Some congregations have a lot of singers and they form a choir. Some have several folks who play guitar and they form a praise band. Some even have enough instrumentalists to make an orchestra. Here at Lord of Life, we have a lot of drummers. They’re everywhere. We have drummers who are kids of all ages and drummers who are adults. I played in the percussion pit for marching band in high school, and Pastor Lowell would rather use his vacation time to go drum with his band, Echelon, than go sit on the beach somewhere. After a few years of working with all these talented drum beaters, we finally decided to get some of them in the same room to drum together.

For the past few weeks, we’ve been rehearsing a new Percussion Ensemble to lead worship once in a while. So far, we have six drummers and instruments ranging from small hand drums to vibraphones and big steel drum pans. As we’ve expanded into the world of percussion, several folks have talked about the therapeutic power of drumming and suggested that we host a healing drum circle.

I’ve always seen percussion as a means to an end – someone has to keep the beat, help build the energy, and be the animal filling in all the crazy grooves. While I’ve known several people who have been active members of drum circles, I’ve never experienced them closely enough to see their usefulness.

Until a couple weeks ago …

During a Percussion Ensemble rehearsal, we were grooving on a communion tune – “Come Let Us Eat for Now the Feast is Spread.” It repeats over and over again until we decide to finish it. As we continued to embellish it, I found the “thinking” part of my brain turn off and suddenly I was in this other place, feeling the rhythm instead of trying to get it right. It was like this narrow tunnel of the notes on the page opened up to a giant cavern of expression and feeling.

Bingo. That’s what a drum circle is for. The rhythm helps us meditate and pray, and it lifts us to another mental state. Research has shown a correlation between therapeutic rhythm and drumming with increased physical, mental, and spiritual health. World religions have used drumming for thousands of years as an integral part of their worship. It can reduce tension, anxiety, and stress. It releases endorphins to help control chronic pain. It uses the entire brain and produces deeper self-awareness.

This Sunday, our new Percussion Ensemble will lead worship at 9:30 and 11 am. You’ll know several of the tunes, and there will be a couple new ones, too.

Then at 6:30 pm, everyone is invited to bring a drum or borrow one of ours to experience what I’ll loosely call a Lutheran-style drum circle. Think of it as a healing vespers service with drumming instead of singing. For about an hour, we’ll drum together, pray together, hear words from scripture, and hopefully find our center as we begin our new week.

I hope to see you there!

Rhythmically yours,

John Johns

I probably say “Yes!” more than I should. Without even thinking, the tiny word rolls right out of my mouth with no regard to cost or consequence. I say it without considering what it may require of me or my family. In my “yes,” I commit energy, resources, dollars, and time to the known and unknown invitation before me. Only after I say, “Oh yeah, no problem,” do I begin to weigh the impact of the new demands.

Most of the time, it works out. Other times, it becomes a giant train wreck of a moment when I’ve double-booked, overcommitted, and hyperextended an already full calendar and life.

At the same time, I don’t want to say a blanket “No” to everyone and everything. I’m not looking to shut down every invitation and opportunity in the interest of self-preservation.

I’m also not interested in extended deliberation before agreeing to have lunch or share in a volunteer opportunity. I don’t want to live in the land of “maybe.”

I was delighted when I walked into Kohl’s a few years ago and was enveloped in their new slogan, “In a word, Yes.” The customer service counter, relocated from the back corner of the store to the front, right next to the entrance, was unavoidable. Even if their “Yes” couldn’t always be a full-throated consent, they chose to pivot from a posture of possibility.

I’m glad that God’s “Yes!” to humanity and all creation throughout time is an intentional and pervasive one. God doesn’t agree to care for us out of guilt or pity, but out of all-encompassing parental love.

A prayer from Walter Brueggemann:

You are the God who is simple, direct, clear with us and for us.
You have committed yourself to us.
You have said yes to us in creation,
                        yes, to us in our birth,
                        yes to us in our baptism,
                        yes to us in our awakening this day.

But we are of another kind,
            more accustomed to “perhaps, maybe, we´ll see,”
            left in wonderment and ambiguity.

We live our lives not back to your yes,
                   but out of our endless “perhaps.”

