If not for the trials of 2020…
We’ve hit the five year mark for when we started investing prayerfully in Port Orchard. I’ve been going through photos, rereading the stories of God’s miraculous provision. Thanking God by name for those who came to the early meetings at Josephine’s and learned about Acts and how to be witnesses in their own community. I am delighting so much in the gatherings for worship now at RAWW gym. And you know what keeps me from despairing about the COVID situation in the middle? Three of my favorite things about life in Port Orchard grew because of the lockdown, and I can’t imagine them forming any other way…
Weekly commitment to prayer together. We had already been praying on Thursdays, which I loved. And still, 346 people receive a weekly call to prayer at 10am. Beginning June 2020 we also started gathering to pray in backyards across South Kitsap. We learned to listen to the Spirit, to pray for one another, and to testify to how God was moving. Prayer came into the “central Sunday slot.” If not for the trials of 2020, prayer might not be the central way we pursue God’s presence and guidance together.
The residency at 703 Kitsap St. When Fall 2020 kicked off, most people were still uncomfortable gathering. But not the young adults who had ended up back home from college! They needed meaningful work, mentoring, conversation, and friendship. A cohort of interns we hired help us innovate ministry. (I giggle to think of them teaching me to vlog with an HDR camera on a selfie stick.) Friends, neighbors, and a few from Chapel Hill mentored them and taught how to prepare cheap, good meals for a crowd and work through questions of faith. Larry and I had forgotten how deeply we know the call to disciple young adults. So in 2021, we knew we had to make the discipleship of the next generation in community a top priority, which led us to 703 Kitsap Street and developing an annual residency program. If not for the trials of 2020, a young adult residency would not be the geographic and relational center of Kitsap House.
My personal neighborhood life. I don’t work well alone and at home, which is a surprise to– none of you. So those early months of lockdown had me walking up and down our driveway multiple times a day. I planted the garden with our neighbors and invited them down to enjoy it. I came to really know my neighbors. I watched “Godspeed” and meditated on Jesus of Nazareth. I let God seed new thoughts about church–planting incarnationally and in neighborhoods. If not for the trials of 2020, we would not have the language of “seeking God’s shalom in our neighborhoods.”
So as we started a series Sunday from James and he goes straight to – I mean, super minimal greetings here!-- just straight to “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds…” I look back and say, yes. We are more whole, more mature, more complete as a community because of the trials. They certainly weren’t without hardship or grief, but God never promised that while we remain in a broken world. But he did promise that the trials would matter – that they’d be transforming us to be more like him – James even dares to say “perfect.”
So if it’s been a while since you’ve been around and if it’s been a while of trials holding you down, please allow me to make a few invitations.
Pray with us. Every Thursday in person at noon at 703 Kitsap Street or via email. Or grow in prayer with us Monday nights beginning July 10.
Invite someone to the residency. We’re currently accepting applications for Sept 2023-June 2024. Young adults (18-30) seeking their people, their place, and God’s presence make great applicants.
Enjoy your neighborhood. When was the last time you walked by or drove the block and prayed for each home by name? You may be the only one receiving this email who lives within a block or two. Let God join your life with you where you are.
Come be with us on a Sunday. Maybe you could use more community with God and others to have something to offer. We’re gentle with those in trial seasons - we are they! Here’s last week’s message from James 1.
I consider it pure joy, friends, to be writing to you on June 13, 2023, and anticipating God continuing his work here with us.
Pastor Megan
