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Fred's Page
"Why Worship"
September 4, 2009
There is a power in corporate worship, in the gathering, praising, praying, proclaiming, and responding people of God. There is a power there that is good for us personally. Good preaching (when it is good) can teach and inspire. Good music can lift us up to our tip toes. In a world dominated by bad news, it is a powerful and life changing habit to gather each week to hear the good news preached and sung. But that is not the main reason we worship.
There is a power in the corporate gathering of God’s people that helps to state or restate what our values are and what is the source of our life. In a culture that is increasingly secular, there is powerful communal faith formation in the regular weekly gathering for worship. The rhythm of weekly worship of God helps set standards, influences laws, corrects behaviors and attitudes, and highlights healthy boundaries for living in community. Corporate worship helps build up the Body of Christ. But that is not the main reason we worship.
The main reason we worship is not because of what it does for us personally. And the main reason we worship is not because of what it does for the church or the community. The main reason we worship (and I have to admit this is quite a childish thought) is because of what it does for God. Is it childish to think that we can touch the heart of God? Then I am childish. I believe when we worship God that we literally bless God, just like when my one-year-old grandson wraps his arms around my neck.
God has blessed us, personally and corporately. The Psalmist suggests that we can respond likewise. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits—who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103)
—Fred
“Sabbath: Not What We Keep, but What Keeps Us”
August 20, 2009
What an ancient superstitious thought! Old legalism, tribal mysticism, archaic less-than-informed prescriptions for living 4000 years ago in the Middle East? Is there any way that Sabbath can be relevant for Christians living in the sophisticated United States in the 21st Century ?
In case you have not been keeping up with contemporary health statistics, it is now estimated conservatively that 75% of all doctor visits are stress related. Stress related illnesses include things like migraine headaches, muscle tension, heart attacks, high blood pressure, strokes, cancer, insomnia, stomach and digestive disorders, ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis, and more. Are you on that list?
Parents cry, “I am so tired.” Their children cry, “I am so bored.” Depletion and meaninglessness have become the marks of life for so many. People are becoming fractured pieces of themselves scattered all over the places they try to attend simultaneously. Henry Nouwen once described this as “being all over the place, but seldom at home.”
Is it possible that our Creator knows something about what humans need to maintain health in body, mind, soul, and relationships? Is there a wisdom available to us that can provide for us what we need for our hungry and scattered souls? Could there be much more to Sabbath keeping than we might have imagined?
People often say that what they need is some “space.” My guess is what they really need is not space, but time. They and we need time with God. We need time to stop working, worrying, stressing, fretting. We need time to rest, to rest deeply.
We need time to renew and refresh. We need time to gain balance, perspective, and a strong center in someone greater than the stuff of this world. The Sabbath is God’s gift of time,a sign of the covenant with God, and a weekly reminder that our life and identity are in God. —Fred
“Psalm 23 for Nurses”
August 6, 2009
Psalm 23 offers the image of a shepherd to help us better understand God. But in order for 21st century people to understand the comparisons, we need to understand something about shepherds and sheep. Very few of us these days have much experience with sheep.
I was thinking of what image the psalmist might have chosen had he lived in our day. The image of a nurse came to mind. That might have something to do with the fact that I am married to a nurse and have seen her bring care and healing to our children. I wrote the following paraphrase of Psalm 23 for Ann several years ago. Have fun with it.
What other images come to your mind when thinking about God? How would you paraphrase this powerful psalm?
Psalm 23 for Nurses
The Lord is my nurse; the Lord provides for all my needs.
The Lord makes me lie down in a soft bed.
The Lord stills my heart and makes me well. He restores me to whole.
The Lord leads me to the prescriptions for life that are right for me, that make me more like God.
Yea, though I wait through long, dark hours of great uncertainty or look death right in the face, I will be afraid of nothing, for God is with me and holds my hand.
God’s care and God’s people comfort me.
God prepares a table before me in the presence of all my illnesses. The table is filled with those truly precious things that have brought me life and helped to make me who I am. Nothing can take those away.
God anoints my body with healing medicines and my heart with peace. God blesses me and claims me as his own. My joy overflows.
With such a God I look forward to good things and know that I have a place in God’s house forever.
