New Service

This past Monday, we inaugurated a new service. For four years or so, we have had a Mission Night on Mondays—we gave out food and clothing. For the two years I have been here, I have puzzled about how to connect mission to evangelism. It’s easy enough to connect evangelism to mission—we can tell all kinds of people what we do on Monday nights. The problem came when we tried to tell people on Monday night what we’re up to Sunday morning. We just weren’t seeing people come to worship.

So for about a year or so I and a few others have been thinking about bringing Sunday morning to Monday night. So, while we still give out food and clothing, we also have a service—praying, singing, preaching. And we also have a meal together.

So for about a month this summer, we shut down the food and clothing ministry while we talked about how to do something new.

Then we opened back up, pretty much like we had been doing it before. We put up a sign and found something amazing. There were close to 70 people at our doors. We had not had that many for a mission night in a long time. We discovered that most people in the neighborhood had no idea we did such a thing!

We shut down for another two weeks to stock up the pantry and get ready. Monday was the first night. 55 people came. 55 people from the neighborhood, people who do not come to church on Sundays. No doubt some have a church, but most do not. And so the one thing we wanted to do, fill the belly and the spirit, we did. Two birds with one stone.

Making the change was hard. It felt, no doubt, like we were closing some chapter. It is hard to imagine new things, or doing something good in a new way. What if it fails? How do we get past feeling sad for losing the old ways? In the end, not much changed—people still come and get items from the food pantry. We just added a meal—and the point is not just to feed, but to sit down, to let people know they matter, to get to know them and let them get to know us. And, I pray, one day turn over the ministry to them.

The crazy thing is—and there are all kinds of things that hit you— we have been talking and trying to reach out to the community. And in one simple thing, a meal and a service, we di what we have wanted to.

And it’s funny how things have happened. We have also been talking about doing economic development in the community, looking to help go-getters start their own businesses. Well, there is a fellow, Kenny, who has wanted to start a restaurant or catering business. He cooks for a well-known restaurant in town. I mentioned to him that we have a nice kitchen. He said, “I noticed that at your wedding.” I went on to ask him if he had thought about maybe doing something out of there. He said that was an answer to prayer, because his wife had said that instead of him asking me, he should wait for me to ask him. So the rent is going to be him cooking for Monday nights and our fellowship dinners.

So, we have a professional chef who cooks the meals for the Monday night service. It is so awesome to work with such a creative staff and volunteers.

Bill MacDonald, one of our faithful volunteers, said he looks forward to the day when there are more people in the service on Monday nights than there are on Sunday mornings.

Evangelism

Clifton and I finally got out to do some evangelism. It was the best single day of evangelism visits I have been party to. It was not simply that Clifton was willing to go. It wasn’t only that he just jumped in. Second house we stop at, he says, “My name is Cliff, this is my pastor, Aaron. We’re from the Rock Methodist Church.” And then he would invite them to worship with us. I sat back and only said anything if they had a particular question, or if they indicated they did not attend worship anywhere.

The reason it was such a good day was because I went out into the neighborhood with a respected and known man from the neighborhood. Clifton has lived here most of his life. His family is well-known. His wife’s family is well-known. He saw a guy on the street and said, “he’s going through a rough time in life right now…” We went over, Cliff invited him to church and the young man said, “I know I need to come…” I asked why he didn’t. It led to discussions about recent deaths in his family and some other issues. I gave him one of my tracts and walked him through salvation in Jesus. He listened. He gave me his phone number, saying he would like for me to call him.

Did I mention that as we walked along, Robert Highfill joined us? Or that in one house where Cliff’s daughter was playing, she decided she wanted to go with us? And both those kids were able to talk to parents of their friends? It was like having tips on not just who to visit but what was happening. They know more incidentally than I do after two years of hitting the streets. But this is what all that hitting the streets is aimed towards: building relationships at the right time in the right place with the right people. I am betting that I will find another evangelist soon.

At another house, we saw two apple trees in the front yard, producing well. Fall apples. Could we come by and pick some? Why sure…

All along the way as we walked, we talked about what the Bible says about evangelism, about scattering seed, and the narrow road. We’ll have to keep seeking the houses of peace, the prophets from among the neighborhood.

Jubilee

Last night was Thursday night dinner. It was a great time, new faces, some invited by other new faces. Lots of connections, lots of re-connections-- both in terms of some folks who have not been in a while, and one of the new faces is the younger sister of a guy I used to work with. Have not seen her in 10 years or more. Just showed up, not knowing. Awesome.

After dinner, John Gallaher and I started jamming. We were just going to work on some old tunes, "I'll fly away," and "the Unclouded Day." Him in guitar, me on banjo, Kamryn on an African drum Jessie has. People clapping, singing. We kept on-- some Johnny Cash, more gospel hymns-- "Power in the Blood," "On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand." Whew. Should have taken an offering...

