PENSACOLA, Fla. (ABP) -- The summer of 2005 will be permanently etched in the minds of Gulf Coast residents. And for me that summer of multiple hurricanes provided a most unusual welcome to a new community.
In May of 2005 I accepted a call to become the pastor at the First Baptist Church of Pensacola, Fla. At that time, the church was recovering and rebuilding from Hurricane Ivan, which the previous year had left $7 billion worth of destruction and inflicted more than $3.1 million in damages to the church campus alone. Little did we know that Ivan was a precursor to the multiple storms that would assault the Gulf Coast the following summer.
My wife and I rolled into Pensacola on the afternoon of Monday, July 4. That evening, as we were unpacking, I turned on the local news and learned that a storm was brewing in the Gulf. Tropical Storm Cindy was not expected to reach hurricane status, but was expected to bring high winds, flash floods, power outages, and possible tornadoes as it made landfall on Wednesday morning. Cindy did minimal damage – but she did surprise forecasters when she reached the status of a Category 1 hurricane.
After Cindy came Dennis. Following a similar path to Ivan, he was forecast to hit the Gulf Coast near Pensacola on Sunday morning July 10. Ironically, that was to be the day of my first sermon.
We made the painful decision to cancel services and encourage our members to evacuate. Some of the staff gathered in the church building to ride out the storm and attempt to minimize any further damage, since repairs from Ivan’s damage were still incomplete.
Early on Sunday morning we gathered in our chapel for an extemporaneous worship service. We were a motley-looking crew -- especially the new pastor, who stood before the remnant unbathed and unshaven to declare that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in our time of trouble” (Ps. 46:1).
Around 2:35 on Sunday afternoon Dennis, which had weakened some and was moving much more quickly than Ivan, made landfall. Thankfully, property damage to our campus and to our community was minimal.
On the Sundays following Cindy and Dennis, we enjoyed getting acquainted with our new congregation, assisting with repairs in the community, and developing ministry initiatives for the coming year. However, near the end of August, storm phobia reached an all-time high as a large blip on the weather radar was christened Katrina and the forecast path put her on a direct course for Pensacola.
Katrina was forecast to make landfall on Monday, August 29. Throughout the week prior we were monitoring the storm’s development and making preparations for another evacuation. But near week’s end, the storm joggled a bit, moving its projected path westward toward the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi.
Then, of course, Katrina made its disastrous landfall, ravaging the coast from Alabama to Louisiana, laying waste to New Orleans and becoming one of America’s most historic natural and human disasters.
After Ivan, our church had served as a distribution point for water, food and supplies. A variety of disaster-relief groups had lodged in our activities center. In Katrina’s aftermath and with Ivan still fresh on our minds, our church joined hundreds of others around the country in sending teams of volunteers to Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to assist in relief work. In the days following the storm, I joined a team of ministers in surveying damage and visiting with pastors and directors of missions, to ascertain the greatest areas of need. We contributed volunteers and support to efforts in distribution of supplies, medical care, debris clean-up and home rebuilding.
In consultation with our Baptist mission partners and the Volunteers of America, we determined to adopt at least one church and community where we would invest time, energy, and resources for one year or longer. First Baptist Church of Gautier, Miss., became our primary partner. During the ensuing year, we channeled relief funds and over 300 volunteers from the Pensacola area to Gautier to repair homes and to support the ministries of their church during this season of rebuilding.
Last week, I contacted Gautier pastor David Aultman to ask how they are doing five years later. This was his response: “It is hard to believe five years have passed since Hurricane Katrina. We are doing well. We are finally getting back to pre-Katrina numbers in attendance. We have had a good year and we are looking excitedly toward the future. We are close to finally starting a remodeling program that will greatly enhance our facilities to better serve the Lord in this community.
“I still marvel at the way the Lord used you guys, as well as our other partners in the recovery process. We could not have done it without our partners. We, as a church, made a commitment to give back by being involved in disaster-relief ministries. Since then we have been to central Florida; Enterprise, Ala., San Leon, Texas; Wapello, Iowa; Atlanta; Nashville, Tenn.; and Yazoo City, Miss., with disaster relief. We do not want to forget what the Lord did for us through our brothers and sisters in Christ.”
