Saw an HP member today

I felt so bad for Rocky in Kroger today.  He did everything he could to hide from me as he walked within 6" of me on the coffee aisle looking at the floor.  I feel so bad for my brothers and sisters that want nothing to do with me now that I have moved on to another church.  

This is such a poor representation of the what Jesus' body must be like.  I feel so bad for those that turn away from Christian brothers and sisters due to disagreements in the body.  Good luck, HP - your lack of growth and continued exit via the back door shines the light on what you actually believe...

No social aspect for outsiders

I felt bad when I got one of the recent email updates from HP because it said the following:  

"During our worship service there will be a short break for socializing and 'body building'.  We encourage you to seek out people you don't know and get acquainted."

I didn't feel bad because they were going to try something like this during the service, I felt because I knew how it would go.  It would remain a surface thing, people saying "Hi!" to each other as if they mean it and then turning and commenting on how you looked, felt, smelled, whatever.  This is what I go through every Sunday after 10 years of attending HP.  I even went through at a local BBQ restaurant a couple of weeks ago, where a very large part of the "in" crowd at HP came in and filled the tables around me and my family, yet only one of them said anything to me.  Most of them avoided any eye contact with me and made sure they paid attention to whoever they were trying to sit by rather than greet a fellow church member that had been part of HP for 10 years.  

I feel so bad for them.  No follow-through on initiatives, no updates on a capital campaign once it's all up and running, and no plan for the future ("we're going somewhere!")  Oh, well...

Sad about social interaction

It was funny reading the weekly update from HP this week.  It talked about how there would be a pause in the Sunday morning service to allow for inthe Whiterpersonal action and discsusion to help promote a more social environment.  This effort is so disappointing that it appalls me to hear of it.  It is so formulaic that it smacks of a thinly veiled attempt to show the social aspect of HP.  

I have an experience that will help illustrate the difficultiy that Steven and his followers deal with:  I ate lunch at the original Shane's last week, and the Whites,the Dykes, and the Jones all were in attendance.  They all ordered their food and made a big deal about greeting the elder in their family, but me and my family were there and got no greetings, no welcomes, no acknowledgements.  I smiled and nodded but got nothing in return, especially from the Dykes male and the White male.  I was not encouraged nor even acknowledged, even though I giive  a significant portion to the church.  I accept my place as outsider and outcast from HP, but it is hard to see it up close and first-hand.  

My Savior did not do things this way.  He ate with sinners, drank with tax collectors, and associated with the less-than-savory in his time.  I do the same, leading a life of shift work, darkness, and separation.  I pray for the bigoted and the foolish, and hope that they escape the bondage they live with every day.  

No sermons posted

One of the saddest things I've seen is the lack of consistency at HP.
One example is the sermons online. The person that did them until
late last year lagged a little but always posted them. A handoff was
made to a different person, and now there haven't been any sermons
posted since March of this year.

This lack of consistency problem stems from the newness wearing off.
One thing I've noticed is that if it's not new the body of HP doesn't
like it. It's almost as if there is no long-term plan or approach to
things.

A quote from Marrin Luther King Jr. is that "there can be no great
disappointment without great love.". I'm very disappointed...

It's like I'm not there

I went to church there today. One person said hello to me, but kept moving. No one else even acknowledged my presence. Even those that I worked with there at church turn their heads away and don't speak.

I feel almost like a pariah. But I also had a valuable insight today: this is why our church doesn't grow, why it stays the same size or even gets smaller. It's because everyone's so busy "doing church" that they don't take the time to actually engage with those around them. A greeting here, a nod there, be sure and hug and shake hands when they tell you to during the service, but otherwise no reaching out to those that are hurting right there with them...

"Faith in Action" and "The Point"

I was disappointed to hear that our pastor's exciting new push to get the church in motion, called "Faith in Action" (a group thing already thought of by someone else), was not coordinated at all with the Youth leader. He announced this past Sunday that "everyone" was invited to come to the church on Wednesday night to learn more and to sign up for their ill-defined project, but this effort had not even been coordinated with the Youth minister, who had planned a big meeting with the youth leaders and parents to plan out some upcoming events.

I find it interesting to watch them jump on the bus and start driving without coordinating with anyone. After having my toes run over so many times I'm glad I'm not involved in this effort; sounds like business as usual for them, rushing something to closure, claiming full success despite the number of people that show up, and then move on to run over whoever else is in the way.

Sorrow for HP

One of the hardest things I've had to deal with in my life is to see how my church runs over people in an effort to please the leaders or themselves. I drew close and learned that they jump in the church bus and drive it no matter who stands in the way or who might be working on it. There is no plan and they are sticking to it. I've ranted and raved at my wife and family enough, so now I will try to direct my rants here.

The hardest part is that I feel like I am in the middle of God's Will - a rock he has placed in the middle of the river, sticking up above the surface of the water and resisting the pull of the common river flow to stand in His Righteousness. I just wish they would stop running me over on their way to do good...