Dear friends,

I hope you were able to worship with us either in person or via livestream this past Sunday! We announced the beginning of Phase 2 of our “Regathering” this coming Sunday morning – July 5th.

In case you missed it, I am excited to announce that we will continue to have two services and a livestream option as well. There are a few important changes.

• Our “Outdoor Service” will be at 9:00 am under the tent in the Emory Road House backyard. This service will be led by our worship team from the deck of the Emory Road House. Expect this service to last around 45 minutes to an hour. Please bring your own chairs or blankets to sit on. Masks are not required but recommended.
• Our “Indoor/Livestream Service” will be at 10:30 am in the sanctuary. We will no longer require sign-ups for this service. We will follow official guidelines and limit this service to 50% occupancy (220). (Overflow in the Fellowship Hall of 35 will also be available.) Every other pew will be open to maintain social distancing. Temperatures will be checked and masks required. Entry will continue from both ends of the long hall from Emory and Pineville Roads.

We continue to suspend all our other Sunday morning activities at this time. We are working hard as a staff and Regathering Team to find the wisest, healthiest, and most efficient ways of reopening our worship services and other ministries in the Church. Your prayers and patience are greatly appreciated. We understand that this is not an ideal plan and this is not an ideal situation. But it is an opportunity to learn to love Jesus and each other more and more, and better and better! I am looking forward to when we can all be together in worship and ministry again!

You can find more information on our website (here) and on our email blast on Friday.

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends,

“The Lord is pleased with his people. 
He saves those who are not proud.
Let those who worship him rejoice in his glory.
 Let them sing for joy even in bed!
Let them shout his praise
    With their two-edged swords in their hands.”
- Psalm 149:4-6

Do you wonder what to do? Do you feel overwhelmed? For yourself? For your family? For your church? For your community?  This Psalm teaches us the most important thing and the most powerful thing we can do is to worship. 

Worship begins from the sense of pleasure that God takes in His people and arises from an attitude of humility. We choose to praise God with expressions of joy and we experience joy at the beginning and end of the day. 

The wisdom of shouting praise rests on several important thoughts. We shout about and for the things that matter most to us. We not only put words and voice to our thoughts but we also put effort into voicing them. Something happens in us when we say and sing words of praise because it is a conscious choice to assert truths about God and ourselves. 

Finally, the Psalmist sees our worship as battle against all the things that would seek to distract, discourage, and depress us. High praises of God are like battle-chants. The two-edged sword is a reference to the Word of God. In Ephesians 6, Paul lays out the “armor of God” that protects us from evil. The only offensive weapon is the “sword of the Spirit” which is the Word of God. Our worship includes both our words to God and receiving God’s Word to us. 

Our worship is always very important, but perhaps more important now than ever. It changes the atmosphere of our own souls, our own homes, our church, our community, our city, our county, our nation and our world. I hope you will join us live at 9:30 or 11:15 or via livestream at 9:30 tomorrow. 

For our 9:30am service, you can sign up here.  11:15 does not require a sign-up. 

Your friend,

Steve Wise

Dear friends,

“I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience…as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you…so that I may be filled with joy.”

II Timothy 2:3-4

Gathering together for worship has brought me great joy! I look forward to seeing those who have not been able to attend in the near future. We greatly appreciate your engagement either via livestream or “live action.” We are grateful for the understanding and cooperation you have shown throughout this process! We did not expect less but have received even more – thank you!

We have addressed some difficulties with our sign-up process. If you have been unable to sign up for our 9:30am service - please try this week! You can sign up here. Please contact the church office if you have difficulty.

We know the mask requirement during the 9:30am service may feel a little onerous. We are following guidelines from appropriate channels to help keep people healthy. If this has kept you from worship, we do apologize but encourage you to be a part of our 11:15am service.

Our worship team works hard to provide leadership that incorporates elements from all of our normally scheduled services. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We hope that despite physical distancing you have been encouraged in our worship. And we hope to get back to normal sooner rather than later!

