Boy, that escalated quickly!

Less than two months ago, my congregation started offering Communion every week… kind of.

We usually offer the Sacrament on the second and fourth Sunday of the month. Starting December 1, we began offering “after-service Communion.” Basically, after everyone was dismissed from the sanctuary, we offered Communion to anyone who wanted to stick around. It’s proven to be somewhat popular, with roughly a third of the congregation sticking around to receive the Sacrament.

I mentioned the numbers at the last church council meeting, and the president suggested I bring it up for discussion at our congregational meeting. Bring what up for discussion? Why, simply offering the Sacrament every single week as part of the worship service. I had planned on waiting at least another quarter before doing anything like that, but sure. Why not?

So today it was brought up at the congregational meeting.

And the congregation, by show of hands, said that for the next quarter they want to try offering Communion every week. Not a single person spoke or voted against it.

Just… wow, that was fast! In the course of two months we went from no one mentioning anything to me about wanting the Sacrament more often, to the congregation deciding it was worth trying to offer it weekly. Starting a week from today.

There’s some kinks to work out, like who is setting up and cleaning up after, how it will effect the flow of the service (the congregation doesn’t want to give up the different feel of non-Communion liturgies we use), and the like.

That said, we’ll be embarking on this experiment rather quickly. I’m both excited about it and a little nervous. This shakes things up here in a way I wasn’t expecting!

But in a good way.

After all, more of the Sacrament, more of the forgiveness you can taste and see, more of Jesus given out, that’s a good thing, you know?

Anyway.

Just wanted to share the surprising result of today’s congregational meeting!

Highlights from a Christian Leadership Conference

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This week I attended a fantastic conference on Christian leadership. I’m not going to produce a full write-up of all the things I experienced, but I’d like to put together a list of highlights from my notes. If you want to know more about any of the notes I provide, just comment below and I’ll see if I can flesh something out!

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Right in the middle of the word “encouragement” you’ll find the word “courage.” When you encourage, you are giving courage to another person.

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How should the lay leader-clergy relationship look? It should look different in every congregation. It should vary depending the function and the individual mission work of every congregation.

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A congregation should be pastor fed, lay led.

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Leadership means being willing to take a risk for the good of the Gospel.

Bracing

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So. There’s an awful lot of people going around these days, aren’t there? Like, I just spent two weeks with allthepeople, and I’m pretty much done with them. I mean, I love people, and every single minute I was with people was worth it. No question. Standing beside hospital beds and encouraging the despairing is worth it. But let’s just say my introvert batteries are running more than a little low.

Tomorrow’s Sunday, but typically the joy of worship carries me through. It’s a chance to praise Jesus and help others grow closer to him, and that usually sustains me, at least until I get home Sunday afternoon. And then, well nap time!

But then.

This week, my church body is having a huge conference. I’m going to spend four days with allthepeople. It’ll be joyous. I’m looking forward to it, honestly. I’m going to learn a lot, see old friends, and generally have a great time.

But I’m also going in with low batteries.

Growth Happens

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Today my church president and I argued. We each argued with a lot of passion. We did not come to agreement.

…and I’m ok.

This is a change.

A few years ago I was in a very different situation, and it would have left me not just physically shaking, but running the situation over and over. And over. To the point of physical illness. I well could have spiraled into a depressive episode. I’d be vilifying him in my mind. I would not be able to let it go.

Today was very different. When we parted ways, we were laughing. We shook hands. We hadn’t come to agreement, but it was clear that it wasn’t going to tear us or the church apart.

What happened?

Glorious Tears

“Behold a host, arrayed in white,
Like thousand snow-clad mountains bright;
With palms they stand. Who is this band
Before the throne of light?”

And I can’t sing. The congregation is singing. I can hear them sing. But my voice won’t work. My lips won’t move. My breath isn’t functioning.

“These are the saints of glorious fame,
Who from the great affliction came
And in the flood of Jesus’ blood
Are cleansed from guilt and blame.”

I preached that when we hurt at Christmas, we can look to the Child born to us and know that God knows our pain. And he doesn’t just know our pain. He has lived and died and lives again to take our sins from us. To give us heaven. To give us a home where there is no more weeping or mourning or pain.

Where this order of things has passed away.

Just answer the question.

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I’m gonna vent here for a moment, if you don’t mind.

So, I wrote a few weeks ago about this new experiment we’re doing with Communion. Read the original post. It’s been going well; that seven of the first time was the smallest group so far.

As part of what I do for that mini-service, I share a brief devotion. It really is brief; two minutes max. It’s really there to help us all refocus on worship, and get our heads back in the game after a good ten, fifteen minutes away.

So far, the devotions I’ve led have gone well. I’ve shared Law and Gospel from God’s Word, pointing to the Sacrament.

However, I also know I want some help. I’d heard that “back in the day” in Lutheran congregations like mine, if you were going to participate in Communion on Sunday, you had to “Announce” to the pastor. Basically, you had to stop by the office and let him know you wanted Communion on Sunday. He’d use the opportunity to see how you were doing and, I’m told, share a short devotion, usually focusing on the Sacrament.

So I hied me to a Lutheran pastor’s private group on Facebook I’m active on. I asked if anyone had a book of such devotions handy I could borrow or look for on Amazon. Of course, I explained why I wanted it.

A lot of people liked the post. A number loved it. A few commented.

No one helped me find a book of devotions or gave me tips on where to look for them.

Instead, all the comments let me know I shouldn’t bother with devotions.