Category: Superindendent

By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. 

Isaiah 9:6-7

As we step into this year’s Advent season we’re not just anticipating Christmas, but anticipating Christ himself.  Advent is the time for Christ-followers to reflect on how we can prepare our hearts and homes for Christ’s birth in the world as it is today.  What does it mean for you to have God with you? 

As we begin our annual pilgrimage to the starry fields and Bethlehem manger, how might we be captured again by this amazing reality – Jesus is God with us?  When I stop to think about this, the idea of the human and divine coming together to live with us blows me away.  “The Chosen” helps us envision how this looks a bit, but how does this look for us in almost 2023? 

Isaiah emphasizes two main thrusts for us.  The prophet first speaks to his contemporaries that were distressed and low on hope. Isaiah wants them to know that God sees them, has not forgotten them, and will come. They desperately needed to change the prevailing despair.  Such a timely word for us today as well.  I pray that you are not allowing despair to prevail.  God is with us, Wonderful Counselor Mighty God, come and be with us who are suffering: our painful losses, disabling diseases, challenging situations, our ever-present brokenness, and sin.   Holy Spirit, comfort the broken-hearted and bring your healing balm. You are here with us. We know that Emmanuel is a daily promise that you move to our broken hearts. 

The prophet also vividly paints that, with zeal, God will begin a reality where His righteousness and justice will never end.  It is a call to treat people rightly with fairness, generosity, and equity. He repeatedly and extensively declared that God’s people should care for the poor and needy, the alien, and foreigners (like baby Jesus fleeing to Egypt).  He calls us to not just convenient charity or easy discipleship, but a whole-life commitment to radical generosity both relationally and materially.  Isaiah declares that God with us is by nature a movement outward.  It’s a movement into our broken world and into people’s lives.  How are you moving out with zeal and generously sharing Christ? 

I pray God’s peace this Advent as He meets you in your challenges and pain and as you share the Peace of your life with others.  I pray God’s hope as you move into your communities and, with zeal, live out God’s righteousness and justice. I pray God’s joy over you as you celebrate the coming of our Messiah.  And I pray you would know God’s lavish love as Emmanuel.  Advent and Christmas blessings!

By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

I’m feeling the extremes of our human experience as I gather myself for this entry.  Yesterday, Mary and I joined a unity march in Tacoma put on by the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation.  The weather was incredible and there was light shining on the city as people came together to seek peace and solidarity.  Yet within the day, I also was shocked by the overwhelmingly tragic news from Seoul.  It felt especially close as I was just there on holiday in August.  Deep, deep sadness.

It was also so good to be together today with my neighbors for our annual HOA Halloween gathering.  There were many good connections: new neighbors, telling stories, and sharing pictures.  I hadn’t met two of my neighbors’ new babies yet.  They were absolutely perfect.  I’m also sitting with news in the last two weeks about the diagnosis of degenerative brain diseases from two colleagues.  I had never heard of these cruel diseases before. The news is so unexpected and devastating. 

I’ve spoken to pastors and Leadership Teams this past month about encouraging growth, many newcomers/members, strong finances, and new opportunities.  One church just restarted their men’s Bible study and there has been one person who has given their life to Christ in 3 of the last 4 weeks!  One of our immigrant churches is also working with a global partner to host a revival conference next year!  But we also have three churches that have concluded their ministries this past year (Bridge Salem, Grace Bremerton, and Disciple Bellevue).  We received the notification from the Covenant Executive Board about Quest and there are other churches that are discussing if the ECC is the right denominational home (with varying reasons).  Most attendance and budget numbers are down.  The conference is projecting a 15% reduction in shared mission giving and our attendance report has our aggregate number down by about 30%.

Many transitions are happening among our clergy.  Clear Lake has called Rev. Jeannette Conver!  Arlington United has called Rev. Ieisha Hawley!  Milwaukie has called Bruce Bruns!  Other searches and discernment processes continue at Bethany, Evergreen, Wiley Heights, and Valley.  Emerald City Bible just got word that Rev Harvey Drake is retiring next year.  There are other pastors that are considering transitions; some that make sense and others that discourage me. 

The extremes of the human experience can be emotionally stretching.  And we know that our emotions affect us physically and spiritually. 

Whatever you are carrying these days personally or as a church, God invites us this month to focus on thankfulness.  It’s something we should be working on every day, all year, really, but we highlight it this month.  It is ironic that November’s decreasing physical light (the “big dark”) is also a month that invites us into increasing spiritual light through gratitude.

