Posted in Ministry

Top ministry moments – #7: Teaching preschool Sunday School

Posted on by William Douthwaite

In response to a sudden exodus of several Sunday School teachers, I decided to step back from teaching an adult Bible class on Sunday mornings and teach children. The age group we needed to fill was Kindergarten/Preschool, so that’s the class I took on. It was one of the best teaching years I’ve ever had.

I not only love to teach but I love children, so it was a double blessing. From sitting on a little chair at a little table to messy crafts to class trips to the bathroom, it was great. You can read more about my experience in my post “Things I’ve learned teaching preschool Sunday School.”

I’m back to teaching adults for now, but I dream of the day I get to get another chance with the little ones. Thank you Riley, Reagan, Owen, Ariana, Savannah, Corbin, Isabelle, and Kiley for a great, top-ten year!

 

 

Posted in Ministry

Top ministry moments – #8: Kenya (and other mission trips)

Posted on by William Douthwaite
kenya
Crowds waiting to see the doctors in Kenya

Even though I’ve been to numerous domestic mission destinations with the youth group, have traveled to Haiti three times and later went to Madagascar, the mercy medical team trip to Kenya in 2013 stands out for me. First, it was our first trip to Africa. Second, I was immersed in a much different culture that expanded my view of the world and its people.

We received a very good orientation in the culture of Kenya when we arrived. One lesson was about public displays of affection. Men and women, even married couples, would not walk hand-in-hand in that culture. However, two men who were good friends would. I didn’t think much about this dynamic until I began working closely with the local bishop of the church where our mercy medical clinic was. As we walked around the church grounds and talked about the masses of people lined up to see the doctors, we held hands, something I hadn’t exactly pictured myself doing in my pre-trip preparation.

As the week went by, the growing number of people who came for care became unruly. For example, when I simply wanted to hand out the toothbrushes and toothpaste we had brought with us, a mob of men, women and children rushed up, grabbed everything out of my hands and ran off. As the bishop and and I talked and watched the crowds, he said, “This is terrible. We can’t have this.” And then he turned to me and said, “Let’s go have some sugar cane.” He had brought some with him from his brother’s farm. He skillfully used a large machete to chop up some pieces for us to chew on under the shade of a nearby tree. I learned a valuable lesson that day. When life seems out of control, you don’t have to step in and fix it. You might just need a break and a little sugar cane to gnaw. (I seem to remember Jesus also taking breaks when the crowds following him became overwhelming.)

I had the opportunity to preach in Kenya the Sunday I was there. It was the first time I had ever preached with an interpreter. We visited an elephant orphanage, got to go on safari and saw hippos in the wild. It was a memorable ministry moment in so many ways.

Posted in Life, Ministry

Top ministry moments – #9: No heat

Posted on by William Douthwaite

heaterIt was a cold winter day at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Coventry, CT, when I opened up the church on a Sunday morning and discovered that the heating system was dead. It was just about as cold inside the little sanctuary as it was outside in the snow.

It was one of my first years in my first parish, so I wondered, “Now what do I do?” As it turned out, we had a little kerosene heater that had saved us from freezing to death in our little Ft. Wayne house when I was in my last year at the seminary. I brought it over and fired it up in the center of the homemade pews that furnished our church. It didn’t really heat up the room all that much, but we worshiped together that day, even though most of us kept our coats and gloves on the entire time.

One of the church leaders got a repairman out there on a Sunday morning. We could hear him at work throughout the sermon. By the time it was ready for Bible class, the heat was back on.

I haven’t had to worry about being too cold the past twenty years here in Florida. The one Sunday the AC wasn’t working too well, I think I was in Haiti, where it was a whole lot hotter. We all survived and God was glorified.

Posted in Life, Ministry

Top ministry moments – #10: 1989 LCMS National Youth Gathering, Denver, CO

Posted on by William Douthwaite

1989In a few weeks I will observe the thirtieth anniversary of my ordination. Thirty years! Where did that time go? Anyway, I thought I would write about my top ten ministry moments and memories from the past thirty years, beginning with the first LCMS national youth gathering I attended in 1989.

I had only one youth from my church (Prince of Peace, Coventry, CT) ready to attend that year, Jason Garay. Since you couldn’t attend with just one leader and one youth, I “adopted” a group from a church in Danbury, CT, and we flew to Denver with the rest of the New England District.

The mass events were held at McNichol Arena in Denver, the old home arena of the Denver Nuggets. The gatherings weren’t as big as they are today, so we could fit everyone in an 17,000 seat arena. Even so, it was unbelievable to walk into that venue for the first time and see so many other LCMS youth groups in one place! Even so, I remember actually finding my brother Jim, who was chaperoning another youth group, on the floor in the middle of that crowd.

Not long before, the leader of the gathering band, Jim Woodruff, had been at a New England District youth event, so we got to go up on stage with him. When a person playing the part of Christ rode into the arena on a donkey, to reenact Palm Sunday, the five-minute roar was deafening. At an outdoor concert event at Red rocks, we were among those who got caught in a sudden violent and torrential thunderstorm. Our group became separated and we had to wait for hours before the busses came back to get us. We all were famous for about fifteen minutes because we survived Red Rocks!

I’ve taken youth to five other national gatherings, but none are as memorable for me as that first one in 1989.

Posted in Ministry

Who did you see in church today?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

pulpitA preacher (like me) has a unique perspective on Sunday morning. While you are sitting watching and listening to me, just one person, I am looking at you, a whole congregation. You may notice a few of the people and your friends around you, but I get to see all of God’s people gathered together to hear His word and receive His gifts of grace.

Do you know who I saw this morning? Continue reading “Who did you see in church today?” →

Posted in grandfather, Life

Tasty

Posted on by William Douthwaite

25894050020_ed7a6de247_zIt’s been an Elijah weekend. We’ve had our one-year-old grandson staying with us since yesterday afternoon.

When you are one, everything goes in your mouth. Food (of course). Toys. Sticks and dirt (I had him out in the backyard with me; please don’t tell his mom!) Suds (Yes, we gave him a bath.) Food. (Did I mention he likes loves to eat?) Grass. (The lawn is greening up nicely.)

As I watched him today, I thought of the Bible verse, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). Wait a minute. Someone mixed up their senses. How much can you see with your tastebuds? I don’t know. But Elijah does. He sees, he tastes, and he learns about the world around him. Ingenious.

In the Bible, you can “taste” a lot of things. Manna (Exodus 16:31; yum!). God’s Word (Psalm 119:103). Your lover (Song of Solomon 2:3; <blush>). Death (Matthew 16:28). God’s goodness (1 Peter 2:3).

As grownups, we discount the sense of taste. “I heard…” “Do you know what I saw…” “Something smells fishy.” “I feel (fill in the blank).” But how often do we sum up our day with words that relate to taste?

Thanks, Elijah, for reminding me to reflect upon how today tasted. Sweet? Sour? Bitter? Delicious? Bland? Spicy? Complicated? Bold but not pretentious?

I hope my future posts appeal to your taste buds.

 

 

Posted in Grace, Life

Compassion 101

Posted on by William Douthwaite

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After four weeks of helping take care of my Dad, I spent a week at home catching up on visits, meetings and planning for some summer programs. Dad’s has actually stabilized, we’re getting good care from some overnight companions, and we are retooling our hearts, minds and schedules for some long term care.

Those visits I made last week? They humbled me and got me thinking about our capacity for compassion. I thought I was dealing with a lot. I thought I had a servant’s heart. I’m playing “A” ball compared to these major league caregivers. Continue reading “Compassion 101” →

Posted in Ministry

“How do I know which bathroom to use?”

