Pete Vecchi
December 26th, 2011, 10:36 AM
Turn back the clock to the spring of 2008. A group of members of the small congregation went to lunch together after a morning worship service. This was not unusual. Most Sundays, various people from the congregation would go out to eat after the service, and most times the Pastor went to lunch with the people (not out of a desire to eat out, but more out of a desire to be part of the lives of people from the congregation). But the Pastor's family finances were a bit tight, and this day he decided that it would be economically more feasible to save the $50-$60 it inevitably would cost his family of 4 to eat out at the place where the congregation members were going, and instead just have lunch at home. Little did the Pastor know that this decision would begin a chain of tumultuous events.
The group of people who went out to eat that day ended up being a bit larger than most days, and the Pastor soon found out that during that lunch, the congregation members there started airing their grievances about how things were going with the church, and laying the blame primarily at the feet of the Pastor. The Pastor was eventually informed by one of the people who had been at the lunch that the Pastor was to meet with this group of people at a certain time and date, and before that meeting the Pastor was given a 4-page, single-spaced paper outlining many of the grievances these people had. There was nothing mentioned that was immoral or unethical. Most of it was petty and had to do with issues such as things being done in ways that people simply didn't like.
The bottom line was that a number of these people were not happy. Some of them had been involved with the congregation for more than a quarter of a century. But the Master Gardener (see John 15) was at work. While the norm for this congregation had been that a Pastor would leave after an average of about 3 years (and the Pastor had been in his position for about 3 1/2 years at that time), this time the Pastor stayed, and the Master Gardener began the painful process of pruning, along with doing some grafting in of new branches, and some planting of new seeds.
By the fall of 2008, the majority of the "lunch group" had left the congregation--all of them blaming the Pastor for their leaving. Yet in reality, this appeared to be part of the Master Gardener's pruning process. In addition, seemingly out of the blue one Sunday morning that fall, a new couple in their late 20's came to worship with the congregation. They were looking for a new church home after the man had been asked to leave his staff position at another (non-Nazarene) congregation because he had stood up for his principles by objecting when a member of that congregation's board started having an affair with someone else in the church, yet stayed on in the church board position. Soon, this couple became members of the Nazarene congregation, and when the congregation's lone non-pastoral staff member moved out or state in early 2009, the man volunteered to step into the vacated position (and his offer was gladly accepted).
In the summer of 2009, the small congregation held its annual Vacation Bible School. It was less attended than it had been in previous years, but this year, a couple of new children--a brother and sister--attended, brought in by their aunt (a lady in her late 20's). They attended every evening of VBS, and really liked the VBS leader (the man who had become the non-pastoral staff member). The aunt began to attend the congregation's worship services about 2 or 3 times per month after that, usually accompanied by her niece and nephew.
Throughout the following months, circumstances began preventing the person who had been working as the custodian for the congregation to get the cleaning done several times over the course of a couple of months. The Pastor realized that the circumstances were such that if the congregation offered the paid job of custodian to the lady who had begun attending after VBS, this might help her become more consistent in attendance and involvement in the congregation. The idea was approved by the church board, and the offer was accepted. Unfortunately, for a short time, the previous custodian's feelings were hurt by the change (despite the fact that the previous custodian affirmed at least 3 times to the pastor in front of the church board that the change would be OK), and the previous custodian's family was offended (and one of the elderly members of that family stopped attending the congregation because of this). The previous custodian, however, got over the hurt fairly quickly and has continued to be an active member of the congregation.
The new custodian indeed did become more active in the church. By the end of 2010, she was instrumental in helping her brother and his live-in girlfriend decide to get married--at the church. This got the custodian's mother (also the mother of the groom) involved in the congregation. Along the journey, the custodian professed faith in Christ. Plans for the wedding were taking shape. The mother, who had been a member of another Nazarene congregation until the 1990's, when she was dropped from the rolls of the congregation due to long-term inactivity, started becoming active in the congregation where her daughter was now custodian. The mother officially joined the church in 2011. About a month later, the wedding took place. The following month, the new husband and the couple's 8-year-old daughter (the couple had been together for 10 years) were baptized, as were 2 teenagers who had began participating in the congregation's teen group. In September, the custodian's mom renewed her baptismal vows, and the 8-year-old nephew of the custodian (the nephew who had begun getting involved in the church during VBS 2009) was baptized. The mother of the custodian started bringing her husband to church, and he began getting involved with doing maintenance and repair work in the congregation's building. He has expressed interest in joining the congregation. The two teenagers who were baptized in July officially joined the congregation in December. The man and woman who were married in June have said that they want to start attending the class in January 2012 about the Nazarene Articles of Faith.
The Master Gardener is at work. When the congregation had its Christmas Eve service in 2009, the people who attended were the Pastor and his family, the staff member and his wife, and six visitors who came out because their church wasn't having a Christmas Eve service.
For Christmas 2011, the congregation did the same "Service of Scripture and Song" that it had done for the 2009 Christmas Eve service. But in 2011, those in attendance in addition to the pastor's family and the staff member and his wife were:
the custodian and her boyfriend;
the custodian's niece and nephew;
the custodian's father and grandmother (the mother had to work on Christmas);
the custodian's brother, sister-in-law, and niece;
the custodian's boyfriend's mother;
the previous custodian.
