Sterling Severns Church Business

What might God do with the dust of our fallen structures?

In light of last week’s headline, World Health Organization declaring an end to COVID-19 as a global health emergency

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A word of encouragement to those (re)building, (re)viving, (re)missioning, and (re)forming institutions

All humans long for stability. Throughout time, Societies have built structures to protect stability. Call it covid, call it chaos, there’s been a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on. Rigid structures don’t tend to fare well when the ground starts shaking. No structure is meant to last forever and yet when history circles back around we’re surprised by its arrival. Anything we carve or build out of rock, bricks, steel, or glass, eventually falls. Travel to Greece, Rome, the site of the former World Trade Center in NYC, or, (dare I say it) down a long stretch of Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va, historical structures eventually and always buckle under the pressure of the passage of time.

Most any group of people that find themselves finally tasting the “good life” naturally want to build a structure that can maintain, expand, and protect that way of life (aka stability). Think about the destructive cycles that spin chaos into the world from there. If building, maintaining, expanding, and protecting our “good life” requires the diminishing, disqualifying or destruction of the lives of others, expect chaos and prepare to choke on the dust of fallen idols, fortresses, and structures.

I believe God is refashioning us, not only out of the dust of our fallen idols, fortresses, and structures, but also out of the dust being stirred up by the beautiful feet of those walking beside “God with Us”

There’s a moment in the Bible when the disciples of Jesus find themselves awestruck by the Temple structure,“Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what a wonderful structure!” Jesus responds, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” The temple is supposed to be the most stable place on earth, the one place where God’s finger touches the world, therefore the one place chaos can’t possibly exist.

Later in the story, those that arrested Jesus justify their actions based on the audacity of Jesus bringing chaos, the equivalent of kryptonite, into the temple. He doesn’t help his case when he predicts the temple’s destruction or in claiming he will rebuild the temple in three days. To add insult to injury, he claims the new Temple won’t be confined by geography or any other lines we might draw in the sand. No-one-corner of the world will be able to claim this One as their own. This One, is meant to travel. This One is a throwback to the original design. Anyone with institutional memory might call him “Tabernacle”, but most of his followers call him Savior.

Church, I know we’re all longing for stability, it’s natural to do so, especially in our grieving. I want you to know that I join you in deep grieving. So much more, I want you to know that we worship a God that brings order out of Chaos.

Any version of life, built upon a structure that diminishes the potential for thriving in the lives of others, cannot be attributed to the goodness of God.

YHWH didn’t fashion us out of metaphorical dust, breathe air into our lungs, and put us on our feet, only for us to create our own versions of the “good life”. Any version of life, built upon a structure that diminishes the potential for thriving in the lives of others, cannot be attributed to the goodness of God. Any version of the “good life” that leads someone into isolation, separation, or even relational annihilation is a cheap counterfeit. God is good…all of the time. The good life Christ offers is the real deal….the Way, the Truth, and The Life. Walk in the knowledge that we follow a Savior that can take all of the fallenness, brokenness, and complexities of the stories of the past and present, all of the unintentional chaos we’ve unleashed into the world, and somehow bring profound goodness through it. Know that God can, and will, make ALL things for good.

As we move out of this global pandemic, it will be critical for us to understand that it’s not our job to rebuild our temples. God already did that, three days after his son was crucified. The news gets even better. The resurrected Savior is inviting us to tabernacle with him right smack into the middle of the chaos. He’s inviting us to join the search party for those who have stumbled into, or were pushed into, lostness and loneliness. He’s inviting us to join him in the reclamation of the abandoned, to participate in the healing of the brokenhearted, and even in the resuscitation of the hearts of the presumed “righteous”.

In this very moment, I believe God is refashioning us, not only out of the dust of our fallen idols, fortresses, and structures, but also out of the dust being stirred up by the beautiful feet of those walking beside “God with Us”. It’s an invitation to breathe again. It’s an invitation to life again. It’s the invitation of a lifetime!

Rev. Sterling W. Severns, Pastor

  • This is an adaptation of something first written in January 2022.

tbc Church Business

Registration Deadline for this weekend’s: Re-Visioning Retreat, January 13-15, 2023

In decades past, previous generations at Tabernacle set aside time, often full weeks or weekends, to come together purposefully and expectantly. Long ago, these gatherings were called revivals and more recently spiritual renewal weekends.

