Worldwide Ligaments in the Body of Christ

Reagan-era House Speaker Tip O’Neil used to observe, “all politics is local”—meaning that people inevitably care more about what’s near and personally relevant than about what’s going on in the rest of the nation or the world at large. This is normal and its true in God’s church too. “Good news” from around the world is a welcome thing, but not something, as disciples of Christ, we think about all that much as we live our daily lives in Seattle, Washington.

Having said that, it’s important for us here in the hub of the universe (oh, you have a hub too? Cool!) to spend some of our time relishing the fact that we really do have a worldwide family of churches—over 500, with over 80,000 Christians. What’s happening in those places can inspire us and support us. This winter has been a wonderful and poignant reminder for me.

The day after our congregation commended the Wallaces, the Brumleys, the Tachers, and the Greens as Elders & Wives, Lynne and I took off for Hong Kong and China. We had a terrific time reconnecting with Hong Kong leaders—Steve and Jane Chin, Turner and Elizabeth Sinn, Dan and Elexa Liu and many others, then flew to Mainland China where we conducted our first-ever marriage retreat for one of our most prominent underground churches. These disciples live a most inconvenient Christian life, but their convictions call us higher. Here’s a brief clip, a hodge-podge of Hong Kong and China!

In addition, last week, Ron and Linda travelled to Miami to join the ICOC Elders Committee—a group devoted to promoting elderships around the world and to responding to shepherding needs in our churches as they arise.

This weekend, most of our staff travels to Ashland Oregon where we will convene with other Northwest church leaderships at our semi-annual summit. Please pray for us to be closer than ever as a family and for us to find ways to collaborate to speed the missions and maturity of the Northwest. Yours truly has the honor of preaching to the wonderful Rogue Valley congregation on Sunday.

In March, the Greens and Whitakers journey to Germany. There we will continue the “coaching” work the Berlin congregation has asked us to do through 2012. This means the Greens being in Berlin for at least two weekends a year, and one longer stretch of 3 weeks (this coming summer). Berlin is a church currently without full time leadership, but they are eager to learn, grow, and experiment! Say a prayer or two for us, the Kohas (from Boston) and the Herbsts (Zurich) as we collaborate to serve this exciting congregation.

As the world turns…

Scott Green, Elder & Senior Minister

Teen Disciples and Teen Leaders Retreat - "As One"

Last weekend, over thirty of us attended a Seattle Church Teen Disciples and Teen Leaders Retreat. We had a fun and inspiring time together. Enjoy the pictures from our time together!

Darin Ford

Everything New

In Revelation 21:5, we see a vision of Him who is seated on the throne, promising to make all things new. I'd like to suggest, on this New Year's Day of a new decade, that this is an old promise, one we have heard again and again, season by season. In fact, each year the Winter comes, where all lies dead or dormant, and then this celebration we call New Years. Shortly after, the Spring sweeps onto stage, shoving every Winter backdrop off to the side.

Spring looms then. New birth. New possibilities. New growth. And we are right to be preparing for that right now.

What then are your ideas about things "new" in your life? It seems obvious to me that God wants us thinking like this, so let's do that thinking. Here's some of mine:

1. In 2010 I'd like Lynne to have first place (after God of course) in my life. I'm not sure anything has had first place in the past few years--I've allowed so many demands and needs to take the oxygen out of the room. In 2010, I'd like it to be obvious to her that she is #1!!!
2. I want to walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). "Walk" is the operative word here. What does it mean for us to walk together, day by day. I want to renew my search to find out.
3. Surrender more, do less, and be content--since "each day has enough trouble of its own"
4. Search for daily inspiration. Is that a run? Yoga? Cheesecake? Whatever. We all have so many "shoulds" in our lives, and often these are good and appropriate. But if we don't take care, the shoulds run everything and we forget to make real choices--what do we WANT to do for God and for each other? What choices inspire us?

May God guide us with clarity as we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (and, I pray, with joy!) in the 2010's...

love,

Scott

Christmas Eve Highlights

From the Green fam:

Dear beloved family and friends,

Only God knows where we would be without you. Thank you for the difference you have made in our lives, (for most of you, over many good years). Blessed Christmas on this blessed eve.

Some 2009 Green Family Highlights:

Ariel

• Finished her first semester of study at Gonzaga University. Hard to believe she has left us as Empty Nesters!
• Wants to pursue studies and skills in computer graphics, art, and gaming
• Is a Crafter par-excellence (ISTP). Just send her the parts and she'll build you a jet.
• Still loves chocolate as much as her Dad (thank God)

Stephen

• Almost done with his junior year at Washington University-St. Louis. Majoring in Political Science and Chinese
• Gave up college football this year, but the legacy of "31" lives on...
• Continues to produce rap & hip hop tracks--his stuff is terrific
• Makes a buck or two at college ref'ing intramural basketball games--money for being an authority!

