Election Day Communion

On Tuesday, November 6 millions will be voting for a new president along with other amendments, state and county leaders. This is important work for free people to responsibly engage, and we have reminded the church to take this work seriously. I’ve reminded the church many times that there are faithful Christians at Spring of Life who will choose to vote for Barak Obama, others will choose to vote for Mitt Romney, others will choose to vote for another candidate and others will choose not to vote at all. I am aware that these differences will not bother God as much as they will bother some of us.


Therefore, on a day when many of us in the church will be choosing differently, we thought it would be important to remember to choose one thing together.The most significant thing that the church has to offer the world is the self-giving love of Christ that recognizes our differences and unites us in a way that no nation or state ever can. For this reason, Spring of Life will be offering Election Day Communion in a very public and invitational way outside, near the entrance to the church property. We will have a 20 minute liturgy with all who gather to receive God’s grace and place their life under the authority of Christ. The times will be 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 6:00 pm.

Let’s meet at the same table,
with the same host,
to remember the same things.

We’ll remember that real power in this world — the power to save, to transform, to change — ultimately rests not in political parties or presidents or protests but in the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus.

We’ll remember that, through the Holy Spirit, this power dwells within otherwise ordinary people who as one body continue the mission of Jesus: preaching good news to the poor, freeing the captives, giving sight to the blind, releasing the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:16-21).

We’ll remember that freedom — true freedom — is given by God and is indeed not free. It comes with a cost and it looks like a cross.

We’ll remember our sin and our need to repent.

We’ll remember that the only Christian nation in this world is the Church, a holy nation that crosses all human-made boundaries and borders.

We’ll remember that our passions are best placed within the passion of Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

We’ll remember that we do not conform to the patterns of this world, but we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

We’ll remember that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.

And we’ll re-member the body of Christ as the body of Christ, confessing the ways in which partisan politics has separated us from one another and from God.

On Tuesday, November 6,
make a choice to remember.
Let’s meet at the Lord’s Table.
Let’s remember together.
Please join us for communion on Tuesday, November 6, at 7am, 12pm and 6pm.

Election Day Communion is a grassroots, multidenominational campaign inviting churches to express their unity in the face of increasing polarization, by holding a communion service on Election Day, November 6, 2012. Originally started by two pastors with no funding or organizational backing, Election Day Communion has quickly grown to include more than 425 churches from over 20 denominations. www.electiondaycommunion.org

A Call to Ministry

Recently we finished a series of sermons on different "call stories" in the Bible. My friend Evelyn Teran (pictured left) will be presenting her understanding of God's call on her life to ordained/licensed ministry in the United Methodist Church at Spring of Life's Charge Conference on Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. Below is her written account. We celebrate Evelyn's gifts for ministry and are grateful to be sharing this journey with her.

I was born and raised Catholic but at the early age of ten I experienced a renewal of my faith through the Disciple of Christ church. I started to develop a passion for ministry as I was able to participate in various ministry opportunities such as Sunday school, youth group, choir, bible study, prayer services and hospital visitation with a group of young adults. Even when my parents remain attending to the Catholic Church, they liked the idea that I was attending the Disciple of Christ church because they were able to witness and experience my dedication to ministry. Since my early youth I have been drawn to pursue a spiritual journey that will lead me to a spiritual formation that reflects the grace and the love of God for me and others!

Through the years I have experienced this call as making disciples of all nations. In 1989, I moved from Puerto Rico, to the state of Virginia, where I became a member of a Pentecostal Holiness church. After serving in the church as a Sunday school teacher and volunteer for various other ministries such as drama team, Hispanic Ministry, and as an usher, I was approved and sent to Youth with a Mission, a missionary international and worldwide organization.

During my six years of missionary work I was given the opportunity to disciple and evangelize to nations in the South Pacific, Europe, and North Africa. I became part of the leadership team that trained and equipped others missionaries. During the time I was committed to the mission field I was still looking forward to one day becoming the pastor of a local church. As part of my journey I have been given the opportunity to serve as a youth pastor and also as pastor of a small Hispanic congregation on a military base in Germany.

