Covenant Member Update: March 2024

Hi Church Family,

We’re now a few Sundays into the season of Lent. As we’ll often say around Park, we seek to be instructed by church tradition, never ruled by it. Part of the beauty that “all things are yours” in Christ (I Cor 3:21) is we may learn from, receive, and adapt the practices of past believers in ways that orient us toward Jesus and the life He alone provides.

As Will Walker and Kendal Haug put it in their book: “Lent is first and foremost about the gospel making its way deeper into our lives. This season is an opportunity to root ourselves in the good news that God saves sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It is a time to take stock, examine our hearts, repent of sin, turn to God, reflect on the suffering our Savior endured to accomplish our salvation, and finally, rest in the assurance of that salvation” (“Journey to the Cross”).

Confession, repentance, and prayer typically characterize the season of Lent. A humble allowance of God’s Spirit to search our own, bringing to light what we so instinctively keep tucked in the dark, should settle into our souls as a sweet invitation to honesty. No, it’s not particularly comfortable. Though, we should routinely challenge the assumption that following Jesus is marked by consistent comfort, at least as we normally define it. God is more interested in our godliness, our growth in grace that produces a lasting holiness that roots us in Him. How might you make room for the presence of Jesus this season to light up the shadowy places of your heart and life?

Those engaging Lent will also often commit to fasting, or another form of abstention. It should strike us that Jesus assumes his disciples fast as a regular practice (check out Matthew 6:16-18). Prior to a couple centuries ago, this discipline was one of the most commonly found ways throughout church history as a means of training ourselves to hunger and thirst for God above everything else. Perhaps a denial of the basic (and generally good) desires of the body is beautifully significant for a culture steeped in self-indulgence, sometimes as an identity.

(Check out John Mark Comer’s 7-minute teaching on fasting for a bit more on it. For a deeper dive on the season of Lent and how Christians can faithfully engage it, listen to this longer discussion.)

There is a general experience harbored by many who grew up in or around the church – anything that potentially feels like rules for Christian living inspires a spiritual allergic reaction of a severe kind. “Beware the controlling legalists!” Indeed, beware of them. I’m keeping my eye out as well. But also keep in mind how allergies work. Each time I (now accidentally) eat pistachios, my throat swells to dangerous proportions. It’s not good. But, as it turns out, this does not mean pistachios are bad. An elephant on TV has told me they are quite glorious. And if there was a way to retrain my body to receive the greenish goodness these nuts truly provide, I would jump in line.

The wonder of the human conscience and how our souls relate to God through spiritual disciplines is that, in fact, we can be retrained and rewired. We may, over time, receive from God and through ancient practices His life-forming love that transforms us, from one degree of glory to another, into people of grace and truth. And so, this season of Lent, slow down, carve out a few minutes, and reflect on how you might engage these remaining weeks. God is with you in it.

One way Park Church is engaging with Lent is to gather at the church building each Wednesday, 12-12:45pm to sing and pray together. Some are also choosing to fast during the day on Wednesdays. We would be glad to have you join us!

MIGRANT MINISTRY UPDATES

When learning of what would be happening in our basement the next morning, our speaker for the men’s event last Monday responded, “We all know where Jesus will be tomorrow morning.” Okay sure, we understand God’s omnipresence; there’s no address that avoids our Creator and Savior God. But his point shouldn’t be lost on us. A running theme in Scripture is God’s pursuing heart for the easily forgotten, the typically marginalized, the physically destitute. We serve a God who is decidedly with the poor, materially and spiritually.

It is a stunning privilege that our church family has been able to join God’s work in our neighborhood and city to tangibly serve and care for the migrants in our midst. What began with a Highland neighborhood group has merged, grown, and evolved into a wider means of imaging Jesus through providing clothes, suitcases, and a ministry of presence. Please feel God’s delight in and through the humble and active responsiveness so many of you have leaned into. With that, we have some logistics to chat through. These past several months have been a deep dive into adaptive leadership, attempting to keep in step with where God’s Spirit and the wisdom He’s granted would take us next. So take a look and see if there’s a next step for you.

Park Closet

The Park Closet is where we host, receive, organize, and distribute donations from the community and our church to migrants and others in need of them. Starting in March, we will be open on Tuesdays only, while continuing with an organization day on Wednesday. We will carry this schedule through March, with the last day being the 26th. After that, we will schedule a Saturday cleaning day in early April. The Action Center and a few other organizations will be here to pick up all the leftover clothing. We’re working with the neighborhood group to keep a few things on-hand to have ready for anyone who stops by. We will also have a resource sheet available for those who would benefit from it. Learn More here.

