Chugiak and Girdwood

Sunday morning I stopped by my office on the way to Chugiak for church conference.  I slipped into worship at East to hear our youngest pastor in the conference.  Jenny Smith shared the second of a series dealing with technology and social media.  I had a nostalgic moment when I realized that in 1984 I preached my first sermon in Alaska in that pulpit when John Shaffer was pastor of East.  Jenny was with Kim that day as a two year old.  Now that two year old had grown up, mostly in Alaska, nurtured by the saints of Soldotna UMC and St. John UMC.  Here she was in that same pulpit.  Pretty cool dad moment for me.

The saints at Chugiak are like the energizer bunny.  They keep going and going!  Pastor Carlo Rapanut has an effective ministry and is a pretty good preacher.  They are still using a prayer response I stole and used in Soldotna and St. John years ago.  With just over 200 members and around 170 in worship they are managing a building and mortgage payments the same size as St. John.  Here is a video clip of part of Carlo's video pastor's report.


Then it was off to Girdwood.  They had just recently got some heat in their new building.  Ceiling drywall is being done this week.  A VIM electrician is coming next week.  They hope to be in the new space for Christmas.  Girdwood Chapel is hurting right now.   They have experienced two sudden deaths in their church and community.  The church's ministry is vital to the town and Jim Doepken is the only full-time, resident pastor.  I shared with them about the importance of apportioned giving and how other Alaska churches who are struggling with finances are giving so that churches like Girdwood can thrive.

Have a thankful Thanksgiving!
Dave

Unalaska

It was an amazing weekend on the island visiting with the saints of Unalaska UMC and the Wilcox family.  There was virtually no wind the entire time!  Gorgeous white-capped mountains and calm seas.  Here's a photo of the ballfield which is leased by the church to the city.  Notice the parsonage with the green roof at the far end.

Turnover is very high at Unalaska with the fishing industry as the largest employer.  Pastor Dan Wilcox arranged for a tour of the crab processing plant which was fascinating.  Families move away quite often which creates many challenges for this small congregation.  They depend on Advance funds from other churches and conference support to keep going.  The Wilcox's are the only full time, resident pastoral family on the island.  Unalaska is one of our new Mission Congregations.  With this new designation we as an annual conference are saying that we want this ministry to be there and are willing to support it and help pay for it with our apportionment giving.

Among the many ministries Unalaska UMC has study groups, a new choir, Kids' Night Out, Internet cafe, Second Blessing, and more.  They recently installed a high tech projector in the sanctuary and plan to show movies for families on the island.  There is no movie theater at Unalaska.

Worship was sweet for me as I could gaze at the snow-capped mountains outside and watch the eagles diving and skimming the water.  Here's a video clip.


Grace and peace,
Dave

Fairbanks and Nome

Tis the season all UM's love....church conferences!  Pastors and lay leaders dread it because it means preparing paperwork for the superintendent.  But so far the first three of 28 were very positive and hopeful.  Karen Martin-Tichenor invited me to preach at New Hope which I appreciated.  One of their mission fields is children.  I just love that the kids stay in the sanctuary during the sermon and create a craft or drawing which they bring forward during the offering.

I visited First UMC, Fairbanks, twice.  I had the honor of speaking at the Celebrate Recovery service on Saturday evening.  What a needed and blessed ministry!  I returned Sunday evening to lead their church conference which was creative and fun.  First UMC is a happening church with an amazing array of ministries.  Here is a clip of Pastor Tom Telfer sharing a piece of the ministry puzzle.

Then I flew to Nome via Anchorage which was a bit weird.  One of their saints, Esther Bourdon, is in Anchorage in the hospital following heart surgery.  I offered to visit Esther and suggested at their church conference that they sing a song which I recorded on my iphone.  Tomorrow I plan to show the video clip to Esther.  Another example of how God's Spirit moves in and through our connectedness to bring healing and hope.

Next stop: Unalaska!

