October 2011

Our church really is rocking these days. So many new faces, so many new programs and opportunities, so many ways to meet new friends and learn new things. Your dedicated staff and lay leaders are doing our best to keep up, but we need your help navigating some of the challenges arising from our success, challenges that member Bill Paxson referred to recently as “high class problems.”

With all of the additional programming for all ages in our congregation, the opportunity to serve these programs has increased, too. Have you considered lending your help to our religious education program for children and youth? There are many opportunities to assist in Sunday morning classrooms, or as a “Coming of Age” mentor for our middle-schoolers. Contact Tracy Beck (dre@ucdsm.org) if you’d be willing to help on an occasional Sunday or you’d like to know more about volunteer opportunities. Our Wednesday evening programming is back in full swing, as well, and I understand we need cooks, leaders for children’s programming, and assistants for other membership related activities throughout the year. Lori Emison Clair (dcl@ucdsm.org) oversees these areas of church life and would be delighted to hear of your interest in helping. We’re not looking for martyrs. We just want everyone to know that opportunities to become more connected to our congregation through service are always available and everyone is encouraged to do something. Many hands, the saying goes, make light work.

At a recent Sunday service, I invoked my memories of singing “The Wheels on the Bus” to Leah when she was little, especially the part that goes The driver on the bus says “Move on back,” “Move on back,” “Move on back.” I suggested that the theme for this church year should be The driver on the bus says “Move up front!” “Move up front!” Move up front!” We have about 155 good seats in our auditorium. The black chairs in the back, other than perhaps the first row or two, are not good seats by any measure. However, because one can be inconspicuous sitting there, they tend to be the places where many of our visitors sit. Meanwhile, any given week, there may be as many as two dozen empty seats in the first few rows. We can’t expect our visitors to sit so very close to the front, can we? So unless some of our established members and friends start sitting further up in the auditorium, our newcomers will continue be relegated to the very back of the room. This doesn’t feel good to me. I’m hoping that more of you will start sitting closer to the front of the church. Furthermore, we really need to start making room within the rows themselves by sitting closer to the middle of the row whenever possible, thereby leaving the aisles open for others. I know aisle seats are preferable. But hospitality isn’t taking the best spots for ourselves. Hospitality is leaving the best spots for our guests. The same, by the way, goes for parking. If you can park further away from the church, please consider doing so. I encourage you to think of this leaving space for others as a spiritual discipline, part of our responsibility as a congregation focused on inviting others to join with us.

Finally, in the coming months, members of your Board of Trustees will be scheduling visits to the various working groups, committees, and affinity groups of our congregation. They are doing this to grow their connections between their board duties and the members they represent and serve. Thanks in advance for leaving some space in your activities for them, too. The more room we can create for connecting, the more connected we can become.

See you in church!
 

Visit the Rev. Mark Stringer on his Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/RevMark.Stringer