From the President

Over the years I made sure that there were "I Wish" brochures in the pews of the congregations I served. These simple brochures gave worshippers an opportunity to express their wishes, such as: "I wish the minister would preach a sermon on  . . ." or "I wish our congregation would be involved in . . ." or "I wish our church would start . . ." or I wish we would pray for . . ." Each simple question was completely open-ended.

Over the years I watched as my congregations got involved in ministries such as Habitat for Humanity, Refugee Resettlement, Ecumenical and Interfaith Dialogue, Food Pantries, Sheltering the Homeless, Specialized Care for the Physically, Intellectually, and Mentally Disabled/Challenged, After School Tutoring, etc., all because someone wrote down their wish and placed it in the Offering Box or in the Offering Tray. I learned that if a congregation is ever at a loss for what to do or how to connect with its community, just ask the people in the pews to express their wishes. You might just be surprised!

I remember one of those "I Wish" brochures that said, "I wish the minister would preach a sermon on letting go of past hurts and pains." Obviously someone was having difficulty letting go. In the sermon that followed, I chose as a text Colossians 3:12-17, where it says in part: "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body."

I said in part:

"Letting go of past hurts and pains is precisely how to let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Holding on to past hurts and pains only prolongs Christ's coming and your liberation.

But do not write-off your past hurts and pains as unimportant. All you experience in your life is of deep importance. Do not forget that biblically, we are called to remember. The whole of the Decalogue is built on remembering. Each week at communion we remember.

"The church has often been guilty of suggesting that forgiveness is cheap. I heard one parishioner the other day casually speaking to another, saying: 'Just forgive and forget -- that's all there is to it.'

"But this is not so. We are formed by our experiences of hurt and pain as much or more so than by our experiences of goodness and joy. Didactically, our experiences become our teachers and help us grow in ways we never before thought possible . . ."

"Somewhere along the way I heard the story of the eagle who knows when a storm is approaching. Long before the storm breaks, the eagle will fly to some high spot and wait. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, it is soaring above it. The eagle does not escape the storm: it simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rides on the winds of the storm.

"Past hurts and pains may be gifts in disguise which can help us rise, like the eagle, above those things which normally would defeat us . . ."   

There is much more to the sermon than the excerpts found here. The point is that when our ministers and congregational leaders listen to the wishes of the people in the pews, a connection is made that can transform congregational life and create its mission imperatives. Give your people an opportunity to share their wishes and become co-participants with God in creating a church where . . . You fill in the rest!