It’s hard for me to believe it has been five years since that summer of multiple storms. During that span of time the Gulf Coast has weathered hurricanes, a major recession, and an oil spill. For many, life will never be the same. But thanks to many ministry partnerships, several homes and lives have been rebuilt. And in more ways than one, for many of us, the re-building continues.
(Barry Howard serves as the senior minister of the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Getting Your Life in Gear
by Barry Howard
I learned how to drive in my grandfather’s 1966 Volkswagen Fastback….a straight shift. Learning to change gears while simultaneously pressing the clutch proved to be quite a challenge. However, once I mastered the art of driving a manual transmission, moving to an automatic was a piece of cake. Rather than shifting from first, to second, and then third, and grinding around looking for reverse, the options on the column of our 1976 Falcon were PNRDL: P for Park. N for Neutral. R for Reverse. D for Drive. And L for Low, a gear usually used for towing.
As we come to the end of the summer and as I am preparing to challenge our congregation to “gear up” for the upcoming season of missional opportunities, I am reminded of how easy it for our lives to get stuck in the wrong gear. In our commitments to Christ, to our church, and to our daily responsibilities we can become lethargic, passive, inactive, and at times, even backslide into old habits, living as if we have not given our hearts and lives to Jesus.
If you are sitting still, seemingly not going anywhere, your life may be stuck in Park. If you are committed to preserving the status quo, content to let others carry the bulk of responsibility, and have no interest in growing, your life is probably in Park. If you have grown comfortable sitting behind the steering wheel but you never leave the driveway, perhaps you need to find a way to get your life out of Park and into a forward gear.
A life that is stuck in Park is not going anywhere, but a life stuck in Neutral can be even more detrimental. When you put a car in neutral and let off the brake, it is likely to roll one way or the other. Perhaps it will roll whichever way the wind is blowing. Or maybe it will move one direction or the other based on the tug of gravity, which is usually downhill. The danger of putting your life in neutral is that you live without conviction, you go the way of the crowd, or you choose the path of least resistance. And those options are seldom the right way.
If you are continually going backward, or preoccupied with the past, your life might be stuck in Reverse. But it’s hard to go forward, while looking backward. Back in the 1990’s, the church I served in Alabama had a faithful custodian named Ralph. Ralph was a retired chemist who came to work at the church as a retirement project. Ralph was a loyal soul….good-hearted and highly punctual. Ralph and I both typically arrived at the church early, often driving into the parking lot simultaneously. One morning, as I pulled into my parking space, I heard a few horns honking at the nearby intersection. I looked up to investigate the commotion and was stunned to see Ralph’s 1972 Dodge Ram approaching the church….backward. Ralph was driving toward the church in a line of traffic tailgate first. He was advancing forward in reverse. As he pulled up beside me, he quickly explained that his transmission had locked up and reverse was the only gear that worked. He didn’t want to miss work so he drove all the way from home…looking backward over his shoulder.
To this day, Ralph is the only guy I know who has ever advanced forward by going backward. But as a minister serving in Baptist churches for over 30 years, I’ve seen a lot of others try to move forward by looking backward, and it just doesn’t work.
To get your life in gear and move forward, you have to move out of Park, resist the temptation to settle for Neutral, and avoid Reverse, in order to put life into Drive.
Maybe that is why Paul wrote to the Philippians, Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (3:13-14 NIV).
God intends for us to grow forward in our walk with Christ, our fellowship with one another, and our participation in the work of the kingdom. One analyst put it this way: “There comes a moment when you have to stop revving up the car and shove it into gear.” Now is the time.
(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)
I learned how to drive in my grandfather’s 1966 Volkswagen Fastback….a straight shift. Learning to change gears while simultaneously pressing the clutch proved to be quite a challenge. However, once I mastered the art of driving a manual transmission, moving to an automatic was a piece of cake. Rather than shifting from first, to second, and then third, and grinding around looking for reverse, the options on the column of our 1976 Falcon were PNRDL: P for Park. N for Neutral. R for Reverse. D for Drive. And L for Low, a gear usually used for towing.
As we come to the end of the summer and as I am preparing to challenge our congregation to “gear up” for the upcoming season of missional opportunities, I am reminded of how easy it for our lives to get stuck in the wrong gear. In our commitments to Christ, to our church, and to our daily responsibilities we can become lethargic, passive, inactive, and at times, even backslide into old habits, living as if we have not given our hearts and lives to Jesus.
