It went well. Yesterday I made my presentation. It seemed like people responded positively, and at the end they even applauded, which I did not expect. (I suspect Vance started that. Regardless, it was a nice surprise.)
Afterward I collected the response cards. I received 7 that said they were interested in being on the team, and 4 who said they'd pray but couldn't be on the team. That leaves a significant number of people who did not respond at all, but it is still heartening.
I really want to try to make sure that everyone is personally appealed to. I think I will email everyone with a link to an electronic survey and see if I can get some more responses. I plan to work on that today. My survey just has one question with a specific answer, asking people to either check, "I am interested in being on the Hineni team,' and another that says, "I cannot be on the team but I will pray." The rest of the form is open-ended, asking what days & times to meet, and inviting any feedback.
When I met with the worship team prior to the service, at the time of prayer requests, I asked them to pray for me because of "the story I am making up." This comes from Brené Brown's book, Rising Strong. She talks about exploring what you are telling yourself in your mind. I recently read some work by Mary Karr where she discussed something similar, asking "Where are you getting your information?" and often -- like 99% of the time -- we are making it up. In my case, the story I was making up was that there were people who were wondering, "Who do you think you are, Mavis Moon? Who are you to lead us in this movement? Who are you to talk to us about how to pray?" I then told them another story, not one I made up. Years ago, when I had been the church secretary for several years, I decided I needed to work full time and gave my notice. A church member and friend of mine told me she prayed a lot about the church secretary decision, thinking it was very important and praying that we would find the right person. Slowly she realized she herself was that person. That's how it was with me. As I wrote, I've been thinking about hineni for months, praying about it and how our church is at a hineni moment. Slowly, it began to occur to me that perhaps it needed to be me who did something about it.
Today I finalized the slide deck for Sunday, wrote the narration, and made cards for people to fill in to indicate interest and times for the Hineni Team.
Below is the narration. I added some practical words at the end. I wonder if they'll help. You know that children's song, "I Cannot Come"? That song has been in my head for two days now. Think maybe there's a little anxiety present?
Begin
slide with lake and picture of church
You have seen the bulletin insert about Hineni, and
I’m here to talk about it with you.
As you’ve read, Hineni is a Hebrew word meaning “Here
I am,” but it’s more than just being present like you’d say if someone were
taking roll.
Change
slide – heading that says Here I am
In a Spiritual sense it means “Here I am, Lord, ready
and willing to do God’s will,” or “to take on the mission you give me.”
Change
slide – multiple pictures of people saying Here I am
Hineni is used a lot in the Bible, not always
translated the same, but it’s used over 170 times!
When God spoke to Moses in the burning bush, Moses
answered, “Hineni – here I am ready to do your will.”
When God spoke to Abraham, Abraham said “Hineni,” too,
“ready to do what you’ve said.”
When Samuel heard someone calling his name in the
night, Eli finally recognized it was God, and told Samuel to answer, “Here I am
Lord.”
When Gabriel gave Mary the news she would bear the
Messiah, Mary at first was hesitant, but ended by saying Hineni, translated as
“I am the Lord’s servant, may your word to me be filled.”
Even God says Hineni when he speaks to his people and
says, “Behold, here am I, doing this thing.”
I think our church is in a time of Hineni – a time
when we are searching for God’s will for the future of our church. And we, too,
say, “Here we are Lord, ready and willing to do your mission.”
Change
slide – Hineni team
So, I talked with Council and we have started a plan.
It starts with forming a Hineni team.
EVERYONE is invited to join the team – really, truly
everyone. Young, old, in-between, whatever.
Even if you are thinking you won’t be in the church in
a few years or after some time, you’re still invited. My dad used to quote “A
society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall
never sit in.” Being on the team is for the future, for the church family now
and to come.
We’ll be passing out cards for everyone to express
their interest and to indicate the best days and times to meet. We’re shooting
for at least twice a month.
We’ll start meeting as soon as we can, and begin
praying and meditating. I’ll share with you some methods of praying that have
helped me, and others can share what helps them, too. We’ll pray together and
we’ll listen together, to hear God speaking to us.
We’ll be giving everyone updates often, and inviting
everyone to pray, on the team or not.
This will be part of becoming internally strong.
Praying together, growing closer to each other and to God.
Change
slide – Follow up steps
Then we’ll start the process of becoming externally
focused
We’ll ask ourselves what are we good at.
Maybe we’ll get ideas by sending out postcards to the
neighborhood, maybe to the Google bussers
And we’ll study the book together, “The Externally
Focused Church”
Change
slide – Ideas??
There are lots of ideas out there.
One church had a sign outside asking people if they
were lonely, and inviting them in to talk, maybe become a friend.
Grace Cathedral in San Francisco holds yoga classes
and has concerts.
Maybe we could have a hospitality center
Vance talked about his church doing oil changes
Some churches have an after school center
One church has a group dinner thing – where people get
together to make meals for the week.
We may not figure out everything, but we’ll try to
hear God’s will for our next step, and we’ll go to Council about it
Change
slide - interested?
Are you interested? We’ll pass out the cards now for
you to fill in. You can put them in the offering bag, or give them to me or one
of the Council members. I’ll be talking with you, too.
As I finish, I want to talk about some practicalities.
I know you are – we are – very busy people. I know we
have busy jobs that sometimes mean traveling. And we have busy kids with
schedules full of sports, music, school, homework, and all that.
I know that the thought of doing “one more thing”
might be daunting. And I know I might sound as if I’m trying to guilt you into
doing something.
I am praying that you change the way you’re looking at
it. Think about participating in this effort out of love, not guilt. Out of
gratefulness, not guilt.
