I think I have to admit failure here.  I'm not sure that I've done right by our congregation.

Did you ever have this happen to you?  You're talking with someone - a friend, a loved one - and you think that you said one thing, but the person you're talking to hears something completely different?  Sometimes, the exact opposite of what you thought you said?  Most of us have had this experience.  If you've been married for more than about 6 minutes, you probably have experienced this more than once...a day.  It's frustrating for everyone.  When it happens to me, it is usually because I wasn't clear about what I thought I was saying.  It's usually my fault.

I think that this time it's probably my fault too.

Arden has been going through a year that would destroy some churches.  I was speaking with a minister friend of mine about his church back in the Midwest.  He wasn't sure that he was going to get paid this month, because the church ran out of money.  That church is ready to default on its bills, payroll and loans.  And they haven't had a year anything like ours.

I think (I hope, I pray) that I have let you know how very proud I am of this congregation.  You have responded magnificently.  You have gone above and beyond the call of duty.  You have reached deep and stepped out in faith.  The budget crisis for 2010 is, we hope, averted if we all keep our pledges up to date.  We have solved yesterday's problems.  What I don't think I have done well, is to let you know how we are planning for tomorrow's successes.

We have a vision for the future of Arden that is much like how Arden started.  Arden was a community church, built around and for the families in our neighborhood.  Over the years we lost that emphasis and our plan is to regain a foothold in our community.

I can hear you ask already, "How?"

It's a good question.  I am as uncomfortable as you are with the kind of door to door evangelism that characterized the churches of an earlier era.  But I tell you honestly that I'd do it, if I knew of one church in a neighborhood like ours that was doing it and it worked.  The problem is I don't.  People in neighborhoods like ours don't seem to respond to stuff like that.

Some folks have suggested that we do mailers.  I am a big fan of mailers.  In my past career, I was part of a team that did over $40 million a year in direct mail advertisement.  It works very well if you have the money to do it big and the right mailing list.  We have  neither.

So what do we do?  How do we reach out to the families in our community, some of whom are dying to have the kind of community      we have right here at Arden?  Our plan is to reach way back into the biblical playbook and work this like the Apostles did.  When we read Acts we find that the Apostles fed people and healed people.  They did this because these were the major issues of the Roman Empire.  For our neighborhood in 2010, most people have enough to eat, and receive some kind of medical care.  But in order to earn these privileges, they work.  A lot.  Many families have two income earners each working 50+ hour weeks.  And so the number one need in our neighborhood, right now, is the gift of time.

How do we give someone time?

Well...you can't.  But you can offer them a way to enjoy what  little time they do spend together.  Here is where our Parent's  Night Out program becomes a ministry to our neighbors.  We offer them a night of free babysitting.  Now, I can tell you from personal experience that babysitting for a family with three kids gets expensive. Depending on the time involved,  I've paid $60, $80, $100 to go out with my wife on top of the "dinner and a movie."  Needless to say, I don't do it very often, or at least as often as I'd like.  And my experience is very similar to the experience of other families.

It is by offering people what they need, that we seek to follow the example of the Apostles and of Christ himself.  It is by reaching out beyond our congregation that we begin to fulfill the Great Commission.  It is by offering people fellowship and a community of caring that we draw them, and each other, closer to God.

Drawing people closer to God, by drawing them closer to each other is our touchstone, our aim and our guide.  In this way             Parent's Night Out (PNO) is more than just a babysitting night.  It is an opportunity to draw people closer to Arden and closer to each other.

As we have gone through this year we have been carefully researching, building and articulating a revitalization strategy.  That strategy, presented for approval at the June congregational meeting, has four basic parts.  It is modeled after several, very successful church starts and revitalization efforts.  We are not re-inventing the wheel here.  It starts with Love our Neighbors then moves into Worship Joyfully, then Grow Deeper, then Serve Others.  It all starts with Loving our Neighbors and Loving our Neighbors begins with PNO.  As we move into our Fall program, PNO is the key ministry of our revitalization effort.  It is the key ministry in the future of Arden Christian Church.

We have other ministries planned: Sunday Dinners (a healthy  family cooking program), a renewed and revitalized adult education program, a renewed emphasis on our Habitat efforts.  Plans are underway to do some painting and "freshening" of our building (check out your EMT minutes for details).  However our primary emphasis, as individuals and as a congregation, will be to resource our Parent's Night Out program sufficiently.  To do this we need your help.

We will be doing PNO every weekend throughout the Fall into Advent.  And while the PNO project is very efficient and a great value for the congregation, it still requires resources - people, time and money.  So I ask you, would you place yourself at the center of our revitalization strategy by agreeing to support PNO?  We would love it if you could show up to help, but not everyone can.  There are other ways to be involved, in preparation, with food and, yes, even with donations.

We are beginning to dream big here at Arden again.  We are starting to reclaim that neighborhood as ours.  We are seeking out the relationships that will bring all of us, Arden and everyone in the surrounding communities, into a closer relationship with the creator of all things.  We are looking towards the future with an expectant gleam in our eye.

We are making the plans that will bring new life into our church home and make it a center for our community and for our lives.  And if I haven't been clear about that, I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart.  As Christians, we are called to live lives within the transforming power of Jesus Christ.  We are called to live in ways that bring about God's intention for our world.  We are called to lead people into relationship with God and with each other.  We are called to love God with everything we are and love our neighbors.  This Fall we are taking the first steps towards realizing this vision.  Will you join me as we begin to create new life at Arden Christian Church?

In His Service,

Pastor Mike