Church

Last Sunday night at Elmwood was an interesting one for me; It was a unique, experience that I had never had within the walls of a church before. We had Choir practice.
Okay okay, so a lot of Churches of Choir practice, but usually those are churches that actually have a choir. No this took place during our normal meeting time and was a time to learn new songs.
I struggle with this, on one hand I think "We are giving up a time set apart for edification and growth so that we can learn how to support our voices by using our diaphragm". Also along those same thoughts were: "Is this inviting for a visitor, what would a visitor think if they walked in right now?" Most people don't know how to read music, or really care to, yet there is little help for them, because we don't have a piano to play out their notes so that they can follow along. Is a Sunday Night really the right time to learn a new song?
On the other hand, I really do appreciate singing new music and I think that it is good for the church to learn new texts etc. Especially when they are interesting tunes... I like interesting tunes.
So here I am at an impasse, on one hand, I think its kind of a waste of time to be learning new songs instead of, i don't know, having a class or something. On the other hand, if I think new songs are good and important, when do we learn those songs? Should we try to learn them on Sunday Morning? Wouldn't that make the church service, instead of class time, difficult?
Ideally I would like to find another way around this issue, perhaps a praise team (sitting, sitting, don't freak out on me!) would be helpful. People that are trained to sing and sing well could help guide the rest of the congregation through microphones. Or perhaps setting up a meeting on... a TUESday would be the right way to go about it, but we have small numbers on any day that isn't Sunday Morning as it is, I find it unlikely that many would participate if we had a "non-church" day as our meeting time.
Well, I'm pretty sure I don't like it, but on the other hand, perhaps it is the best option for this church at this time to learn new songs... but I still think a praise team would work better

In the Know

In the movie “The Man Who Knew Too Little”, Bill Murray portrays a man, “Wally”, who signs up to participate in an audience participation theatre, but, unbeknownst to him, gets involved in an actual adventure. He doesn’t know the guns are real, and the danger is imminent as he continues to believe that he is part of the show.

This knowledge, though comically misguided, changes the way that Wally reacts to the things that are happening to him. When he is in an extremely difficult situation he acts as if he were a secret agent, believing that no real harm can come to him since, after all, it is all just make- believe anyway. This idea intrigues me.

What if we all were part of an audience participation theatre? Would it change the way that you handled everyday interactions? Should it change the way that you see yourself, and others? Would we be more heroic? If everything were fake, would we be able to act in a manner in which, at the end of the day, everyone goes home happy?

The truth of the matter is that no, not everything is fake; we live in a very real place and time. But we do know something. Or perhaps, more accurately, we know someone.

As Christians, we have entered into a relationship with the creator and sustainer of the universe, the LORD of Heaven and Earth, and our ever-faithful father. But does this change us? Should it? The early church was encouraged by Paul to let their relationship with God change their lives.

In Galatians, Paul reminds his readers that their relationship with God means that they no longer act in the way that they used to when they were enslaved to other things “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods. Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits? How can you want to be enslaved to them again?” (Gal 4:8,9 NRSV)

Again, in Romans, Paul encourages his readers to turn away from sin “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin…. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:6,11 NRSV).

We have knowledge that can and should change our lives, drastically altering the way that we see God, those around us, and ourselves. Will we let this knowledge change our behaviors this week?

Other passages to consider: Eph 6:9 , Rom 5:1-5

Skills

The theme for this year’s camp at Spring Mill was “Whose Life is it Anyway?” and we discussed the importance of giving of our lives to God, since our lives belong to him already.

There was, of course, a time for the campers to write down the areas with which they struggled in their lives, and to give them to God. Many campers went to the front of the stage and dropped their cards in a black bucket. This was not really unexpected, as this is a common theme at many camps, youth rallys, and Sunday morning services.

However, later on in the week, the campers were invited once again to the stage to fill out new cards. Instead of writing down the things that they struggled with, the campers were asked to write down all of their skills and abilities that they were willing to give to God. Suggestions such as teaching and singing ability were present, but also offered as possible ideas were ability to work on computers and other “non-churchy” skills and talents. These abilities were offered to God along with the camper’s struggles.

I thought that this was a great idea, for a long time, it has been the mindset of many people that they really don’t have anything to offer to the church community. The simple truth is that you don’t need a degree in religion to be a fruitful member in the faith community. There are many things that the Church could really use some help in that Lee and I, though we have degrees, can’t do very well (It’s hard to believe, I know).

