I saw it on the news again this morning. Richmond’s First Baptist Church opened their doors to students from Fox Elementary School whose building burned last month. There, on the early local news, were images of the church and all the welcome messages to the students and teachers on church bulletin boards. The gym is decorated and set up, not for church activities, but for the normal day in the life of an elementary school community. Every time I see the story on the news, I think about all that was involved for a church to host a public school in their facility. I also think about the process of Richmond’s First Baptist deciding to say YES to this bold opportunity.
Downtown Wilmington North Carolina is a beautifully revitalized historic district. In that district are several churches, including First Baptist. For years there was only one other building on the block where First Baptist sits, and that was the New Hanover County Jail. One day it was all over the news: the County was closing the downtown jail and opening a new facility farther out in the County. Several people at First Baptist had a dream of what their church could do with that building, and the most bold plan was to purchase it and provide space for different non-profit organizations that served the New Hanover County area. It was a bold idea, and the church did not have the millions that the plan would cost. But they made the decision that they were going to do it. And they did.
It is no secret that many churches are not what they used to be. More and more folks no longer attend church, and many Americans (even Powhatan residents) identify as non-religious. For years pastors and church leaders have attended seminars, read books, hired consultants, and fervently prayed for a secret, a strategic insight, that will enable their church to flourish or just survive in the culture in which we live. And each year there is another guru who offers the “silver bullet” to church growth and vitality. Churches will buy the program, make adjustments, put the new plan in place, hopeful that “this one" will be the “jello that actually sticks to the wall.” And the next year they are at it again. Churches have done many things: toss the piano and organ, hire a band; take out the choir loft and get a new plexiglass pulpit; remove pews, add chairs, and start calling the sanctuary “the auditorium”; encourage people not to “dress up” for worship. The list goes on and on.
I admire churches for trying what they can, but when I look at all of these things, I just don’t think they make a difference, especially when churches are faithful to who God has put them together to be. In other words, I would look like a phony preaching in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.
But, the one thing that I think makes all the difference in the world for a church is this. It is the courage to say YES when an opportunity presents itself. Richmond’s First Baptist saw a great opportunity in hosting Fox Elementary, and they said YES. Wilmington’s First Baptist saw an opportunity to buy the old city jail and use it for God’s work, and they said YES. Both of these were risky choices. Both of these YES’S held many potential issues that would have to be worked out, but in faith they said YES. And in the end, it was God who was presenting both of these congregations with the opportunity to be bold and risky and respond with a YES.
This weekend May Memorial has an opportunity to say YES to something we’ve never been able to do before. To say YES to a newly created full-time staff staff position, Associate Pastor for Community and Families. Saying yes will stretch us financially (slightly). Saying yes will cause us to consider new opportunities and ministries. Saying yes will cause us to see church life in a different light. It might hold some risks to say YES, but I believe this is a chance to say YES to an opportunity that God is offering us at this time.
My heart is thrilled at this opportunity. Our candidate is all we could have ever hoped for. She is competent, caring, credentialed, and full of energy for her vocation. She senses a call to May Memorial, and everyone from May Memorial who has been involved in the process sense the same call, that God is calling her here. I look forward to allowing God’s Spirit to lead us through this exciting time and to understand the potential our future holds. Sometimes there is a lot required of God’s people to move forward, but sometimes it is just a simple YES.