Posted in Ministry

Professional worker’s conference (part 2)

Posted on by William Douthwaite
I came into today's conference sessions with high hopes. I was both disappointed and pleasantly surprised.

The first unexpected blessing was the coffee machine in the lounge on my floor (The sixth floor is the Club floor at this Sheraton.) At the push of a button, it ground the beans and made espresso! I could have cappuccino or a latte, too. Very nice.

Then I had a great conversation at breakfast with Jawed and Juliana Dass. They are Pakistani Christians doing mission work in Naples, FL among Muslims. Her ministry is called Sisters of Faith. She had some great stories of how God has opened doors for her witness. I'd like for her come up and speak for us sometime.

Unfortunately, The second half of Dr. Gibbs' presentation had a lot of good information, but just didn't hold my interest as well as last night.

After lunch, I went to a couple of break out sessions. The first, entitled “Pastors as Communicators,” just wasn't communicated very effectively. It as more of a rant about ill-prepared speakers. The second, a panel discussion about witnessing across cultural and generational boundaries was great, filled with personal stories of connecting with all kinds of different people in different situations. One pastor spoke about a ministry among gypsies; another helped his aging congregation connect with the community for the first time in years. And Juliana told of how she was able to relate to an atheist son of a Muslim family.

In the evening drove over to the campus of Concordia University at Ann Arbor for supper and worship. They have a beautiful chapel there and a fantastic organist accompanied the service.

Heading home tomorrow morning — after some espresso.

 

Posted in Ministry

Professional worker’s conference (part 1)

Posted on by William Douthwaite

 

After an uneven travel day, the conference began at 7 with a devotion and then the first part of Dr. Jeff Gibbs' presentation (professor, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis). While his presentation was promoted as being about witnessing, he took the topic in a different direction than expected. He chose to talk about the what of our witness, not the how, specifically different ways of presenting the gospel beyond the usual “Jesus died for your sins.” The Bible is filled with images of resurrection, reconciliation, growth and unity, all of which are good gospel themes. I think ourngoal will be developing a broader vocabulary for our witness, which should be interesting.

Of course, most of my conversations with my brothers have been about Adam's call and upcoming ordination and graduation, and Olivia's high school graduation. It's cool to have lots of good family news to share.

The most exciting part of the day was hearing a woman rant and rave about her disappointing first class accommodations on the flight from Jacksonville to Charlotte. Expecting to be treated as a diva, she got nothing but disdainful looks from the other business travelers, which really set her off. She continued to yell and shout on her way to her connection, prompting one man to say, “Maybe I'll be that important someday.”

 

Posted in Ministry

Conference time

Posted on by William Douthwaite

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It’s time for the annual English District Professional Church Workers Conference, held each May for the pastors, a few deaconesses and other assorted professionals in our district. After years of having the conference near the Detroit airport, we are moving out to the Sheraton Hotel in Ann Arbor.

The conferences always consists of devotions, keynote speakers, some workshops and an assortment of reports. For the first time that I can remember, we will receive CEUs for attending some of the sessions presented by Dr. Jeff Gibbs, a professor from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

I always have mixed feelings as this attendance-required (though some never attend) conference approaches. On the one hand, it is a nice break from the routine and a chance to see my colleagues from across the country who are part of the English District. On the other hand, these conferences are traditionally, in a word, dull. And that is saying it in the kindest way. The fact that attendance has to be enforced says something about the whole process.

I appreciate the hard work that the planners and presenters put into the conference. I think part of the problem is that we only get all the pastors of our district together once a year, so the organizers feel the need to squeeze in all the reports, greetings, and Q&A sessions possible. Most of this information could be communicated throughout the year, but I suppose it’s harder for a captive audience to ignore a live presentation.

I leave tomorrow morning and I will write about each day’s experiences here. It will help me stay on task and perhaps will cause me to reflect more on what is presented each day.

Posted in Grace, Life

Where is He?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

EmptyChair

“O Lord, why do you stand so far away?” (Psalm 10:1).

There’s a great question. Why would God keep His distance? Why does He seem so far away? Why does God seem like He’s not around? More importantly, why does God seem like He’s not around when we need Him?

Jesus said He would always be with us (Matthew 28:20). He promised to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). God dwelt in the midst of His people in a tabernacle (Exodus 25:8), a temple (1 King 16:13) and His own Son (John 1:14). We hang onto these promises for dear life, yet we have this nagging sensation that God has abandoned us because of something we’ve done or haven’t done.

Maybe it’s because we expected it to be easy. We figured that if God were around we could coast. That He would open up a hole for us to run through, provide the momentum, and run interference for us. So each challenge, problem or dilemma makes us wonder, “Hey, God, what’s up? Why are you so far away?”

Perhaps we need to hear again what Jesus said in the gospel this morning: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33.) It’s going to be hard, difficult, infuriating, impossible. But that doesn’t mean for a minute that God isn’t around. In some ways, it’s proof that He is. Jesus said He would bring conflict into families, persecution to the church, hatred toward His disciples and a cross for those who follow. Since the new life He gives us runs counter to the wide path that leads to destruction, we can expect to feel friction, experience conflict and get to know rejection when we follow Him. So He must be close by.

Actually, if you keep reading Psalm 10, you’ll notice that it’s the wicked who claims that God’s not around. We know better.

Posted in Life

From the top and the bottom

Posted on by William Douthwaite

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Here I am looking out the window of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. As I looked at some of the people below, I wondered if they could see me?

So when I came down, I laid on the ground and took this picture. If you look closely, you can see some people!

