August, 2008
Posted by Administrator (holytrin) on Aug 05 2008 at 3:13 PM
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I’ve been thinking recently about our neighborhood, this corner of creation that God has called us to.  Have you noticed the houses, subdivisions, neighborhoods that surround our church?  Have you ever wondered about the lives, the people, the languages, the community into which we’ve been called?

As I drive to our church or take a walk around the area, I can’t help but wonder.  God brought us out here – the way things fell together, all working for good in amazing ways, simply can’t just be coincidence.  (And anyway, as someone has said, “Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.”)  This location, this corner of Mayflower and Brick, the communities that have sprung up around us, the established homes that were already there – there’s something about this location that God said, “Yes, that’s exactly where I need Holy Trinity to be.”

I can’t help but wonder why?  What did God see in this spot, that he needed our congregation for?  Why did God have this area in mind?  It’s a rather striking spot, if you think about it – there are no other churches near us; the closest are on the other side of Portage, two small churches.  Nothing to our west, nothing past the airport to our south, nothing to the north almost as far as Niles, nobody!  All there is, to answer God’s purpose, is us.

I’ve had the chance over these past 15 months to hear our story.  I love the reminiscing, hearing the history of the congregation, learning our shared background.  Time and time again I’ve been privileged to hear people say “We walked to church every Sunday.”  “We were a neighborhood church – everyone lived right nearby.”  That seems to be a common refrain – we were a neighborhood church.  It’s one of the things that makes us “us!”

So, now we find ourselves out here.  Many, if not most, of our congregation are not from the immediate neighborhood; our society has become too mobile for that to be the case in any congregation in any size city, anywhere, any more.  But we’re still us!  So the question we might ask ourselves is: What does it mean for us to be a neighborhood church out here at Mayflower and Brick?

Here’s one potential vision for what that might be.  Maybe God is calling us to be a church that draws people from around the entire area (and Buchanan, MI, of course).  In that way we can serve and be open to and touch lives throughout the city.  And, at the same time, maybe we are intended to be a congregation, drawing resources from the whole area, to serve the local neighborhood.  To meet and listen to our neighbors, to hear their needs and longings, and to put the resources God has given us to work here, in our neighborhood.  Maybe God is calling us to be a neighborhood-serving church, involving the entire area.

I don’t know what that might mean exactly.  But isn’t it fun to imagine finding out?  Imagine getting in conversation with people who live around us, learning about their lives, listening for the common needs of the neighborhood, and then praying and listening for how God might be calling us to serve out of the resources he has given us.  It might be something as fun as providing a Preschool or Daycare.  It might be something as profound as advocating for a change in the stoplight at Portage and Brick.  Or something as little as providing resources for parents, opportunities to make a difference in the world for ‘Boomers, activities for families. 

It’s not really a matter of outreach, this isn’t an evangelism strategy or way to grow our church.  It’s simply serving our neighbors – something Jesus seemed to have a lot to say in favor of.  Will you imagine it with me?

In God’s amazing grace,

-Pastor Tim