http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.php ...a weekly message from Pastor Wayne Alloway en-us Nucleus CMS v3.24 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.php/nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.php http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=176
One summer morning, Greg and John went golfing. After slicing his ball into a deep, wooded ravine, Greg grabbed his 8-iron and proceeded down the embankment in search of his ball. As he moved through the thick underbrush, he spotted something shiny; an 8-iron in the hands of a skeleton lying near an old golf ball. Quickly, Greg called out to his golfing partner, John: "Hey, you better get over here; I’m in big trouble."

John immediately ran over to the edge of the ravine and yelled: "What's wrong?”

Greg shouted back, "Throw me my 7-iron! Looks like you can't get out of here with an 8!"

Golf is one of my new-found passions. It’s not up there with God, family, or Husker football, but it’s fast becoming a favorite (if vexing) past-time of mine, so I can well relate to the story above.

Another passion of mine is St. Mark’s church. I LOVE this congregation! It’s truly a joy to serve here. Ministries are healthy (children, youth, singles, adults, and seniors are all going full-tilt), attendance is holding steady (even through the summer months), giving is strong, and our future is bright.

Of course, one of the brightest spots in our future will be the completion of our long-anticipated sanctuary, and the blessings it will afford us. First, it will afford us a worship space more conducive to growth; second, it will afford us the ability to have fewer worship services, which will facilitate more familiarity with fellow church members; and third, it will afford us more time between the larger services for both fellowship and parking issues.

In preparation for our upcoming move, we will be implementing three worship services instead of four, beginning Sunday, August 24th. Worship times will be: 8:00 am, 9:00 am and 10:30 am. The 8:00 am service will be traditional; the 9:00 am service will be a blended service with both traditional and contemporary elements; and the 10:30 am service will be contemporary.

Change is seldom easy. We know that. But change is inevitable (especially with a new sanctuary under construction), and we’ve decided to embrace the process rather than fight it. We’ve given this a lot of prayerful thought and—ultimately—we’ve decided we should implement the new worship times in our current worship space, to give people a chance to adapt before moving into our new sanctuary.

So, mark your calendars, St. Markers! Change is in the air. You can almost feel the possibilities in store—can’t you? For our Husker’s … for our nation (the election is just 4 months away) … and for our congregation. I am filled with hope.

See you in church!]]> General http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=176 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:38:16 -0500 http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=172
Having just returned from a restful and renewing vacation, I’m reminded of a story from ancient Athens; it’s about a bystander watching the great storyteller, Aesop, playing childish games with some little boys. The bystander laughed and jeered at Aesop, and asked him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity. Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical bystander, "Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bow implies." 

The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what it meant. Aesop explained, "If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you need it." 

Aesop, of course, was talking about finding balance in life.

As followers of Christ, it is important for us to realize that Jesus advocated a balanced life, too. That’s why we read in Mark’s gospel that, “Jesus said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.” (Mark 6:32-33) Christianity has always been an activist faith - but Jesus never meant for us to be so involved in doing good for others that we neglect doing good for ourselves. 

It’s important to “get away” from time to time, if only for a little while. That’s one of the reasons we gather together for worship on a regular basis: because it takes our attention off ourselves (and our trials in the secular world), and places it back on to God. By refocusing our minds and hearts, worship renews and refreshes our spirits like nothing else can.

Balance; it can be a challenge to find in this fast-paced world - but St. Mark’s is a good place to start looking for it.

See you in Church!

P.S. For those of you who haven’t read our most recent newsletter, the attending members of our congregation voted overwhelmingly last Sunday to go ahead and build the 500 seat balcony now, rather than later. Copies of our newsletter are available in the church office – or, you can read it online, at our website: www.stmarks.org. ]]> General http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=172 Tue, 8 Jul 2008 09:23:53 -0500 http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=159
“The probability of success for any church
undertaking is inversely proportional to the amount
of clamor present at that undertaking’s inception.”

