A Second Home

by Julie Long
In May, our church’s Family Life Committee sponsored a survey of families in our congregation. The Church Census, developed and analyzed by the Center for Family and Community Ministries at Baylor University, was made available for us at no cost thanks to a grant through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

The survey asked questions about the makeup, stresses, strengths, and challenges of our families and our congregation. Our answers not only told us more about who we are as a congregation but gave us insight into how the church can help meet the needs of our families and our community.

Many in our congregation were unable to attend the census report given on September 2. Here are some of the highlights:

- Our congregation is extremely well-educated, with nearly 75 percent with college or graduate degrees. Of those ages 40-59, the percentage is as high as 92 percent.

- A significant number of respondents (19) have attended our church 1-4 years, with 35 percent attending 11-22 years and 14 percent more than 30 years. This indicates a committed core group serving alongside newer members.

- The most prominent stressors for families include health concerns (illness, disability, depression/emotional problems and death of family/friends) and financial concerns (prioritizing money use and financial strain).

- In terms of living our faith, we are strong in worship, Bible study, prayer and giving. Challenges include sharing our faith and promoting social justice.

When asked “how the church can help,” the most common responses were consistent with most common stressors. Families want the church to help them know what they can do to make a difference in the world through working for justice and community service. Families also need the church’s support in caring sick or aging family members and managing their finances.

If you would like to learn more about the census results, a copy of the full report is available in the church library for your review. (A shorter 3-page summary is available here.) Our church leaders and pertinent committees will be having further discussions about how to apply the results to our current ministries and future planning.

Our children did not complete the full survey but offered their own insights into our church through drawings and writings. When asked, “How does our church help your family?,” one child answered, “by giving us a second home.” My prayer is that these results will help our church continue to be family to one another so that each that comes here will find a place of belonging, nurture, and love.

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People of the Wednesday Night

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
In an article entitled "A Catholic Looks at Baptist Spirituality," the author--Dr. Samuel Weber--calls Baptists "People of the Wednesday night." He implores Baptists to cherish and protect this part of their common life: "I urge you to preserve the Wednesday night. Guard it faithfully and keep it continually. Do not allow the pressures of modern living to take over. You do the world a great favor and bring many blessings on all of us when . . . you gather together to hear the word of God, to pray, and to break bread in . . . the ‘company of those who believe.’”

In imploring Baptists to remain, “People of the Wednesday night,” Dr. Weber is taking a page out of the book of Acts. There we read of a vital early church that "Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread and ate their food with glad and generous hearts" (2:46). This "breaking of bread" continued Jesus' own emphasis on shared meals and shared fellowship. Not coincidentally, he put a meal--the Lord's Supper--at the center of his kingdom.

Gathering with fellow believers to rub shoulders, pass the potatoes, and say our prayers continues to be a vital part of the Christian life. However, finding time for shared meals at home--and at church--is a growing challenge. On the way to the computer revolution, everyone got busier than ever. So much for the “paperless” office or the 40 hour work week! Plus the competition for the time and energies of students and their families continues to intensify. Who would have believed 15-20 years ago there would be sports practices and ball games on Wednesday evenings and even Sunday mornings in the heart of the Bible belt?

Despite such challenges, our staff and lay leaders continue to tweak our Wednesday night offerings in an effort to keep “church family night” alive and well at the top of Poplar. Our menus are being revamped and the top choices of the congregation will be served starting October 1. And while the supper line opens at 5:15 p.m, you can get served as late as 6:00 p.m. Children and youth events begin at 5:50 p.m. Adults continue in the Fellowship Hall (a revealing name, don’t you think?) for prayer and praise at 6:00 p.m. Adult studies and programs, along with Chancel Choir practice, begin at 6:30 p.m.

The enclosed insert details upcoming Wednesday night adult offerings. In addition to the Fellowship Hall topics, a fascinating Walter Brueggemann study will be offered along with a new Bible Study for Internationals. We’re hoping these offerings will add numbers, depth, and diversity to our Wednesday night experience.

I hope we will always be the “People of the Wednesday night” because it’s hard to be family without eating together at least once a week!

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Standard Roach Letter

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
Warning: Do not read the following column while consuming your dinner salad.

