The 8th Sunday After Pentecost:
Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; Luke 12: 13-21
Key Verse: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
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Hello, This is Jade.
Welcome to Yi.kigai
A space for all to explore the intersection between faith and daily life
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At a congregation I served, the leadership team decided to go through a leadership training program called the Koinonia Program (which was later renamed to the Acts15 Program). One action we took immediately as a team after the training was to find out what the congregation valued the most and why. Through this process, we re-discovered the kind of ministries that the majority of the congregation wanted to be part of, whether it was offering prayers, talents, money, or time. After this process, we set several small, achievable goals that could lead us to a future that we believed God had envisioned for us.
Each leadership team member was given a list of church members to conduct one-on-one interviews with. We asked each church member two questions: What is important to you as a person of faith? and Why is it important to you as a person of faith? We asked the second question repeatedly until the interviewee couldn’t answer further.
Let’s try it out. So, what is important to you as a person of faith? Let’s say your answer is justice. I will then ask you, “Why is justice important to you?” If your answer is equality matters, I will ask you, “Why does equality matter to you?” If your answer is no one should be discriminated against, then I will ask you, “Why should no one be discriminated against?“ If your answer is God creates all and loves all, I can stop asking or keep going by asking you, “Why does God create all and love all important to you?” If your answer is that is the kind of God everyone needs, not just me, then I can stop asking or keep going. The cue to stop the interview is when we hear that what matters to them is what matters to God.
Through this interview process, we identified the congregation’s top three values. Then we used these values to restructure, re-design, or say farewell to ministries that were no longer our priority, sustainable, and speaking to people living in the same neighborhood where our church was located. The implementation process was neither short nor easy. We faced resistance for a variety of reasons. Thanks be to God. Some goals we set were achieved. There were several congregations going through the same training -- some experienced smooth sailing; some didn’t; some couldn’t even get started. Being a person of faith and speaking the language of faith in our current world is very different from the world we lived in two or three decades ago. We are living in a constantly changing world. It’s like adopting a new culture and speaking a new language. Without determination, persistence, or setting small achievable goals and implementing them, a wish of being faithful to the core is like pie in the sky.
I have personally benefited from this training and process very much, not only in leading congregations as a pastor but also in making choices and setting goals in my personal life. It has become almost like a habit for me to do so to keep myself from feeling overwhelmed and stressed out. If you are overwhelmed or stressed out from your current commitments, try it. If having too much on your plate is an issue for you now, I invite you to see your world through the lens of God by faith. Please see what God offers and envisions for you is always life-giving, not life-draining. And embrace the thought that you are not the only one who can take care of what’s on your plate. Don’t forget to look around and appreciate the giftedness of others that God has placed around you.
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May your coming week be blessed by God’s grace
As together we explore the intersection between faith and daily life
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