To What Should You (and I) “die to?”

Greetings from Montreat:

I am here for a conference titled “Church Unbound,” which is being led by some of the top thinkers and writers focused on what has become the theme for us this summer: What, if anything, do we need to change about the church for it to be a vital force in this pluralistic century?

The keynote speaker is Brian McLaren, who has drawn great attention and some controversy to his ground-breaking ideas about how we understand the role of Christ and the kingdom of God (among other things). This afternoon, I also participated in a stimulating session focused on multicultural churches. I am here by your good graces and I will do my best to soak up as much as I can for your – and the church’s – use and benefit. (In case you’re worried about expenses, the conference I attended last spring was covered entirely by the Presbytery.)

A theme of the conference is the story of Lazarus, Christ’s friend, who died and was brought back to life by Jesus. As we know from scripture’s various accounts of resurrection as well as Paul’s writings, we must die, first, to be resurrected. To live in Christ, we must die to  what keeps us separated from God. It is a question worth pondering for everyone: To what should we die – what parts of ourselves need to die – for us to be transformed in Christ?

When Jesus resurrected Lazarus, he said, “Unbind him” because he had been bound in cloth and prepared for burial. At this conference, we are asking: what will it take to unbind the church? An equally good question, one we at Caldwell have a remarkable opportunity to explore as we continue to journey together.

See you Sunday.

John

Welcome back Veronica Rogers

To our Members and Friends:

With gratitude to God, we are happy to tell the Caldwell community some very good news. Veronica Rogers, whom so many of us came to know during her recent internship, has accepted the Session’s offer to join the Caldwell staff in a part-time role beginning on Sunday, September 12.  As Assistant to the Pastor, Veronica will focus on leading worship and providing congregational care, two areas where she is particularly gifted. Her hiring will create the only racially integrated worship team in the Charlotte Presbytery.

As you may already know, Veronica was graduated from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte in April. She earned the school’s top award for preaching. While an intern in ministry at Caldwell, she built meaningful pastoral relationships with our members and friends, preached, led worship and helped develop our Congregational Care ministries. Veronica is currently a candidate for ministry with the Charlotte Presbytery and is scheduled to be eligible for ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in the summer of 2011.

Caldwell strives to be a missional church, whose highest priority is on sharing the gospel through service in our city and in the world. That means we are careful about every dollar given to the church and how it is used. We are able to bring Veronica on board through two special grants the church has received.  We hope to extend our relationship with Veronica into 2011.  

Pastor Rev. John Cleghorn will continue to provide pastoral care for the congregation in addition to Veronica and will now be able to expand his focus on other areas. As the fastest growing church in the Presbytery for the last three years, we are humbled by what God is doing here. At this important point in the ongoing rebirth of this church, we re-dedicate ourselves to God’s purposes and the “new thing” that we are blessed to be a part of at Caldwell.

We hope you will take the opportunity to welcome Veronica in person on September 12 at worship service.  After that date you’ll be able to reach Veronica through the church office; we’ll provide her contact information as soon as we’re able.

On behalf of the Session,

Janet Blanchard

Elder, Personnel Committee

Rev. John Cleghorn                                        

Pastor

Community “in Christ” – Take Two

Caldwell Family:

Like you, I am sure, I am looking forward to the forecasted break in the weather tomorrow. I hope you have some rest and renewal planned for the weekend.

I’ve continued to think this week about what it means to be a community “in Christ,” the subject of my blog earlier this week. Part of it, as I will say in my sermon, is being aware, open, attentive. About this, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:

“If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship …. if on the contrary we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.”

I hear many of you give thanks every week for our fellowship here at Caldwell. So it’s not that we fail necessarily in that regard. But how do we know if we are doing all we can do to be a community “in Christ” amid our hectic, distracted lives?

On Sunday, we will take a look at what the author of Colossians said about that admittedly abstract-sounding concept. We will also be fed for our journey as we celebrate communion and the session will meet immediately after worship to receive anyone who has been thinking about joining the congregation. Lots to look forward to. See you then, I hope. John