In other words, my friend is convinced that churches expend so much time and effort at the beginning of projects, that there’s precious little energy to sustain them at the end.

Personally, I think the phenomena he described can happen in almost any arena of life. It can happen in politics, it can happen in education, it can happen in marriage (just think of the amount of time and energy folks put into weddings!), and – yes – it can happen in churches.

We just don’t want it happening in our church!

We are at the half-way point of our Miracle on 84th Street campaign. We’ve started strong, and now we need to finish strong. This is more than a building project of brick and mortar; this is a building project of faith. This is about building the Kingdom. This is about creating a larger meeting space to facilitate more encounters with the living Christ. This was our intent at the start of this project, and it needs to remain our focus at the finish.

Last week, our leadership team decided that it’s time for us to gather as a church family for a “half-time huddle” to revisit our vision, renew our focus, and receive updated reports on our construction and campaign progress. 

One of the agenda items up for discussion and vote will be whether to build the 500 seat balcony now, or later. Building the planned balcony now would add time and money to the project—but with the current favorable interest rates, and with the current lower construction costs, we would pay less (in the long run) if we build the balcony now.

The decision is yours.

Mark your calendars, and join us for our
all church meeting on Sunday, June 22nd at 3pm.

In the words of St. Paul, "You made a good beginning last year both in the work you did and in your willingness to undertake it. Now I want you to go on and FINISH it: be as eager to complete the scheme as you were to adopt it ..."
(2 Corinthians 8:10-11, NEB)

See you in church!]]> General http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=159 Tue, 3 Jun 2008 17:00:57 -0500 http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=158
“Sure is rainy today…”

“How much did your rain gauge measure?”

“Oh, about an inch. Farmers are happy.”

“You know, it wasn’t supposed to rain this much.”

“I know; you can’t trust weather forecasters. Yesterday, they said there was only 20% chance of showers—and it’s rained and rained and rained.”

The Bible doesn’t have a word for “weather,” but it seems to me that when we talk about God and the weather, we need to understand that God’s control of nature is expressed in the cycles and rhythms built into nature itself.

Part of nature’s balance means weather that we too frequently label "bad weather"— but it’s only "bad" because it poses inconvenience to humans. When it rains on our picnic or ball game, we can get down-right angry; but, the fact remains, we need that rain for the balance of nature.

Mark Twain once said, "The rain is famous for falling on the just and unjust alike, but if I had the management of such affairs, I would rain softly and sweetly on the just, but if I caught a sample of the unjust outdoors, I would drown him."

Given the good nature of our church family, I’m sure God doesn’t plan on “drowning” us this coming Sunday. However, in the event of “soft and sweet” rainfall, you can listen to my sermon online at www.stmarks.org. Don’t forget, there is only ONE service on Sunday—outdoors on the EAST side at 10:15 a.m.
(bring your lawn chair, weather permitting).

See you in Church!]]> General http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=158 Tue, 3 Jun 2008 17:00:07 -0500 http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=157
But May 8th came and went and I’m not a bit wiser than I was before.
However, I have noticed some other changes…

For instance, my skin doesn’t fit anymore. I think it started sliding around on my face soon after the age of 40. **Note to younger people: leaning over and looking down into mirrors can be frightening after a certain point in time.** The shock absorbers in my knees are also completely shot. I used to jump off the roof as a kid with no problem; now, a jump off the front porch will rattle my teeth. But (keeping things in perspective), a few years from now, I’ll look back on these as “the good old days” when I could still jump off the front porch – so, all in all, 50 is pretty nifty.

