Germany (Diepholz): 2010, Day 7
We spent most of the day (9am-2pm) traveling north by train to Diepholz. As we went further and further north, the amount of snow on the ground increased considerably, so it was like riding on the train in the old movie Dr. Zhivago. The trains were very comfortable and warm, so the journey was pleasant and relaxing. Pamela played “Worder” on her iPhone while I read a science fiction novel—that was getting really good just as we arrived at our destination.
I was supposed to call our host pastor, Ulrich Wellbrook, just before we arrived, but each time I dialed his number I got a recording in German, of course, telling me who-knows-what, followed by a busy signal. We were met on the platform of this small village train station by Renate, Ulrich’s sister, who explained that he had lost his cell phone recently. That cleared up the mystery about the recording.
Renate took us to our hotel, so we could get a bite to eat before I went with her back to the church where the pastors were gathered. Unfortunately, it was nearly 3:00pm, and the kitchen in the hotel was closed until dinner. Pamela gamely made do with a cup of tea, as Rinate and I drove off. Pamela wasn’t feeling quite well enough to come with me to the meetings, so she elected to make herself comfortable in our large room.
We met in the old building the church has been using for the last few years; they move into their new facility in the next week or two, and I was very excited for them about that. In Germany, the so-called “Free Churches” (i.e., non-Catholic and non-Lutheran) are considered cults; consequently, it’s quite a challenge for them to find landlords willing to rent facilities. Most people know how difficult it is for pioneer churches in the US to find adequate, affordable facilities. Imagine how much harder it is for our friends in Europe, where the church-as-we-know-it, is shunned and vilified as a cult.
They had lots of left-overs from lunch, so I had no problem filling my plate with salads, breads and “schnitzel” (deep-fried pork chops). By 4:00pm, Jan had joined us (he had come on a later train), and we started our informal discussions about church and discipleship. Among those attending the seminar was a couple, Tino and Vera, I met in the late 80’s when I first traveled to Germany to help establish Foursquare Germany. I remembered sleeping in their home on the floor many years ago. They are the only other pastors still active in Foursquare from those days.
I shared with all the pastors one of the most transforming moments in my ministry. A few years after we planted Coastlands, I had a particularly discouraging Sunday. The service simply didn’t work. The message was flat, the worship never went anywhere, the people didn’t respond to me or to one another. It was a total brick! For the umpteenth time, I told God, “I quit!”
“Just for the record,” He replied, “What, exactly are you quitting?”
“This,” I said, pointing to the remnants of the service, as the crew was dismantling our weekly setup arrangement of chairs, partitions and equipment.
After a moment of silence, I punctuated my reason for quitting by adding, “It isn’t working?”
“What isn’t working?” God inquired.
“Church,” I shot back. “Didn’t You see what a dud this service was? And where are all the people who usually come? We had so many new people and not enough regulars to even make the newcomers welcome.”
“I think it’s working quite well,” He replied. “You’ve done a good job of training people, and that’s why I’ve sent them elsewhere—and given you a whole new group of people to train just like the last ones!”
“Oh, and by the way, church will always be like this—broken and in need of people to help do the work. That’s the whole point: broken people get healed in the process of helping fix what’s broken in church…”
From that day to this, I have understood two basic truths about pastoring:
1. It’s a myth to imagine I’ll ever pastor a church that works well. The needs of church and finding people to be engaged in the process of serving others is a perpetual and never-ending reality. That’s not because God won’t answer our prayers, but because He wants me to use the work/needs of church to help fix people—not the other way around. People are not what I need to have a great church; a broken church is what I need to produce great people.
2. Many, if not most people will be leaving the church at some point in the future. They may leave happy or sad, on good terms or bad—but they are leaving. So, what can I give them before they go? How can I add to their readiness for that inevitable departure. What would I wish some other pastor had put in people who move to Santa Cruz and start attending Coastlands? My assignment is NOT to make sure everyone stays in my church. My assignment is to fulfill my particular part in getting them better tooled for their ministry future—after they have left me.