When a prepackaged airline lunch was served on an international flight, a passenger opened her salad container and discovered a cockroach. Her yelp of disgust and outrage brought the head stewardess running who did her best to calm the passenger and contain the damage.

Immediately upon arriving home, the still fuming passenger fired off an angry letter to the President of the airline. In very short order, she received a reply by special courier rather than regular mail.

The President of the airline was most remorseful and responsive. His letter read, “Dear Ms. Smith, This was very unusual, but don't worry. I want to assure you that particular plane has been completely fumigated. In fact all the seats and the upholstery have been stripped out. We've taken disciplinary action against the steward who served you and he may even be fired. It's highly probable that this aircraft will be taken out of service. I can assure you that it will never happen again. And I trust, Ms. Smith, that you will continue to fly with our airline.”

Just as Ms. Smith was feeling somewhat vindicated, she noticed her original letter had inadvertently been enclosed with the President’s response. On the back of her letter was scrawled his note: “Please reply with the standard roach letter”!

I’m guessing she did not fly with that airline again.

In a world where computers spit out “form letters” pretending to be personal, a truly personal letter is an increasingly rare treasure. From time-to-time I hope you receive such a letter. From time-to-time I hope you write such a letter.

Write a card or note of encouragement to friend going through a hard time. Write a letter of thanks to a beloved teacher from your childhood. Write a thoughtful personal letter to your Congressional Representative. Write a family member a special letter celebrating his or her birthday. Write a letter to God and tuck it in the back of your Bible. In a world of relentless yet fleeting email, a personal letter--especially one that is hand-written--conveys a depth of caring and substance cyber-communications lack.

Fully 20 of the 27 books of the New Testament consist of personal letters. Granted, those letters are written to people in another place and time, but the pastoral concern and spiritual passion of the writers yet bleed through the pages. And in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, breathing upon those old, old words, they can yet become God’s very personal word to You, second personal singular (Luke 24:32; John 14:26).

Surely it is no accident God sent his Son into the world--and the New Testament witness was penned--long before email put personal letters on the endangered species list.

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Jesus the Carpenter

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
With the Labor Day holiday upon us, I find myself reflecting on the fact Jesus spent far more of his life in ordinary labor than in certifiably religious work. Depending on how one reads the Gospels and does the math, Jesus spent 1-3 years in a ministry that began at the age of thirty. Thus, for most of his adult, Jesus lived and worked in a blue-collar world as a carpenter.

Today, a “carpenter” can mean anything from a day laborer to a skilled craftsman and small businessman. Jesus was more like the latter. Recent scholarship has concluded the Greek word tekton, translated in English Bibles as “carpenter” (Mark 6:3), would better be rendered “builder” or “contractor.” For one thing, wood suitable for construction was rare and very expensive in the Palestine of Jesus’ day. Most building was done with stone and brick. And most such work was found not in the tiny mountain village of Nazareth, but in the nearby metropolis of Sepphoris. In that bustling city, King Herod was always throwing up a new Roman theater or other government building.

In all events, Jesus spent most of his life as a “working man.” (Everyone knows teaching and preaching are not “real work,” so that doesn’t count!).

I believe much of the earthiness in Jesus’ teaching--the grounding of his truth in everyday life and pressing human need--came from his real world work experience. As he walked to and from work projects in Sephorris, he observed the farmers, shepherds, and landscapes that would populate his parables. On the construction site, he learned the importance of properly bidding a job (Luke 14:28-29) and how much more savvy good business people could be than the religious types holed up in Jerusalem (Luke 16:1-9).

During my teen and college years, I delivered newspapers, sacked groceries, mowed grass, mopped floors, and worked in a convenience store. But I’ve had this cushy one-day-a-week job in the Temple for a long, long time.

Fortunately, my dad spent his working life as a tool-and-die-maker. Though he died last year, he is with me still. Usually, when I am working on a sermon or lesson, I hear him whisper, “Do you really need that big word?” “Does the guy working at the plant need to hear that?” “In the real world where real people live, who cares?” The dad who shows up in the back of my mind to say such things, doesn’t always win the debate, but I can count on him to ask the hard questions.

Most persons serving in religious vocations come from working-class families. Whatever the reason, it’s a plus. The temptation is strong in religious work to keep one’s head in the clouds. It helps to have a dad and Jesus keeping one’s feet firmly planted on the ground.

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