Dear Church:

Last Sunday was full of surprises! Denny Gross and his “Snort Blaster” communicated precious spiritual truth about how Jesus is the way we discover who God is. Thanks, Denny! I imagine you may have felt like bringing the Snort Blaster into the sanctuary was risky business. If it was, it was worth the risk! The Pavilion proved once again that it could channel a breeze and on one of the hottest and most humid days I’ve experienced in Pennsylvania, I was able to avoid the migraines that occasionally plague my being at a Sunday picnic, and instead enjoy a comfortable place to sit together and share in conversation and a meal. One thing that was not a surprise – how wonderful, versatile, and deep our hospitality team is at Blooming Glen. Despite team members being away traveling internationally and other team members facing a difficult season of grief and loss, folks came united to enjoy putting a BBQ chicken dinner together! One shout out needs to be inserted here – Corey Detweiler and all the Rosenberger men – you don’t just grill BBQ chicken; you have a calling to a ministry of BBQ chicken!

After stuffing ourselves with chicken and fixings, a small group met in the air-conditioned conference room at Blooming Glen. Pastor Michael Bishop and our new team of preaching associates: Josh Meyer, Rachelle Kratz, and Amanda Yoder, met with me to begin the process of forming a preaching ensemble. This is one of the initial steps in creating the “Church Together” renewal effort you have called me to launch over the next two years. Together, Josh, Rachelle, Amanda, plus others, will join with me in sharing the calling to proclaim the good news of Jesus in our Sunday morning worship. This is not a lead pastor and three guest preachers taking turns. We are shifting to a new form of an old pattern. The four of us (plus others) are going to be working together to proclaim a consistent Jesus-centered message that relies on the scriptures and calls us to confess our common faith in Christ. But we will do so using our different voices and our unique gifts and perspectives. Beginning Sunday, August 4, the intentional interim pattern of a single-voiced pulpit will give way to a multi-voiced expression of what it means for us to proclaim the gospel as the church together. A quartet (quintet?) preaching in a gospel harmony will be the order of the day. Thank you, preaching associates, for your willingness to answer the call. Thank you, Pastor Michael, for making truly meaningful and significant adjustments in the ways you give leadership to planning worship. Thank you, Elders, for collaborating and giving guidance to this old/new approach to preaching.

Together, may our preaching ensemble proclaim Jesus…Yea and Amen.

Let’s Go, Church!

Pastor Jeff

jeff@bgmc.net

P.S. | Tuesday, June 25, I left SE Pennsylvania to fly back to Southern California. I’m joining Debbie (who left on Saturday, June 22), and plan to spend much of the week taking time off from work to be with all six grandsons in Riverside, CA. On Saturday, June 29, I meet up with the MYF as they arrive for their summer service project. I’ll be spending much of the week hanging out with them and trying to avoid working too hard. After the MYF returns to Pennsylvania on July 6, I’ll be working remotely for Mosaic Conference connecting with some of the California churches. Debbie and I return to Pennsylvania on Thursday, July 11. Lord willing, I’ll be at the Broad Street Grind Friday, July 12, 3:30pm-4:45pm, for Coffee and Conversations, enjoying the Friday afternoon pick-me-up of a Doppio, with a San Pellegrino & Lemon Peel, and listening to whatever is on your mind. I’ll be back at the A&N Diner on Monday, July 15, 7:30am-8:45am, for Oatmeal, Omelets, and Observations, again, to listen to whatever is on your mind.

Dear Church:

“Transformation” is a word getting a lot of use in our church vocabulary these days.  Some of you seem excited by the possibilities associated with this term.  Some of you seem cynical and suspicious about what this term may mean for us.  I’m going to try, over the next few issues of the Glen News to offer some explanations.

First, what Transformation isn’t at Blooming Glen:  Well, we aren’t going to blow up the church and start over again.  Also, the Mosaic Conference “Pathways Process” is something completely different than the Transformation work we are contemplating.  Whatever recommendations come to Mosaic Conference delegates in November, our Transformation process at Blooming Glen is, and will be, something other than those recommendations.

So, what do we mean by “Transformation” at Blooming Glen?  There are three parts to our transformation efforts. 

• First, we want to focus on congregational spiritual renewal.  Personal spiritual renewal is one thing, and in all honesty, I think our leadership sees a reasonably healthy personal spirituality across the congregation.  We read the scriptures for comfort and for wisdom.  We confess our historic nonresistant faith as we wait for the sure return of Jesus.  We pray for the sick, the lost, and the hurt. We give generously of our personal resources. But, as a congregation, we know there are things which require some attention by the whole congregation.  We need to worship God, and God alone.  We know in our hearts that too often we evaluate worship for its entertainment factors.  But worship occurs when God’s people gather in God’s presence to listen to God’s invitation for us to embrace God’s mission.  God, not the assembled church community, is the audience of worship.  So, we need to worship with passionate listening to God’s call to us. 

• Second, we need to love one another.  One of the gospel’s truths is that the Jesus-following disciples often got into conflict with one another.  Conflict in the Body of Christ is inevitable.  Now, I’m sorry if there are those among us who find conflict a thing to be avoided.  At this stage in my life, I, too have grown to dislike conflict, and, honest to goodness, I wish to avoid conflict whenever possible.  But I’m not afraid of conflict, and neither should any of us be afraid of disagreements that bring us to greater clarity and deeper understanding of one another.  The old 1960’s campfire song, “We are One in the Spirit,” has a chorus that sings in part, “they’ll know we are Christians by our love…”  I don’t know about you, but love that never disagrees, probably isn’t love.  It’s our abilities to deal with conflict that demonstrate true love for one another in the church. 

• Third, we need to be generous and hospitable with our neighbors.  The simplest way to change the world is to practice a generous, biblical hospitality.  In a culture full of isolation, withdrawal, entertainment, and busyness, we rarely find time to become available to others, and most everyone we know is overwhelmed by one or more of those cultural realities.  As Mennonites, we pride ourselves (in a humble sort of way) in being a countercultural people of God.  The most countercultural thing we can do, the most countercultural way we can be, is to invite folks to our dining table.  Such a practice is not an automatic church growth strategy.  And dinner parties and doilies will not necessarily fill the church on Sunday morning.  But a fresh commitment in 2024 and beyond to making our homes hubs for community will make us better disciples…and God will take care of the rest.

There are two more parts to the Transformation process for Blooming Glen:  organizational renewal, and core ministry adaptation.  I’ll say more about those later.

For now, spiritual renewal at Blooming Glen is front and center – worshipping God, loving one another, and practicing hospitality.  It’s not complicated, but it’s hard, and in my first 30 months here at Blooming Glen, these themes for renewal have been unfortunately largely absent or weaponized. Transformation at Blooming Glen begins with recovery of worship that is centered on God’s call, loving one another enough to have a bias for forgiveness and acceptance, and generous hospitality to our neighbors.  Are we up for it?  I hope so.

Praying for Transformation,

Pastor Jeff

jeff@bgmc.net

P.S. | I’m at the Broad Street Grind for more “Coffee and Conversation,” on Friday, June 13 and Friday, June 20, 3:30pm-4:45pm.  As summer heats up, I recommend the Iced Breve.  On Monday, June 17 and Monday, June 24, 7:30am-8:45am, I’ll be at the A&N Diner for more “Oatmeal, Omelets, and Observations.” These are your times for asking me questions, challenging my thinking, or wondering out loud about “Transformation.”