What’s Going On? One Year In

As we begin a new year and as I begin a second year as pastor here at Mountainview, I thought it was a good time to do some reflection and analysis. I would like to reflect with you on what I have seen and learned; at the same time, I want to share what I hope and long to experience.

Our first year was repeatedly noted for being a strange time to try a new start, what with Covid and all. However, I would characterize it as a unique opportunity when coming to an established congregation because it left most of us with no clear assumptions on exactly how this should go. As an experienced pastor who is somewhat fond of shaking things up on occasion, I welcomed some of that randomness. I have found that Mountainview is a community with clear patterns. There are few meetings that happen “as needed”; most things here happen every third Thursday of the month, or second Tuesday, etc. There is nothing wrong with order and structure. I appreciate the clarity of it. I especially appreciate it because it means that my role here is not to get Mountainview better organized. That has been done…and done well. I am grateful.

The challenge that comes with being well organized is that we are always in danger of thinking that if things are running well, then the church is doing it’s job. We might want to think that this is a good church because services are well-done and programs run with a minimum of confusion. Those are, of course, good things. However our mission is to see lives transformed. I see that as a pretty powerful vision. A life that is transformed goes on a journey (transit/transport) to a new format. I guess I am wondering what journey we think we are on and what that new form looks like. I suspect that for many of us, we are at the destination because the destination is to be Christians and we are. And for many others, we know we have not arrived but we are really not sure which road to take to get there. And since there is no map that says take ten steps in this direction and you will arrived at abundant life, we may feel confused. And, since many of the paths we suspect may be ours to take look difficult and time consuming and narrow enough that we might easily fall off, we feel hesitant.

Let me try to summarize what I have been trying to say so far. Mountainview is a good church that needs to decide if it is open to transformation. Are we open to finding a path that re-shapes the way we live?

My thought on how this happens is this: transformation happens one authentic relationship at a time. I used to think, particularly for me as a pastor, that the way to help a church grow was by teaching the whole community. I now believe that while that has a role, the real transformation happens when someone responds in faith and steps out and say some version of “I think I need some help.” If you ever think that in your head, I highly encourage you to find a place to say it out loud to someone you trust. That is the beginning of an authentic relationship.

So, I am going to end here. I have many more ideas to share, but I think at this point, as we head into a new year, my question to you is this: do you want to go on a journey of transformation and are you willing to ask for help to take the next step on that journey?

Pastor Erick Schuringa

One Year In - January 12, 2022