APRIL 2024

WORSHIP • production • communications

 
 

CREATIVE MINISTRIES LETTER
(5 Minute Read)


Dear Worship, Production, and Communications team members,

As FPC Hawaii’s Creative Director, it’s my privilege to integrate our ministries and be someone who cares about you (and our work). Our roles, though varied, share foundational understandings that secure us in our ministry work and community life. A ministry handbook for our creative ministries is in development and will arrive for us in the near future (after Session concludes its work refining our church mission and vision).

In the same way that it is crucial for FPC to have a clear and stated mission and vision, our ministry handbook will articulate what we do, why we do it, and how we go about doing it. It's a guiding document (not a set of rules) to ensure that we don't lose our way or miss the point of serving.

For us today, here’s what we can stand on; here’s what unites us.

  • The single object of our worship is God, Himself.

  • FPC’s Creative Ministries (you and me) support our church family through their lifelong, transformative walk with Jesus.

  • Our guiding principles are to be Christ-Centered, to keep healthy systems, and be a steady presence.

Ultimately, these things (above) are what I’d like you to take away from this message. Here are more words to expand our perspective, the first two point to Jesus’ command for his disciples:

Love God, Love People.

THE SINGLE OBJECT OF OUR WORSHIP IS GOD, HIMSELF.  

God spoke these words in Exodus 3:3-6 

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

God is our focus. No one else and nothing else will occupy the top spot. Our traditions are meaningful… Our feelings are important... Our skills and talents are useful… Our knowledge and resources are powerful... but none of these things are #1.

Keeping God #1 is how we’ll honor Him, and train ourselves, and produce healthier people and a healthier planet. The single object of our worship is God, Himself.

We’re here to SUPPORT OUR CHURCH FAMILY THROUGH THEIR LIFELONG, TRANSFORMATIVE WALK WITH JESUS. 

We’re going to receive Session’s revised mission and vision for our church soon. This document will structure our ministries and point to our shared purpose: to support our church family through their lifelong, transformative walk with Jesus. However, the only way we’ll endure in our purpose (Isaiah 40:31), for the long haul, is to focus on producing the worship that God desires.

The apostle Paul tells us what that is in Romans 12. Paul says:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Sunday mornings are important. Why? Because God made us for community (Hebrews 10:24-25) and we come together not just for ourselves; it's for each other. We tend to self-organize community around our Sunday service times; we plan and express worship in ways that serve our community needs and preferences. That’s good— we should serve our church family in ways that are meaningful to them.

At the same time, we’re going to produce the worship services that God desires: the worship we do with our lives. Prioritizing the worship God desires is the only way to truly thrive in our ministry for our church family.

Supporting our church family also involves us being part of it. We’re not spectators or hired hands, nor are we exempt from whatever we ask our congregants to do; we’re in it.

So how can we uphold this shared purpose? How do we train to connect the worship we do with our lives with the worship we do through our ministries?

Here are our guiding principles.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

I’m confident that we all have a good idea of what’s okay and what’s not okay; constructive behavior vs. destructive behavior. So we’re going to conduct ourselves appropriately and highlight these three things as our guiding principles; this is our focus:

  1. Christ-Centeredness — Being Christ-centered is about aligning with Jesus and organizing ourselves around him in all things; to become more like him and pursue what he desires (which transforms our lives and our world). We’re not organized around ambition, or crisis or anxiety, or the way we’ve always done things, or present comforts, or worldly accolades… Jesus is the center.

  2. Healthy Systems — Healthy systems are a product of a community doing the work to organize itself around Jesus. Aligning to Jesus informs the way we imagine, plan, act, and reflect. It structures the way we engage or relate with one another. We’ll know we’re building healthy systems when we see more healing and less dysfunction.

  3. Steady Presence — A steady presence refers to someone who is calm, composed, and reliable in their demeanor and actions. They carry a sense of stability and confidence, which is reassuring to others. Having Christ centered, healthy systems, produces this steady presence. Jesus is our role model for being a steady presence. It means that as we trust God and seek His face, we also do the work to stay prepared; to give people hope and courage; to grow the fruit of the spirit in community which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

CONGRATULATIONS. YOU MADE IT TO THE END!

These are our guiding principles that we uphold together. This is our shared commitment between one another:

  • The single object of our worship is God, Himself.

  • FPC’s Creative Ministries (you and me) support our church family through their lifelong, transformative walk with Jesus.

  • Our guiding principles are to be Christ-Centered, to keep healthy systems, and be a steady presence.

*** Maybe you’re feeling like this is a lot to take in (it is). But we know the Bible says that this is what God expects of his people, and the grace and mercy of Jesus is with us, and the Holy Spirit is within us— so I think we should go for it. ***

WHAT COMES NEXT?

Here’s what you can expect moving into Summer ‘24 and beyond:

  • Connections: Let’s keep close to one another as we move forward together. Leaders will be reaching out and we’re always reachable (call/text/email/meet up). Independently connect with your colleagues and encourage one another.

  • Gatherings: More opportunities for shared meals, practice and learning, discipleship and spiritual growth will be organized.

  • Creative Ministries Handbook: A valuable resource, coming soon.


Let me pray for us,

Lord, guide us closer to you, enriching our ministry and lives with your presence. May our work and friendships glorify you. In Jesus’ name,

Amen!

May God bless us and be blessed by us,

Warmly,
Chevas

Chevas Wong
Creative Director | Executive Leadership Team
First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu
45-550 Kionaole Road
Kaneohe, HI  96744
+1.808.532.1117 office
www.fpchawaii.org
chevas@fpchawaii.org