—Fred
“Too Good to Keep to Ourselves”
July 23, 2009
Change is the only constant. None of us remains the same. That is something over which we have no control. Where we do have some control is in how we change and in where we are headed. We have the freedom and power to help create the future, our future and those around us.
To have a goal is to decide about a direction in the future. No matter how large or small, to actually decide on getting something accomplished will set you in motion. Goals can be liberating. They can lift you out of complacency and depression and set you on a path with hope. As followers of Christ we want our goals to be consistent with the direction Christ leads.
Broadmoor has been working on ten very important goals for the future of Christ’s mission among us. The goals came from three key areas in which we want to improve:
1. Corporate Dynamic Worship; 2. Parking, Land and Landscaping (including signage); and 3. Significant Relational Groups.
Over the last several weeks I have been visiting in the homes of many of our members. To date I have made some 35 visits with more to come. Getting in homes helps me to know the people and remember their names. I know I will never get to visit everyone, but this small beginning has been good.
Traveling has helped me get a better lay of the land. Though I had studied our demographics, I am just now beginning to realize how many of our members live a pretty good distance away. They drive 20 to 30 minutes one way to be here on Sunday. It made me appreciate their commitment and reminded me of why what we offer every Sunday needs to be our very best.
I asked many of them why they drove so far to come to church. For some it was the quality of the overall worship experience. But I learned that the strongest reason most return was because of a group or class of friends. The two areas of Corporate worship and small groups and classes are vital for our future. We must find ways of doing them even better. We must create new ways of opening them up to those around us who do not have such a spiritual home. This stuff is too good to keep to ourselves.
Grace and Peace,
Fred
“Fighting For Freedom”
June 25, 2009
I watched on TV the violence in Iran, the protests met with threats and beatings. This ancient country who over the course of history has known world domination, but whose people have never really known freedom and human rights, not the way we might expect in the 21st Century. Neither have all Americans in the United States known those rights for very long. The Civil Rights movement and Women’s Suffrage movement were not that long ago.
In his book 1776, David McCullough describes the kind of rag tag band of soldiers who gathered to stand up against what was the world’s greatest army and navy. George Washington was a charismatic leader but had such little with which to work. How those men and boys who pledged lives and fortunes were able to pull it off is still amazing.
There have been times in history when people rise up beyond what is imagined possible. There is something about the cause of freedom that engages the deepest parts of humanity. Thomas Jefferson touched on it when he wrote: “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” I doubt that Jefferson really meant to suggest that everyone is born equal in ability. I think he meant that we are born with a deep sense of what is right and fair, a sense of justice to which all people should have free access. Jefferson was only 33 years old when he wrote that. Should we conclude that he was young and naïve? Or was he inspired, by the nature of the cause as well as by the Creator?
Over the past decade the word “freedom” has become so politicized in our country that some of its core value proclaimed by Jefferson may need some refreshing. Maybe the nature of this freedom is that it is such a powerful, deep-seated cause that freedom will always make itself fresh. Or maybe it is in the great cause of freedom and justice that we can see God moving in power.
It would be time well spent this July 4th to study again some of the great stories of our freedom. Go back and read the Exodus account and consider the situation and circumstances from which God liberated the Hebrews. What did it mean for the Hebrews to be free? Read the Declaration of Independence or a copy of Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” How do those causes relate to present day Iran? —Fred
“Moving Forward”
June 11, 2009
Back in February, Broadmoor adopted ten very important goals to help us accomplish our mission. These are reprinted on the back of today’s issue. Our boards and committees along with staff have been working on many different objectives as we move ahead. Our staff took a brief retreat in April to work on goal number one. Since the retreat a sermon plan for summer and fall has been developed.
This sermon plan will be presented to the congregation before the end of June. We are encouraging each member and family to take home a copy of the plan and incorporate the reading of scriptures for the coming Sunday in weekly devotions. All worship leaders will be working and coordinating together to help our Sunday morning services become our best offering to God. It is an increasingly counter-cultural goal to attempt to claim Sunday as the Lord’s Day, but that is our goal.
Another important goal has to do with growing our overall covenant community through the development of small groups. Everybody needs a place to connect and to share. We hope to encourage the development of new groups who will meet in homes, in restaurants, coffee shops, or wherever they can meet for prayer, support, and the reading of the Scriptures for the coming Sunday. The Board of Trustees is working on a plan of landscaping and signage, something to give a more welcoming first impression to our facility. One parsonage has been repaired and cleaned and is up for sale. The other two should be ready by August.
