Synergistic Swirl

syn·er·gy [sin-er-jee]

noun

1. the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc.; synergism.

Related Quotations

 “Synergy is the creation of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.“
 —Ray French, Charlotte Rayner, Gary Rees, Sally Rumbles, et al., Organizational Behaviour (2008)

from dictionary.com

I first heard about the concept of synergy through my pastor at some ministerial function in the early 90s. While I don't recall him using the phrase “creative partnerships” he did cite the principal in Scripture from (of all places!) Leviticus that speaks of the many benefits of obedience to the Law among them being, “Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you” (Lev 26:8). His idea being that we can do far more together. Honestly, I don't recall his teaching having a lot of impact on me – until I experienced it firsthand here at Refuge about five or six years ago.

Don't worry. It's grape juice.

I think it was during my second year of ministry in Chetek that we had our first Thanksgiving Eve Service. Growing up Lutheran, our church always joined with another local Lutheran fellowship for a service of thanksgiving and praise on the night before Thanksgiving. It always had something of a “homecoming” kinda-feel to it because several former members of our youth group away at college would show up at it. The service usually included the standard elements of any Lutheran service – liturgy, Word and table. And, of course, focused on giving thanks. Now that I was a part of a Pentecostal fellowship, how appropriate would it be (I reasoned) to have a gathering of our own. Those first years, our service would include some worship choruses and a hymn or two and seasonally appropriate Scripture readings but instead of preaching we would open it up for testimonies. Some years people would give thanks “popcorn-style” and other years, especially when the attendance was fairly low, everyone would take a turn. The gathering would conclude with communion together. But unlike the standard little thimble-size cup full of grape juice and small piece of cracker (the usual Pentecostal approach to the Lord's Supper), I would bake up two loaves of bread and we would pass the loaves to one another, tearing off large chunks of fresh-baked bread while imbibing regular glass-fulls of grape juice as we remembered his Passion and love for each of us. (I think my kids liked this gathering if for only that reason.)

Most years our attendance was fairly small (15-25) and the usual suspects would give thanks (i.e., the people who were quick to speak up at the Sunday worship gathering when given the chance.) That it was small was because I refused to embrace a cultural reality here – deer hunting. At that time, perhaps all the men of our fellowship hunted and maybe half the women. Since the deer rifle season in Wisconsin usually falls during the week of Thanksgiving, some of the guys are often away at deer camp or after a late afternoon in a tree stand were snoozing in their lazy boy at home. The idea of putting some decent clothes on and coming to a worship gathering where they may feel the pressure to share something extemporaneously was not the kinda carrot needed to get them out of their recliner. But refusing to concede defeat, I just continued to hold the gathering year-in and year-out for the dozen or so people who would show up often frustrated afterward that we as a fellowship were somehow missing the boat on what should be a significant worship event.

The first Thanks-Bringing at Refuge

And then Melissa approached me with an idea: what if we moved the gathering to a Sunday morning before deer hunting begins (and the mania that a lot of the guys get caught up around here) and conclude with a Thanksgiving dinner – turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and all the fixings? It was, in retrospect, a synergistic moment. We would come together on a Sunday morning, forgo with our usual liturgy of worship choruses, prayer and Word, and open up the floor for testimony. Our spoken thanksgivings would become both praise and message. And then, when that had run its course, we would pause, set up the tables in the sanctuary and sit down and eat as a community of faith, like Moses and the elders did eating in the presence of the Lord (see Exodus 24:9). This is how the annual “Thanks-Bringing” event began – a joining of my desire to see people come together and hear of the works of God in each other's lives and a desire of Melissa's to see people sit together as a community of faith. Today it is, I think if you asked people, one of the most favorite worship gatherings of the year. In fact, the last few years you could almost call the gathering evangelistic as frequently there are guests on hand outside the Refuge family and the greater family of faith who hear the wonderful works of God from the lips of his people. And, as intended, they leave with a practical application of Psalm 34:8 - “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him”(NIV) in their mind and in their bellies.

ThanksBringing '10

Now another synergistic front is swirling. It all began at a nurture gathering a month or so ago. LeAnne shared at the monthly gathering of the leadership team of Refuge that she felt we needed to do something fun together. A few years ago, after Dennis and Vickie lost their 21-year old daughter, Denise, to cancer we discovered that the best way to embrace them during their time of grieving was to hold a card party in the basement of our facility. Dennis and his family love to play cards and so Justin, our former youth leader here, organized a night of cards and board games (what Mrs. Mattson would have had to say about that!) It was, frankly, a lot of fun and LeAnne was of the opinion we needed to do something on that order of things. Now Renee, who doesn't like to play cards or board games at all, picked up on that and shared with everyone that she, in fact, thought we should do a fiesta night. Monica, the one and only full-blooded Hispanic in our fellowship, had agreed to help her put this together and so the wheels began to churn. But when calendars were shared and given the numerous activities a lot of our kids are in, our fiesta was nearly put on siesta for lack of a free night much to Renee's dismay. And then I had an idea: what if we did it like Thanks-Bringing? Come together on a Sunday morning, worship together and pray for God's work in, say, Mexico and then enjoy a taco feed afterward?