Lynne

• Continues her strategic leadership of Womens' Ministries for the Seattle church.
• As a three-year cancer survivor, continues to servea and advocate locally, particularly with her therapy dogs at Children's Hospital
• Serves as a board member of the international charity HOPE worldwide
• Loves working with border collies in sheepherding
• Has started a distance Masters program in Communication and Leadership

Scott

• Continues to serve as Senior Minister of the Seattle church of Christ, focusing on strategic building and staff development
• Is nearly finished with his Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy (June!), with an emphasis in Narrative work
• Won an academic award for his paper "For Healing's Sake: Letters to Christian and Narrative Therapy"
• LOVES swing dancing with his wife; we will take our second class this winter
• Harbors a secret desire to make wine someday

Travel: We were blessed with trips this year to Hong Kong, to Geneva for the EBS, and to Berlin. We are heading to Whistler on the 26th for a snowy family vacation. Scott and Lynne are now working with Valdur & Irene Koha, and Chrisitian and Sabine Herbst in a coaching relationship with the Berlin church of Christ--so more travel is heading our way in 2010. Hope to see you all along the way!

The photo's a bit old, but remembers New Birth...

THANK YOU for supporting the Adoption Assistance Program!

For the last several years, Karla and I have had the pleasure of overseeing the Adoption Assistance Program, a joint effort by the Seattle and South Sound Churches. The goal? Help families adopt orphans, which is often cost-prohibitive. The result? Our church is full of kids who have found a loving, Christian home! Many are growing up in the church, some families have moved on to other congregations. All of them have a chance at family and faith that didn't exist prior to their adoption.

Currently, we are helping one couple adopt a baby internationally. After that, our fund will again be depleted (a good thing!). As a staff, we will discuss how to collect more funds sometime in 2010. Until then, please pray for the millions of fatherless children in the world today. And thank you for all of your prayers and support for this program! It truly is changing lives.

Enjoy the video highlights of our program:

To see special adoption video click here!

The two brothers greeting the Seattle church at Christmastime are Normen Rhode and Andreas Webber. Both serve in lay leadership in the Berlin church, a congregation of about 150 Christians. This resilient, visionary congregation is about to enter a season in which no one will be serving in the full time ministry, a fact the lay leaders hope will be short-lived. Many tremendous ministers have served in the history of the Berlin church, including, among others, Dean and Kim Farmer, Christian Herbst, Mirko Russo, and Mathis Wosegien.

Because of this new season, the lay leaders of the church have asked Christian Herbst (now in Zurich, Switzerland), Valdur Koha (Boston) and me—AND our wives—to serve as “coaches” for their church. This first trip for Lynne and me (thank you, Ron and Linda for accompanying us and for teaching the families in Berlin on parenting!) helped us build relationships with the lay leaders, gave us time with them individually to understand their leadership experiences and hopes, and allowed us to attend various meetings with other leaders to attend them on their new journey.

Berlin is a wonderful city, but there simply wasn’t time on this trip to show much more than this clip from the Weinmarkt Christmas market, not far from Humboldt University and the Brandenburg Gate of Frederick the Great. It seemed to us that no one decorates for Christmas quite like the Germans.

On Sunday I was able to share a Christmas-tinged lesson that emphasized Memory, Awareness, and Calling for the disciples. Lynne and I were able to share in abundance about all of you in the Seattle church; our Berlin brothers and sisters were keenly interested in all of you, and in how we’ve navigated maturity issues in our church. I also had opportunity to share on Sunday how poignant it was for me, the son of a US military officer, to be where the Berlin Wall once was—a symbol of conflict, confusion, and longing. The wall is finally gone, but not theses spiritual themes, which still, 20 years later, find their fulfillment no where else as they do in the kingdom of God.

Scott

Greens and Brumleys are in Berlin!

December 5, 2009: On our way to Berlin, via NYC

The Greens and Brumleys are journeying to Berlin this weekend to help “coach” the church to new levels of faith and opportunity—PLEASE pray for us.

This all began shortly after the Greens summer trip to teach at the European Bible School in Geneva, Switzerland. We are approached by the Berlin church, whose leadership was seeking three “coaching couples” to help them move the church forward (Berlin will soon have no full time leadership and will be relying on a lay leadership group + “coaches”). Berlin asked for a three year commitment, which we agreed to after consulting with our staff and board. Christian and Sabine Herbst (Zurich) and Valdur & Irene Koha (Boston) will be the other coaches. Each couple will go to Berlin once every three months.

And so this is our first trip, and just on the heels of Berlin’s 20^th anniversary of the Berlin wall’s fall.

We first flew with Ron and Linda to Newark from Seattle, with a fine pre-landing view of New York City. Watching New York’s skyline, I realized anew what greatness that city has seen. Though the twin towers were nowhere to be seen (a shockingly concrete reminder that evil remains in this world), the Empire State Building stood tall like the art deco rocket it is. The statue of liberty watched Manhattan Island offshore, tiny but vigilant, watching the harbor, and watching for more of the “tired refuse” that made America hum in the early 20^th century. Thanks to the movies, it’s hard for my generation not to feel connected to New York, even if you’ve never lived there.

More to come…