The Work of the Church

⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.-Mark 10:45


At my church committee meeting yesterday (Finance committee... ughhhh!) we had a visitor from the NC Synod of the ELCA.  It's been a rough couple of years for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and now that the dust is beginning to settle, our local Synod is working to communicate better with the individual churches, sending representatives to speak to church leaders to find out what we need and let us also know what their needs are.


Our visitor last night told us about something new that the Synod was going to do at next summer's NC Synod Assembly.  The Assembly is a gathering of appointed lay delegates and clergy from each church in the Synod that meets to vote on issues and make policies for the church body as well as voice opinions on issues that will be voted on at the national assembly.  The 3-day gathering is normally filled with business, workshops, speakers and worship.  


I've been to a couple of these and I have really enjoyed the worship.  Some of the workshops have been interesting and the speakers can be inspiring.  And if there are any hot issues, the pre-voting conversation can be "rousing" ;) . But it can also get pretty boring.


Last night, our Synod guest told us that next year they were going to do away with the key-note speaker.  Instead, they are going to spend Saturday morning serving the local neighborhood!  They will be wearing colorful shirts proclaiming that they are from the ELCA church and will be getting their hands dirty in soup kitchens, at Habitat Houses, and doing a variety of other things in the area that need volunteers.  The delegates and clergy as well as anyone else from their churches who would like to help will be doing the work of the Church instead of listening to a key-note speaker telling us that we OUGHT to be doing the work of the Church.  How refreshing is that?!


We should all take a lesson... It's time to stop talking about what we OUGHT to be doing and just do it!


Lord Jesus,
You came to teach us how to live and you did it by example.  Help us to teach the world by example instead of just words, words, words.  Amen.


Joys:  ELCA Disaster Relief and all the good work they do; having Donna back at church; teaching pre-school Sunday school