Into a New Future

                          “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment,
                               for the patch will pull away from the garment, making
                                             the tear worse.” (Matthew 9:16, NIV)

Now I’ve probably read this verse any number of times, but the verse that comes after it talks about the new and old wineskins, and has always gotten my attention (and the attention of most of the commentaries I’ve used). So, to suddenly find this little gem as I was thinking about the newsletter was sort of exciting.

We don’t have to wash new clothes to shrink them as much anymore. But, I can remember when we used to have to bring home new clothes and wash them to get the shrinking over with before we’d wear them. (And we’d sometimes buy clothes a little big, so they’d fit when they shrank.)

Sometimes we have problems in our lives and in our churches, and we try to “patch them up” with new ideas that another church or group is using. We often don’t look at the repercussions of such actions, and the “patches” cause even bigger problems.

We are beginning the process of looking at how to be a Safe Church. There is a group of folks who are working hard on establishing a policy for us. This is not something we can just “patch” with a new little patch for one or two issues! This is an important issue for the whole church. 

If you are asked for some ideas on any of the topics they are tackling, don’t just whisk them out of the way. The committee is taking this seriously and we should too. If one of the members of the committee approaches you for help on one of the sections, be thoughtful in your response.

And pray! Pray for the committee as they look at our future here as a church. Pray for our congregation as we begin to think in new ways about keeping us safe. Pray that God will lead us all into a new future.                        

                                                                    Pastor Nancy