Leon Cooper, pastor of GCI’s congregation in Cottonwood, Arizona, was hospitalized recently due to congestive heart failure. He may need surgery to install a pacemaker. Please pray for Leon and for his wife Mary Lou.
Cards may be sent to:
Leon Cooper 194 E Rancho Vista Way Cottonwood, AZ 86326-6213
A few years ago, Tammy and I attended the play A Christmas Carol based on the novella with that title by Charles Dickens. Dickens wrote the book in 1843, largely to expose corruption in the British government, which favored the wealthy and oppressed the underclass with laws that often sent the poor (including Dickens’ father) to debtors’ prison.
You’re probably familiar with the book’s main character, Ebenezer Scrooge. Drawing on the life of a man he had known, Dickens portrayed Scrooge as an outrageously selfish man who runs a “counting house” (accountant’s office). Acting on fears held since early childhood, Scrooge became obsessed with wealth, costing him the love of his fiancée and sending him into a downward spiral of selfish loneliness. The name Scrooge has become part of our language for someone who is selfish, miserly and unkind. Here’s how Dickens describes him:
The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice…. Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.
Marley’s Ghost original illustration from A Christmas Carol (1843) Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
In Dickens’ story, which begins on Christmas Eve, it appears there is no limit to Ebenezer Scrooge’s selfishness. He has a clerk, Bob Cratchit, a very poor man with a large family. Bob’s young son, Tiny Tim, is crippled from birth, and in Scrooge’s mind, should not be taking food and heat from others. When Bob, who is forced to work in a cold office, attempts to stoke the fire, Scrooge denies him access to the coal.
That afternoon, Scrooge’s nephew Fred invites his uncle to a Christmas party. Scrooge refuses the invitation in the rudest terms. When two men come into the work place asking for a charitable donation, Scrooge throws them out. And when people wish him “Merry Christmas,” he responds with the now infamous exclamation, “Bah humbug!”
No question about it—Ebenezer Scrooge hated Christmas! But then his attitude changed.
After returning home from work on Christmas Eve, Scrooge is confronted by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley, an equally greedy person who claims he has come to Scrooge to spare him from the fate coming his way. He says Scrooge will be visited by three spirits. The first is the “Ghost of Christmas Past” who takes Scrooge back over his life showing him significant events that made him what he is today. The second spirit, the “Ghost of Christmas Present,” takes Scrooge to see Bob Cratchit’s family enjoying Christmas despite their lack of material possessions, then to nephew Fred’s party, and then to a few other Christmas events where Ebenezer starts to see a different side of Christmas. The third spirit, “The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come,” takes Scrooge to various groups of people who are talking about Ebenezer’s death.
As a result of these visions, Scrooge repents of his self-righteous, cynical, deplorable worldview and mistreatment of others. He sees himself with clarity and sees the love of the Cratchit family he has long mistreated. He notes how well they love despite how badly he treats his employee, Bob, and he is especially touched by Tiny Tim, who toasts to Scrooge’s health even as his own fails him. The story ends with Scrooge, who having experienced a complete change of heart, wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, gives a big raise to Bob Cratchit, donates to various charities and changes the way he views life.
While I don’t usually write about things like ghosts and spirits of Christmas, A Christmas Carol strikes me emotionally for several reasons. As most of you know, for much of my life I did not celebrate Christmas. Perhaps some of you will relate. Not only had I bought into the absurd idea that pagan celebrations of the winter solstice made Christmas a pagan holiday, I also believed Christmas could not be the actual day of Jesus’ birth. As a result, I refused to wish others “Merry Christmas” and generally had a “Bah Humbug” approach to all things related to Christmas. I was more like Ebenezer Scrooge during the Christmas season than I care to admit. I thank God for changing my perspective.
She Shall Bring Forth a Son by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission)
To the many Old Testament prophecies pointing to the birth of the Messiah, the New Testament Gospels add details about the actual birth, telling about angels making proclamations, heavenly hosts singing praises, shepherds bowing in worship, and wise men from the East giving gifts—all because the Son of God had become the Son of Man!