 Though the format of those gatherings have changed, the longings and expectations of each generation, including our generation, have not wavered. For almost 150 years our local congregation has come together, often in our most vulnerable chapters of communal life, to express our yearning for revival, to pray for inspirited vision, to petition God to give us unity in the (re)discovery of purpose and call. 

The weekend of January 13-15, 2023, our generation will come together, in both the physical church building and in our virtual acre. Mark Tidsworth, our facilitator, will  help us explore the challenges and opportunities standing before the Universal Church and guide our local church in prayerful discernment/dialogue.

We will  introduce three questions as an invitation into  discernment.  

What might God do, in and through us,  if we were to shift away from __________________  and move toward _________________? 

  • member identity to disciple identity
  • attractional to missional church
  • consumer culture to sacred partnering

On Friday night, Mark will provide a format we’ll use for capturing our insights and we’ll continue to gather and glean throughout the entire weekend. This, plus the insights generated during multiple small group discussions, will be funneled to church leadership after this weekend. In turn, the leaders will determine how we can effectively continue to discern together as a congregation. 

The Holy Spirit is prompting our old church to embrace a new day in this new world we’re all living in and we offer our praise to God for what we’re about to see and hear.  Tabernacle, yet again, Christ is on the move, and, yet again, the revived, renewed, and re-missioned Church is called to follow.  


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Retreat Schedule:
Friday, January 13 6-9 pm (dinner provided)
Saturday, January 14, 9-12 pm 12-12:45 (lunch provided), 12:45 – 3 pm
Sunday, January 15, 9 – 10:30 am + worship

Cost: 
There is no registration fee. However, we do ask that each participant bring a pack of bottled waters or canned beverages + a sweet/salty snack to share.

Childcare: 
Whereas, we won’t be able to provide a nursery on-site,  we can help offset some of the expense of baby sitting in your homes and possibly identify babysitters.

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It will be helpful to us if each participating member of your household registers separately. Please REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE.

A greeting from our Retreat Facilitator

tbc Church Business, Sabbath, Worship

Guidance on receiving your Epiphany Star (word)During the invitation in today’s service (1.8.23)

During the invitation in today’s service, you are invited to click on this link to request a star (word for the year): https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NMSGTG8

One of your fellow worshippers will be asked to gather a star for you. We’ll reach out in the next couple of days to real your word and you can anticipate receiving the tangible star sometime in the week ahead.

FOR OUR GUESTS:This practice is incredibly meaningful to our little church. You picked a fantastic day to join us! * Your star will have a word written on it. * There are 100+ different words we’ve written on the stars and folks aren’t given the option of trading their word in for another. As you pray and reflect upon your word throughout 2023, it’s possible God wants you be more deliberate in your embracing of something. It’s equally possible the word represents something God will help you relinquish or re-frame. The fullness of the gift can only be revealed in time.

tbc Church Business, Leadership Roundtable, Re-Visioning Retreat

Save the Date! Church Wide Retreat

Save the Date: Church-Wide Re-Visioning Retreat

God is preparing our historic church  for a new chapter…..a new day….a new beginning.  TBC leadership hasinvited Mark Tidsworth, founder and team leader of Pinnacle Leadership Associates, to bring  the entire congregation together for a weekend of discerning dialogue.

We will gather:  Friday evening, all-day Saturday, and conclude in worship on Sunday morning.  Participants can join us in both the physical building and/or TBC’s virtual acre.  Sign-ups will begin in the next week or so.

The leadership of the church would love for you to join us in reading Mark’s book, Shift: Three Big Moves for the 21st Century Church, in preparation for the retreat.

tbc Church Business, Leadership Roundtable

Invite to a special evening: Wed, Nov. 30

A couple of weeks ago I challenged the congregation to join me in closing down “Pandemic Church” and step into the Advent Season with anticipation that God is preparing us for something new. This Wednesday, Nov. 30th, we’ll gather together to look back (hindsight), engage in conversation about this present moment (insight) AND offer a heartfelt prayer of communal closure (foresight).

For those of you aware of our creative Maundy Thursday Services…..this week’s Dinner church will feel familiar. 

