This I Believe is an international organization engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. More than 90,000 of these essays, written by people from all walks of life, are archived on their website, heard on public radio, chronicled through their books, and featured in weekly podcasts. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow.

     Now it is your turn to write a "This I Believe" essay and tell us not only what you believe, but also how you reached your beliefs, if they have grown, and what made them grow. This necessarily must be highly personal. That is what we anticipate. But we know it will be a time of thoughtful journeying and deliberative self-realization.

     Join with other Northside Drive church members and workshop moderator, Cathy Wooten, and explore the rewarding world of the "This I Believe" workshop. Thirty people participated last year and recalled life-changing engagement with their beliefs and with one another.

"Ministering to One Generation While Saving the Next"

       Years ago I heard the quotation, "It is difficult to minister to one generation while saving the next." The quote was attributed to the German theologian, Helmut Thielicke. Though I've never been able to document the source, it still is true. Church history, in every age, has validated it.

       We could focus on only one generation, the older or the younger; and church life immediately would get simpler. However, the loss would be huge, especially in a church like ours that has a stated vision, "Where intergenerational friendships are valued."

       Times are tough; and they will get tougher. The choice is not between an older or younger generation; there are four generations alive and at work today! Sociologists say that each of the four, "...has developed its own worldview, language, metaphors, and stories; and each has a different perspective of history and values. Never again will a 'one-size-fits-all' approach work."

       You've heard it before. There are the Builders (born between 1927-1945); the Boomers (born between 1946-1964); the Gen X'ers (1965-1980); and the Millennials (born after 1981). Though each looks at the same world, each sees a very different world; and each responds differently to what he or she sees.

       A month ago I transitioned from my Blackberry to an iPhone. I thought I would never recover! It nearly killed me! It's hard to believe that just a few years ago I was putting tinfoil on the TV's rabbit ears to get all three channels.

       So here's the question: how do we build Northside Drive Baptist Church (NDBC) while this demographic earthquake is still shaking? Want to put up a glass china shelf while we're still pegging 7.0 on the Richter Scale?

       I plan on NDBC surviving this world-view earthquake; but not all churches will.

       For the time being, denominational dinosaurs are becoming poorly funded petting zoos. Seminaries will face the challenge of preparing students for a world that may not exist by the time the student gets there. Buildings and equipment and property will be harder and more expensive to maintain.

       Challenging days, these are.

       Great days, these are.

       NDBC's earliest expression of our identity in the 1950's spoke of, "a place where neighbors can become friends, and worship God in our own community." As I look at our history over the years, I see those values emerge over and over again.

       NDBC is an anachronism...but not of the past...I say, of the future. I think we are today what a church will look like that values cherished inter-generational friendships (all four generations), while ever-struggling to explore deep and wide liturgical traditions.

       We are not behind the times, we are ahead of our times. That's the problem, and the great possibility.

       To get to the future it will take great patience, God's grace, and a good bit of stamina. It is not easy ministering to one generation while saving the next.

       But the first step is to delight in who we are---who God helped us become---today. Let's do that for God's sake.

 Schedule

Wedding bells soon will be ringing at Northside Drive! Please join us for a church-wide couples' shower honoring Zach Bay and Kristy Eggert from 1-3 PM on Saturday, October 22, in the Fellowship Hall. No RSVP necessary. Please contact Lora Hawk @ lorahawk@yahoo.com or 404-405-1748 for more information.