There is certainly no New Testament justification for having a “Bah Humbug” approach to the celebration of Jesus’ birth. We celebrate because the Light of the Cosmos came to a world of darkness and brought us into his light. We celebrate because, through the Incarnation, God became one of us so we could live for eternity as his beloved children. For all these reasons, during the Christmas season we celebrate the birth of Jesus with joy, enthusiasm and love toward others.
Like Ebenezer Scrooge who rejoiced in his deliverance at the end of A Christmas Carol, I rejoice knowing I’ve been delivered from the bondage of nonsensical arguments and joy-killing legalism—a bondage that, sadly, continues to hold some people in its vice-like grip. I pray you experience the joy of your deliverance daily, and particularly at Christmastime.
Loving and celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus, Joseph Tkach
P.S. Tammy, Stephanie, Joe and I wish you and your family a wonderful Advent and Christmas. May God continually remind you just how much you are loved and may your response be one of continual praise and thanks to him.
To read the other letters in my five-part series on Christmas, click on a number: 1, 3, 4, 5.
Reproduced here is a recent post on The Surprising God blog. It addresses a topic of concern for all pastors and those who love and care for them.
In a chapter ofThe Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry with Theological Praxis, Ray S. Anderson addresses the very real danger of clergy burnout. Dr. Anderson notes that this phenomenon often is “a symptom of theological anemia” (p. 284). By that he means that when pastors burn out, it’s often because their approach to ministry lacks grounding in a robust incarnational and Trinitarian theology. In short, they see themselves working “for” God, rather than “with” the Father, in the Son, by the Spirit. Because of this, they tend to take too much upon themselves and that places them at risk of burnout. It’s ironic that the very people who have devoted their lives to sharing the message, My Redeemer Lives, operate as though Jesus is not truly present and alive, and not truly active in accomplishing, through the Spirit, his continuing ministry on earth in fulfillment of the Father’s mission to the world.
My Redeemer Lives, by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission)
Sadly, some (many?) pastors find themselves weighed down by a sense of inadequacy that, if unchecked, can lead to a sense of despair over never being able to satisfy the demands placed upon them. This becomes a vicious circle where, as Anderson notes, “the minister can only seek to atone for spiritual failure by throwing herself even more into the work of ministry.” Anderson comments further on the steps in this debilitating circle:
The demands of ministry produce a sense of inadequacy. Inadequacy carries the overtone of spiritual weakness. You turn to God in desperation, seeking some relief, escape, if not renewal. Failing here too, you find nothing to do but throw yourself more deeply into the work of the ministry. And the cycle repeats itself.(p. 285)
Faced with this burden, some pastors “grin and bear it,” feeling, in their drivenness, that this burden is a necessary (even admirable) aspect of pastoral ministry. Anderson warns:
“We are driven” is not only an effective advertising slogan for automobiles but a shrill echo of the divine call sunk deep into the psyche of a minister who seeks salvation through ministry. (p. 286)
“Salvation through ministry”—an absurd concept to all pastors (at least in their formal theology), but an operating principle for some in how they view their calling to pastoral ministry in practice. As Anderson notes, those entering pastoral ministry are encouraged to do so as a “divine calling,” with the implied understanding that this call, being unavoidable and thus inevitable, is one’s fate. “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel,” they proclaim to themselves and to others, quoting Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:16 (ESV). Unfortunately, rather than understanding their calling as a call “to ministry” it becomes a call “to the ministry.” Though this shift may seem innocuous, it can be devastating as the person hears a call “to do things for God” rather than their actual call, which is “to God” himself. Anderson comments:
Here, I believe, is the source of the “quiet despair” that can seep into our celebration of the sacred task and turn it into a joyless marathon of sheer endurance.” (p. 286)
With this misguided approach, ministry becomes “an insatiable and unrelenting master we serve in the name of Christ” (p. 287). In Anderson’s view, what is needed to break the vicious circle that leads to clergy burnout is the theology of ministry modeled by Jesus himself:
When [Jesus] reached the point of exhaustion from teaching and healing, he had the freedom to stop and to spend time alone or with his disciples. His instincts told him that his freedom from the [ministry] claims on him was upheld by the same gracious Father who gave him the freedom and power to teach and heal…. (p. 287)
In contrast to Jesus’ theology of ministry, many pastors, quite unfortunately, ground their ministry in a different, quite unhealthy, theology. Anderson comments:
It is bad theology to have to love the world more than God, and to confuse our service to God with our being sent into the world. It is bad theology to interpret the calling of God in terms of the needs of the world, rather than in our being sent to the world to do God’s work and reveal his glory….
