Mark 8 to 10 Mostly on Discipleship
Pastor’s Report 2012
Here is the written report I gave at our Annual Church Meetin. It was, by the way, the best church business meeting I have ever been a part of. We had a potluck, played a quiz game, and conducted our “business” in the midst of all that fun. Here is my report:
Pastor’s Report
Pastor Matt Rundio
Scottsdale First Church of the Nazarene
March 4, 2012
Beloved Congregation,
These have been eight months full of wonder. My family and I are blessed beyond measure to have found a home ‘among such excellent and admirable hobbits. I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you have as well as you deserve.’ (To be clear, I mean that line to be taken as a compliment.)
Though there are a great many things we have “done” and “accomplished” in the time I’ve been here, one of the most noteworthy, in my mind, is the atmosphere of love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness that permeates our congregation. By the strength of the Spirit, we have come a long way in this regard. This is our greatest accomplishment.
Here, then, are some highlights (in no particular order):
- I was called to this fine church! Whether you all think this a highlight, I certainly feel blessed to be here! My first official day was June 27th, my first Sunday was July 3.
- We have begun to recognize and celebrate the church calendar. Already I feel a deepening sense of holiness in our sanctuary as we hang the colors of the year; I feel a sense of deep history as we tap into the ancient and widespread traditions of the Church Universal; and I feel a deepening appreciation for the person and work of Christ Jesus as we contemplate the seasons of the church.
- ”‘Today we are rediscovering the value of the church year. And some people might say, ‘Well, isn’t that rather Catholic?’ Well, certainly not ‘Roman Catholic.’ John Wesley was a great advocate of the Church year.” ~Dr. Thomas Noble (one of the most respected Nazarene theologians in the wold – he teaches at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City and at Nazarene Theological College in Manchester, England.)
- New Staff. We have added several tremendous people to our pastoral staff. Each of these people, along with Nancy, Merry, Santos, and Lucy, are a Godsend to Scottsdale First. When I look around at our staff meetings I find myself taken aback by the talent and godliness surrounding me. Our new pastoral staff includes:
- Jaime Johnson
- Sheri Baltzer
- Glenna Derbyshire
- We have celebrated a great number of epoch potlucks! The potluck, of course, is but one way we express community. And our church does this as well as I’ve ever seen. We seem to really like one another, we seem to really care, and we seem to be skilled at showing it.
- We have begun to celebrate the Lord’s Supper with great frequency – every week. This is a move that brings us into alignment with the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene and with the explicit teachings of John Wesley.
- From the Manual 413.9: “Pastors are encouraged to move toward a more frequent celebration of this means of grace [the Lord’s Supper]”
- From John Wesley, “It is the duty of every Christian to receive the Lord’s Supper as often as he [or she] can.” This is but one quotation from an entire sermon urging believers to take communion frequently.
- Ministry/Bible studies/ etc.
- Pastor Glenna has taken up and continued our legacy for a vibrant women’s ministry – including a fantastic Christmas Tea, Lunch & Learn, Retreat, and more.
- Pastor Glenna is taking a leadership role at the district and helping churches come together in partnership.
- Wednesday night Bible studies have begun once more.
- Sunday School at 9 am has begun again (Jess teaches one and the other is an intergenerational class where children to adults participate together).
- The Youth Room was remade (“Extreme Makeover, Youth Room Edition”) with the help of NorthGate Church of the Nazarene.
- We have added and changed several things in the Sanctuary that have helped to maximize the gorgeous space in which we are privileged to worship.
- Lucy and Santos continue to do excellent ministry amongst Spanish speaking members of our congregation and community.
- See the treasurer’s report for details on our financial situation – it is better than it has been in a long time. Plus, and this is really important, since I have been here we are fully paid on our “district tithes.”
- We have remained flexible enough to be weird at times – one Sunday morning the sermon was 10 seconds long and the prayer time lasted more than an hour. We planned on anointing a few people and praying for healing…and it seemed good to us and the Spirit to pray for a very long time.
- We had an Ash Wednesday service for the first time in our history. Again, this brings us into alignment with the Church of the Nazarene who encourages churches to celebrate the special days and seasons of the year (one of the things our Publishing House really pushes is material called “Ashes to Fire” as a way to emphasize Ash Wednesday, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost). We were but one of many Nazarene churches on our district to recognize this special day of the year.