Every one of those people have been attending the congregation at least part time over the past several months. Except for the pastor's family and the previous custodian, none of them had been involved with the congregation prior to the beginning of the Master Gardener's pruning process in 2008. In fact, based on things people have said over the past couple of years, it is quite likely that most of the people currently involved with the congregation would not have continued attending had the pruning process not been majorly underway before they started attending.
The Master Gardener knows just when and what to prune, knows just what branches need to be grafted in, and knows what seeds to plant.
The group of people who went out to eat that day ended up being a bit larger than most days, and the Pastor soon found out that during that lunch, the congregation members there started airing their grievances about how things were going with the church, and laying the blame primarily at the feet of the Pastor. The Pastor was eventually informed by one of the people who had been at the lunch that the Pastor was to meet with this group of people at a certain time and date, and before that meeting the Pastor was given a 4-page, single-spaced paper outlining many of the grievances these people had. There was nothing mentioned that was immoral or unethical. Most of it was petty and had to do with issues such as things being done in ways that people simply didn't like.
The bottom line was that a number of these people were not happy. Some of them had been involved with the congregation for more than a quarter of a century. But the Master Gardener (see John 15) was at work. While the norm for this congregation had been that a Pastor would leave after an average of about 3 years (and the Pastor had been in his position for about 3 1/2 years at that time), this time the Pastor stayed, and the Master Gardener began the painful process of pruning, along with doing some grafting in of new branches, and some planting of new seeds.
By the fall of 2008, the majority of the "lunch group" had left the congregation--all of them blaming the Pastor for their leaving. Yet in reality, this appeared to be part of the Master Gardener's pruning process. In addition, seemingly out of the blue one Sunday morning that fall, a new couple in their late 20's came to worship with the congregation. They were looking for a new church home after the man had been asked to leave his staff position at another (non-Nazarene) congregation because he had stood up for his principles by objecting when a member of that congregation's board started having an affair with someone else in the church, yet stayed on in the church board position. Soon, this couple became members of the Nazarene congregation, and when the congregation's lone non-pastoral staff member moved out or state in early 2009, the man volunteered to step into the vacated position (and his offer was gladly accepted).
In the summer of 2009, the small congregation held its annual Vacation Bible School. It was less attended than it had been in previous years, but this year, a couple of new children--a brother and sister--attended, brought in by their aunt (a lady in her late 20's). They attended every evening of VBS, and really liked the VBS leader (the man who had become the non-pastoral staff member). The aunt began to attend the congregation's worship services about 2 or 3 times per month after that, usually accompanied by her niece and nephew.
Throughout the following months, circumstances began preventing the person who had been working as the custodian for the congregation to get the cleaning done several times over the course of a couple of months. The Pastor realized that the circumstances were such that if the congregation offered the paid job of custodian to the lady who had begun attending after VBS, this might help her become more consistent in attendance and involvement in the congregation. The idea was approved by the church board, and the offer was accepted. Unfortunately, for a short time, the previous custodian's feelings were hurt by the change (despite the fact that the previous custodian affirmed at least 3 times to the pastor in front of the church board that the change would be OK), and the previous custodian's family was offended (and one of the elderly members of that family stopped attending the congregation because of this). The previous custodian, however, got over the hurt fairly quickly and has continued to be an active member of the congregation.
The new custodian indeed did become more active in the church. By the end of 2010, she was instrumental in helping her brother and his live-in girlfriend decide to get married--at the church. This got the custodian's mother (also the mother of the groom) involved in the congregation. Along the journey, the custodian professed faith in Christ. Plans for the wedding were taking shape. The mother, who had been a member of another Nazarene congregation until the 1990's, when she was dropped from the rolls of the congregation due to long-term inactivity, started becoming active in the congregation where her daughter was now custodian. The mother officially joined the church in 2011. About a month later, the wedding took place. The following month, the new husband and the couple's 8-year-old daughter (the couple had been together for 10 years) were baptized, as were 2 teenagers who had began participating in the congregation's teen group. In September, the custodian's mom renewed her baptismal vows, and the 8-year-old nephew of the custodian (the nephew who had begun getting involved in the church during VBS 2009) was baptized. The mother of the custodian started bringing her husband to church, and he began getting involved with doing maintenance and repair work in the congregation's building. He has expressed interest in joining the congregation. The two teenagers who were baptized in July officially joined the congregation in December. The man and woman who were married in June have said that they want to start attending the class in January 2012 about the Nazarene Articles of Faith.
The Master Gardener is at work. When the congregation had its Christmas Eve service in 2009, the people who attended were the Pastor and his family, the staff member and his wife, and six visitors who came out because their church wasn't having a Christmas Eve service.
For Christmas 2011, the congregation did the same "Service of Scripture and Song" that it had done for the 2009 Christmas Eve service. But in 2011, those in attendance in addition to the pastor's family and the staff member and his wife were:
the custodian and her boyfriend;
the custodian's niece and nephew;
the custodian's father and grandmother (the mother had to work on Christmas);
the custodian's brother, sister-in-law, and niece;
the custodian's boyfriend's mother;
the previous custodian.
Every one of those people have been attending the congregation at least part time over the past several months. Except for the pastor's family and the previous custodian, none of them had been involved with the congregation prior to the beginning of the Master Gardener's pruning process in 2008. In fact, based on things people have said over the past couple of years, it is quite likely that most of the people currently involved with the congregation would not have continued attending had the pruning process not been majorly underway before they started attending.
The Master Gardener knows just when and what to prune, knows just what branches need to be grafted in, and knows what seeds to plant.