A theology that cripples and destroys the self-esteem and sense of worth of a minister is not made better by “success” in ministry. A theology allowing no “sabbath rest” for the one who does the work of ministry is a theology of the curse, not a theology of the cross. A healthy theology contains healing for the healer and freedom for the fighter of God’s battles. A healthy theology, of course, is a theology of a loving God who knows that to be God is to be responsible, even for our faltering and fallible efforts. (pp. 287-288)
Anderson faced a time in his own ministry when he was on the precipice of the abyss of burnout. Thankfully, he came to understand Jesus’ theology of ministry and was delivered. Note some of his comments:
Through the realization of my inadequacy when only the grace of God could suffice, I experienced in a new way the reality of God as the source and sustaining power of my “call” to be a minister. My ministry no longer could be equivalent to my salvation or destruction….
No longer was I living on the edge of that terrible marginality in ministry, where the abyss always looms threateningly over and against every action. Driven back by obstacles, confronted with failure and frustration, attacked by symptoms of overstress, I experienced the healing of God’s goodness from within….
We who are called of God for Christian ministry are called first of all into the sabbath rest that Christ himself completed through the offering up of his own humanity in obedient, faithful service to God. With our backs straight up against the rock of his healed humanity, we reach out to meet human needs, do battle with evil and take the Word of God on our lips to proclaim his salvation. No temptation has ever overtaken us, says the Scripture, that has not already been experienced and healed in Jesus (Hebrews 4:15). I venture to say that no injury can ever be sustained in the work of God’s ministry for which there is not already healing waiting at home. (pp. 288-289)
Pastor, are you now experiencing or headed toward clergy burnout? If so, Anderson offers some advice from his own experience:
Turn to Jesus. He is the source of all good theology. He is the paradigm for pastoral ministry.
Explore the inner correlation between ministry and theology: “A ministry that produces dissonance and distress in the minister is theologically impoverished.” (p. 289)
Consent to be one of the sheep as well as being the shepherd, thus “experiencing absolution for our sins of being a minister and the affirmation we need to continue to minister.” (p. 290)
I’ll close this post with a prayer adapted from Anderson’s comment on p. 290:
Father, we pray that you grant us all a healthy practical theology of pastoral ministry that rests on the truth that all ministry is your ministry, through Christ, by the Spirit. May this knowledge console, empower and equip us to live out the calling you have given us by your grace. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
GCI-USA Church Administration and Development made the following announcement in the December issue of Equipper:
As we complete the 10th year of Equipper, we’re pleased to announce that we’ll soon transition from a printed publication to a digital format. Each month, subscribers will receive an email with links to the full issue, which may be viewed online (the same format we use to publish GCI Weekly Update). All who currently receive Equipper by email will automatically be subscribed to this new version of Equipper. If you’d like to be added to the subscription list, email your request to Ted.Johnston@gci.org.
New Sermon Summary feature
One of the features that will be found in the new Equipper is called Sermon Summary. There you’ll find short summaries of sermons that correlate with the annual (Western) Christian worship calendar (following the Revised Common Lectionary). To give you a foretaste of that feature, here’s a sample sermon given during Advent last year. It was written by Lance McKinnon who pastors the GCI congregation in Dallas, Georgia (Atalanta area).
