Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Build The Family

"He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.”
Acts 10:2


Did you ever wonder how you got to where you are today? You work hard. You think you know what you’re doing. Did you ever wonder what you were thinking when you look at the path you’ve followed; and found there were a few detours you hadn’t planned? I look back over the last dozen years and see that God has had a plan for me. It was His plan, whether I understood it, or even checked with Him to see what it was.

A divorce eight years ago brought me to Washington Cathedral through my best friend, Craig Davis. That started a new awareness in my life. I attended divorce recovery and singles and decided to get involved. One thing I learned was that I never wanted to go through a divorce again. I wanted to understand God’s plan for me, and I wanted the support of a church family.

What does all this have to do with “Build the Family Foundation?” Well, I learned that Washington Cathedral had a foundation dedicated to building the family, and in fact the mission is to “Create a Safer World for Children by Building Families”. So, Helen (my beautiful and talented wife) and I (that’s another story involving Washington Cathedral) about 3 years ago, raised our hands and volunteered to join the “Build the Family” board to support married couples in building and maintaining their marriages and families. Also, I’ve been a volunteer and board member for the last 10 years at “Eastside Domestic Violence Program” and have seen first-hand the impact of violence on families, particularly children--and wanted to continue that work in the church.

Along the way, with a lot of work by others, the “Up with Marriage” task force set up several seminars for married couples, date nights, and the annual dinner with Pastors’ Tim and Jackie encouraging married couples to keep working it out. “Build the Family” has a number of initiative areas, the most visible being the Divorce Recovery program and Singles program. Other areas include; parenting, pre-marital counseling and shared housing. I know there are many other areas of need in the community just waiting for someone with a heart and passion to step up and lead the charge to make a difference for families.

Helen and I have been blessed by all the friends we’ve made and the chance to grow in our faith.

Anyway, late last year Pastor Tim and Pastor David asked me (which really means both Helen & I) if I would be willing to head up the “Build the Family Foundation.” After more than a little prayer, we decided the Lord thought it was time to commit to another level of service--so, we said “yes”. Now the work begins and we are excited, if not a bit nervous, to be leading a growing and successful program.

All of the ministries at Washington Cathedral are built around our Small Groups. I see the future of Build the Family doing God’s will come from small groups of people working together to accomplish great things. If you have a passion for building families and want to become part of one of those small groups ready to make a difference in this community; or would like more information on “Build the Family Foundation” and how you can be part of Washington Cathedral’s “Great Caring Network”, contact Pastor David Gerzsenye, myself or any of the board members. This is an exciting time in Washington Cathedral’s history and a great time to serve the Lord!

“Build the Family” board members include: Carol Gerzsenye, Mary Ann Pease, Melissa Tyksinski, Craig and Reava Davis, Jerry and Marti Neyland, Steve and Suzette Dalpez, Ed and Helen Schild

By Ed Schild

Friday, March 16, 2007

Anything You Can do I Can do Meta

May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.
Ephesians 3:17-18


In the Middle Ages the Vikings shook the foundation of Europe with a ferocious invasion. I love to read and study about the Vikings. My heritage is Scottish and Irish but my wife Jackie’s forefathers were the Vikings. In the Tri-cities there was a character known to everyone as Swede. His name was Svangren and he was actually from the disputed territory between Sweden and Denmark. I married his beautiful grand daughter Jackie. So while I do not have much direct Viking heritage my children do. The Viking invasion during the Middle Ages was almost unstoppable because it was a meta invasion. It was not based on one king or centralized government but in those days those of Norwegian ancestry who ran a farm and had a community of workers and who owned a long boat was a Viking king. Every little village and monastery throughout Europe lived in fear of seeing the Viking long boat show up for a mini-invasion. The word meta means outside the box, in a church growth it refers to a church that is bigger than its membership, or its buildings. It is a movement more than an organization. Every lay pastor who leads a Tiny Little Church is a king. And the Tiny Little Church is the long boat. Of course in our church every TLC is a force for the kingdom of God: 1) every TLC has a hands on good Samaritan project helping the less fortunate, 2)every TLC leads people very far from God into a personal relationship with Jesus, 3) every TLC prays and sees God work miraculously, 4) every TLC grows people up into the strength of maturity, 5) every TLC makes each other stronger by being a part of a greater meta church. These TLC’s take the form of health groups, Bible study groups, teenage discipleship groups, athletic groups, single parent groups, exercise groups, business groups, etc. etc. Every leader is working collaboratively to build the body of Christ and put God’s will above their own. All that we require of TLC leaders is that they are a member of Washington Cathedral worshiping regularly with us. Second we ask that TLC leaders do some regular training so we can stay on the same page. Thirdly we ask that our TLC pastors do not to put down the church but work as a team with all the other ministries.