Do you like to organize? The library tends to get a little disorderly every couple of months. Do you like to cook? There are a lot of people that for one reason or another would appreciate an occasional meal (trust me; you do NOT want me doing that ministry). Maybe you like kids; offering free babysitting to members of the church (or to the community around you!!) so that the parents can go grocery shopping or have a night out is a great way to use your passions to help others.

This is also what we are attempting to do with the SHAPE program; we don’t want anybody to volunteer for something that they don’t really want to do; that makes it difficult on all parties involved. With a congregation the size of Elmwood, there are enough people, with enough different interests and passions that many things can be accomplished, simply by doing something you love to do, and would do anyway. Maybe you think you have a weird useless skill… maybe your skill is playing Parcheesi… maybe you could start a Parcheesi league and invite church members, and non-church members as a way to introduce people to Christian community. Everyone is important and everybody’s skills are valuable!

Christian Community

Community is an essential part of Christianity. Though there are times when being alone is an important part of a person’s spiritual journey, the Church is the dmode in which people travel the path of faith.

It seems that the early church in Jerusalem that each day was spent with other Christians in fellowship, in community (Acts 2:42-47) For better or for worse, that model has been forgotte, changed or replaced in America by weekly meetings and, perhaps, small group meetings.

I don’t believe that it is essential to be exactly limke the Jerusalem church to be a Christian community, there is not evidence from the letters to the other early churches that this was the general model to be followed by all Christians, but I do think that there is something very powerful within a caring, involved Christian community.

For so many people, church has simply become another social group that one can join. It has it’s dues, but it also has it’s benefits, ultimately though, it does not infiltrate the entirety of one’s life, but simply remains something that one is a part of.,

This is part of the reason that I love working with young people, both college-aged as well as teenagers. There is a growing trend amoung the youth of our nation(the sub-thirty crowd) that wants something more than just Sunday morning and Wednesday night. People that understand that things that are worthwhile cost something.

I am excited to begin working at the CSC, because here is a place that each and every day, Christians come together, not just for a scripture, a prayer and a rousing chorus of “Just as I am” (Not that any of those things are bad). It is a place where Christians can come together to just live life together, where they can experience each other’s lives, all the issues and the mess, the victories and blessing. A Place where people are loved

This is also why I love working with the youth group. During the summer, especially, teens tend to have a decent amount of time on their hands, and they often choose to share that with other members of the group, daily coming together to live life together.

This model is a powerful one, one which I think we could all benefit from. That is why I encourage all of us to build relationships with the people in the next pew. People that we have perhaps only seen on Sundays before, and invite them into our lives, into the dull and mundane, into the fun and exciting, and into the love of God.

Camp C.U.M.O.

This week many teens from the ECY will be at camp C.U.M.O. (Cincinnati Urban Mission Outreach). For those of you who do not know, the camp is run in large part by ECY and the youth group from the Withamsville Church of Christ in Cincinnati. This is the third time that ECY will be going to camp C.U.M.O. and we are all excited for this opportunity to serve others.

C.U.M.O., is a unique camping experience, for our youth, is not really a vacation for the teens, it is a lot of hard work, and requires a ton of patience. This camp is not created for the teenagers, instead the teens are asked to be the counselors to a whole crew of inner-city elementary school children.

This week of camp is not a walk in the park; it is taxing mentally, emotionally and physically as we try to wrestle with keeping all those kids under control as well as trying to fulfill our mission of helping those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Many of the teens going have been before, and know the challenges that lay ahead, yet they know that their presence in the camper’s lives means something very real to the campers. For some campers, this is the only week where they will eat three meals a day, and many of them will be safer at camp going down the zip line, then they would be in their beds at home.

This week is very important to the campers, not only is it a safe place, where there are three meals a day (which they love!) but it is also a place where they can learn about God. It is surprising how little many of these children know about God and Christianity, but this camp is a place where they can learn how to follow God.

This week’s theme is “Crossover”, it emphasizes the change that takes place when one becomes a Christian and there are three main points. “From one coach to another” teaches the campers that Christians follow God. “From one team to another” encourages the campers to work together and not be divided by worldly things. Finally “One Attitude to Another” reminds the campers that a Christian has a different attitude then non-Christians.

This week will be taxing, but rewarding for all of the camp’s volunteers, please remember them in your prayers as they empty themselves for others for the glory of God.