I'm taking the time update out of necessity. Perhaps the singular most important thing in RCCC that's happened since I moved to North Carolina has been these past couple weeks, namely Pastor Dick Lee's resignation as English Pastor. I've thought & talked quite a lot about this, and I write this update more specifically for my youth who visit the Xanga. (Those of you who want to know more, e-mail me... some things are better to not broadcast to the world).
A pastor resigning because of differences is never a good thing- although it is still true that God uses all circumstances to bring about good. Many of you may not understand the reasons why, and perhaps even after hearing many explanations, it still does not make sense. That's normal. I suppose it makes sense to me in large part because 1) I'm in ministry myself, and 2) I grew up as the son of an elder in my home church. My dad was an elder, and growing up, I was always hearing about & in a lot of ways learning about church issues.
The events surrounding Pastor Dick’s resignation have given me much cause for reflection too. Some people may know, that one of the reasons that I felt like I ought to come to RCCC (that I even “could” come to RCCC) was because Pastor Dick was English Pastor. I recognized my need to have a mentor, someone I could learn from. It’s good that he will continue to stay at the church to be a member; yet I still wonder about the direction of the church, and what this means for the youth ministry, a few years from now. There are a lot of questions…. But I want it to be said loud & clear:
GOD is the one who leads the church
There is still HOPE and GOOD that comes from this because of God
My heart is very much concerned for the youth group… because of the way all of you youth who are a part of this time in RCCC’s history will influence part of how you see “church” in the future, just like my experiences growing up have shaped mine. I am also concerned because I honestly am not sure how well the other adults of the church will handle & process this situation… and as a result, I can’t say that the youth will necessarily have the best of role models. I hope they do.
The following is something I wrote & sent out over e-mail to the youth group & I will repost it here:
I understand for many of the youth, it is hard to understand the situation surrounding the resignation. I want the youth to know, that even for the adults, this is a very hard thing to understand and a very hard thing to deal with too. Many of the adults still have questions, and many of those questions may not get fully answered. I grew up with my dad as an elder on the church board. Back then I did not understand everything that was going on either. Looking back I can see how those experiences have helped to shape and grow me, even especially in a time like this for RCCC. But I think as a youth group, there are still things we can learn, things that you all can do if you love this church.
First, pray for our church leaders. For the past few months, every time we've had prayer time, I tell you all to pray for our church leaders and some of you may have wondered why. This is one of the reasons. Our elders and pastors need the wisdom from God to know how to make the right decisions for the church, how to speak with the right words. They need God's help in understanding where the people (including all of you) are at, and being sensitive to the people's needs. They need God's strength to give them courage to step up and lead. You may think "I'm only a youth, what can I do in something like this?" You can PRAY... doesn't matter if you're 12 or if you're 40.... God hears our prayers all the same
Second, it's important to know that in any church, there will always be conflicts. That's an odd statement to make... why? The answer is: we are all sinful people in need of God's grace. And when sinful people get together, conflict will be created. A "good church" is not a church that has no conflict- that's a dead church. A strong church is a church that knows how to work through its conflicts in a godly way. A WRONG response is to be ashamed that this is happening at RCCC. Another WRONG response is to think that "man, if this stuff happens at church, then church is pointless." The RIGHT response is to learn from this in whatever way you can, and again, to PRAY for the church.
We also need to realize that in a case like this there are no "sides" and no "winners." You might know some people who are going to take sides and use this as an opportunity to critize the Elders or the church. You might want to take sides yourselves with the people that you like. That kind of attitude divides the church. When God's people are divided, EVERYONE loses. One of the reasons that Pastor Dick chose to step down is so that he would NOT cause divisions in the church. My hope and prayer is that people will not twist this and use it to cause divisions... that would be against everything we are working for. There are no sides, nobody "wins."
Finally, please please please be sensitive about how you talk about this with one another: that it be God-honoring and loving to people. I know many of you have talked with one another about this; some of you have mentioned this on a Xanga or two. It's good that all of you are talking about it. But be careful about your opinions and speculations. What hurts the church is that when there are assumptions and rumors flying around as to "why this happened" and "how should we respond," without the discussion being focused and directed to the right places. Talking on AIM, e-mailing, Xangas, etc. are all great for expressing your thoughts & feelings, but they aren't the right places to express all of these things.
