Dear Friends,

I am now in my fifth year as Pastor of this congregation. In many ways, I am excited about this next year. I say this because it is time for us to dream about where this church wants to be in five or ten years from now.

During the last four years, we have provided stability and restored community amongst our members and friends. There are new people coming to the church. And when I check statistics, we are above average compared to churches in our presbytery, yet this can change at any time. Therefore, we need to dream, dare, and disrupt if need be.

Consider the scripture cited above. Some friends wanted to bring a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing, but the crowd blocked the doorway. Refusing to give up, they found another way: They opened a hole in the roof and lowered him directly in front of Jesus. Their actions showed a willingness to take risks, think creatively, and conduct a plan that might fail to help their friend.

In the book, Dream, Dare, Disrupt, the author writes, “It begins with the conviction that curiosity is not a liability, but a spiritual gift, that dreaming is not childish but courageous, and that disruption is not destruction but renewal.”

We understand the concept of dreaming and even daring to do something different. It is the word “disruption” that may give us pause, because we ae experiencing a level of comfort. I talk to people who used to come to this church, and when they come for a visit, I can see their brains whirling with the memories of their time here. Often, I take young adults on a walk along the second floor to look for their work camp shirts. And they are pleasantly surprised when they find the shirts they wore when they were teenagers.

Yet, there is always room for improvement and growth. In the Presbyterian Church, we are called to grow the church deep and wide.  Grow deep in our faith, and wide in our reach. In Romans 8, the apostle Paul writes:

“For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory.” (8:22-23)

There are always new ways to empower us provide an  effective ministry that brings more people to Jesus Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who frees us from whatever may be paralyzing us so that we can be Christ’s witnesses here in our community. This is our time to dream, to consider who we are and what we want for our church going forward. So, start dreaming, daring, and yes even willing to disrupt so that we can be the church that Jesus needs us to be now and into the future.

I thank God for you,

Pastor Kathy Nealand