Hey Phil,
You make my point well.  We kind of see getting involved with a church like
a dating relationship.  If you jump into commitment right away, before you
know the churches position on issues and before you know its personality,
it is harder to disengage, if you discover that you disagree,  because of
commitments, than if you step back and just observe for a while.  We
encourage people to get to know us before they get too involved so that
they can be sure that they are getting involved in something that they
really want to be committed too.  It also gives us a chance to see  how
they live out their faith.  I agree with your approach of taking a wait and
see.  You're not saying that the church is bad and the church isn't saying
that you are bad, but you are learning whether or not you are a good fit
for each other.  I believe that that is healthy and wise.
Kathy

At 03:56 PM 2/5/2005, you wrote:
>Kathy,
>
>You didn't ask me but I have tried various periods of time.  The last church
>I was in, I waited and was satisfied doing nothing but supporting the pastor
>and what he was doing.  He was doing nothing but preaching and teaching so
>there were other positions, therefore, to be filled.  After six months, he
>asked me to be his assistant pastor.  I still put the offer off for at least
>two months before he was sure and I was sure.  Other times, I offered right
>away.  In the churches I have been in, of which the number is quite a few
>over 50 decades, I have often found pastors very uncomfortable with those
>who want to jump right in, as it were, to help out.  When I was pastoring
>about 50 or 60 people, we had a young man who, on the very first Sunday,
>wanted to start helping out.  He actually requested, by the second Sunday,
>to become a part of the worship team.  We knew nothing about him and the
>more I tried to get to know him, the less he would converse.  He refused to
>give me his phone number and when I gave him mine, he never would call.  So,
>the answer has got to be on a case by case bases I would suppose.  Just
>think how Greg would feel if I walked in your church one day and on the
>first Sunday suggested he allow me to become involved.  As a pastor even
>now, I would still want to see a track record of sorts I think regardless of
>who it was.  It reminds me of a church I was in years ago as the assistant
>pastor.  The pastor let a man, who just started coming, to sing one Sunday
>night because he said he could play the guitar.  He played, not one, but two
>Elvis Presley songs.
>
>Phil.
>
>
>
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