And let us remember that there are forces/beings that are literally, constantly looking to snuff this/us out.  It tries to reach out of the pit of darkness and lasso us to drag us in.  But this power is powerless in the presence of Christ.

My son and his two roommates kept a large “thanksgiving jar” on their counter.  They practiced this gratitude thing by attempting to put something they were grateful for on a slip of paper every day and contribute it to the jar.  For you contemplatives, it was a type of Examen of sorts.  Recently when they moved out and parted ways, it was a moving experience for them to read all of these slips to each other.  This part of their journey together will stand out as a life highlight despite some profoundly challenging chapters they each walked through.  The floodlight of thankfulness from this jar will stay on in their cores. 

Giving thanks in the extremes and everything in between is what God wants for us.  It’s actually His will and desire for us.  It’s good for our souls.  It’s the light that stays on. 

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Friends, I want to encourage you to hang onto light.  Lately, I have been lighting a candle every time I sit down with my laptop.  It reminds me of Christ’s presence and the light he brings into our dark world around me.  May the light of Christ fill this day as you practice gratitude. 

By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

It was a definite highlight last month, and it will be added to my top list for sure.  It was not like a miraculous feeding or major revival, but I saw God so clearly.  I saw him sovereignly working over the last 15 years inspiring people to his mission leading up to this year’s Moon Festival at Tacoma’s Chinese Reconciliation Park.  Let me start there. 

Similar to many Asian cultures, the Chinese follow the lunar calendar.  As part of this, many holidays and festivals are connected to the movement of the seasons.  For the Chinese, the second most important celebration behind Lunar New Year is the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.  It dates back over 3,000 years. The celebration is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar corresponding with the full moon (mid-September to early October). This is when the Chinese recognize the moon at its brightest and fullest size.

OK, God sightings – let’s go back to 2005.  Our conference sent representatives to California to join the Pacific Southwest Conference’s pilot Journey to Mosaic (J2M).  PacNWC exploratory efforts were led by Rev. Krisann Jarvis Foss who was on conference staff.  God inspired her to bring this mobile discipleship workshop engaging racial righteousness to our conference.  We successfully piloted ours in 2007.  Since the beginning, J2M has stopped at Tacoma’s Chinese Reconciliation Park. You can familiarize yourself with the park and Tacoma’s specific contribution here and to the Chinese Exclusion Act here. 

But this is not an article about racial righteousness.  It’s about seeing God at work over 15 years.

My family and I moved into our Renton Highlands neighborhood after I was called by you in 2013.  After a few years, the conference sponsored our first evangelism cohort with pastors which I participated in as well.  We were encouraged to join something; get out into the world and mix and mingle.  I really wanted to join a park district softball league, but with my schedule, I settled on our HOA board!  Mary and I also were already attempting to know our neighbors better including a young Chinese couple.  We would go on to meet weekly with them, studying scripture and praying, and sharing meals and some holidays together.  They became fast friends. 

As we got to know them, we found out that the wife was a long-time friend of Larry and Theresa Pan Hosley who are the founders of Chinese Reconciliation Park.  Larry has been the main docent of the park when J2M stops there. It was fun to connect our neighborhood world with our ministry world. 

Do you see God yet?

Earlier this year, our neighbor asked me if I would be interested in joining the Chinese Reconciliation Park Foundation board. I didn’t realize that she was on the board herself. I didn’t even need to pray about it!  I said “yes” immediately!  It means a lot to me as a Chinese American to be connected to this amazing community treasure and its ongoing work to bring unity and peace to wider Tacoma.  It is an incredible honor to serve on this board.

So the first project the board was focused on was the Moon Festival.  After two years of doing it virtually, we were excited to go live again.  I was asked to help recruit volunteers and immediately thought of two of our churches in Tacoma: Praise Cov and our new plant Garden City.  Pastors Mark Knight and George Bedlion enthusiastically rallied their people to volunteer for set-up and clean-up.  They were simply amazing!  Their can-do spirits were a tour de force.  It was an incredible gift to the festival leaving a lasting impression on the CRPF board. I was so proud of them. 

George also got to bless the event.  Several of the local clergy that normally participate in leading the beginning blessing were not available, so that left George to do it alone.  Friends, it was surreal for me to see the streams of God’s call over 15 years and different people saying “yes” leading to this amazing scene of a Covenant pastor blessing the people of Tacoma.  Here’s the blessing:

May the creator who fashioned a world of diversity and vibrancy be with us as we embrace life in all its fullness.

We are all created to love and be loved, to share our joys and our sorrows together, to co-create a more beautiful world together. We share gratitude for the astonishing variety of races and cultures in this world.

May our lives be enriched by ever-widening circles of friendship, kinship and solidarity.

May we be empowered to love each other and be good neighbors in our communities.

May we care for both friends and strangers.

May barriers of division be broken and may belonging be given generously.

May the creator of all things bless us and go with us as we find the courage to create a place of welcome and unity for all.

Jeremiah 29:7 comes to mind here:

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.. 

The birth of J2M in the PacNWC, evangelism cohorts, one of our four founding conference churches (originally First Cov Tacoma), and one of our newest church plants, and many other unseen and unspoken streams all coming together and pointing forward to God’s ongoing work in greater Tacoma. I can’t wait to see how these new relationships will develop as Mark and George and our Mission Friends at Praise and Garden City continue to say “yes” to what God invites them into, particularly through what was birthed out of the Moon Festival.  

I must add one more connected thought.  The day after the festival I traveled to Chicago to meet with the Council of Superintendents for a full week.  A new leadership chapter officially began with the new president, two new supes and one interim, and a new executive minister of Develop Leaders.  Amidst all of the transitions and uncertainties in the Covenant these days, I want to remember what God showed me in Tacoma.  Since 1885 God has been inviting Covenanters to join him in different chapters and at different times, and in different ways. He continues to invite us to join him as he weaves our stories and his plans together.

Friends I returned from Chicago with a deepened sense of anticipation for what’s ahead. I was inspired by my colleagues who continue to eagerly say “yes” to Jesus.   And it makes me more excited to think about what God has for us as a conference as we launch into this fall.

Note: Featured above is George Bedlion opening the Tacoma Moon Festival

By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

As summer is closing out, join me in praising God for an exciting and fruitful season of ministry around the conference. 

It’s been good to see what seems to be a larger number of people getting out.  Headwaters (Helena) did an epic smoked foods competition!  City of Rain (Kent) hosted their first-ever youth camp!  Portland Cov and Access Cov did a joint retreat together with it being Portland’s first in 15 years!  Lettered Streets is heading to their retreat in two weekends in B.C.!

Wait, there’s more!

There were fun reports of gathering events for kids including Bethany (Mt. Vernon) hosting an outdoor movie night for the wider community!  There have been exciting reports of wonderful VBS’s held like at Yakima Cov who had 76 kids after many years of not doing one! McMinnville held their Food Truck Party VBS with 85 kids and ended their week with 5 local food trucks!  Love the creativity.

Wait, there’s more!

Speaking of food trucks, some intentionally supported local business owners and community organizations like Creekside’s (Redmond) weekly invitation to have different food trucks on their campus for the neighborhood to enjoy!  It’s also been fun to see Praise Tacoma and Garden City (Puyallup/Tacoma) working with the Chinese Reconciliation Park Foundation’s upcoming Moon Festival in Tacoma on 9/10!  So many served in their communities like Lakebay helping build a tiny house for a Tacoma village! And Emerald City did summer enrichment camps for 60 students building holistically into their lives and 9 kids gave their lives to Jesus!

Bellingham continued to go all in with their partnership with World Relief as they hosted family literacy and school readiness programs and opened a back-to-school store for refugees! Renew hosted their community garden again and held different events there!  Access (Portland) served a community orchard that turned a neglected neighborhood trouble spot into a space where neighbors gather organic produce for free!  Harbor Cov dedicated a Sunday (CMJ Sunday) to fan out throughout their community to engage in different work projects! 

Wait, there’s more!

There were so many new decisions to follow Christ, recommitments, decisions to explore vocational ministry, many many baptisms, and intentional leadership development going on all summer.  God moved powerfully at Unite West with 250 participants from 25 churches in our region.  I’ve heard that there have been wonderful times of sharing about their experience after students returned including Eastridge (Clackamas) who had a large parking lot BBQ with bounce houses where students shared and many parents who do not know Jesus were there! 

