fun...all on their own!

We hope that more people will start doing this kind of thing, figuring out what they'd like to do and then hosting an event.  Everybody has different interests.  Different people will come for different things.  If several of us host events not only will we cover more bases socially, we'll all get to know each other better.

It doesn't have to be fancy or formal.  We'd just like to know what you think is fun and whether you'd consider inviting church folks over to do it with you.  Something to think about as you make your way to the Parkins' awesome dinner Sunday!

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Social Events!!!

Our social committee folks met last Sunday to plan the year's social gatherings.  The purpose of these events is to let us get to know each other in a context outside of worship but still connected to God and the love of our neighbors.  One of the hard things about my job is that I get to see how wonderful and excellent all of you are but you don't always get to see that in each other. Social gatherings allow us that extra vision that turns fellow church members into friends and part of our faith support system.

At the top of our social list are our four Big Events.  These are meant to be church-wide and we hope many, many people will come.  They are:

• A spring tea for women of the church and community in May
• A congregation-wide camping outing in June
• Our fall harvest party
• Caroling, chili, chocolate, and cookies in December

These events will be planned, organized...a big deal.  They are already posted on the big bulletin board in the St. John's Fellowship Hall.  We need people (individually or in pairs) to organize each event.  Organizing includes determining an exact date, place, and time for your event, figuring out what we're doing and how we're doing it, and letting Pastor Dave and the council know so we can get people to help you.  Organizing does NOT mean you have to do everything, just plan and tell us what we can do to make a memorable event.

Once they're planned and announced, we'd like to make these events a big deal.  Please plan on coming and hanging out with your church family!

Besides those four Big Events we also have a variety of other ways to come together.   Unlike the Big Events, these are just come-as-you-are.  Anybody who is interested can participate!

1. We're going to hold periodic game and movie nights where you can just drop in and have fun.  Some will be for all folks together, others for families, others for folks of certain ages. 
2. We're going to hold special fellowship hours, particularly during the summer months.  We'll have ice cream, do a barbecue, have hot lunch...things to make fellowship more varied every once in a while.
3. We're going to have a church-wide ornament-making project during fellowship hour in the late fall.  We'll provide blank ornaments which everybody in church can decorate.  They'll go on our Christmas tree, plus we'll have enough blank ones extra that new members can make one as they join the church.
4. We're also going to encourage drop-by events hosted by people from church.  Basically we're asking people to identify something they'd like to host at their home or church and just go for it!  Invite the church family, see who else thinks it's fun.

The first drop-by event is going to be hosted by the Parkins Family at their house.  It'll be a St. Patrick's Day dinner and party on Saturday, March 17th.  Jennifer will let us know the details.

If you'd like to host a fun evening doing something you love, let me know.  We'll coordinate events so we don't get too stacked up.

I'm sure when the folks interested in Evangelism meet on the evening of March 4th they'll be quick to say that these events--big ones or drop-by's--are great ways to introduce people to our church family and faith life.  Don't be shy about bringing friends!

Thanks to all who helped plan our social direction for the year.  Everybody else can give them help by planning, helping to host/lead, or just showing up when an event comes around!

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)