Work Status Sponsorship

A significant way that we can continue to support migrant individuals and families is by sponsoring them through the Temporary Protected Status Process of the CBP-1 for Work Authorization. A CBP-1 is an immigration status given to those who came to the United States through a legal invitation by the United States government. This status allows individuals and families to enter the country and apply for a work permit while they await the asylum process. For many, this is the next step as they seek to settle here in the United States. For more specifics, you can visit the United States Customs and Border Protection Website.

We are partnering with HTK Immigration Services to help speed up this process and to ensure that individuals can get these permits safely and legally. Through the HTK Immigration Services, we can help individuals process their applications for $610. For many migrants, this is the sole hindrance to the next step into employment. We ask the Park family to consider sponsoring the application fees for those who are in need and cannot access the free clinics.

Kevenly Desauguste, who has been leading the Park Closet initiative, has already begun to develop this process. He knows and trusts HTK Immigration Services, and has connected us to them to ensure sponsorship goes smoothly. Kevenly will be the primary person of contact though this process. If you have any questions, you can email him at closet@parkchurch.org. If you would like to begin the process of sponsoring one of our new neighbors for work, you can fill out this form and we will follow up shortly. Thank you for considering this significant way of caring for our migrant neighbors.

Translation Team

You likely notice our Spanish translation resources in the entryway if you attend the 11am Sunday service. For a couple months now, we have had a team of 12+ people who work to provide sermon translation and translated resources for Spanish speakers to more fully engage our 11am service. This has been a remarkable initiative primarily led by people from our congregation. Do you know any Spanish? We are looking for more people to join the team. If you are curious learn a bit more, please email christian@parkchurch.org. Here are the areas we need people to serve on this team:

• Live Translation: Simultaneously translates the sermon from English into Spanish through the transmitter
• Content Translation: Translates the liturgy and other slides from English into Spanish ahead of Sunday
• Table Host: Welcomes Spanish-only speakers into our church service and gets them set up with a receiver
• Park Kids Host: Welcomes any Spanish-only speaking families with kids, connecting them to Park Kids, and staying with them to translate when needed

PARK CHURCH RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Park Church Residency applications are open! Are you or is someone you know interested? Here’s the overview:

Our residency program creates the opportunity to understand and practice contextualized ministry, grow as an integrated and dynamic leader, and develop practically and theologically as a follower of Jesus. Residencies are full-time, support-raised positions with a two-year timeframe (plus a possible, project-oriented third year if mutually discerned and agreed on). Time, training, and community are provided for support-raising.

Residencies take place within a specific ministry context (Student Ministry, for example) where 50–60% of time is spent. The other 40-50% of each residency is spent on professional development in ministry, cross-departmental exposure, and presence and involvement in regular staff rhythms at Park Church (meetings, Sunday service roles, and project collaboration).

If you’d like to learn more, please check out the Residency page or complete the brief Residency Interest Form.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

As we talked about at our February Family Meeting, we finished the calendar year financially strong! Thank you for your sustained generosity. This allows us to plan well in preparation for our next ministry year, pursuing our mission to make disciples of Jesus for the glory of God and the joy of all people. Here are our specific numbers year-to-date:

An exciting note that can save Park on administrative fees – our giving platform just recently cut our transaction cost for direct bank account withdrawals in half, compared with giving through credit cards. If you feel so led, please consider switching from credit card to ACH giving. That simple shift saves our church money. You can also choose to cover our transaction fees, which is never expected, but always appreciated!

One final call to prayer. We have mentioned some generosity we received in December specifically targeted toward an elevator project (reflected above). We are continuing to take small steps forward in discerning the right path with the larger project. Several architectural/engineering firms are in the process of submitting bids. As our governing elders, finance team, and advisory team work together to settle on what seems to be a wise path to bring before our church, we will share more. For now, please pray for wisdom, alignment, clarity, and God’s bountiful provision. Thank you!

BEFORE YOU GO

You can now RSVP for our next Family Meeting! If nothing else, please mark your calendars for Sunday, May 19, 5-7pm. Among other things, we will vote as a church on our elder candidates. Please prioritize being there if you are able to.

We love you all!

Neil Long
Executive Pastor