Stories of Renewal

On behalf of the session at Lake Forest Park Presbyterian Church, it is my joy to endorse and recommend the ministry that Renewal Ministries Northwest provides to churches who are engaged in a process of discernment.  As part of a discernment process in which we were engaged, we invited RMNW to lead us through the particulars of the process so that we could discover a means of affirming the clear leading of Christ in our situation.  Rev. Kunce and Rev. Easter provided a comprehensive foundation that outlined the goal for our time together and the method that would guide our discernment.  In the spirit of appreciative inquiry, Rev(s) Kunce and Easter fostered an environment of gracious listening to one another and for the leading of Christ.  During our time together, session members were able to speak and to hear one another shed light on various aspects of our topic, and while the topic itself had the potential to raise the emotional temperature of the room, we never experienced discomfort in our candid dialogue. In fact, instead of “heat,” we experienced warmth in terms of commitment to one another and in maintaining the unity of the Spirit we believed paramount to any way forward.  Though there were clearly different viewpoints that surfaced over the course of our process, once we came to the moment of decision, the direction of our conversation and agreement can only be attributed to the leading of Christ.  As pastor, I was profoundly moved by the elegance of this process and its outcome.  My sense of our experience is to say, “this is how it ought to be when followers of Christ discern His leading.”  We are grateful for the direction we received from RMNW; I believe that any church earnestly seeking a way forward through challenging circumstances will find their leadership beneficial.

Reverend Frank Baresel, Pastor – Lake Forest Park Presbyterian Church, Lake Forest Park, WA

Renewal Ministries Northwest came alongside our elders and staff, to assist us in a discernment process which brought healing and renewal to our congregation.  It was incredibly helpful to have skilled people (like Rev. Dianna Kunce and Reverend Denise Easter) who are not a part of the church’s “system” and who had no vested interest or agenda–other than helping us listen for and hear God’s voice–to lead us in this process.  We are so grateful for our partnership with RMNW!

Reverend Lynell Caudillo, Pastor – Calvary Presbyterian Church, Enumclaw WA

Steel Lake Presbyterian Church is living a new life as the direct result of our partnership with Renewal Ministries. Our church leadership participated in the leadership formation and discernment program: “Praying the Jesus Way: Seeking God in the Midst of Ministry.”

We are a typical church in that we are older and are stuck in our ways. Instead of coming with a preconceived idea, Rev. Denise Easter and Rev. Dianna Kunce encouraged our elders to ask God what question God wanted us to ask about our mission as a congregation. After a time of discernment, and once we had the right  question we were guided to ask the Holy Spirit for the answer; and the answer radically changed the direction of our  church’s long range planning!

The leadership had been sent on retreat by our congregation to fix what was wrong with our church.  The answer God gave us was not what we were expecting and here it is:

Our mission: Steel Lake is called to be a missional church. We will witness to Christ’s love and minister with members of the aging community, their families, and caregivers. We will act in the power of the Holy Spirit and follow where God guides us through the  discipline of spiritual discernment.

We returned and reported this new God-given mission to our congregation. The church was expecting answers from the 1960’s, but the elders shared how God laid this upon their hearts: instead of worrying over our institutional well-being we were going to worry about this segment of the community’s well-being. As we step out with God, our leaders have pulled together like never before as they are fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit. And, there has been no stopping the creative energy of the congregation regarding their ideas about this mission! Many have responded with excitement and expectation. Instead of the malaise we had been experiencing, there is now direction and spiritual energy. What is clear to us is that our new outward thrust of mission into the community is the right direction.

One of our “anchor” leaders said, “You know, I’ve never been at the beginning of something this exciting.”  I admit I’ve only read about it but I’ve never experienced a governing body take this step of praying about and naming a single focused outreach purpose for its institutional purpose. It is brave, scary, and overwhelmingly exciting! We are so thankful for Renewal Ministries!”

Reverend Will Mason, Pastor- Steel Lake Presbyterian Church, Federal Way WA

As a pastor, I had read about the practice of communal spiritual discernment and found myself attracted to this way of coming to a group decision that was outside the normal box of argument, counter-argument, vote and move on.    The problem, however, with communal spiritual discernment is it looked awfully squishy from the outside and utterly foreign to this pastor steeped in parliamentary procedures.

Renewal Ministries Northwest gives communal discernment wheels on the ground.   Rev. Dianna Kunce and Rev. Denise Easter take our theology of the Holy Spirit off the page and into our lives, and into our lives together.

At Bethany Presbyterian Church, we were at a crossroads around the place of gay Christians in our church life.   We’re a Jesus centered church where Scripture is taken very seriously and where we have a history of waiting on the Holy Spirit for direction, but we were divided on how to approach this issue; we still are divided.   Yet, Renewal Ministries in their four phase workshop equipped us to listen to God together in very practical ways.   Our two congregational workshops had over 130 people in the same room and we left uplifted by what we heard from each other and from God.   Our governing board is more confident than ever in God’s future for us.   Our differences are real, but our unity in Christ even more so.

The real brilliance of Renewal Ministries is that it not only trains people in the concept of communal discernment but actually gives space to engage in real time the best spiritual practices for discernment.   Each workshop had a leisurely space to it that empowered participants to slow down and give God a serious listening.   Group conversations were carefully guided and when small groups reported the energy in the room was palpable.

Bethany is still on the journey and we still don’t have all the answers, but Jesus spoke to us, we heard him, and we have great clarity on next steps.

If you want a quick fix to whatever you face in your congregation then Communal Spiritual Discernment would be a waste of your time. But if you want to dig deep, listen to Jesus, be real with each other and be empowered to embrace tomorrow with confidence you will not find a better bang for your buck or your time.

Reverend Doug Kelly, Pastor – Bethany Presbyterian Church, Seattle WA

Our church embarked on a new process for seeking a pastor. Over the course of four months, Renewal Ministries guided us through the enormous task of exploring and discerning how God is working in our midst and his calling for us as we move forward.

The spiritual discernment process was new to many members and leaders of our church. It required vulnerability before God with open hearts. The times of silence and focused listening were intimidating to many, yet during group reflection, we were able to hear how the Spirit was working amongst us and to illuminate how our personal messages connected to what others heard during the time.

We entered the process apprehensive about whether or not we could find unity. Rev. Denise Easter and Rev. Dianna Kunce listened to us and asked questions to help us focus on God’s call for our church. What felt like an impossible task resulted in a joyful and hopeful leadership team, ready to move forward.

Along the way, I personally fell in love with the process of spiritual discernment. I looked forward to each session, embraced the silent times before God, and found so much peace after each meeting. Through our group work, I was able to discover that God was revealing to me my own gift of discernment. At each gathering I found myself focused on listening for the echoes and themes of people’s sharing, then distilling them into a unified idea. I have since identified how the Spirit is providing me with opportunities in other avenues of life to use this gift and I feel empowered to dive deeper into my own personal relationship with God.

As a church we are grateful for the support of Renewal Ministries during our time of transition and I left the experience inspired to continue exploring spiritual discernment.

Jessica Ahnert , Elder – Redmond Presbyterian Church, Redmond WA