Posted on by William Douthwaite

bathThe semi-official topic of our youth group discussion tonight was “How do I know what bathroom to use?” This seems to be the topic everyone is talking about, at least in all the media and social media outlets. I was genuinely curious about how our youth’s experience and how they might answer that question.

I asked how many actually knew someone at school who identified as a gender different from their physiology. One thought they knew someone, but they weren’t positive and hadn’t asked. Another knew a young man who came to school in lipstick and high heels. My followup question was, “How are those students treated?” The answer: “No one really pays that much attention.”

I learned much in preparation for our discussion today from a paper from the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations on that topic. I learned a lot from our youth tonight, too, as we talked about what the Bible had to say about gender, natural law, God’s revelation and grace.

Though the Bible clearly reveals God’s plan for male and female, a fallen human nature reveals many variations that stray far from that plan. Regardless of your sin, you need to hear the law, your sin, the Gospel and God’s love. We so much want to judge and condemn others. God so much wants us to love each other. The tension is agonizing. Welcome to Christianity!

Our group tonight consisted of two high school seniors, one college freshman, a high school junior and an eighth-grader. I’m a baby-boomer who’s catching a glimpse of retirement out there on the horizon. We are learning so much from each other. My generation has our panties in a knot about the whole issue, boycotting businesses and straightening out the world. They are all about loving the unlovable like Jesus.

They give me great hope.

 

 

 

Posted in Grace, Ministry

“You shouldn’t have to do that.”

Posted on by William Douthwaite

not-my-job“You shouldn’t have to do that.”

I wish I could tell you how many times I’ve heard that sentence lately. But I can’t. I’ve lost count.

Due to a plethora of factors, I’ve had to step in the gap and take on a few jobs I’ve haven’t done for  while. When both of my guitar players had other work and family commitments, I led the praise service music. When it was time to begin planning Vacation Bible School, A person was needed to draw together a group of leaders to get that week off the ground. I stepped in this year. When our youth group leader had all her free time sucked into the family business, I found myself meeting with our middle and high school youth. Every step along the way I heard, “You shouldn’t have to do that.”

Maybe they are right. Maybe I should have just stood back and let those things go undone. But I didn’t. I stepped in and led the music, recruited leaders and met with the youth. While others debated the merits of my actions, I stepped in and did what I believe needed to be done. (As I write this, the debate rages in my mind: do I dare post this?)

First things first: I enjoy doing all these things. I enjoy our worship music, I thoroughly enjoy the Vacation Bible School experience, and I love working with our youth. It’s not an imposition. No one is forcing me to do those things. It’s an opportunity to do some of the things I can do and actually enjoy doing.

Second, there are some things I just can’t ignore. Like Sunday, for instance. Sunday comes right on schedule each week, and God’s people will faithfully gather for worship around Word and Sacrament, God’s gifts of grace. It doesn’t require much of me to play a few chords to accompany that blessing.

Third, no one else has yet stepped up to do any of those things. And I am OK with that. I’ve been in this call for twenty years (and in pastoral ministry for thirty) and I’ve learned that God fills in the gaps at the right time with the right people for the job. In between, I might just have be the temp who bridges one season to the next. When the prophet Isaiah got a taste of God’s grace in Isaiah 6, he said, “Here am I; send me.” Mercy moves you to do some amazing things.

So I played guitar for worship today. We survived and God was glorified. I am spearheading our Vacation Bible School. I’ve got all my station leaders in place. I will be here this week to meet with the youth group — and since some of our seniors are leaving for college soon, I am really looking forward to that meeting. I feel like I’m not doing all that much, but I have a front row seat to seeing some of the things that God is doing! Filling in the gaps can be quite rewarding.

I’m debating the wisdom of posting my thoughts tonight. I may be misunderstood. Let’s face it, I probably will be misunderstood. But it helps me clarify my thoughts, settle my soul and navigate the path ahead. By the way, I am thankful for all who hold up my arms, pray for me, make great (and wise) suggestions and keep me humble along the way.