From the Pastor - "Confidence" August 2015

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Dear Friends in Christ,

What is the church?  The church may be considered in terms of our location, nature, redemption, shape, ministry, and mission.  According to Everist and Nessan in Transforming Leadership, the church may also be described in terms of its confidence. 

Just a few minutes of listening to the news or scanning your Twitter feed shows that the world is not as God intends it.  There is poverty and racism, drought and hunger.  These enormous problems can become like the wallpaper we live with and accept as a given.  

Apathy blocks God's transforming power.  Carol Lakey Hess warns against congregations feeling sorry for themselves or wallowing in what they are not.  She maintains that superficial niceness or undue humility stifles the prophetic message of God.  As a result, we experience a diminished capacity to care about and respond to injustice.

Congregations can become blind to the ways in which God is already workng through them and developing their skills.   Elisabeth Cady Stanton was keen on saying that sometimes self-development is a higher duty than self-sacrifice. 

Life as a Christian is much more than a call to humility. It is a call from the Holy Spirit to participate boldly in the reign of God in community with others. By nurturing courage and caring among one another, God can turn our concern into active engagement for justice.

1.  Is there apathy in you or in our congregation? What are its signs-lack of interest in opportunities for mission; lack of self-confidence; judgment of self and others?

2.  With the help of the Spirit, how can transformed leaders build both confidence and courage to transform apathy into action?

Confidence is about receiving the power of God that is working in us and through us to make a difference in the world.  That’s church.

Yours in Christ,


Rev. Brian C. Smith 

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