In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus.

“These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they’re nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.”

“Which channel do you want?” asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”

I don’t know about you, but I think there’s real wisdom in that little joke! As a church, being united is so important! Not that we’re gonna beat anyone up the way Lucy might, but there is real power in unity.

This weekend (June 1) is our first Sunday with a new worship schedule. This Sunday, we begin worshiping together. This Sunday, we begin a new phase in our journey of discovery—discovering who we are, who we can be, who God is calling us to be; discovering together God’s future for our church!

This coming together as a single worship service really has nothing to do with worship styles. Sure, there will be conversation, discussion, maybe even some tension, over the styles of worship that we’ll be experimenting with. But worship style is not the important thing.

What is important is that we are together, united as we move into God’s future for us. We certainly won’t always agree on whether we liked everything about a given worship service—but that would be true even if we all leaned one way or another in terms of worship style.

Instead, let’s focus on what we do agree on: 1) God loves us; 2) God has redeemed us through Jesus; and 3) the reason we, the church, exist is to give God glory and make God’s presence real to a hurting world.

I can’t imagine that any of us would disagree with that! As we move into the future, let’s focus on those things, asking God to help us live out those realities in our lives as we worship, serve, give, and love in every aspect of our lives.

–Pastor Markus Watson

On Thursday evening, May 14, the Session of Northminster Presbyterian Church gathered to discuss where God may be calling us in terms of our Sunday morning worship. We spent two and a half hours discussing, deliberating, and even learning together.

There’s no question that the style of worship at Northminster has been an ongoing issue. And it has, in my view—as well as in the opinion of many of you—had some negative effects on this congregation. The most unfortunate effect of having two differntly styled services has been the “us” and “them” attitude that we seem to have developed toward one another. Those who prefer contemporary worship think of those in the second service as the “those heritage people,” and those who prefer traditional worship think of those in the first service as “those contemporary people.”

It’s my belief that in order for us to truly be the people that God is calling us to be, we have to eliminate all labels of “us” and “them,” and “heritage” and “contemporary.” I believe that we need to come together for, not only our common good as the body of Christ, but also for the good of those in our surrounding community. We can’t be a blessing to those outside the church if we’re not united inside the church. We can’t be outwardly focused if we’re not inwardly strong.

We need to be inwardly strong.

For this reason, Session made two decisions on Thursday night. The first decision was to go back to having one service at 9:30 a.m. for the summer, beginning June 1, 2008. We need to be unified as a church, and bringing us together to worship is a step toward bringing about greater unity. However, no decision was made as to the style of worship that this service should be. In fact, I believe that we all generally agreed that we need to eliminate the labels of “heritage” and “contemporary.” We simply need to worship together.

The second decision was to create a “Worship Imagination Team” consisting of people who have in the past attended the Heritage service and people who have attended the Contemporary service. This team will be chaired by the pastor. The purpose of this team is simply to be creative with forms of worship, orders of worship, styles of worship, etc., etc. They are to experiment with aspects of worship that may be considered more traditional and aspects of worship that may be considered more contemporary. Over time, we may, as a body, find a style of worship and an order of worship that authentically fits who we are. Or we may find that we actually enjoy being creative with different forms and orders of worship.

I don’t know where this will lead. No one does. The important thing here is to continue to be open to the leading of God’s Spirit.

I want to close this article with two quotes from our Presbyterian Book of Order (believe it or not!):

The church is…free to be innovative in seeking appropriate language for worship. While respecting time-honored forms and set orders, the church may reshape them to respond freely to the leading of God’s Spirit in every age. (W.1.2005)

The Church has always experienced a tension between form and freedom in worship. In the history of the Church, some have offered established forms for ordering worship in accordance with God’s Word. Others, in the effort to be faithful to the Word, have resisted imposing any fixed forms upon the worshiping community. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) acknowledges that all forms of worship are provisional and subject to reformation. In ordering the worship the church is to seek openness to the creativity of the Holy Spirit, who guides the church toward worship which is orderly yet spontaneous, consistent with God’s Word and open to the newness of God’s future. (W-3.1002)

May God help us to focus on him in this time of transition. And may we, as a church, be “consistent with God’s Word and open to the newness of God’s future.”

–Pastor Markus Watson

The big question at Northminster right now is, of course: What’s going to happen with our worship services? Are we going to go back to one worship service? What would it look like? Would it be mostly contemporary? What does that mean? What would happen to the choir? What would happen to the staff positions that currently support the Heritage service? What time would the new service be?

These are all important questions that will have to be answered in time. And that’s the purpose for the open forum conversation held after the worship service on April 27. This is a big decision and I believe that everyone deserves to have his or her voice heard. It’s also why I invited everyone to share their feedback on the website (and I want to thank everyone who has shared their feedback).

