My State of the Church address

Dear Friends,

Our environment changes but our core values stay the same. A year ago the economy looked to be sound. We can’t say that today. The last six months have been frightening as the financial system of our nation and globe has weakened greatly. Our local economy has felt the pain. I doubt if there is one of us that has not experienced loss to their savings or earnings. Some of us have lost jobs. Some have found new jobs, but at lower pay while others are still waiting. Most of us have some level of anxiety about the future. “Will we have enough money?” is a thought that echoes. We ask that about our personal expenses as well as our congregational ones. It is a time in which fear can assert itself relatively easily.

God has prepared us to be a beacon of light to our community in this very time. He has built us upon a tradition of faithfulness. We have matured in the face of tragedies and challenges. God has brought us through so much in the past that we know He will do it again. He has given us a message of hope that our neighbors want to hear.

You see, we are not here to serve or comfort ourselves. If we were, then the economic maelstrom would be a true threat. For it has and will cause discomfort. But we are here to “become like Jesus, and to serve in love.” It is in the scary moments that we have the opportunity to grow as disciples. We do not become more like our Lord when we are resting in our possessions, but when we are stretched to truly trust God as our possessions are taken from us. We do not become like Jesus by looking to ourselves, but by caring for our neighbors when they are frightened and alone.

In the past year, we underwent a rigorous discernment process to discover God’s focus. After many gatherings, prayers, questionnaires, and prayers He gave us a clear path. We gained a purpose which is easy to memorize yet takes dependence upon the Holy Spirit to fulfill. “Becoming like Jesus, Serving in love”. The Lord gave us a word picture, or vision, of what it looks like to pursue that goal. As Jesus devoted disciples, we worship passionately, seek God’s direction, embrace transformation, and offer our lives for His work. Filled with God’s Spirit, We respectfully nurture and love all who enter our doors, invite all to experience God’s grace, and with abundance and joy serve other in Christ.

We are so blessed to have excellent leaders that help us live into our purpose. I am proud of both our lay leadership and our staff. Both are motivated and equipped to help us to expand the experience of God’s grace and might we have personally known at OPPC. Our deacons and elders time and time again give their all in all to see that our church is the most faithful church it can be. I see the devotion so many bring to our church in the unseen hours of service that are needed to make the church a place of inspiration and power week in and week out. The tasks you do – from counting and keeping track of the money to trimming the hedges to folding the bulletins to making the holiday crafts to preparing the food for the homeless and on and on – are as important to the vitality of our church as an awesome choir anthem or inspiring sermon. You all inspire me.

Our staff also amazes me. I hope you appreciate the extremely fine group of people our church has gathered over the years. Our program staff are unparalleled in the gifts they offer to God. Youth director Dan is enthusiastic and challenging to young and old. Pastor Vonna is extremely talented and wise with an uncanny ability to herd cats (which is needed in children’s ministries!) and construct healthy working systems. Our musicians (Norm, Jenni, and now Erica) have the same talent and dedication as those whom King David hired for tabernacle worship. They are passionate about praising God in music. Gene is a gem. To have a custodian who lives to serve the church is a rare gift. Donna brings her deep faith in Christ to work each morning as she cheerily greets the world (and us) as our ambassador. Virginia cares for our children as though they were her grandchildren.

The numbers from last year tell an interesting story. We were very generous in our giving. Whereas our investments followed the Market and dropped dramatically, our giving only went down slightly. This is a real tribute to the Spirit of God within our hands and hearts. If you exclude our endowment funds, we are at basically the same level in our savings as we were a year ago. That is a real surprise. Do to “cleaning up the books” we lost on paper a large number of members (46). But we actually welcomed more new members last year (20) then in any year in the last five years.

We are needed to bring the calm of the Spirit into our families and neighbors. God has a mission for us. We will start to serve the people in the Snoqualmie Valley. They were devastated by the floods of January. We can bring God’s love to them. On February 8 we begin our work in their lives. If you are able, please plan to spend the afternoon cleaning and rebuilding. This will be the first of many days and afternoons in which we will be restoring God’s hope to our wounded neighbors. Consider how you can support this work.

Our youth director has a vision. He believes that we cannot keep our youth enthused about worship unless we create a second service that is geared towards their musical preferences. He asked the Session to consider a second service that is focused on the worship needs of youth and young adults. The Session is very supportive and agrees that we cannot minister effectively to this age group within our current service. So he has been asked to come up with a plan to create such a new thing. We do not know what will happen, but we want to do what is needed to grow the younger portion of our church.

Let us lean into the Lord as we joyfully press ahead!

Your pastor, Charlie