From Pastor Rod - From June 2019 Newsletter

As a small church, we often find ourselves stewing over all the problems that a small church may have.  But what if we spent some time thinking about the advantages of a small church?

            There are many reasons to be grateful for our small church, and its unexpected benefits and opportunities that are specifically related to its smallness.

            I recently read an article that outlined nine ways in which small churches can thrive:

1.   Small churches are particularly authentic.

2.   Small churches stay connected to the community around them.

3.   There’s always time for “Prayers of the People.”

4.   People can build genuinely loving relationships

5.   Lay leaders are active and ready to help out.

6.   Small churches give the biggest welcomes

7.   People keep believing in their ministries, even with small numbers

8.   People are in touch with each other’s spirits and with the Holy Spirit.

9.   Small churches aren’t afraid to break the rules.

            What do you think of these? How many of them apply to Auburn Presbyterian?

            Sure, there are disadvantages to being small.  We’d all like a few more people to draw from to help with the daily duties of a church.  A few more people might mean a few more dollars in the plate to help with operation of the church.

            But people experience community in a smaller church, and that’s important. A smaller church can provide that. A small church can be a place where “everybody knows your name.” Smaller churches that do a good job of offering community to people will grow.

            People also have more of an opportunity to serve in a small church. Smaller churches never have enough volunteers – so they are places where you can serve and truly make a difference in people’s lives. Where people feel needed, ministries can expand.

            People also share common experiences easier in a small church. It is much easier to build relationships with people who share common experiences.

            People are more important than programs or performances.  Smaller churches put more emphasis on people.  Again, it’s about relationships and community.

            Remember these things next time you feel disheartened about being part of a small church.

God’s blessings,

Rod      

From Pastor Rod - From May 2019 Newsletter

Over the past few months, I have been attending a series of programs in Manhattan called Project Regeneration.  These programs are offered through the Presbytery, with the assistance of the Presbyterian Foundation.  The primary message of these programs has been methods to help small churches succeed in today’s new church environment.

 Perhaps the most common term used for small churches is “small and struggling.”  But not all small churches are struggling.  Do you consider Auburn to be a “small and struggling” church?

 There are still small churches who are strong, dynamic, effective and have an impact far bigger than their footprint.  There are things we can do and ways we can work toward being part of this group.  One of the ways we can do this is to be aware of the “lifecycle of a church,” and how to move from the “plateau” stage back into the “growth” stage, before hitting the “declining” stage.

 A recent survey of American churches found that:

·         28 percent of churches declined by 6 percent or more

·         33 percent stayed within 5 percent of their previous size

·         39 percent of churches grew by 6 percent or more

 6 in 10 Protestant churches are plateaued or declining in attendance.

Small doesn’t necessarily have to mean struggling or plateaued. But when we habitually use those words to refer to our own small church, we don’t become inspired, we become discouraged.  We begin to believe that we are dying, even when we’re not. Assuming the worst of a church because they’re not adding to their attendance roster every year isn’t helpful or kind.  It hurts.  We can do better than this.

 When our small church is celebrated and encouraged instead of ignored, pitied or demeaned, it’s better for all of us. We are a small church, there is no denying.  But though we are small, we can still be a strong and effective church.  Even a dynamic church.  Much of this starts with how we see ourselves.  Let’s be sure we are seeing our own best traits, and presenting our best outward face to all we encounter as the body of Christ at Auburn Presbyterian Church.

 Rod Seel       

From Pastor Rod - From April 2019 Newsletter

As we enter the last days of Lent, and Holy Week, then Easter Sunday, it’s a good time to reflect on renewal.  For many Presbyterians, Lent has not always been a significant time in the church year.  Many might even say “it’s a Catholic thing.”  But Lent should be a beautiful time of

renewal for us as well.

A couple of weeks ago, we had one nice day in the midst of this prolonged winter, so I decided to tackle some much-needed yard work.  We have a couple of “burning bush” shrubs by the front porch.  I’ve always been told you need to cut these back before they start budding in the Spring, but the last couple of years, I’ve not been able to get that done, and the bushes were well over ten feet tall.

These bushes had grown so tall, they were out of control, and I was determined to get them cut back this year.  I got the clippers out, and started to cut them, but I realized, they had already started to green up, and were very near to budding.  I wasn’t sure what to do, but decided to go ahead and cut them back.

Well, I cut a couple of feet off of them, but because I had missed cutting them in previous seasons, I actually had to get the chain saw out, because the branches had gotten so thick, and so tough that the clippers were no match for them.  I could tell each season of growth in the branches, because they got thicker, tougher, and harder to cut every foot or two.

I hated to cut all the growth off of them, but at the same time, I knew that I had to cut them down, almost to the ground to get them to grow back properly.  When I was done, there was only a stump of four or five thick branches, about two feet high.  They looked terrible. They looked dead.  And the house looked bare without the two huge bushes we had grown accustomed to.  I was sure I had probably killed them by butchering them so bad.