Throughout my 25 years of ministry serving God and the community I finally have been able to enter a pathway that will lead me to the final acceptance of my calling.  I have a passion for discipleship, leadership, and community.  I believe God has prepared me for a moment like this where I can serve the church with my talents and spiritual gifts. For the last four years I have dedicated myself to the Central Florida area serving as a hospital Chaplain and have been able to support and empathize with people during their darkest hours. I have as well had the opportunity to minister with prayer and counseling to staff and family members of the hospital. I believe God has guided me to serve as a Chaplain to form and affirm my pastoral identity with the intention to prepare me to do the work of a local pastor.

As I was seeking God and ways to better serve Him in the community His hand led me to the Spring of Life church. As I started to function as the leader for the Hispanic Ministry I found myself engaging in a pastoral role. Within this new role and my cross-cultural experience I believe that God is calling me to embrace a multicultural ministry that is compatible with the Gospel of Christ, where every nation and every tongue will worship together. In my calling I feel directed by God to lead and encourage others to walk in unity.

I believe I have the skills and spiritual gifts to teach, exhort, and discern to help and disciple the church to come near God and to develop an understanding of His love and grace. For the past few years I have pursued and accomplished pastoral clinical education in preparation in response to my calling. As I reflect on my journey I know that I have love and passion for the word, order, and sacrament within the church. I am passionate about empowering others to fulfill God’s call in their life, unifying and strengthening the church with the intention of making disciples of all nations. Within this journey one of my most sacred “memento” was the first time I was able to serve the communion for the Hispanic Ministry in Spring of Life, I felt the love of God in my heart affirming my call to serve others!

A Community of Extravagant Generosity

From support for those fighting cancer, giving to stop hunger now, doing minor home repair, to providing funds and labor for a wheelchair ramp, I see the generosity of the people of Spring of Life. I see many of you continuing to practice habits of good financial management in your own households so that you are free to give when God calls. You continue to push back on the culture of over-consumption as an act of worship. This hard work of financial discipleship is what we learn in Financial Peace University, and over time, we discover the joy of generous giving and the peace of being debt free.


Last Sunday in worship we heard Lenora talk about a call to ministry that she sensed for herself as well as her business (Cambridge School of Ballet). You might not think that teaching people to plié and grand jeté would be able to help put an end to human trafficking or provide clean water for people in Africa, but this was the vision that God laid on Lenora’s heart. Wow, can a business answer a call to ministry too?

A couple weeks ago in the Disciple Bible study on Wednesday night we read about God’s covenant (promise) that he made with Abraham. God said, “I will bless you and make your name great. I will make you a great nation so that you will be a blessing.”

“ . . . so that you will be a blessing.”

I remember one time after I had finished a funeral for a young man in my church, his dad came up to me and handed me a check for leading the service. I pushed back, trying to be gracious, and said, “Hey thank you, but I don’t need it. I’m well taken care of, thank you.” He just kept holding the check out and said, “Well, you know this doesn’t have to line your own pockets. Please take it.”

“. . . this doesn’t have to line your own pockets.”

Right. We are blessed so that we will be a blessing. God wants the world to know that he is a generous and self-giving God who notices the cries of the poor and oppressed. And so, we order and manage our financial life and our business so that we can reflect our generous, self-giving God to the world.

There is a person in our church right now who has been left alone by her family and unable to work right now because of surgery she recently had to remove what they thought was cancer in her abdomen. Thankfully, it turned out not to be cancer, but she remains vulnerable without a spouse, without family, and without a job to pay for food, shelter and healthcare. As you can imagine, she is afraid and lonely.

Those who know her at Spring of Life have told her. “We are your family. You are not alone. We are praying for you and we will make sure that you have food, shelter and friendship to get through this hard time.”

God says to his people: Do not to neglect the orphan, widow and vulnerable in your land because at one time you were vulnerable too. (see Exodus 22:21-22)

“. . . at one time you were vulnerable too.”

God is good to remind us when we have more than enough food, clothing, shelter; more than one means of transportation and a vast support network of family and friends that at one time we had none of that.

“What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” 1Corinthians 4:7

“. . . what do you have that you did not receive?”

The truth is that we need friendship with those who are vulnerable as much as the vulnerable need friendship with those who have material resources. Interestingly, the Bible says, “God is close to the brokenhearted” and “blessed are the poor.” Jesus, himself, chose a life of homelessness and called the rich young ruler who wanted to see eternal life to sell everything, give it to the poor and come be a homeless follower too.

So Jesus doesn’t model a life of throwing a few bucks at the poor, he lives among the poor, in friendship, and by so doing, redefines blessing for the world.

