Archive of Letters to My Friends: Mission? Yeah, we've got that

  

Mission? Yeah, we've got that

September 2004

By the Rev. Jon Rieley-Goddard

Dear friends,

    In the midst of our general crisis in finances, three new efforts in mission are emerging, shining bright on the horizon.

    Well, thank my lucky stars, you might say.

    And someone is sure to reply, I don’t worship lucky stars.

    That’s the problem. In a time of unrelenting fear and trembling, it would be easy to forget who we are and whose we are, to steal a phrase from an old professor of mine.

    I joke with friends and colleagues that we are going to become the First Church of Ebay. The trick will be to be in Ebay but not of Ebay ... .

***

    The three stars, then.

    First, our expanded jumble/rummage sale efforts.

    Second, our continuing Conversation on cooperation in mission and ministry.

    Third, our nascent effort to find common ground with persons doing ministry in our own neighborhood.

    That’s three mission foci, in a church that for a long time has barely had one mission focus. If there is a reason why we need to survive for the next year, it is in order to nurture and expand these three efforts at mission. These are the converging trajectories into the future God offers us.

    Here are some updates.

    Concerning our jumble/rummage sale efforts:

    We will have a sale on Saturday, Sept. 11, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This is meant to be a way of testing some new ideas and of getting going on what will be a churchwide, year-round effort. Sales are set for each season:

    Saturday, Nov. 6.

    Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005.

    Saturday, April 2, 2005.

    Saturday, June 4, 2005.

    Along with the traditional focus on clothing and household items, we are developing a boutique area in the space at the south end of the basement, where better-quality items and rare treasures will have slightly higher prices.
All along the way, we will be running auctions on Ebay to sell special and particularly marketable items culled from the flow of jumble into the basement from the congregation and the community. That means that you can donate items at any time in the year, and we hope that you will!

    If you live in Niagara County and attend church, there is no limit to the size or volume of the things from your basement and attic that you can donate to this effort. For big items, call ahead to coordinate with us. We even offer free pickup. If you live further afield, you still can mail us small treasures such as old postcards, DVDs, CDs, costume jewelry, collectables ... . The possibilities are endless, and we hope those of you further away will catch some of our excitement and send some treasures our way.

    Many of us have dabbled in the line of small businesses run out of our homes. Just think of the even greater possibilities that our church has:

    – a steady flow of salable items at no cost (we don’t even have to buy low to sell high).

    – three floors of space with many places to store items for sale at the appropriate season.

    – a cadre of volunteers to do the work of sorting and selling.

    – a tried and true location from which to do the work.

    – multiple ways to advertise without cost.

    – Internet connection and computer support in place, with a resident expert on call.

    – on-site experts on items such as tools, collectables, books, music, computers, electronics, and clothing.

    – good will built over decades of service to our neighbors. We know and love our customers.

    – our nonprofit status still allows for a reasonable percentage of the annual budget to be met through such efforts as we are discussing.

    And while we are talking about the business edge, let us not forget that we are doing a mission at the same time. Our neighbors are older and more poor than the average, and the number of children is higher than average, too. Many persons come to our rummage sales to buy basic clothing; they cannot afford to shop in the malls, even if they could get there. If we make a modest profit, it is in the service of continuing our mission to these persons under stress.

    As we found out when we did our Mission Study in the spring, it is impossible and probably not wise to try to separate mission and finances.

    We have been having sorting parties twice a month to prepare for our ramped-up effort, and these have been times of joy and fellowship for me. The next party is on Tuesday, Sept. 7, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. See you there?

    Concerning our Conversation on cooperation in mission and ministry:

    The Session, in May, invited the other nine Presbyterian churches in our end of Niagara County to begin conversations aimed at finding ways to cooperate in mission and ministry. Our hopes were, and are, to promote a Cooperative Parish of churches that keep their buildings and share ministers and support staff, with buying in volume to use the combined potential of the churches involved. At the same time, as the facilitator of these discussions, which have continued monthly, I have sought to provide an open space for others to express their hopes and wishes along the lines of cooperation.

    At the last meeting, in August, we set a goal of having a monthly event that will begin to model cooperation, rather than just talking about it. In September, there will be a gathering at North Presbyterian Church, in North Tonawanda, to build sleeping platforms for Camp Duffield. The tentative date is Sept 11; call the church and leave a message if you want the details as they emerge. A Christian education demonstration event is planned for October, and for November we are hoping to have a Harvest Dinner.

    As one participant pointed out, it is easier to get from here to a better place by doing rather than talking. We hope to have successes to point to by the time of the Harvest Dinner, to keep the momentum going.

    Concerning our nascent effort to find common ground with persons doing ministry in our own neighborhood:

    An elder and I have been meeting weekly with a woman who has seven years of experience in direct services to the poor and homeless in our city, and we are seeking ways to cooperate on ministry to the hurting persons on our own block and on down at the corner of Pierce and 18th, the beginning of a zone of drugs and prostitution.

    The church is right in the middle of the city and is right in the middle of some of the worst social problems in our city. No wonder we have been afraid for a long time to do anything. Fear is an appropriate response to what is right under our noses.

    What the three of us who are meeting to discuss strategies hope is that we can identify ways, in keeping with our image of Hospitality, to make a difference.

    Your prayers are needed and encouraged in this effort.

***

    Sometimes, when the bank has called or there is a low attendance on a Sunday for worship, I wonder if I am and have been deluding myself. That is when the fear and trembling kick in. At other times, such as when I am wandering around the basement on a sorting-party night, I know that we are onto Something, and I know that what we are about is a gift from God and a path into a future of abundance.

    It is said that God can do more than we can ask or imagine. We can keep asking, and imagining. To be in the presence of the renewed work of God’s Holy Spirit is worth silver and gold to you and to me.

    This is what is what is happening at your beloved church.

Blessings and peace

Pastor Jon