REPLANTING - DIFFICULT, JOYFUL WORK
Replanting a church is difficult, but it also can be a great joy. When we began our work at Sherwood Baptist Church we joined a church that had been long in decline. The few remaining members, many well into their more seasoned years, believed they had one more opportunity perhaps to see God work. They called me in a unanimous vote, we visited as many as we could and they said with one voice; "We need to change!" CHANGE IS WANTED, WHEN ITS NOT PERSONALLY ADDRESSED TO YOU The change we often say we want is not change for us but change for others. Or, it's change within a certain set of parameters that don't impact us. I'm okay if you have to change, but don't ask me to change. In our Replant we all had to change. Long time members had to surrender their preferences, I had to surrender my pride and anyone who knows anything about church renewal knows that we were in for a rough ride-every single one of us. CAN WE SURVIVE ALL THE CHANGE? Pictured above is Dottie, she was a day one member of Sherwood Baptist Church, she and her family helped found the church, she sang the very first special music, her husband was a deacon, her son did donuts in his car in the parking lot (and he got in big trouble) and she was there when my first day rolled around. She was and is sweet, but she didn't like the changes I felt led to lead. She let me know too, sometimes right before I was supposed to preach. DISPLEASURE IS NOT DISSENSION I had to learn that our older members were struggling with change, it was hard, difficult, and often undesirable. Their expression of frustration was more out of grief of things lost. To the untrained Pastor's ear, displeasure can be misheard as dissension-it could be, but often it's not. I've addressed this earlier, we don't like change, I don't like change. We needed to have a way to voice that and grieve together. But we needed to stay together, not divide as we voiced our displeasure and struggle. CHANGE IS COSTLY During the intensity of our season of change several long time church members left. I definitely could have led differently and avoided some of that but not all of it. Dottie's entire Sunday School class departed. She stayed, saying; "I want to stay and see what God is going to do, this is my church and I don't want to miss it." WE GREW TO LOVE DOTTIE (AND THE OTHER REMAINING MEMBERS) The scriptures tell us this; It (Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7 Love flourished in great challenge and difficulty. In fact, we loved even more deeply because of our sticking together during hard times. DOTTIE TURNED 100 When I first met Dottie she was 88, she had just quit playing in a tennis league, she still drove, she never missed church (at least rarely) and she prayed and our church filled with young people and kids, every knew her and loved her and she loved us. Still does, and we still do love her. We traveled to St. Louis to celebrate her 100th birthday recently and she always wanted to ride in my convertible. We were able to make that happen. It was a great reunion of friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. The Gospel does that, it makes people family. It makes enemies friends. It brings life back to a church that was once in decline. Love the Ms. Dotties in your church, even if they talk to you about what they don't like before you get up to preach-you'll get through it, so will they and something beautiful will happen.
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