Questions for reflection:

What about giving brings you joy?

Are there barriers to generous giving in your life? What are they?

What do you have to give when you are feeling vulnerable and alone like the woman in our church?

What do you have to receive from friendship with the poor?

How do you think it is true that the poor are blessed like Jesus says?

Now and Not Yet by Lenora Rousseau

I remember as a pre-teen sitting in the back seat of our station wagon for a number of family road trips from California to Florida, anxiously looking forward to arriving at my grandparents’ house in Pensacola. The first day of our trip was always the same. I couldn’t get in the car fast enough. By the third day, there were never enough rest breaks, and my younger brother would inevitably test my waning patience, triggering that age old lament… “Are we there yet?” The answer was always the same…“No!” And, more often than not, it was accompanied by the following admonitions (fired in rapid, ping pong succession by my parents): “Stop whining!… You’ll know it when we get there!… You need to learn to enjoy the journey!” Prophetic words, indeed.

In our recent worship services, while reflecting on Jeremiah’s call story, Pastor Dave posed the question: “What do you suppose God wants you to be now and when you grow up?” This was aimed primarily at our youth, but served as a thoughtful reminder to the entire congregation that God calls each of us to serve him in different ways during every age and stage of our lives. For the past three years, I have been exploring a call to ordained ministry within the United Methodist Church as a Deacon. When I think about how this journey has unfolded, I don’t have a ‘burning bush’ moment I can point to. Hearing a call to ordained ministry has evolved over time, being revealed one step at a time, with just enough insight for the next step. In many ways, it has mimicked those long family road trips. And along the way, I have discovered that my call is really twofold: who God is calling me to be now, and who God is calling me to be in the future. The phrase now and not yet comes to mind.

Those of you who know my background might be wondering how a Jewish girl ends up becoming a Methodist in the first place, and then goes on to discern a call to ordained ministry. A road less traveled indeed! Well, the simple answer is grace, and lots of it! When I first arrived in a United Methodist Church ten years ago, I was extremely broken emotionally and spiritually. At seventeen, I had accepted Christ as my Savior. But by the end of my twenties, I needed much more than a shining white knight to save the day, or a golden ticket to heaven ‘when this life was over.’ I needed (and wanted) to be fully transformed from the inside out; I was desperate for a life of faith that I could sink my teeth into and be made truly new. The message of grace (in its fullness), a theological cornerstone of the United Methodist Church, enabled me to encounter the unconditional love of God in such a unique and deeply profound way that it changed my walk with God forever. Learning to incorporate the means of grace into my life– worshipping, sacraments, serving, praying, studying, giving, fasting, and such– has continued to mold and shape me. Ten years later, I can honestly say that who I am now is closer to who God has created me to be than ever before. For now, God has called me to be a wife (to the most amazing husband ever), a mother and homeschool teacher to three wonderful children, a daughter, a sister, a friend, an artistic director, a member of the praise team at Spring of Life along with other leadership roles, and a seminarian. All of which would be impossible without the grace of God.

It’s no secret that worship, especially worship arts are a passion for me. For the past five years, I have been blessed to be the Artistic Director of Cambridge School of Ballet, running all of our classes out of Spring of Life UMC. During this time, God has given me a vision for redeeming the arts by using it as a tool for discipleship while making a difference in the lives of less fortunate children around the world. Our logo incorporates the tag line, “Pursuing passion with a purpose.” I have sought to live that out that purpose through the M6:8 Mission (based on Micah 6:8) to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. If you are interested, you can learn more about the M6:8 Mission at www.csoballet.org.

Ultimately, serving at Spring of Life UMC and directing the ballet school these past five years have been catalysts for discerning a call to ordained ministry. Yet, I would be misleading you if I didn’t admit that this has been a slow and lengthy process. Why? Because I have been fearful and resistant, stubbornly hiding behind a long list of excuses. Yet, God has continued to call, and I have continually sought to answer that call. Why Deacon? I heard it said once that “worship equals change,” meaning whenever and wherever God is worshipped, redeeming change is inevitable. For many of us, Sunday worship (or time spent at the church itself) is the only time we experience this kind of transformation. But as the people of God, we are called to live a life of worship Monday through Sunday, redeeming this world for His glory. Often, the challenge becomes bridging the gap between the faith we celebrate on Sundays and the reality of our everyday, ordinary lives. St. Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, “Preach the gospel always, when necessary use words.” This is probably one of my favorite quotes. If we are going to be agents of Kingdom change in this broken world, we must learn to be the gospel message in all that we do. Using my gifts and experiences, I believe that God is calling me to support the worship life of the church, bridging the gap between the church and the world by leading and helping others discover how God is calling them to live out their faith – doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly one step at a time.

