by Jason Byassee
Jason Byassee
You know how ministers in movies begin every wedding by addressing the congregation as “dearly beloved”? (we don’t do this in Methodist liturgies, but bear with me). That’s actually an ancient church practice of addressing all who come to church as “beloved,” that is, adored, by God. I often feel like addressing you this way, but it’d sound like something from a hackneyed film. I’m going to try it anyway:
Dear Ones Adored By Christ,
I’d like to tell you about two new initiatives at our church. One is our First Face ministry. Another is support for seminary students. Both are crucial and I ask for your prayer and support for each.
One, First Face. We had a consultant visit our church recently who approached our church like a guest would on a Sunday morning to show us how we do at welcoming. He suggests we spend a great deal more time and energy on our guests. We are good at being welcoming–none of us is here who wasn’t welcomed warmly by someone else (folks not warmly welcomed simply don’t come back, let alone join). But we may have placed less emphasis on this than we should recently. Folks on our welcoming team feel like they’re taking their turn at a chore that not enough people help with. And too many doors and hallways look empty, and so uninviting, as folks arrive Sundays.
What if instead we saw the chance to welcome new people as a chance to meet the risen Christ? “Greet every visitor as Christ,” St. Benedict charged monks and nuns in the 5th century–and they were people who wanted to get away from the world! Genesis 18 is an Old Testament example of Abraham and Sarah offering hospitality to strangers and only learning later that their guest is the mysterious Lord of the universe. Hebrews 13 charges us to treat guests as angels. Every person who approaches our church is here for a reason–sometimes a heart-breaking one. They have had something in their life change that sends them searching. A greeter or usher gets to be the face of Jesus for that person. Someone has been praying hard that this meeting goes well. The next step depends on you–your warmth, your reception of them, whether you’ve prayed beforehand. Through 1000 unspoken messages they’ll detect whether they’re welcome here and whether you’re excited to see them.
Susan Jones and Johnny Carson are leading an effort to improve how our church does with the 1500 guests we receive each year. We need more people in more places ready to receive guests. Expect us to call on you from the microphone, in personal conversation, through your Sunday School class. This is an all-hands-on-deck mission critical priority (as Johnny puts it!).
The second ask is to help support the seminary students on our staff. This may seem strange–don’t pastors show up ready-minted, educated and ready to go? Often yes, but those pastors who have risen through our ranks have not. Colette, Luke, Andy, and Vern were each hired by Boone Methodist for a specific ministry area. As their competence and confidence has grown so has their fruitfulness. Colette finishes her coursework at Duke for her master’s degree in September and walks in May. There is a reason our confirmation service was our best ever last April: Colette is a better children’s minister than ever. And her schooling is the reason why. Vern is studying at United Seminary in Ohio for a degree he has to have as a local pastor. Luke is at Asbury and Andy is working on the same MACP degree at Duke as Colette. Each is growing into who God calls them to be, and each will show greater fruitfulness for years to come on our staff. Brandon Wrencher, our new pastor at Blackburn’s Chapel, is finishing his degree at North Park in Chicago. He and the others have received support from both Methodist Men and Staff-Parish. I’m asking that we all support them further.
You will hear more about specific ways to do this shortly. If you feel compelled to give now, a check designated to “seminary support” would be a great way to do so. I know what it is like to come out of college in debt. Because of this, I have gifted my wedding honoraria this summer to the new seminary scholarship fund. Thank you for continuing to support our staff as they challenge us all to grow closer to Christ.