Has it really been (gulp!) a week?

Y'all are so sweet; missing me and praying for me and asking after me! *Blushing*

I apologize for my neglectfulness. Please forgive me! I have been lurking this week, reading your blogs and making a quick comment here and there. Keeping you all in prayer. AS ALWAYS. (I think I've said this before, that when I get so busy that I scarcely have time to blog/comment, I prefer to spend what spare time I have in prayer for you instead. Maybe that sounds, I don't know, hoity-toity or something. I hope not.)

I want to tell you a secret. Sometimes I get busy all of a sudden. Most of you know that I work part time. And of course I'm raising 3 teenagers - a full-time job on it's own. There's also volunteer service for our church, teaching Sunday School etc. I also have one other volunteer position. I serve on the Department for Outreach of the Lutheran Church Canada (East District). I have been serving in this position for three years now. I haven't mentioned it before now because for some reason I am a bit shy about telling people about it. Not ashamed or anything, no! I guess I worry that people will think I'm boasting.

Anyways, the East District offices are here in town and since I am the only local rep on the board, I am often tapped to serve on sub-committees. One of the committees I'm on is the 125th Anniversary Thankoffering Project Review Committee. (That's a mouthful.) The LC-C East District celebrated it's 125th anniversary last year and in gratitude to God, we set about to raise 1.25 million dollars as a thankoffering. We are almost at the 1 million mark, praise the Lord! The thankoffering is being used to fund new missions and local outreach initiatives. It's meant to be "seed" money to get new missions started. The Project Review Committee receives the applications for Thankoffering grants, reviews them and makes recommendations to the Department as a whole. Then we work with the finance department to disburse the funds and communicate to the church-at-large what new projects, missions, etc. are being started. I enjoy serving in this capacity very much! But sometimes it means I must turn my attention away from other things (like blogging) to focus on the immediate needs of the Department.

The webpage that the link above points to doesn't actually have very much info on it about the work of the Department. The Missions page is very outdated as well. They don't really reflect what the Department does, which is essentially to assist congregations in the task of reaching out to their neighbours and bringing them into a faith relationship with their Saviour. We provide financial resources and other forms of support, but we also work to establish an overall "vision" for mission and ministry in the East District, setting directives for how the resources should be applied. It is a real challenge because mission and ministry doesn't start at the "District" level - it starts at the "ground" level, amongst congregations and individuals reaching out to their communities. God opens new doors for ministry all the time, so we try to remain flexible to those opportunities. At the same time, finances are not infinite and we have to apply principles of sound Christian stewardship.

I know for some of you, who are part of faith communities that are not in a denominational structure, this might seem kind of strange. If mission and ministry starts at the ground level, why complicate matters by introducing a "hierarchal" structure? I guess the answer is in the word that we use to describe how we are organized together: synod. Synod means "walking together". As individual congregations, we have voluntarily decided to join together to share resources and provide mutual support to one another in carrying out the Great Commission. It is not a perfect organizational structure. (What is, this being a fallen world and all?) But I have to say, I think it is so neat being part of something larger, getting a wider perspective. Knowing, for example, that my brothers and sisters in Guelph and in Strathroy are daughtering new churches - and that offerings from my own church are helping to do that!

Anyways, all of that to explain why sometimes I seem to drop off the face of the earth for a few days. No, I haven't been abducted by aliens! (smile)

This weekend I am going to Evangelfest. Evangelfest is sponsored by (can you guess?) the Department for Outreach! The third weekend in February each year is Evangelfest weekend and folks from all over the district (which stretches from the western border of Ontario all the way out to the Atlantic Ocean) get together for a weekend of outreach/evangelism seminars and Bible studies. The speakers are always outstanding. The topics are usually centred around the "theme" for the weekend and are intended to strengthen and equip the Christian for evangelism in their everyday vocations. Lots of practical content. This is the 14th year for Evangelfest (although it was formerly called Ventures in Outreach) and I haven't missed one yet!