From the Pastors Desk

Dream Big!

From the Pastors Desk - June 30, 2022

On Sunday, June 26^th, Ed, Rod and I attended the Northeast Ohio Synod’s Canton Area Church Summit. There were seven churches represented: Peace, Christ-Massillon, First, Zion-Canton, Zion-North Canton, St Jacobs- Uniontown, and, of course, Good Shepherd.

The Bishop asked us to describe, in one word, the best adjective for our church. I chose the word benevolent although generous might be an equally good word. I explained that if we needed to collect 100 pairs of socks for a concern of the month, Good Shepherd would collect 200 pairs!

We were then asked to dream big, leave finances out of the equation, and explain what we would do. My response was to expand on our benevolent concerns of the month and use our idle educational wing for social service agencies wanting a presence in our neighborhood.

We learned that Zion-North Canton’s big dream is to create a second Don Bartow’s Total Living Center. If you are unfamiliar with this, Don Bartow was a Presbyterian Minister who, according to The Canton Repository, “…left his mainline denomination to focus on spiritual healing and meeting the physical needs of the community’s most needy…” “His Total Living Center ministry operates a food pantry, a laundromat, and offers hot meals, free clothing and a medical clinic. The mission also conducts worship services.” It is an amazing organization and one founded almost entirely on faith. I desperately wanted to jump up, point at Zion, and yell “I want to be a part of that!” Fear not, I kept my enthusiasm in check. Yes, I do remember that I have a council and congregation to answer to!

The Bishop also mentioned that every church has the main goal of increasing membership, but usually only for financial reasons. She stated that people who come into the doors of a church with that goal can sense that and usually will not stay. However, if a church has a mission to serve Christ and do what the Holy Spirit calls us to do that will generally attract more people, especially young people, who want to serve, not just sit in a weekly church service.

Although the models of shared church resources were very generally discussed, that was really not the main point of the meeting. This meeting was more of a discernment meeting to figure out where the Holy Spirit was calling the churches present to go. Some said they needed more time to figure it out. Others said that they would keep doing what they’re doing for now.

I have a dream which I will first share with council. I personally think that the ministry of a successful, mainline church will look different than it did in the past. Church services have found themselves in competition for other activities’ time slots. However, if we can create a meaningful ministry that may be a huge attraction. I know that this does not answer our need for a pastor. However, once we discern, as a congregation, which way to go, that may take us a long way to finding the right pastor for Good Shepherd.

Faithfully, Lei Fahrner