- We had a Christmas Eve service for the first time in a long time. It included an enjoyable, exciting, and creative “paper bag pageant.” Pastor Sheri put a lot of effort into coordinating the program. Everyone present was involved in retelling the story of the Nativity of our Lord.
- We have served our community and our world through several projects:
- Family Promise – we hosted two weeks of Family Promise (one just before I arrived in July). Several homeless families slept at our facility and we shared meals together.
- We participated in an Alabaster Offering.
- In a Christmas Eve offering, we raised over $3600 for the Haiti Water Project.
- And for St. Valentine’s day, we collected items for Crisis Care kits.
- One of the most successful “events” we had was the Trunk or Treat. We ate some excellent chili in a cook-off and an estimated 300 people from the community were involved.
- We baptized two people and have another baptism scheduled. We have added nineteen new members and reactivated a good number more. Our attendance numbers are growing and we have been blessed by the presence a good number of excellent (new) people.
As we look to the future we have great cause for great hope. In only eight months we have come a million miles on almost every front. And the momentum is building. We will continue in the path we have begun to lay down over these last eight months.
The most pressing thing on my heart for the future is that we truly live into becoming Listening-Loving-Living people and everything that those words mean. That we slow down, know one another, listen for the leading of the Spirit. That we might be people who love – truly and wholly love – God and others. That we would be known for our love. That when we hear or see the leading of the Spirit we would love by responding. And that our listening and loving would result in life. That we would be an alive people – having fun and enjoying each moment as a gift from the Creator and Sustainer. And that we would be life-giving. That we would bring life to other people, life to our community, life to one another, life where there has been death or despair. That we would be listening, loving, living people.
And that might mean a great many things. From improving our grounds to improving our youth ministry. From painting the nursery to training workers and leaders. I want us to be a church that listens and obeys. That loves and trusts. That lives in the power of the Spirit.
Thank you for calling me to this congregation. I am truly blessed.
Grace, Mercy, and Peace be upon us all!
Matt
Mark 6-8… Bread and Gentiles
Going Catholic or going Wesley?
With an emphasis on the Church year, observing special days like Ash Wednesday, and taking communion often, some may wonder how “Nazarene” we are being in all this. Here is a video of Dr. Tom Noble explaining his view of the importance of such observances. In the video he says, ”‘Today we are rediscovering the value of the church year. And some people might say, ‘Well, isn’t that rather Catholic?’ Well, certainly not ‘Roman Catholic.’ John Wesley was a great advocate of the Church year.” ~Dr. Thomas Noble
(Dr. Noble is one of the most respected Nazarene theologians in the wold – he teaches at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City and at Nazarene Theological College in Manchester, England. John Wesley, of course, is the most important historical figure in the Holiness Movement which lead to the Church of the Nazarene.)
Jaime Waldron on Mark 4:35-5:43
Yesterday we heard EXCELLENT preaching from a guest, Jaime Waldron. Here is her fantastic sermon from Mark 4:35 through chapter 5. It is about fear. And it is good…
Transfiguration Sunday 2012
We, in our low-church-Protestant world, don’t often take note of Holy Days like Transfiguration Sunday. But it might be good to do so. The Transfiguration is a big deal… learn more about it in this sermon:
Cosmic, Costly, & Counterintuitive
Mark 2:1-3:6 Jesus Does Everything Wrong
If you are only going to listen to some of this, the “real” sermon begins about 18 minutes into it. The first bit is some ways to summarize the whole section, talking about why it goes together as a unit, noticing some themes present in these stories taken together. The last bit focuses in upon Jesus’ calling Levi, the “sinner.”
Jerry Camery-Hoggatt, an expert on Mark (and a fantastic story teller and writer) wrote, in his commentary on Mark, “This story has very wide implications for Mark[‘s first readers including] Gentile Christians, who like Jesus associate with the wrong kind of people, violate the Sabbath, do not observe the calendar of feasts. No doubt some of Mark’s Christians in Rome were themselves ‘the wrong kind of people.’ For those outcast Christians, this simple gesture of Jesus, this freedom to party with tax collectors and ‘sinners’ did more than suspend for the moment the artificial boundaries of piety and defilement; it obliterated them altogether.”
Sermon on Mark 1:21-45
Mark 1:14-20 – The Kingdom of God
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