Sermon for Advent 2: The Beginning of the Beginning Has Begun
1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'” 4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:1-8, NRSV)
Mark begins his Gospel with these words: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Whether he intended this as the book’s title or simply its first sentence, it serves to frame all that follows as “the beginning.” This is curious, as the next few verses speak of the past as well as the future. So when exactly is “the beginning”?
The “good news” Mark speaks about is a term that carries the message of victory from the battlefield. The victory he is alluding to is the one claimed by Jesus our Lord for all of creation. He has been victorious through his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. This victory amounts to a “new creation” and is thus a new “beginning.” This “beginning” applies not only to the point of time he defeated sin and death on the cross, but to all time, past and future. Our past has been claimed and redeemed and our future is secure in his victory.
We can participate in this new beginning, this new reality, by living it out in the present in union with Jesus, the ruling King and Lord of all. His kingdom, which is characterized by faith, hope and love, is the ruling reality we respond to. Instead of responding to the past out of guilt, we respond with the faith of Jesus, trusting that the Father has created a new beginning for us, allowing us to leave the past behind. Instead of looking to the future with fear and worry, we live in hope of the future coming of our Lord. And instead of living in the present with anxiety, we live in the love the Father has for all his children. As we do, we live in the reality of the kingdom established through his Son, our Lord and Savior. For us, the beginning truly has begun!
Note: we’re looking for pastors and other preachers who would like to contribute summaries of expository sermons (focused on a single passage of Scripture) for publishing in future issues of Equipper. The format and length shown above is what we’re looking for. Please email yours to Ted.Johnston@gci.org.
Recently here in GCI Weekly Update, we published an eight-part series from Gary Deddo titled Union & Ministry with Christ. That series has been turned into a single article titled The Christian Life and Our Participation in Christ’s Continuing Ministry. Find it online at http://www.gci.org/christian-life.
Without Purse or Script by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission)
Josh McDonald is a new pastoral resident, serving alongside Dave Perry in GCI’s congregation in Indianapolis, Indiana. One of the elders serving in that congregation is retired GCI pastor Abner Washington. Josh recently interviewed Abner and posted the interview along with some of his reflections on Abner’s life on his The Indy Project Blog at http://theindyproject.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-way-it-was-talking-race-and-faith.html. We think you’ll enjoy reading the amazing story.
Here from Vicki Hart and Tammy Johnson is a report on a women’s conference recently held at Christ Community Church—one of GCI’s congregations in the Cincinnati, Ohio, metro area.
The Unlocking the Treasure Within women’s conference was God-breathed from start to finish. On Friday evening Keysha Taylor led us through praise and worship as we “rolled out the red carpet” for our God. Jan Taylor then had us look in the mirror, and challenged us to see there the image of Jesus. Erin Campbell then charged us to take out our spiritual shovels to get prepared to start “diggin’ up” our treasure. Her story of going from atheist and addict to devoted Christ-follower was captivating.
Saturday was interspersed with powerful preaching by Erin Campbell, a testimony and presentation by Tammy Johnson on using flags in worship, along with a message on using the keys that unlock our treasure, as well as dance and song. Matt Campbell gave a moving message called “I’m Sorry” in which he made an apology on behalf of men for some of the wrongs done to women. His presentation evoked a powerful response. The day ended with evening performances from the women in attendance. There were songs, poems, a testimony, and dance, as well as delicious homemade desserts. The highlight for Saturday night was a drawing for a quilt by Augustine Shannon from Florida made especially for the conference. The conference ended Sunday morning as we joined the host congregation in worship. Erin Campbell preached another powerful message and Jan Taylor gave the Communion message. Vicki Hart, the conference coordinator, gave closing remarks.
GCI’s Tipp City, Ohio, congregation (Crossroads Christian Fellowship) has been actively connecting with the surrounding community for many years, utilizing multiple outreach strategies and programs in doing so. Below is an account written by Jen Cruea, one of the congregation’s newer members, who now leads Free Market—one of the congregation’s outreach ministries.