Grace and peace,
Dave

Our Mission Field

Five Alaskan pastors attended the New Church Leadership Institute in Seattle last week.  Luther Oconer (Sitka), Judy Shook (Juneau), Jenny Smith (Anchorage), Leila Disburg, and myself.  A long time ago I heard a definition of maturity that has stuck with me.  "Maturity is realizing that the most important lessons in life are the ones we thought we already knew."

I was surprised that one of the take-away learnings at the NCLI was so simple.  Focus on your mission field.  You will hear me talk about this at charge conferences which begin this weekend in Fairbanks and Nome.  Do you know your mission field?  If you live in a small town the city limits may contain the mission field of your church.  If you live in a city it might be defined by a major road or a river or mountains.

We are admonished by John Wesley that the world is our parish.  I talked with Bishop Hagiya about the notion that our pastors are appointed, not to a local church, but to a community.  He wholeheartedly agreed.  I invite all of our Alaskan United Methodists to ponder and discuss this question.  What would ministry look like if our focus was more on our mission field than inside the walls of our building?

Let's celebrate ALL God is doing in our churches, both inside and outside.  And when it comes to our church goals for 2011 let's remember to focus on our mission field as we make disciples of Jesus for the transformation of the world.

Grace and peace,
Dave 

Fall Rendezvous Highlights

It was a very full and inspiring gathering with the Alaska UMC lay and clergy leaders in Anchorage last weekend.  I'm going to let my camera do the blogging here and post three video clips from the worship workshop led by Dr. Marcia McFee.







A big thanks to St. John for sharing Marcia with us and for Sandy Langland for this gift in memory of her mother.

The other highlight was the consecration of Girdwood Chapel's new building.  There was no heat but a whole bunch of warmth in that holy space as Bishop Hagiya consecrated the building and ministries of Girdwood Chapel.  Here are two clips.




The only concern I have is that there was not enough time for me to check in with everyone individually.  We try to be good stewards of our time and as it is people still need to leave early.  I just wish we had more downtime to just hang out and talk.

Grace and peace,
Dave

Preaching to Presbyterians

My good friend, Dr. Curt Karns, invited me to fly to Fairbanks just to preach to the Yukon Presbytery leadership last Saturday.  This clip is from that service at First Presbyterian.  Curt and I, along with Bishop Michael Keys of the ELCA, and Michael Burke of the Episcopal Church have formed a sort of covenant group.  We meet regularly for prayer, spiritual sharing, and dreaming of real ministry we can do together.

I am excited to announce that next February 25, 2011, our conference leaders and the Lutheran leadership have changed their winter meeting date to coincide with the Yukon Presbytery so we will all meet at the same time in Anchorage.  We are planning one evening together with a light dinner, worship, and, in the Lutheran tradition, table conversation over dessert.  Mark your calendars for this special event.  A coordinating team is being assembled now to work out details.

My main goal in the sermon was to persuade church leaders that significant and systemic change is needed if we are to respond to the world as an authentic expression of the words and acts of Jesus.  The message was well received and many spoke with me afterwards about their desire to reach out to people with a transformed Church.  Here's a link to that sermon. See you at Fall Rendezvous!
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=159jarVXniWW7y0-bOpuTJ2Xt4EAHrJm17amV20hwJaw

Grace and peace,
Dave

Staying in Touch

Several things to share with you today.

Welcome Dr. Phil Campbell, new pastor of Northern Light Church in Juneau.  Phil and Teresa moved from Denver where Phil was a professor at Illiff Theological Seminary.   You can send them a welcome note to campbelpe@aol.com.

Fall Rendezvous is next week.  I am looking forward to being with our lay and clergy leaders in Anchorage.  New clergy orientation, Friday worship workshop with Marcia McFee, and the important work of our committees Friday and Saturday.  Bishop Hagiya will bring us an update after dinner on Friday on the 2012 realignment plan of episcopal areas.

We are finding ways to use our new video communications system.  Alaska Children's Services used it to interview CEO candidates.  Clergy taking the Interim Pastor Training used it to check in with their projects.  Leila and I are using it to keep in touch with pastors across Alaska.  You are encouraged to sign up for a free Oovoo account.

Please know that I pray for you all on a daily basis. 

Grace and peace,
Dave