February 22, 2009 Ps. 50:1-6
Mark 9:2-9
A Moment to Remember
I want to thank Al Towle, worship team leader, and the entire worship team last week, including the “Baby Bells” for leading such an inspiring service and giving me and Diane the opportunity to worship with the Central Square Congregational Church congregation in Bridgewater. The day was wonderful all around. Our new church celebrated its first-ever laity Sunday and Diane and I shared some of our new church start story during a five minute mission moment in the Central Square Church.
Our primary purpose was, of course, to thank them for their recent gift of $18,000. That money came with the completion of their capital campaign and the allocation of the outreach portion. We were clearly major beneficiaries. That gift, by the way, went directly to the Conference to add to the seed money provided by a variety of sources. The word “subsidy” on the back of our bulletin every week is made possible by gifts like this which were promised long before I even walked into Starbucks two years ago.
As Diane and I settled into one of the front pews last week in Bridgewater, I noticed immediately that under Mission Moment was both of our names. Diane was reluctant to stand up with me, at first, but as we faced the congregation to thank them for the gift, the reluctant public speaker suddenly started grabbing the microphone in my hand. We had agreed that she would tell the story of our first “Overseas mission trip” but what I didn’t know is that she would be ready sooner rather than later to get on with it! We quickly evolved into a George Burns and Gracie Allen format and the congregation found itself enjoying our stories of starting the new church.
Sunday morning last week was a good morning. You all affirmed what you had known right along – that this congregation is loaded with leadership and talent; you were reminded of how we are all ministers. Diane and I, on the other hand, were reminded of the importance of our churches being in covenant with one another. Trust me: without Bridgewater’s gift in 2009, our subsidy would have been in jeopardy.
Last week was one of those times in life that we all like to hang on to. It’s one of those moments to remember. Just as Peter suggested that Jesus, Moses and Elijah should “set up shop” on top of the mountain, we could say, “Let’s just take some time out here and enjoy where we are. “Let’s gloat for awhile.”
But while last Sunday is a time to be remembered and celebrated – the first laity Sunday and a gift that locked in our subsidy for another year – we have to head back down the mountain and get back to work. Our new church is in a very crucial time. While some of you have just arrived, the vision for this church started some seven years ago, I walked into Mashpee over two years ago, and come May we will celebrate our first full year of worship. All of this is to be affirmed, but to quote a popular song by the Carpenters, “We’ve only just begun.” God’s vision for this congregation goes way beyond where we are now.
Isn’t this exciting? We are in this wonderful building and we are holding weekly services, but we “Have only just begun.” There is so much more ahead for us and I am eager to see where the Holy Spirit takes us this year. We are not going to set up shop on top of the mountain, but we are heading back to Main Street where we will continue to invite guests to join us on Sunday morning. Come Easter, this room will be packed! We are going to have the largest attendance since launch day, May 4th. I am confident riding on that wave of enthusiasm that we will have enough people in our next charter membership class to give us over 100 charter members!
Last week Al chose a great theme for the morning: “We have come this far by faith.” This is a great theme for it says we are on a journey from somewhere to somewhere. That journey from time to time takes us to the mountaintop where we catch a glimpse of things yet to be, just as the disciples caught a glimpse of the resurrected Jesus, but we have not stayed there.
Our gatherings, our open houses, our stories of overseas mission trips, cookies from Iowa, money from Dennis Union and Bridgewater, the sell-out for two years in a row at the Family Picnic at the fireworks, the promise of land in Mashpee Commons, cooking pancakes on Friday night, the Prayer Shawl Ministry, me networking in Mashpee, me exploring the woods of Mashpee Commons, our spontaneous dinner in the Orleans jail, the first-ever potluck, the soon-to-be first ever Italian Pot Luck, our anniversary dinners, the first time performances of our choir and the two bell choirs – all these incredible moments, all these incredible glimpses of what God wants this church to be, and we have only just begun!
During a recent discussion with area UCC clergy, a group I have been in for several years and which was originally inspired through the Lily Foundation Grant awarded to the Massachusetts Conference, I shared with my colleagues that I am approaching my fortieth year in full-time parish ministry. I have been a solo pastor in Upstate New York and Vermont; I have been a Minister to Youth in a multiple staff church in St. Paul, MN; I have been a “Senior Pastor” in Connecticut and Massachusetts, I have done two “Intentional Interim Ministries, and I have been the organizing pastor for two new church starts, here and in Green Valley, Arizona.
I have had an amazing journey of ministry from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, to the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities, to the southwest desert, to the Pacific Northwest to the beaches of Cape Cod. With me every step of the way has been Diane, a woman of extraordinary talent who has shared so very many mountaintop experiences with me.
Now, we find ourselves here with yet another call, a call unlike any we have experienced: starting a new church in Mashpee. What an exciting time this is for us! How blessed we are to go to the mountaintop with all of you and catch a glimpse of what is yet to be!
We have come so far together in such a short time but this is not the time to start building booths. This is not the time to stop inviting guests. This is not the time to say that “we have made it” for the work of God’s kingdom is only beginning to unfold. This is not to time to settle in and be comfortable with ourselves. Rather, this is the time to double our efforts to see that this church gets planted with deep roots so that generations to come will also be able from time to time to climb up the mountain and catch a glimpse of the holy. This is the time to declare our intention to outgrow this building as quickly as we can. This is the time to announce that we are going to be different from the 19 other UCC churches on the Cape, that with God’s guidance we are “doing a new thing” as inspired by the great prophet Isaiah.
We have come far, but our journey today reaches a new milestone that marks a renewed commitment to growth. We will not, for God’s sake, allow our number s and ministries to plateau, for the work of evangelism is fundamental to our faith.
Thank you for the blessing of your continued support. We journey on through the marketplace looking for those who would follow, and on occasion, to get to climb the mountain to catch the precious glimpses of what is yet to be.
Amen.
