Pastor's Message

March 2005

Are you bored with your minister's sermons? Imagine how he or she feels! Every week the same old thing - God loves you, be nice, obey the Ten Commandments, yada, yada, yada. Isn't it time somebody did something about this?

This is where you come in. What do people find compelling these days? Why, reality shows of course. The one that's been around longest is The Real World, where a bunch of unrelated, good-looking people are put in a special setting, like a houseboat, (actually, I don't think they've done that one yet- I wonder what they pay for new ideas), in some exciting city like Los Angeles or Boston. They are assigned a common task, like running a boutique, but mostly the camera just records their everyday interactions, which usually prove interesting because the producers deliberately pick people who might clash.

The most popular reality show is Survivor. This is where a bunch of strangers, mostly young and good-looking, but also including the obligatory geezer who served in the Marines 50 years ago and the feisty old dame who works on a ranch or trains Marines in survival skills, are stranded in a remote, exotic location. They are given challenges, which they must win in order to avoid being voted off the island.

So why not combine these concepts and apply them to the church? Take people from rural, suburban, and historic downtown churches and throw them together in a little part time church on Martha's Vineyard. Give them a task or series of challenges, let them vote each other off, and watch the sparks fly.

Now imagine if people from your congregation were competing to be on such a show by making videotapes of themselves at work in the local church. Already the minister could have many exciting things to talk about on Sunday morning.

Imagine an usher from Schituate, a Sunday School teacher from East Greenwich, a custodian from Washington Park in Providence, and a Special Projects chair from Epworth competing against a team of treasurers, choir members and church secretaries from comparable churches on the West Coast in a series of challenges such as: building a church float for the Fourth of July parade, chaperoning a roller disco outing for the youth group; enlisting other church members to volunteer at a local soup kitchen; designing a church web site; planning a killer fundraiser - the possibilities are endless. Winners would be exempt from being asked to preach on laity Sunday.

Of course we need a fantastic prize for the final winners. How about the folks from the home improvement show come in and completely redesign the winner's church? More great sermon material!

Maybe this sounds a little extreme, but didn't Jesus shake up the system when he was around? The Pharisees wanted everything to stay the same, but Jesus came turning water into wine, healing people on the Sabbath, and overturn the vendor's tables in the Temple courtyard. What a great visual that would have been for the six o'clock news.

Maybe God wants us to stir things up a little. So come on, be a good sport, and sign yourself up for Survivor - local church edition; and give your minister something to talk about next Sunday.

From your Pastor

Rev. Jean Marsh

*Want to see Pastor's messages from other months? You can find some of them in the Archives*