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The Last Family on Earth

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By Larry Short

I was struck today by Pastor Steve’s thought-provoking Oasis: Elim at Home message about isolation and Noah’s Ark. You may already know that I’m a huge fan of the Noah’s ark story (Genesis 6-8). My entire office at home is decorated with Noah’s ark artwork. When I was in my 20s, I wrote a novel about the situation in Noah’s day. I’ve always found thinking about this biblical-historical account extremely fascinating. And despite the critics of the story, I have no doubt it’s literally true—because Jesus Himself said so.

In fact, I was super excited a few years back when Russell Crowe (an actor I respect) starred in a new movie called Noah. Darlene and I found the nicest theater we could watch it in and rushed to see one of the first showings.

And we were bitterly disappointed. To the point of anger, even. How could anyone possibly mess up such a beautiful, compelling story so badly?

Anyway, I won’t give my critical review here. Suffice it to say, if you haven’t seen it yet, don’t bother.

But with all my thinking over the years about Noah and his story, I had never really thought about what it must have felt like to actually BE the last family on earth—isolated with a menagerie in a huge barge, being tossed about on the waves in a world gone mad.

Steve asked some perceptive questions that got me going:

What was the downside of being on the ark?

Well, at first you think of all the obvious things. The smell must have been special. No power, no running water, no real sanitation—and I doubt you’d want to build a fire on a big wooden boat made of pitch, so how would you cook? Meals must have been rather dull.

But beyond that, there are the incalculables more difficult to imagine. How would you actually feel knowing that you were the last family on earth? How would you feel knowing that everyone else you had ever met and cared for was now dead? Talk about a feeling of isolation!

And how would you think about the future? Would you wonder, as the days dragged on, if you might have to live out the rest of your life on that big, stinky boat? How they must have longed for dry land.

What do you think Noah and his family were missing?

I am a person who loves to spend time in the mountains. Normally April would be the start of my morel mushroom-hunting season, and my son Nathan and I would head out to the Eastern Cascades, probably meeting my sister Kay and her husband Tom there, to launch out into our state’s beautiful forests in search of our elusive prey. But now, all the national forestlands, national and state parks, and camping facilities have been closed. I can still walk through the little wooded areas near my home, such as the Tacoma Watershed, which is nice, but it’s not the same. I’m itching to get back out into the mountains and hunt some mushrooms again!

And I also feel guilty when I feel this way, because I know it’s far worse for many others, such as for our friends Larry and Marilyn Nelson, who are confined in their small apartment in a retirement home, and for those who have been exposed to the virus and live in fear or who are sick and are not yet sure why. I am thankful every day not to be in that boat.

But I wonder how Noah’s sons and daughters-in-law felt when they looked out over the rail onto that endless, churning sea. Would a day ever come when things would be different? When the hope they had for a new and better world would become a reality?

Finally, what were the advantages of being isolated on the ark?

I think the biggest and most obvious advantage was that they were alive! In His mercy, God spared them from His incredible judgment against a rebellious world.

And this knowledge would have given rise to an incredible sense of hope. God had a plan. He intended to restart civilization. They would see it through. They had a second chance!

In many ways, I feel the same way about the current crisis. Yes, we are at home, isolated. But we are alive! God in His grace and mercy has spared us from this plague. And, while a resurgence is always possible and we must be diligent to guard against it, Washington State Department of Health data shows that infections and deaths in our state are on a downslope. Things will get better! God has a plan. There is hope.

Hope is incredibly important to the human condition. Many people misunderstand the word hope because it has been diluted by our culture’s current abuse of the term. But really, in my view, it is more akin to the term vision.

And the Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18 KJV).

I think the same thing is true of hope. It is a gift from God to renew us (Isaiah 40:31) and keep us focused on His plan (Jeremiah 29:11). It’s hope that arises because He has saved us and has called us to love Him and live committed to His purposes (Romans 8:28)—hope that we are on a journey, and at the end of that journey will be a new and better world!

There are many good things about our current isolation: It is keeping us safe. It gives us time to think, time to get our priorities straight, time to readjust our focus. And it brings to us hope for a coming day when we will see the goodness of our beautiful Savior in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13)!

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Clobbering the Clique: Getting Connected

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By Larry Short

Last week Pastor Steve addressed the issue of cliquishness at Elim. He noted that the 125 interviews he did with Elim friends and members put this problem at the very top of our list of challenges.

He said this news “definitely caught the elders by surprise.” I was one of those who was more than surprised—I would actually say stunned, because this hadn’t been my personal experience with Elim at all. When Darlene and I first visited 25 years ago, we were drawn to this church by friendly, loving people, Pastor Martin among them, who worked hard to make sure we became a valued part of this body.

But as I did my own research after Steve shared, I came, despite my initial skepticism, to agree with his assessment. Many people I talked to reported struggles with getting connected to this church.

I’ve shared with the elders my conviction that cliquishness is actually fairly subjective and has various manifestations. One key manifestation is when we “hang tight” with our group of friends and don’t go out of our way to be open and welcoming to newcomers. Pastor Steve gave some great ideas in his Last Word for how to combat that natural tendency.

I think another manifestation of cliquishness is illustrated by stories from people who are no longer newcomers, but who still struggle to feel connected to this body. And I think there are actually even several different shades of this manifestation.

Firstly, we know some of us struggle to feel like we are connected or accepted by others at Elim. Now, sometimes I think this may be a part of our background baggage as individuals: even when people are seeking to connect with us, we don’t necessarily recognize this because of how we feel about ourselves.

Perhaps we ourselves haven’t necessarily sought to reach out and connect with others. Have we ever invited anyone out for coffee? No. We simply expected such an invitation.

The truth is, Scripture holds us each responsible for doing unto others as we would have them do unto us (Matthew 7:12). We must seek to connect to others before we can complain about not being connected.

This is one reason I’m a champion of community groups (including men’s and women’s groups). If they’re healthy, they are a place where honest connection can grow. We can encourage one another in the faith, and hold each other accountable for spiritual growth. Frankly, until you’re willing to get involved in a community group, I don’t want to hear you complaining about not feeling connected.

But I know that at times it can be a challenge to find a group that is a good “fit” for you, either from the standpoint of schedule (perhaps none meet at a time you are able to meet) or affinity (finding a group where you fit in well because of life-stage issues).

If that’s the case, I’d challenge you to chat with me about how to start a new group just for people like you! We always need new group leaders, and I can help put you on the path to become one.

Secondly, I know that some people struggle to get connected when it comes to understanding their spiritual gifts and figuring out how to use them in ministry here at Elim. As we in the Transition Team are working on what the “preferred future” for Elim looks like, I know this is one of the things we want to work on. Our heart is to help people figure out their spiritual gifts, and we’d love to see everyone get plugged in to a ministry opportunity either here within the body or elsewhere in our community.

In the past, we’ve worked on that through efforts such as the Body Life Assessment, which Brian Sharpe and Cindy Waple helped develop and implement through community groups. And now we are committed to revitalizing this effort to help members of our body learn about and use their spiritual gifts in ministry. So, please stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you feel drawn to become involved using your gifts in vital ministry, I’d encourage you to do what two friends of mine, Jenn Severns and Pat Davidson, have done. They found their hearts burdened for women caught in sex trafficking, and, taking the initiative, have been exploring ways to help. They’ve learned a ton, and it’s been an exciting journey that we as a church are 100 percent supportive of. I look forward to seeing what God will do as these two have taken a risk and stepped out to seek to bless others through their efforts.

And in truth, that really is how we “get connected”—by seeking to serve and bless others, rather than thinking about ourselves and our own problems. Our community group has been studying 1 Peter, and I’ve been blown away by Peter’s encouragement to suffering Christians to focus on doing good, serving and blessing others, in the midst of their own problems:

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace . . . therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Peter 4:8-10, 19)

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The Antidote for Burnout

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By Larry Short

Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. (Romans 12:11-13, MSG)

In challenging times such as these, which seem to take an extraordinary level of effort to hold onto whatever hope can be had—when we are tempted to throw in the towel and retreat into ourselves—we seriously need the perspective that the Apostle Paul provides us with in his letter to the Romans.

What is God’s will for us, when we are in danger of burnout? “Keep yourselves fueled and aflame.” And how exactly do we do this?

  1. Realize that we are not the bosses of ourselves! We have a Master. He is calling us to reject cynicism and to be “cheerfully expectant.” He is the God of all hope; and even when we can’t see the sunrise on the horizon, He promises that it is coming. “With God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). We must not quit in hard times, but stick to our commitment to keep on keepin’ on until we see Him finish the good work that He has begun in us and has promised that He will finish (Philippians 1:6).
  2. “Pray all the harder.” I don’t know about you, but I have to confess that I don’t pray all that hard. I can do a lot of things hard—complain hard, lick my own wounds hard, or guard my own self-interests hard. But pray hard? In times when we feel like quitting, God is calling us to pray harder instead.
  3. Help needy Christians. As we walk down this hard-packed path of life, we are surrounded by people with needs. Do we keep our eyes open to those needs, allowing them to touch our hearts? For Jesus, when He saw human need, He had compassion and was moved to action. “Lift your eyes,” He told us, “for the fields are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35). The executive fire chief for Central Pierce County recently told me that the majority of calls his 9-1-1 operators received were not specifically related to emergencies, but were made by lonely, hurting, and desperate people who just needed to connect with people who cared. Are we willing to “lift our eyes” and see these needs around us? Ironically, spending ourselves to help others is a key way to “keep ourselves fueled and aflame.”
  4. And this is one I really think Elim needs to hear. Paul says, “Be inventive in hospitality.” Literally, “pursue hospitality.” Not simply “practice hospitality” or “be hospitable,” but be passionate and creative in pursuit of it! God calls us to open our hearts and lives to those around us who aren’t necessarily “in our circle,” to those who are on the fringe, to outsiders. We are very good at connecting with those inside our circle, but not nearly as good at breaking the circle and inviting others in. The extent to which we will be energetically inventive in hospitality is the extent to which we ourselves will be kept aflame and refueled.

Do you feel like you are out of gas? Close to burnout? Do you want to give up, to retreat, to withdraw? Trust in God’s Word and do the exact opposite of what you feel your “own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) is calling you to do. Rather than hunker down, hop up and open up your arms to others around you. Embrace a cheerful hope. Pray hard. Invest in helping others. And pursue creative ways to open up your life to those outside your circle!

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How Important Is Hope?

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by Larry Short

World Vision friends and colleagues Brian Sytsma (left) and Rob Moll. Rob was killed last month in a climbing accident on Mt. Rainier. Photo courtesy Brian's Facebook page.
Two World Vision colleagues and friends hiking: Brian Sytsma (left) and Rob Moll (right). Rob was killed in a hiking accident on Mt. Rainier last month. Photo courtesy Brian’s Facebook page.

Last week I learned that someone I loved and respected at World Vision, looked up to as a mentor and considered a friend who had been very kind to me, died very suddenly and unexpectedly on Mt. Rainier.

Rob Moll was an editor at Christianity Today for many years, before coming to World Vision and taking a job (as writer for the president) that I had applied for. I was vaguely annoyed, of course, even though I recognized he was far more qualified than I was — an amazing writer and editor who had published several brilliant books.

But my annoyance faded quickly as I got to know Rob. He was a riveting presenter at chapels, and his intense curiosity, scientific interest, and passionate love for Jesus made it hard to stay annoyed. The last time we met was an informal lunch at World Vision’s U.S. headquarters, where I sought and received from him some good advice on how to get my novel professionally reviewed.

Rob left World Vision shortly thereafter for a job in Boston, but retained some good friends here, and came back here last month to climb Mt. Rainier with one of them, a colleague and friend named Brian. They were climbing an escarpment when Rob lost his footing and fell 100 feet. Brian descended quickly to find him unresponsive, and by the time the helicopter arrived, he had passed into the presence of Jesus.

One of Rob’s books is titled: The Art of Dying: Living Fully Into the Life to Come.

Rob was only 41. He had a wife and four children. His funeral is Friday afternoon. (Please let me know if anyone would like to go with me.)

Rob’s passing was the second brush with grief I’d had in the past few months. I struggled when I learned earlier this year that Pastor Martin and Kim were moving on. Martin is a good friend and mentor and one of the key reasons Darlene and I fell in love with this church and have enjoyed being a part of this body for the past 20 years or so.

And of course I’ve also lost my mom and dad, both sets of grandparents, other aunts and uncles, and many other friends, many of them here at Elim. I don’t think it’s possible to experience living until you are in your 60s without the shared experience of loss and grief.

What buoys us up in the midst of such loss? What sustains us and helps us to keep going? It’s hope.

Hope tells me that Rob and I will have lunch once again. It tells me that I will be joyfully reunited with my parents and other lost loved ones, and that we will together explore the hills of heaven and enjoy a deeper and more personal knowledge of our Savior when we do.

Hope also reassures me that God knows what he is doing in a church which experiences the loss of a pastor and friend like Martin!