Plans are formulating for Wednesday evening study and fellowship. Each of the pastors will be sharing their favorite Bible story or verse during July. The fall will offer many different courses and classes, both small group and larger events. The Wednesday evening meals will continue in July and in the fall. Many of you will be glad to know that the ice cream machine is back in order.
Our summer plans are before us. Though there is a change of pace in the summer, it is not slower. The month of June will have Annual Conference, our Summer day school, part of our preschool program, and Vacation Bible School. Our youth and adults will be taking mission trips as we offer to others the love of Christ.
"Confirmation"
May 15, 2009
There may be no other event in the Church that better demonstrates the heart of the Church’s mission than confirmation. For several months now the confirmation class of 24 sixth graders have been studying, reflecting, and preparing for the day they will stand before the congregation to make a public profession of their faith. They will take vows themselves that prior to this day their parents had taken on their behalf. It is a significant day when young people begin to take responsibility for their own faith.
Parents, grandparents, and the Church have given much to help prepare and nurture these youth. It does take a village. But eventually it will be up to the youth to say yes to all that God offers. “Do you receive and profess the Scriptures? Do you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and pledge your allegiance to his kingdom? Will you be loyal to Christ and support The United Methodist Church and Broadmoor with your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness?
In some churches today confirmation has lost much of its significance. It has become a sort of graduation service. Parents “make” their children go to church until confirmation is over and their child has received the certificate. Many never return after that day. They have graduated. Not so with this year’s class. These youth are ready. They are as prepared as any group I have seen. They know that this is not the end but a new beginning.
Still there is another part of confirmation to consider. The vows the youth take are in response to what God has said. God claims them as God’s own. God promises forgiveness, the gift of the Holy Spirit. God incorporates them, brings them into the Church, the Body of Christ. Just as it is God who baptizes us, it is God who confirms us. God confirms that we are God’s children, and that all those gifts given to us in our baptism, they are still good. In John 15 Jesus told his disciples, “Don’t think you choose me. I choose you and appoint you to go and bear fruit.”
Confirmation is not graduation. It is a new beginning on the journey of faith. And Broadmoor can rejoice that there are 24 new disciples prepared to follow their Lord.
“Being Thankful”
May 1, 2009
A parent asks a child, “Are you thankful?” What exactly is the parent asking? Is the parent searching for a particular feeling or emotion? Is the parent hoping for a little payback? A parent says to a child, “You ought to be more thankful.” Can thankfulness be commanded? Shakespeare (King Lear) wrote, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.”
But what does it mean to be thankful, and where does thankfulness come from? You can feel thankful, but being thankful is not a feeling. You can act in a way that appears thankful, but that does not guarantee that the act is genuine thankfulness. Children learn thankfulness by watching thankful parents and grandparents. Children are quick to discern whether parents are thankful, and just as quick to model.
Being thankful is an attitude of awareness. It comes from an awareness of the givenness of life. We do nothing in receiving life. We are born into it, initiated, cleansed and baptized and forgiven before we are even aware. But the rest of our lives we will spend wondering whether someone could really love us so much as to give us this life, and if so, what debt do we owe? Henry Ward Beecher said it this way, “Next to ingratitude the most painful thing to bear is gratitude.”
Being thankful is the attitude that stems from being aware that life is a gift for which I cannot pay but only receive. The gift is “not of our own doing. It is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) This attitude of thankfulness aware of the givenness of life is not a natural or popular attitude in today’s world. To maintain such an attitude as being thankful requires practice and discipline, or else we are likely to end up like those ingrates for whom nothing is ever enough.
The late Henry Nouwen said this about gratitude: “Gratitude goes beyond the ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.” —Fred
"Easter Evidence"
April 17, 2009
With dogmatic fury the pastor claimed, “the tomb was empty!” His point was clear: the empty tomb was evidence, if not proof, of Jesus’ resurrection. Debating the doubters of the bodily resurrection of Jesus, people have often pointed to the emptiness of the tomb. I have been to a couple of places in Jerusalem that some claim was the burial place and later the place of the resurrection of Jesus. And sure enough, there was no body to be found. But I am equally as sure that the emptiness of those tombs did not inspire any faith, then or in Jesus’ day either.
