Reaching Out to the Nuns?

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful celebration of Jesus’ birth we had this past weekend at New Day Church! About 20 kids ages 4 – 15 poured their hearts and spirits into sharing a message of love and hope Saturday evening and Sunday morning (Dec. 19-20) to all who came. The story revolved around 2 little guys who were trying their best to come up with the BEST present for Jesus’ birthday, only to be disappointed at every turn. In the end, they discover that what Jesus really wants is their/our hearts, and the best gift we can all give is ourselves! Through all the glitches of missed lines, forgotten solos, late music cues, etc., etc., etc…. the charm of the smiles, energy and simple faith of the kids was spirit-lifting to everyone. The congregation left with bows pinned to lapels and a reminder that WE (our hearts, our hands, our feet, our voices) are the most important gift we can give to the world in Jesus’ name.

The attendance total for the weekend was 190 (which was GREAT! Our largest weekend thus far), but even more impactful, were the interactions we had following the program each day. The kids touched our hearts, but what brought tears to my eyes were the multiple parents/grandparents/aunts, etc. of various kids who sought us out afterward, to thank us for New Day’s ministry and to share how they thought they would never see their families participating in church. Some had been praying for years for this very moment!

And isn’t THAT EXACTLY what we were called to Big Lake to do?! In our Bishop’s words: go, find the “NONES” (not the NUNS) - the ones who claim no church affiliation on census forms. Find them, love them, create a space that allows them to claim Christ, to change that “none” into joy and hope that comes from faith and community. Many times I am overwhelmed by the enormity of this task, by financial concerns, by low attendance at worship, classes, events. Although we have had a sense that New Day is impacting lives, this experience is a shining star of encouragement lighting the dark night of doubt.

With the encouragement, however, comes an unexpected weight of responsibility! New Day is becoming important to people besides just Jim and I! Oh Dear, and Praise the Lord!! (If I sound confused, that’s exactly how I feel!) I still don’t know how we will continue to finance this ministry, and this still seems like an impossible task! But somehow, God is using New Day to reach at least a few of the people we intended to reach. Lives, hearts, families are being touched, changed, renewed. They are finding God’s home at New Day.

Please pray for all these wonderful families and all the families who are still searching. Please pray for all the mundane, logistical details to fall into place, so God’s amazing work can continue in Big Lake at New Day United Methodist Church.

May the New Year bring New Days filled with God’s hope, joy, peace and love to us all!

Janet :->

What Goes Into 10 Seconds?

Let me try to describe one of the recent events that is an example of our work at New Day this year. Imagine you are attending the Grand Opening Celebration (Nov. 14) for the new Northstar Commuter Rail that now transports commuters from Big Lake (& 4 stops in between) to downtown Minneapolis. You are one of about 2,000 people who are walking through the huge tent which has been erected for this event. You find a cup of hot cocoa and a snack and then you walk by a booth with a Christmas tree decorated with yellow stars and a big screen TV showing slides. You are greeted with a warm smile and the words, "Don't let the holidays stress you out!" as you receive a flyer and a stress ball in the shape of a yellow star. The back of the flyer has info about New Day United Methodist Church, including the worship messages for December:
"Unplug the Christmas Machine"
"Stuffing Candy in Your Socks
(and other inane traditions)"
"Grown Up Christmas Wishes"
"Shhh... Did You Hear That?"

What we hope is that you'll take your star home, get on the internet, check out the New Day website and decide to come try out the new church!! What you may not realize in that moment of contact, are the hours of planning, preparation and prayer that had been spent in order for that one small interaction to occur. Things such as, listening for God to inspire the theme, the message titles, the graphics, etc. for the worship series; ordering stars and designing the flyer; traveling an hour to get excellent copying at an afforable price; website updating; taking pictures of events and creating the slide show; finding volunteers and staff to haul the tree, TV, etc. to the tent, set up the booth, hand out the flyers/stars, etc.; designing message, music and interactive ideas to create meaningful worship; finding money (mostly outside of the new faith community) to finance it all.... well, you get the idea!

So, why do we do all this work, when we're not even sure you will come?

Because people who do come are being blessed! And you might be like one of these: The 5th grader who answered the question, "Something that makes me feel safe..." with "this church." The numerous men who, after years of non-attendance, are finding meaning and direction from worship. The mom of preschoolers who commented that coming to the women's gathering is "better than therapy!" The parents who, for the first time since their 18 month old daughter was born, are able to worship because she happily plays in the childcare room.

