After having moved to Maine three weeks ago now (for a one-year Intern Pastorate at New Hope Church, an eight-year-old congregation in Bangor), life has
begun to settle into more of a routine. I’ll start with a few quick updates,
and then a brief reflection. (Normally I'll write about once every other week.)
The initial move went well, and during the first week I was
able to focus on getting settled in. Over the past weeks I have also attended
various ministries connected to New Hope Church: Monday’s Celebrate Recovery (a
biblically-based recovery program), Wednesday prayer meeting, Saturday praise
team rehearsal and dinner, a Thursday pastors’ breakfast, the monthly church
leadership meeting, a beautiful island mountain hike for church members and others,
and a Sunday welcome picnic at a local park. I have enjoyed opportunities to
begin getting to know church members better through these activities as well as
more one-on-one get-togethers.
I preached for the first time on the 18th (following my commissioning service on the 11th), and will be preaching every other week for the next month. Beginning in October, I will preach most Sundays, and will also soon start team teaching Sunday school--which will consist of guided discussion of our upcoming sermon series on discipleship/apprenticeship in Matthew.
I preached for the first time on the 18th (following my commissioning service on the 11th), and will be preaching every other week for the next month. Beginning in October, I will preach most Sundays, and will also soon start team teaching Sunday school--which will consist of guided discussion of our upcoming sermon series on discipleship/apprenticeship in Matthew.
In addition, in answer to prayers for additional employment
(as the bi-vocational aspect of my position), I was offered (and accepted) the
position of Girls’ JV Soccer Coach at John Bapst High School, a private school
just a mile from my apartment. The season has already been underway for the
past week and a half, and it is wonderful to be able to work with the team. I
hope that this position will open up opportunities to build bridges between
these families and New Hope, as opportunities allow and they raise questions.
It is such a privilege to be able to work in the community in this way in
addition to being at New Hope.
As I’ve been oriented to the church and church members’
lives these past three weeks, I have had to keep remembering that the weight of
the church does not ultimately rest on my shoulders—or any of our shoulders. Peoples' struggles, the direction of the
Church, and the growth of the Church do not ultimately
depend on us. God gives each believer gifts and the calling to serve within the
Church, and that is truly a responsibility that must not be taken lightly. Our
actions do have eternal consequences. At the same time, we must
never usurp Jesus' role
as the head of the Church. I once heard of a nightly prayer by a previous pope:
“God, I’ve done everything I can for Your church today. But it’s Your church,
and I’m going to bed.” If being a Christian is all about our work and about
trying to transform the lives of others by our own power, then we could never
truly rest. But that’s not what it’s about. Being a Christian means living as
an adopted child of the living God, who is alive and at work long before we
arrived on the scene. We then have the calling to join Him in the work He has
done, is doing, and will do in our world. And that means we can go to sleep at
night, and the world will keep on turning.
Thank you for reading,
Jonathan
