Church

What fun!

In a call back to a previous life, I ended up face-to-face with some real enjoyment.

First, I used a library program to catalogue some books from our church library.  Flooding back were memories of tags, subjects and Library of Congress.  The software performed well.  I wish I could say the same for myself.  It took me awhile to catch on.  But in the end, things come back, like riding a bicycle.

Second, this afternoon I was headed over to look at some archives.  A very-shirt-tail relative, C.W. Baker’s store was demolished this week.  Some of the unique items have been kept by Richard Jones.  The grandson will be in town next week.  I was asked to meet with Richard before he arrived, and see what was there.  Some letters, pictures, a store sign.  Great to see, feel, smell the scent of history!

So, that’s a day.  That makes a day for me!  Oh, and I took some time off, played bass guitar, ate another wonderful meal prepared by my wife, met some of our youth out on a scavenger hunt, received two new laptop computers, and reviewed by Sunday sermon.

Not a bad day!!

In our small part of the world, Saskatchewan, we are voting!  Voting for a provinical government.

Our constituency has five candidates.  None of them is a standout — in other words, there is no real buzz going around.  If anything, the only thing is tradition.  The Saskatchewan party has held this riding for years. No one else is expected to win.  So, I guess you don’t need much in the way of buzz — the bee is already in the hive (metaphorically speaking).

I checked on the riding where my daughter will be living.  One of my friends is running.  He’s a former youth pastor, great musician and all round fun guy!  The buzz there is that the NDP will win.  I’ll be interested to see if Kevin Shaiach comes in a close second.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if at the end of the day there was an upset.  Sometimes buzz is just that!  The substance is in the final poll!

In the life of the church in North America we move from one "fad" to the next.  In the 80’s and 90’s we were into "worship".  A very proper concern.  As we moved past the original innovators, we began to deal more with style than with the essence of worship.  Wars began to emerge — traditional music vs. contemporary.  Liturgy vs. free form.  Just enough differences to make life unbearable for some.  The exodus began while some people flooded into local churches.  While I think of it, the charismatic movement was probably a reflection of the same sort of "faddishness" as the Holy Spirit was emphasized.

Now, we are moving into the missional wars.  The need to reach out to our neighbour next door has been strongly stressed, and rightly so.  But now we are considering what programs best fulfil this desire.  Is it Alpha, or H20 or lifestyle or emergent or . . . ?  In the end what you have is vying for programs and not for the essence of mission.

What is my fear?  Over the commandment to go into all the world, we will divide over style, once again.

Am I seeing things rightly?

Today I answered a call.  The name was familiar, but not one our group of friends from around Kindersley uses. 

This person has not been in regular contact for around five years.  She moved to another town and we had intermittently talked — but probably not for the past two years.

Her voice was immediately recognizable.  That’s what happens when you’ve gotten to know someone well.  We laughed and joked a bit, and then got down to discussion.

Apparently she is becoming disillusioned with her church.  A bit of theology here, relationships there, and I suppose some wearing down over time.

We talked, or rather — she talked.  She needed to vent.  She cried and explained and remained coherent.  I felt a deep ache for her.  I empathized and will pray for her. 

I am reminded that years of time does not lessen bonds developed over time.  For that I am thankful.  Perhaps some day it will be my turn!!