If you are sitting still, seemingly not going anywhere, your life may be stuck in Park. If you are committed to preserving the status quo, content to let others carry the bulk of responsibility, and have no interest in growing, your life is probably in Park. If you have grown comfortable sitting behind the steering wheel but you never leave the driveway, perhaps you need to find a way to get your life out of Park and into a forward gear.
A life that is stuck in Park is not going anywhere, but a life stuck in Neutral can be even more detrimental. When you put a car in neutral and let off the brake, it is likely to roll one way or the other. Perhaps it will roll whichever way the wind is blowing. Or maybe it will move one direction or the other based on the tug of gravity, which is usually downhill. The danger of putting your life in neutral is that you live without conviction, you go the way of the crowd, or you choose the path of least resistance. And those options are seldom the right way.
If you are continually going backward, or preoccupied with the past, your life might be stuck in Reverse. But it’s hard to go forward, while looking backward. Back in the 1990’s, the church I served in Alabama had a faithful custodian named Ralph. Ralph was a retired chemist who came to work at the church as a retirement project. Ralph was a loyal soul….good-hearted and highly punctual. Ralph and I both typically arrived at the church early, often driving into the parking lot simultaneously. One morning, as I pulled into my parking space, I heard a few horns honking at the nearby intersection. I looked up to investigate the commotion and was stunned to see Ralph’s 1972 Dodge Ram approaching the church….backward. Ralph was driving toward the church in a line of traffic tailgate first. He was advancing forward in reverse. As he pulled up beside me, he quickly explained that his transmission had locked up and reverse was the only gear that worked. He didn’t want to miss work so he drove all the way from home…looking backward over his shoulder.
To this day, Ralph is the only guy I know who has ever advanced forward by going backward. But as a minister serving in Baptist churches for over 30 years, I’ve seen a lot of others try to move forward by looking backward, and it just doesn’t work.
To get your life in gear and move forward, you have to move out of Park, resist the temptation to settle for Neutral, and avoid Reverse, in order to put life into Drive.
Maybe that is why Paul wrote to the Philippians, Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (3:13-14 NIV).
God intends for us to grow forward in our walk with Christ, our fellowship with one another, and our participation in the work of the kingdom. One analyst put it this way: “There comes a moment when you have to stop revving up the car and shove it into gear.” Now is the time.
(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Blessing for a Clown's House
A prayer of dedication and celebration for the Ronald McDonald House of Northwest Florida, August 14, 2010:
Gracious God, today we gather representing a proud and grateful community. We are here to give thanks for a dream that became a vision and a vision that has become a reality in our new Ronald McDonald House. We are grateful for the support of community leaders and the guidance of our board members. We are grateful for the work of every contract laborer and every volunteer. And we are especially grateful for the generosity of every individual donor and every corporate partner who made this project possible. Now as we dedicate this house we ask for your ongoing blessing upon all who reside here. Our dream and vision is that this house will serve as a strategic home away from home for children and their families. We pray that it will be an oasis providing rest and refreshing, and serve as a hostel for hope, healing, and hospitality. May this house become a home where life-sustaining friendships are formed and a sacred place where life-saving faith is re-enforced. And may everyone who finds shelter in this home know of the love and strength you give in all of the seasons of life. We offer our prayers and our gratitude in the spirit of the One who teaches us to always welcome the little children. Amen.
Gracious God, today we gather representing a proud and grateful community. We are here to give thanks for a dream that became a vision and a vision that has become a reality in our new Ronald McDonald House. We are grateful for the support of community leaders and the guidance of our board members. We are grateful for the work of every contract laborer and every volunteer. And we are especially grateful for the generosity of every individual donor and every corporate partner who made this project possible. Now as we dedicate this house we ask for your ongoing blessing upon all who reside here. Our dream and vision is that this house will serve as a strategic home away from home for children and their families. We pray that it will be an oasis providing rest and refreshing, and serve as a hostel for hope, healing, and hospitality. May this house become a home where life-sustaining friendships are formed and a sacred place where life-saving faith is re-enforced. And may everyone who finds shelter in this home know of the love and strength you give in all of the seasons of life. We offer our prayers and our gratitude in the spirit of the One who teaches us to always welcome the little children. Amen.