Letting Go

Values Clarification brings rewards. Let me back up: The Rock La Roca needs to shift to being a community-based church, a church for its neighborhood. Not a mission station, not a place where people come from somewhere else to do ministry to the neighbors. But that is a hard shift, because our bread and butter has been attracting people from outside to come in and be part of things here. It was a good start, but now we are at the place where we can enter into the neighborhood, seeking the people who live here as partners in, not objects of, ministry.

The tension arises when, in making the shift, and you’re in no-man’s land, and the community people are not quite here and the “old guard” is feeling dissatisfied, it looks like nothing is going to work.

It’s at that moment that you have to make sure that you stick with where you are going. The point about values clarification is that you move to where you want to be, you don’t stay where you’ve been.

The first big issue it seems that we face is not identifying the leaders for the church from the community. We look to the same people to do the work, we seek to do what we’ve been doing, all the while missing that we need to look for and welcome leaders from the neighborhood.

In children and youth ministry, it means seeking parents to grow into leadership. Already, we have found some who have vision and desires for the work among the children of the neighborhood.

In mission, it will mean opening up leadership and development of programs to people who need the help we can give.

Where it has most hit me is in evangelism. Community congruence—the idea that the church is in dialogue with the community to develop ministries and worship—means that somehow, the church has to know about the community. Who better than the folks who live there? My friend Cliff has stepped up, asking to go out with me to do evangelism. We have been building a relationship for two years now, and it is bearing fruit in real friendship. It doesn’t surprise me; Cliff is what Jesus called a “man of peace” (e.g. Luke 10:5-7). Jesus’ plan was so simple, no one believes it. Go visit, find the people receptive, and build on them.

I hope that one day we can turn over the church to leadership from the neighborhood. It’s a hard task, but the right direction. The change has already brought turmoil and turnover, hard feelings, even. Birth is painful; but this time has also already brought new life.

Big Changes, Notes, and a Collocation

There have been lots of changes at the Rock La Roca since the year began. Two new staff people have brought new life and productivity—Andres Doimeadios and Martina Ockerman. And we have made positive steps towards aligning our ministry with what we need to do.

To that end: we have revamped the Monday night mission. We were frustrated that we saw next to no growth in church from our efforts at passing out food and clothing. So, while we will continue with food and clothing, we are tweaking it: adding a meal and a service, and streamlining the process for our friends who come.

We’re going to start a sort of children’s music academy.

We’re looking at having a couple days a week to help kids with tutoring, feeding them, and generally loving on them.

Yikes, we even have Sunday School. We might actually start to look like a church.

And we finally got around to something we have needed to do for a long time: get to one morning service. We got there, but not by the expected route. On the one hand, we have been trying to be one church, and that much of the vision remains. But on the other hand, we had to face the fact that privileging contemporary worship in our community is just not going to work. The neighborhood seeks more old time gospel. So we’re doing that—one somewhat traditional service with our curious mix of white, African and Hispanic. We’ll see how it all shakes out.

It’s a tough thing to consider, much less do. You run the risk of looking foolish as you lose people, as it takes time to get your activities aligned with your purpose, and then get the word out on the street. There will be so much opportunity for “I told you so.” But like I say, you can’t imagine how much you can get done if you don’t give a rip what other people think…

It’s not actually that crass; but if you know something is the right thing to do, the hardest thing to do is get it done before it is absolutely obvious to everyone it has to get done. I have tried my hardest to prepare the people on staff for the pitfalls of leadership: you have to keep everything in mind, while complainers can obsess all week on their one issue; you have to lead in directions that are not always clear to the people you are asking to come along; and finally, when you’re doing the Lord’s work, you have to be ready to get hit and hit hard. But it’s just like the devil to bring a knife to this gunfight.

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Andres, some of the youth and I hit the garden Saturday morning. We got most of the fall stuff planted last week, but we had another section to clear. So we had some work weed-eating, digging out the thick stuff with a pick, and then tilling. We were nasty and sweaty and dusty, but at the end, we were happy. We sowed some beets, got in some sweet potatoes, thinking we might beat the frost.

We laid out about 25 rows for carrots. We have this idea that a big patch of carrots will be pretty.

I think that the work of the garden has been there to remind us that evangelism is hard work. We want everything to be easy. Or at least routine after some hard prep work. No such luck.

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This is from last week:

Vegetable evangelism has been a little different this year. We made some progress towards getting away from having so many tomatoes, for example. We grew some stuff we did not last year (beets, turnips, radishes, eggplant, lenga, potatoes, and sweet potatoes). But I think the best thing has been in distribution. I sat down and identified a few families that would receive the most regular bags of produce. I tried to put a good variety of things in a package for them.

