How Do Things Grow and Change Here?

(Written for the September 2014 Wayland UMC ARK newsletter)

Good morning and God bless you. I don’t remember if I asked all these questions in the introductory meeting Beverly and I had with the Pastor Parish Relations Committee in March, but they were part of my preparation:

• What is ready to happen here?
• What are you on the verge of, that with encouragement and blessing you can enter into?
• How do things grow and change here?

These are questions not only for Committees, but for all gatherings of this Body of Christ including our worship. I feel positive momentum building in creatively working with our Worship Team and education leaders as we enter the fall season of ministry.

One approach to these questions about growth and change is through the Biblical themes of fruit and fruitfulness. “We believe the Bible begins and ends with an image of fruitfulness and that Scripture throughout leads us to conclude that churches as the body of Christ on earth, are intended by God to be fruitful” (Weems and Berlin, Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results, 1).

Another insightful author encourages us to be patient and keep moving in fruitful directions.

"The skill that seems most essential for such leaps is a certain feel for ripeness. It is having the patience to abide the growing season and develop a subtle sense of touch and the understanding that whatever the outcome of risk, of letting go of the tree, the point is always the moving on of life” (Gregg Levoy, Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life, 252).

Together let’s seek the Spirit’s fruit for our ministry to serve as a beacon for Christ in our community. Together let’s notice what is ripe and ready to be received and used in God’s service.