Good News about the Church!

Geoff Holsclaw, my colleague at Northern and friend, has a post on good news about churches:

(Geoff is another good reason to consider studying for ministry at Northern seminary.)

Headline news is usually bad news. Viral blog posts are usually polemical. And those “way-too-long” conversations on Facebook and Twitter are often based in controversy. Pain, division, and anger drive on-line traffic and often directs the content.

And church news is little different: pastor so-and-so is embroiled in a moral failing; church such-and-such fired its pastor over leadership differences; and the seminary down the street let go a professor over theological issues. The list goes on and on.

Isn’t it time for something different?

How about a little good news? What about a viral campaign about churches doing well? Well, here is my modest attempt to say a good word about our church community.

Honoring My Church Community

Let me just say it loud and clear: I love my church. And when I pause to think about it much, it brings me to tears.

Last week our congregation gathered for an ordination and consecration service for myself and my wife, Cyd. You see, I managed to squeeze a 2-year ordination process into 10 years (Cyd did it in the allotted 2 years, so that tells you who is more on top of things).

During the service there was a time of affirmation so that people could say how much they love and appreciate Cyd and me as people and as pastors. And of course it was very nice (thank you all who were there).

At the end of the service I got up to say a word of thanks, because that is the good and proper thing to do. But I was so overcome by gratitude (more precisely, I was choking down tears) that I couldn’t get the words out (I know this is very hard to believe for those who know me, but there were witnesses I promise).

And why was I so choked up? Well, let me tell you.