Over the past couple weeks of sermons, I've have been hoping through my preaching to articulate a vision for who I am as a pastor and who we are as a church.
I got a lot of help in planning for my first month here from Adam Hamilton’s book: Leading Behind the Walls. (I had the privilege of meeting Rev. Hamilton at a conference last October. He is rock star in the Methodist world as he is pastor of Resurrection UMC in Kansas City, the largest UMC in the United States. Thus, I believe he knows a thing or two about growing a congregation in the right ways . . . )
He suggested that there are three main questions that any church should ask itself as it thinks about why it exists: 1) Who is Jesus? 2) Why do we need the church? 3) Why do we need this church?
I modified his questions a little and formed them into four weeks of "Beginning Together" messages. The first sermon's title asked the question: "To be a Christian?" Last week spoke about the need for the church's existence. And, next Sunday will focus on how God can use us in response to our uniqueness.
But, this week, the theme of the message came out of the third of Hamilton's three questions: "Why This Church?"
I have to say, it was a delight to write my sermon this week because with every word I wrote, I was reminded about how happy I am to be a part of a congregation that is so uniquely needed the era of so much distaste about organized religion. I truly believe that there are people out there (and you might be one of them) that needs to know about my church in all that it stands for.
I thought I'd share a portion of it here as several church members commented to me after the service: "That's the first time anyone preaching here has ever described who we are correctly." The scripture story I told was taken from Acts 10 with an emphasis on verse 34.
. . . Washington Plaza Baptist Church. A community that was founded as Baptist congregation, but where all residents knew they were welcome.
A community that has historically stood up for justice—affirming the gifts of women in ministry, helping the homeless, celebrating beautifully great Civil Rights workers of our time like Martin Luther King, Jr. and welcoming any who come in these doors.
A community where you don’t have to have agree with everyone else to be accepted. A community unlike any other in Reston and I dare say in the Northern VA area—so much so that we have regular attendees who drive miles each week to be a part of what we are.
A community where you can come with all your questions, all your uncertainties, all your burdens and find hope that there are people here who love you and want to care for you.
My new friends, this is what being church is all about. This is the kind of church that I knew I wanted to be the pastor of. This is the kind of church that I am proud to be the pastor of. This is the kind of church that the community needs to know is here.
So, why this church? Our mission focused on service and justice, our welcoming fellowship, our hopes for being an even greater presence in the Lake Anne neighborhood is exactly what Reston needs. We are the only Baptist presence of our kind in Reston!
This is a truth I believe with all my heart: our church is exactly what so many people are looking for, yet they are sitting at home this morning thinking it doesn’t exist.
We are not a congregation that looks exactly like our neighboring churches. We are not repeating something for the 20th time that has already been done. We have great purpose in our uniqueness. We are living the dream of what so many great saints of the past wished they could see.
And though we may not be the type of congregation that grows to have thousands of members one day with our own parking deck, it doesn’t mean that we aren’t important. It doesn’t mean that we aren’t doing something very valuable and needed for those who choose to join us.
We are, my friends, in our existence, living and sharing with others, Peter’s proclamation: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts people from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”
This is the message God has given us to share with the world that even as we face this New Year with all its problems, all its hurts, all its collapsed dreams— our community has the answer: love. Just as the American journalist turned social activist for the poor and homeless, Dorothy Day once said: “The only solution is love,” so this church must continue sharing this message. Our doors need to be open to provide such a hope.
How will then, people know that we exist? Why will this church have a future?
“They will know we are Christians by our love.”
No matter what we face in our future- it is our love that will continue to allow us to shine. Our love will make all the difference. Our love will bring new people to us. Our love will help us meet community needs. Our love will carry us on for years and years to come.
Thanks be to God for such a love and such a beautiful community to live out our faith.
Amen.
Some of you might look as this picture below and wonder what is on the roof??
Well, the answer is this: a pulpit. Yes, I am not kidding. Part of the original design of the church was for the gospel to have a voice in the midst of the city square. When I visited the church for the first time, I inquired about whether or not the pulpit is actually ever used for this purpose. And, it is! Sometimes the roof-top pulpit has been used for Easter Sunrise services and I learned in recent days there has been a annual September (start of the new school year per say) service from the roof.
Just know, I'm already thinking about what my first roof top experience of preaching will be like . . . 
These last two pictures are views from the front steps of the church. Beautiful stuff!
For those of you who might be new to Reston just like me, let me tell you a bit more about the community where the church is located. (Realize here that I'm am not a church or community historian yet, just a learner).
In mid-60s, when the Lake Anne waterfront area was designed, there were no churches in Reston. It was a new development with only a select group of families with dreams of forming a community where they could work, live and play surrounded by diverse voices. The founder of the community felt that the Lake Anne Plaza would not be complete without a faith community for new families in the region to worship.
