Jan/Feb 2001
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It’s the time of the season when we again look ahead to our Annual Congregation Meeting, set this year for Sun., Feb. 4th.One of my big tasks as Congregation President during the months of December and January is to help the Nominations Committee prepare a slate of candidates for open church positions among the Congregation Officers, the Boards of Deacons and Trustees, and the other committees that need to be presented at that meeting.When we went through the process last year, there were a couple of things I discovered as a result. The first one was how many good, competent, and caring people we have as members at Mindekirken. The second was how busy all these people are! Fortunately, we found enough of them who were willing to make the needed time to be involved. This year we have the same situation again – a variety of openings for various positions. Some of you may already have heard from myself or a member of the Nominations Committee, asking if you have an interest in this regard. Others of you will be getting a phone call or having a personal conversation on this subject. I know from my own personal experience that everyone can always come up with a reason to say "no". I did so the first time I was asked, two years ago now, to take on the responsibility of Congregation President (for better or worse, the committee asked me a second time, and I discovered it was harder to say no twice!). I thought that I would spend a few sentences here pointing out some of the reasons why it’s a good thing, when faced with a request like this, to say "yes".The first reason, and one which comes to everyone’s mind right away, is "Mindekirken needs my help". This is true, but hardly sufficient by itself.As we’ve discussed when talking about stewardship, a church is composed of a group of people who get together to worship God and further His work. Looked at from that point of view, there needs to be something more concrete than "the church has needs".However, if I turn this around and look at myself, that first reason begins to have a bit more personal meaning. I say to myself, "Mindekirken is my church. It’s a place that I value, and it’s better for me if it is a healthy and growing institution of worship".From that point of view, the fact that my church has need of my time, energy, and abilities becomes a bit more meaningful. Then let’s take one step beyond the "what’s in it for me" approach – or actually, let’s take "what’s in it for me?" to a higher level. In particular, it touches on how I as a Christian am called upon to use my church for my own spiritual improvement, and how God’s message in this regard so often seems to be "Give, and you shall receive".Looked at from that point of view, an investment of my time, energy, and abilities for the betterment of my church is a vehicle for my own personal growth. As I thought about this while writing it, the parable of the talents comes to mind. How many of us want to get to the end of our time on Earth and discover that we didn’t use to the fullest the gifts we were given?So there are a few thoughts on the subject of service in the church. They may provoke some further thoughts of your own – and I’d be interested if any of you care to share them with me. I look forward to talking with you on how we can go about keeping Mindekirken a vital church that will continue to increase God’s glory. John Casey Congregation President 2000 |
The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |