My job

I guess it's kinda natural to trash your own job. It's as American as peach berry cobbler.
I'd like to rebel against that a little.
A little?
Okay. A lot.
I like my church.
I haven't always felt that way in the past 22 years, not at the previous churches where I've served, or even the church I'm serving now.
Oh sure, you say - easy to praise what you're doing now, and trash the past.
No, I wouldn't do that to you. I truly think we have a man of God leading Our Savior, Pr. Brian Banke (take a bow). He has quelled a furor, got all of our horses heading in the right direction, and more importantly, he has cast and sold a vision for our church that I think is truly important.
Get that? I'm working at a church that is doing important things!
That vision is truly Lutheran, in that it emphasizes the priesthood of all believers. We are literally training men and women to be faith leaders in their community, through our Equip class. I am currently working myself out of a job by promoting and training parents to be shepherds (not chaperons). We have several non-ordained folks preaching and leading worship, to the benefit of all involved. We are making inroads into the community in significant way (i.e. feeding hungry kids each week, helping local schools, opening doors to ESL classes and Celebrate Recovery.) Our elders are actually eld-ing! Our women's ministries are strong, led by capable women. People of all ages are being fed, taught and cared for. We even have a thriving young adult ministry, which is the Great Chasm in most Lutheran churches.
And I haven't even talked about worship yet.
Ah, we'll save that for another time.
Or, if you don't believe me, you can check some sermons here
I guess the thing I'm most excited about now, tho, is the confirmation class here at Our Savior.
Confirmation is for our 7th and 8th graders and this is our first year of moving to a two-year program, and along with the regular catechism curriculum of yore, we've added what I think is a very helpful and practical year: a look at how God's promises reveal itself through the books of the Bible; and how we as Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Christians going to Our Savior Lutheran Church in Tacoma Washington compare to fellow LCMS churches, fellow Lutheran churches, fellow mainline denominational churches, fellow Protestants, fellow Christians and fellow religious people. We do that not only by studying what our similarities and differences are, but also by visiting their houses of worship. We've visited Temple Beth El and experienced the Sabbath the way Jesus likely did; we visited St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox church and experienced church the way the first Christians likely did; we tripped across the highway to a non-denominational church; we participated in worship led by a woman pastor; and finally, we're visiting a fellow LCMS church, though one that is much more traditional than we are. I feel that the experience our young people are having is matchless and will be remembered the rest of their lives. I am also proud to say that the receiving congregations have benefited from our amazing, polite ambassadors.
I know this sounds a little rah-rah, but it's hard to be cynical in the face of so many good things that are going on.
Are there problems? Of course. They have this aging youth director who thinks he's funny, but is really just impeding progress; once they get rid of him, this place is really going to take off.