• 

Fawn Weaver insists, “Happily ever after is not a fairy tale. It’s a choice.” When it comes to marriage, I chose wisely. 

I can readily identify with Churchill’s assessment: “My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.”

Amanda and I are celebrating our 36^th wedding anniversary today.  We were married on September 7, 1985 at the Post Oak Springs Baptist Church near Jacksonville, Alabama, her home church and my first pastorate.  Since that time our journey together across these 36 years has been quite an adventure with lots of unexpected twists and turns, a journey that has enabled us to learn and grow, and to forge a remarkable number of treasured friendships along the way.

After a reception in the Fellowship Hall we departed for our honeymoon and the real work of marriage began.  Even for a pastor and wife, the merging of two lives is never easy and is often messy.  Amanda and I have tasted both the “for better and for worse” experiences of life, and our relationship has grown stronger and more durable as we have confronted obstacles and embraced opportunities. Marriage is perhaps the most unique of all human relationships.  The privilege of partnering with one person for life is a blessing and a challenge.  But for the pastor’s family, I think the stressors are specific and peculiar.  While every marriage has its challenges, a pastor’s marriage is lived out in a distinct context.

Here are a few of the factors that test the stability of a minister’s marriage:

• The glass house syndrome.  A minister’s family life requires a little more transparency and is often scrutinized more publicly than the average marriage.
• The swinging pendulum of emotions.  Because a minister deals with the emotion of everything in life from birth to death, a minister’s family is subject to lots of emotional fluctuation.
• The burden of confidentiality. A minister deals with sensitive confidential issues on a daily basis, and although a minister’s spouse is not privy to many of those issues, the duress of confidentiality often bleeds over into the minister’s home life.
• The flexibility challenge. A minister’s schedule is always tentative.  Interruptions are a constant.  Vacation plans change. Kid’s ball games and concerts are missed. A minister’s life demands extraordinary flexibility.
• The fatigue factor.  Many ministers confess that they teeter on the brink of burnout or pastoral fatigue.  A minister’s children and spouse often live with a parent or partner who is physically and/or emotionally exhausted. And without a sense of balance and a time for refreshing, this weariness can drive the entire family toward “church burnout.”

According to Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure.” Although this admonition is for the entire faith community, it is especially important for ministers.

To build a healthy marriage, a minister and spouse should take proactive steps to navigate the aforementioned stressors with faith, discernment, and intentionality. As we have grown through 36 years of marriage, we have gained a few insights into what makes marriage work for us as a pastor and wife:

• Embrace the uniqueness of the “ministry life.”  Life for a minister’s family is not abnormal. It is just a different kind of normal. We try to live into the uniqueness rather than avoiding it or denying it.
• Avoid unrealistic expectations. You will likely encounter a few church members who have unrealistic or idealistic expectations for your work schedule, your preaching topics, and your family life. You will be a more effective minister and you will have a healthier family life if you live out of the wellspring of your gifts and convictions, and not the expectations of others.
• Schedule time for dates. There is a lot of demand on a pastor’s schedule.  Calendaring can often be like doing triage. So I schedule appointments with Amanda for lunch dates, dinner dates, sporting events, and other fun activities. Otherwise, my schedule becomes full and we will miss spending quality time together.
• Avoid taking the stress and stories of work home.  Often when I leave the office, I am still in ministry mode, making evening visits or phone calls, working on preparation for upcoming services, or processing the events of the day. And while I may occasionally need to decompress by discussing an extremely stressful situation, I try to avoid discussing the daily debris of ministry with my spouse
• Take your off days and your vacation.  I am still working on this. Only a couple of times during our 30 years have I taken all of my allotted vacation time. However, the older I get, I find that it is more important to take time to rest, refocus, and rejuvenate, for my physical health, my spiritual health, and for the health of our marriage.
• Tell stories involving your marriage or family life with discretion. Our congregation loves stories and they seem receptive to illustrative stories from our personal experiences, such as our adventures in tennis, golf, or travels.  However, I try to only tell stories that highlight and illustrate how our lives intersect with the application of the biblical text, and I avoid stories that are intimate or critical.
• Do ministry together occasionally.  Amanda has her own passion for ministry and she invests her time and energy in serving, just like any other member of our congregation. However, we occasionally enjoy making hospital visits together, engaging in mission projects together, and even reading and discussing the same books.
• Take care of your health. During our wedding, we pledged to be faithful to each other in sickness and in health. Obviously, we prefer to be healthy.  We do a pretty good job of keeping up with our doctor’s visits and we are proactive in caring for our health.
• Learn when to say yes and when to say no to invitations. We enjoy being socially active, but there is no way to say yes to every invitation. It is a biblical imperative to “let your yes be yes and your no be no.”
• Keep growing… together.  I don’t think anyone, especially a minister and spouse, ever reaches a point where you can put your marriage on cruise control.  A healthy marriage requires ongoing nurture. There is a big difference in growing old together and getting old together. We want to grow old together by continuing to grow spiritually, intellectually, and intimately.

