Rev. Terry Cripe
Ohio District President
October 2007

“How's it going?”

“How's it going?” That's the first question many of you are asking me as I face the first month of life as the President of our Ohio District. Most of the time my reply has been, “You know that cartoon that shows a guy falling off the top of a building, and the caption reads, “So far so good”? Well, that's how it is. So far so good. We face many critical challenges together, but at the same time, we have great opportunity. How well we respond to these challenges and opportunities will indicate the depth of our faith in the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith. We are all stewards of the personal gifts and resources God has given to us to manage. Will we invest them for the good of others, or will we prefer to spend them on ourselves? Here are some those challenges as I see them:

1. MYOPIA – we are afflicted with this on many levels, but let's start with the basic one: personal nearsightedness. If all we are concerned about is our own individual spiritual and financial welfare, we are to be pitied. The Lord Jesus not only saw that the fields were white unto harvest, but He also gave His own precious lifeblood so that there could be a harvest! He sacrificed for us so that we could live for Him. That life for Him involves more than your family and local church. It includes your District and Synod as well. Blessings to those whose vision has been uplifted by the Holy Spirit and are giving sacrificially of their time and financial resources beyond themselves! I have found great personal joy and satisfaction giving beyond my family and congregation and encourage you to discover the same joy that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”

2. FEAR of FAILING – we've all had plenty of experience with this. But aren't we people who believe in the forgiveness of sins? Aren't we people who believe that Christ lives in us? Certainly Peter, Paul, and the other apostles made mistakes. But they knew better than to let those mistakes paralyze them into inaction. “Forgetting what lies behind,” St Paul pressed forward for the mission of Christ. God give us that same trust in Christ to lift us from timidity to boldness in our witness!

3. THE ECLIPSE of the CHURCH – you may live in a community whose indicators say that it is 75-85% churched and so there doesn't seem to be much outreach work to do. But on your way to church on Sunday, note how many cars remain unmoved from their garages! See how many walkers, joggers and soccer players there are! Look at how many cars are in the parking lots of Bob Evans or Dennys! How can our people break through the beliefs these people have that they are OK and really don't need anything more than what they have – a nice home, several cars, the latest computers and flat screen TVs? As a District, we don't need to come up with 175 ways to address this problem. Let's expect our outreach taskforces to help us!

4. MISREADING the SIGNS – in the fifties and sixties, a sure sign of congregational “success” was a growing Sunday School. The emphasis was the youth as the church of tomorrow. But times have changes a bit. We are at the beginning of a long “greying of America”cycle as the babyboomers change the national demographics once more. The congregation that understands its demographics will not be panicked if there don't seem to be as many kids in their town. Why? Because there are plenty of baby boomers trying to find meaning to their lives after they've spent so much of their time “Doing their own thing.” They are realizing that that lifestyle will leave them no lasting legacy. But we know how much significance Christ gives to our lives. “He died for all so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and was raised.” What a perfect time to share this with them!

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your District President. If you read this, drop me a line at my email address to let me know!