In June of 2011, I started seminary classes at Asbury Theological Seminary in Orlando, FL. I am currently working towards a Masters of Arts in Theological Studies, with the intention of potentially going on to pursue a PhD in the area of worship theology. In addition, I have completed the Ministry Inquiry Process with Pastor Carolyn. I plan to enter the Candidacy process by attending the retreat in January 2013. I welcome your prayers as I continue this journey - that I may continue to discern God’s call in my life and to have the courage to follow where He leads. Likewise, I pray that God will sustain and encourage you in your journey as you discover how He is calling you now and in the future. Whatever God calls you to, wherever He leads you, I am confident of two things: it will stretch you beyond your wildest imagination, and (thankfully) He won’t stop calling. Praise God for amazing grace!

You can contact Lenora via email at this address: csoballet@yahoo.com

Smells Like Jesus

You know how certain smells trigger a memory? Green bottle of Polo cologne . . . I'm back in Junior High School.

The Apostle Paul uses this fragrance metaphor in his letter to the church in Corinth. "Through us spreads in every place the fragrance of knowing Jesus," he writes.

This week I was having lunch with a friend and he mentioned that he longed to live his life in such a way that people noticed something different, something that pointed people to Jesus. I thought of this smelly metaphor.

Indeed, what would our lives be like if they smelled like Jesus? What if that smell was as ubiquitous as green polo in a 1984 junior high school? Awesome.

Jeremy Troxler from Duke Divinity School gives us a whiff in this blog. Check it out: The Tie that Binds. A divided world does not need a church free of conflict and sin but a church that models how conflict and sin can be transformed into peace. [read more...]

The journey continues...

Hello, friends.  Aaron here...

This Sunday marks the six-year anniversary of the first time I joined the Spring of Life community to worship God. I remember it well because I had just moved from south Florida to Orlando for a new job and Lenora and Gabrielle had not yet joined me; so, not only was I experiencing the awkward feelings typically associated with trying a new church, I was also alone and without my family.  Shirley Stoffer greeted me at the door, made me a name tag, and immediately made me feel welcome.  I completed a connect card and Pastor Dave called me the next day.  It didn’t take long for me to figure out that Spring of Life was going to be our new church home, which was an enormous relief because the only regret our family had when making the decision to leave south Florida was that we would have to leave the church where Lenora and I were married, Gabrielle was baptized, and where we were part of a praise team we loved very much.

I tell you this because Spring of Life has been, and always will be, an integral part of my faith journey. It is now my sixth year leading worship and third year leading youth. Had you told me those things were going to be in my future when I attended that first worship service in September 2006, I never would have believed you. Had you also told me that I would begin preaching in July 2008, discern a call to ordained ministry shortly thereafter, and begin seminary in June 2009, I never would have believed those things  either. And I certainly would not have believed that I was going to take a tremendous leap of faith and leave the job I moved to Orlando for in the first place so I could attend seminary full-time and make myself more available to serve God and the good people of Spring of Life. Finally, I probably wouldn’t have believed that our family would grow by two more children either. Let’s just say that the years that we have spent at Spring of Life have brought a whirlwind of change for the Rousseau family. God indeed works in mysterious ways!

Yet, through it all God has been faithful to us as we’ve sought to follow His leading. You, the faithful people of Spring of Life, have been a source of strength and encouragement for us and we are so thankful for your love and prayers.  Answering God’s call can be both fulfilling and wrought with challenge, so having the support of great pastors and a great congregation is truly of the utmost importance. As many of you know, I appeared before the District Committee of Ordained Ministry (DCOM) last Thursday to be interviewed and considered for their recommendation to the Board of Ordained Ministry (BOOM) as a Provisional Elder in the Florida Annual Conference.  I was disappointed to learn that they would not be recommending me to for Provisional Elder at this time.  Nonetheless, they affirmed my call to ordained ministry and the gifts that I possess for ministry by keeping me on the Provisional Elder track and re-certifying my candidacy.  Still, they felt that there are some areas of growth I should address to help me reach my full effectiveness as a minister, and I was assigned some contingencies to work on until my next interview as a result. The chair of the DCOM did tell me, however, that they will consider recommending me to the BOOM as a full-time local pastor at their September meeting. Simply put, this could be a means for me to find a full-time appointment in the Florida Annual Conference and serve as a stepping stone until I am approved and commissioned as a Provisional Elder. Lenora and I will be meeting with the District Superintendent in the coming weeks to discuss possibilities.  Like anything else, there are no guarantees, but if such an appointment does become available, it won’t be until next summer, after I have graduated from seminary. 