A healthy marriage may not necessarily make ministry easier, but an unhealthy marriage certainly makes ministry more difficult. If you neglect your marriage in order to preserve your ministry, you are likely to lose both.

I love being married and I love serving as a pastor. And I hope to enjoy both in some way for an extended season. Amanda and I have shared a partnership in life and ministry for 36 years now.  And I look forward to many more.

(Barry Howard serves as the pastor of the Church at Wieuca in North Atlanta. He also serves as a columnist and leadership coach for the Center for Healthy Churches.)

A few years ago after several consecutive days of conversations with friends and fellow church members who sensed their world was coming unraveled, I sensed the weight of the many concerns entrusted to me in a short period of time. As is my pastoral practice, I isolated myself in my study to pray over their many concerns and to process what was happening in the lives of those in our congregation and community.

While I was glad to hear their stories, privately and confidentially, I found myself wishing I could gather all of them in the same room to say something like, “You are not alone. Others in this room are also having a tough time. There are ways you can help each other through this.” And, “In the tough moments, do not give up. Press on!”

Although I could not bring such a group together, in my journal, I jotted down what I wished I could say to them, and I included anonymously many of the real life dilemmas that had been recently shared with me. I included these words at the end of a sermon the next week and in the church newsletter the following week.

Now we are in another season where many around the world are having a tough time, and once again I sense a cumulative heaviness deep in my soul. As I am praying for many current concerns, I recognize that the dilemmas that throw us into a spiritual or emotional tailspin haven’t changed much. When life is tough, we have to be tougher. When storms arise and fears dismay, we are called to “press on” with patience and perseverance.

Here are the words I shared then that are still pertinent now:

“Life is a fragile gift that often unfair, frequently unpredictable, and mostly uphill.
The journey requires faith, courage, and determination.
There will be moments when your commitment will be challenged and your motivation will waver.
When you are tempted to give up or give in, press on!
When life throws you a curve ball and the unexpected happens, press on!
When you have a bad case of the blues or you are suffering deep down depression, press on!
When you get angry at the incompetence of a neighbor or colleague, press on!
When you are at the foot of the mountain about to begin the uphill journey of recovery, press on!
When you are at the beginning of the treatment regimen, one that suppresses your appetite and oppresses your spirit, press on!
When you are tired of being tired, and sick of people being sick, press on!
When your friends are difficult to deal with or your family is difficult to live with, press on!
When you move to a new town or begin at a new school, and you are the stranger, press on!
When you feel lonely and isolated, even in a crowd, press on!
When the news is filled with gloom and doom, press on!
When your workplace is dominated by chaos or conflict, press on!
When you are tempted to settle for mediocrity,, or on the verge of losing your integrity, press on!
When death or disease takes away someone you love, in the power of the Spirit, press on!
Putting the past behind us and the future before us, let us press on toward higher ground!”