Crossroads Christian Fellowship’s church building
If someone had come to me a couple of a years ago, and said “you will be a beloved child of God and help your community any way you can,” I probably would have laughed and thought they were crazy. But that’s exactly what happened and here is my story.
In the early spring of 2012, I noticed I was always tired and cold. I had constant headaches and was very irritable. I thought that it was taking my body longer to bounce back after having my third child. I went to the doctor and they found vitamin deficiencies and told me to rest and take care of myself. They referred me to a specialist that told me my antibody level was extremely high and they were concerned. In 2013 I found out I had a lump on my thyroid. They said they wanted to do a biopsy. I was very scared because I was only 26. I have always believed in God but had never developed a relationship with him because I didn’t know how. I was not raised in church and had only been to a handful of them as a child. I started to pray hard and often. I told God that if it was cancer, I wasn’t ready to die. I had so much more to live for and so many things to do, including raising my three children with their father, my husband. I also told God that if it was my time to go it was just that, my time. The day I got the biopsy results back, I felt an unusual calm. And when I received the good news I was cancer-free, I wanted to continue my relationship with God but I still didn’t know how. Little did I know I wouldn’t have to wait much longer.
Advertisements for some of Crossroads’ outreach ministries
In the fall of 2013 the turning point came in my life. My husband was starting a new job, which I wasn’t very comfortable with him taking. I honestly didn’t know why—I don’t like change, so I thought that was it. On the last day at his previous job, I came down with what I thought was a stomach bug. I was very sick and weak. It passed in a few days, and we resumed our normal life, but the sickness kept coming back. I was always nauseated and shaky. I couldn’t eat and the peak finally came in December just before Christmas (I had lost 60 pounds since October). I woke up one morning in a full blown panic-attack. I went to the ER where I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. I left there with five medications and went to a doctor the next day for a follow up. I left his office with two more medications. I was absolutely terrified that I would have to live this way the rest of my life. I started seeing a Christian therapist who encouraged me to start my relationship with God. Then my husband was laid off from his new job and one of his coworkers told him to go to a church named Crossroads Christian Fellowship to get some food for our family. I went to what Crossroads calls their Free Market to get the food, but I got much more. Not only did they have clothing, toys, housewares and food, but they also provided direction for me into the Christian lifestyle.
A few weeks later we attended a Sunday service at Crossroads for the first time. I was nervous but also excited! So were my husband and children. We started to attend Bible study and worship services regularly. I never knew a church could love someone they just met! But that’s how God works. This past January, our pastor, Jim Valekis, asked me to serve as the coordinator of the Free Market. Then this summer he asked my husband to serve as the director of ONE Market. We are loving what we do to help the community, and most importantly to bring people to Christ, just as we were.
Crossroads has given me the open door I needed to start my journey as a Christian in a safe, non-judgmental, loving environment. I’ve grown so much as a person and child of God since coming here only a short while ago. The church has given me many experiences I never thought possible or even imagined. Just as the word “ONE” in One Market stands for Our Neighbors Empowered, that’s exactly what the congregation has done in empowering me to be a better person in every aspect of my life. I have never felt so confident before or so loved. Crossroads has so much to offer everyone! It is a wonderful place to be!
Many people are fascinated by signs and symbols that convey hidden meanings and secret messages. As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I enjoy deciphering such messages (including the meanings of those often-baffling acronyms and abbreviations you see on personalized license plates!).
Worshiping in the catacombs
Throughout history, people have used signs and symbols to convey messages understood by some and hidden to others. An example is the use by first century Christians of the ichthys (fish) symbol to secretly convey their allegiance to Christ. Because many of them were being persecuted, even martyred, they would hold their meetings in catacombs and other secret locations. To guide them to these places of meeting, ichthys symbols were painted on walls to mark the route. Doing so would not arouse suspicion because Christians were not the first to use the ichthys symbol—pagans used it to represent their gods and goddesses.
