Doing Community in a Netflix World:

The Long View

The Power of
a FUEL Quad
June 2011

You’ve probably heard Nicole Eastwood talk about them, or me reference them. At present, 1 in 10 of you are involved in one and many of you are beginning to ask questions about them. I’m talking, of course, about FUEL Quads, small discipleship communities that commit to intentional faith development with each other over the space of a year or two.

Remember for a second that FUEL is an acronym that stands for Faith Unleashed in Everyday Life. Our identities as baptized children of God formed as a community that follows the voice of Jesus in the world may begin in worship…but its goal is living the Grace of Jesus in our everyday lives. Faith is MEANT to be unleashed in everyday life. This is God’s intent for the power of the gospel that flows through each of us.

We know however, as a matter of pragmatism, that faith in our lives is nurtured and grown. We give it water, fertilizer, sunlight and good soil, and God takes care of the rest. What FUEL Quads recognize is that Jesus’ best discipleship didn’t occur with 70 or 12. Jesus was most effective with just three…Peter, James, and John. Discipleship can and does occur in larger groups of 8 to 12 in intentional faith conversation, accountability, community and study. But the power to develop real spiritual intimacy, accountability, trust, and growth comes from very small community.

I met with my Quad recently. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to spending that time with those three men twice a month. One of those encounters occurs face to face. One of us brings dinner in and we break bread together. Then we share our faith journeys together, have conversation about faith materials we are reading and interacting with, and then pray for each other. It’s awesome. My particular Quad then meets one other time each month via a SKYPE video call. It’s been hard to get used to this part of our monthly gatherings…mostly working out of the technological bugs, but it’s again a face-to-face encounter with one another, deep faith conversation, and again prayer. Each of us would say we’re stronger for it.

Last month I talked about what it means to be the Church in a Netflix, on demand, world. Not surprisingly as our lives become increasingly digital and privatized, the community of faith formation becomes ever more important. This faith community can and does occur through digital media. The conversations we have on the St. Stephen Facebook page for instance, or at the Spirit Porch blog are rich and deep. But human contact isn’t going to go by the wayside anytime soon. If anything, in our world, it’s going to become increasingly precious and valuable…and we’ll engage these times with more intentionality and appreciation.

Please consider how faith in Jesus is growing in your life right now. If you’re in a faith stall and God seems far away, then it’s time to do your faith life differently. And personally, I think it will begin with an intentional small Christian community.

If you are interested in joining a FUEL Quad (they are always gender specific), please let me or Nicole Eastwood know. We’ll get you equipped and coached and empowered to embarq on this journey.

Don’t be surprised if you discover a whole new depth and richness to life.

Here’s to hearing the voice of Jesus in our lives more clearly! More importantly, here’s to hearing that voice with others!

God loves you and I do too!

Pastor Nathan

What does hunger look like?

I grew up hearing about children starving in far-away lands – lands I just knew, as a child coming from a working-class household, that I would never see. There were the admonitions to eat everything on my plate because starving children in China would just love to have what I was ignoring on my plate. There were the pictures of starving children in African countries with distended abdomens and rail-thin limbs, hungry children in South American countries who were victims of the never-ending civil wars, pictures of hungry children in the projects of Philadelphia who were victims of racial and social injustice. None of these pictures seemed any more real to me than those I saw in National Geographic - tales that just as likely could have been from the Brothers Grimm.

Several weeks ago, my brother-in-law told me about what the real faces of hunger look like. A 60 Minutes piece aired, and reported that there are over 1,000 homeless children in Seminole county schools. So….. hunger might look like the children who sit next to your child or mine in classrooms or play with them on playgrounds, or who ask if they are going to finish their lunches and ask for whatever remains.

Many of the families are not in shelters, as I thought, where they might lose their dignity, but are at least fed and provided shelter. Because many of the shelters separate families across gender lines, or are full – those who have minimal access to work are living in the cheap motels all around the county – some very close to St Stephen Lutheran Church.

How do we assure that the face of hunger is not the face of our next-door neighbors?