(Barry Howard serves as the pastor at the Church at Wieuca in north Atlanta. He also serves as a columnist and leadership coach with the Center for Healthy Churches.)

Sometimes you hear a song and it keeps playing in your head long after you have heard it. Such was the case around 2015 when I heard our choir sing the anthem “Press On.” At that time these words were especially relevant for me and other members of our congregation who had experienced grief, extra stress, job loss, property damage from storms, and/or family fragmentation.

The lyrics begin like this:

When the valley is deep
When the mountain is steep
When the body is weary
When we stumble and fall

When the choices are hard
When we’re battered and scarred
When we’ve spent our resources
When we’ve given our all

In Jesus’ name, we press on
In Jesus’ name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize, clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on.

Through the years I have practiced the discipline of writing prayers, including personal prayers, prayers for worship, and prayers for weddings, funerals, celebrations, dedications, and other special occasions. Most of my prayers are brief, primarily because I think God is a fast listener and doesn’t need to hear me wax on at length, except on those occasions where I need to unload and God willingly lends an ear for as I long as I need to lament, confess, or seek God’s counsel.

The morning after first hearing the anthem, I was still hearing the anthem. So during my devotional time, I scribbled down a prayer for me, my congregation, my friends, and my family to find the strength to press on.

This week as we have been dealing with yet another surge of virus-related risks and as my phone has been buzzing with news of friends who are sick and others who have passed to the other side, I have pulled out this prayer and reclaimed it as my prayer for all of us to find strength for the living of these days:

A Prayer to Press On

“As we navigate the twists and turns of life
grant us the wisdom to press on.
As we seize opportunities and confront obstacles
grant us to courage to press on.
As we deal with the grind of daily decision-making
grant us the insight to press on.
As we aim to live with passion and purpose
grant us the energy to press on.
When we encounter difficult people and difficult situations
grant us the savvy to press on.
When we experience worry and anxiety
grant us the peace to press on.
When we are perplexed and concerned about the future
grant us the vision to press on.
When the unexpected revises our plans
grant us the patience to press on.
When doubts arise and fears dismay
grant us the stability to press on.
As we practice justice and mercy
grant us the courage to press on.
Wherever our journey takes us
In the overcoming power of your Spirit
empower us to press on.”

In the good times and the tough times let us “press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:13).

(Barry Howard serves as pastor of the Church at Wieuca in north Atlanta. He also serves as a leadership coach and columnist with the Center for Healthy Churches.)

The prophet Amos, who served in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century BC, became acutely passionate about justice. During a time of great prosperity, Amos observed the rise of corruption, the decline of morality, and the increasing neglect of the poor. As he confronted these inequities Amos declared, “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:24 NIV).

During Vacation Bible School a few years ago I observed our students standing attentively as they belted out, “I pledge allegiance to the flag…”. We often recite these words in classrooms and at civic gatherings. When we pronounce the pledge, it is more than a mere obligatory ritual. Since it is a pledge or commitment, it is imperative that we listen attentively to all of the words and take them seriously. The last words of the pledge are perhaps some of the most counter-cultural words of commitment we can speak: “…with liberty and justice for all.”

Our ancestors envisioned a nation wherein liberty and justice would be for all people. For some, however, “liberty” has been reduced to a license for self-centeredness and “justice” has been diminished to mere retaliatory or punitive action.

Although dictionaries routinely define liberty as “the state of being free,” liberty involves much more. The historical American concept of liberty is not that one is free to do as one pleases without accountability for the consequences of one’s actions. Rather, our heritage of liberty means that we are not owned or enslaved by another person or power. We enjoy individual and corporate freedom within the boundaries of ethical and moral responsibility. True liberty calls on us to express ourselves with civility, and to respect the rights of those who think differently to do the same.