1. The rhythm of this week’s dinner church is unique in that  the majority of us will be eating in the physical sanctuary and remaining in that space throughout the evening.
2. Preschool – 1st grade will eat and meet in their usual space. 
3. It’s really  important for folks to RSVP by 7 p.m. (Monday evening) 

STAGGERED SEATING FOR PIZZA DINNER

5:45 – 6 p.m.  Anyone that arrives in this window will begin eating when they arrive. 

6:15 – 6:30 p.m.  Second seating begins. 

UNIQUE PROGRAM: Ending and Preparing Well.


6:00 p.m. – 6:20 PM   Video presentation (some of us will be at the table and others in the pews)

6:20 – 6:45 PM    Group Dialogue (“  “  “  “ “ ) 

6:45 – 7:30 PM    “Exploration” and dialogue with smaller groupings 

HELP NEEDED

8:00 – 9:00 PM I need about 5-7 folks to stick around and help disassemble the sanctuary installation.  

I hope you’ll consider joining us….even if you’d rather just wait to eat supper until you get home!  It’s really important for folks to RSVP so that we can figure out the logistics and order the right amount of food.  

tbc Church Business, Leadership Roundtable

Nov. 21 Zoom mtg postponed

Tonight’s  Zoom Meeting, regarding Fire Protection, has been postponed.

The decision to postpone tonight’s zoom mtg. is based on updated information our lay leadership received this morning. Thanks for your flexibility and  also for helping us put the word out to your classes, committees, teams, and small groups.

We’ll reschedule the meeting after we’ve explored the info we’ve just received. 

Sterling Severns Church Business

A Word From Our Pastor……..

Good news. Challenging News. Great News. 

Earlier this fall the youth group kicked off a new weekly program with high aspirations and minimal fuel to make the engine “go”.  Long story short, after a couple of weeks of experimentation, it became pretty clear the most recent reboot of our youth program isn’t sufficient.  

WE MAKE THE ROAD BY WALKING.

Good News: 

God is doing something exciting in our experimentation and intentionality. We’re feeling encouraged to see our students integrating into the specific spaces of belonging we’re building for intergenerational Discipleship. We’re seeing God at work in and through the lives of those participating in Community Ministry (Saturdays), Dinner Church (Wednesday evenings), and Woven (Sunday mornings). God is bearing fruit in the deliberateness of our relationship building, through the continuity and deliberateness in our holy conversations. 

Challenging News: 

1) The identified need and desires we’re seeing in our younger youth are radically different from what we’re seeing and hearing from our older youth. This has always been true AND there is a palpable and definitive tension unique to the moment. 

2) The vast majority of the adults in our congregation, including many parents of our children and youth, do not express feeling called or remotely equipped to disciple children, youth, or adults. 

3) We have not been able to identify a core group of adults to make a weekly investment in the intentional discipleship of children and youth. Yes, there are individuals but no core groups of adults. We have no reason to believe this will change anytime soon. 

4) Families with children/youth are in constant motion. It was true long before the pandemic began and it’s even more true now. We have no reason to believe the pace of life is going to slow down anytime soon. We have no reason to believe that “church” will ever be the center of family life again nor should we assume the church should be the center of family life again.  The road ahead doesn’t resemble the place we’ve come from. 

5) We can’t seem to put down the baggage of the past (discipleship as a program) which gives us little or no capacity in the embracing of discipleship as a deliberate form of relationship building with Christ at the center. 

6) The Church is adrift. We have not come together to identify our priorities and we can’t make critical decisions together until we discern our priorities together. 

None of us, myself included, saw the missional drifting when it first began; we can’t identify when it  actually began. We certainly didn’t make a conscious decision to drift. Let’s be clear, no parent, leader, partner, community or organization drifts away from purpose….. on purpose. When we drift, and all of us do, we don’t usually know it’s happening. Maybe it begins when we get ahead of ourselves or a little full of ourselves? Maybe it happens when the tired sets in?  Maybe it happens when we get scared or overwhelmed? Maybe it happens when grief claims our focus? For whatever reason, we’re all prone to gently drift asleep at the wheel. If only the awakening would be so gentle. 

