For a long stretch, much of our energy has gone toward the needs directly in front of us. That work has been necessary, and I am deeply grateful for the leaders who have helped carry it. Together, we have repaired, responded, organized, encouraged, adapted, and made faithful decisions in real time. Even so, we have kept looking toward the horizon, which is no small thing when the present has required so much attention. That steady faithfulness has helped lay the foundation for the season now taking shape among us.
By the grace of God, the dust has settled enough for us to begin seeing that horizon more clearly. We have a better sense of who is here and of the many resources God has placed in our care: gifts, relationships, experience, imagination, buildings, partnerships, financial resources, etc. We also have a growing sense that others are on the way, and we are beginning to understand what it will require to welcome them well, help them find their place, and become more fully church together.
The horizon before us is wider still. We are being called to grow deeper ties in our neighborhood and city. We are learning to receive as well as offer, to listen as well as speak, and to join what God is already doing beyond our walls even as we tend what God is doing within them. We are a church in the city, for the city, and with the city.
There is urgency in this, and I believe it is holy. It’s important to remember that urgency is not the same thing as panic. Panic diminishes vision. It makes everything feel immediate and leaves little or no room for prayer, wisdom, or love. Holy urgency sharpens attention. It helps us recognize that this season together matters, that we should not drift past what God is stirring among us, and that when the next faithful step becomes clear, we ought to be ready to take it.
Throughout this season, I have found myself returning to this question: What is God showing us through the life taking shape among us?
- I see it in our youth group and in the generous support surrounding their upcoming mission trip to Puerto Rico.
- I see it in Building for Hope, especially in the quality of conversation taking shape with congregants, neighbors, partners, and local professionals.
- I see it in Community Ministry, where welcome keeps becoming relationship. People are known by name. Needs are shared. Stories are exchanged and the circle of “we” keeps widening.
- I see it in the encouragement we are receiving from neighbors and community partners, in budding friendships across the city, and in the growing sense that Tabernacle’s life is bound up with the life of our neighbors and our city.
- I see it in our guests, in longtime members leaning in again, in renewed energy across the congregation, in leaders asking healthy and courageous questions, and in the many servants of this church who do quiet work with steady faithfulness.
All of this deserves prayerful attention. The life God is stirring among us is beautiful, and it also brings responsibility. One encouraging sign is that careful stewardship is becoming more deeply woven into our shared culture. The season ahead will ask much of us. Our property and mission belong in the same conversation. Our budget should help us tell the truth about what God has entrusted to us and how God is calling us to live. Our partnerships will need care, and our leaders will need support. We will need to discern carefully, so that the sacrifices we make together are faithful to the vision God is giving us.
Holy urgency asks us to stay awake, to tell the truth, and to move with courage when the Spirit makes the next faithful step clear. We have many ideas, and many of them are exciting. Some may become faithful next steps. Others may teach us something and then give way to clearer invitations. That, too, is part of discernment.
Where do the gifts God has placed in our hands meet the needs God is placing before us in our community? This is the question that belongs to all of us right now.
My hope is that we will enter this season with open hearts, asking God to shape our imagination, strengthen our courage, and deepen our trust. As we listen to the testimonies being shared in worship, in conversation, and in the faithfulness of daily service, I believe we will hear a deeper story.
God is forming us in real time.
God is showing us something through the life taking shape among us.
May we have eyes to see it, patience to receive it, and courage to follow where the Spirit leads.Yours in Christ,
Sterling W. Severns
Senior Pastor