Justice is commonly perceived as “the assignment of merited rewards or punishment.” But the Old Testament prophets, especially Amos, knew that justice is much more than being affirmed for right behavior or punished for bad behavior. Justice strives to create viable opportunities for all persons to succeed economically, vocationally, and socially. Real justice seeks to create opportunities for the disadvantaged. The Bible gives us many examples of the disadvantaged: the poor, widows, orphans, the sick, strangers, the hungry, the homeless, and those in prison.

In our “Pledge of Allegiance” we commit our lives to the pursuit of “liberty and justice for all.” The phrase “for all” is inclusive, not discriminatory. “For all” means we aim to provide and protect liberty and justice for all individuals regardless of gender, race, economic status, political ideology, or religious background. To preserve liberty and justice for the privileged few is indicative of a shallow theology and an uninformed patriotism.

While you and I are blessed to enjoy the privileges of freedom, many around our world still live under tyranny and can only dream of liberty and justice. Therefore, on July 4th we celebrate our independence, even as we pledge ourselves to continue to work for liberty and justice for all persons in the future.

Liberty and justice are not just political ideals. They are social tenets which affirm intrinsic human worth, and spiritual values which reflect the image of our Creator, ultimately experienced through the liberty we find in Christ. John 8:32 declares, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  And Amos 5:24 urges, “Let justice roll on like a river.”

In order to truly “let freedom ring,” we must work together to “let justice roll!”

(Barry Howard serves as pastor at the Church at Wieuca in Atlanta, Georgia. He also serves as a leadership coach and columnist for the Center for Healthy Churches.)

For 30 of my 40-plus years as a pastor, I have had the privilege of serving in two distinguished military communities: Anniston (former home of Fort McClellan) and Pensacola (home of Pensacola Naval Air Station). I continue to share life with those who currently serve or have valiantly served our country. Over the past three years I have enjoyed conversations with multiple military chaplains, officiated a wedding for a naval aviator, presided over the memorial service of a World War II veteran, shared a eulogy for a retired colonel, and listened to the career story of a former navy pilot, now in his eighties.

In each of the communities where I have served, an extraordinarily large number of residents have lost a son, daughter, father, mother, brother, sister, friend or neighbor on the field of battle. During my tenure in Pensacola, I shared over one hundred eulogies at the Barrancas National Cemetery, where over 32,000 veterans and their family members are interred.

No one knows for sure the exact number of men and women who have lost their lives in service of our country, but most veteran’s service agencies agree the number is 1.2 million or higher.

For this reason, Memorial Day evokes in me more of a sense of somber observance than of celebration. On this one weekend of the year, in the words of Aaron Kilbourne, “The dead soldier’s silence sings our national anthem.”

Although the final Monday in May can often become a holiday marking the beginning of summer, we should be careful that the meaning of this day does not become lost in the busyness of our activities. Memorial Day is not just another day off from work but a day to remember those who have lost their lives in the military service of our country.

A nation that fails to remember the sacrifices of those who came before us will inevitably succumb to a convenient amnesia, a loss of corporate memory that eventually robs succeeding generations of appreciation for our national heritage. To fail to remember creates a contagious apathy that leads to a neglect of both our freedom and our citizenship. To fail to remember can produce a false sense of security and an inaccurate perception that we are exempt from future warfare. If for no other reason, we should remember in order to guard against what George Washington called “the impostures of pretended patriotism.”

Perhaps our virtual reality world is becoming too much of a fantasy world.  When we mute the self-serving and accusative political rhetoric, remembering our unabridged heritage can stir in us both a gut check and a reality check. The kind of remembering we need to do on Memorial Day is an uncomfortable but necessary discipline, a practice that forges vision from memory and distills wisdom from history.

As we observe Memorial Day, let us take time to remember the women and men who served with extraordinary courage to establish and preserve our freedom. We have over a million reasons to remember.  By remembering our history, may we be better prepared to engage the enemies of our day with the weapons of peace, not war.

(Barry Howard is the pastor of the Church at Wieuca in North Buckhead near Atlanta. Additionally, he serves as a leadership coach and columnist for the Center for Healthy Churches.)

