Our Ministry of Conversation | Labor Day Retreat Speaker Randy Fujishin

There is what sometimes may seem a bewildering number of Christian denominations and splinter groups. Our own Lutheran tradition is but one branch on a very large tree; albeit a branch with some very unique features. The strongest assets of our tradition are – in my mind – its theological focus on God’s grace and undeserved love, its stress on God’s agency rather than our own pious works, the both/and nature of its view of human nature (according to Martin Luther, saints are forgiven sinners, but remain sinners always, despite their faith), and Lutheran hymnody and liturgy.

An area, though, in which we Lutherans lag far behind other branches on the Christian family tree is that of person-to-person evangelism. Lutherans, rightly so, have a reputation of being tongue-tied in matters of faith. Think of the many times in which you have freely shared the good news of a particular service organization that you are involved with, or a sports club, or some other cause that you deeply care about. It’s so easy to talk to folks about those things, isn’t it? You don’t have to be afraid that you step onto the other person’s figurative toes or that you might offend the other person’s values or belief system. It’s a bit harder to discuss politics, body weight, or personal money matters, and it seems nearly impossible for most of us to share what’s most dear to us – our faith.

Here at Bethel there is a lot of talk lately about intentional, radical hospitality. It’s kind of hard, though, to practice hospitality without actually inviting people. And how do you invite someone to our church? Wouldn’t that involve not only sharing what’s so great about this congregation, but also why faith is important to you, how your faith sustains you in live, how your faith in Jesus Christ provides purpose and direction to your life?

Chances are that most of such conversations don’t start as grand philosophical or theological discussions. Most faith conversations tend to start small and in every-day contexts – in the supermarket check-out line, at the water fountain at work, at a little league sports game, etc. The hard part is to move from small talk to communicating the love of God.

This year’s Labor Day Retreat speaker, Randy Fuijshin, promises to help us improve our communication skills. Randy is on the faculty of West Valley College where he teaches communication studies. He is also a licensed marriage & family counselor, a husband and father, and member of the Presbyterian church. Most of Randy’s work is done in the secular realm, yet one of his books, Your Ministry of Communication (2008), shares 10 simple ways that Jesus teaches to communicate his love in your conversations. Welcoming others, asking questions, listening, being cheerful, encouraging, thanking, flowing with conflict, forgiving, praying, and sharing Jesus are conversation skills that each one of us needs to practice and improve. At our Labor Day Retreat, Randy will help us hone some of these skills.

I am excited to join the Bethel community for my first Labor Day Retreat and look forward to learning from our speaker. This Sunday, July 24, at both the 9am and the 10:30am service, we will have the wonderful opportunity to meet Randy Fujishin and hear a bit more about his plans for the retreat.