Now you know what we know, which I confess at times this week hasn’t felt like much. I thank Dave and Carolyn for being there for me this past week. I thank all of you for your prayerful support. In spite of the initial emotions that came following the DCOM’s decision, I remain grateful for this process and feel confident that I will be better for it.  While there have been times of question and doubt these past few years, I can tell you with all certainty that every decision I have made to answer God’s call has proven to be a right one.  I look forward to a year of great growth and what I know will also be another great year in ministry at Spring of Life.  Thanks be to God.  

Learning How to Fail

The title of this blog may seem a little ridiculous. Who needs to learn how to fail? Every human being seems to come by it rather naturally. Nobody is perfect right?

But I want to suggest that the church has a role to play in teaching people how to fail well.

This week I was reminded again that the church isn’t different from the rest of the world when it comes to causing harm. There are plenty of examples to choose from. Churches are going to be communities where people hurt one another. They are made up of human beings.

If you haven't been hurt at your church yet it is only because you haven't been there long enough or haven't gotten very involved. God’s hope for the church is that it would be different from the rest of the world in the way that it responds when hurt happens. This is where we must “learn how to fail well.”

Because of Jesus and his Spirit living in us, we can learn to fail well. We can admit when we are wrong and cause harm – either intentionally or unintentionally. We can speak the truth in love to someone who has hurt us. And we can forgive. Forgiving means we make a decision not to get even. We choose not to hold a grudge or nurse bitterness. It doesn’t mean we say, “What you did doesn’t matter.” It doesn’t mean that we “forget.” And it doesn’t mean that we begin to immediately trust the person who hurt us. Forgiveness means that we no longer hold the offense against someone by continuing to bring it up and thereby allowing it to continue fracturing our communion with one another and with God.

These two gifts, confession and forgiveness, are really what makes the church different from the rest of the world. Followers of Jesus do well to use these two gifts from God to show the world how God wants us to fail.

I believe that it breaks God’s heart when we fail and do not use the gifts of confession and forgiveness. I believe that because I know that the reason God sent his son into the world was for the purpose of reconciliation.

“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:19

I found a great resource for helping people who want to get better at this and other practices that reveal God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. It is called, “Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals” by Claiborne, Wilson-Hartgrove and Okoro. It is a book to strengthen the prayer life of the church and a book that has helped me to learn how to fail well. I recommend it highly!

Here is an excerpt from the book on the topic of confession that I’d like to share with you:

Confession

“The Scriptures have much to say about not coming to the altar if we are holding something against a sister or brother. We are told that we will be forgiven inasmuch as we forgive. The early church was known for its public confessions of sins. Many traditions of Christianity have practiced public confession, and many great revivals have been sparked by folks beating their breasts and confessing sins to one another.

Consider ways of creating a space for confession to happen. We have built in some space for confession in each evening prayer office, but there may be other community rituals you want to practice. One practice used in some communities is “Prouds and Sorries,” where each person is given the space to share something they are proud of and something they are sorry about. Just as we confess things that are wrong, we also need to be reminded that we are better than the worst things we do. Reconciliation is one of the fruits of confession, and it is worth thinking about ways of speaking into each other’s lives as we hope to restore whatever may have been broken or lost. (Some communities respond to confessions by saying together, “We proclaim to you God’s forgiveness and ours.”) Confessional prayer assumes that our worship takes place in a deeply flawed community. The church has always been a worrisome and dysfunctional place. But by grace we can take small steps to restore trust. Maybe it is writing a note to someone we have offended or calling up someone we have murmured to (or about) and asking for their forgiveness. Maybe it means each week choosing to do something nice for someone it’s hard for you to like. Sometimes we call this “doing penance.” It’s not that we have to do an act of penance to earn God grace; it’s the opposite – because we have experienced God’s grace, we can’t help but do some act of grace toward another person.”