Ministry at its best

Last night before I went to the Finance meeting for planning the church budget, Erik prayed for a fun meeting. If my eyes had been open, they may have rolled. I didn't think it would be fun to figure out the budget. It is an arduous process at best. So, I headed out, on time, but reluctant. Just this week in the sermon on hope, Zachariah was reluctant to receive hope. He had prayed for a son, but didn't believe when the Angel showed up to tell him the results of the prayer. Zachariah was struck speechless. I could have been too as I left for the meeting, but it was fun. We had a wonderful and productive meeting. God did not render me speechless, and we witnessed the activity of God as we prepared our budget for 2013. We have joy all around us. We are able to really live out the faith when we join together in all the gifts of this Christmas season. Peace, hope, and joy, are available. We can even pray to have fun and God answers prayer. What a gift to serve in a place where God is at work and we can experience the light and love of Christmas in the midst of all we do.

Advent Retreat

Peace, grace, and joy were the words to describe this time away. Erik keeps reminding me that when we are the busiest, these are the best times to take a break. Advent can become a very busy season in the church, filled with lots of hustle and bustle. Shopping, services, parties, planning, all rush in with the season pressing ever earlier on our lives. Charge conference adds to the clutter as well and by the time I was on my way to the retreat I was really tired. As soon as we turned on to the dirt road the retreat began. My mind began to relax into the rhythms of God. We prayed at Vespers with singing joyful nuns. We entered the Psalms and stayed there for a while. We ate a delicious simple meal, we prayed again and by eight o'clock I was asleep-- rest, quiet, peaceful rest. When the alarm sounded at 4:15am I was ready to rise. Awake, ready to pray, no coffee. The prayers reminded me that we sleep through what God is up to sometimes, but we can join in if we set our minds and bodies to do so. Prayer, breakfast, prayer, communion and prayer, simple work in the morning, prayer, lunch prayer. The days went on in this rhythm. I started to relax and let God speak to me. Naps are really wonderful when you get up at 4:15 in the morning. The time was well spent. In the abbey, we could tell that it was Advent all week. The candle of peace was lit several times while I was there. Scriptures and sermon titles came easily after just a bit of reading. Letting God have my full attention for these few days was the best advent present for us all. Prayer kept me connected to the concerns of our church too. The break was much needed and the blessings were abundant. When you are the most busy is the best time to take a break. The break was sweet, and home is even sweeter when we come back gentled. God's peace be with you, and with your soul.

Welcoming

Yesterday's sermon was very intense. It all started a few months ago when I chose the selected verses for the first year of sermons I would preach in Berthoud. I wanted to preach the basics. The core values of how I have come to understand God. So, I picked the passage about Ruth for welcome. The section in which, Boaz gives Ruth a better than usual reception. A few weeks ago, in the same way, I had chosen to preach about the love of God. The love Paul talks about in Romans, a love which is so permanent and lasting that nothing can separate us from it. This prompted a visitor to meet with me. He wanted to know if he might be welcome in our community. Would that love of God be extended to him if he came to our church? I hoped so, but didn't know for sure; he wanted to be free to attend church not hiding the fact that he is gay. I shared this need with the church yesterday. Amidst a tense subject there surfaced many who responded with welcome. A deep heartfelt peace came over me as I received voice after voice inviting and welcoming all. We have all had many discussions since the sermon, some via email, others in person, and some yet to be. We will continue to be stretched by the challenge that God presents to us in the story of Ruth. Will we welcome the ones who need the unfailing love of God? Will we be the ones who reach beyond the cultural and religious lines to extend the grace of God? I am praying for God's guidance as we go forward into uncharted territory. As we continue to be the Christ like examples God has asked us to be, may the circle of welcome grow and thrive in our midst.

Thanksgiving

Gratitude is just around the corner. We are gearing up to be uber thankful for the next month. How does this change how we are in relationship with others? Interestingly, we hope not too much. We hope that our gratitude continually regenerates and doesn't peak during the month of November. Alas, like many of the seasonal changes around us we are indeed extra grateful in November. So, why not just relish this time when people are extra giving and caring. Instead of waiting for everyone to "go back to normal" how about we cease this opportunity to be grateful and recognize the extra grace in others too. I am glad for this seasonal reminder to count our blessings, share with others, and thank God for all that we have. I hope you will join me in this great appreciation for our wonderful American tradition of Thanksgiving and thankful living.