People need God's hope, peace, love and joy. And we need each other to find them! That's all the reason we need.

We pray that your holidays are unstressed and full of the Prince of Peace who brings hope and joy in abundance at all times!

Wishing you blessings for each New Day...

Halloween Event was a Treat for All

Happy November!
Hope you all had a great Halloween. Thought you might be curious about the TREATS4U event at New Day UMC - especially after last year's "blood" and "fire alarm" and "naked pastor" stories! If you remember those, you'll know how relieved I am to report that everything went smoothly this year!! It was a WONDERFUL event!

The whole process was very similar to last year's - 1000 candy bar invitations were handed out at the local grocery store (Coborn’s) on Sat. Oct. 24. The event was a combination of trick-or-treat (candy and small gifts) and games (with prizes). There was a photographer taking portraits and "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin" movie playing, and we offered cider (hot and cold), coffee and popcorn. The differences this year included: 1) our New Day Community took about 250 invitations to friends, neighbors, classmates, etc. in addition to those handed out at Coborn’s; 2) the event was held at the church (last year we were at the school); 3) New Day's technology resources enhanced the event (Halloween music playing on the sound system, games played on the SmartBoard, movie projected onto the large wall); 4) there were at least double the number of volunteers who helped out with all aspects of the event.
I wish you all could have seen the church at 4:55pm Halloween night!! It truly had been transformed into a fun, non-scary Halloween maze! The decorations and set up were festive and inviting. There were about 26 volunteers dressed in various costumes scattered all over the church, inside and out, prepared to greet, hand out candy and gifts, lead games (bingo, ring the witches' hats, ping pong pumpkins, pin the mouth on the jack-o-lantern, etc.), serve popcorn, and just be present to share a little of God's love.

And it was at about this moment that I had a bit of a crisis of faith! It's one thing for Jim and I to work ourselves to the bone and pour our hearts into preparing for an event and no one comes. It's quite another, when we have enlisted the help of 35+ volunteers over a two week period, who have spent hours of time and energy also pouring their hearts into it! All I could do at that moment was try not to panic and to PRAY, dear Lord, PLEASE let the people come!!!
Rest assured, my fears were unfounded, and by 5:15, there were children and parents everywhere! In the end, we counted 160 children plus all the parents - our guess is about 225 people total. The best part is that everyone enjoyed it - those attending and those volunteering! Praise God!!!
November is a big month for getting out into the community. Please pray for these upcoming celebrations and New Day's presence out there... 1) Northstar Commuter Rail line opens for business - New Day is one of the 4 major sponsors of the Grand Opening Celebration, Nov. 14, and we will be serving coffee to the commuters from 5:00-7:30am the first 3 mornings, Nov. 16-18. 2) Jim will be preaching at the Community-Wide Ecumenical Thanksgiving Eve worship, held at the Catholic Church this year. 3) In place of regular worship Thanksgiving weekend, New Day is planning a special "We Need a Little Christmas Now" gathering to be held at a community location, Sunday afternoon, Nov. 29. Please pray for the logistics of this event - we thought we had a group from another church lined up to share a special musical, but that may have fallen through...

Church programming continues as well: another New Day Kids’ Night is planned for Nov. 10, New Day Women are gathering Nov. 6, and we're planning a Youth/Children Christmas program on Saturday, Dec. 19th, with rehearsals each Wed. in December. Please join us for any or all!

Wishing you all "new day" blessings,
Janet

WHAT IS THIS?!?

This new congregation is corrupting its pastor!! Green Bay native in Viking's purple?! Between this JERSEY (which makes us feel a bit schizophrenic!) and the SNOW in October, everything is a little weird here in Big Lake! ?Fortunately, things at New Day Church are not weird, but are spirit-filled and hopeful! Although the number of worship attenders was down a bit these last two weekends (we were warned that might happen), the vast majority of those who have come, are returning and feedback continues to be very positive. God's spirit is so alive and the relationships that are starting to solidify are precious to see.