Hope is not wistful or wishful thinking, like our culture sometimes thinks it is: “Wow, I really hope that happens ….” No, it’s something completely different. Hebrews 11:1 assures us: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” So hope is all tied up in this package with faith and conviction. It’s something you believe, because the God who is faithful and who keeps His promises says that it is so.

And it has occurred to me more than once, and more vividly recently, that if we can trust God to reunite us with our loved ones, if we can trust Him when He promises life eternal, we can also trust Him when He plainly tells us other things. In one sense, smaller things … things like: “Do not fear” (which he repeats over and over again in Scripture), or promises of His presence with us now, or of His imminent return, or promises that if we ask for the good gift of the Holy Spirit, He will grant that Gift.

While the pain of loss and grief diminishes over time, I don’t think it ever disappears completely in this life. But the promise of hope tells us there is a life coming when Christ will “wipe every tear from our eyes” (Rev. 7:17 and 21:4). Loss will then be a distant and powerless memory, when we are confronted with the reality of the coming Kingdom, eternal life, and the King in all His glory!

I’ve been thinking about and working on the challenge Pastor Steve shared Sunday: What letter might Christ write to us, just as He wrote to the seven churches in Asia Minor through John? Part of that assignment is, what might Christ commend in our church? For me, I think the answer is that Elim is a place that has, for me, nourished hope. We are excitedly and expectantly, together, looking forward to that day when He will wipe away our tears!

P.S.: Go here if you’d like to contribute to a special memorial campaign for a project that was near and dear to Rob’s heart, life-saving clean water in Malawi. Or click for the Gofundme page set up to help Rob’s family.

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Turning Over Tables

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By Larry Short

I am very much enjoying being a part of a small but lively community group designed for newish and upcoming group leaders. We rotate and share responsibility for leading Bible studies, sharing and prayer times, and fellowship.

Recently Rebekah McKenzie led our Bible study on the topic of Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers, in the second half of John 2. It was her first time leading, and I was really looking forward to it. (And she did a great job herding us cats!)

I tell leaders, “Success in leading a Bible study is not up to you. It’s up to the Holy Spirit, moving as He desires among the members of your group, in accordance with the gifts He’s given them.” Effective group leaders really should simply be facilitators of this process, more than teachers, per se.

And that takes a lot of the pressure off, doesn’t it?

Working Together in Our Gifting

After studying Ephesians 4, particularly verse 11, I’ve recently come to the same conclusion regarding the Church itself (and Jesus’s own church with a small c, here on the corner of 94th and 128th, Elim Evangelical Free Church). It’s God’s Church—not ours—and we must look to Him to work His plan for it. And He will do so through the effective working together of the gifting He gives to the members of the Body.

We learn the following from Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:

  • There are a variety of gifts and a variety of types of service. We are not all the same. (Thank God for that, right?!)
  • The purpose of those gifts is to build up the Body of Christ. And that means that Body will not be healthy unless those gifts are being used properly! (This is why I think it is so important for us to seek to understand how God has gifted us and experience His freedom in learning to use those gifts well and wisely.)
  • If one member of the Body suffers (and I think from the context this might include those who may not be using their gifts as God intended to serve others and build up the Body), the entire Body suffers.

Then in Ephesians 4:11 and following, Paul shines an even sharper spotlight on the five specific gifts that are super important for the healthy functioning of the Church:

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.

And Paul goes on from there to reveal more about what spiritual maturity and church health look like. (It’s definitely worth a read, at least through verse 16! Also, it’s worth noting that some scholars believe the last two [shepherd and teacher] are actually one gift alternately translated “pastor.” And I definitely think these are two distinct skill sets or gifts.)

The Forgotten Ways

But what caught my attention here (for the first time, recently, thanks to “the forgotten ways” and innovative 5Q work of Alan Hirsch and our local EFCA district) is that Paul here focuses specifically on a subset of the myriad of spiritual gifts that exist. Why?

My conclusion is that while the exercise of all gifts is good, right, and healthy, the exercise of these four or five gifts in particular is critically core to the health of a vital, viable, and growing church! They are “pastoral” gifts.

What happens in most of our churches (which derive their paradigm from the Christian church in Europe, which sadly is now practically dead in many places) is that they focus on the last two in what Hirsch calls the 5Q, or APEST, model—shepherding and teaching. They completely ignore the first two—apostle and prophet—and mostly marginalize the third—evangelist.

I said “they,” but you can make that “we” if you want to! Our church is also in this camp.