If you return to the Biblical accounts you notice that the empty tomb was never really evidence enough that Jesus had risen. The empty tomb brought sadness and fear. It was not emptiness but presence that helped people believe. It was not the scattered grave cloths or rolled away stones that awakened people; it was the presence of Christ, in the garden, from a boat, or on the Damascus road. The Apostle Paul said that the risen Christ had appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve, then to more than five hundred at one time, then to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all to Paul himself. He was present. The risen Christ was with them.
Our faith today is similar. Our faith is inspired by the presence of One who is with us. It has been our experience that the promise is true that says, “Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, I am with them.” If some need evidence to believe in the resurrection, let them not look at the emptiness of the tomb. Let them consider the remarkable attendance in the Church. Even in these cynical days of the 21st Century where religious faith is called into question on every street corner, on Easter Sunday most churches will be full. And it will not be so because some tomb in Jerusalem is empty. —Fred
"A Kingdom that cannot be Shaken"
April 3, 2009
Storms came through last night. The rains poured, the wind howled, limbs broke, and power lines screamed. Several times during the night I was awakened by the lightening and thunder that rattled my windows. Some of those claps of thunder literally shook my heart. Storms come in different forms and they have the power to rattle more than your windows.
The church has always had to move through the storms. Time after time Jesus would still the storms that frightened and threatened the disciples. Then he would turn and ask them where their faith was.
The Letter to Hebrews was written to people who were worn out by the storms. Some were falling by the way, giving up the habit of gathering for worship and simply blending in with the way things were. In Chapter 12 the author reminds them that they are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. He invites them to get rid of whatever is holding them back from the race that is set before them, even through the storms. They were to look to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of their faith.
In stormy times, when the things we value in life seem threatened, it is easy to see people as a threat. When our hearts are weary, our relationships can become strained. And so the author issued a challenge, one that we might consider today. He said, “Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled.” (Hebrews 12:14, 15)
He calls on his leaders to focus on the future, to run with perseverance the race that is before them. Not unlike a drill sergeant, the author commands, “Lift those drooping hands and strengthen those weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet…”
He concludes with a powerful image for the Church. He says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire.”
Our God is not an anxious or worried God. The kingdom he makes will not be shaken. Ask yourself this question: what kind of witness do I give for God and God’s Kingdom? Am I adding to God’s Kingdom or to the storms? —Fred
"Church Conference Well Attended"
March 20, 2009
I want to thank all who were able to attend the Church Conference this past Sunday. It is the usual case that the items covered Sunday are typically agenda items that are covered in a smaller Charge Conference. The decision was made to attempt to involve more people of all ages in making decisions about our future. In a Church Conference, every confirmed member of the church is a voting member. Approximately 400 people were in attendance with Dr. Ralph Ford, our District Superintendent presiding. While there were many questions asked and concerns expressed, there was a strong sense of unity and hope. The record will show that even with diverse opinions in many areas, the vote on each agenda item was unanimous.
Following an excellent report from our Council Chair, Karen Decell, the Conference approved two new Lay Speakers, Jeff Hilliard and Monique Frenzel. We elected our officials for the new year and received and approved from the Church Council a budget for 2009. A lot of work and preparation went into the proposals put before the conference. Yet clearly, the greatest amount of work is still ahead.
The Conference approved a Ten Point plan of priority for the future. Those points or goals are:
1. Grow the number of persons and families who are prepared for the Sunday worship services, who claim Sunday as the Lord’s day, and who include in their weekly devotions, prayers for our church and the reading of the Scriptures for the coming Sunday.
2. Improve the quality of worship we offer God with better weekly preparation by all those in leadership positions including preachers, worship leaders, musicians, acolytes, ushers, greeters, and those giving ministry moments.
3. Improve and grow the hospitality we offer to guests and members through an effective welcome center, trained relational greeters from parking lot to pew/chair, and through prompt and effective response to first time visitors.
4. Develop a plan of invitation to our worship services and other ministries focusing on our neighborhood, our preschool, areas where we have concentrations of members, and through more effective use of our web page.
5. Grow community, belonging, and spiritual nurture through the addition of new small groups until we reach and maintain an average of 10 groups for every 100 in worship.