For the record, we have not come together to make a collective decision to radically change course and nobody has deliberately sabotaged our vessel.  We fell asleep at the helm and we’ve been awakened by a crisis. 

1) We didn’t see the need to recommit to our priorities, or discern new priorities during our chapters of thriving. 

2) The lack of seeing the need to clarify our priorities gave each of us, individually and as little groups, silent permission to determine our own priorities. 

3) A church full of individuals, boards, official and unofficial committees, each determining their own priorities, is a church adrift.

4) The wake-up call continues to be painful. 

The most obvious proof of our missional drift is our lack deliberate walking with children, youth, and their families. Judy, April, a couple of lay leaders, and myself are not able to do this on the church’s behalf. As it relates to ministry with children, youth, and their families, we must clarify what we’re trying to accomplish. We must receive the resources God is providing for the purpose of equipping. We must embrace our commission to make Disciples.  

Great news:

1) The leaders of the church are actively creating a plan to bring all of us together so that we can actively discern what God wants us to prioritize. Your voice is needed. More importantly, your listening heart and ears are needed!  Mark your calendars for a church-wide spiritual renewal weekend, January 13-15, 2023  and pray for our leaders as they help prepare the soil. 

2) In the meantime, as it relates to children, youth, and their families, we’re creating new spaces for you to make an immediate investment. The table you choose to sit at, the attitude you arrive with, your motive for participating, the risk you take in sharing, your gentle listening, makes more difference than you know. 

3) We don’t have to succumb to either/or thinking.  It is entirely possible to remain a committed member of a class/group AND also participate in intergenerational spaces of belonging.  Venturing out of your regular class/group, once a month, is healthy and undergirds the priesthood of all believers. What a gift it will be to return to your group the following week, to testify in what God is doing in the life of your church.  We urge you to carve out time, at least once a month, to participate in in one of our new spaces of belonging (Sunday mornings, Wednesday evenings, and/or Saturdays)

3) Whoever said that what God wants is for any of us to put church at the center of our lives? Jesus certainly never said that. He speaks of himself as God’s Temple, continually moving in the neighborhood.  God wants us to put Christ at the center of our the totality of our lives. What a tremendous opportunity we’ve been given to help families learn to disciple one another so they might share God’s love with those they are actually “doing life with”… on the sidelines of sports fields, on field trips, at work, and all of the gazillion places they find themselves on any given day.

5) And then there’s this…… best news ever…..God is with us AND for us. Drift is inevitable AND God is faithful.  We may have wandered but the Spirit guides. The crisis we’ve brought on ourselves in missional drift brings opportunity for Jesus to help us find our way again.  Our intentional walking in these last two months of the calendar year could very well determine whether or not we thrive in the year that follows. 

We have some amazing kids in the life of this church. Their parents, surrogate parents, and grandparents are also pretty amazing. Don’t even get me started on the newcomers that have only recently found an home in our little corner of the world. Each and every one of us, a child of God, full of holy potential, yet-to-be-discovered wonder, and renewed purpose. Each and every one of us with a part to play.  

We make the road by walking.

Yours in Christ, 
Sterling
Sterling W. Severns, Pastor

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Spaces of Belonging

Joseph Myers in The Search to Belong, with the help of sociologist Edward T. Hall, identifies four kinds of spaces in which we find a sense of belonging. DISCIPLESHIP HAPPENS IN ALL FOUR OF THESE SPACES. Each intentional space has a unique purpose and set of expectations.

Our goal is to prompt each one of us to take a deeper step in our walk with Christ.

PUBLIC SPACE:A generously inclusive space for the “masses” 

Public space is about sharing a common experience in a larger space, like a public worship service.

WE SHOULD EXPECT to come to worship with expectation of encountering the living God, prepared to listen to stories about the in in-breaking of the Kingdom of God, and leave with a renewed sense of purposefulness.  We should not expect this space to do the challenging and long-term work of transformation. 

WE SHOULD NOT EXPECT this space to do the heavy lifting in the long-term work of transformation. While this space may feel intimate to those participating,  it isn’t meant to be a replacement for the smaller spaces where people can be vulnerable and practice accountability.    

AT IT’S BEST, corporate worship becomes missional if it reshapes people to inhabit God’s story in their everyday lives. 