Basically, I was looking for folks that we have a relationship with, that we are trying to cultivate. I guess that was 5 or 6 families. This year, it really produced: 2 families in church, 1 more pretty close. There’s not just goodwill that develops; you can talk for a while, too, over a sack of vegetables.

Last week, we put in the first plantings for the fall garden: plants of cabbage, spinach, and broccoli; seeds for carrots, beets, radishes, turnips. This weekend I will sow some collard and mustard greens in between some rows.

We harvested probably 100 lbs of potatoes Saturday. I think we’ll grow mostly potatoes, beans, onions, and cabbage next year.

We can always use donations for the garden. Plants are greatly appreciated. With some cash gifts, we were able to buy enough hose to get from Andres’ house to the garden, and lots of tools to keep things going.

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Back in Winchester, Alice Quisenberry was one of our older saints. The parsonage I lived in was the farm she grew up on. She was fond of telling me that they grew corn and tobacco where the house is. Anyway, Alice was happy that I planted the apples in the back yard. She remembered that in the front of her house, where Charlie Moore used to live, was a big apple tree. They would sit under it to take a break from summer work and drink cold water. The tree was a sheepnose apple. Tasted great, best apple she ever had.

I like old fashioned heirloom apples. I’d like to plant some sheepnose apples.

Back in the day, 30 years ago now, I read a book, Onion John. I checked it out to see if maybe the boys would like me to read it to them. They will. It’s a favorite book of mine from childhood. Anyway, page 24: “We found Onion John tying rocks in a tree. The tree grew in sheepnose apples. They’re a yellow kind that comes down to three rounded points like the muzzle of a sheep, if you want to think about it that way. You wouldn’t want a better apple to eat, more juicy. And they’re early. The first apple you have every year, usually, was out of the sack Onion John brought to town when you happened to meet him and he’d give you one.”

Out and About

Tuesday, a day I usually set apart to “hide” so I can work on sermons, was interrupted by God in some really powerful ways. First, we had a funeral for Edna Green. She and Bill were married for 61 years, and the testimony of their faith is impressive. Dr. Hunter had the service, and when you consider his own pain over his son’s severe illness, it’s just inspiring to see how life-long Christians continue to live in, on, and by the Word.

That evening was spent in a variety of conversations with neighbors. It came about because we had a lot of produce—from our garden, from First Church’s garden, and from our friends Angie and Mike Quigley. All told, 11 people were involved in a few hours on the front porch. We came together over gifts of vegetables and discussions about the Lord. It just kind of popped open. One guy said he sees us on the porch, and finally decided to get out of his house and come over and talk.

We’ll see where it all goes; the work is slow. You have to be building lots of relationships, because only a few people will even agree to visit church, and from there, an even smaller number will stay. Church in America, at the Rock, I know you have not had to think about this in your lifetimes. I know that it is easier to invite believers to church, people you know and are comfortable with. But we have to find the Lost Sheep.

The gardens are awesome this year. I have harvested beets, radishes, turnips, onions, and new potatoes. Angie and Mike gave us two kinds of eggplants, some squashes, and peppers. First Church brought cabbage, beans, and tomatoes. It has been great to get it out to people! First came the people who have helped in the garden. And then the folks I know are the neediest.

An elderly widow called, saying that I brought her vegetables and prayed with her last year, and would I be doing that again? Yes, Mary, I have been glad to! I saw a dude on his porch and handed him some produce. I went to introduce myself and he cut me off, saying, “I know who you are. You’re my preacher. I knew you’d be back once the garden food kicked in.” Thing is, he calls me his preacher, not because he comes to church, but because I have visited and shared the Word with him. Sometimes I wish I had a normal church. But most days not. I am glad that he knows I am his preacher—there are many on the streets who don’t know it, but I am nonetheless.

Garden

It has been a good garden season. We have a good bit of help, and some interesting crops. A lot more variety. First Church's garden is huge and nice, and will be lots of help.

We have already harvested beets, radishes, and turnips. A number of onions have been harvested along with a crop of new potatoes. The first two ripe tomatoes have been harvested, along with lots of green ones. I expect that in a few weeks, there will be more stuff than we can handle! It will be great to get out some visits with the produce!

I keep thinking that with more participation and brains we could really come up with some great ideas. In a few weeks, we'll have to get ready for the fall: peas, carrots, cabbage, spinach, turnips, beets, who knows what else.

Somewhere in all this, we want to keep praying that we'll get more help, more room, more plans, because the final goal is to get good food to people who need it!