6. Develop a master plan of signage (both external and way-finding) that is noticeable, functional, and aesthetically consistent with our location and facilities.
7. Develop a master plan of landscaping to add beauty and welcome as a first impression.
8. Freshen our parking lot and add reserved spaces for expecting moms and parents with young children.
9. Sell the three parsonages and authorize trustees to use proceeds to help cover capital repairs, improvements, or debt retirement.
10. Develop a comprehensive plan of stewardship to support the overall mission of Broadmoor United Methodist Church, including a balanced operating budget, better and more regular reporting of financial status and missional accomplishments, and more efficient use of our facilities and stewardship education plans, to help people in their giving to annual ministries and future endowments.
Already our Board of Trustees and other committees are working on some of these goals. The Church Council, staff, and Strategic Planning Committee will work together to develop the necessary objectives and action plans. Several members have expressed desire to help with one or more of the goals. We hope more will do the same. While there are so many other goals that we could be working on, these ten, if accomplished, will bring great strength and set us up for many more areas needing to be addressed in the future.
There is a similarity between new goals and a new diet. Once there is a decision, there almost always follows a distraction or temptation. Jesus’ baptism was followed immediately by his temptation. We might expect our determination to be tested, our focus to be distracted. Jesus would resist temptation saying to the devil, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone,’ and ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Our Spiritual Disciplines, our worship of God, and our prayers will lead us through this vital spiritual journey. —Fred
Church Conference
Sunday, March 8
12:00 p.m. in Sanctuary
One of the central characteristics of the United Methodist Church has been its high value for “conferencing.” A conference is more than a simple organizational meeting. Indeed, John Wesley believed conferencing to be a means of receiving God’s grace. In conferencing the body gathers in faith and shares in holy conversation. They worship and pray and decide on issues related to a faithful response to God’s grace that will result in vital and effective mission. We United Methodists affirm that all our individual congregations, though diverse and scattered, are nevertheless very connected in mission and structure.
Our structure includes a General Conference made of lay and clergy that meets once every four years to establish our mission, budget, social principles, and more. There is a Jurisdictional Conference that meets every four years following General Conference to help interpret the mission and to elect bishops. There is an Annual Conference that meets each year to approve a mission and budget for our area. Clergy are ordained to particular areas of service and are appointed to churches.
In each local congregation there is an annual Charge Conference. The charge conference is the basic connection between the General Church and the local congregation. This conference elects lay leadership and affirms its covenant relationship through support of the general mission and salary support for clergy.
Occasionally there will be a special called charge or church conference to address matters of importance. A Charge Conference is comprised by the elected members of the Church Council, and is officiated by the District Superintendent. A Church Conference is similar except that each confirmed member of the congregation is part of the voting body.
On Sunday March 8, a Church Conference of Broadmoor United Methodist Church will gather at 12 noon to consider and vote on three important matters: (1) a ten point plan of ministry; (2) election of officers; and (3) a budget for 2009. These matters are often handled by the Charge Conference or by the Church Council/Administrative Council. This year we are having a Church Conference and are encouraging each and every confirmed member of Broadmoor to be present and to participate.
There is a wonderful and engaging spirit at Broadmoor these days. When you look at the gifts and graces among us it is clear that great things are ahead. It must be true for us that “to whom much is given, much is expected.” Come and celebrate the good things God is doing and wants to do through us. —Fred
“State of the Church”
February 6, 2009
When trying to analyze the present standing of a congregation there are several statistics that you might first examine. There is the financial picture, the statistics on membership growth or decline, and attendance at worship and Sunday School. This important data cannot, however, tell the whole story regarding the relative health of a congregation.
You will find here some of the vital statistics taken from our recent annual audit. In addition to these numbers we will try to indicate other, less measurable factors, that contribute to our overall health.
Membership at end of 2007: 4054
New members joining in 2008: 79
Members who moved or changed churches in 2008: 45
Members lost to death: 34
Total Membership at end of 2008: 4054
Average Worship Attendance (This figure normally includes just Sunday morning attendance at all worship services. In our case it has also included Wednesday evening services and nursing home services. Next year we will attempt to show separate categories for these additional services.)
Average Attendance at end of 2007: 1247
Average Attendance at end of 2008: 1205
Average Attendance in Sunday School
At end of 2007: 508
At end of 2008: 510
Total Operating Budget for 2007: $2,510,683
Total received toward 2007 budget: $2,405,954
Total Operating Budget for 2008: $2,566,554
Total received toward 2008: $2,415,629
Total Indebtedness at end of 2008: $723,830
Estimated value of property and investments: $7,825,126
Not listed in this data are other vital aspects of our health. For example, Broadmoor paid 100% of its apportionments. Our district was one of the few in our Conference able to do so. We hosted 200 Red Cross volunteers for some two months during the hurricane crisis. Southeast Ministries served over 12,454 people in need. —Fred
"A Very Present Help in Trouble"
January 23, 2009
When the strength of his world seemed to tremble like the mountains during an earthquake, when the good of the world seemed to be taken away by forces beyond, when it seemed like the hope of the world had become far removed, the Psalmist turned to the source of his faith. His faith saw things his eyes could not. His faith told a counter story to the one dominating the news of the day.
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult….God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.” Psalm 46:1–5
At a time when it seemed that the Church of Jesus Christ had grown dark, forgotten its mission, and was headed toward an inevitable fracture, a spiritual leader arose. Martin Luther protested the ways in which the Church had gone wrong. He helped lead a reformation that brought healing and hope to both sides of a theological divide. He also wrote a powerful hymn based on Psalm 46. The people sang, “A Mighty Fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing.”
Listen to this third verse as Luther witnesses to the power of our faith in God in dark and turbulent times: “And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us. The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.”
Our nation is facing a recession that is real. It has cast its darkness on businesses, churches, charitable organizations and many, many people, especially the poorest of the poor. Broadmoor is just one of many congregations feeling its impact and making difficult decisions to help assure that the mission of Jesus Christ stays strong and moves forward. Times like these can hurt. But because we are not alone, God being in the midst of our city and church, we grow stronger in our love and deeper in our faith.
Through it all we must stay strong in faith and love. When the anxious moments come and the darkness would want to make us tremble, simply do what the Psalmist suggests: “Be still, and know that I am God.” His peace is very contagious.
Grace and Peace—Fred
“Affirming Our Faith”
January 9, 2009
Most every Sunday morning we Christians gather and affirm our faith. We repeat, sometimes by reading, sometimes by memory, a series of statements that we called a creed. The majority of United Methodist congregations I know repeat the Apostles’ Creed most often. Our hymnal has other creeds as well.
The word creed comes from a Latin word that means, “I believe.” The very first Creed of the Church was probably something as simple as “Jesus is Lord.” As the understanding of who Jesus was continued to develop along with ideas about the nature and mission of the Church, something more definitive was needed.
The Apostles’ Creed is a statement whose development originated with the faith contained in Scripture. Some of its history dates back to the time of some of our New Testament writings. It continued to be developed through the first four centuries of the Church. Another historic creed in our hymnal, the Nicene Creed, shares a common origin with the Apostles’ Creed, but took on many additional developments by different councils meeting in the 4th Century A.D.
The Creed was very important for the early church. It served the community of faith by lifting up a communal statement of the essentials of the faith contained in Scripture. It challenged the believers to a higher level of belief and practice as followers of Christ. The Creed brought a sense of unity at a time when competing factions within the Church were fragmenting and weakening the mission of Christ.
The power of the Creed was not so much that it made everyone think alike. Rather the Creed named the essentials which helped build a stronger foundational identity in a time of growing diversity. The Creed gave the Church boundaries which added confidence. It aided the Church to be a light to the nations, to speak a prophetic word to the World.
For six Sundays beginning January 18, Lee Allen and I will be doing a sermon series on the Apostles’ Creed. Many of our Sunday School Classes will be studying a book “The Life We Claim, The Apostles’ Creed for Preaching, Teaching, and Worship” by James Howell. I will be leading a group on Wednesday evenings beginning January 21 through Ash Wednesday, February 25.
This will be a good opportunity for many of us to come to a better understanding of the Creed we repeat most every Sunday. More importantly, it could be a time for us to refine and reaffirm what it is that we truly believe about God. Why not take this good opportunity to refresh your faith. Maybe you know of a friend for whom this would be helpful as well. —Fred
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