That was two weeks ago.  This morning, I checked these bushes, and already, I can see new growth sprouting from the thick, remaining branches.  They will survive.  And because they have been pruned, they will grow back.  Thicker.  Stronger.  And in better shape than before.

That’s what Lent can be for us.  A time of renewal.  A time to prune ourselves, to cut back some of our nastier habits, our unkind comments, our prejudices, and negative thoughts.  Lent should be a time to reflect.  A time we take annually to get ourselves square with God, and look forward to a Spring and Summer of resurrection and new growth.  If we “prune ourselves” every year, we won’t develop the thick, tough, gnarly branches that can be so hard to cut back in future years.

I hope you’ll join me in these last few days of Lent, to do just that.

God’s blessings to you all,

Rod Seel

From Pastor Rod - From March 2019 Newsletter

As we head into the season of Lent, we as Presbyterians may be a bit unsure of what to do with this time.  Lent is the period of 40 days which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar.  Lent should be used as a season of reflection and preparation before the celebration of the Resurrection at Easter.  By observing the 40 days of Lent, Christians replicate Jesus Christ's sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days.

The following prayer might be helpful as you begin to reflect on Lent this season:

A Prayer for the Beginning of Lent

Today we sit

between the season of light

and the season of darkness.

Today we revel

in the beauty of new life

and await the darkness that comes from death.

The season of Lent

will greet us this week

and walk with us towards the cross.

The lengthening days remind us

to keep reaching for the light

and trusting the glimpses of new life.

Help us to settle into the darkness

so we can see your light breaking through.

Teach us to open our eyes to suffering

so our hands can be instruments of healing.

Be with us in the breaking of our hearts

so we can find joy in you once again.

Create space in us to feel your presence

and to listen to your words.

Create space in our homes

to see all we do as worship.

Create space in our churches

to welcome the stranger and outcast as friends.

This season we will walk in darkness

trusting the light’s presence.

When we hear words about prayer and repentance and service

may they seep into our minds and hearts

and call us to a new way of being.

This is Lent –

darkness leaning towards light,

suffering turning to healing,

uncertainty coming to peace,

death bringing life.

Amen.           

God’s blessings,

Rod

From Pastor Rod - From February 2019 Newsletter

             One of the tensions we wrestle with as a small church is the question of growth.  Now, fairly often, I hear comments about how nice it would be if our little church could grow.

            Often times, the comment goes like this: “I want our church to grow.  I just don’t want it to change.”

            Change is hard, there’s no doubt.  We all like things to be comfortably the same, even when we say we’d like to grow.  But isn’t wanting to grow, but not really change actually like saying “I want to lose weight, but I really want to eat bacon cheeseburgers all day”?  Well, yes, it’s exactly like that.

            Let’s remember two things.  Our job as a church is not necessarily to grow.  Our job is to be the body of Christ in this community at whatever size we are.  That’s not to say that growth is a bad thing, it’s just not the main thing.

            Secondly, growth is possible in our church.  But, it will most likely require some change.  Now, the problem with change is that 10 people or 100 people will never agree on everything.  The truth is, your patterns, habits and level of effectiveness as a church got you to where you are now. If you want to maintain the status quo, keep doing what you’re doing right now.  If you don’t want your current level of effectiveness, this will require some change.  It’s really not any more complicated than that.

            As a congregation, we can plot our growth.  If we continue doing what we’re doing today, where will we be 1 year, 2 years and 5 years from now?  If we change X, where will we be 1 year, 2 years and 5 years from now?  Sure, we don’t know for sure where we’ll end up, but if we start asking the important questions, we’ll be amazed at what we can discover.            

            Most changes are really small, but we feel like they are large, because “we’ve always done it this way.”  For instance, if we started singing one song out of a different hymnal each week, that would be a very small change.  If we completely changed hymnals, that would be a slightly larger change.  If we brought in a praise band every week, that would be a big change.  But how many would come unglued at a small change such as just singing a couple of different hymns?  To learn to deal with change, we must keep things in perspective.

            Soon, we will begin discussions about our future vision and mission as a church.  I hope you will all keep an open mind and consider where we are going as a church.  I’m not promoting major changes, but some small, incremental changes over time may be necessary to keep our church vital and growing.  If you decide as a church that you are content with the status quo, then we will not change.  But that decision means that we will live with the possible consequences – stagnation, decline and decay, over time.

            Let’s keep an open mind to what new possibilities might be awaiting our congregation if we work together to have a vision, and a stated mission for where we are going.

God’s blessings,

From Pastor Rod - A New Year Message -From January 2019 Newsletter

            As we move into the New Year, it is natural to turn our attention toward resolutions and new beginnings. These things are well-intended, but so easily broken.  In our house, we have started to speak of “directions” instead of resolutions.

            A resolution can be broken quickly and then easily put aside.  A “direction,” however, is something we can work towards all year.  We may veer off course sometimes, but we can always keep turning back into “the direction” of where we want to be.  Recently, we’ve also chosen to come up with a single word that sums up what is our overall intention for the year.  This word helps us focus on our direction for the year.

