It is not easy to change the way that we think. Every single one of us prefers for things to remain familiar and comfortable. At the same time, God is always challenging us to think in new ways. “See, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5). “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds” (Rom. 12:2). “Be renewed in the spirit of your minds” (Eph. 4:23).
          Strangely enough, sometimes we even gain new insight through looking at the past (specifically, the first century). It is particularly when we are thinking about what it means to be the church that the first century provides a model for us.
          Somewhere along the line, over the years, we have come to believe that the church is all about us. It’s about what I need and what I like. It’s about how many volunteers we can get or how much money we can bring in. It’s about what makes me feel good and how many programs we can put on. But, you see – it’s not!
          As Kelly Fryer would say, “The church is so not the point!” At a workshop which I attended back in the fall, Fryer focused our attention on a passage from Matthew 4:12-22. She pointed out how Jesus did not set up shop in the Temple or in a synagogue (although he did go there!), but in Capernaum, at the crossroads, by the sea. She suggested that while we become pre-occupied with “internal annoyances” in the church, Jesus is out there at the crossroads, meeting the people where they are at. “Jesus has left the building.”
          The truth is that our churches need to be training centers for mission rather than service centers. This is the same idea as we find in our mission statement, where we are nurtured through Word and Sacrament in order to go out

into the world and embody the love of God in daily life.
          To some extent, it is easy to see how this can happen in the lives of individuals. Every single person who comes here has contact with people all week long, whether at school or in the workplace or in the community. As individuals, we are always “going out.” The challenge for us is to take our faith and the power of the Holy Spirit with us when we do so!
          Yet, as a congregation, it is not always so easy to see how we can go out and meet people where they are at. It takes time and energy to do so in any kind of organized manner, and it is not our mission to burn people out and use people up. Those who are part of the body of Christ are sometimes feeling strengthened for ministry and sometimes are in need of being ministered to. We are here to love and support one another, while at the same time we are here to be participants in God’s mission in our world.
          These are things which I ask all of you to continue to think about with me. This coming April, Kelly Fryer will be leading a similar workshop at our Synod convention in Dauphin. Her role is to help us to think about what it means to be a church in mission for others. We need to send a delegate to this convention who is committed to thinking about and promoting our role as participants in God’s mission in the world.
          These are not easy questions, and it is not easy to change our ways of thinking. Yet, the Holy Spirit is all about transformation – even renewing our minds!
          In Christ,      Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore