Dear Friends in Christ,

     It's a wonderful image, isn't it? A young couple, newly married, standing at the threshold of their first home, and he picks her up and carries her across, and that ushers in their new life together. In much the same way, through the Resurrection, Jesus carries his bride, the church, across the threshold of death and into a new life, empowered by the Spirit, and commissioned to share the good news of salvation with all the world. So today a full third of earth's population claims the name "Christian," and the telling of the story goes on!

     There are other "thresholds" we cross all through life. A new baby is born into a young family's life, and their whole world changes dramatically. (Stacy Ballard was so-o-o pleased recently to be able to say that her new baby, Eastyn, had actually slept an entire night!) The first day of kindergarten is a real threshold too, one that is sometimes difficult for a child -- or a parent. Soon our young people will be graduating from high school and college and will step across another threshold. As time goes on, retirement nears and another threshold appears on the horizon. And so it goes, all our life long.

     Even in the life of the church we find ourselves confronted with thresholds inviting us to cross. A new mission vision, a realization of change, an exciting new opportunity, pastoral transition (no, Linda and I are not going anywhere), a great challenge thrust upon the church; all of these things present us with an opportunity to cross a threshold into a new and exciting experience in faith and life.

     I've been pondering such a threshold for us here at Rehobeth over these past few weeks. We are of course going to be embracing the Natural Church Development process, and I'm excited about that and will be sharing more about it with you in worship soon. But in addition to that, I am convinced that we are standing on a threshold between being a "pastoral" church and "program" church. The difference? Growth. To date the focus of my ministry among you has largely been pastoral -- preaching, visitation, encouragement, healing, comfort, counseling, administering sacraments, performing weddings, and officiating at memorial services. But as we have grown, so have the needs in the congregation for additional nurturing ministries. So in these next few months, I will be meeting with our various committees to address this threshold and to encourage the implementation of some new opportunities for nurture, outreach, witness, missions, and ministries. I suspect our Natural Church Development process will be an important component in all of this as well. Now, please change the threshold image in your mind a bit. I'm not planning to carry you across the threshold. . . You are too many and I am just a little guy! But I will be inviting you to step across it with me, and together, we will taste the goodness of the Lord on the other side!

Yours in the Love of Christ and the Church,

Bob

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