In 1989 I was asked to start a ministry at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood for young adults in their 20s and 30s which we later called BRICK (Building Relationships in Christ’s Kingdom). To get it going, I contacted Lou. Lou seemed perfect for this ministry. He was in his young 30s, seminary educated, successful, single, had lots of time. He could easily share with me the teaching load and leadership tasks. I told him about the need and asked him to join me. He agreed that a church like ours should have such a ministry and so we decided to start a fellowship group.
We started with over 50 people but by the end of the first year it had dwindled to 18—and a number of them were extremely needy people. After the first year, Lou was offered a different career opportunity that allowed him to gracefully bow out of our struggling ministry. I was now faced with finding a new president for the class. One woman in the group, Lisa, seemed the best hope. She was naturally sweet and kind; she was friendly but a bit shy. I figured she would be a good fill-in until I could find a more charismatic leader. When I asked her if she would be the class president, she told me that she wanted to pray about it. A few days later she told me that she felt that God was calling her to be the class president.
I must tell you that I didn’t pay much attention to her use of the word “Call”. I simply thought it was just a Christian cliché. But a few months later, with the class still struggling along, Lisa came to me and told me that she had a chance for a big promotion in her work, but it meant moving across the country. Knowing that Lisa had moved to LA for work, I assumed that this meant that if she was offered the job then she was leaving and that I would need to find yet another president for my limping class. I wished her well and figured that was that.
A few days later, Lisa called to tell me that she had been offered the promotion, but had turned it down. When I asked her why, she said, “Tod, I really believe that I was called by God to serve this class.” At that time, so very aware of what it had cost her, I heard the word, “call”.
Slowly the group began to flourish under Lisa’s leadership. 2 years later when she turned over the class presidency, it averaged 100 people a week and was on its way to being one of the strongest ministries at FPCH. I believe with all my heart that the difference between Lou’s ministry and Lisa’s was that Lisa new herself to be as called by God to that ministry as any pastor.
For Lou the ministry was a burden and struggle, for Lisa it was an expression of her faith.
For Lou, the ministry was a chore, for Lisa the ministry was a call.
God’s Spirit called Lisa to serve and then blessed that call. Lisa responded to the call by committing, staying, and investing. Lisa later married Scott, a wonderful man, and the both of them attend and serve at FPCH to this day.
So, now let me give you the surprise ending… When I wrote my first post on this blog about “Staying Put” I was thinking of telling the story about Lisa and Scott eventually. Who do you think was the first person to write me and congratulate me on the new blog? Scott. And I’ll share what he wrote (with his permission, of course)
Joe is a western region salesman for a Cleveland based company who was recently offered a big promotion. It was his dream job, one he has been hoping for and looking forward to. However, it would have meant moving back to Cleveland. He and his wife discussed and prayed. They felt God was calling them to stay here … because of the growth in their spiritual lives because of BRICK. They felt like God wanted them to stay here for BRICK, so he declined the promotion!
Lisa and I wept when we heard the story.
I got a bit choked up too.
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