There are, as I see it, two reasons to give everyone a chance to share their thoughts. The first is, as I mentioned above, to give each person a voice. We need to be in dialogue about these kinds of things, always open and willing to listen to each other, as well as to share honestly and lovingly with each other.

The second reason for allowing everyone to share their thoughts has to do with the role of Session (our board of elders). We are Presbyterians, and as Presbyterians we are led by the elders that we elect. The job of the elders is to discern the will of God. This is important—it is not to simply make a decision by majority vote, but to listen to the Spirit of God and then make a decision based on what they sense God is saying. And one of the critical ways by which elders can hear the Spirit of God is by listening to the people of God.

I believe God speaks through his people. That’s us! This doesn’t mean we will always agree on everything; and even our elders might not always agree on what they believe the will of God is. But we believe that God speaks through us and to us, and as we listen to God, God will make the way clear before us.

After our open forum conversation, Session will come together sometime in the following two weeks (I’ll be on vacation this week, so we won’t meet until sometime after May 4). At that time, we will talk about what we have heard from all of you and where we sense God may be taking us. At that time, the decision will be made as to whether or not we will reunite as one service and what that service will look like (though there will, of course, be flexibility to adapt in the future).

God is moving in some new ways at Northminster, and I am so excited about it! New people are visiting and coming back! People are joining our New Members Class! Some of you will be going on the mission trip to Mexico! And that’s just the beginning!

The wind of the Spirit is blowing at Northminster! Could a move to one service be part of the Spirit’s moving? We’ll see. But whatever happens, we can rest assured that God is with us. God has not left us and will never leave us or forsake us.

We can remember with joy the words of Jeremiah 29:11: “‘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.’” Amen!

In my sermon on Sunday, April 13, entitled The Truth About Change, I asked us all to consider going to one single service with a primarily contemporary worship style. The reason for this has to do with adapting to the changes going on in our culture—and that have been going on really for the last forty years. As a church, we need to continue to adapt to what is going on in our world and to what God is doing in our world.

The question we need to talk about now is, “Will we continue to adapt?” I think that part of this adaptation would be to go back to a single service with a primarily contemporary worship style.

I think it’s also important to bring our whole church together so that we can focus on the future of our church. And just as we care for our biological descendants, we need to pour ourselves into our spiritual descendants, so to speak—those who will be here fifty years from now. It’s important to do what is necessary to be a vibrant and alive church, not just today or ten years from now, but fifty years from now!

But I want us to talk about this. I want us to talk about it with each other, and I’d love for you to talk about it with me. I would also love for you to talk about it here on this website. Please leave your comments after this article to share what you think.

–Markus Watson

My first Christmas in San Diego was absolutely fantastic! No snow. No ice. Not even a cloud in the sky! Who could ask for a better Christmas than sunny and seventy-two degrees! On Christmas Eve we had lunch at a restaurant on Mission Bay, and I went surfing on Christmas Day in the afternoon. You know why? Just because I could!!

But that’s not the only thing that made this Christmas so great! It was so good to be with all of you this Christmas. What a blessing to spend Christmas Eve with all of you at our Christmas Eve services! So many of you have been so warm and welcoming during this season. Thanks to all of you for making our first Christmas in San Diego such a great one!

Next on the calendar: New Year! Which, naturally, brings up the question, “What’s God going to do at Northminster in 2008?” The only person who can answer that question, of course, is God. But we can be sure of this: God has good plans for Northminster!

I believe that God is going to do at least two things in 2008. First, God’s going to use us to reach out into our community, meeting the real needs of real people in Clairemont. Second, I believe that God will bring new people into our church; people who have been touched by our love as we’ve reached out into our community and people who see what we’re doing and want to join us.

So, as we move into 2008, let’s move forward with great optimism! God has good plans for us! “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

–Markus

The story of the Little Drummer Boy, though only legendary, is one of my favorite Christmas stories. It is the story of a little boy with a drum who came to see the baby, Jesus. When he realized who this baby was, the little drummer boy wanted to give him a gift to worship him. Sadly, the boy realized that he had nothing of value to give to this holy baby, until he remembered his drum. And so, the little drummer boy began to worship Jesus by playing on his drum.

What I love about this story is that it shows us that the kind of worship that God cherishes is the kind that comes from our authentic selves—our real selves. We don’t have to pretend to be someone we’re not. We don’t have to act a certain way in order to be better worshippers. We can worship God in the “style” that best fits who we are and what God has given to us. If we are shepherds from the field, we can kneel down in submission to the Savior. If we are wise men from the East, we can offer him gifts from among our great riches. If we are a poor drummer boy, we can offer him our talents and the joy of seeing us use our talents.

What can you offer to Jesus this Christmas season? Can you offer him your service, your riches, your talents, or even your very life?

As you ponder these things, don’t forget that we’ll be gathering to worship Jesus twice on Christmas Eve: 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Hope to see you there!