So we pray for your mercy this day that we may live yes back to you,
                    yes with our time,
                    yes with our money,
                    yes with our sexuality,
                    yes with our strength and with our weakness,
                    yes to our neighbor,
                    yes and no longer “perhaps.”

In the name of your enfleshed yes to us,
          even Jesus who is our yes into your future. Amen.

From Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann ©2002

Thank you for your “yes.”

Let me guess what you are thinking… How could Pastor Corey have anything more to say about stewardship that hasn’t been said in the last three weeks? In leading up to Commitment Sunday, November 3rd, we have been sharing the vision with the congregation of where the ministries of Lord of Life are heading in 2020. In order to make those ministries happen, it takes the generosity of many people, giving large and small gifts alike. With those gifts, we hope to plant seeds in faith to invest in our church home, our church family, and our community. 

This week you also received a brochure in the mail that explained the finances it will take to make those ministries a reality next year. What we didn’t mention in that brochure is that it will take more than just money. Once we have funds to launch the ministries we will need dedicated people with servant’s hearts to make them a success. Sometime in the new year, we will give everyone the opportunity to fill out a “Gifts and Passions Survey,” which will help you match your gifts and passions to the ministries of the church. 

In the meantime, we encourage you to begin thinking about what kind of commitment of time and talents you would like to give in 2020. One way that you can free up some time in your busy schedule is to begin scheduling faith development and service into your family’s calendar. Just as you put work, dinner, school, sports practices, music concerts, and more on your calendar, consider dedicating some time to God each week or month and see how God uses that in your life. 

There are ways this year that you can test out those waters. You can join us on Wednesday nights at 6 pm for dinner, fellowship, and Bible study. You can commit to serving on Sunday mornings in one of our services. You could sign up to be part of our new Small Group book study that begins the week of November 17. Are you not sure what I am talking about? Be looking in your mailbox this week for a special gift that will help you and your family discuss better ways to steward our time. 

We know that everyone at Lord of Life is in different stages of their lives. Some can give a lot and some can only give a little, in both time and money. It’s not about the amount you give, but about the intention behind the gift. I encourage you to increase in generosity this season, in a way that works for you, and see how contagious it can be and how God changes you in the process. 

Giving thanks for each of you,

Pastor Corey

A few weeks ago, the father of one of my best friends died unexpectedly. At 67, he had no pre-existing conditions, was physically active, and had been enjoying his first few years of retirement traveling around the world. My friend, Will, and his family were devastated. Will is an only child and his dad was the last member of his family. For many people, this would be a time they would be surrounded by a church community to help support them. But Will and his family left an emotionally abusive church years ago and chose not to put down roots anywhere else. Brian, four other friends, and I were the only people outside of Will’s wife and kids to attend his father’s service and burial.

I’m grateful each day for the many ways the Lutheran Church is different from some of the other Christian denominations. There are many churches that manipulate and take advantage of their members, that cover up terrible abuses, or that drive people away for questioning their authority. These are among the issues Martin Luther was trying to address when he sought to reform the Catholic church.

As a musician, I appreciate that one of the most visible (or audible) changes was in the practice of singing together as a congregation. Before the Reformation, most music was performed only by professionals and listened to by the congregation. Singing hymns brings everyone closer together as active worshippers instead of as spectators. It helps to seal us together as a worshipping body as we offer our praise, no matter our level of ability. It is an outward and visible sign of the inward sense of community we share. It is also a necessity, especially in difficult times like a funeral, to share this sense of community in singing our prayers and praises.

502 years later, the changes that grew out of Martin Luther’s theses continue to bring us together as a Christian community. They help us form bonds so that we are supported and can in turn help to support others. We are tied together in words and music, and also in grace and faith. This Sunday, as we hold our yearly celebration of the Reformation, come and sing with us!

In Community,

John Johns

Here we go! In the coming weeks, look around the parking lot at church. You’ll start to see the fruits of our Share the Light capital campaign starting to grow.  

Have you ever walked in our parking lot at night after it rains? If you’re lucky enough to be able to see where you’re going, you need to watch out for the puddles! Starting next week, we’ll be making improvements to help make a difference. We’ll be installing new light fixtures to brighten up the space, installing a new drainage system, and repaving the front apron (area by the road). We are not going to repave the entire lot at this point, because we would need to do it again after the heavy equipment from construction. We’ll wait and do the whole lot after completion of the multi-purpose community space.