The Vikings Favre jersey gift ("To Jim, From God" on the package!!) is one example of how well Jim is connecting to the people and how people are feeling "at home" - accepted and welcomed, as well as finding worship meaningful to their lives. Leaders are coming forward and doing tasks without being asked, the rhythm of the 3 days of worship is becoming more familiar, and most of the major "building" projects have been completed. This past week we had a Kid's evening and a Youth evening, which were fun and great starts to those programs.

We're planning to get out into the community 3 more times before the end of the year. "Treats 4 U" (Trick-or-Treating plus games, photographer, cider/coffee, etc.) will happen on Halloween night. You may remember we held this event at the school last year. We'll move it to the church this year - using the parking lot for most of the trick-or-treat stations to draw people who are out and about to us. This event will allow those who want to check out New Day anonymously to do so.

Second, the commuter rail from Big Lake to Mpls. will open in mid-November. New Day Church will be one of the sponsors for their grand opening event. We also may serve coffee those first couple of mornings as commuters ride the rail to work!

Finally, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we plan to have a "Preparing for Christmas" (Advent) event - maybe held at a location other than the church. More details to work out as that time gets closer. Jim will also be preaching at the ecumenical Thanksgiving service held at the Catholic church this year.

Being the more practical of the two of us, I still worry about the small numbers attending worship and finances (they sort of go hand in hand). I am so thankful that God continues to remind me to focus on the ministry and have faith! Just a few examples and stories to share...

• Sat. evening one woman turned to me after worship with a huge smile as if a weight had been lifted and said, "I always feel so good when I come here!"


• The mom who told me her son was up at 7:30 Sunday morning, just waiting to come to church to get his copy of the CD with the slide show that he had helped create at kid's night this week. And the mom with 6 kids (senior in HS down to age 3) who so appreciates our casual style, good childcare, crafts for kids during worship, and alternate worship times, that all make coming to church a meaningful experience for the first time for her whole family.


• All of the young men, who haven't been to church in years, and didn't think there was anything in church for them- finding meaning in worship, projects to help out with and good fellowship that has been missing from their lives.


• And finally, two of the youth who have found a place to belong and to use their gifts - running sound board/powerpoint and drumming with the band. And there are more...

Those who haven't had a chance to come see firsthand what's happening, you are most warmly invited! The next worship series starts the week after next (we're taking a "bye" this weekend!) and has a football theme "Tackling the Tough Ones!" The website will have more info... As always, all of your prayers and support are blessings beyond measure.

May the winter temperatures not freeze the warmth of God's love in our hearts...

Love and hugs,

Janet :->

New Day Launches

(Reflections from Janet, co-church-planter with husband Pastor Jim)

Well, week two of "launch-o-rama" (as niece Kristi called it!) is complete... and somehow the stress level is not yet reduced! I feel like I'm barely able to catch my breath. Jim was noticing that some of our staff and volunteers were getting sick last week, and he said something about how people get sick after a big, stressful event is over... OVER?!? Not yet!!

The biggest stress this past weekend came at 7:59pm Friday, and 6:29pm Saturday (one minute before each of the respective worship services). My best analogy for what this is like for me, is preparing for an open house 3 times every weekend. Preparations are intense, all the hosts are excited about celebrating, and there is no clue about who and/or how many will attend! When NO ONE has arrived a minute before the event is to begin, I'm about ready to throw up!! But prayers are answered and people did come - we had nice groups both nights (23 and 27). Sunday morning brought visitors from Elk River UMC and we had a full house of over 50. So, totals were larger than last weekend (over 100, up 10% from week 1). The most positive sign for me were that 3 new people from last week returned, and 2 of them brought friends! That, truly, is how I think this church will grow - we haven't started with huge numbers, but those who come are being touched in some way and wanting to bring others. It's a safe, meaningful and fun place to bring a friend!

Jim is doing an incredible job with his messages - making them relevant, meaningful and creating non-threatening ways for people to engage instead of being "passive pew-sitters"! God's message is loud and clear, and Jim's spirit, sincerity and love for people is very evident. It is a pleasure to watch the response from the congregation as Jim engages them and God warms their hearts!

Amanda, too, is making incredible, spirit-filled music with various musicians, instruments and levels of ability! God's love just shines from her and her spirit adds beautifully to the energy and power of the music. She and Jim work so well together - she responds to impromptu changes and needs during each service, and their banter is genuine and fun.

