My Church
From the world of sports has come a new expression, “My bad.” I have noticed, while watching a sports event on television, that when an athlete makes a mistake in the game, sometimes that athlete will pat his or her chest and say, “My bad,” indicating that he or she made an error or committed a foul that cost the team a penalty. Sometimes an athlete will do something good, like get a base hit at a crucial time, or score a touchdown. Then the athlete will pat his or her chest and point to the sky as if giving God the credit for the athlete’s accomplishment.
In a similar way, I have heard people say “My church” with a great deal of pride. While we may not pat our chests or point to the sky, we may say a silent prayer of thanks for “my church.”
As a pastor, I can testify to the fact that it is a great joy to hear people speak of “my church” with pride and excitement. We live in critical times, but also in a time of criticism, much of it negative; and much of it directed at the church. Sometimes the criticism is warranted, and sometimes it is not. I think the criticism grows out of an unrealistic expectation of the church. We expect the church somehow to be different from all our other experiences in life. We expect the worship bulletin to be error-free on Sunday morning when our own work is hardly ever error-free. We expect communication within the church to be timely and informative when our own individual communication skills are far from perfect. We expect the church to provide comfortable facilities and programs for every age and pay the bills when due, even though few of us tithe. In short, we expect the church to be perfect when it is made up of very imperfect people.
Lately, I have been patting my chest and pointing to the sky as I speak of Faith UMC as “my church.” For the truth is that Faith is mostly exempt from the kind of criticism outlined above. When I talk with pastors and church members from other churches, I don’t always hear them saying “my church” with a genuine sense of pride and joy. And that is sad.
There is much at Faith that makes me proud to be the pastor. The first thing is our people. The church went through a painful split a few years ago. A faithful core did not leave, but stayed to continue the work of the Lord. Consequently, because of our people’s faith and commitment we have experienced growth, not rapid, overwhelming growth, but small steady, but nevertheless, growth. And if all our active members showed up on the same Sunday, we would be looking at about 70 people in our sanctuary.
Our people are very generous with their gifts. So far, we are in good financial shape. And very generous with time. When people sacrifice a week of their vacation time for Salkehatchie in order to help improve the living conditions of our less fortunate sisters and brothers, that is Christians at their best.
Our people’s service to the church itself is outstanding. No one declines to serve on a committee when asked. The Sunday morning worship service depends not on the pastor alone, but on ushers, greeters, lay readers, nursery workers, the choir, pianist and organist, offering counters, and acolytes. And what can we say about those willing to teach Sunday school, and who do not get discouraged when only 2 or 3 show up?
Our people remind me of our calling to “uphold the church with our presence, our prayers, our gifts, and our service.” If we keep at it, if we persevere with faith, then growth will come.
This is “my church”; and I thank God for you.
Don