Friday, August 06, 2010
Traveling the Paths of St. Francis
As the Eurostar train from Rome approached the Santa Maria degli Angeli station I could see the old town of Assisi sitting on the slope of an Umbrian butte with prominent castles and cathedrals visible from miles away. We headed to our hotel immediately after disembarking, and along the way we saw friars and nuns walking so routinely that few seemed to notice their presence. There was definitely a spiritual aura here, affirmed by a sense of serenity and safety not present in the larger cities we visited.
St. Francis was certainly the most well-known among the saints honored here. When I was in college, I took a couple of semesters of voice lessons, even though I was not a music major. My instructor chose the music I was to learn and since he knew that I was serving as a minister at a local church, he chose “Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace,” the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, as one of the pieces I was to memorize.
This selection was one of the pieces our church choir sang on their recent International Music Tour in Germany and Italy. I still remember the words and sing them quietly when no one else is around.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon:
where there is doubt, faith ;
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
This experience in college marked my introduction to the prayer and my first acquaintance with St. Francis. Since that time I have read much about the life and ministry of St. Francis and I have quoted him in sermons and columns. Little did I know that this day would come when I would have the privilege of visiting his hometown.
Many from around the world were making a summer pilgrimage to this historic place. For some Catholics, making the journey to Assisi is as important, if not more so, than traveling to Rome. Assisi is also a popular destination for seekers and mystics. In other words, some travel to Assisi to re-inforce their spiritual beliefs while others travel to Assisi to discover a higher purpose or a more spiritual meaning to existence.
While in Assisi, my wife and I walked almost every street, visited every church, and stopped at more than one pizzeria. We joined the crowds visiting the Cathedral of San Rufino where St. Frances was baptized, the Patriarchal Basilica in Santa Maria delgi Agneli where St. Francis died, and the Basilica of St. Francis where St. Francis was buried. Now I can better see how the life and message St. Francis still inspires spiritual pilgrims today.
Volumes have been written about the life of St. Francis, but three emphases from his ministry stand out as particularly relevant to the challenge facing the Christian church, especially Baptists, in the 21st century.
St. Francis emphasized simplicity of lifestyle. In 1206, the young Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone, who would later be known as St. Francis, had a vision of Jesus Christ that transformed his life. A couple of years later he heard a sermon on Matthew 10:9-10, in which Christ tells his followers they should go forth and proclaim the kingdom of heaven, and “do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts. Take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals, or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.” Francis took this literally and it inspired him to devote himself to a life of poverty and to begin preaching a message of repentance and hope. The message of Francis captured the hearts of young men from all over Italy who in turn wandered about preaching the Gospel to rich and poor alike. His message of non-materialism emphasized a love for God, a love of nature, and equality of humankind.
Desiring to share the good news with everyone, St. Francis ventured outside the walls of the church and took his message to the streets, preaching in the common language of the people, not in the traditional Latin of the church, so that all could understand. While some protested this new practice of St. Francis and the methods he employed, eventually the pope gave his blessing in 1223, and the Franciscan Order was included in the larger Catholic community.
In addition to the young men who sensed a calling to joyfully proclaim the gospel, there was also the young Clare who at age 18 was captivated by the message of St. Francis. On the evening of Palm Sunday in 1212, she departed her father’s mansion without his permission, and headed to the valley below. Once there, friars escorted her to St. Francis who cut her hair, gave her a simple brown tunic, and commissioned her to a life of poverty. She spent the next forty years in the convent of San Damiano and was gradually joined by other women who heard the call to serve God. They became known as the Order of the Poor Clares.
One legendary story is told of Clare attempting to visit St. Francis when he was on his death bed. Since women were usually not permitted, when told by a friar that Clare had arrived to visit, St. Francis is said to have responded, “Then welcome Brother Clare.”
Much about St. Francis’ approach to ministry seems extraordinarily relevant for our time. To counter the materialistic impulses of our day, perhaps we need to re-emphasize the value of service, the beauty in nature, and the worth of each human being. Instead of waiting on people to “come to church,” perhaps we should also take the message to the streets, preaching through lifestyles and language a message of hope that the common people can understand. And perhaps we must find ways to affirm both the men and women that God calls to serve, recognizing that the spiritual passion and giftedness God places within a man or a woman supersedes the rules or traditions of the church or the culture.
