The opening salutation from Paul in writing to the members of the Church in Colossae (Colossians 1:3-10) reflects how I feel about Mt. Zion Church. There we read these words: "In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. ?For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God." Hopefully that is every pastor's prayer. (I know it is of both Cathy and myself.)
Fruit, acts, deeds-born and done because of faith in Jesus Christ is the hallmark of the Christian Church. Mt. Zion probably best exemplifies and manifests our faith in the way we do the mission given us by the Lord himself. Always we must say that we could do better, but we do well, and I'm very pleased of the mission understanding and mindset of our congregation. It is a sign of our maturity of faith and trust in God.
BUT, or I should probably say, "AND", we have 2 very important things to do for ourselves right now. The first is a proposed re-writing of our Constitution, and the addition of By-Laws for Mt. Zion Church. Dave Firestone, Michael Maletz, Jim Groff, Jen Cooper, Jon Louis and Ed Blankenstein have worked for more than a year researching and studying documents from other churches, and determining what our congregation wants/needs in these foundational documents. With the help of attorney & friend, Jonathan Nase, (who donated many hours of time to correctly state, mold and shape our thoughts) and some minimal input from the congregation (there should have been a much greater participation in the "congregational chat" October 22nd!) this task force has created a set of fine documents for Mt. Zion. Every member should acquire a copy and read it critically. Both documents are intentionally not easy to change! And there ARE some substantive changes, most of which were aired during the "chat". These documents will be presented for adoption by the congregation during a congregational meeting Sunday, November 26th beginning at 9 a.m. IF adopted "as is" Mt. Zion Church will change radically.
The second thing we need to do for ourselves RIGHT NOW is to identify a treasurer for our church. Nancy Kinard is retiring from that position after 32+ years of voluntary ministry. (I'll deal with that issue another time.) We NEED a treasurer beginning January 1, 2007. Basically the treasurer's job is to pay the bills of the church in a timely fashion, including payroll, to keep the financial records of the church (not contributions or income), and to present reports monthly to Church Council, and annually to the congregation. We have a computer program to assist with this ministry, and we can arrange for the treasurer to work from home. The treasurer is no longer involved in the counting of our offerings each Sunday. It is estimated that this ministry might require 4 to 6 hours per month. We NEED to know who this treasurer will be by the congregational meeting November 26th so we have the month of December to make the transition. IF no member comes forward to answer this need we MAY (probably will!) be forced to outsource this portion of our ministry, and pay to have it done. That would most assuredly cost thousands of dollars that would be better invested in the mission of our church.
As of this writing (October 24th) we have neither a candidate for this position NOR money allocated in our 2007 budget to pay for the service. I'm eager to learn who God will raise up!
Please keep your church and your pastors in your prayers. Here's a closing disconnected (maybe!) thought. On the bulletin board above the computer in my office I've got this thought: "If you KNOW Jesus you will, over time become: a person with deeper faith, a person with greater love, and someone possessing a larger hope." I share that thought because faith is dynamic?ever changing, ever growing, ever challenging.
In Christ's love,
Jim