search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
Pastoral


Reflections Rev. Dr. Jack Haberer


Beloved FPCA Friend, Face Time: What’s that? Here at FPCA, it’s the answer to a question that arose in a series of brainstorming meetings regarding our summer season: How can we continue to promote a “culture of calling” without sounding like a broken record? Family Life director Kathy Schmied answered simply: We need to have interactive conversations rather than oneˆ-way lectures.


For preachers who believe in the power of the proclaimed Word, them’s fighting words. We get a bit defensive of our calling to proclaim God’s Word. However, we FPCA pastors are students of educational theory and methods. We know that different learning styles work for different people and that a common denominator of those styles is the need for learners to interact with the subject matter. We learn best in conversation, in engagement, in discovery. And we know that, in blunt terms, “the mind can absorb only what the seat can endure.” (So says Morton Blackwell.)


In that light, the staff and the Vibrant Faith C3 (Creating a Culture of Calling) Team came up with a summer plan around the topic, “Faces of Calling.” Two key elements:


1. Conversational sermon times integrating personal stories of everyday FPCA members with everyday characters in biblical histories.


2. “Face Timing” together under tents near the church playground before or after our Sunday services. Tis “Face Timing” is a way to speak of intentional, informal chatting together while enjoying “lemonade in the shade” (plus coffee and pastries).


Te two major services both gather English-language worshippers at 9:45 to 10:45 a.m., concluding with benedictions near the playground. Te Arabic service follows at 11 and the Chin Burmese service at 12:15. Te early 8 a.m. service continues for early risers and beachgoers. But carefully sandwiched between those services is the magical Face Time of 10:45 to 11:30.


Tink of it as the cream between the chocolate halves of an Oreo, America’s favorite cookie.


Hopefully, you have been engaging in this project of discovery learning. Hopefully, your sense of call is coming into focus, is evolving in new directions, or is being reaffirmed and reconfirmed.


Other opportunities abound for you to grow interactively in your calling.


• For children, Vacation Bible School (July 15 to 19) highlights the summer season.


• For teens, a panoply of mission opportunities, discussions, and events plays out in rapid succession.


• For adults, conversations around call are being led by Pam Weiss: “To Be a Disciple—to Do Discipleship” (Tuesdays in Room 115 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.) and by pastor Dallas Bradel: “What’s Your Story?—Discovering Your Unique Giftedness” (Wednesdays in the chapel from 7 to 8:30 p.m.). Also, Wednesday Walking through Trexler Park launches from the church offices at 8:30 a.m. (through July 31). Other year-round conversation groups continue through the summer season, too.


Do turn Face Timing into a key feature of your summer of '19. Fulfilling God’s call on your life may well be the greatest outcome of all.


Grace and peace to you and yours,


Jack Haberer Lead Pastor


3


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12