Thursday, November 16, 2006

Starting to get a feel for things

Now that I have been the pastor of a church for a couple of months, I am starting to learn about some areas that I need growth in. The main one is in planning and using a scheduler of some sort. My wife, who has a very organized mind does the planning/ scheduling thing naturally, while I have tended to be a fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy. What I have found is that with the limited time that I have, I have to organize it better so that I am using the time I have to bring pastoral support to the church. My qualms stem from not wanting to organize the Holy Spirit out of the picture. I don't want to be serving my day planner. So I am struggling with the idea of holding my schedule lightly.
This idea of holding something lightly is a very Quaker concept and stems from what are called "Meetings for Clearness". Meetings for clearness are held to discern God's will in a given area, and to hold something lightly is to permit God to do what He wills with the decision/object/idea/person that you are in discernment over.
So getting better organized is something that I am needing to grow in.
I have also initiated a discernment process in the Meeting to figure out what God's call on us in our community is. We know that we have been placed in the neighborhood we are in for something more than meeting on Sundays. What I am trying to lead the Meeting in is a direction for addressing the concerns, needs, and dreams of our neighbors. I am looking forward to seeing how this process plays out over the next few months.
The evening service has been a source of life for me. I feel the ability to receive from the Holy Spirit more than in the mornings since the mornings are more dependent on the proclamational gifts of Pastorship.
God Bless,
Pastor Gil