December 15, 2024

Dear Church:

I recently ran across a quote that floored me:

“The preservation of the community is best assured through a process of continual change.”

This quote, from Nicholas von Zinzendorf (1700-1760), one the leaders of the Pietist movement, is important for us today for three reasons. First, Christian community is worth preservation. Our history as Anabaptist-Mennonites has often been to lean into schism. In our eagerness to “agree to disagree” we find it easy to fracture. But perhaps, there is third way between ignoring our differences and fracturing over them. As we place Jesus, and our desire to follow Jesus daily at the center of our life together, we may still disagree, but we do so as we care deeply, while challenging directly, and we do so, not to sever relationships, but to stay together. We come to realize that authentic, genuine Christian community in the Way of Jesus is a truer marker of faithful discipleship than our self-conceived doctrinal purity.

Second, Christian community is a process. So is making scrapple. Neither one is pretty to watch. Christian community calls us to hard work – peaceful practices that give us the spiritual insight to care deeply and challenge directly. If you want to know what those spiritual practices are, Mennonite Central Committee has developed a curriculum for use by churches (https://mcc.org/resources/peaceful-practices-guide-healthy-communication-conflict). These eight qualities give one an ability to authentically care for those with whom they disagree, and it provides ways to lovingly challenge those with whom we disagree.

Finally, Christian community adapts. Change is the essence of community. We no longer wear plain dress, or have the ordinal read annually, or sit in gendered-separated worship services. We change. We adapt. Or we die.

We are inheriting a world that requires deep change on our part. Deep change that is built not on schism or cheap grace, but on the adaptive power of the Holy Spirit.

So, let’s go, church (and change with the Holy Spirit’s guiding)!

Pastor Jeff

jeff@bgmc.net

P.S. Monday, December 16 at the A&N Diner (7:30-8:45am), and December 20 at the Broad Street Grind (3:30-4:45pm) are times set aside for me to listen to whatever is on your heart. See you there!

December 8, 2024

[Paul] planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So, neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. – 1 Corinthians 3.6-7

Dear Church:

One of the reoccurring questions to me this fall has been about the nature of the transformation we are seeking at Blooming Glen. The question is often framed as, “What is it that you are asking us to do?” Let me try to answer.

First, a disclaimer. I’m not independently asking the congregation to do anything. The CLB is inviting us to consider transformation in the face of the massive changes we are dealing with in society. This is our plan, it is God’s plan. It is not my plan.

So, our transformation plan, also known as, “Church Together,” is focused on this – What is God giving each of us an appetite to accomplish in these days of deep and difficult change, and how can Blooming Glen Mennonite Church be God’s instrument to guide you and coach you to whet that appetite?

To govern, guide, and coach the congregation to fulfill their appetite, we need an agreed upon direction. That direction is summed up in our mission statement: “On a journey together with Jesus.”

How do we know the journey is going well? By our shared embrace of three essential values: 1) Reliance on the scriptures as our authority (the story of God’s people on a journey). 2) Embracing the peaceful practice of caring deeply and challenging directly (the way we treat one another on the journey). 3) Serving our neighbors with generosity (the ultimate purpose of our journey).

Who facilities our journey together? The CLB (with help from the Foundations) leads our congregation by recommending, setting, and overseeing policy. The elders guide our ministry by encouraging and developing ministry teams. The staff coach us to discern and fulfill God’s call.

But to be the “Church Together,” we also need some deeper organizational and structural changes. “The Pivot with Mosaic” is a cluster of organizational and leadership behaviors: CLB acting as a policy-setting board that also oversees the work of the lead pastor. Foundations that focus with the CLB on specialized issues: Our annual ballot. Our annual budget. Our annual blueprint for the care of our facility. Elders that collaborate with staff and guide the formation of ministries of worship, community, and mission. A staff of pastors, coaches, and administrative support, walking with individuals, families, and ministry teams to follow Christ daily in life. All of this done in robust partnership with Mosaic Mennonite Conference, and through them, with Mennonite Church USA, and other church-related agencies.

To be the “Church Together,” and to be in a “Pivot with Mosaic,” we also need to be paying attention to “BG Next.” It does not make for transformation if, after July 31, 2026, Blooming Glen finds itself reverting to old patterns of behavior or tries to take a clean sheet of paper and start over again. BG Next is an effort to deeply anchor this approach to our mission, values, leadership, and staff working together for the legacy that guides the next generation of Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

I believe if we respond to God’s call to us in this time of challenge and change with a clear sense of shared mission and values, and with a capable organization and commitment to the long-term, then God will use our sending capacity to accomplish His ministry of reconciliation in us and through us. Growth – Bearing Fruit – is God’s gift to the church that is well planted and sufficiently watered.

Let’s go, church (plant and water together, pivot with our friends to the future, and prepare for what’s next by being anchored in Christ together)…

Pastor Jeff

jeff@bgmc.net

P.S. – There’s been some healthy, compassionate candor directed my way in the past week. THANK YOU. I’m at the A&N Diner Mondays from 7:30am (assuming the ice scraper works!) to 8:45am. I’m at the Broad Street Grind Fridays from 3:30 to 4:45pm. I’m at these venues to listen to your compassionate candor. I’m also available at other times. Just let me know. – jw