Visits with Old Youth Group Students -- Heather

One of my favorite parenting bits came from Bruce MacLeod, father of Heather and Allison. Heather and Allison are not just Bruce's daughters but were also members of the youth group when I was a youth pastor at Concord Bible Church. Back in the day, Bruce used to say to Heather, "Heather, you're my favorite daughter. Now you know I'll have to say the same thing to Allison because I don't want to hurt her feelings. But you're really my favorite." He'd say the same thing to Allison (switching names, of course).

So let me say right off that Heather was my favorite student in youth group. There are others I've told this to, but I really mean it with Heather. She always brought energy and joy to the group along with earnestness about her walk with Christ.

This month Mindy and I are going to churches with former youth group students. We asked Heather what she appreciated about Concord Bible Church growing up. She said she appreciated that CBC was a multigenerational. There were a number of women that took her under her wing (talking about you Magda Bedros, and you Nancy Walter, and you Val Gallaher) and helped Heather to feel safe. So safe that she often wore pajama bottoms to youth group (which I remembered as a charmingly quirky).

I asked Heather why she thought she had remained consistent in her walk with Christ and her churchgoing through the years. Many kids, especially during their college years, drop out of churchgoing for a time, some more permanently than others. Heather thinks that part of the reason may be that she became a Christian a little later in life, in the eighth grade, and everything about church and faith was new and exciting to her. She appreciated that kids were a part of the church and not shoved to the side at CBC. Through the years, Heather has continued to want to be a part of things in church and church ministry.

Heather met Matt, her husband, on their first day as freshmen at Berean Christian High School -- not that they were a couple during those years. After they married and came to Fresno, the Bridge was the second church they visited. There were a number of young people in the church, which at the time was called Fresno Evangelical Free Church (The church is still Evangelical Free; the name was changed to help the baffled).

When their first kid became involved with the children's ministry, Heather was concerned about aspects of the ministry and she made her opinions known. She sent letters voicing those concerns, and during discussions about those issues she was asked if she was interested in being a part of the staff and helping to revamp the ministry. She took the offer several years later after being part of a group of volunteers.

Heather was on staff for two and a half years but quit at the end of the summer last year, when the time commitment proved too taxing for family time. But even after she resigned, she maintained a good relationship with the staff and volunteers.

She and Matt appreciate the church's concern for and outreach to the neighborhood around the church. I'm sure that on staff or off, Heather will continue to be a blessing for The Bridge, as she always was at Concord Bible Church.

-- Dean

Shelter Covenant Church -- Concord

Shelter Covenant Church has a couple of roommates. They share a building in downtown Concord with Vineyard Church and Lighthouse Regional Church, two other fellowships that also happen to have symbolic nouns for names. All three churches also share membership with a number of other Diablo Valley churches in the organization "Church without Shoes" that holds occasional joint services and unites in ministries to the community.

The building where the three churches meet was once a porn theater -- which shows again that God makes all things new and better. Lighthouse meets Saturday evenings, and Vineyard meets in the building on Sunday mornings. We attended the Sunday evening service, which is Shelter's main worship service.

We visited Shelter because for the last 17 years it's been the home church of our friend, Beth, who was one of our youth group students during our years at Concord Bible Church.  We arrived early, and Beth was quite excited by the snack choices, particularly the pretzels stuffed with cappuccino chocolate. She introduced us to a number of people including some of the staff.

The service started a couple of minutes after 5:00 pm. The worship team consisted of two acoustic guitars, an electric bass and drums.  We sang some familiar choruses and a gospel song. There was a reading of a confessional prayer. According to the web site, in addition to Scripture readings, there are regular readings of a variety of creeds and prayers from church antiquity, which may have been the case with this prayer, but it wasn't credited to anyone.

One of the pastors then led a time of "popcorn" praise, asking the congregation to share in a sentence some life giving experience God had given them in the last week. He then took time discussing the tribulation Christians in the Middle East are now facing at the hands of ISIS. He encouraged everyone in the congregation to set their phones or watches to an alarm just before bedtime (morning in the Middle East) to remind us to pray for our Christian family facing torture and death. He did get me to set my alarm and pray.

The guest speaker, a Quaker who has a ministry focusing on forgiveness, will be doing a forgiveness seminar at the church in a couple of weeks. He used Matthew 18, the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, as his text, emphasizing the good and important point that we need to forgive for our own good, for the sake of our relationship with God and our spiritual health. But he wouldn't get into how to forgive. He said he'd happened on the secret of forgiveness 15 years ago and he was saving that secret for the upcoming seminar.

