I must admit to you that when I heard I was being sent to Prescott to be your pastor I had several different feelings.  Knowing that Nancy and I were going to be back together as co-pastors was really exciting.  Then I wondered if it would be the same, since now Nancy had had her own church, and as she said, she had been the queen bee and rather enjoyed it. What will that mean to how we work together?  We had someone say to us that he wasn’t sure about co-pastoring.  His concern was, “My wife and I get along well and we agree on everything, but we cannot work together.  She just won’t do what I tell her.”    Then I realized that we had been co-equals, partners, always in our relationship and I knew I did not need to worry.  But how would we fit in here at the church?  Will we be a good match for you and this church?  And we began reading your newsletter and all that you do, especially your mission and justice ministries, and we felt blessed.

But what I discovered in this time of transition, after I got beyond my own concerns and began listening to the people of my congregation, I began hearing that they were a little nervous and anxious about their new pastor.  Will she keep some of our favorite ministries going?  Will she continue to work with our strategic planning committee as they work to tune our new discipling process called “The Journey To Apostleship.”   Will she continue to help us implement our “Gifts Based Ministry” program? I realized the church receiving a new pastor also goes through many different feelings, thoughts and concerns.  And I began to remember some statements I heard at our introduction to your Staff Parish Committee, and in some discussions Nancy and I had with some of you at the Anniversary Celebration.  “We hope you believe in active lay leadership and ministry.  We have worked very hard to get many people involved and to start many new programs.  We have worked hard to get them all in place.  How do you feel about this?”  Knowing that there is some wonder about expectations and approaches to ministry, I thought I would just share a little of Nancy’s and my philosophy about what it means to us to be pastors and to be a part of this wonderful group called the body of Jesus Christ.

My first understanding of my role as pastor came from my Ethics professor in seminary.  His name was Kenneth Smith, but everyone just called him Snuffy.  Snuffy came from the shores of Virginia, as he would often remind us, and he had that wonderful drawl to prove it.  Now Snuffy probably just made five foot in height, so when he stood behind the lectern all you saw was this.  (Go behind lectern and squat.)  And, he was even balder than me, so you are getting a pretty accurate view.  That is until he got excited about what he was teaching us, which was several times a class period, and then he would become very animated and engaged.  So I can still remember him preaching to us about our role as the ordained clergy in the church.  “You, (jump) “as the ordained ministers (jump) etc. “in the church are the ministers to the people in the pews.  The people in the pews are the ministers to the world.  If the gospel is to get to every classroom, boardroom, and bedroom in this world you cannot do it on your own.  You must empower others to take it back to their world and to the people they meet in their daily lives.  And quite honestly,” he reminded us, “they have the harder job.”  Nancy and I believe this is true, and obviously, so does the Apostle Paul.  We are all called to be the body of Christ and to be a source of bringing and being the good news to others.

A member of my former Conference in Western New York wrote a book entitled, The Bored And Apathetic Church Member.  The book addressed the issue of people dropping away from the church.  In the midst of his research, he made this observation.  He said that the highest number of intimate relationships anyone can balancer at any one time in their lives is 12.  So I guess Jesus knew what he was doing when he picked the number of disciples to follow him.  But when I think about the time and energy it takes to be fully present and able to listen and respond to another, I sometimes think that number is about 10 too high.  We all need to be actively engaged with the community if we hope to even begin to give the kind of love and support we would like each other to have, especially during times of need and crisis.

This is why Nancy and I believe small groups are important.  In the group people have the intimate relationships that are needed to support us, but also to nurture us on our faith journeys.  Again, returning to Romans and Paul’s words.  We are all gifted, we are all beautifully made by God.  I chose the Psalter Reading today, which was Psalm 8, because I love the thought of the Psalmist.  “Who are we that God is mindful of us?  Yet God has made us just a little less than God.”  It is why I love the children’s song you heard this morning, and I can assure you, you will hear many more times over the years.  “See Me Beautiful, look for the best in me, it’s who I really am and who I long to be.”  Sometimes, often times, the person who has the hardest time seeing their beauty is themselves.  The church is here to help people see themselves, experience themselves as the beautifully created person they are, made in God’s image.  Genesis 1.

But that is not the end of our relationship.  In fact, it may just be the beginning.  I just finished reading a book entitled, Being The Church Of Irresistible Influence.  The author of the book is the pastor of a very successful church.  He had implemented small group ministries and the church had grown into the hundreds and even thousands.  But, one day a group of his leaders came to him and said, “We are not satisfied in our Christian walk.  We have great support in our groups and we have wonderful studies, but something is missing.”  So they began to talk and assess what it was.  They discovered they were missing the action component of their faith.  That their spiritual life was incomplete without making a difference in the world in which they lived.

Jesus gave us two simple commandments to live our lives by.  He said, “You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and you are to love your neighbor as you love yourself.”  As someone said, “Everything after that is editorial comments, and examples of how to live it.”  And that is what we hear in the Gospel in John this morning.  “You are to love one another as I have loved you.”  How?  By laying down our lives for each other, by being in service and servanthood to those we meet along life’s journey.  Love is a verb, an action word, and so we are called to be people of action, engaged in active ministry to the world.  It is what completes our spiritual lives.

So what is our role as the ordained clergy?  Certainly to share the gospel as best we understand it at the moment.  We are to administer the sacraments and oversee the life and order of the church, but to what purpose?  To provide every opportunity we can for all of you to discover and know the beautifully created person you are, your neighbor is, as a child of God created in the image of God.  To help you know you are gifted and chosen by God to do wonderful works of love in this God’s creation, so you may know yourself important and your lives meaningful in your walk with God.  Theologian Walter Breuggeman shares my favorite thought about the church and our relationship to God.  He says, “One of the things God does best is to trust us with our moment in history, our moment in God’s story.  We are here together, to honor the trust God has given to us all to build God’s kingdom in this place and this time.  Amen.

Sermon delived by Rev. George Cushman on July 24, 2005.