It was an eventful summer at Cascades Camp with campers, SALT, and staff growing in Christ and being stretched!  It was so good to see the camp back in full swing with waiting lists all summer!  Selah Cov restarted their intern program and just prayed over a recent high school grad last weekend who is pursuing ministry!  Midway (Des Moines) held weekly outreach events and one troubled young man gave his life to Christ and wanted to be baptized immediately. They piled in a car and went down to Des Moines Beach and baptized him!

Monroe did a sermon series called Agents of God’s Reign in Scripture and History and explored obscure biblical characters to look at how God can work through all of us. Each service highlighted one congregant asking about their lives and how they saw God using them in their work at home, work, etc, and then commissioned them!  Discipleship and leadership development at work!  And Esperanza Viva sent leaders to ELEVE a large worship and training event in California.  It was an amazing blessing and a time of bonding and learning for them!

Wait, there’s more!

There’s nothing more beautiful than the outdoors during our summers here and many churches did outreaches like Cannon Beach Community’s monthly outreach beach bonfires.  When you’re blessed with Cannon Beach as a church asset you use it!  Seattle Chinese gathered Chinese students and professionals to go on hikes and excursions.  They baptized 5 people last Sunday! 

I wish I could share more from every church.  There have been so many wonderful touches and movements of the Spirit among us this summer.  Please share more of what’s happened at your church! 

May God be glorified.  May we continue to lean into his calling to grow deeper in Christ and go further in mission – together! 

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.  As they pass through the Valley of [Weeping], they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.  They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion.

Psalm 84:5-7

By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

I am an occasional journaler.  Along with some work lists, books, read and prayer items, I’ve been keeping a standing page titled, “Cloud of Witnesses.”  Here I enter the names of those that have gone before me.  Two weeks ago in Connecticut, while I was with the Council of Superintendents, in the middle of an evening worship time singing “Soon and Very Soon,” we got word that our dear colleague and friend Dick Lucco passed.  He had been ill and suffering, but it was startling nonetheless.

Facing death is always a universal disruptor.

When a loved one passes, we change our plans and travel at all costs.  We cancel appointments.  We take leave.  For the council, we stopped mid-singing to sit with the difficult news and then continued as if we were singing our brother into the presence of the Lord.  I added Dick to my list. 

Facing death universally pulls us away from unconscious daily rhythms and shocks us into a space of reflection.  It gives a sobering perspective about life and the value of it. 

Friends, there’s been a lot of death lately. 

Death because of wars and weather.

Death because of disease and distress.

And too many absolutely shocking, senseless deaths in normal, seemingly safe places like grocery stores, churches, and elementary schools. 

We experience Indignation…despair…trauma…maybe callousness for some of us because it’s too much, too often.  How long O Lord?…Lord have mercy…

Church – followers of Jesus, as we continue to cry out to God and pray for the Holy Spirit’s comfort and leading during this moment of great tragedy, may we be disrupted. 

I am grateful for the impulse to be together and pray.  I am grateful for Newport Cov opening space to lament and pray last Wednesday.  Radiant also did this online.  I know you allowed your worship services to refocus on prayer.  Yes, may we keep on putting our energy and time into the vital work of prayer.  We must reaffirm our belief in the power of it!

How else are we disrupted? 

Many of you know I am a big basketball fan.  The NBA playoffs were disrupted by my home team the Golden State Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr here.  I know this went viral, but watch it if you haven’t yet.  This is especially poignant understanding that Coach Kerr’s father was assassinated by extremists while president of American University in Beirut.  He was shot two times in the back of the head when Steve was only 18.  It was a horrific disruption that led Steve to fight for sensible gun control.  But equally important, it was a disruption that led to how he would see and treat people different from him for the rest of his life; how to stand with people when they are treated unjustly, and how to fight for the dignity of life for all.

OK, spiritual realities – Death came into the world because of sin.  For the wages of sin is death, right (Rom 6:23)?  Sin has had nearly all of human history to infect and infest to create horrific brokenness like racially and politically targeted mass and the shooting of kids.  Sin tirelessly labors to repulse and isolate. Its end goal is to accept alienation.  

More spiritual realities – as we just celebrated the ascension of our Savior who conquered death, how do walk forward as ones who have said “yes” to him?  Light always disrupts darkness.  And the fact that we are called to be bringers of Christ’s light, assumes that being “bringers” involves time and action.   As Great Commission, Great Commandment-people we are never to be stationary or solitary in our faith’s disposition.  As we will sadly never have a shortage of disruptive moments on this side of heaven, in this moment, we must reconstitute our commitments to bring Christ’s light to our communities.