As I sit at my very messy desk, I am thinking about the many years I have been in ministry in some way or another. The fall of my Junior Year of College, I was heading into ministry in a unique way. I would drive to two small churches each Sunday. One with three people and the other with seven or eight. Soon after I stopped serving those churches, one turned from a church into a building. My name was on the Missouri Conference Website as being the pastor for a long time after I was gone and the church had seen its last sermons. The church can be slow to awknowlege death. To recognize reality. While I know that there have been countless sermons, funerals and weddings, what else does it take to be faithful in ministry? What does it take to move a church from where we are to where God wants us to be? While at Lee's Summit, I watched as Pastor Jeff led people from where they were to where they are now. From a small church with 125 in worship to a flourishing church with close to a thousand in worship each weekend. He helped them see what was uncomfortable about where they were and where they needed to go. Now they send missionaries all over and do lots of worship, ministry, and have a growing youth program, families, and parking issues. Ministry changes, and settings change. Places where I pray for congregations take different shapes. The ideas about how to do ministry better keep being presented at conference after conference. Yet, all the time I have invested in the course of ministry (twelve years) does not prepare me for what is ahead. What is ahead, and what will be the outcomes of my service to God in this place? God, lead me in your ways. Help me to learn from the past and look to the future. Thank you for the ways you have paved for blessings in this place. Let me pave new ways for those who will come after me. With your help, Pastor Emily Hagan

Amazed and Grateful

Today I sit in my new office. Erik is my husband. We have a new apartment. Life is sooo good. Yesterday was not as good of a day. Sat at the Driver's License place a long time only to discover you must change your name with the Social Security place first. Yesterday was also a day for the plumber to come snake the pipe through the whole back yard to get some roots out of our Canon City house. Thank goodness for Jack and Janet being able to be there to oversee the whole project. So, from moment to moment we don't know how life will be. We are all given challenges that we can handle. We are gifted with people to serve and things to do. I hope that in these moments, the tedious and the fantastic, that God is glorified. I am so grateful for this day. I am glad for my life and trust that God is working in and through every bit of it. Grace and peace, Pastor Emily

Visiting from House to House

I take visiting house to house quite literally. In Rye, I had a special name for it. I would go on “Shadow days” with my congregation. I would visit where they worked. After the visit, I would often incorporate my findings about life into sermons. The admonition to visit from house to house is important. There are ways to adapt the charge for today. Offering people “Shadow days” gave them the opportunity for me to join them in whatever part of life they wanted me to see.

One couple invited me to go with them to their family reunion. The reunion itself happened only once a month over the mountain. It was the first time I had been in the community I would serve three years later. We had a great meal, the family welcomed me and talked with me about their own churches. It was a great visit, even if a long day. The memories of times like that stick with people.

Sometimes people allowed me to shadow them at work. A few times I went to job sites I wouldn’t be able to have seen without tagging along with my parishioners. I remember one time going with a trucker to pave a road. When I see the dump trucks all lined up to “belly dump” their loads, it gives me great joy. I think of how much more I am connected to the actual life of people than I may have been without these experiences. Welding a bead, seeing the waste management treatment plant, these are a few of the ways I have met with people one on one in their own worlds.

Visiting from house to house has been one of my delights. Over all, there is a sense of God’s spirit, and the conversation comes naturally. It is pastoral care for the people we serve, but it is healing too for the people who visit. I have started in my new ministry setting, going with someone to visit. Somehow these visits seem better, more like the body of Christ. Sharing communion with lots of people instead of just one. Yet, there are times, when people can speak more openly during one on one visits.

Over all, visitation is important. The new rules of call before you come, or maybe the old rules we forget to use, help everyone not to waste time. The call at the beginning of the week helps people expect something good later in the week. There is benefit to everyone.

My ministry is shifting now. The church has come to a financial point where sustaining two full time pastors is too much for the budget. Together with the church, the senior pastor, and lots of prayer, I have chosen to decrease my time to ¾ time. This shift means for me that I will no longer, at this time, visit from house to house in the same way. Visitation will shift to a responsibility for the mission team. It is a challenge to know that visiting from house to house is a gift of mine, a charge of ordination, and yet, a ministry that can be shared. Maybe, people will miss my visits, but it wouldn’t be people outside the church. All in perspective.

God, as we visit from house to house, warm our hearts. Touch our lives. Give us the memories that keep us smiling. Teach us how to love one another. Let us be the body of Christ, Amen.