I had problems with one of the last choruses written by someone in the church. It seemed a bit of a twist on Lennon's "Imagine" saying that eventually religion and faith would be no more. Since Paul said in I Corinthians 13 says that the three things that will last are "faith, hope and love" -- well, those lyrics just didn't work for me.

I did appreciate the time of open communion, a weekly part of the service. During a time of singing and praise, people can go forward for communion when they choose. They may also go to the side of the church and pray with designated prayer partners or go to the back of the church to give in the tithe box or light a candle.

Beth said she was feeling emotional throughout the service. This was "her" church and being newly married, she and her husband believe they need to find a church that is "their" church. This is a transition I've seen many new couples deal with.  I trust that God will continue to use Shelter as "His" church.

-- Dean

Statistics:

Service Length:  1 hour 30 minutes

Sermon Length:  34 minutes

Visitor Treatment:  there was a greeting time during the service, and Beth introduced us to a number of people who greeted us warmly. I think there were visitor cards on a table in the lobby, but I forgot to check

Our Rough Count:  53

Probable Ushers' Count:  75

Snacks:  filled pretzels, coffee, tea, cookies and bottled water on tables in the lobby as we entered

Songs:  Lord I Need You

             Song of Hope

             How He Loves

             Take Your Burden to the Lord

             The Wonderful Cross

             You are so Good to Me

             All Things Good Again

Miles to place:  75 

Total California Miles:  4835

Visits with Old Youth Group Students - Beth

I don't want anyone thinking that I'm resorting to unrestrained flattery when I say Beth Jensen was an attractive and delightful and unfailingly cheerful presence in the youth group during my years at Concord Bible Church. Because that is quite restrained praise.

So I'm happy to report that Beth has continued in her walk with Christ for the the couple of decades since Mindy and I served at CBC. And it was good to get together with her Sunday before evening worship at Shelter Covenant Church in Concord (we'll report about the service right here tomorrow).

We asked first about what Beth remembered and appreciated about growing up in Concord Bible Church. Beth said she appreciated the youth leaders that came alongside her, such as Nancy Walter (who faithfully served as a youth volunteer with her husband, Brad). She remembers that in those years her parents were active in the church, her mother in worship and that her father was kept involved. She said that the church provided balance for her life in public school ("like a support group, but not").

 

I asked her what might be some less positive memories of church life from those years. She did that on occasion she felt like she didn't live up to expectations of some the leadership. In hindsight, she said she appreciated the opportunities for mission work, social activities, and Bible study. She also felt free during those years to invite friends to church and youth group, including friends from the swim team ("all my funky crew"). She said she "really appreciated that part of my childhood."

Though Beth remained in the area, she eventually changed churches. She felt she she needed to make some faith choices on her own. One of those choices was to become a part of YWAM (Youth with a Mission). She received ministry training and was involved in ministries in Hollywood and Africa (two quite foreign mission fields).

As for church, a friend from CBC invited her to attend a new church. This church, Shelter, was founded by InterVarsity leaders (IV is an outreach ministry to college students). People in the church were also involved in Wild Life and Young Life (ministries to Jr. High and High School students). Beth spent some time involved with both of those ministries.

Beth has attended Shelter for the last 17 years. But she got married last year (to a great guy, Matthew Warner, who we also were able to spend time with yesterday). Beth and Matthew believe God is calling them to find a church they can share. From experience, I know such searches can be difficult. But I'm sure God will direct them, just as He's been quite obviously directing Beth in the past.

-- Dean

March plans

Yesterday I received a piece of spam from Christianity Today with the subject title, “Will Your Teen’s Faith Survive College?”  My first thought was, “I don’t have any teens anymore.” Our younger daughter ended her teenhood last September. My next thought was, “Some teens’ faith doesn’t survive working at McDonald’s the summer before college.” The email was, of course, promotion for the Christian College Guide, a very fine resource, I’m sure.

But I’ve thought a lot about my teens’ faith after high school, because I’ve had a lot of teens through the years. I started working in youth ministry in college (volunteering with Young Life) and most of the last three decades I’ve been in full or part time youth ministry. Everyone in youth ministry wonders whether the work they’re doing makes a difference.  I know some kids that I’ve worked with through the years have stuck with it, and some have chucked it. And some have chucked it and then come back and vice-versa.

So Mindy and I have decided to use this five Sunday month to spend time with former youth group students who still go to church (at least on the Sunday we visit). We hope to ask a bit about what was important to them in their church life as youths and what is important now in their spiritual lives.

Frankly, we just wanted to catch up with some really cool people we’ve known through the years. But you’re welcome to come along.

-- Dean