I heard an interview with one of the relatives of a Robb Elementary School victim.  He did not want to talk about gun control saying there was time to do that later.  Instead, his instinct was to question how any teenager could be so angry, would have so few good people in his life, and have so little moral grounding that he would end up doing this. 

I could only hear Christ’s call upon us as the Church.  As recipients of dividing walls being torn down, how do we tear down walls of class, race, and gender where it has diminished and alienated (Eph 2:14-18)?  As those having a Father who is Healer and Redeemer, how do we seek the peace of our cities and put our energies into championing restoration and wholeness (Jer 29:7; Psalm 147:3)?  As being sent out as disciple-makers, how do we increase our life-on-life focus, create mentoring programs, and increase connections to our communities…(Matt 28:16-20, 2 Cor 5:18-21)?

Sitting at 55, life seems even more fragile than ever these days.  One thing is underscored by all we’ve experienced in these past few weeks – get closer to people: to pray, to family and loved ones, to those we’re called to…The pandemic taught us unnatural patterns of isolation.  Get closer to people. There is so much darkness, so it seems even more clear than ever.  Getting closer to people always increases the lumens.  In Christ’s name, with the power of God’s indwelling Spirit, get closer to people.  The great cloud of witnesses is cheering us on. 

By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

As the final annual meeting delegates and Harbor Cov staff departed, the conference staff sat outside the church in the warm sunlight, finishing our box lunches. We all reflected on the blessing of our annual meeting experience. We had so many highlights: being in person after three years and interacting with so many of you, the incredible hospitality of Harbor Cov, worshipping and praying together Friday night, and the diversity of anointed voices that led us and successfully pulling off our first hybrid meeting,

If you missed it or would like to look back, you can access all the resources and the Friday night and annual meeting recordings here.

As we continued to soak in the warmth of the sun, we did what we always do. We dived into a +/∆ (plus/delta-strengths/changes) time immediately so our memories and feelings were fresh. We took copious notes and are already thinking of not only what could be improved, but how things could potentially be different.

As I drove across the Narrows Bridge, my mind continued to reflect. I started to think of more radical ideas, seemingly impossible ideas. But then I kept stopping

“Something needs to change, but it seems that … is impossible to change…”
“We can’t break tradition…”
“How on earth could we even pull that off…”

At the beginning of Peter Sung’s Friday workshop “The Post Church Church” (recording posting soon) he shared this picture of poppies growing in the middle of a scorched forest and read this quote from the Sierra Club:

“During wildfires, the nutrients from dead trees are returned to the soil. The forest floor is exposed to more sunlight, allowing seedlings released by the fire to sprout and grow. Many trees have evolved fire-resistant bark, like ponderosa pine or eucalyptus; others, like the giant sequoia or lodgepole pine in Yellowstone National Park, require fire to open their waxy cones and release seeds. Fire also acts as a natural disinfectant, incinerating diseased plants and removing them from the flora population. After fires, the charred remnants of burned trees provide habitats for insects and small wildlife. In a moist post-fire climate, native plants will thrive. Sometimes, post-wildfire landscapes will explode into thousands of flowers, in the striking phenomenon known as a superbloom.”

“One of the beautiful things about California fires is spending time in those areas as soon as you start getting rains,” Dr. Stevens-Rumann says. “There’s an abundance of beautiful flowers and vegetation that you only see after fire years.”

Some of my own thoughts as Peter shared: What are we doing personally and collectively that needs to be burned back? How do we more purely and wholly surrender ourselves to Christ and be the church?

As we continue to experience this massive forest fire that was these past 2+ years, do we know the living waters of God’s rain that leads to a superbloom in our hearts and in our churches?

I read Psalm 26:2 both individually as David wrote it and collectively as Israel sang it:
Put me on trial Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart. (NLT)

I love The Message’s version:
Examine me, God, from head to foot, order your battery of tests. Make sure I’m fit inside and out.

Put us on trial, evaluate us, God. Test our motives and hearts. Make sure we’re fit inside and out.

God’s truth about evaluation is reflected in the business world as well. Peter Drucker says, “Unless strategy evaluation is performed seriously and systematically, and unless strategists are willing to act on the results, energy will be used up defending yesterday.” Unless evaluation is natural and normal we’ll age-in-place.