COMMUNITY SPACE:  The prime building block for the church. A generously inclusive space where people from all walks of life become a missional community.

Community space is where people select a community – people with whom they want to go deeper – to belong to. In our congregational setting, this space is more like a mid-sized group of 20 to 40 people.  The It’s small enough for people to experience authentic community, but big enough to mobilize. 

WE SHOULD EXPECT this space to facilitate deeper relationship building and  lighten the load by spreading out the work.  

WE SHOULD NOT EXPECT the deepest levels of vulnerability and accountability to take place in this space. 

AT IT’S BEST, this space gives people a foretaste of the Kingdom, where people are known and, together, we’re living out love and relationships in meaningful ways.  

PERSONAL SPACE:  A generously exclusive space where relationships are deeper because of the trust we build through accountability. 

Jesus discipled the disciples through constant invitation and challenge. Personal spaces of belonging are small by design, 5-12 participants, and are uniquely suited for a deeper formation.

In this closed and temporary space we invite people to live out a common rule of life and share in habits together that will help us to have eyes to see, ears to hear, and practices that will encourage us to live out the mission of God.

WE SHOULD EXPECT accountability to happen in this space because Christ calls us to help one another explore our unique struggles, hopes, and callings. In this space we invite and challenge one another to open up honestly. We create safe space a shared commitment to expectations and embracing the importance of keeping trust in the holding of one another’s stories.  

WE SHOULD NOT EXPECT everyone to feel comfortable to participate (yet) and we shouldn’t assume this is space where we expect the “naked truth” of our lives to be fully revealed.  

AT OUR BEST, The farther we move from the public space into personal/intimate spaces, the greater the accountability and vulnerability becomes and the more intentional we should be in fostering the invitation and challenge to walk with Christ into a hurting world. 

Higher depths of accountability and vulnerability don’t come easy for many of us. Trust takes time to build.   Whereas, we should assume that everyone is expected to go deeper, with each step they take with Christ, the stride and pace of those steps will vary dramatically.  If you’re ready to step into something that promotes vulnerability and accountability, we’ll have a space for you now. If you aren’t ready yet, it’s ok. We’ll be ready when you are. 

INTIMATE SPACE:A generously exclusive space where the “naked truth” is shared, without us feeling “ashamed”.

This is like the space Jesus had with  Peter, James and John. Whereas, we aren’t yet ready to invest energy in creating intimate space, we want to be mindful of it’s importance! 

Explore our fall programming guide

Short on time? Here’s a snapshot of what to expect this fall

tbc Church Business

Discipleship Pathways

“What would the church look like if everyone in the church used their God-given gifts and talents to equip the rest of the church in such a way that the entire church became more like Jesus?”  For if the whole church looked and lived more like Jesus, how much more would our neighborhoods and cities look more like heaven?

– JR Woodard

The Pastoral Staff has been hard at work in preparing to equip the church in this next season of life together. Early this week, we’ll share the details of what the church can expect. This document will serve as a primer in better understanding why we’re beginning “here” and what to expect from each space we’re creating. Our goal is to prompt each one of us to take a deeper step in our walk with Christ; we make the road by walking. 

DISCIPLESHIP IS THE GOAL

It’s all about equipping the people of the Church to be more like Jesus in a world that needs the love of Jesus.  Christian discipleship is about calling others to join us in practicing a way of life in which we embody (flesh out) the life of Jesus in the context of the world as we journey to fulfill God’s mission together.

  • Discipleship is a way of life, not an intellectual assimilation of ideas or a program.*
    • We must deliberately practice discipleship in our daily lives, if we want to disciple others; It’s essential for us to practice what we teach. 
    • Discipleship is about inviting people to become whole again, to become more like Jesus, overcoming destructive habits and building life-giving habits
    • Discipleship takes place in the street and the sanctuary, the classroom and the living room, its about being “with people” in everyday life
    • Discipleship happens when we are on mission together, joining God in the renewal of all things.

Explore the primary tool we’re using to develop three unique spaces of belonging in Fall 2022.

Explore our fall programming guide

Short on time? Here’s a snapshot of what to expect this fall

* Adapted from Jr Woodard's Creating a Missional Culture: Equipping the Church for the Sake of the World