Confirmation 2009

Yesterday we held our confirmation service. 23 young people stood in front of the church and confessed their faith before their family friends and of course God. It was a very exciting day for me.

I hope that it was an exciting day for our young people. I can remember my own confirmation like it was just a few days ago. It certainly had significant meaning for me and I trust that will hold true for the 23 students from yesterday. Perhaps one of the most significant moments for me was the reaction of parents as they came for the blessing of their child in front of the altar. More than one turned to me with a smile and said very simply, “thanks”.

A couple of people noted that it was my fifth service in two days but I think at some point adrenaline just takes over in the excitement and honor of the occasion. That simply gives one the ability to lead worship in spite of some exhaustion.

Of course now I consider what we should do different next year. In that light I will meet with all the small group leaders later this week for a review session. The goal of the confirmation program remains the same. We simply want to prepare our young people to speak for themselves and understand the words that were spoken at their baptism. The actual mechanics for teaching our young people can change from year to year without changing the goal. So we will look at new books, new videos, consider our small and large group practice, the meals we offer before our class, and everything else connected with the program. With something this important there is no detail too small.

And this was the first confirmation service I've ever taken part in that was broadcast throughout the world. Having webcasts ability is a real blessing. We are aware of people that watched the surface in many locations. One e-mail in particular from the family of one of our students were unable to attend underscored the importance of using technology.

Until next time,

Pastor Tom

the week after Easter

It has been a week since we concluded the Holy Week worship services. In some respects I feel like I'm still basking in all the rich emotions that leading worship brings especially during that week. As the senior pastor I take my role very seriously as you would expect. I don't think it is possible to spend too much time preparing for worship. I continued to rewrite my sermons even between services. We did a significant amount of music with some drama and art this year. And if the sermon reports that I read from the confirmation students are good a good barometer then most of what we set out to accomplish was successful.

It is the time of second-guessing. And if I were to do it over again, sure there are things I would change. I would approach some matters a little bit differently. But the bottom line is that our attendance was excellent, in fact there was an increase in the year before. People were very generous with their offerings as Christ has been generous to all of us. While I'm not ready to plan another Lent and Easter worship schedule with sermons, I do look forward to next fall when we began our planning for the Lent season.

Speaking of preparing for worship in the future, I just finished this morning preparing sermons, sermon summaries and text selections for all worship services through the end of July. With about an hour into each worship service so far, my next step is to develop my sermons to a point where it can be preached. That little endeavor will require a few more hours. I enjoyed this work. In fact one aspect I truly enjoy is thinking of illustrations that I can use to illustrate a point that I think Christ would like me to make. Sometimes I come up with just the right illustration while at other times I may think it's a good illustration but I know the people will not be thinking like I.

I mentioned sermon reports before in my comments. I did complete 54 of them earlier this morning and for the most part I'm very proud of the young people and their willingness to sit down and write not only what their favorite song was for the theme of the sermon but how that song applies to their life and how that has application for them today. Those are hard concepts for young people to grab onto but more often than not the young people succeed. And by the way, they are very forthright with their comments. If my sermon is not keeping their attention or if it's confusing or if there is a song that they just do not like you can rest assured that it will be in the sermon report. Even technological glitches are instantly caught and reported by each student in their sermon report. If you want to see what a sermon report looks like there is a link on our website. You can simply click on it and if you are so inclined, fill out a report. It'll come to me and perhaps I'll even respond much as I do for the students.

Thank you,

Pastor Tom

Well it's been an interesting day. This was our Palm Sunday musical worship celebration and it was well attended. I think everybody who participated in the worship enjoyed the music and had to be impressed with the quality and professionalism of all the performers. It has been an interesting day receiving comments mostly through e-mails and more often than not positive. Unfortunately there are always a few people who misunderstand something or were offended unintentionally. I've tried to address all of those matters but sometimes I think I just add a little bit of fuel to the fire.

Sometimes I wish I had just a fraction of the Wisdom of Solomon. Perhaps it's not so much a question of wisdom however as it is of patience and forgiveness. Sometimes those two commodities are lacking on my part.

Now I look forward to preaching six times before the week is over. Each of the worship services has been well-planned and much prayer has gone into everything that we will try to accomplish through the worship. Frankly what frightens me at this moment is that my sermons will not live up to the expectation of the listeners. The music will be great in the liturgy will be more than appropriate. But I simply need to trust that God will give me the words to speak this holy week of 2009.

Well it's been an interesting day. This was our Palm Sunday musical worship celebration and it was well attended. I think everybody who participated in the worship enjoyed the music and had to be impressed with the quality and professionalism of all the performers. It has been an interesting day receiving comments mostly through e-mails and more often than not positive. Unfortunately there are always a few people who misunderstand something or were offended unintentionally. I've tried to address all of those matters but sometimes I think I just add a little bit of fuel to the fire.