(With English subtitles)

But the swirl began to spin faster. For several years running now, whenever someone of foreign extraction has been with us, I have asked them to pray for us in their native tongue, as a way of lacing the atmosphere with the sounds of the nations (see Culture Shock and Awe). When Renee mentioned wanting to do a fiesta night, it occurred to me that we need to expand our sensory experience and plan ethnic dinners from time to time so we also have the smell and taste of the nations in our olfactory glands and on our pallet. At the same time, LeAnne has on occasion mentioned another faith community that she was a part of in the past that, from time to time, encouraged worship in a different language (not tongues). Here, too, would be another way to get the nations in our heart. And then it happened – the synergistic swirl of the Spirit that takes all these various components and mixes them together resulting in an event that is far greater than any one of the individual parts could have brought about by themselves. Monica thought of bilingual friends of hers who live in a community about an hour north of here and suggested she call them to see if they could come and lead us in worship on the Sunday of our fiesta. And then I thought if we're going to have worship in Spanish and English, wouldn't it be neat if we had someone who could preach in Spanish and English?

Dr. Ayling is our kinda people

I thought of my friend, Todd, on staff at Red Cedar Community Church in Rice Lake about 16 miles north of here. I knew they had begun an outreach to the Hispanic community in that area so I called him to see if he could help me. He directed me to Dr. Steven Ayling, the pastor of the Hispanic Wesleyan Church (HWC) that Red Cedar launched a few years ago. I spoke to him by phone and knew immediately he was not from around here. I was calling really to find out how the ministry was going, to learn how we might pray for him and ask him for any suggestions for our fiesta. After a few minutes he announced, “I must come see you.” I assured him that I would be happy to come and see him but he was adamant – he wanted to come and meet me (besides, he said, that would give his wife and he a reason to visit the Chetek Bakery, a favorite stop of theirs). And so this past Monday afternoon, Troy (one of our elders) and I met with Dr. Ayling and his wife, Anna (who speaks no English whatsoever). They are native Chileans and have served at HWC for the last year or so. At that meeting he shared with us that while the Hispanic population in Barron County grows significantly during the growing season due to the influx of migrants who work at the giant Seneca operation in the western part of our county, at any given time there are, perhaps, 850 people of Hispanic descent who live year-round in Barron County many of whom speak no English whatsoever. The need is real and yet unnoticeable to people of Anglo orientation simply because they do not all congregate together in a neighborhood but spread out here and there. In any case, I rehearsed to Dr. Ayling our plans for our fiesta feed and then asked if he would be available to come and share with us that morning. He not only readily agreed; he informed me that he had already spoken to their group and they would be happy to join us on that day. I had just been hoping to score a bilingual speaker for our gathering. Now, perhaps 25 of them would be coming with him. Clearly – and gratefully – God has far greater vision than we do.

Even the rednecks among us might try this

So, what started out as a night of fun for the Refuge family with a taco feed included has swirled into a worship gathering of kingdom proportions – two fellowships unfamiliar with each other of two different national origins coming together under one roof to celebrate our mutual Lord and Savior in our unique tongues followed by a meal together prepared by all parties involved. It will be awkward. It will be confusing (at times). The house will be fuller than we're used to seeing it. People will sit in the places that we usually place ourselves. And it won't be “church” as we know it. But it is another step – and a synergistic one, at that – in fulfilling John's great vision of the vast multitude “that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb...” (Rev 7:9, NIV) crying out the praises of our God. As Monica would put it, “Gloria a dios! 'Venga tu reino. Hágase tu voluntad, así en la tierra como en el cielo!'” (Matthew 6:10, La Biblia de las Américas). And given that it will be St. Patrick's Day as well, a citation from the Gaelic version of Mark's Gospel is in order: “Is thuirt e riutha: Falbhaibh feadh an t-saoghail gu leir, agus searmonaichibh an soisgeul dhan h-uile creutair. Esan a chreideas `sa bhaistear, sabhailear e: ach esan nach creid, theid a dhiteadh.” (Mark 16:15-16, see www.worldbibles.org)