Hirsch made two other points that spoke to me, which leads to my title about Jesus overturning tables:

  • God has given the Church everything we need for healthy function. Therefore, those gifts already exist in our Body. Our main task will be to find them, encourage them, and release them. A key function of our “professional” pastors will then be to model these gifts to whatever extent possible and to lead our members in the discovery and exercise of these gifts as they already exist within this Body. (Obviously, this has profound implications for the pastoral search upon which we are about to embark!)
  • We need to clearly identify and call out the paradigms (the ways we have always done church—for instance, investing in a pastoral structure that reinforces certain gifts and diminishes others) and be willing to replace those failed paradigms with new, more biblical paradigms.

Which of Our Tables Need to Be Overturned?

This is where turning over tables comes in. In our small group, we have at least three leaders with the gift of prophecy fairly high up there in our profiles (Dave Lingenfelter, Isaac McKenzie, and I). All three of us got very excited during Rebekah’s study as we began to discuss the question, What tables might Jesus turn over in our churches today and in the way we do church?

Actually, I take that back: Isaac and Dave got excited, and I (as an elder) was mostly getting nervous! I think this was because I sensed we were starting to touch on something that God wanted us to do, which would probably not be comfortable in our own Body at this time: carefully identify our existing paradigms, asking Jesus to turn these over and substitute His paradigms for this Body.

This Will Be Uncomfortable

I was warned that even mentioning this possibility might be upsetting for some, particularly those who are more change averse. But I think it’s good to give fair warning. The elders all agree that a time of transition such as this might be just the opportunity God wants us to take a serious look at how we do church, reengineering it to become more effective at achieving Christ’s mission for us.

Also, when you hear the word paradigms here, it might help to think of the phrase ministry structure. Our ministry structure is the way we as elders and a Body hire staff and ask them to run specific ministry endeavors, and it’s the way we involve ourselves in those efforts.

Speaking of uncomfortable . . . if I’m sitting at a table, doing something the way it’s always been done and believing there’s really nothing wrong with that, and then suddenly that table gets turned over by a Guy who is backed up by a whip made of cords, I have a strong feeling it’s not going to be a pleasant experience for me!

But the real question is, Are we (as a church) willing to have our tables overturned for the sake of what God really wants to do in our midst? It will probably stretch us (out of our comfort zone) in many ways. But remember whose Church it is!

And I think the same question can be readily applied to my personal life. What aspect of being a Christian am I a little too comfortable or complacent with? Am I willing to allow Christ to overturn some tables in my own life? What might those tables be, and how does He want me to respond?

Freedom to Serve the Way We Were Made

Realizing and leaning into my own gifting has given me a unique sense of freedom I don’t think I’ve ever fully experienced before. I’ve begun to feel free to speak out more (as I’m doing here . . . and don’t say it, I know some of you are thinking, So he was holding back before? Uh-oh.) in ways that might make my brothers and sisters uncomfortable. I realize I need to do so in love—responsibly, understanding that there can also be a dark side to the way we as fallible humans use any gift God has given us. (Prophets can drive people absolutely nutzoid, I know, and they can also get themselves sawn in half!)

Nevertheless, I challenge and encourage each of us, as members of His Body, to figure out how we fit in and what role we should play. If you don’t yet understand what gifts God has given you and how you should use them, connect with your community group leader or mentor and suggest that they spend some time helping you figure this out. (And please feel free to give me a call or send an email if you can’t figure out who can help you, and I will help get you connected!)

May Jesus overturn whatever tables in our lives and in His Church that are standing in the way of the salt and light He wants us to be as we love people in our community and around the world to Christ!

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Processing the impending departure of the Schlomers

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By Larry Short

Martin and Kim Schlomer
Pastor Martin & Kim will celebrate 25 years of ministry at Elim on March 31.

As the whims of scheduling would have it, I am the lucky one who apparently drew the “short” straw to write the Last Word the week after Martin and Kim announced to the congregation their departure from Elim as of the end of this May, after 25 years of ministry.

I’m going to be very honest and vulnerable here. Martin (and his encouraging, shepherding heart) is a large part of the reason Darlene and I have “stuck with” Elim these 24 years. (We arrived about a year after he did, and were privileged to have lunch at his home and strike up a friendship the very first Sunday we attended.)

When Martin and Kim shared with the Elders last month what they were planning, while I (rationally speaking) was excited for how the Lord is working in their lives, on an emotional level, it was a punch to the gut. Let’s just say that someone had to fetch a box of tissues.

