Paul Clark

Back to the classroom

What have you learned in all your years of education and experience that you could use in the marketplace? What can you do to expand your impact on others?

I’ve been preparing for my next teaching assignment with Mt. Vernon Nazarene University. I’m an adjunct professor and I've been asked to teach  Financial Management to a classroom full of adults in an accelerated degree-completion program. Why do I do it? Don’t I already have enough to do? Good questions.

The truth is I love to teach. It’s one of my spiritual gifts, along with administration. But I guess there are other, less demanding ways to exercise my gift.

I do it because it forces me to stay a “learner.” I’m forced to master the ideas and concepts in the textbooks before I can explain and teach them to the students. That keeps me fresh and current with ideas and trends that help me to be a better church manager. It expands my thinking so that I can look at situations or problems more broadly.

I helps me develop my ability to think clearly and speak publicly. Adult students are different than 19-year olds. They ask tough questions. When you step into the classroom for four hours, you better be prepared. It challenges me to find and present resources that are compelling and relevant so that the material comes alive. I think that helps me to be a better communicator overall.

It places me among a group of people that don’t particularly care that I’m a pastor. I have to go back to the drawing board so to speak, in thinking through how I can present my faith naturally and effectively.

Hurting people

Over the past few days I was reminded what a special privilege we have in ministering to hurting people. In staff meeting, David told us about a woman he met on Sunday in the hallway who had recently been abandoned by her husband of 30+ years. I guess that happens, but it was somewhat shocking to hear that her husband was the Senior Pastor of a large mainline church in town. She felt abandoned and alone, losing her husband, her church and her support network, as her husband was evidently able to carry on his work in their church.

A couple days later I sat at my desk meeting with a couple working through some premarital curriculum. The young lady, as sweet and personable as I can imagine, told me with tears in her eyes how her parents have been divorced and remarried three times. Her mother has a serious substance abuse problem and three times her addictions have broken apart the family. The pain and bitterness were palpable.

There’s very little we can do or say to people like these. We can only try to care for them unconditionally and gently encourage them to discover the healing love of God. Our world is broken and we are sometimes harshly awakened to that fact. We’re snatched from the relative comfort of our “church business” world and drawn into the real issues that Jesus died to overcome.

Since when is it wrong for church to be fun?

We’re just about finished with the basement renovations that are part of our Imagine3:20 project. Wacky World has designed an environment that is first-rate and our kids love it. Sure it costs plenty of money, but when you see how kids almost drag their parents down the steps to emerge “underwater,” you instinctively know the cost was worth it.

Yet when an article on the project appeared in the Dayton Daily News, at least one reader was incensed that we would put that kind of money and effort into a children’s area, when the needs of the world are so great.

“A church is not supposed to be exciting and amusing. Its purpose is for the worship of God and to aid in the spiritual maturity of Christians. There are children in this country who are homeless and have no idea when or where they will get their next meal. There are families in this very state who are losing their homes and who are unemployed. This article was a classic example of hypocrisy in the Christian religion. Churches are becoming businesses, with Starbucks cafes, fancy lobbies and services not unlike what I would expect at a rock concert. What would Christ say to them in response to these foolish actions?”

Well, we didn’t respond in our own “letter to the editor,” but David did write these words in his blog:

“The church of tomorrow will be filled with kids that come to Christ today! At Fairhaven we are passionate about making church a place that excites kids to come and learn about God. There are so many things that are competing for the attention of our kids today, and the church needs to be attractive to them. If all we did was get them to come so as to amuse them, you would be right…there are many more useful things to do with our money. The reality is that hundreds and hundreds of kids have invited Jesus into their lives and because church is exciting for them, they are bringing their unchristian friends who are being introduced to Jesus Christ.

I wish you could see…the group of 4th and 5th graders that come every Saturday morning for prayer as they pray for their friends and our missionaries.
I wish you could see…that same group of kids lead their peers in worship every Sunday morning.
I wish you could see…our children that visit nursing homes every month.
I wish you could see…our elementary children that go on missions trips every summer and minister to the homeless and less fortunate in the poorest areas of rural Kentucky.
I wish you could see…80 kids who are in kids choir who sing worship songs with such joy and passion in our worship service, and in the community - The Greene, Dayton Dragons’ games, and Dayton Bombers’ games.
I wish you could see…the Christmas party that the kids planned for over 100 single moms and their children.
I wish you could see…the hundreds of children every Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday evening, Saturday night and Sunday morning learning about God and who He is through His word.
I wish you could see…the number of moms and dads that have been brought to church because their kids don’t want to miss it.

The truth is that our investment in making church fun and exciting for children is something that Christ would be pleased with as He himself invited kids into His lap.

Nicely said, David.

What a week...

This past week was one of those weeks that really couldn't have gone any better--one of those times that you just want to freeze in your mind so that the feeling of it and the memory of it doesn't fade away.  I took Kay with me to the Long Beach NACBA conference and had one of the best weeks we've ever had together.  I did my thing in the daytime and she did hers (swimming pool and Christian fiction), but in the afternoon and evening, we had a great time trying restaurants, shopping, walking the beaches and piers, and being together. We spent a great evening on the Queen Mary having dinner with some wonderful new friends.  We walked the shops of Seal Beach, and ended up in a Taste of Belmont Shores eating sushi and Greek food.  Isn't God good to us...beyond anything we deserve?  That we get the gift of days like that with people we love is more than anyone could ask.

Meeting Job Seeker's Needs

We've started a Thursday morning Job Seekers Support Group to help not only our own people who have been affected by the recession, but those in our community who are looking for help.  This group, which has been meeting for several weeks now, has grown each week such that we have to keep giving them larger rooms.  As you can tell from the picture above, it's a full house.  A couple of the city newspapers have heard about it and written stories.

We have a retired HR specialist here at Fairhaven who is graciously helping us to plan and lead the group.  For this particular session, the facilitator, herself a professional executive recruiter, is reviewing how to work with recruiters to get the most impact.  The group also heard a presentation on writing great resumes.  Networking, encouragement, prayer and community are also components that we are weaving throughout the sessions.  It lasts from 9-11 am each week.

Good theology recognizes that God has not promised us a life free from all pain and uncomfortable surprises.  This recession is causing pain for many people in our church communities.  But God has called us to be his voice of encouragement, hope, help and truth.  Perhaps your church has the resources to step into the gap and offer a "cup of water" (Matt. 10:42) to those who are searching for help and answers.