In some ways, following the path of St. Frances in our time could be considered as radical as it was almost 800 years ago. But it may be a path worth following to revitalize the church and advance the Good News.
(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)
St. Francis was certainly the most well-known among the saints honored here. When I was in college, I took a couple of semesters of voice lessons, even though I was not a music major. My instructor chose the music I was to learn and since he knew that I was serving as a minister at a local church, he chose “Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace,” the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, as one of the pieces I was to memorize.
This selection was one of the pieces our church choir sang on their recent International Music Tour in Germany and Italy. I still remember the words and sing them quietly when no one else is around.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon:
where there is doubt, faith ;
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
This experience in college marked my introduction to the prayer and my first acquaintance with St. Francis. Since that time I have read much about the life and ministry of St. Francis and I have quoted him in sermons and columns. Little did I know that this day would come when I would have the privilege of visiting his hometown.
Many from around the world were making a summer pilgrimage to this historic place. For some Catholics, making the journey to Assisi is as important, if not more so, than traveling to Rome. Assisi is also a popular destination for seekers and mystics. In other words, some travel to Assisi to re-inforce their spiritual beliefs while others travel to Assisi to discover a higher purpose or a more spiritual meaning to existence.
While in Assisi, my wife and I walked almost every street, visited every church, and stopped at more than one pizzeria. We joined the crowds visiting the Cathedral of San Rufino where St. Frances was baptized, the Patriarchal Basilica in Santa Maria delgi Agneli where St. Francis died, and the Basilica of St. Francis where St. Francis was buried. Now I can better see how the life and message St. Francis still inspires spiritual pilgrims today.
Volumes have been written about the life of St. Francis, but three emphases from his ministry stand out as particularly relevant to the challenge facing the Christian church, especially Baptists, in the 21st century.
St. Francis emphasized simplicity of lifestyle. In 1206, the young Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone, who would later be known as St. Francis, had a vision of Jesus Christ that transformed his life. A couple of years later he heard a sermon on Matthew 10:9-10, in which Christ tells his followers they should go forth and proclaim the kingdom of heaven, and “do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts. Take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals, or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.” Francis took this literally and it inspired him to devote himself to a life of poverty and to begin preaching a message of repentance and hope. The message of Francis captured the hearts of young men from all over Italy who in turn wandered about preaching the Gospel to rich and poor alike. His message of non-materialism emphasized a love for God, a love of nature, and equality of humankind.
Desiring to share the good news with everyone, St. Francis ventured outside the walls of the church and took his message to the streets, preaching in the common language of the people, not in the traditional Latin of the church, so that all could understand. While some protested this new practice of St. Francis and the methods he employed, eventually the pope gave his blessing in 1223, and the Franciscan Order was included in the larger Catholic community.
In addition to the young men who sensed a calling to joyfully proclaim the gospel, there was also the young Clare who at age 18 was captivated by the message of St. Francis. On the evening of Palm Sunday in 1212, she departed her father’s mansion without his permission, and headed to the valley below. Once there, friars escorted her to St. Francis who cut her hair, gave her a simple brown tunic, and commissioned her to a life of poverty. She spent the next forty years in the convent of San Damiano and was gradually joined by other women who heard the call to serve God. They became known as the Order of the Poor Clares.
One legendary story is told of Clare attempting to visit St. Francis when he was on his death bed. Since women were usually not permitted, when told by a friar that Clare had arrived to visit, St. Francis is said to have responded, “Then welcome Brother Clare.”
Much about St. Francis’ approach to ministry seems extraordinarily relevant for our time. To counter the materialistic impulses of our day, perhaps we need to re-emphasize the value of service, the beauty in nature, and the worth of each human being. Instead of waiting on people to “come to church,” perhaps we should also take the message to the streets, preaching through lifestyles and language a message of hope that the common people can understand. And perhaps we must find ways to affirm both the men and women that God calls to serve, recognizing that the spiritual passion and giftedness God places within a man or a woman supersedes the rules or traditions of the church or the culture.
In some ways, following the path of St. Frances in our time could be considered as radical as it was almost 800 years ago. But it may be a path worth following to revitalize the church and advance the Good News.
(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)
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