“Be cheerful no matter what; pray
all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God
wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.” 1
Thessalonians 5:16-18, The Message
At this time of
year it's appropriate to give thanks for God's goodness in our lives.
I'll echo and 'amen' what the psalmist says repeatedly in Scripture:
“Give thanks to
the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures
forever” (Psalm
107:1)
Beyond
the usual suspects of gratitude for my wife, my children, and the
congregation I have served for over 27 years now, this year I'll add
this one: gratitude for all my prayers that have not
been answered over the decades of my service here.
We come from what would go as a “big” church around here – over
a thousand people per Sunday. And while our pastor never taught this
as a young man attending Bible college assumptions subtly grew within
me; namely, that if you work hard and pray harder and remain faithful
in time your church will be “big” too. When I landed here in 1991
fresh off the boat, as it were, assuming the leadership of a small
congregation of approximately 60 people, I consciously set my sights
on growing this church. I was eager to see my dreams realized. I
prayed fervently that God would bless my every message and effort so
that people would flock to this place and join what in time would
certainly be a “great” church in the north woods of Wisconsin. I
prayed that our worship would be “anointed” and the ministry
“powerful and effective”. And of course, like every good
evangelical pastor I prayed for people to be won for Christ and made
disciples of Jesus.
 |
| This is what I thought I wanted |
Twenty-seven years and a couple of months later, we're still about
the same size as we have always been. In fact, because I have kept
attendance since October 6, 1991 (my first official Sunday as pastor)
I can say with great authority that over two and a half decades of
ministry our average weekly attendance has ebbed and flowed between
40 and 60 with 75 folks on the rolls at any given time. Kids have
grown up and left for school only to return for Christmas and Easter
celebrations. Families have moved away or found another faith family
to be a better fit for them. A few have graduated to the far better
congregation of heaven. At the same time, babies have been born to
those who were kids when we first arrived and others have been added
to our ranks by transferring from another congregation or being born
into the family of God. Over the years we have been fairly fortunate
in the variety of worship leaders who have served here. And while
they may not have what it takes to make the varsity squad of your
run-of-the-mill mega church, they're pretty good for around here. But
the truth is despite all our best efforts to grow the church, it has
stubbornly remained the same numeric size through the past two and a
half decades. In fact, whenever our average attendance begins to rise
I emotionally prepare myself for an exit of a key individual or
family because history has tended to repeat itself and they
frequently do.
 |
| This is what it is |
But
here's the thing: where I may have once (okay,
more than once)
griped about God's seeming indifference to reward my best efforts and
my most fervent prayers, at this time of year I find myself thankful.
Why? Because one of the unforeseen benefits of serving a congregation
the size it consistently remains is I've been able to outsource
myself to a lot of other arenas and find great joy in doing so.
Thirteen years ago, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser High School was in need of a
Cross Country coach. Despite having no prior coaching experience, I
applied. They passed on me but two years later when their new guy
didn't pan out, they hired me. For the past 11 seasons I've been
their Cross coach. Three of those seasons I had the blessing of
coaching my son. Meanwhile, a lot of our athletes have become some of
my kids whom I continue to connect with long after their high school
running days have been in their rear view mirror.
 |
| I love these kids |
 |
| MS-ers are a lot of fun |
Two years later three of the four middle school track coaches decided
to do something else with their spring. I ran into the head coach at
a school assembly one day and she asked if I would like to become one
of her assistants. I literally thought about it for about 30 seconds
and then said, 'Sure' and just like that I have staffed the track
program at the middle school for the past eight seasons (it also
allows me to scout and recruit for our high school Cross program in
the fall).
In 2013, a former YWAM-er who was a part of our fellowship encouraged
me to get my sub license in order to substitute teach in our school
system. To help grease the skids, as it were, he paid the $100 fee
required for a three-year sub license. I never do it in the fall when
Cross is going on but throughout the winter and spring I've been a
regular sub at the elementary school ever since (I like working there
because I can still do the math and I'm still taller than most of
them). Of course since my kids were in kindergarten back in the '90s,
I've done read-alouds at Roselawn Elementary, reading primarily to
kindergarteners through second graders throughout the school year.
In 2016, though I had never held elective office before, I decided to
run for mayor of our small town – and won. It's a part-time gig
that doesn't require me to hold regular office hours. In fact, people
can – and do – meet with the mayor at Refuge just as easily as
they can at City Hall. I enjoyed my first two years so much I ran
again and was re-elected in an uncontested election. I am fortunate
to serve in such a way and connect with a whole different group of
people than I normally would. And it's been fun, too.
The joke around here is “Just what do we call you? Pastor? Mayor?
Coach?” To wit I simply reply, “Yes.” Perhaps if I served a
larger congregation I would not be free to do this kind of stuff (as
well as serve at our local county jail as a chaplain there) given the
demands that a bigger fellowship would place on me. But in my case it
feels that I'm right in my wheelhouse, as it were, wearing the
multiple hats and filling the multiple roles that I am blessed to do.
Honestly, I don't remember what I thought ministry would look like
back in 1991 other than I'm pretty sure it didn't look like how it's
played out. No, a lot of things that I had hoped and prayed for have
never come to pass yet and – who knows? - may never be
answered. But as far as I can see it's worked out better.
 |
| Child dedication Sunday |
My
pastor once gave me some advice that he said his pastor shared with
him on his ordination day: “Don't seek a big church. Seek a big
ministry.” Of course, “big” is a relative term but I think its
fair to say that over 25-plus years of ministry my footprint in this
community, by God's grace, has been bigger than our facility. It
reminds me of something Garrison Keillor once said, “Some
luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what
you have, which once you have it you may be smart enough to see is
what you would have wanted had you known.” It reminds me – again
– how lucky and blessed I really am.
