One of the great privileges for me over the last year has been
working with a great congregational council. I have had the joy of
working with individuals who are faithful diligent and visionary.
One of the great pleasures for me within Council meetings over the
last year is when we have taken the time to do what we now call
\u201cBig Think.\u201d We try to spend time thinking beyond the day-to-day,
considering new ways of doing things and new things to do. In one
of these conversations, I asked some questions about what we had
learned over the last few years and what implications that had for
the future. I wrote questions and responses on a white board in one
of the classrooms, and then I took a picture of the white board.
Now I would like to share that conversation with the larger
congregation. In the article below, I will use different fonts to
indicate different things:

We can stand on our two feet.
There is a core community of people here.
Indirect communication is not helpful.
God provides: no deficit in 2007, we lost many leaders but
others stepped up, the interim pastors helped us.

I then asked, \u201cWhere do we see these themes in our life or in
the Bible?\u201d Someone shared that when Pr. Royer left, it forced the
congregation to grow up. I shared what someone told me once how
they knew they were an adult: when she lived in a dorm room and
dropped her hairbrush into the toilet and realized she couldn\u2019t ask
\u201cDaddy\u201d to get it out. Events happen in our lives that force us to be
adults, to be responsible, to act from our faith and principles.
Whenever a pastor leaves a congregation, that is the challenge the
congregation faces, and Family of God is no different. We then
talked about the \u201ccore community of people here.\u201d

4770 Route 202
Buckingham PA 18912
phone: 215-794-5973

OUR MISSION:
Hearing, Speaking and
Doing God\u2019s Word.

Pastor\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.\u2026Rev. Bernard Kelly
Interim Director
Of Ensembles\u2026\u2026\u2026....Michael Hillegas

Youth Ministry\u2026\u2026..\u2026Scott Nugent
Admin Assistan\u2026...\u2026..Suzanne Fernandez
Family Times Editors\u2026.Michele Koch

President\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026Jane Ellen Nugent
Vice President\u2026\u2026....\u2026Glenn Gracey
Secretary\u2026\u2026\u2026..\u2026\u2026..Brett Hauber
Treasurer\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026Ken Canham
Financial Secretary\u2026\u2026Dave Robertson

Christian Ed\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026...Nancy Routhier
Evangelation\u2026\u2026\u2026.\u2026.Maury Drum
Finance\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026............Brett Hauber
Men\u2019s Ministry\u2026..\u2026\u2026Terry Andree
Parish Life\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..\u2026Karen Skillman

Terry Andree
Property\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..\u2026Glenn Gracey
Social Ministry \u2026..\u2026\u2026Nancy Routhier
Stewards\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..Dawn Irwin
Women\u2019s Ministry\u2026\u2026..Jane Ellen Nugent
Worship & Music\u2026\u2026...Amy Fell
Youth\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.Karen Skillma

We believe God is
calling us to be a
church where:

meet community needs
in the name of Jesus
Christ.

I was reminded of the Biblical term, \u201cremnant.\u201d Over and over God
promises to raise something wonderful up out of a remnant. In
Genesis 45, Joseph explains that God sent him to Egypt ahead of the
famine in order to preserve a remnant of the covenantal people; the
prophets Ezra, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos, Ezekiel, Micah,
Zephaniah, Haggai and Zechariah all speak of a remnant. It seemed
to us that there was a faithful \u201cremnant\u201d at FoG, and that God could
and would make this remnant flourish.

Then we talked about \u201cindirect communication.\u201d Indirect
communication takes many forms and most often occurs when one
person does not feel comfortable telling another person something.
For example, person \u2018A\u2019 tells person \u2018C\u2019 something they should
actually tell person \u2018B\u2019 in the hope that person \u2018C\u2019 will do something
about it. This is not being honest about our feelings or genuine in our
relationships. We need to learn how to be genuine with each other. I
thought of two Biblical statements: Exodus 20:13 \u201cYou shall not
give false testimony against your neighbor;\u201d and Ephesians 4:15,
\u201cInstead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up
into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.\u201d It seems that God is pretty
insistent about honest and genuine communications among His
people. This is something I, the Council and the Mutual Ministry
Team will work to achieve in this place. There will be sermons,
teaching, writing, role-playing and accountability exercised in order
to make open, honest and genuine communications the norm here at
Family of God.

Then, we talked about how God provides. This was a wonderful
time of personal testimonies. We all shared how God had worked to
bring us through difficult times in our personal lives and how God
had done the same thing for the congregation. Who could have
anticipated donations that would have prevented a deficit in a year
when the congregation did not have a regularly called pastor? Who
could have seen the individuals who stepped into leadership roles
after established leaders left? And several Council members
mentioned that even though the period with interim pastors was quite
difficult, God used this time to bless Family of God. Then, I asked
the next question:

WE need to pray and trust God (we being both as individuals and
as a congregation).
The core community is a gift to be cherished and nurtured.
Learn to speak the truth in love.
We need to learn how to express our concern for \u201cneighbors.\u201d

As we elaborated on these thoughts, someone had me add
something to the sentence: We can stand on our own two feet \u2013
holding God\u2019s hand. This means that while we don\u2019t have to
depend on a pastor, we do have to depend on God. We talked

about how if we can\u2019t be honest with one another than we aren\u2019t
being honest with God either. None of us liked the prospect of
being dishonest with God. We also determined that we need to
celebrate the sacrificial gifts that are made at Family of God day
after day by a wide variety of people, not just the pastor. We also
determined that we need to start sharing our stories with the
broader congregation so others can see all the good stuff that has
happened, is happening and by the grace of God will continue to
happen at Family of God.

Finally, I asked, SO, WHAT IS THE TAKE AWAY FOR US?
Several folks answered, \u201cIt\u2019s not about us.\u201d And then another
person, added, \u201cIt\u2019s not about us. Except that it is.\u201d What I took
this to mean was that the Council was convinced that all that had
happened, good and bad God had been able to use and redeem in
order to bless His people at Family of God. And that ultimately
this is not the story of how a group of people moved through a
tough time, but yet another story of how God acted to bring that
people through their tough time. And yet, it is our story. This is the
story of how God blessed Family of God in particular. A story of
how we may have drifted away from God, gotten into a jam and
then God came and sought us out, restored us and redeemed our
suffering. It is the miracle of the Biblical narrative taking place in
Bucks County, PA in the 21st century. It is our story about our
God. And it is a very good story indeed. It is one that needs to be
told.

Would you consider making
www.familyofgodpa.org
your homepage? Then, you
can easily be informed as
soon as things are added,
and you are encouraged to
add your own ministry
content and read the Daily
Devotion. If you are not
sure how to do this, contact
Pastor Kelly or Ken Gish at
familyofgodpa@gmail.com