Sometimes I wish I had just a fraction of the Wisdom of Solomon. Perhaps it's not so much a question of wisdom however as it is of patience and forgiveness. Sometimes those two commodities are lacking on my part.

Now I look forward to preaching six times before the week is over. Each of the worship services has been well-planned and much prayer has gone into everything that we will try to accomplish through the worship. Frankly what frightens me at this moment is that my sermons will not live up to the expectation of the listeners. The music will be great in the liturgy will be more than appropriate. But I simply need to trust that God will give me the words to speak this holy week of 2009.

Day after Vacation

Hello,

I just returned from a few days of vacation. I know that whenever we take vacations we are supposed to feel relaxed and energized and ready to take on the next projects. But somehow when I take vacations it seems like there's so much work that needs to be done before the vacation and then there are always things that come up during the vacation and following the vacation there is even more work to accomplish. It all makes me wonder if vacations are really worth the time way.

However, we did visit with our eldest son and that was very nice. We spent two days in San Diego and just over three days in Yuma Arizona where my eldest son lives and works. It took a few hours to see all of the sites in and around Yuma because after you see the territorial prison and a couple of museums there aren’t many sites left to visit except for the desert. Obviously, living in Illinois we don't see the desert very often. I was surprised at the beauty and majesty that was all around us. From the mountains to the vast open expanse with all the flowers in bloom and the cacti, well it is just magnificent.

We were able to explore the desert on foot and in vehicle. It's good we had a rental vehicle because some of the roads were not very friendly for automobile traffic. And walking this particular desert comes with some level of hazard. There is a lot of unexploded ordnance from years of military training and testing along with an occasional cactus both of which are not good to walk into! I particularly enjoyed the sense of freedom that you experience as you stand in the desert and all around you is God's natural beautiful landscape without any human interference.

But now it's back to work with the reality of meetings and e-mails and sermon preparation and more meetings that comes with being the senior pastor.

Pastor Tom

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

This Sunday I will be formally installed as senior pastor at Immanuel. I'm really excited about this installation and hope that the Church sees this not so much as a celebration of an individual but as a celebration of all that God does and continues to do in our community. I am not one to enjoy the spotlight even though I stand in front of hundreds of people each weekend. I would much rather sit in the back and clap and enjoy other people's day. But it's a small price to pay to be a pastor.

And now I'll be able to blog regularly. At least that's my intention. I've been hesitant in the past because serving as an interim gave me a feeling that it would be inappropriate to do much blogging and share what was on my mind. I didn't want to influence the call process at all or do anything that just would seem to question my integrity.

Integrity is very important to me. The last thing this church needs is a leader who is less than honest and upright in all his dealings. We still have some healing to do with the church. This healing will take place if everyone can continue to grow in faith, seek resolution from God for any difficulty, and continue to put the past in the past. That sounds so easy to do but for some of us, the pain one experiences dates back many years. We all get into a habit of living with what we are comfortable even if it's not healthy. We all form and bad habits over time. Sometimes those habits include living with bad experiences. Even though memories from the past can be difficult and influence us in the present, sometimes we become comfortable even with bad memories and don’t make much of an effort to change.

On another topic, we are beginning an intentional process of cleanup around the church. We're taking a look at the office area and setting aside some time to reorganize, toss out, decide what's important, and just make things look a little a bit better. We have some other areas of the church that need some attention and we’re going to be asking for some volunteers to help us when we organize and clean up some of these areas. First impressions are so important and sometimes a church can get in the habit of just accumulating lots of stuff. I think if we do not use something for the last 15 years or so it can probably be tossed out.

So that's my ramblings for the moment. If there's something you would like me to talk about just let me know. Blogs are supposed to be just what's around my mind at the moment so that's what you get -- -- unedited, unscripted, and perhaps a little unprofessional at times.

Blessings to all of you

pastor

Number One

July 14, 2008

Monday’s are typically difficult days for many people as they begin their work week. For me it is a little different because I have “worked” all day Saturday and Sunday so Monday has become just another day of the work week. However in the future that will change because beginning next week I will schedule Monday as my day away from the office, technically a “Day Off”. Maybe Tuesday will become my Monday …

Worship on the weekend was tremendous in spite of my shortcomings. The music at Immanuel is always well preformed and includes an amply variety for many personal preferences. Lately musicians have literally been appearing unscheduled before the worship to volunteer their time and expertise. Not only do they practice and coordinate their contributions with the other musicians but they can even adapt to changes in their planned repertoire to emphasize a point in the sermon.

Our worship prayer leaders serve as Christian models for others in the congregation. While many people may hesitate to publically pray especially during a worship service, those who lead prayers at Immanuel work through any stage fright or nervousness and effectively bring the concerns of the community to God.

Looking forward to next weekend ---- preaching at Immanuel is very special and as physically tired as I become on Sunday afternoon, I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to lead worship very soon.