A PROMISE

i've been meaning to post this...it is a copy of the liturgy of pastoral covenant that my new congregation and i went through a few weeks ago for my installation service. i used the framework of another liturgy and made it my own...may God help us keep these promises. Amen and amen.

Liturgy of Pastoral Covenant

Leader: Pastor, we, your people, charge you to remember your ordination vows.

Congregation: Preach the Word, be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. Endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministries. (2 Timothy 4:2-5)

Leader: Pastor, will you affirm this vow and accept again the invitation to be the spiritual leader of this flock?

Pastor: I will.

Leader: Will you, the members of this church, accept, support, and uphold our pastor as she leads you?

Congregation: We will.

Leader: Will you affirm your belief that this pastor and this church are to be workers together in the providence of the Most HIgh God?

Congregation: This we do believe and affirm.

Leader: Will you continue to support this pastor with respect, loyalty, love and fervent prayer?

Congregation: We will, with God’s help.

Leader: Will you continue to receive the pastor’s family – especially Beau - as members of this family of faith and love and pray for them as your own?

Congregation: We will, with God’s help.

Leader: Will you continue to give sacrificially of your means so that this pastor can be relieved of the temporal cares of this life so that she may give full attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word?

Congregation: We will, with God’s help.

Leader: Will you respond to the pastoral leadership by vigorous participation in the congregational life of this church as it carries out its mission of worship, evangelism, nurture, and service?

Congregation: We will, with God’s help.

Pastor: In response to the gracious call of God, and in gratitude for the confidence you have expressed in me, I covenant with you to continue living together as an authentic expression of the Kingdom of God in this world. I promise:
• To lead you in worship, that in our unselfish focus on God we might be shaped in the image of Christ Jesus and truly become His body.
• To spend time listening to the voice of God, believing that only in hearing Him will I have anything of substance to speak to you.
• To preach the Word with boldness and grace, unafraid to be the mouthpiece of the Lord in this place and among these people.
• To study the Scriptures and the teachings of Christ’s followers through the ages, that we might be a community of faith rooted in the Truth of God and in the historic Christian faith.
• To intercede for you, spending the necessary time to lift you to the throne of God’s grace that you might “be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of Go0d and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:12-13)
• To give you pastoral care and spiritual direction
• To lead you in becoming a true community where “each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:6).
• To lead you in serving others, taking up our responsibility to our neighborhood, this community, and to the whole world.
• To live before you not only as a pastor, but also as a spouse who keeps promises and who lives a balanced life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Pastor & People in Unison:
• We will follow the Bible in living together as a community of faith
• We will love one another with sincerity of heart, choosing to live in grace and forgiveness.
• We will honor one another above ourselves.
• We will not become lazy or apathetic but will keep our spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
• We will be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.
• We will share with God’s people who are in need and will practice hospitality.
• We will live in peace and leave revenge in God’s hands.
• We will overcome evil with good.
• We will move with the Spirit, allowing God to move us out of comfort and into the glorious freedom of His powerful Love.

SPRING...MOUNTAINS...HOME

i see this visage from my office...the sun is shining and the bees are buzzing in the flowers outside my window. the office is quiet today as our receptionist is at the doctor's office and our office administrator is off. it is just the quiet of the church, the bees buzzing and me.
we have moved in...we are officially residents of mount vernon, wa. it feels so good. we have begun the process of exploring...a couple of days ago walking to little mountain (being greeted the entire way by friendly natives), discovering the money saving JOYS of grocery outlet, and getting the much needed local library card.
i could write about the people with the unending vendetta against me...or how overwhelming it is sometimes to think about church finances...or just how many keys have to be on my keychain these days...but i would rather look at the mountain, know that i am home and be at peace. i pray the same for you this day.
God is abundantly good.

KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

remember when stamps used to be 25 cents....and a pop was never more than .50...well now a stamp is nearly as much as what a pop used to be and we are all paying through the nose.
today i had to go to the post office to send off some bills and a change of address form. the lines were enormous. everyone having to get the new stamps...everyone getting off work and swarming to the post office...
i got in one line, then noticed another line for just stamps....i switched lines and waited in that line for 5 minutes before i realized you had to have cash. i asked the woman in front of me if the machine took credit cards and she replied that it was only cash...she asked me then how many stamps i needed - giving me $1.35 for stamps. then the rest of the folks in line got in on it and provided me for stamps enough (39 cent and one cent) enough to send off my bills. it was such a beautiful outpouring of kindness on a busy sticky day at the post office. i was so tempted to decline their generosity - my face turned red as i tried to say "thank you" enough times...it made me realize again how hard it is to accept free grace. it is hard for me every day to receive the free love, forgiveness, and mercy that God continually offers to me...but i must. there is no life outside of Him. so this afternoon, i took the stamps and sent my mail...thanking God for the kindness of strangers and FREE grace.

STRESSFUL!!!

this whole house buying this is crazy - i feel like this poor little doggie...it is so much waiting and depending on other people getting things done. it is driving me nuts to have to just sit here and wait and see the weekend looming and fearing that we won't close by then...pray for us. i'm sure God is STILL trying to teach me that patience thing...

FOR REALS THIS TIME

our house should be OURS for reals on tuesday. i write this amongst boxes, an extra fridge in the dining room and general mayhem...patched walls, emptied closets...
our house, above, does not have the "curb appeal" that the little yellow house had (earlier house we backed out on due to DEBACLE of a home inspection)...but it is so wonderful - on more than a half acre, on the edge of a creek and little mountain, NO repairs needed to move in...hardwood throughout, beautiful backyard, surrounded by greenbelt, dishwasher (thank you Jesus!), right across the street from a lutheran church which means that we look out our front door to a cross...i mean, really...how cool is this?
come visit us soon...we are fun.