Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing
Dear Park Avenue,
A year ago, my father-in-law was diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer. He’s had surgery and several rounds of chemotherapy. For a terminal diagnosis he’s doing well, eating, sleeping, and participating in activities in his assisted living community as energy allows. My mother-in-law is also wrestling with health concerns including early stages of dementia, respiratory issues, and recovery from broken ribs resulting from a recent fall. She lived with us for several months last winter until relocating to a senior living community of her own. Many of you have been here before – aging parents becoming dependents and the children becoming caregivers. In a large family with lots of opinions, ideas, and emotions – distractions abound… My wife Deb’s ongoing mantra for the past year has been, “Right now, our parent’s well-being and safety is the main thing; all the rest is noise!”
In church life, it’s common to respond to lots of different concerns; to attend to lots of different people; to invest in lots of different programs; to engage in lots of different mission opportunities.
All these activities may be good and worthwhile, but they can also become noise that lures us in many directions, consumes volunteer and financial resources, and yields marginal outcomes.
Many well-intentioned congregations get distracted trying to keep everyone happy, an impossible task that only sows seeds for conflict. When we keep the main thing the main thing, churches discover health and strength not in unanimity of preference, but in commonality of purpose.
Park Avenue United Methodist Church conducted a thorough visioning process that named and claimed our “main thing” for this season of our life and ministry together:
Our guiding principles shape who we are
Our source testifies to whose we are
Our vision declares where we are headed
Our call defines what we will do to get there
We’re now exactly ½ way through our strategic initiative for 2024-2026. That’s why we’re embarking on a seven-week worship series reminding us of our commitment, assessing our progress, and re-aiming as needed. Our worship themes include:
8/10 “Spirit and Prophecy”
8/17 “Dreams and Visions”
8/24 “Welcome and Belonging”
8/31 “Wellness and Wholeness”
9/7 “Growth and Celebrations”
9/14 “Being a Neighbor”
9/21 “Intentional Stewardship”
Amidst all the noise that threatens to distract, let’s explore together keeping focused on our main thing!
Pastor Dan