by Jason Byassee, March 21, 2014
Jason Byassee
I long for the day when the first question I get at church isn’t, “So how are you feeling?” I have been moved to see the church care for me and my family through back surgery and a stomach bug. But in an effort to change the subject, let me tell you what else is going on these days at Boone Methodist.
First: we are going to overhaul our audio/visual system throughout the campus, starting with the family life center, then the sanctuary, then the chapel. This will be expensive (some $200,000), but it is long overdue. You will start to see new equipment in Crossroads within three weeks. I learned (from another doctor visit!) this week that I have above-average hearing. And despite this, I often cannot hear in the sanctuary. If you sit under the balcony in the sanctuary you can hardly hear a thing. The chapel is worse still–outfitted essentially with car stereos that are past their prime. When Sarah Strickland sought to have music played at an event in our family life center recently, nothing happened. When this overhaul is over, any leader who asks for a song or video as part of worship will be able to be confident it will work. I am especially grateful to Buck Roberts of Selah Media here in Boone who will do this overhaul for us, to Alan Herman who led a task force to decide between five bidders, and to our new member and leader Doug Kaufman who will project manage it for us.
Second, this has been a busy season of missions for us. Our Guatemala team has recently returned with wonderful photos and videos you can see on our church’s Facebook page. Luke Edwards and Colette Krontz have planned a family mission trip for us for this summer to Cherokee. In each of these places and on each of these pilgrimages, Jesus works powerfully and lives are changed there and here.
Third, we have some Sunday School additions you should know about. Jonathan Allen, one of our most terrifically talented teachers, has launched a new Sunday School class called Oasis aimed at age 18 to parenthood. We find that the key differentiator isn’t so much calendar years as it is stage of life, and folks pre-kids have more in common than folks with kids. A Lenten study upcoming will be offered by Natasha Schoonover in the conference room starting March 23 on bodies–the body of Christ, and our bodies. And on April 6th and May 4th we’ll have special offerings in the chapel–Brandon Wrencher, our new pastor at Blackburn’s, and Lindsey Long, our outgoing one (sniff!) will brief us on the staggeringly beautiful work they’re doing in Todd on April 6. On May 4 George Thompson, our former pastor, will teach in the Sunday School hour and offer a reception and book signing at 2 pm. We also have a new online Sunday School option for which you can peruse courses here: https://www.churchnext.tv/school/catalog/ and let pastor Jason know which you’d like to try. Lent is a time for new commitments, and joining one of these Sunday School classes would be a great way to be filled with more of Jesus.
Finally, in worship we have begun a new series on Treasure that will run through Easter. Vern Collins in Crossroads and I in the sanctuary will preach through brief texts from the gospels on what we really treasure. Please continue vigilantly with what you’ve given up for Lent–we will collect an offering for missions on Easter. Read the devotionals on the Facebook page and website or in the booklets in the chapel. Please also feel invited to join our Stephen Ministers in a First Friday Fast–they give up a meal on the first Friday of the month, and when they feel hunger they turn it to prayer. What a great season–to redirect all our hearts Godward.
Which is what the church is for in the first place.