The other day, I read about a woman who manages a senior care center in the foothills of North Carolina. She has a personal relationship with all the residents in her facility and looks after them tirelessly. She tries hard to meet not only their physical but their emotional needs, as well. She loves her work, she says, because she loves doing nice things for elderly people. An expert gardener, she grows roses behind the nursing center and, when in season, she cuts fresh roses for bud vases and places one in every patient's room each morning. She says she’s simply treating others as she would hope to be treated, someday. After all, she could become a resident there, too. “But not just yet,” she says, “there’s still too much for me to do.” And, as she’s quick to point out, she is only 90! Her advice for staying young in heart, mind, and spirit? Take care of your world. Find something to live for—something that draws you beyond yourself and makes life better for others. Do that, and though we may age, we will never grow old.]]> General http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=157 Tue, 3 Jun 2008 16:59:04 -0500 http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=147
As I write this, I am standing in front of a laptop computer in the delegates lounge at General Conference during the Friday morning break. This is the 10th day of the conference, and boy, am I ready to come home! The schedule has been brutal--8am to 11pm each day without a day off. Fortunately, there are some reserve delegates who have been able to sit in for me so that I have had a chance to get away from the meetings and relax for a few hours.

As far as I'm concerned the most exciting news to come out of this quadrennial meeting is the creation of four areas of focus for our denomination, the United Methodist Church.

They are:

1)Developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world
2)Starting new congregations and renewing existing congregations
3)Engaging in ministry with the poor
4)Stamping out killer diseases of poverty by improving health globally

The United Methodist Church is facing a crisis in clergy leadership (fewer and fewer young people are entering the ordained ministry), so the leaders of our church have committed themselves to the recruitment of young people. The plan also includes providing them with the training and the skills necessary to be effective

Our country has over 180 million unchurched people, making it the third-largest mission field in the English speaking world, and the fifth-largest globally. Our denomination is committed to a national strategy to train and equip church planters to start new congregations, and to renew and revitalize existing churches in order that they might be energized to live out and share the Good News.

A ministry with the poor will mean creating strategies to not only include the poor in the life of our congregations, but also confronting poverty's root causes, health care, housing, employment and public policy advocacy on a global scale.

The United Methodist Church has played a significant role treating and preventing the devasting effects of diseases in the third world such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. Already 700,000 bed nets have been distributed to families in Africa, and the church is poised to launch a new global health initiative (with the help of $15 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates
foundation) aimed at creating better health conditions for people around the world.

These are just a few of the exciting things that are happening in your global church! It is because of your continued love, prayers and generous financial support--along with that of 14 million other United Methodists around the world-- that this will become a reality.

Thank you, St. Mark's, and thank you United Methodists everywhere!!!

See you in church this Sunday.
Wayne]]> General http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=147 Fri, 2 May 2008 12:42:21 -0500 http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=145
The altar was made from wood salvaged from Rayne Memorial Church in New Orleans (which made the service even more meaningful for me personally).

The General Conference newspaper described the opening events like this:

"Amid the pageantry, pomp, and circumstance as bishops, banners, and believers bedecked the arena, Bishop Janice Huie preached a sermon that sounded a clear call to all that, even in the midst of a world filled with AIDS, malaria, violence, global climate change, and fear, United Methodists are called to live a life with hope--resurrection hope.

The bishop shared a poignant story she heard from Elizabeth McKee Gore, a United Methodist laywoman who works at the United Nations Foundation with the "Nothing But Nets" campaign to eradicate malaria."

"While on a trip to Angola, Elizabeth met Esperanca Afonco, an 8-year-old girl. Esperanca was sick and in the hospital with both AIDS and malaria. The doctores had given her only weeks to live.

Bishop Huie said Elizabeth wrote about meeting Esperanca at the hospital. What struck her was that in the hospital, Esperanca's mother, Bela, had decorated the bed to look like it was fit for a Disney World princess. A pink bed net was draped over the bed, the dolls and the child.

Even Esperanca was pretty in a pink dress. All this in contrast to the drab surroundings of the other beds in other wards, filled with two or three to a bed.

The doctor asked Bela, "Why have you worked so hard to create such a lovely environment?"

The mother replied, "We have to have hope."

