E-gram April 27, 2015

I just want to take a moment, once again, to encourage all of you at North Danvers Mennonite Church. I'm so proud of you.

We live in a secular culture that is resistant and skeptical of our faith in Jesus. We also live in a time where we are dealing with significant social conversations, particularly conversations about the LGBTQ community, sexual orientation, martial rights, etc. None of this is easy. Though I have no "right answers" to give, what I can say with utmost certainty is that HOW we engage in these conversations is perhaps even more important than our resolutions because our actions and our conduct impact how people think of Jesus. I think we are off to a marvelous start in this area. My prayer is that we will continue to proceed with extreme integrity, extreme due diligence (as we study God's word together and listen for his voice), and extreme love and respect for one another throughout the entire process of value discussions, established representation to the Kansas City conference, etc. May "separation" and "divorce" continue to remain absent from our vocabulary throughout this time. May we continue to look to how we can better serve God and others together. And may we continue to be followers of Jesus Christ, led by his Word, reaching out in love.