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PENTECOST – OUR NEGLECTED HOLY DAY
John Ross Thompson
May 25, 2007
Pentecost is here, one of the most neglected holy days in our
Christian calendar. Christmas and Easter get plenty of attention,
but the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church get
lost in our springtime activities.
Sometimes, like this year, Pentecost Sunday is on Memorial Day
weekend, when many of us are enjoying the great outdoors. Other
years it is on the weekend of annual conference, when pastors and
lay conference members are in Grand Rapids (that event is May 31 to
June 3 this year). Each year it competes with graduations, yard and
garden work, and the end of the school year.
We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit because it means that the
living God is with us, with power. The strength we need for daily
living comes from this Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit leads us to
see change and to embrace it when it is of God.
This congregation is now a year from the many staff changes that
took place in 2006. Within a few months, UUMC saw two new pastors
and new persons in four other positions: Wesley Foundation campus
minister, youth director, music director, and Christian education
director. Later, we also added a children’s choir director and a
building manager. All of these new staff members bring creative new
ideas for our ministry.
I’m very aware of how most of us react when it comes to change. An
initial feeling is to want to make sure that what has been most
important to us is not cast aside when change comes, because our
church relationships are so important to us.
Effective church leaders build on the strengths of the past, but
also move ahead. The Holy Spirit continues to move in our midst,
both through church staff members and the many persons who are the
body of Christ, the church. We value what God has done, and we look
forward to what God is now doing in our midst.
This brings us to two important new movements of the Holy Spirit in
our church. They are Wednesday night activities and a second weekly
worship service.
It has been a long time since I’ve seen such excitement in a church
about a new ministry as I have seen in the last few weeks about the
All-Church Wednesday night activities. Your feedback has told us to
“Go ahead!” in September with our plan. We will share dinner
together and then have activities for all ages, including adults,
children and youth, as well as college students. We already have a
coordinator for the events, kitchen coordinators, and various groups
planning activities during the evening. You’ll be able to come about
5:30 p.m. for dinner with your family, share in classes and fun
activities, and head for home by 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. or stay later
for choir practice or a worship service with Wesley Foundation
students. Save Wednesday nights to be at the church this fall!
The other new movement is for a second worship service each week.
We’ve received numerous requests for an alternative worship service
in a different style. Your feedback has told us that there is real
interest in such a worship service. This is not because our
sanctuary is full, but to meet the various needs of persons, both
for a different time and a different style.
The worship committee has decided that we will start a second
worship service, but that we will wait until September 2008. During
the next year, a new worship design team will carefully prepare for
that worship service, deciding the best time, style and location for
it.
As the winds of change blow, I pray that it is the Holy Spirit that
is moving us. We will cherish the good of previous years, especially
as we celebrate our 50th anniversary this year, but we will also be
open to where God is leading us now.
To do this, we need to know how God is leading all of us. Your
feedback is always welcome and encouraged. What do you think?
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