Look at the person sitting to the left and right and front
and back of you. Look at the children, the grown-ups, the elderly. Imagine the
people who aren’t here. Imagine the future people who will become members of
our church family.
You love them. I love them. It can make me choke up
sometimes to see this family and to sing with them. They love you. They love
me. We all love God. Let’s do this together in love.
Today Vance preached the second sermon of this two sermon series, the first on "Internally Strong," and the second on "Externally Focused." I met with Vance and also with Council to plan out the coordination of (what I call in my mind) the Hineni Movement. I've created a 15 minute presentation to outline the plan so far. Vance has begun the movement with his sermon series.
It's been great to have the enthusiastic support of Vance and the Council. We had the following piece in the bulletin today, and also in the e-newsletter ("Church Connection") this past week. One person after church told me they thought it was very well written and said she would support me in prayer and as much as she could. Another friend expressed regret she would not be here next week when I make the presentation. I wonder what other people think.
In one of our earliest discussions about this, Vance said, "These are the kinds of conversations we need to have." Today in his sermon he said, "We could say, 'Woe is us,' or we can say, 'What do we do now?'" That sentiment has given me lots of food for thought.
Sometimes I feel like saying, "Woe is us." Randy and I have attended the church since 1978. We were a part of the church's "heyday," when the pews were full and there were lots of members. During the '80's as our children grew up, I was happy that my kids were growing up in "a small town in the middle of a big city." They went to the Christian school, lots of that school's teachers, staff, and other children went to our church, and it felt like a real example of the 3 spheres working together -- church, school, and home.
I still feel blessed by that time, and grateful for the love of my church family and school community. I thank God that they were our extended family. (Randy's family is in Michigan, mine in Washington.) But, like all of us I'm sure, I sometimes remember that time and it is tempting to say, "Woe is us." Now we're a church where our attendance typically hovers around 50. It's difficult to get enough volunteers just to cover the ministries we have on Sundays -- leading worship, Sunday School, sound and Power Point, and so on -- let alone week night ministries. Back in the day we had Calvinettes -- now GEMS -- and Cadets and a Jr. and Sr. High group. We were able to have pretty big productions with our children at Christmas -- including extra practices on Saturdays. Now, we tend to schedule everything on Sundays because that seems to be the only time we can get together. So, yes, woe is us.
But it was good to hear a gentle word about what kind of conversations we need to have. We need to ask, "What do we do next?" "What are we good at?" "What is our next step?" That's what hineni is all about. Here we are, Lord, ready and willing to do your will.
Hineni at San Jose CRC by Mavis Moon
“Hineni” - ever heard of it? In Hebrew, the phrase "Here I am" is "hineni" -- pronounced he-nay-nee. Hineni means more than just "I am here" or "I am present." When they're taking roll in the Yeshiva (a Jewish school) there's a different word for "here" or "present" -- poh. Hineni means "I am here, willing and ready to take on the mission you give me."
There is a theme in the Bible of God's people saying “Hineni,” or "Here I am." When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, Moses said, "Here I am." When God called Samuel in the middle of the night, Eli told him to say, "Here I am." When God spoke to Abraham, Abraham said, "Here I am." These words are used by God's people when God calls them and gives them a specific instruction, or mission, or assignment.
Each time God calls and the people answer "Here I am," God gives them a direction for the future. Our church is in a "Hineni" moment. God is calling us and has a mission for our future. What does willing and ready mean? What is San Jose CRC’s mission?
We will be starting a sort of grassroots movement to explore that question together -- What does God want for San Jose CRC’s future? Council has asked that I join them in leading this effort. We’ll be giving more details soon. The basic plan is:
Together become internally strong:
Form a Hineni team that will meet together to pray, and to become even more of a real church family, a true community.
Not just that team, but all of us, will deepen our relationship to each other and God through prayer and listening for God’s voice.
Together become externally focused:
Study, pray, and listen to discern how God is leading us to deepen our relationships with our neighbors.
Everyone -- really, everyone - is invited to be part of the Hineni team -- old or young, official member or not, planning to remain a member for years to come or planning to move, whatever and whoever. The entire church family will be involved during our Hineni time. The team will give updates and opportunities for prayer support, study, giving ideas and encouragement, and so on. Stay tuned for more details -- and pray.
I can't even remember when I first saw the word "hineni," but it kept cropping up. I think it must have started sometime in October of 2017. Looking back, that's when I wrote this piece for our e-newsletter, "Church Connection."
Here I am
Our pastor has been leading us in a sermon series of God saying "I AM." There is also a theme in the Bible of God's people saying "Here I am." When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, Moses said, "Here I am." When God called Samuel in the middle of the night, Eli told him to say, "Here I am." When God spoke to Abraham, Abraham said, "Here I am." These words are used by God's people when God calls them and gives them a specific instruction, or mission, or assignment. God told Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. He told Samuel about his plans for Eli and the people of Israel. He told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.
Each time God calls and the people answer "Here I am," God gives them a direction for the future. Our church is in a "Here I am" moment. God is calling us and has a mission for our future. As we respond with "Here I am, Lord," let us pray and listen for God's instruction about our church's mission.
My family and friends probably think I'm a bit obsessed with that word. I talk about it a lot. It was one of those things where it seemed like God must be trying to say something to me, the way it kept turning up. The concept of "here" was in a book I read be Padraig O'Tuama. I heard an interview of y Jonathan Safran Foer and his book, Here I Am, which was referring to hineni. I started searching and reading about it.
I was happy when our current interim pastor, Vance Hayes, and his wife came to visit, and when I asked, "Do you know the word 'hineni'," they both enthusiastically said they did! By that time, I had been thinking and wondering if I could somehow work with the church to try to discern God's will for our future. Vance latched right on to the idea, and off we went!
