Pastor

Jeffrey M. Halenza of Christ Our Hope Lutheran Church has

some interesting views on the church as it enters the new

millennium. In his church newsletter, "The

Scribe," Pastor Halenza likens the journey to a move

to a new neighborhood. It most definitely belongs in my

Precious Gems file. I thought you would enjoy it:

"An

author has written that he grew up in the 60s on a street

a realtor would now describe as a cul-de-sac. Back then

it was called a dead end. For his earliest years,

however, it defined the limits of his world and the kids

he could play with. they were the kids on either side of

his house, the kids in the house across the street, and

the kids in the house next door to theirs.

Beyond

that, he and his friends did not go, nor did they feel

any need to. he and his friends walked to school together

and played together afterwards. They had favorite games

they played together so often there was no need to

discuss tams or rules. They knew where the bases were and

the yards that were out of bounds. Then his family moved

to a different neighborhood.

"The

author learned that the rules he'd grown up with were not

universally accepted. He had to learn how to play on a

new team, with new kids and new boundaries. It was

disconcerting at first and took a while to get used to.

"He

discovered that giving up what you thought were life's

certainties isn't easy, no matter how old you are.

"The

author then comments that one thing the church entering a

new century means is that `it's time we realize that we

are in a different neighborhood, even if we haven't moved

houses.' He writes, `Familiar rules don't always hold.

There are new kids on the block. Boundaries need

constantly to be negotiated. We need to learn to play and

work and worship with those who grew up on different

streets, in different houses. It's time for us to

celebrate what we have in common, honoring the

differences that mark our particular identity. Christ

calls us to service in the world. We cannot move back to

that dead end street.'

"And

what this author says applied very much to us as a

congregation as we enter a new century. We live in the

same house, but there are new kids on the block. It's a

different world. Our hope lies in being open to this new

world, being open to and reaching out to new neighbors

and learning to play and work and worship together. It

means continuing to serve as Christ calls us to.

"One

of the grandest images of the prophets of Israel was that

of a highway through the wilderness on which the people

could travel to the new future God was working. And God

wants us to work a new and hope-filled future for us. But

the highway that will carry us to that future will lead

us away from old certainties and well-known bases and

yards and boundaries-it will lead us to new and

unfamiliar territory, yet also new and wonderful

experiences of God and expressions of faith.

"The

temptation, of course, is to stay in our familiar

cul-de-sac. But what that is, remember, is simply a

dead-end street with an elegant name. God's highway is

not a cul-de-sac. It's a regular Interstate to new life!

"As we

enter a new year, a new century, let us flow this highway

of hope and life."

God be with

you...

Jeffrey Halenza

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