News from the Interim Co-Executive PresbytersAt our Presbytery’s recent COLE event, this along with another passage from Galatians, was the devotional I shared. From this, I have developed a brief series of articles on this question: Will you pray for and seek to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination and love”? (Directory of Worship W-4.0404 h)
Imagination: We take a vow to serve with Imagination. Often that is a tall order. What does it mean to be imaginative? Scientifically, this means using different pieces of our brains, retraining the parts of our brains that unlock the child-like and creative ideas. Creatively, it can remind us of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, or John Lennon’s famous song “Imagine”. Serving the church with imagination doesn’t sound like the serious job of being a Church Officer. We need to be spiritual, mature, and thoughtful. We have people to shepherd, pews to fill, money to raise, building to care for, why do we need to serve others with Imagination? That “why” can be answered in two Scriptures. 1. “Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.” Galatians 6:5 The Message 2. “Your young men will see visions, your old men dream dreams.” Acts 2:17 The Message Creativity is imagination at work. Visioning new ways to serve God is imagination at work. That’s why we vow to serve the people with Imagination. To envision a new program takes creativity, it takes using our imagination. To tweak or rework a program offers it new life, to a different audience. As church leaders, we are called to figure out new ministries for the people in and out of the pews which does more than entertains them; these new ministries must also be filled with God’s Love and Grace, with Resurrection and Hope. New ideas and ministries challenge us to adapt and adopt. To adapt is to adjust to new conditions. As our “Foundations of Presbyterian Polity” state: “The church affirms, Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda secundum verbum Dei, that is “The church reformed, always to be reformed according to the Word of God” in the power of the Spirit. (F-2.02) Think about this: water that doesn’t move, grows stale, smelly, and dirty. A body which doesn’t exercise, grows weak. A leader who doesn’t challenge him or herself to learn new skills, will grow stale and weak. And a church who doesn’t constantly reform…I hope you can see where we are going with this train of thought. Our vow as, not just officers, members also, is to keep the church vital and vibrant and that takes continual adapting, reforming ourselves to minister to the world and yet not be of the world. It means thinking of new ideas and how they can enliven the ministry in your church, spiritually and physically. That takes adoption. To adopt means we choose to take up, follow, or use. We choose to try something new; a new recipe, a new hairstyle, a new route home. We try it and then we have another choice; do we want to continue what we have adopted? What makes serving the church with Imagination so much fun is that we get the chance to adapt to something new. This new ministry or program happens and we see if it will be something which enhances your ministry with God’s people. If it does, you adopt it and celebrate the adoption. You might need to tweak it a little and adjust it as it moves forward. Being called to serve with Imagination is not easy; it takes work, mentally and physically. Sometimes what we dream of can become a reality and serve people in the Name of Christ. Sometimes what we dream is good, it’s just not the right timing so it doesn’t work. When that happens (and it will) do not lose courage. If it doesn’t make it, Fail Forward: Review what happened, why it failed and learn from your mistakes. For we are always learning, always reforming. JUST IMAGINE.. Peace, Hoover and Olivia |
MAY 2025
Rev. Dr. Hoover & Rev. Olivia Haney
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