sayings of change
These are some of the comments I have heard this week as we commenced in our new ministry centre. You may laugh, cry or grimace but you can certainly hear the pain of change.
“why are we calling it a auditorium? It should be called a temple.”
“I don’t like how I can see the feet of the pianist.”
“That is not a communion table”
“Where can I sit?” (one lady came in and “researched the place to sit during the week”, I thought it was kinda clever as I watched her sit in different seats trying them out)
“I worship the risen Christ” (we have a funky modern oil painting of Jesus on the cross)
“I love the picture” (yes, the same picture :))
“Where is my communion table” (translate to “where is communion table from the Church that I used to attend - one of the four original Churches)
“I don’t like the organ - the other one is much better”
“The flowers don’t match the wall”
A sign was placed on the entry “wipe your feet before you enter”. This was would be the first thing that greeted you. I removed it and threw it in the bin.
“all this space and nowhere to prepare the flowers”
“we have been generous with the amount of space for the offices maybe we can use them more efficiently in the future” (to put this in context the offices take up about 5% of the building)
This was all on the first Sunday blended service. Change does not sit well.
May 26th, 2004 at 9:59 pm
How I dislike religious people.
Curiously I’m engaged in debate with someone about our church having an ‘altar’. Sarah’s contention is that the stage in the new church centre in Oxford is really an altar. To me it’s just a place to put the speaker and musicians so they can see the congregation better. My comment was “show me the altar and I’ll see if I can find some bones to burn on it”. When people are focussed on the building they use then they forget what church is.
May 27th, 2004 at 3:33 am
Know what ya mean. The church where I serve is proposing a change to the meeting times and number of Sunday School sessions on Sunday morning (going back to a schedule we had a few decades ago–two services concurrent with two Sunday Schools, ). You should hear some of the comments. I tell ya…
May 27th, 2004 at 8:48 am
When we painted our foyer (very modern bright colours), one old lady who wasn’t overly impressed said “I don’t think Jesus is here anymore”
May 28th, 2004 at 1:41 am
Sigh.
Sounds like I know some of their relatives, up here in Prince Albert, Canada!
May 28th, 2004 at 8:49 am
Sounds typical - the sort of thing I am sure I remember hearing when we remodelled our church building….
Seeing the pianist’s feet worries me - People don’t look at my feet when I play do they?. It must be a distracting site, as my feet are not all that pretty….
You know, one day I am going to sit at the feet of Jesus (literally or figuratively - who cares…) and I am sure going to be glad to see His feet!
May 28th, 2004 at 9:59 am
but the pink flowers realy don’t work in front of a red wall.
May 28th, 2004 at 11:08 am
We had a canny Bishop at our church.
Whenever there was a need to change what were doing he would do a bible study on the topic.
This helped the people, mainly but not only elderly people, to see the biblcal picture.
Consequently change was made more easily.
May 28th, 2004 at 11:22 am
For the past four years we have “entered” the biblical story continually as we have sought to create our new Church. It may have made the change easier but never painless. Exploring what we believe God is calling us to do through the biblical narrative has been the reason for this change. Intellectually people understand this - our feelings and emotions do not follow always as easily or clinically. And that is ok. The biblical narrative shows us this, and says that is ok to express our pain.
May 30th, 2004 at 4:17 pm
Let me make two biblical illustrations.
The Israelites grumble about being away from Egypt. They want to go back.
Would you feel their pain at this change?
By no means as Satan is trying to sabotage God’s mission.
The Hellenists grumble that their widows are not being looked after. Would you feel their pain? By all means. As their compalint has good biblical reasons. Moreover they force the apostles to do what is essentially their main task to preach the Gospel.
Two diferent situations and two different reactions.
May 30th, 2004 at 4:44 pm
Pain of change is a something natural. The pain of the journey of the Israelites is something to feel and is something to relate to. The Israelites sure did. They expressed anger, frustration and grief. To call this Satan trying to sabotaging God’s plan minimizes the human journey of change. The Israelites were not lifeless pawns in some kind of cosmic plan, they were real, breathing and fragile human beings undertaking a journey in which God was involved in.
The story of the Israelites is quite apt for the current context of the Church. And some Christians, like the Israelites are feeling the pain. This pain should not be rejected or minimized but should be felt and journeyed through.
May 31st, 2004 at 10:02 am
Phil,
I am gobsmacked by your intrepretation of the Israelites and they were not doing Satan’s work.
When you and I sin each day every day who is tempting us to sin? Why did Adam disobey God?
May 31st, 2004 at 3:25 pm
Just because someone expresses anger, frustration or grief (even about a Godly change) doesn’t mean they are doing the work of Satan. I think it would depend on how they were expressing it, and what they ultimately did about it.
Wouldn’t it be worse to be experiencing grief and not being allowed to express it? Or to have anger and not address it?
Speaking of expressing anger and greif:
People in the congregation can see my legs most weeks. How come the pianist’s are more distracting than mine. What does the pianst have that I don’t?!?
June 1st, 2004 at 10:45 am
Nigel’ Igave two explicit examples of people grumbling.
One was justified one wasn’t.
When the Israelites grumble about not being back in Egypt and someone who I assume purports to be a pastor says the Israelites were not being decieved by Satan I shake my head in amazement.
We are all sinners. we all, I am including myself here by the way, will grumble as we succumb to Satan’s temptations. If we do not recognise or do not have brothers and sisters who point it out how can we repent of the sin?
It is similar to the justified grumble as the Hellenists have too. This is where the Leaders need to change to grow the church, both spirituslly and numerically by God’s grace.
June 2nd, 2004 at 11:23 am
Homer, yes I got those two examples from your earlier post. Indeed, Insisting on going back to the (false) security of Egypt or whatever else has been lost would be a bad way to express grief in this and many other cases. But it doesn’t rule out expressing grief at all in more creative and life-giving ways.
What I couldn’t find in any earlier post was someone purporting to be a pastor who said categorically the Israelites were not being deceived by Satan. Were you talking about Phil? If so, I don’t think he said what you think he said.
Thirdly, whenever you talk about us being sinners I remember your belief that the one thing sin needs is to be punished. I hope you continue to have ever greater experience of being embraced by God’s grace, such that you would feel free to express your feelings (be they grief, anger or frustration) without a threatening sense of guilt.
June 3rd, 2004 at 11:09 am
Nigel,
That was Phil’s clear implication as I saw it. If I have read his message incorrectly then I apologise.
Nigel all sinners need to be punished that is why Jesus came here in the first place. If he didn’t take our punishment for our sins ( for those who believe in him) it was a pretty pointless journey.
June 3rd, 2004 at 12:51 pm
Homer,
I hear that without punishment you feel life (particularly Christ’s life, which is the ultimate example for us all) would be pointless.
I hope you discover more about that good news that all sinners need to be loved, not once they repent, not once they resolve or subdue all feelings of grief or anger or erotic attraction, but just as they are.