As the church began meeting with guidance and some early funding from the Mount Vernon Baptist Association, many of the earliest families were not Baptist. The church was welcoming to all and ecumenical in nature because it simply had to be so to serve the needs of the community (a flavor that has continued to the present day).
The church sits on the edge of Lake Anne in the middle of the plaza square. Neighbors to the church include several restaurants, shops and other businesses. If you walk along the waterfront, there are several condos, townhouses and other homes. Even now, Washington Plaza Baptist is the only Christian church in the plaza (there is a Buddhist temple on the other side of the Lake, though).
One of my goals over the next several months is to meeting all of the business neighbors in the Lake Anna Plaza-- not only to build relationships that will help to more effectively pastor my congregation, but be a good neighbor too.
For the next several months, my hope is to meet someone new in the community each day I'm in the office.
I have already had great success at my "plaza meeting project." I went into the Lake Anne Coffee Shop yesterday and found the cashier already knew my name! I also attended the Lake Anne Merchant Association Meeting yesterday and met almost all of the business leaders on the plaza. I'll be writing more about my discoveries onthe plaza through in coming posts.
But, for now, I wanted to leave you with more pictures of the community that is my new home in the post above.
Ever since we moved into our new place in Northern VA, I feel like my life has been consumed in "stuff."
Like everyone says, you move and have no idea how much you really have until you have to box it all up. And, in our case, even more so when you unpack.
While our new townhouse has a great location (good distance between both the church and Kevin's work as well as being close to so many fun things in DC), it is not as big as our previous space. While we tried to downsize before moving by sifting a lot of our living room furniture to my new office and give away/ sell a few things, it just wasn't enough. This fact was quickly discovered.
The past two weeks have been mostly about sorting through things and deciding that we don't need as much I as I thought. Goodwill has been my most frequent trip out of the house. By time I go through the process of loading bags and things in my car and get it to the store, I am just thrilled to have the process complete. I've driven away from Goodwill every time feeling a weight of sorts has been lifted from not only my car, but our lives as well. The more stuff I get rid of the more freedom I feel in home and in our lives as well (Kevin would have a totally different perspective on this so you should ask him about it sometime).
In Adult Sunday School today, Ernie was leading a discussion on Mark 10: 25: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." We talked about how in Jerusalem there is an actual eye of the needle gate where traders used to enter the city during Jesus' time. And, how often times traders who came into the city would have to leave their goods traveling on the camels or donkeys aside the gate so that the animal could pass through first. The "stuff" just could not be the first priority if the trader wanted to get his items to market.
And while everyone shared their own thoughts on this verse and the concept of how one's riches played a role in their spiritual life, I was thinking to myself: "I wish I still didn't have to sort through so much stuff at my house. Couldn't I just leave it all at the gate too?"
Yet, somehow, I believe the sorting is important.
So, as we continue the process of getting settled in to life in our new home and trying to find a place for every picture frame, every book, every sentimental thing that we think we have to keep, I'm hoping that I'll make even better choices in the coming year about what stuff is really all that important. Maybe just then, I'll realize that the stuff we collect might be better chosen to focus more of my time on causes and people that are most important to me. Maybe next time I have to move, the stuff I collect will not have to collect so much of my time!
"How's it going over there?"
This question is what several people have asked me this week as I have begun this new adventure called being a solo pastor.
My easy answer is: very good.
So much is new, but everyone is being very nice. I know I am going to enjoy getting know my co-workers. Preaching, preaching, and more preaching is on the brain which = lots of excitement for me.
Of course starting any new job there is a huge learning curve at the beginning. You don't know where to find a stapler. You need to ask for basic church information such a directory of members, the schedule of when the mail comes, and you need to know how the office computer networking system works among many other things. Even more than this, you haven't had the chance to meet everyone that you would like to meet to really understand the larger picture of history and culture. I look forward to being in the place where I know more than I do now.
Yet, even in my place of being the "new one on the block," I am certain of a few things:
I feel strongly that Washington Plaza is the church and the community that I am to plant my life in long period of time. And, even though I don't know a lot of members well yet (come visit me soon and we'll change this), I know that I am going to like it here. (Do you hear Annie from the movie singing in the background?)
My experience thus far has been that when Washington Plaza people are together, so follows: lots of laughter, tons of food, and people who authentically want to relate to one another. I hope that all of these wonderful gifts continue to unfold in the near future.
Welcome to the new blog of the Pastor of Washington Plaza Baptist Church. As I begin my first week of work this week, I am excited about beginning this new journey of blogging with an eye on the happenings in and around my church. I hope that you will follow the blog, add your own comments and enjoy the conversation. Blessings!
