On October 19, as part of Church of the Savior’s anniversary celebration, I preached a sermon on “Savior’s Next Season.” You can listen to the audio or read this short summary below (if only I could be that concise more often!). Additionally, please click here for suggested prayers for Savior’s next season.
Background
Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness & streams in the wasteland.”
A word Karen received in prayer for Savior: “New Season. There will be movement.”
Our staff’s comment: “When a season changes, any difference is natural and comes gradually.” For example, in fall we still have hot days, along with pumpkin spice lattes.
So what may be gradually coming in our new season? We gathered leaders from our staff, vestry, and clergy in August, who answered 3 questions:
1. What’s going well at Savior?
Saturday night worship: preaching, music
Children’s ministry: VBS; children included throughout our life together
Spiritual formation: events like retreats; men’s & women’s ministry
Welcoming: connecting long-timers and less-timers
Intergenerational
Kindness and care
Manageable growth
Low drama
Strong staff
And others…
We must thank God! Jesus promises, “I will build my church,” and he’s building it!
2. What challenges do we face?
Finding a new Worship Pastor: after 11 years being led by Erin, people talked honestly about the anxiety they’re feeling around that. (Update: we have 4 viable candidates, and the leading candidate will lead our musical worship on October 26.)
Parking and space limits. If we keep growing, Are we going to move? (Update: after looking at 21 possible venues, we’ve decided staying at PHCC is our best choice right now. We can always add parking if need be.)
Pastoring as we grow; maintaining intimacy. (Update: We will continue to do what we do now: Without becoming programmatic, we’ll provide opportunities for people to connect.)
Giving is lagging the budget. (Update: This church has an amazing track record of giving especially well in final months of the year, so the lag may greatly diminish. For now, our Vestry is cutting some expenses this year, and creating a budget for 2020 with little or no increase.)
3. What is God inviting us into?
Our leaders said they sensed God’s invitation in several areas:
“Growing Deeper to Be Strong for Others”
“Blessed to Be a Blessing”
“Our External Focus will meet our Internal Needs.”
“We have a lot to offer” (examples: children’s ministry, formation)
“We are on mission together” — we are “journeying together” on mission
Those answers fit us. Church of the Savior was named in part to honor Church of the Saviour, in DC, a church that blended the inward journey of love for God with the outward journey of love for neighbors, serving their community and seeking justice.
Journey Inward
For 15 years, Savior’s roots have grown deep through the inward practices of:
Sacramental worship
Sabbath
Silent retreats
Spiritual direction
Journey Outward
Now I believe Savior is called to grow more in the journey outward. And since I’m feeling the “anointing of alliteration,” I will similarly offer the 4 S’s of our journey outward:
Serve our neighbor in need. We do this through our monthly giving to Outreach, People’s Resource, World Relief, et al. And we welcome and include people, especially ones who often end up on the margins: children, women in Christian leadership, those with mental/physical disabilities and those who care for them, the poor in our area, and refugees and immigrant.
Send out people to their vocations. We do this each week, when the deacon says, “Go forth into the world.” Your vocations and hard work in this world bring Christ to it. And we also send people to their vocations elsewhere, with a blessing.
Start churches. The Pachecos will be planting in East Garfield Park. Ellen Vosburg may help start a church in Columbus. And closer to home, Sandy and Ian Richter hope to start a church in Oak Park, sometime over the next few years.
Seek justice. We don’t know fully what this will look like, but we know it will come out of listening to and loving people in need. The Vestry is exploring a possible church-to-church partnership with another Anglican church, one serving the homeless or refugees. I could see us hosting a gathering for women leaders in the local church. We will discern together.
Now that our vestry and staff have had a chance to hear drafts of this beginning discernment, we place it before you. Please pray about it, and please call or email me with your questions, ideas, concerns, and prayers.
Kevin Miller was editor and vice-president at Christianity Today for 26 years and then associate rector at Church of the Resurrection for 5 years. He has been the rector at Savior since January 2017, and is also the co-founder of PreachingToday.com and CTPastors.com.