LCMS attendee excited about Vibrant Faith Ministries!
VFM works ecumenically and this is what we heard from an LCMS event attendee.
Paul and Jim,
I pray that God is blessing your day!
On Saturday, a group of 10 people from my church, St. James in Howard Lake, attended the VFM workshop sponsored through the LCMS South District (made possible by a VM Grant!). Marilyn facilitated the event, along with Pastor Kinney from the South District. I don't think I can adequately capture in an e-mail the impact of this workshop. However, I wanted to make sure that you were aware of how fundamentally important that experience was to me, those from my church who attended, and to the entire group of participants.
First, I want to make sure you know how BLESSED we were to have Marilyn facilitate. She was fantastic - smart, witty, authentic, affirming - she made everyone feel like they were important because they were beloved children of God responding to a call in the heart to embrace and share a vibrant faith. I really could not be more pleased with her - she was an absolute joy to watch - God has certainly blessed her!
For me: As a board member, I was able to see a piece of the VFM work in action - this obviously helps me advocate outside of VFM and also solidifies my joy in being able to support VFM as a board member. As a leader in my home, church, and business, it gave me an opportunity to realize all the ways in which God gives me chances to express my faith in Him, teach His love, and the joy of that undeserved grace. As a child of God, it gave me an opportunity to come face-to-face with all the faith parents and guides God has provided me along my life's storyline - and was amazed at the number of them! AND - I'm doing something different because of it. My family - largely because of my work schedule - has not been great at family devotions. I made a commitment that day to buy the blessing bowl and use that as a devotional and prayer tool. It works - my kids love it and my wife and I realize that we are praying about things we normally wouldn't think about. It gave us a whole new way of discovering God moving in our lives! :-)
For my fellow St. James members: What I saw was pure and sustained engagement in the discussions, activities, and presentation. During breaks, the product table was perused and conversations were taking place around what they were learning/thinking/feeling. In the car ride home, the question wasn't "Was this worth it?" or "Does this resonate with what we feel the Spirit is trying to do with us?" - rather it was "How do we communicate what we learned?" and "How do we implement this in a meaningful way?" It connected!
For attendees at-large: I didn't see one table disengage or get excited over what was being taught and learned. I saw numerous people going up to Marilyn and Pastor Kinney, thanking them for the workshop and telling them how valuable it was. I overheard great conversation at the product table, lunch line, and around the work tables that proved that what was being discussed and presented did not fall on deaf ears!
So - phenomenal...absolutely phenomenal. I cannot wait to see how the Spirit harvests what was sown!
In the peace that passes all understanding,
Tom Langemo