Bakersfield, California
Rev. Robert W. Lutjens
From the Pastor
"RE-FOCUS"
My dear friends in Christ Jesus,
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-12
Last month I wrote a little bit about a process called “ReFocus.” I’d like to explain a little bit more about what this is.
The trouble is, I don’t know exactly how to explain it. I know what it is for, and what end results may be, but I don’t know all the nuts and bolts and ins and outs of the actual process.
So let me try to explain this in a round about way.
ReFocus is a process. It’s not a program. That’s been said a lot. The difference is significant. A program tends to have checklists of things to do, how to do them, and a carefully written list of volunteers needed to run everything. Programs are developed to meet specific needs of specific congregations…and so what works in one congregation may not work in another. Programs are great when they are used correctly – when they help support relationships in the congregation and serve the vision (the direction) of the congregation. They are not supposed to be things done for their own sake, but as a means to an end…something that serves a higher goal. However, too often they are done because ‘That’s the way we’ve always done it.” “We used to do this and it worked then.”
I’ve got to be honest. I don’t think LCoP needs more programs. I’ve heard people comment, and I have observed, that a small number of people do a great deal of volunteer work. Over time that small group of people can become tired, burned out, and continue to see less return and response for their work. This is not a fault of the volunteers! Rather the needs and dynamics of LCoP changes over time, but too often the program, the direction, the purpose for which the volunteers are working needs to be, well, ReFocused.
ReFocus is a process, not a program. A process is a way of looking at the world, a way of thinking. A process is an attitude, a means of looking at ourselves and asking, “Is this where we want to be? Where are we going? Where should we be going? What are our attitudes about the church, ourselves, God, members, visitors, children, community, etc.?”
In that process of asking questions and self-examination something amazing happens. Relationships form. Conversation happens. For some strange reason the process of having an ongoing conversation helps build vision and focus for a group. The ability to ask questions, to ponder, to ask, ‘What if?’ to focus on what is right and ideal and dream and not be limited by the past or what was done before is oddly freeing and exciting and scary. I’ve seen this process of asking questions and dreaming work in large and small groups, in marriages, in businesses, in friendships, in schools. While specific steps to move in a direction are important, those specific steps all serve a higher purpose, to move in a direction and serve the overall vision and direction of a group. Our calling is not to invent ways to raise ourselves up but to discover what God has already done and is doing in the lives of the pastor and leaders, of the local congregation, of the life of the community.
What we do and how we do it is actually less important than why we do what we do. While I stated above that I don’t think LCoP needs more programs, it does need to learn and develop the ability to ask questions, to experiment, to have things not work the way it was planned.
Just as programs work best when they serve a higher purpose, that of developing relationships and supporting the vision of the congregation, so this ReFocus process is the means we are using to learn about ourselves, to guide us in asking questions and having conversations, to discover ways of thinking and finding what God is already doing here in our lives.
Praise God for his mercy in allowing us to participate in his wonderous plans!
I look forward to seeing each of you in the first of our ReFocus Meetings: Friday, June 20th from 7:00-9:00 P.M. and Saturday, June 21st from 9:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M. Please make every effort to attend and join in the conversation.
You can email Pastor Lutjens by using the name "pastor" at the domain "lcop.org".
Rev. R.W. Lutjens has been the pastor at Lutheran
Church of Prayer since Jan 1st, 2006. After
earning his Bachelors at Concordia University,
Irvine he continued his studies with a Masters
degree from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
A self-professed computer geek, he has held (and
even worked in) numerous jobs throughout the
years, including the medical records office of a
hospital, various restaurants, a congregation in
West Los Angeles, and a winery in Santa Ynez, CA.
Rev. Lutjens sees one of his primary jobs as
equipping every Christian to be able to share the
story found in the Bible with others. His
favorite quote is from St. Francis of Assisi –
“Preach the gospel everywhere. If necessary, use
words.” His motto is on his business cards and
his coffee cup – “Robbing hell of Souls”.
His motorcycle causes heart palpitations (not the
good kind) when he visits hospitals, his library
is overflowing the shelves in his office, his
sermons are awe-inspiring, his classes -
incredible, his people skills – impeccable, his
modesty - unmatched, and his humor - obscure.
Contact Us: 661-871-1289