And Melissa has the childcare area organized and working beautifully! We're sharing our childcare room with the Driving School (who are also leases in this building,) for two weeks while their classroom is being finished. Melissa has been very flexible: moving into Jim's office for the Friday night service and rearranging furniture, etc. to accommodate "Wreck-less Driving School" (clever, eh?!). There were children during all three services this weekend and she did a marvelous job with the children, volunteers and all the logistics!

We're still working on staining and varnishing the A/V booth and Smartboard wall - waiting on carpet for both. Hopefully those two big projects will be completed this week or next - and we can start using this great technology!!

Jim has arranged a "Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony" with the Big Lake Chamber of Commerce for this Saturday (Sept. 26) at 5:30, followed by a light dinner and worship. Our District Superintendent, the Conference Director of Congregational Development and Jim's coach will be coming. YOU ARE ALL INVITED AS WELL! We've been putting the word out, to try to get a full house to celebrate...

That's it for now!

Blessings and love,
Janet :->

Broadcasting to the Masses Begins

OH MY GOSH! Can you believe this?! Never in my wildest dreams did I think New Day Church would be featured on a billboard!! Pretty exciting! This along with direct mailings, brochures & beach ball give-a-ways for the Picnics in the Parks this month, and possibly a 30 second video spot at the local theater are all thanks to the $10,000 grant we received from the national United Methodist Church. Hopefully all these will provide great name recognition and many guests in the opening months! Hopefully, too, we'll be prepared for the people to come... YIKES!

Jim and I had a GREAT time in Door County, and we were able to visit with MANY friends and family from the WI/Chicago area before the conference in Chicago. We're glad to be home and busy with the many preparations that are before us these next 6 weeks.

Funds for the rest of the A/V equipment, computer system and childcare room are lacking right now. Some of the avenues that Jim has been pursuing have not provided as much support as we anticipated. Please pray that God will reveal some answers to this dilemma - we're trying very hard to have faith and not be anxious. But Sept. is looming large in front of us and we're feeling ill-equipped and poorly prepared at this point. Answers will come - they always do; a church planter's most important trait is flexibility!! Who knows what this Launch month will end up looking like?! (Well, of course, God does! THANK GOODNESS!) We trust that whatever it is, it will be enough. Of course, if any of you know a benevolent person of wealth who would be interested in helping a struggling new ministry... ?

Prayers for enough time, energy, people support (from Launch team and partner UM churches) and for God's joy, love, and peace to permeate this Launch process would also be greatly appreciated.

Blessings to you all,
Janet

Having a Ball Now!

Greetings All!

Pastor Jim's wife, Janet, here again to report that, well, life at New Day continues at a fast pace - the changes are becoming a bit more dramatic now!

SPUD FEST: About 20 - 25 New Day supporters marched in the Spud Fest (local community weekend event) parade on June 27. 500 beach balls with the New Day logo were handed out, 2 large earth balls were tossed back and forth to the crowd and the large parachute was unfolded 3-4 times en route to engage the children on the sidelines. We had a blast!! The rain held off and a spirit of fun was in the air! Next year we'll order twice as many beach balls - they were a hit with young and old!

STAFF: Becky Robinson (Childcare Coordinator) and Amanda Weber (Music/Worship/Youth/Adult Ministries) have agreed to join the New Day adventure!! We are THRILLED to have both of them sharing their incredible gifts with us and the New Day community. Sharing the tasks with these energetic and spirit-filled young ladies is a joy and a relief for Jim and I! More on these two will be forthcoming in a future blog. Children's Ministry is still without leadership - God has been nudging the teacher in me... but we'll see what He has in store.

WISH LIST ITEMS: New Day has been the blessed recipient of many items (some we didn't even know we needed!) from Hopkins UMC and Edgewater-Emmanuel UMC. As they transition into closing their buildings they are providing tangible grace in opening ours! We are SO THANKFUL! We picked up 3 trailers + pick ups full of much needed items last Friday, including a refrigerator, "altar" table, children's table and chairs, children's slide, toys, puzzles, etc., 3 rocking chairs, Christmas trees, banners, coffee carafes, bibles, songbooks, microphones and stands, music stands, etc., etc., etc.!! The abundance is overwhelming and awesome!