• 

Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta birthed a vision in 1946 to plant a church in North Buckhead.

The congregation saw this area as a mission field and a hub of future growth on the north side of Atlanta.

Second-Ponce purchased property in 1947 on Wieuca Road with the vision of starting the new church, and the first service was eventually held on May 9, 1954.

Wieuca Road Baptist quickly flourished under the leadership of pastors like J.T. Ford and Bill Self.

The remarkable increase in membership was mostly attributed to expansive growth in the primarily residential community, and the decision to televise their worship services around the region.

However, in 1991, the church began to experience a 30-year decline in membership and participation.

Opinions vary, but it seems that rapidly changing demographics, a couple of internal schisms, a national decline in church participation, and a significantly high attrition rate all played into the decline.

In recent years, the church considered a variety of options to address its dilemma, including relocation, merger with another congregation and selling the campus with proceeds to fund a missions endowment.

All of these are viable options for churches to consider, but Wieuca discovered another option that it is currently pursuing.

In 2019, as the church contemplated the call of a new pastor, they contracted with The Center for Healthy Churches to work with them in exploring their best options moving forward.

Bill Wilson, executive director of CHC, served as Wieuca’s congregational coach and consultant.

After months of prayer, dialogue and spiritual discernment, the congregation decided to “put everything on the table,” remain in their current location and, in the spirit of their founders, to become a mission church again.

How does a big steeple church become a mission church? A mission church is a church started by another church or agency to address an identified set of needs in a specific community. In this case, Wieuca is re-launching as a mission church using resources from its own ancestry.

The transition is not easy. In fact, it would be much easier to relocate or merge with another congregation.

However, with a mindset of spiritual spunk and determination, Wieuca is on a journey to become a new kind of faith community for the neighborhood in which they were originally planted.

During this season of transition, I have been invited to serve alongside the congregation at Wieuca as their pastor. Therefore, I am highly engaged in this missional work.

The transformation of Wieuca is a work in progress, and there are many moving parts.

Considering the global pandemic, every church needs to rethink their future and re-envision with mission. Because this journey at Wieuca began pre-pandemic, Wieuca simply has a head start.

Wieuca is working through the following steps as they activate and integrate their new sense of mission and these may be helpful to other churches as we all navigate emerging cultural realities and new missional opportunities.

• Revisit your history.

At the onset of the discernment process, Bill Wilson led the church in recreating a historical timeline. This process enables the church to celebrate their high moments, to own their low moments, and to dream about writing the next chapter.

• Re-evaluate your strengths and resources.

No church has all strengths, no weaknesses and unlimited resources. So, it is imperative for a congregation to analyze their human resources and their financial resources and envision their future through the lenses of those resources.

• Revise your mission statement and/or missional objectives.

Every church should update their mission statement every few years.

The Great Commission never changes, but the way a local congregation fulfills the Great Commission in their context is ever-changing. In light of the pandemic, it is imperative that every church update their mission and vision.

• Re-calibrate your thinking from “surviving” to “thriving.”

In most congregations, this requires a monumental culture shift. Such a shift in thinking does not happen instantly or easily, but over a prolonged period.

Churches can only persist in survival mode for a season. A thriving mindset requires a recalibration of attitude and action most often generated by a renewed sense of mission.

• Realign your staffing and key leadership with the new mission and vision.

Whether reassigning existing staff or commissioning new staff, the staff assignments and the staffing paradigm must correlate to the new missional objectives.

• Restructure your administrative policies and operating procedures to fit the vision.

Update your policies and procedures to empower your mission. Otherwise, the mission may be limited, restrained or derailed by outdated guidelines.

• Re-engage with your community.

Re-introduce yourself to your neighbors. Share your vision. Rather than hoping the community will come to church, discover new ways to be church to the community.

• Re-design your campus and rethink your utilization of space.