Andy at RCCC
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
23
Whoops. so much for updating. Everyone has their reasons for not updating. I think for me, more of it surrounds whether there is anything significant to say, and whether my frame of mind is in a mode to be in community. When things get busy, or when I feel drained, I have a bad tendency to remove myself from community. I don't think it's particular to me; in fact, most people tend to do that: to withdraw from the very thing that you need the most.
Anyway, thanks to the youth group for the love shown over my birthday.... the Warcraft III, the cake(s)... special thanks to Joseph for baking one, the cards, the "how old are you?", & all. Thanks for the expression of love from a community that I am still getting to know & learning to be a part of.
My own youth pastor was 23 when he first came to my church; it was the October of my 8th grade year, 10 years ago. He's still there at that church, and 10 years later I'm 23 and also in youth ministry. So that would mean.... the people like Christina, Justin, Michelle, Jenny, Nathaniel, Andrew, etc.... wonder where y'all will be in 10 years. Wonder where I'll be in 10 years.
My parents came down to visit me this weekend- got to see the townhouse, come to see RCCC, bring some good food . I appreciate them much for doing it, especially knowing that the 5-hour drive and the full-schedule weekend were not easy for them, but they did it anyway. As they left to drive back to Maryland today, I felt a tinge of sadness as they got underway. I suppose for the past couple years, each time I go visit (or they come visit) and it comes time to leave again, I always feel a little sad. It's ironic that while they're around, it seems like nothing is different than when I used to always be around them, but I find that as each year passes them, I do miss them more & more. I realize how precious little time I actually get to spend with them now, and how good it is to have them around. I suppose that's a mindset you develop as you get older.
This week will be a full week... Fall Festival this Saturday, a couple meetings, planning upcoming November calendar, planning winter semester Sunday Schools.
Friday, August 27, 2004
Word of God?
Word of God?
It's one of those things that they forget to mention when you take a class or workshop on teaching, leading a Bible Study, preaching, etc. and that is to drill it into our minds that it is the Word of God and not of man.
I've been working on this Friday night's youth group talk, and as such, go through the now standard process of preparation: you have a text of Scripture, you have a theme, you have a general outline & main points (usually 3), and then some practical application questions at the end. It's a good structure, a basic skeleton to work off of.
But then, a few hours before I'm to give this talk, I wonder to myself: is this the right passage wants me to speak on? do I have too many points? too few? do I need to add a couple more stories?
And in the midst of all that, God reminds me: it's His Word, not my many words.
This is a bold statement, but Scripture doesn't require me to add my words to it. There's nothing wrong with teaching, preaching, and making plain the meaning of Scripture. But all of the things that can be said about Scripture are only tools, secondary words. God's Word stands on its own, and does not need our explaining, clarifying, and commentary. It's as if somehow, in the midst of learning the "right ways" of preparing a lesson, asking right questions, and preparing a talk, somehow we get the idea that we're "helping God out" by making His Word more understandable, more relevant, and (here's my favorite one to hate) more user-friendly.
We feel like the Word needs our help. That without our help, it's not user-friendly, not relevant, and hard to understand. And while we'll never say this, it's possible to think, "I'm helping the Word along."
Like I said, bold words, but it's a conviction on my heart... that by faith, if I teach the Word of God- simply the Word of God- that the Word itself will pierce the hearts of those who listen. People will inevitably end up forgetting my points or not act on the applications; but the Word will take up root in their hearts. There is power in the Word simply because it is God-breathed; not because I have anything to add to that.
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Surprises & Lessons
Today was an interesting day... turned out nothing like what I had thought it would be. Deborah & Philip are moving tomorrow, and so I dropped by around noon to see them off as well as to help with any last-minute cleaning up. To make a long story short, the moving company underestimated the space needed to pack all their stuff, and they ended up not being able to fit a whole bunch of things into the van. We spent the afternoon making phone calls and exploring options, in the end soliciting the help of a couple other families to temporarily store the leftover furniture, until I drive up in August to move down and I can move their things up for them at the same time.
