Eliot Presbyterian Church | Lowell, MA

Presbyterian Church in Lowell, MA

News

Children in Need in Cambodia

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I would like you to let you know and pray for these beautiful children. They are in hospice home. The big one is positive with AIDS. Her parents were positive with AIDS. While she was taking care of her dying mother, her father raped her. After her mom died, the father also died a few months later. Her deadly disease was transmitted from her father who raped her. 

The second little girl has a mother who is also positive with AIDS.  The mother is dying. She may have another few weeks. I spent all day with hospice home workers to locate family members. Finally, we found a female relative, but she can’t take of her. I then talked with a Korean missionary asking her to let the girl live in her center by providing her with shelter and supervision. I would ask people in Lowell or somewhere else to give financial support for her living and education. The passionate missionary agreed to take her. 

Church that matters

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A few weeks ago, Eric and I visited some old friends in New York City. Catching up as friends do, I shared with them about my new ministry at Eliot. I told them about the diversity of our congregation and the joy of our worship services. I also shared what I perceive to be areas for growth including spiritual formation, numerical growth, and financial stability. For these friends whom I love deeply, church does not really matter in a personal way. It is not part of their life or the way they practice their spirituality. They might not notice if their neighborhood church closed. As we talked, I wondered what they think about my work. I felt a need to justify what we do and explain why it should matter not only to the people who sit in the pews but also to the wider community. I found myself wondering whether Lowell would notice if Eliot Church were not here anymore.

Church matters when the church does not exist for itself. Our own survival is not an end in and of itself. I strongly believe that our primary call is to invite people to connect or reconnect with Jesus Christ, to share the reconciling love of Christ in our congregation, and to build a more Christ-like community in Lowell and beyond. This is not so different from the mission that Eliot Church articulated during your pastor search process and that the Session recently reaffirmed at their retreat last Saturday: Eliot is called by God through Jesus Christ to serve God’s children, bring the Word of God to the community, and demonstrate that God treasures each person.

As a small congregation, we cannot reach every person nor meet every need in our city. Nor are we called to do all that. Just as individual members are but part of the body, so our congregation is but one part of the work God is doing in the world. The Session used their retreat to identify specific areas where Eliot is called and gifted to serve God’s children, including:

• feeding people’s spiritual hunger

• increasing our cultural diversity while strengthening the relationships between us

• building a youth program that serves not only our youth but reaches youth outside the church

• communicating Eliot’s ministry internally and externally

With a mission statement that looks outward and these clearly articulated goals, Eliot is on the path to remain a church that matters, a church that is proclaiming Jesus Christ. It is true that we need to see numerical and financial growth in order to sustain this ministry over the next decade and beyond. With that in mind, I hope you will reflect on why Eliot Church matters to you and how we can make a difference in the lives of our neighbors, including neighbors who might think church does not matter. I further hope you will look for opportunities to share what you have experienced here and invite your family, friends, and neighbors to be part of this community and join in the mission that God is giving us.