Thank you for your patience. There’s been a tremendous amount of progress made over the past several months, but it’s hard to see, touch, and feel most of it. Hopefully, you’ve seen the conceptual drawings that have been displayed in our Gathering Space of the sanctuary renovations and new multi-purpose community space. In addition to taking feedback from the congregation and adjusting our plans, we’ve also received zoning approval from West Chester Township. We’re excited that it is time to make those plans a reality!

With the conceptual plans now completed for the addition and sanctuary, we are headed into the construction documents and administration phase. The purpose of this phase is to complete the formal drawings, which will be used to secure funding from the bank to bridge us, while we continue to collect campaign commitments, and then we’ll get estimates and bids. Our target is to finish this documentation and administration phase before Christmas and hoping we can break ground sometime in the March or April timeframe for the new space!

Thank you for your faithful prayers and financial support of the Share the Light campaign. We are excited about what God is doing both in us and through us, as we share the light and hope of Jesus Christ with the world.

Looking ahead,

Greg Hasselbeck, Share the Light Guidance Team

Share the Light is our 3 year (June 2018 – June 2021), $1.1 million-dollar capital campaign to expand and update our facility for mission and ministry.

The project specifics include the design and construction of multi-purpose community space (estimated $382,000), design and installation of a sprinkler system (estimated $85,000), a drainage system, grading, and curbing in the parking lot (estimated $227,000), and sanctuary renewal (estimated $100,300). A tithe, campaign fees, and architectural expenses will also be included in our project total of $1,100,000.

If you would like to make a pledge to the Share the Light campaign or make a one-time gift, please contact our Financial Manager, Donna Harvey (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

The word is out about Lord of Life. Not only are we known in our community for loving God and serving our neighbors, but we are also recognized as a place that allows student drivers to practice maneuverability. Have you seen the orange cones? They are a semi-permanent fixture in our back parking area as an act of hospitality for fifteen-somethings who are looking for some cones to run over as they learn the fine art of parallel parking.

I spent many evenings back there, this summer, while one of our kids was working his way through the final stages of driver’s education. Day after day, we’d cruise the streets of West Chester, Hamilton, and other adjacent communities, looking for every possible driving scenario and then end up weaving in and out of the carefully positioned sentries with hopes of moving toward perfection.

Some occasions were practically flawless, while others were filled with bumps and clunks or completely running over cones. When the latter happened, there was only one thing he could do—stop the car, put it in park, get out, reset the cones, and try it again. You know the drill.

If you’ve navigated the cones or parallel parked, you know that there is a point when it becomes impossible to steer your way out of a bad situation. You simply have to forfeit your position and move the vehicle back to the starting point, set the cones back in their location, and then begin anew.

I see parallels in our moments of confession and forgiveness. In this self-critiquing posture, we declare our failure and take a hard reset. We pause, admit to what doesn’t work, seek forgiveness, reset, and try it again. Rather than trying to maneuver our way out of situations with coercive speech and irrational behavior, we need to stop and return to the place of origin.

Earlier this week, I spent a few days at the Duke Divinity School for the Fall Convocation and Pastors’ School in Durham, NC. This annual event was a whirlwind forty-eight hours that included keynote speakers, worship moments, breakout sessions, and occasions for dwelling in the theme “Cultivating Thriving Communities.”

David Brooks (PBS News Hour & New York Times), Krista Tippett (On Being), Kate Bowler (Duke University & TED Talks), Rev. Ralph West (The Church Without Walls), and others challenged us to assess our individual and collective mistakes in ministry. In their own way, each critiqued the missteps that we’ve taken as the Christian Church in the last several decades and invited us to trust the Spirit of God as we rethink our strategies and align our wheels with where God is steering.

Unfortunately, we’re often reluctant to follow the lead of our Creator. We think that we know how to navigate life better on our own. Rev. West, during his opening sermon at Duke, said that when the prophet Micah asks, “What does the Lord require?”, we’re all too eager to answer with just about anything other than what God asks of us. God asks us to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.”

What if, instead of excuses for our miscalculations and faulty vision, we embraced God’s course corrections and listened to the loving instructions for what’s next? Perhaps, we should trust that The Instructor has done this before and has something to teach us.

Looking ahead,

Pastor Lowell