I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I believe that Mt. Zion is the best Christian church in the whole city. Now, I admit that I am not familiar with them all. I have had to make some fairly broad assumptions. And I will confess some bias. But, here are some (and only some) of the reasons I think Mt. Zion is so strong right now.
- Most important, Mt. Zion’s public confession of the Gospel is in accord with the Holy Bible and therefore, this congregation is doggedly committed to historic, full throated Lutheranism as confessed in the Book of Concord. Hands down, this is non-negotiable. The people at Mt. Zion, from my observations, view Lutheran doctrine and practice to be the solution, not the problem. Let us not take this for granted.
- Strong singing, both for well known hymns as well as punishing hymns that I lovingly inflict on you.
- A solid VBS program, auspiciously devoid of the typical children’s ministry gimmicks. Gina Wittner has done fine work on this and I only expect it to get better.
- Members attend funerals, even for people they did not know very well. This is the way it should be. I love it.
- Strong and theologically committed Elders. This is immensely helpful for me as a young pastor.
- The WIM/ Ladies Aid does their work, raising money, sending cards and flowers, visiting shut-ins, quilting, etc. like clockwork and frankly with far too little recognition. In fact, they probably do far more than I know simply because they do it so quietly and behind the scenes.
- Weekly communion. You will never leave wishing that this would have been a “Communion Sunday.” So also, the young people never walk into church and groan because today we have Communion. Communion is just a part of the culture of the church, as basic to the Divine Service as the Lord’s Prayer or the Sermon.
- The people at Mt. Zion are genuinely friendly (in a “we’re interested in you” sort of way, not a “please, please, please come to our poor church” sort of way). This quality is impossible to teach. It is a gift. Thank God for it.
- Bible Studies are well attended. Sunday mornings often see attendance in excess of 30 people and Thursday morning Genesis Bible Study can be anywhere between 15 and 20 people. I would like to improvement in this area, but truthfully, this is a very positive thing for us.
- Worship from a hymnal. Believe me, many churches today attempt to be trendy and “relevant”. But, when a church changes practice to appeal to the changing tastes of a culture, you can expect the practice to change almost constantly. Not only does this create instability for our oldest and youngest members, but history has demonstrated that churches who first change their practice eventually change their doctrine to keep pace. Mt. Zion has demonstrated a settled commitment to the rich, timeless practices of the church, especially as expressed in the hymnals or our church.
- The Adult Instruction Class. This class is usually held twice a year and the attendance on the first week is usually between 12-20 people. Even though the class is designed for those who have no exposure to Christianity, the content of the class is both remarkably thorough and interesting. A team of committed individuals is now being assembled to do a better job expanding the “presence” of the AIC in the congregation, but this really is a great asset for our future.
- The giving toward the annual budget has remained sturdy in an economy in which charitable giving in general has gone down. Recently, I learned that the LCMS’s lending agency called LCEF has been dealing with an unprecedented number of delinquent accounts in our area. This at a time when Mt. Zion has been making roughly 6 times our minimum payment and will soon pay off the last dollars of our only remaining debt. Granted, giving was off of 2008 levels, but not by much, and not enough to significantly impact the ministry. God be praised.
I can think of many more, but for now, I thought you would like the reminder of a few reasons why there isn’t a better church in the whole city… bias notwithstanding.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Melius