            If I were to choose a word for our church this year, I would choose the word “vision.”  I believe it is time for us to really focus on what is our vision and our mission for Auburn Presbyterian Church.  Several of my sermons over the past months have touched on this, and sometime this Spring, we will become very intentional about this.

            I would hope that central to this vision will be Jesus’ great commandment to love God and love our neighbor.  We know that a church will grow deeper and wider when it makes a firm commitment to the great commandment.  As a community of believers, we also need a mission – a stated purpose of what we want to do as a church – how do we put our words into action.  In other words, how specifically are we engaged with God’s work out in the world.  We will have a few gatherings where we can learn to identify just exactly how God can be uniquely shaping us for a specific action or mission.

            It is my hope for you that you will find 2019 to be a tremendous year to discover once again the goodness of the God who has called us to new life in Christ.  Don’t start your day with the broken pieces from yesterday.  Every day is a fresh start.  As cliché as it may sound, every morning we wake up is truly the first day of the rest of our lives.

So today, help us Lord, to redeem the time wisely.  Help us to use the 8,760 hours given to us in this new year in the wisest way we can for your glory.  I wish each of you enough wisdom to make every day of this new year better than the day before!

Happy New Year!

Rod

From Pastor Rod -From December 2018 Newsletter

With the cancelled service because of snow in November, Advent seems to have really sneaked up on us. Advent is certainly a time of celebration and anticipation of Christ’s birth, but it is more than that.  It is only in the reflection of Advent that the miracle of Christmas can be fully understood and appreciated. And, it is only in the light of Christmas that our life as followers of Jesus Christ makes any sense.  

            When we light the Advent candles each week, we talk of Hope, Love, Joy and Peace.  We try to focus on expectation and anticipation of Christ’s birth in the season leading up to Christmas.

            This is of course, all well and good.  But this Advent season, I invite you to look at a different Advent as well.  I want you to also think about the expectation of the coming year in our own church. The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming.” What is coming for us here at Auburn Presbyterian in the new church year?  What can be new and different?  How can you yourself go above and beyond what you normally do to advance the life of our church?

            When you look back at this time next year, what areas of growth will you have seen in yourself and our church?  Where did you find moments of success and fulfillment?  When was a time that you helped lead or facilitate positive change? 

            Advent signifies the beginning of a new church year.  As a season of preparation, Advent is a good time to examine our own activity within the church.  What are we doing as a mission?  Can you help as an elder, serve on the session, or volunteer to work on a committee?  Can you invite a friend, or welcome a visitor?

            The promise for the church is Jesus Christ.  He has come, and He will come again.  This is the true essence of Advent.

Advent blessings to you all,

Rod Seel

From Pastor Rod - From Newsletter November 2018

This past week has been yet another of horrendous news … news of an unspeakable mass shooting in a temple of God, an individual sending letter bombs, and a hate-driven double murder.  These terrible actions once again leave us struggling to understand the hatred and evil that seems so prevalent in our world today.  We look for answers.

            Sometimes, the answers just aren’t very clear to us. We can’t understand how such evilness and hatred can fester within someone to bring them to the point of committing such atrocities.  But we believe that God’s presence sustains us in every circumstance, even amidst hatred, evil and death.

            In times like this, I believe it is up to each of us to rise up, and resist the evil and hateful rhetoric around us.  Let us confront the hate from within and without by speaking even more loudly about the kindness, hope, mercy and justice we know from our God.  Let us be sure that our own words and our own opinions are formed with compassion, sympathy and wisdom.

            Many of you have asked me my thoughts on how we react to this here in our own church.  I hope we don’t rush to actions that are based on fear.  Let us not overreact.  While there is discussion in this and many churches of armed guards, locked and bolted doors, concealed carry parishioners, security cameras, etc., personally, I don’t believe that is how we are meant to worship.

            Let us consider how Jesus would react.  Jesus rebukes a disciple who brandishes a sword to defend him, telling him in Matthew 26:52, "For all who take the sword will perish by the sword."  Jesus did not use violence to protect himself, as the writer says in 1 Peter 2:23: "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats.  Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."

            It is clear what Jesus and his apostles did or said, when it came to responding to violence.  They were nonviolent to the bitter end.  The apostles endured imprisonment, beatings, torture and martyrdom at the hands of their enemies, and never once lifted a finger to defend themselves through violent means.

            As I spoke in my sermon this past Sunday, it is important that we seek God’s wisdom in times like this, and not man’s wisdom.  I’ve made my position clear in past sermons – if it was up to me, our front doors would be wide open every service, demonstrating that above all, we are a welcoming church.

            We are all entitled to our own thoughts about this, and we should discuss and express them freely, and respectfully.  Let your session members know how you feel, and any decisions will be made at the session level.  Feel free to let me know your own thoughts as well.

            In the meantime, keep in your care the parents, the brothers and sisters, relatives, neighbors and friends, of all those affected.  And pray for ourselves, who are struggling to make any kind of sense of all this in our world.

God’s blessings,

Rod Seel