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Posted in Grace, Ministry

Can’t quite choke out that word

Posted on by William Douthwaite

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I’m having a hard time saying, “Congratulations.”

Having said that, I owe you an explanation. It’s in response to a social media update from a young single woman announcing she is expecting her second child. The comments and responses to her post are expressions of joy and excitement. And rightly so, for the conception and birth of new life always brings hope to our lives and world.

However, in the midst of all the high fives, does no one but me see anything wrong with this picture? It is so easy to skip over the sin of sex outside of marriage, the immorality being modeled for our children, the very difficult challenge of single parenthood, the strain on grandparents raising their grandchildren and the absence of husbands and fathers in families and simply fast-forward to the birth announcements, baby showers and choosing a name. By doing so, we approve of, encourage and perpetuate the growth of families where there is a much higher incidence of poverty, substance abuse, health problems, lower grades, and teen pregnancy.

You see, no one says, “That’s wrong.” No one calls it a sin. I am aware that my comments here will be read as judgmental and uncaring, but I can take it. No one really wants to have their sin pointed out. I don’t want my sin to be pointed out to me. But you know what? If you don’t, you never get to forgiveness. You never really deal with the guilt. You just pretend its not there. You deceive yourself and you are living a lie (1 John 1:8).

Some recent reading I’ve been doing lately places some of the blame on men. Ouch. We haven’t raised our sons to be responsible men, made our daughters feel loved, been faithful husbands or encouraged other men to do these things. Can’t point the finger. Have to take some responsibility. That’s why I am having a hard time saying, “Congratulations.”

We’re not just talking about changing behavior. This is about transforming hearts. And that is God’s work. Clearly pastors like myself need to lead our churches in proclaiming a God who calls us through His own son Jesus Christ into a different kind of a relationship with Him, our bodies, our families and our world. Pointing out a sin is just the first step. We must then direct our attention to our Savior, who really does change the direction of our lives.

Posted in Grace, Life, Ministry

Call Day (part 4:back home)

Posted on by William Douthwaite


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After an eleven-hour travel day, we are back home. We were blessed with a much less eventful day for our return. Now, a little time to reflect upon Adam and Sarah’s Call Service at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. 

The worship program was available online earlier this week, and I was amazed to see two of my favorite hymns being sung, “Awake My Heart with Gladness” and “Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds.” Set those hymns in a chapel full of Lutherans with a great organ, choir and brass ensemble, and you feel like the worship of heaven has touched that spot on earth for just a moment, reminding you of the eternal praises being sung around the throne of God.

It’s nice being near the beginning of the alphabet, for Adam’s name was soon announced, followed by “Associate pastor, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Dallas, TX.” Just where they thought and hoped they would be assigned.

Pastor. A title never associated with my son Adam’s name before, but one which would always speak to God’s grace, direction and blessing in his life. With humility, amazing communication skills, musical talent, a great sense of humor and a willingness to serve, he will be a blessing to many as he serves the church. He and Sarah embody great hope for the church as they begin their ministry together. I am so very proud and blessed.

You know, we didn’t used to be a family of pastors. But the faithfulness of my mom and dad and my wife’s parents became an avenue for God to lead me, my son, my brother Jim, and my brother-in-law Jeff into the pastoral ministry. On Sarah’s side, her dad and two brothers are pastors, and she is now a deaconess. Our family is now replete with full-time church workers.

Pretty cool.

Posted in Life, Ministry

Call Day (part 3: the call)

Posted on by William Douthwaite
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Olivia is at the base of the arch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, Call Day has arrived. But the call service isn’t until 7:00 pm. How do we spend a day in St. Louis?

First, we did the Gateway Arch. Beautiful spring day, very light crowds, and we went right up to the top. Great view, of course, including some flooded roads right by the river.

Next, we drove over to the Anheiser-Busch brewery. We had lunch at Frazer’s, a nearby eatery, then took the tour, saw the Clydesdales, and of course, sampled some product.

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We ate supper at Seamus McDaniel’s, and then headed over to the Chapel of Saints Timothy and Titus for the call service. Adam received his call to Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Dallas, TX where he will serve as associate pastor. He and Sarah had met and talked with the senior pastor there, and are very excited about their assignment and upcoming move.

Lots of excitement, great time with family and friends. Heading home tomorrow.

Posted in Life

Call Day (part 2: travel)

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Today was a long travel day to St. Louis. We left our house at 7:15, picked up my in-laws and headed for Orlando International Airport. Easy drive (we do I-95 and the Beachline 528. But then it was a mob scene at security. We got through but then only got to our gate as the final boarding announcement (they called our names) was made.

After running to make the flight, we sat in the plane for an hour while they fixed a rear thruster. We finally got into the air, but I was certain we'd miss our connection in Miami. Yes, you read that right: Miami. Pretty quick flight, but rain and fog kept the pilot from seeing the runway, so we had to make another attempt. Finally landed safely, and were told they were holding our connecting flight for us. Only had to get from gate 4 to 40, and made that flight, too. But, because of rain and lightning, we didn't takeoff for another hour.

For both flights, we were in boarding group #1. We never get in group 1. But it really didn't matter. We were the last ones on the plane both times.

Got to St. Louis about 4 pm, got our bags, and they, along with some of the contents, were drenched. Got our rental car and then followed Siri's directions to our hotel. She led us to an abandoned building, but it was in sight of our real hotel.

We met Adam and Sarah at Square One Brewery and Distillery for supper. I had a very nice Irish Stout and a burger. A little dessert at their apartment, and then time to turn in.

Tomorrow, the Arch, Anheiser Busch, and the Call Service.