I’m not real sure, but I’m going to investigate. We do know meals were being provided while the children were in school; now that there is a summer break, we have discovered that there are still feeding centers at local schools – Altamonte Springs Elementary is one. Our church has provided some support for the Sharing Center and we are now going to begin to expand that outreach to the school feeding centers to help send food home for weekends. Please consider helping the hungry children right in our community by participating in a drive for foodstuff. Perhaps your child has a classmate who was always asking for extra food, or who you heard was living in a motel, or a car – could you seek him/her out to help? Check out this link and see what else you can do http://cmfmedia.org/web/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/50_Ways.pdf

Could you suggest other ways to help?

Author: Diane Bechtold

What does the face of a leader look like?

By:Dennis McClellan

The concept of leadership will NOT be tackled in his this brief commentary. Besides, there are way too many books on the topic, and I’m not an expert by any stretch of the term. That doesn’t mean that I don’t know one, when I see one…or work with one.

The idea behind taking someone with talent, skills, understanding, or “the right chemistry,” who isn’t involved in a leadership position…or…doesn’t want to be involved or take on a project…and turning them into a reluctant success story, is something that I find interesting. It isn’t unfamiliar to us. We’ve been raised on such stories. Remember Moses? Boy, he sure didn’t want the job he was given by God – and, as I recall, he fought long and hard not to take on the leadership of the ancient Hebrews. As the Biblical story goes, he lost that battle with God.

It was Joseph Campbell, who described persons, such as Moses, as “Heroes with a Thousand Faces.” In a book that was written when I was a small boy, and reprinted many times, and reissued in 2008, Campbell (the former Catholic priest and expert on myths and the importance of mythology) wrote:

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region
of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and
a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious
adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

Well, that very well may have been a fair description of Moses, or some of the others that he wrote about – including Osiris, Prometheus, the Buddha, and Christ.

So…here’s my question: “What does the face of a St. Stephen Lutheran leader (our local heroes) look like?” And, once we identify those faces among us, how do we get them to put their natural and learned skills and talents to work for the betterment of our congregation and the community at large?” Here’s my answer: “The next time you’re in the sanctuary or parish hall or church office, look to your left and right. There’s a leader sitting or standing (even if they aren’t aware of that fact).”

This isn’t a myth. It’s a fact. What fact?

St. Stephen is ripe with people who are leaders. They come in all shapes, sizes, colors, backgrounds, and interests. Some are younger than might be typically expected. And, they are both male and female. Some already serve on the church council. Others head up quad groups. A few are charged with ministry roles. And the real fact is that we are blessed with members who volunteer to feed the homeless, those who mentor teens in Solid Rock, assist with communion, sing in choirs, take charge of audio-visual projects – all without being called “leaders.” They just “are.”

What is, is! There is no standard face of leadership. There is no standard level of education, work experience, or parental background that renders someone more appropriate to be a leader at St. Stephen.

The primary ingredient is making one a leader is “desire to serve.” If anyone has the attitude of a disciple and servant, they have the basic DNA. Around our campus, you’ll see a endless flow of bodies doing the work needed to help us grow, spreading the DNA to others, and keeping the flame burning.

The first weekend in June saw some 60+ people gather for a leadership retreat here on campus. It was an honor to be included. It was quite a gathering – and we didn’t stop until the clock ran out. I observed first hand the high level of desire to serve that permeated the group, and came to appreciate more than ever that leadership isn’t about the leader. It isn’t about me. It’s about others – the people served, the people led, the people encouraged to “join” in, and about helping others to grow, take over and become leaders.

The face of leadership might be compared to looking into a bowl of M & M’s. When you pick a handful out of that bowl, the grouping is always different. It never looks the same. You can’t expect the appearance of that selection to always appear the same. The same is true with how leaders appear. They don’t look alike, think alike or sound alike. And when mixed with others, the groupings will always take on a different look. That diversity can make for some interesting “flavors.” And, it can make for some outstanding examples of leadership.

Why not give yourself the opportunity to experience personal growth and work toward becoming a leader at St. Stephen? Your skills, talents, interests, desire to serve, and willingness to set ego aside and become a servant leader might be the best move of your life – and add to the life at St. Stephen.

How do you become a leader? Just show up. The best leaders around our campus are those who you might not immediately suspect are leaders. They are involved; they don’t always wear a nametag; they might be the ones sweating or with the dirty hands. They’re the ones that lead by example.

Aren’t we fortunate?!