Over and over again, since then, I’ve repeated to myself what I know to be true: “This is God’s church. It’s not Martin’s church, nor does it belong to any of the rest of us. I know He has a plan for our good. We can trust Him.”

But of course, telling yourself what you (rationally speaking) know to be true, and feeling it deep within your heart, are not necessarily always the same thing.

Despite my emotional reaction to this news, I want to acknowledge some of the “positives” that I have observed since Darlene and I have been made aware of the Schlomers’ impending departure:

  • Martin and Kim are excited as they approach the possibilities of their new assignment. Martin is already throwing himself quite energetically into his training, working toward his certification as a hospital chaplain. More than anyone I know, he has always had a sense of what I call “holy unrest.” What he preaches from the pulpit, he really desires to live out in his life. Two years ago, when I was laid off from my job and began driving for Uber and Lyft, and shared with him my delightful discovery of how God was using me to love and serve total strangers in my car who didn’t yet know Christ, I could tell Martin was excited about what I was experiencing. He shared his frustrations that he often, as a pastor, was unable to find sufficient opportunities to share Christ with those who are not yet disciples, despite his strong desire to do so. So this is a chance for him to put some rubber on the road, so to speak. I think he will be an awesome chaplain and am excited to hear what God does.
  • This is clearly an opportunity for the Elders to pull together and do what we are called to do, to shepherd God’s church. More than once recently, we have heard it said among us: “We have been anointed for just such a time as this. In God’s economy, there are no accidents.” I’ve appreciated the way I’ve already seen the Elders dig in, pray, process their feelings and their questions, seek wise counsel, and carefully consider what the future may bring. This is not easy, but it is what God calls us to do. Our prayer is that we will be united in love, so that the devil might not have an opportunity to do what he would really like to do, bring this church down in disunity.
  • Our district superintendent, Bruce Martin, has wisely pointed out that such transitions are often the times that God really works to “reformat” a church into the image that He desires it to be. Complacency comes way too easily.  Are we reaching people for Christ? Changing lives? Making disciples? Impacting our community through compassionate service and testimony? This really is an opportunity to rethink how we “do church.”

As I am writing this, the announcement has not yet been made to the entire congregation. We fully anticipate that a wide range of emotions and concerns will be expressed. We want you all to know that as Elders we do not (yet) have all the answers! This news has hit us, just as it is now hitting you, but just a few weeks earlier is all. It will take time for all of us to process together what this means. But please understand the following firm commitments that we as Elders have already expressed to one another:

“Our Constitution calls us as leaders to observe and enforce a very cautious and rigorous process for selecting a new senior pastor. It lays out steps for that process and we are engaging in a sequence that will take months to complete even before we are ready to solicit and receive applications for the role of senior pastor. At present, therefore, no one is being considered or will be considered for the role. We are simply not there yet.”

In short, this is a time for prayer and patience. We must get this right.

Our “next steps” right now are to:

  • Prayerfully offer this entire situation to God. It is an opportunity for Him to continue to shape Elim as He desires, or even to change that shape if He so desires. Our job will be to pray and to listen, and as leaders to act once we hear from God. Therefore, our first official step will be to call a team of Elimites committed to prayer to meet face-to-face on a regular basis to bathe this entire situation in prayer. (Please contact me if you would like to be a part of the team that is forming. Our first meeting will be February 11.)
  • Celebrate well the amazing contribution that Martin and Kim have made here in their 25 years of ministry (as of March 31), and to bless them as they depart/
  • Ensure that Satan finds no opportunity  to divide us and bring us down. We will do this by prayerfully seeking timely truth-telling in love, and unity in the Holy Spirit; by guarding our hearts and guarding the integrity of the process. Elim is an extraordinarily healthy church, and we trust we will emerge from this challenge even more so.
  • Communicate well, transparently and honestly, with a congregation that will be both grieving and celebrating and experiencing a range of emotions just as we as Elders have done in the past month as we have learned about this impending transition. We don’t yet have “all the answers” and shouldn’t feel pressured to make others think we do. We will seek to discourage undue speculation about what will happen in the future, but we will prayerfully commit to proceeding toward that future as God leads us. We must come alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ and help you all express how you are feeling at this difficult time. We must listen, without rushing to judgment.

We are here, and we want to walk through this with you, in a healthy way. Please reach out to any Elder if you have questions or concerns that you would like to process … and we will listen. Thank you, and God bless us all as we trust in Him!

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