Exactly one year ago, I was in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, interviewing to become the Organizing Pastor of a New Church Development—a church plant. The interview went great, the people were great, the area seemed great—everything was great! Just before we drove away to go to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, the chair of the hiring task force asked me, “If things work out the way I think they will, how soon do you think you could start?”

Robin and I left Frisco fully expecting that that’s where God was going to take us. But that’s not what happened. Something even better happened! God brought my family and me to Northminster Presbyterian Church in San Diego! I thought God was taking us in one direction, but the direction God actually ended up taking us was completely unexpected!

Our God is a God who does unexpected things. And Christmas is no exception. When you look at the Christmas story, nothing about the birth of Jesus was typical. Because of this, our theme for the Christmas season this year is “Unexpected!”

Everything about Jesus’ birth was unexpected. The fact that Jesus was born to a virgin from the outlying town of Nazareth was unexpected. The fact that God made his first birth announcement to sheepherding farmhands was unexpected. The fact that foreign astrologers traveled hundreds of miles to find this child king was unexpected. And the very fact that God would become a human being was utterly unexpected.

As we get ready to celebrate Christmas this year, I think we ought to expect God to do something unexpected. I don’t know what that might be—it is, after all, unexpected! It might be in your family; it might be in your work; it might be among your friends; it might be here at our church; it might be in our community; it might be in your own relationship with God. I think God loves to surprise us! And I suspect God’s got some great surprises for us this Christmas season!

~ Markus

I got an e-mail this week from someone at Overlook Presbyterian Church in Mobile, Alabama. She said that their church wanted to partner with a church in San Diego to help with the fire relief. After looking at our church website, they felt that this was the church they wanted to work with!

Here’s the e-mail that we received:

Good morning,

My name is Deb Futral and I am the Chair of our Mission and Outreach Committee at Overlook Presbyterian Church in Mobile, AL. After hurricane Katrina our church received numerous donations from across the country for disaster relief in our community… We went, we took food and supplies, we cleaned, we built, we distributed, we housed and WE GREW in our love for our neighbors and understanding of becoming a missional church. We continue to grow and discover.

After seeing the pictures of the fires, our session voted to send money from our disaster fund to San Diego. During my quiet time the Holy Spirit told me to seek an “Overlook” in San Diego. So, to the web I went and the PCUSA site to find a church… I knew the minute I clicked on your site I had found where the spirit was leading me.

Next Sunday I will present a Moment for Mission and we will put your website on the screen for our congregation to see and feel a connection. We will be collecting contributions through November and will send a check the beginning of December to assist in your efforts to help your neighbors.

In Christ,
Deb Futral

I’m sitting in front of my computer trying to think what I can possibly say about the fires in Southern California without it sounding trite or inauthentically spiritual. Thousands are suffering tonight, and all I can think is, “I have no idea what they must be going through.”

It’s hard to believe the amount of destruction Southern California has sustained in these last two days. The fires that we’ve all seen and heard about on the news or while driving by on the freeway have burned over 240,000 acres of land and at least 655 homes (from the AP).

That means that there are at least 655 families in Southern California who now have no home to return to. And there are thousands of others who are praying and waiting to hear if their homes are safe or if they’ve also been destroyed.

I want to first offer up prayers for those who have been impacted by this fire. We’re praying for God to take care of you and comfort you in your suffering. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have lost everything.

And as a church, my prayer is that we would step out and do what we can to bring relief to those who are suffering in our community and our region. I pray that not only Northminster, but all of God’s people in Southern California, would reach out with love to those who need it–not only caring for people emotionally and spiritually, but providing for them physically.

My words feel thin to me, as though I can’t truly express what I’m feeling. So, I guess I’ll leave with these words of hope from Psalm 34:18:

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit.

Welcome to Northminster’s brand new website! Whether you’re a long-time member of the church, relatively new to the church, simply curious about the church, or happen to have stumbled upon this website, we’re glad you’ve found us!

Let me highlight a few things about our new site:

• This website is designed to help keep you updated on important info. Whether it’s an ongoing ministry, a special event, an update from one of our ministry leaders, or a brand new ministry idea, this is where you can get the information you need.
• This website is blog-based. What that means is that this website is interactive. It’s designed to be a dialogue. If you ever want to respond to what you see, simply click below where it shows the number of “comments.” It’ll open up a new page where you can leave your comment. You can voice your support or your disagreement–we welcome both (all we ask is that you do so politely and with respect). Go ahead and give it a try!
• This website is our connection to the world. Members of Northminster won’t be the only people visiting and commenting on this website. We welcome anyone, anywhere to become a part of the conversation that is going on right here! Our hope is that this website will contribute to our fulfilling God’s mission in the world.

My hope is that this website will be a blessing–a blessing to you, a blessing to our church, a blessing to our community, and a blessing to the world! And I hope that you will join in being that blessing!

–Markus Watson