I love the book of Ephesians because it emphasizes a God who is out of the box. And how I long for each of us to know how wide, how long, how high and how deep is the love of God. And for our world to experience the power of his mighty love that goes way beyond the traditional boundaries of a church. Someday we will have thousands of TLC’s around the Puget Sound area each making a little mini invasion with kindness, respect and a servants heart like that of Jesus. Each person will be an incarnational (Jesus Christ working through our bodies) presence of Jesus to their family, neighborhood, school, workplace and community. If you are interested in finding a TLC group or if you would like to become a TLC pastor then contact Bill or Elaine Brammer who are the overseers of TLC’s.

Your friend for the rest of my life,
Tim White

Anna Nicole Smith, Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears – the ying and the yang of pop culture!

To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes. The oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
Isaiah 61:3b


Does it just seem odd to write a devotion that begins with the words Anna Nicole Smith? Ever since her death on February 8th 2007 if you turn on a television, listen to the radio or read a news paper you are inundated by her story in the news. Culture is more a part of us than we know. But we are used to that now aren’t we. Having the styles and trends of people like Anna Nicole Smith, Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears. Our kids try and look like them, they tell us what is cool (many of us are not listening), they define beauty for a generation. Last week I was trying to read my Bible and listen to CNN on television at the same time. An older gentleman setting a couple of chairs away from me turned and commented on the CNN report about Anna Nicole Smith who was shown slurring her speech at the American music awards presentation – “Man what a waste.”, he said. I agreed with him, but we were talking about two different things. He went on to say, “To have a girl so beautiful and hot and then die so young.” I was not thinking of her as beautiful at all, I was thinking about the tragedy of her life. Who tells us that Anna Nicole Smith is beautiful or Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears. Culture teaches us and our children more than we know about life. It tells us the food that tastes good, the style of clothing we should buy, and the music we should enjoy. The American Heritage Dictionary defines culture as the totality of socially transmitted behavior. The amplified Bible describes Acts 7:22 as saying, “Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was mighty (powerful) in his speech and deeds.” Today we are all educated to some degree or another in pop culture. Pop culture permeates Muslim society and Christian alike. A generation ago, Italian philosopher, Theodore Adorne predicted this in his book, The Industry of Culture. He argued that in such a situation, the lowest common denominator of culture will spread through out the world.

I have two daughters and they are both beautiful. As they were growing up, I would often say to them, “Wow, God made you beautiful!” Their mother Jackie would always correct me. I know that may come as a shock but it is true, Jackie does correct me from time to time. She would say, “Now dad, we value beauty in charter and intelligence far above beauty that is only skin deep.” To which I would say, “That too.” But Jackie was right, today when I see my daughters they just sparkle because they love the Lord, and they have a strength about them that is amazing. They are compassionate, idealistic, fun to argue with, and very creative in everything they do. They have character beyond anything I could have ever imagined. They are each an original masterpiece and yes, they are beautiful. Some of you might remember my story about using our family computer when instant messaging was still a novelty. I really didn’t know what it was, when on the screen came this message. “Why hello beautiful, how are you doing today?” I recognized the name as a young man in our youth group that was stricken by one of my daughters. I answered him, much to his embarrassment. “This is not beautiful, this is her father pastor Tim.” But as I chuckled and went up-stairs to tell Jackie the story I thought, he’s right, my daughter is beautiful. As I watch the stories of America's pop icons, I can’t help but pray that lots of kids follow a different path to a deeper kind of multi-dimensional beauty.

Your friend for the rest of my life,
Tim White