"Resurrection hope gives us the courage to stand beside the bed of a loved one with terminal disease," Bishop Huie said. "Resurrection hope overcomes the insults of institutional racism. Resurrection hope plants new seed when the rains finally come. Resurrection hope rebuilds homes and lives after the storm.

"We are no longer captives to fear. We are heirs to a new covenant--a new future."

And please, the bishop said to the church, do not forget Esperanca this week.

"In Portuguese," Bishop Huie said, "Esperanca means 'hope.'"

See you in church! (In a couple weeks)


Wayne]]> General http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=145 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:54:12 -0500 http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=141
The official website of the United Methodist Church describes the activities of this decision-making body as follows: “During the nine-day session, 992 delegates from around the world will revise the Book of Discipline, which regulates the manner in which local churches, annual conferences and general agencies are organized. The book also sets policies regarding church membership, ordination, administration, property and judicial procedures. Delegates also revise the Book of Resolutions, a volume declaring the church’s stance on a wide variety of social justice issues. The book contains more than 300 resolutions that are considered instructive and persuasive, but are not binding on members.”

The four big agenda items for this year’s conference are: starting new churches, revitalizing existing churches, training and equipping future leaders, and focusing on global poverty & world health issues. This is a departure from past agendas that have focused on issues that (in my humble opinion) have had very little relevance to the life and health of local churches – like whether or not the headquarters should be moved from Nashville to New York. With this new agenda, I’m hopeful we’ll make the main thing the main thing once more; that is, the great commandment & great commission of Jesus Christ. I’m also hopeful that by focusing on fundamental issues of faith and leadership, we can break down the Liberal vs. Conservative walls that divide us as a denomination and bring back the “united” part of “United Methodist.” I sense that fresh winds of change are blowing across our great church, and I’m really excited to be a part of it.

For more information follow this link: General Conference at UMC

See you in church!
Wayne
]]> General http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=141 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:11:56 -0500 http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=138
There’s an easy way to find out, of course: We could gather as a congregation and open the capsule. But should we? Is the time right for such a revelation? Or, should we wait? Maybe we shouldn’t open it at all; maybe we should leave it sealed shut, and place it in one of the cornerstones of our new sanctuary, along with a time capsule of our own. And, if we do create a time capsule, what should we put in it?

William Jarvis, a historian who has special interest in time capsules, says that most “intentional” time capsules—as opposed to “unintentional” time capsules, like Pompeii—usually don’t contain much useful information about the people of the time. He suggests enclosing descriptions of the people who created them, like personal notes, pictures, and documents that would be of interest to future generations. 

So…what do you think? Open the time capsule? Leave it shut? Create our own time capsule?

Drop me an email with your thoughts on the matter.

See you in church!]]> General http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=138 Tue, 8 Apr 2008 14:34:41 -0500 http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=134
One Easter Sunday, while admonishing his congregation with great fervor, the old preacher reached around behind his back and began stuffing material into his pants. There seemed to be a bit more fabric to his shirt than usual, but he persisted nonetheless—despite the “psst, psst” sounds being made by the choir members behind him. It wasn’t until he started moving back across the stage—with half of the American flag stuffed in his pants, and the other half dragging on a pole behind him—that he discovered what had happened. I wonder if that congregation remembers anything else about his sermon.

Note to self: Do not stuff anything down pants while preaching Easter Sunday (or any other Sunday, for that matter).

I’m excited about Easter, aren’t you? The crowds, the music—and especially the story. As the old hymn says,

I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.

For over a billion people around the world, this is the greatest story ever told. Perhaps that’s because above all, it’s the most profound story ever told—a story about hope in the face of certain and universal disappointment, broken dreams, and death.

The Easter story is not only hopeful, but life-transforming as well.
Happy Easter!

Wayne

]]> General http://www.stmarks.org/blogs/pastorWayne.phpindex.php?itemid=134 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:55:09 -0500