Think creatively about your stewardship of space. Re-think, right-size and retrofit your space in ways that correspond to your mission. Be prepared to gracefully acknowledge and deal with a few sacred cows along the way.

• Reconsider ancillary partnerships.

Target partnerships that invite others to utilize your campus and to join your church in the mission of enriching life in the community.

Church campuses may be ideal space for workshops, college classes, community meetings and concert venues. Space-sharing also means cost-sharing, which may allow a church to spend fewer dollars on campus maintenance and more dollars on ministry and missions.

• Revitalize your approach to worship.

Prioritize engagement and participation in worship. Focus on life-transformation, not attendance.

De-emphasize style and focus on hospitality, messaging and life application. Consider weekday options and off-campus options, and interactive online options.

Throughout this adventure of refreshing the missional heartbeat of Wieuca, I am continually reminding our church family that we will encounter unexpected obstacles and opportunities.

Although we have a core mission and vision to guide us, the trek is not scripted, and the outcome is not guaranteed. Therefore, we must be faithful and flexible as we navigate the twists and turns of the journey.

On the most encouraging days and the most discouraging days, these words from Philippians 1:6 enhance our focus: “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

(Barry Howard serves as the pastor at the Church at Wieuca in Atlanta. Additionally, he serves as a leadership coach and columnist with the Center for Healthy Churches.)

Walt Disney suggested, “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”  Making the journey through a good book is a soul-nurturing adventure.

My love for reading was slow to develop.  But when it emerged, it flourished. During my teenage years, I perceived reading to be a nuisance and somewhat of a necessary evil to get decent grades. At some point during my college years, however, I learned to appreciate the gift of reading, not just for assignments or entertainment, but for personal growth.

In my work as a pastor, I need to read widely to stay current and relevant. More importantly, I need books like I need food, to satisfy cognitive hunger and to probe intellectual curiosity. Books stimulate my thinking, exercise my memory muscles, and challenge my presuppositions.

These days I find reading to be relaxing, educational, and often inspirational.

Typically, I read a variety of genres including fiction, spirituality, theology, history, and biography. And I usually keep from three to five books going at the same time, a discipline that was recommended by Opal Lovett, one of the most influential faculty members from my college years. This practice invites a variety of authors to be conversation partners in my internal dialogue.

I also intentionally read books I disagree with. Rather than making me combative, the practice of reading opposing viewpoints challenges me to test my assumptions and it familiarizes me with a variety of perspectives.  This discipline equips me to dialogue and debate intelligibly, and not just emotively.

For the past several years, around the first of January, I make a list of books that I plan to read during the coming year. While I hope to read 40-50 books this year, I have already compiled a list of twenty-one books I want to be sure to read in 2021:

1. Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change by Tod Bolsinger.
2. A Place to Belong: Learning to Love the Local Church by Megan Hill.
3. Where I Come From: Stories from the Deep South by Rick Bragg.
4. The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.
5. Truth-telling as Subversive Obedience by Walter Brueggemann.
6. Not Now Lord, I’m Eating Lunch by David Gilmore.
7. Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage by Anne Lamott
8. The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly.
9. Diary of a Pastor’s Soul: The Holy Moments in a Life of Ministry by M. Craig Barnes.  
10. Paul and the Language of Faith by Nijay Gupta.
11. Broken Signposts: How Christianity Makes Sense of the World by N.T. Wright.
12. The Church Recovery Guide: How Your Congregation Can Adapt and Thrive after a Crisis by Karl Vaters.
13. The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus by Rich Villodas.
14. Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry by Ruth Haley Barton.
15. Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner’s Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven by Amy-Jill Levine.
16. Stories by Will Willimon.
17. Good Apple: Tales of a Southern Evangelical in New York by Elizabeth Passarella.
18. Southernmost: A Novel by Silas House.
19. Saving Freedom: Truman, the Cold War and the Fight for Western Civilization by Joe Scarborough.
20. His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope by Jon Meacham.
21. Do What You’re Best at When You’re at Your Best: How to Get Time, Energy, and Priorities Working in Your Favor by Carey Nieuwhof.