PREVIEW WORSHIP: Worship last Sunday was a celebration of legacies - spiritual and tangible! Attendance was up by 10-12 and the childcare room was filled to bursting with 12 young children!! Total count was a healthy 45. We embraced the Habitat for Humanity family who was displaced by fire last year and will be receiving the first HH home in Big Lake this year. New Day has agreed to be the family advocate support for them and it was a joy to meet them and share worship together! Also visiting was Jim's church planting coach, Per Nilsen, who shared words of encouragement and challenge to us at lunch following worship. It was a morning filled with grace and spirit - we rejoice at the wonders of God's work in this place!

UPCOMING: Jim and I are attempting to complete 3 weeks of work in one, so we can head out of town next Monday for a little R & R and some training. We'll be gone July 20 - August 3; first to Door County (our honeymoon locale 25 years ago!), then to Green Bay for Jim's 30th HS Reunion and then down to Chicago for "School of Congregational Development." We're looking forward, but it is stressful to leave when so much needs to be done. "Have faith," my inner voice of God implores...

While we are gone, New Day will be hosting a "Children's Treasures" Rummage Sale, Sat. July 25 and Sat. Aug. 1. Please pray for the leaders of this project who have run into scheduling issues, and for others to step forward to help out. Any gently used children's items will be gratefully received; and if anyone has a couple hours to spare to help host the sale on those dates (timing is 8:00-1:00), just let us know! The first time for every event is an experiment and a learning experience - as they say, "we live and learn!"

In August, the plan is for 3 weekends of Picnics in the Parks (like we did last year) on Saturday followed by worship on Sunday. We're hoping that the picnics will provide opportunity to invite folks to worship in order to grow the critical mass before launching weekly worship in Sept. Prayers, prayers and more prayers for these next several weeks... There are still many, many unknowns... Do I hear that inner voice of God AGAIN?

Finally, financial gifts have continued to come forth, but the expense for equipping the worship space and childcare room before September is a bit daunting. Ok, 3 times a charm: I'm listening, inner voice of God, and I will HAVE FAITH!!

Thank goodness He is patient with my fear...
May your summer days fill with blessings of God's peace, joy and love.

Forming the New Day Family

"It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." Acts 6:2-4 NIV

For the past month now, we’ve been focusing a lot of time on the process of hiring for New Day UMC. Here’s an inside look on what this important piece of pre-launch involves...

• 
  It starts with prayer over who is necessary, and what positions the mission field requires. No matter how hard I tried to eliminate a position or two, the Holy Spirit kept telling me, “No, no, no. You can’t do without that one!”
• 
  Then came gathering a Staffing Team to help guide the process, and man, did God come through with a couple of the best guys for that job! John and Jason have been incredible;
• 
  Then there was the writing of job descriptions, and getting a very clear set of priorities on what we were looking for in each candidate (not as easy as it may sound);
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  Spreading the word through various networks -- emails, newspaper ads, university and seminary sites, United Methodist electronic bulletin board, facebook, Craigslist, and more;
• 
  Securing a Federal Employer Identification Number;
• 
  Researching equitable compensation by contacting sister churches;
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  Responding to interested parties; etc. etc. etc.

After 2-3 weeks, we had 27 people apply for our 5 part-time positions, many applying to combine several roles together for more hours for a total of 46 individual applications. There were so many wonderfully gifted people who came forward, and we gave thanks for each one of them! Further prayerful discussions lead us to invite 9 candidates in for interviews. You’d think it would be easier at this point, but truly it was not. It felt like a jigsaw puzzle to all of us, and we needed patience as we turned over more pieces of people’s stories and gathered their information.

This afternoon, we completed the interviews and tried to get a picture of the future New Day staff together. It includes 3 Godly people. It is not the same picture I had in mind even last night. It is not with all of the roles as neatly laid out as originally intended. It is not without risks. It is one more exercise in taking one faithful step at a time.

For us, this process is not simply about getting the job done, or bringing any warm body on board. It is a process of forming a dynamic team, better yet, of gathering a family together. The chemistry has to be right. The family has to harmonize well. The family has to be built around people serving Christ by serving people. The Spirit within the group has to be paid attention to. Right now, the potential family portrait has some amazing people in it, and I am excited by the possibilities. But it aint over yet, people!

What if he doesn’t feel at home with us? What if she needs more hours or more benefits than we can offer right now? What if they are set in their ways and unable to adapt? What if she turns us down? What if...?

We’ll keep you posted, but for now, keep the prayers for the new family comin’!