I’m fascinated by the science of growing communities. I’ve devoted a lot of time over recent years to understanding the structure, care and feeding of successful communities, and I’ve read or listened to anything I can get my hands to explain why different kinds of communities work, ranging from volunteer organizations focused on social change, to global software development projects, to various kinds of support groups, to religious organizations. The experts disagree on minor points, but they agree more often than not and are unanimous about one point in particular: in order to create a successful and thriving community, you’ve got to build it around a clear sense of purpose; it has to have a reason for being! One of my favorite writers says that if you find a big enough purpose, a community can’t help but grow up around it.
This evening I’m going to share with you a vision about acting on purpose to build a community of men at Our Savior that is focused on helping others. I’m going to talk about being deliberate about applying our talents, about celebrating our many blessings by putting them to good use, about living our love for Jesus by helping our neighbors — and about having a great time doing it!
One of the real pleasures of being a member of Our Savior over the years has been the many chances to get together with the guys to perform a variety of service projects. We’ve done work for COVER, for Habitat, and on random projects for members and friends; we’ve supervised Youth Group work trips; sometimes we’ve just done work around the church or parsonage. Another joy has been our monthly Mens’ Breakfasts, which are always wonderful opportunities to gather and socialize over a meal and occasionally to get something done.
It’s easy to count off single points of success, but it also must be said that there has been some frustration due to a sense of lost opportunities and unmet needs. There has never been a clear organization to any of this, no overarching sense of purpose; Our Savior does not have a real “Men’s Group” or anything like a Men’s Mission. We have no identifiable group for the guys to commit their time to, no community of men comparable to Mary Martha that can take on projects in a deliberate and committed way and to do service in an organized fashion.
You might ask: Wait a minute, what’s the problem? When something needs to get done, doesn’t somebody usually show up and get ‘er done? Yes, usually, but that’s not good enough. The problem with this haphazard approach is that it does a disservice to the many and varied gifts we’ve been blessed with and have not put to use. Our congregation has been chartered to do God’s work on Earth; as the great new ELCA tagline says, we’re all about “Gods work, our hands!” If we haven’t organized “our hands” with a clear sense of purpose in order to get that “work” done, we’re wasting our talents and we’re missing opportunities, which results in the needs of people around us not being met. And that’s a sin!
On the other hand, my co-conspirators and I are hopeful that by having a clear and focused service-oriented mission, we will gather guys around us, grow a strong and inclusive community of doers, get more good works done, and have an even better time doing it. Our hope is in the name of the Lord, so we know it will happen!
Advent is the time for celebrating God’s coming to live amongst His people. God has blessed us with certain skills for a reason; there are people amongst us in need, and He expects us to do whatever we can to fulfill those needs. As a group of talented people, God expects us to create fertile ground for receiving those skills and putting them to work by matching them to the opportunities that arise; that’s the part about being ready. Making it happen is about fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission to his followers.
So, finally, what’s Salvation Builders all about? In short, it’s an identity and a vision for a purpose-driven men’s group. We’ve already got a core of guys that are handy in many ways and can get things done, and a much bigger group of guys who come out from the woodwork to help whenever there is a project to do. This group has been doing various projects, from moving to building to whatever, for years. The name Salvation Builders honors the “Salvation Movers” label that Mike Fonner gave us years ago when he first organized us to help various members and friends in transition, and it also puts a shout out to the fledgling “Master Builders” program at the heart of the ELCA’s Lutheran Men in Mission movement.
Having a name is an integral part of establishing an identity; just think how effective Mary Martha has been over the years, in part because they have a clear purpose but also because they have a clear identity that they have strongly linked to that purpose. The Salvation Builders hope that by establishing an identity, by expressing a purpose and by spreading the word, we will make the way ready to receive the gifts that God brings to our men for His purpose.
You’ll be hearing more about the Salvation Builders in the coming months. We’ll use many ways to get our message out, ranging from email, to the church web site, to messages during service, maybe even on Facebook! We’ve also designed a nifty logo and have made T-Shirts, hats and other logo-ware available online; our idea is that when as we work on projects we can show our unity by wearing our logo.
Please pray for us, and if you are a guy, pray for how you can help.
God’s work, our hands — let’s make it happen!

[Find pdf-version (with emblem!) by clicking the title.]

INTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ADVENT VESPERS?
THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION (TR) discussions will be held in the Education
Wing during Advent Wednesday Suppers (6-7pm). TRs are optional; you may choose to participate (pick up your supper and come) or
simply enjoy your meal fellowship in Cana Hall.
These discussions are approximately 40 to 50 minutes in length, and the format is collective sharing, listening, and meditating.
Please contact vEnessa Acham at 603.646.4656 for further information.

Print This

Email This