Whether you are a fast reader or a slow reader, a hard print reader or an e-book reader, read for quality, not quantity. This year I invite you to join me in adopting the philosophy of Fran Lebowitz: “Think before you speak. Read before you think.”

Enjoy a great year of reading in 2021!

(Barry Howard serves as the pastor of the Church at Wieuca in Atlanta. He also serves as a columnist and leadership coach with the Center for Healthy Churches.)

Every year, my wife and I give a few gifts at the end of the year to non-profits, mission centers, and ministry groups with whom we have a close connection. And although we give regularly to our church throughout the year, we usually give an end-of-the-year gift to our church.

This year we are giving a little extra to our church and here are ten reasons why:

• We believe that the local church is where the action is. While all the ministries to which we contribute are doing good work, the local church is the hub of ministering to the community. The local church has local boots on the ground and through the years we have observed the local church going to extraordinary lengths to be the presence of Christ during tough times.
• Giving has been down for most churches. Whether it is due to furloughs, layoffs or temporary closures, offerings are down between 10-40% at churches around the country. For those of us who have the capacity to give a little extra, our additional contributions may provide a huge boost to the ministry of the church. As one of my friends said recently, “If you have been saving for a rainy day, this is it.”
• Expenses are up. Some may wonder why expenses are up when many churches are mostly online. The building still must be cleaned. And this year, most churches have gone the extra mile to perform a “deep clean,” to have their building fogged, or to regularly apply disinfectant. Churches have purchased masks, hand sanitizers, and new signage to help communicate guidelines and to keep us safe. And many congregations have purchased cameras, microphones, and other equipment to provide a livestreaming option.
• The church has been busy helping others. Our church has adopted neighboring businesses for whom we are providing care packages, notes of encouragement, and snack bags for the staff. Our church has given extra to our local mission center to assist the homeless, the unemployed, and others in transition. Our church has continued to provide support for missionaries around the world during a time when their support is being minimized.
• A percentage of every gift to our church reaches beyond our church. Most church budgets operate with a formula wherein a percentage of every gift goes toward missions beyond the local church. So, each time we give to the church, we are actually giving through the church to outside organizations.
• Our gift is given in honor of faithful givers who cannot give at this time. I am aware of many faithful givers who for years have invested in the mission and ministries of the local church through their consistent giving, and now they find themselves unemployed. Most of these persons are tithers, but ten percent of zero is still zero. So, we are giving a little extra to help cover their portion of giving until a time in the near future when they can resume their faithful giving.
• There is much work to be done in the year ahead.  There will be much work to be done in the year ahead. We are not going to reach a point where someone in leadership declares, “The pandemic is over,” and then we return to the way we did life and church prior to the pandemic. Those days are gone. Churches, like all groups, will need to recalibrate for the next season of life and ministry. We want our gift to help the church retool and reequip for the next chapter.
• This is a great week to convey a gift of appreciated investments. Of course, this is not the primary reason we give. But since the stock market is up significantly during these closing days of 2020, this is a great opportunity to give a gift of appreciated stock to your local church.
• Our giving is a testimony of hope. Many wonder when the pandemic will end. Others are concerned about whether their church will survive. We do not give so that our church will simply survive. We give in hopes of helping our church thrive. But to thrive, a church must survive the global pandemic. Our giving is a declaration that we believe the work of the church will be needed more than ever in the days ahead.
• Our end-of-year gift is an act of thanksgiving. We are blessed to have a steady income. We are blessed to have a comfortable home. We are blessed to be in generally good health. We are blessed to serve in a supportive and encouraging congregation. We are blessed to have a creative and innovative staff team that have implemented safety protocols and adapted their ministry methods for an unprecedented year of ministry. And we believe that we are blessed to be a blessing to others. We are giving a little extra this year as an expression of gratitude for the blessings that have sustained us through a tough season.

