Holy Week Culminations

I hope we will see you at our Tenebrae service (service of darkness) tonight on Good Friday at 7:30.  My thoughts have been full of the experience of the cross today.  I attended the noontime service at the Episcopalian church as I do each year.  The preacher articulated what I have been pondering - so much death and tragedy these weeks!  His insight was powerful - that Jesus' thirst was emblematic of our human thirst for God and likewise it was emblematic of God's thirst for humankind.  Powerful stuff.  Many of your remaked on a quote that Anne Lamott shared in my Palm Sunday sermon. Have you taken the full journey of the week?  

Earlier in the day, I wrote a meditation on our tendency to want justice done on someone else. What are you pondering as we head to worship tonight?  How will Amy's meditations strike your soul?

Tomorrow, I hope you will go to the Easter Egg Hunt at 10 a.m. and see all the joy of our children and their families!  If you want to take full advantage of Holy Saturday, the Episcopalians always go all out.  They have a service at 8 a.m. and a vigil at 7 p.m.

Of course, on Easter, I hope that you have marked your calendar.  Both Luke Hyder and I will be preaching.  I will preach at the Festival services at 9 and 11 a.m. in our renewed Sanctuary.  Luke will preach at our Easter Sunrise in the Chapel at 7 a.m. and at our Sunday at 6 service this Easter in the Sanctuary.  At the evening service we will celebrate both the sacrament of baptism (on behalf of the Union Church of Manila for a child of our church home for the holiday) and also the sacrament of holy communion.  If you are coming back from Spring Break, this may be a great way to return!

Then don't forget to participate in our Listening Circles.  The first big gathering will be on the first Sunday after Easter.  Sign up online through our Strategic Planning Webpage.  Also take the online survey now!

Wow.  God is making all things new.  Join us!

An Update on Presbyterian Church (USA) Constitutional Changes

Dear Members and Friends of First Pres:

The public news media is reporting news of a change in the PCUSA constitution in our Book of Order. Here is a published word from the Stated Clerk of our denomination, Gradye Parsons:

It appears from unofficial voting tallies that amendment 14-F of the Directory for Worship in the Book of Order has been approved by a majority of the presbyteries. The approval allows Teaching Elders (pastors) wider discretion in whose weddings they may conduct and Sessions wider discretion in whose weddings it may host. That discretion could include same gender marriages in states where that is permitted.

It is important to note that the determination of what couple a Teaching Elder will marry has and will continue to be with that Teaching Elder. Likewise, the determination by a Session as to whose weddings a congregation will host remains solely with the Session. There is nothing in the amendment to compel any Teaching Elder to conduct a wedding against his or her judgment, nor a Session to host one against its judgment.  (For more by Rev. Parsons, click here.)

This latest action will create no practical change in the current ministry of our congregation. In the October 2014 meeting of our Session, decisions were made that allowed for the possibility of these constitutional changes. The paragraphs below are taken from the Session's explanation of its former decisions and are instructive for us all at this time:

After an extended period of prayer and discernment shared with the congregation, the Session of our congregation voted to permit same sex weddings in our church facilities.  The intent of the vote is to offer the support of our faith community to members and their families when they seek to live a joyfully ordered life of Christian witness and faithfulness within the covenant of marriage - regardless of the sexual orientation of the two persons who seek to live such covenanted lives.  Those who wish to be married in our church will continue to be required to undergo a structured process of pre-marital counseling with the officiating pastor.  As always, the officiating pastor will have leeway of pastoral discretion with each couple in choosing to proceed with the wedding or in declining to officiate.

In addition to the dynamics named above, the Session also views a wedding is an act of personal pastoral care for individual Christians within the Body of Christ.  As an act of personal pastoral care, the performing of same sex weddings is not meant to bind the conscience of all believers in our congregation on the question of same sex relationships.

The decision was made after careful consideration of Biblical passages and themes utilizing the "Presbyterian Understanding and Use of Holy Scripture" and its principles for interpretation: Centrality of Christ; Plain Sense of the Text; Scripture interpreting Scripture; Rule of Faith; and Rule of Love.  In addition, the decision was framed by:  guidance of the Confessions; understanding of Christian marriage; the Reformed understanding of being a Covenant Community; assessment of the spiritual state of our congregation; and by personal experience.

Finally, I prayerfully remind you of a word the Session commended to the congregation in October:

As the congregation moves forward from this decision, we are encouraged to bear with each other and support each other in love and mutual affection.  Continue to pray and study scripture in spiritual discernment and bear in mind a useful verse from Romans 12:10:  Love each other like the members of your family. Be the best at showing honor to each other. (CEB)

Faithfully,

Brian  R. Paulson

Pastor

Volunteers Needed for Listening Circles in April

Dear Friends and Leaders in our Congregation,

This brief post is written to ask leaders (present and past) from our congregation to prayerfully consider leading a short but significant opportunity in the life of our church.  In the month of April, our congregation will be gathering in “Listening Circles” for the purpose of helping us discern God’s leading for the immediate years ahead.  Would you be available as a volunteer for this purpose?

We are asking you to consider volunteering the following brief but significant events: 1. A training session on Saturday morning, March 21, from 9 until noon.; 2. Facilitate one or two of our 2 hour Listening Circles.; 3. Participate in one Listening Circle as a member offering your own experience. 

Can you offer your time for these 3 or 4 one-time events?  Again, there is one fixed date on March 21^st and the other 2 or 3 events will match your availability in the month of April.  (If you would like to participate but have a problem with our fixed date of March 21^st, please let us know that is the limitation for you.)

On March 21^st, our Strategic Planning Team will be training facilitators with Susan Beaumont, our premier national resource for congregational planning.  We are in need of about 20 facilitators that will guide the Listening Circles through six sharing questions.  Will you volunteer to be a potential facilitator?

If we have more volunteers than there are available slots for facilitators, we will ask you to participate in only one event, the Listening Circle in the month of April.  Susan will provide a brief overview of the process for the whole congregation following worship on March 22^nd.   

Time is of the essence for us so I ask you to pause, pray, and respond to this inquiry as soon as possible (no later than Friday, March 13^th).

Please send your response to Ruling Elder Andy D., co-chair of our Strategic Planning Team through our Church Office email or phone: 847-362-2174. 

Thank you for your prayerful consideration!

Gratefully,

Brian Paulson

Pastor

Spiritual Discernment Underway at First Pres

Did you know that we are not only in a season of spiritual reflection with Christians around the world, but we also are starting a new spiritual journey together at First Pres?  Later this month, we will be training leaders of "Listening Circles" that will gather in April to share insights about the way God is moving in our midst.  This will coincide with other methods of information gathering from our congregation and community that is underway.

As our confirmation students have been finishing their statements of faith, I have been remembering the times and occasions I have made a public profession of the things that matter most in my life.  Images conjure from my youth, young adulthood, and other critical junctures of my life.  I still remember a pastor charging me to "Go and Serve the Lord" as I pondered just how I was to do that.  How do you do that?  What are the ways that God is moving in your life?

How does the spiritual life you lead day by day find expression in our church?  We have been in Libertyville since 1869.  Every generation has sought to express the faith with new enthusiasm for a changing world.  How will we be doing this together?  This is the work of spiritual discernment.

How will God be doing a new thing through us? Ponder this passage from Isaiah 43.