Though unexpected, it was a good day. I really enjoyed getting to know the parents that were there, as well as the youth & children milling about. It was one of those hidden graces of God... where I thought I was just going to say bye and to offer a little help, and yet instead I find that God had much bigger plans for me. Getting to talk to parents helped me to build relationships with them, and in turn get to know their kids better. Some of the not-yet-in-youth-group siblings of current students were also there, and between them & their parents, I'm glad I had the chance to start getting to expand my borders to know the people of the church, not just the students in the youth group. And even just how God had me there during the afternoon to be of assistance- having just moved from Chicago myself and having experience in this area- and being around.
We went over to Al Chen's home for dinner, and during dinner I had more opportunities to talk and get to know the adults, learning more about their famlies. The "bonus" blessing was getting to know Aaron, the Chen's youngest son, who is a special needs child, but who is also such an encouragement to me. Already he has a lot of enthusiasm when he sees me... he's very outgoing & very likeable kid. At one point in the evening, he wanted to show me a Carman worship CD (side note: if you know something about the history of Christian music in the late 80s/early 90s, you know that Carman is a hilarious character :P). Anyway, as the first song was playing- Lord I Lift Your Name On High- Aaron was singing along as best he can, and dancing around the room. It was pretty funny, but also incredibly... insightful. Here was a person whom the world considers to have "lower mental capacities" and "not normal"... and yet, he listens to a worship song, and I believe worships perhaps more than those of us who have no physical or mental limitations. I mean, when was the last time, as we were singing to God, that we displayed great enthusiasm, and just wanted to run around the room, arms waving, acting all “silly”, but at the same time be what King David said as being “undignified" as we worship God... where we don't care about what people think when they see us, but unashamedly we worship. Aaron, being a person without the same inhibitions and social "conditioning" as some of the rest of us, is a great example of that, I think.
Oh, and I also ended up inheriting some random food items as well as a bookshelf in the process.
In the end, I didn't get any of my "planned" work done... but building these relationships, learning from others, and serving a family... that "work" is the more important work, and the real task of ministry.
Monday, July 26, 2004
Normalizing...
Returned Sunday from the beach trip. Now finally I get a long stretch here in town, though the pace of things will still be pretty full. There's much to do in terms of prep work for the fall, as well as the weekly responsibilities. This week will be full... Wednesday Bible Study, Friday youth group, and Sunday School.
As far as the ministry update goes: Crossroads went very well... I feel like I received more out of it than I gave, which is always a good sign. It was a great opportunity to get to know the 22 youth who went, and to live, eat, pray, worship with them. It was a good type of tired that I felt at the week's end. The beach trip was a more mixed trip for me personally. Some of it was just my lowered energy level going into it. Getting to know the upperclassmen was a distinctly different experience than getting to know the underclassmen at Crossroads; it is plainly evident that within the one youth group, there are two distinct subsets of students, with different worldviews, different spirituality.
Still, I'm thankful that in the midst of all that activity, I have good friends & healthy boundaries. My living arrangement with Dan has been mutually beneficial, and I'm able to establish healthy boundaries between my service for God and the rest of life that involves simply being a person... resting, playing, reading :)
[Prayer Requests]
- Pray that I will be able to find rest as well as take care of miscellaneous things in the midst of all of the things I have to do
- Pray for continued opportunities to build relationships with youth, parents, and church members.
- Pray specifically for college students and/or young adults who have a burden to serve in the youth ministry, to be shepherds to the youth.
- Pray for planning for the fall semester: curriculum, Sunday School teachers, calendar/scheduling
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Sunday, July 11, 2004
First weekend
Friday was my first day, running youth group. Spoke to them on active listening, which they did well.
Today went well, my first Sunday here. Taught half of the Sunday School time, and mostly just said hi to a lot of people and had a lot of people say hi to me.
Tomorrow (er, today I guess), some of us leave for Crossroads camp.
[Prayer Request]
- Safety going to/from Crossroads, as well as there.
- Times for God to meet the youth there & impact lives
- For Eunice and myself to be good facilitators & counselors to the youth.
- Physical strength & stamina
