UPDATE: At our last meeting on Oct.11 Council decided to table the issue of replacing the pews with chairs. A committee has been formed to bring clarity and address concerns about this issue. Eric Ramseyer is leading this committee.
This post is in reference to and really for those folks who came to the open meeting we had on replacing our pews with chairs but also for those who will be a part of our discernment process at our annual business meeting where we will discern together what God wants us to do...
Open Meeting Reflections…
I think it's important for you to understand why I called
the open meeting and what I learned. I was fascinated by how well attended this
meeting was and the lively discussion that happened there. I called the meeting
because of the level and intensity of comments and concerns I was hearing.
Whenever there is a controversial issue inside our church we talk about it.
This has been our way and so it seemed appropriate to do that now.
I believe God's
people can discern what the Holy Spirit is telling us when we meet together and
prayerfully discuss things that are important to us. As long as we remain civil
and open to hearing each other this process can work beautifully as I believe
it did in this meeting. The end goal is to gain a better understanding from as
many people as we can so our discernment can be informed.
I am also convinced
of the validity of our process in making decisions that affect the whole body
of the church and that will be explained later. Here is what I gained from the
meeting that was helpful: we have a number of people in our church that have
not only strong physical reasons to keep the pews but also deep emotional
reasons. These should not be discounted or even disregarded in our discernment.
I saw a level of vulnerability and honesty in their sharing and I hope they
felt heard.
We also have a number of people who see the benefits of
chairs and how it can have a positive effect on our corporate worship
experience. These folks have an eye to the future and desire change for the
better. They also have valid opinions. There was also a call for clarification
on costs, measurements and from a ministry perspective what would be the vision
for movable seating. All of those calls will be answered before our ballot of
discernment. I will be putting energy into finding answers to those questions
before our next council meeting.
I was very glad for
all those who attended and especially council members as it was important to
hear what was said. I pray that you were stimulated to discern even more earnestly,
as we seek God's will and guide his people through this process
Why I believe our process is good…
I've also received feedback in regards to our process of
discernment. Some people were saying why are we even talking about chairs and
others saying why are we making such a big deal about it. The reason we were
talking about chairs is because the idea was brought to council and at that
level there were questions and concerns raised. At SMC I love the fact that
just about anybody can come up with any idea and bring it to our church for
discernment.
If it affects the whole body of the church we have Council
as representatives of the church to field those ideas and test them. We have
seen ideas come that flowed right through council's test. The concrete in the
west parking lot is the perfect example. It was an idea that was brought to
resolve an issue-that being an awful trip hazard. It cost a significant amount
of money. Questions were raised and answered and we moved forward because there
was clear consensus.
The chairs on the other hand brought hesitation and
questions. There was not clear consensus and so the next step in the process is
to bring it to the congregation. I believe if we seek God's will in this
situation we will find it. Our process points us to voting which is a default
to consensus.
The sad part is, if our voting is carnal, it will produce
winners and losers. This is not the purpose at all but can and will be the end
result if we do not have this be a spirit lead process. On the other hand, if
we are prayerful and surrender our will to God we will seek and find what he
wants us to do in this situation.
This is my hope for our annual business meeting. To be very
clear, if you want to express your opinion and what you want for yourself I
hope you will abstain from voting because that is not the purpose. But if you
humbly cast a ballot that you prayerful believe God has led you to cast then by
all means do it. That is our process for finding and following God's will for
our church.
The bottom line is this: the furniture we sit on for an hour
or so every week is an incredibly small issue inside the grand scheme of what
church is about. My hope is that we can see this process as an example of how
our church can seek God's will and remain unified in the face of differing
opinions. I pray we can be faithful in this pursuit.
Godspeed, tm
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