Okay, maybe change doesn’t look like this! But what does need to change? The opportunities for kingdom impact are incredibly abundant. The global church is rapidly growing unlike any other time in history. The harvest fields are ripe. We are fueled by Holy Spirit octane power. Jesus himself sends us out. And he stands at the shore and looks at each of us in our eyes and asks us to drop EVERYTHING in order to follow him.

So how are you/we doing?

As we walk through these days of reconstruction, I realize there’s so much that we just don’t know. As I sit in my post-meeting thoughts. two things are clear. First, God continues to call us to total surrender and that following him will not always be easy or comfortable. Second, I know that honest, probing evaluation is desperately needed.

So like the staff and I experienced after the annual meeting, my hope is that you too can sit outside the church, share a meal, experience togetherness and gratefulness, soak in God’s sunshine/sunshine, and find your own rhythms of doing your own +/∆.

Praying for a superbloom.

By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

Rejoice, O people of Zion!
    Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!
Look, your king is coming to you.
    He is righteous and victorious,
yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—
    riding on a donkey’s colt.

 Zech 9:9

Lenten blessings to you Conference Family. I pray that your journey toward Holy Week has been special and anointed.  How marvelous and lavish God’s love is for us! I want to share a moment that I experienced a couple of weeks ago. 

I stayed a couple of days extra after meetings in Orlando, FL.  Yes, I went to Epcot!  At the end of the day, Central Conference Superintendent Danny Martinez and I decided to leave the park early after a full day.  On the way out we walked past the outdoor theater and saw that CeCe Winans was about to play. We sat in the front row as we were questioning if CeCe had gone mainstream instead of the gospel genre we were more familiar with.  Well, we were shocked to find that Disney apparently put no restrictions on what she talked or sang about.  We had full-on church at Epcot!  It was so unexpected.  She spoke about Pentecost, our need for a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit, and lifted the name of Jesus powerfully! Wow! 

For her last song, she sang “Believe For It”

They say this mountain can’t be moved
They say these chains will never break
But they don’t know You like we do
There is power in Your name
We’ve heard that there is no way through
We’ve heard the tide will never change
They haven’t seen what You can do
There is power in Your name
So much power in Your name

Move the immovable
Break the unbreakable
God, we believe
God, we believe for it
From the impossible
We’ll see a miracle
God, we believe
God, we believe for it

We know that hope is never lost
For there is still an empty grave
…God we believe
God, we believe for it…

We Epcot Covenant Church worshippers were on our feet, raising our hands.  It was one of those special moments when the presence of the Lord was so near.  As our worship crescendoed, CeCe invited us to keep repeating.

You said it
I believe it
You said it
It is done

As we continued this confession with increasing surrender, CeCe walked from the opposite side of the stage slowly toward our side.  She was speaking into our lives and praying over us for areas of challenge we may be facing. 

Discouraged by the pandemic…health challenges…profound loss… God is with you!

You said it…I believe it…You said it…It is done…!

Challenges at work…challenges financially… God is here! 

You said it…I believe it…You said it…It is done…!

And as she walked over to our side of the stage, she called out, “And whatever your family is going through and whatever challenges you’re facing with your children…”. Do you believe God is working?…

You said it…I believe it…

Like a moment of delayed grief, I started to weep uncontrollably.  I had been holding onto a lot of sadness with some family matters.  The moment laid me out before the Lord.  After the concert, she didn’t bow or bring any attention to herself.  She wanted God to have center stage as we concluded.   You said it…I believe it.  You said it…It is done!

I continued to weep as we walked toward the park exit – 18,000+ steps that day.  My feet were sore, but my spirit brightened with a fortified faith and sustaining joy.

We are people of Good News in a difficult and broken world.  We are Easter people. Jesus is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Friends, as we’ve walked through the challenges of these past years and as we continue to swim in the unanswered questions before us, I pray that your ongoing worship, and especially your Eastertide worship brightens your spirit with increased faith and joy – that in and through us Christ is lifted up. 

I also want to remind you that we will be gathering for a celebration dinner and concerted time of worship and prayer Friday night at our annual meeting.  I desire for us to give Jesus center stage.  I want it to be a time of surrender and pouring ourselves out to God.  I eagerly hope that we will experience a fresh wind of the Spirit.  Join us on April 29th at Harbor Covenant Church (details)!

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Psalm 80:19