Despite its association with paganism (more about the “pagan roots” issue below), the fish symbol was widely used by early Christians. This likely was because Jesus often referred to fish in his teaching. On one occasion, he noted he would make his disciples “fishers of men.” On other occasions he performed miracles involving fish—from having Peter pull a coin out of a fish’s mouth, to filling the disciples’ nets with a huge catch of fish, to taking two fish and multiplying them to feed thousands of people. In these and other ways, Jesus used the symbol of fish to tell his story (the gospel), despite the fact (certainly known to him) that pagans were using the fish symbol to tell their own (pagan) stories.
As the incarnate Son of God, who created all that is, Jesus was not limited by the pagan world’s misuse of his good creation. Because he felt perfectly comfortable using their signs and symbols to tell his story, so did the early Christians. For example, (see the picture at left), they turned the word ichthys (ΙΧΘΥΣ in Greek) into an anagram where each letter in the word stood for the first letter of each word in the phrase Iesous Christos, Theou Huios, Soter (Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior).
Sadly, some sincere, though misinformed Christians, work hard to avoid those things they perceive as having “pagan roots.” I know some who avoid clothing with a paisley print, believing it originated in the Zoroastrian pantheistic religion of Persia. Others refuse to wear wedding rings believing they are of pagan origin. Others go so far as to reject Christmas and Easter, believing those celebrations originated in paganism (and that, “once pagan; always pagan”). Holding this misguided viewpoint, they miss out on the deep meaning these central, historic Christian celebrations convey about the goodness and faithfulness of God, revealed to us in the birth and resurrection of Jesus.
God has used signs and symbols throughout history. For example, he gave ancient Israel the Sabbath as a sign to point them to himself as their source of true rest (salvation). God knew they would not fully grasp this meaning (as cogently explained in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4). Many years after giving the Law through Moses (including the Sabbath), God gave a new sign intended for all people—the birth of his incarnate Son, Jesus. Note Luke’s account:
And this will be a sign for you: “You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:12-14 ESV).
On one occasion I was quoting this verse to explain the importance of celebrating Jesus’ birth to a person burdened down by the superstitious belief that birthday celebrations are pagan. He said this: “This verse in Luke only justifies one celebration of Jesus’ first coming, not celebrations thereafter.” I replied that Jesus’ birth is an event that changed all time, and, therefore, is for all time and all people.
The birth of Jesus is a powerful, enduring sign that encapsulates the entirety of the Christ event: his incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension for the salvation of all humankind. Like all signs, our Lord’s birth points backward (reminding us of what our triune God promised and accomplished in the past), and forward (pointing to what God, in Jesus, by the Spirit, will yet accomplish). Luke’s account continues with a part of the gospel story often told during Epiphany, which follows Christmas:
A Light To the Gentiles by Greg Olsen (used with permission)
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:25-35 ESV).
As Christians, most of us reading this do not have to rely on secret signs and symbols to conceal our places of assembly. That’s a blessing, and our prayers are with those who still face this hardship. But no matter the circumstances, all Christians know that Jesus was raised from the dead, and our heavenly Father is drawing all people to himself in Jesus and through the Spirit. Therefore we all have much to celebrate—and so we shall, during the upcoming Advent and Christmas seasons. I wish you and yours joyous celebrations as we begin a new annual worship cycle in accordance with the historic (western) Christian calendar (for more about that cycle, go to https://update.gci.org/2015/11/annual-worship-cycle-using-the-lectionary/).
Looking forward to our celebrations of Advent and Christmas, Joseph Tkach
PS: To all who gather this week in the United States (and abroad) to celebrate Thanksgiving, I send my best wishes for a joyous holiday. We truly do have much for which to thank our generous God, including our nation’s spiritual heritage.
To read the other letters in my five-part series on Christmas, click on a number: 2, 3, 4, 5.
Last week, Greg Williams, director of GCI-USA Church Administration and Development, sent a letter to all US pastors concerning a meeting he held recently with a group of our female pastors. For the benefit of all Weekly Update readers, we’ve reproduced that letter below. Feel free to respond in the “add a comment” box below.
