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Message from Pastor Larry – May 2007
Dear Saints:
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about our decision last November to reinvest as a congregation in our present location and community. What this boils down to on a practical level is that we will focus on outreach. This outreach, in my mind, naturally falls under two categories—each one significant in it’s own right—yet neither more important than the other. In fact, they are complimentary.
The first category is evangelism. Reinvestment will require us to think and act evangelistically, that is, to be a congregation motivated to reaching people with the good news of Christ’s saving work on the cross, inviting them to become Christians, and encouraging them in the way of discipleship.
The second category is social service. Reinvestment will require that we be a congregation that actively seeks ways to meet the growing needs of our increasingly ethnically diverse community. Our plans, as many of you are already aware, are to call a staff person, possibly a seminary intern, whose task it will be to emphasize these areas of ministry. But it is first and foremost our calling as God’s people to be evangelists and social servants now, regardless of what professional staff our church may have on board.
Many of you are already involved in one or both of these areas of ministry. Then, many of you have thought about it but, for whatever reasons, have not become involved. It’s you, this second group, which I wish to address for a moment in this article.
In the area of evangelism, one program for reaching the unchurched that has proven successful is ALPHA. This program uses a meal, video presentations, and discussion to tell the story of Christ and his church, and invite people to faith in him. ALPHA is low-key and hospitality-based. Volunteers are not expected to be theologians or Bible-thumpers, and evangelism occurs in the midst of developing relationships with those who attend the program. St. Matthew currently doesn’t have an ALPHA program in place.
In the area of social service, Valley Interfaith Promise (VIP) is a wonderful program designed to meet a growing need in Columbus that other organizations have not been able to meet—the housing of homeless families. You may have heard me or Craig DuPriest talk about this on occasion, and we have because we feel deeply that this ministry has the potential to change lives.
St. Matthew is partnering with St. Thomas Episcopal Church in this venture. Along with volunteers, they have graciously agreed to provide the space to house these families. We, for our part, have agreed to provide volunteers.
We had a great response last time from our members, and are counting on a good one this time as well. Our week is May 6–13. Sign-up sheets are in the narthex. At the time of this article’s writing several time slots are still available to be filled by our volunteers. I encourage those who volunteered in the past—and those of you who have not yet volunteered—to seriously consider helping with VIP. It’s only a brief time commitment (in many cases only 3 or 4 hours), but the good feeling you get for having helped someone in need far outweighs your minimal sacrifice.
Please call Craig today to volunteer for VIP. And if you’re interested in helping with the ALPHA program, please call me at the church office or at home. And, thank you for being involved in the life of St. Matthew.
Faithfully,
Pastor Larry
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