HELLO!

There’s a quote I use sometimes when I am challenged by passivity, it comes from the animated series. “The Simpsons”. "You've gotta help us Doc, we've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!". The context is this, Flanders is reflecting on his childhood and how challenging his behaviour was to his parents. There is a flashback moment, Flanders parents are in a doctor’s office, they are frustrated and need help. The quote exposes one important deficit in Flanders’ parents’ approach. They have tried nothing. On occasion people will say to me, “I keep calling you, dropping in to see you, but you are never there”. When I reply, “Did you leave a message?” the answer is always, “no”. Why do I know it will be “no”, because I respond to every message immediately. When I say to the person, “How do you expect me to know you called or dropped in if you don’t leave a message?” They change the subject, but the theme remains to be a passive one, they want help, but they have tried nothing.

One passive comment I have received in church many times in my 36 years of ministry is, “I come every Sunday and I haven’t met anyone new”. Obviously, the church needs to be accountable for this, which is one reason I repeat the message every Sunday, to reach out to someone new, introduce yourself. Mainline churches of all stripes are not known to excel at this, so I try my best to not only urge people to do this, but I try to lead by example and do it myself. BUT in addition to the church being accountable, the person who wants to meet someone new needs to do something. “We’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas”, is something to keep in mind. If this is your song, I have a concert for you!

This Sunday, September 27^th, after the worship service has ended, everyone is invited downstairs to our Second Annual Shine event. 35 different ministries in the church will have tables, staffed by the volunteers who bring these offerings to life. I guarantee you, one or more of these ministries will speak to you, and if you sign up to join the potential to meet new people goes up 100%. Then you can say, with confidence, “I’ve tried something, I am no longer out of ideas”.

Peace, Kevin

PS I offered this 5 minute video this morning, it’s part of the United Church for Dartmouth ministry. It’s on the same topic as this blog. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Et49T4WFm/?mibextid=wwXIfr