Greg and Susan Williams
Recently I had the privilege of gathering with six of our female pastors for a time of rich conversation and a delicious meal (ending with a decadent seven-layer chocolate dessert!). It was such a wonderful occasion that I felt prompted to write this summary letter to each of you.
The purpose of our gathering was to give these pioneering female pastors opportunity to share ministry joys and challenges, recount their journeys in GCI pastoral ministry, and share their hearts with me as superintendent of GCI-USA ministers. Though at different stages and seasons in life and ministry, they have much in common and displayed deep appreciation for each other, providing a wonderful atmosphere of openness and trust in our meeting.
The six participants in the meeting with Greg (left to right/top to bottom): Tracy Lee, Mary Bacheller, Carrie Smith, Linda Rex, Debby Bailey and Becky Deuel
Prior to meeting, I had sent the participants a list of questions to guide our discussion. The answers they shared showed a great deal of wisdom about life and ministry. Below are some of their key insights. I think all our pastors and ministry leaders (both women and men) will find these points instructive and encouraging. I also hope they inspire other women to follow them into GCI pastoral ministry.
See how God has been preparing you since youth with the various experiences you have gone through and the faithfulness the Lord has displayed in your life.
Balance training and experience.
Get all the training you can both inside and outside the church.
Serve out of your passion and experience (these factors seem to remain with you throughout life).
Know how to identify the voice of the Holy Spirit and sense God’s calling on your life. There will be a nagging sense of insecurity unless you have this settled.
Hearing the Spirit’s voice for your personal life, and for the life of your church, are not separate voices—most often they are married together.
Your role as a pastor is to be a “sign post” pointing people to Jesus.
Allow the Holy Spirit to be the agent of change – as a pastor, you don’t have the ability to transform other people.
Build relationships with other female pastors for encouragement and mentoring.
Be open to sharing your personal struggles with your congregation so you can journey forward with prayerful support.
Have safe relationships outside the congregation you pastor, where you can share and process your burdens.
Grow an extra layer of skin—you have to expect that some men and women will not accept you as a pastor because you are a woman.
Be secure in your identity. Knowing that you are, first and foremost, “in Christ” allows you to properly view your gender, personality, marital status, etc.
Establish healthy boundaries for your family. Your spouse may be a ministry partner, or passively supportive, or simply uninvolved.
Be comfortable organizing and operating with a ministry team. Help your team operate out of their giftings and passion.
Your relationship with the Father, Son and Spirit is your highest priority!
When I asked the group what advice they would give our pastors and churches, a common, resounding plea was that congregations make space for women in leadership at all levels. They also noted they want to see women and men serving side-by-side within our churches, facilitating the best expressions of God-designed femininity and masculinity.
I want to thank each of the six female pastors who met with me. As pioneers, they have blazed a trail for other women to follow. Because of them, and other women like them, GCI doesn’t merely accept women as pastors, we actively invite and welcome into this important role, those women who the Lord prepares and calls to serve his church in pastoral leadership.
I’m proud of these brave women, and am humbled and blessed to have spent a day listening to their important voices.
A few years ago, Tammy and I attended the play A Christmas Carol based on the novella with that title by Charles Dickens. Dickens wrote the book in 1843, largely to expose corruption in the British government, which favored the wealthy and oppressed the underclass with laws that often sent the poor (including Dickens’ father) to debtors’ prison.
GCI-USA Church Administration and Development made the following announcement in the December issue of Equipper:
As the incarnate Son of God, who created all that is, Jesus was not limited by the pagan world’s misuse of his good creation. Because he felt perfectly comfortable using their signs and symbols to tell his story, so did the early Christians. For example, (see the picture at left), they turned the word ichthys (ΙΧΘΥΣ in Greek) into an anagram where each letter in the word stood for the first letter of each word in the phrase Iesous Christos, Theou Huios, Soter (Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior).