The Bible teaches us to give of the first fruits of our income (Proverbs 3:9), to give generously (II Corinthians 9:6), and to give cheerfully (II Corinthians 9:7).  For us, giving is a joyful act of hospitality.

We recognize that not everyone is able to give a little extra. Some of us are barely hanging on, and we should not feel guilty because we cannot give an additional gift. The foundation of Christian giving is that we give in proportion to our income. However, many of us have been tremendously blessed, and this year it is our privilege to give an extra gift.

As you think about your end of year giving, we invite you to join us in giving a little extra to the church this year. A little extra in 2020 can make a huge impact in ministry for 2021.

(Barry Howard serves as pastor of the Church at Wieuca in Atlanta, Georgia. He also serves as a columnist and leadership coach for the Center for Healthy Churches.)

by Walter Brueggemann

• 

In our secret yearnings
we wait for your coming,
and in our grinding despair
we doubt that you will.
And in this privileged place
we are surrounded by witnesses who yearn more than do we
and by those who despair more deeply than do we.
Look upon your church and its pastors
in this season of hope
which runs so quickly to fatigue
and in this season of yearning
which becomes so easily quarrelsome.
Give us the grace and the impatience
to wait for your coming to the bottom of our toes,
to the edges of our fingertips.
We do not want our several worlds to end.
Come in your power
and come in your weakness
in any case
and make all things new.
Amen.
— Walter Brueggemann

• 

The quest for peace is universal, whether it be peace in our land or peace in our soul. As a nation we are weary of terrorist threats, campus shootings, human trafficking, schoolyard bullying, workplace conflict, family fragmentation, political turmoil, global pandemic concerns, overall and heightened anxiety.  We have a deep longing for peace.

Weary of disputes, the prophet Isaiah envisioned a future wherein war would be eradicated, and peace would prevail:

He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4 NIV)

Since childhood, I have been singing and praying, “Let there be peace on earth.” But this prayer has not been fully answered…at not yet. To date, we cannot identify an era in human history when the world was completely devoid of conflict or warfare.

Early in the book of Genesis, the paradise called Eden is contaminated by sin, and then a couple of pages later, a fatal conflict erupts between Cain and Abel. The notion of war is born.

In the Old Testament, not only is there regional conflict between the Israelites and a variety of enemies, but there is also internal conflict between Israel and Judah. This civil war eventually led to the establishment, at least for a few years, of the Southern Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom, often referred to as the Divided Kingdom. That’s what war does. It rouses suspicion, ramps us rhetoric, breeds hostility, and divides people into adversarial camps like the North and the South.

Fast forward to our time:  According to various news agencies there are at least 10 active wars and more than 30 armed conflicts ongoing in the world this year. The most lethal war is the civil war in Syria, an ancient biblical land, where it is reported that over 500,000 have been killed.

But the promise of scripture is that there will come a day when the lion will lay down beside the lamb.  Just not yet! There is coming a day when the nations will transform their instruments of war into tools for agriculture. Just not yet! 

Until then we cannot recline in naïveté. In a world where systemic evil exists, when efforts at negotiation and arbitration have failed, military initiative is often an unfortunate but necessary option to destabilize tyrants, to rescue hostages, or to thwart terrorism. But even then, for civilized nations, the goal is to be protective, not vindictive.

In one of his most well-known sermons, Jesus proclaimed, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Especially in these days of escalated fear, let us pray for peace, let us work for peace, let us practice peace-making, and let us keep singing:

“Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be.”
                     -Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller

In one of his most well-known sermons, Jesus proclaimed, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Especially in these days of escalated fear and heightened anxiety, let us pray for peace, let us work for peace, let us practice peace-making, and let us keep singing: “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin in me.”

(Barry Howard serves as pastor at the Church at Wieuca in Atlanta. He also serves as a leadership coach and columnist with the Center for Healthy Churches.)