Our team is in the process of formulating our plans moving forward. Our present schedule will run through at least June 28^th. We continue to ask our friends in the more vulnerable populations to worship from home. Please pray for wisdom for the re-opening team and for all of our continued good health at WPC and in our community. I hope to see you all soon.

Your friend

Steve Wise

I am weary, God, but I can prevail.” Proverbs 30:1 (NIV)

These words began a small group discussion first thing Monday morning.  It is a strange sentence in Hebrew.  Two words that may be personal names.  One means “weary” or “devoured” and the other means “God is with me.”  The night before, I fell asleep after a phone call from my daughter distressed by the situation in her city, our state, and our nation.  She said, “I am sad.” Weary and sad sum up how I feel right now. 

I am weary and sad for my friends of color – people I have known and loved for many years – who are so weary and sad.  I am weary and sad for my friends who look more like me – for what makes them weary and sad.  I am weary and sad for people who feel hated and I feel weary and sad for those who hate – “hatred corrodes the container that carries it” (quoted at George H.W. Bush’s funeral). I am weary and sad because I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me and because it seems all I can do is feel sorry for other people.  My heart breaks for the brokenness of people of every race, color, creed or any other identifier.   My heart breaks for parents trying to help their children make sense of a broken world.  My heart breaks for my own brokenness. 

Different things cause fear and anxiety in each of us but all of us know fear and anxiety.  When I understand my own, perhaps I can empathize with that of another. 

I do not know all my questions and I certainly do not know yours.  I do not have any answers, but this is what I know:

God created us in His image and chose to call Himself our Father.  Jesus taught us how to pray starting with “Our Father.”  It reminds me of two things.  God loves me like a Father and God loves everybody else like a Father – no matter where they are from or what they have done, the color of the skin or the sins they have committed.  How I treat another person is of utmost seriousness to God!  As a father, nothing hurts me more than what hurts my children – so I know the Father is hurting because I know all of His children are hurting. 

Jesus demonstrated God’s love for us – the self-sacrificial willing of our good at great cost to Himself.  Every life is worth the blood of Jesus; no life is worth more and no life is worth less.  Jesus bore our sins and the pain it causes us and others.  No one understands that pain more than He does.  Thus, we must be very careful with the pain of others – even when we do not understand it. When others are in pain, we are called to comfort.  The cross is the place where absolute justice meets abundant mercy.  May the cross be the lens through which we see everything!

The Holy Spirit jealously desires to dwell in all who welcome Him.  Every human life is one God wants to inhabit and transform – no matter skin tone or dress style, language or lifestyle.  The scene around the throne in heaven is Jesus in the center with redeemed people of every tribe, tongue, kindred and nation gathered around in adoring worship!  If this is God’s desire and dream, should we desire or dream any less.

So we are weary but this God is with us!  May we learn to feel what God feels, desire what God desires, think what God thinks, and do what God does.  May we learn to love what He loves because He loves us so much and love like He loves because He loves us so well. 

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends,

Ekklessia, the word for “church” in the New Testament, has nothing to do with buildings and everything to do with people. It is defined as a gathering of people called out of their homes into some public place or assembly. The New Testament defines the Church as those who have been called out of sin and death and into the kingdom of God. 

This ekklesia of Christ is often called the body or bride of Christ which shows the importance of the community of faith. Eugene Peterson writes, “The gospel is never [just] for individuals but always for a people. Sin fragments us, separates us, and sentences us to solitary confinement. Gospel restores us, unites us, and sets us in community…Love cannot exist in isolation: away from others, love bloats into pride” (Reversed Thunder, 43). 

Thus, being together is a very important aspect and practice of our faith. Community is where we are formed and shaped, to learn how to be loved and to love. Our Sunday worship serves as one of the most important things we can do and do together as believers and followers of Jesus. Even CNN, in an article entitled “4 Reasons Why the Rush To Reopen Churches Goes Beyond Politics,” recognizes the importance of community in the Christian faith. They understand that Sunday assemblies are a “most ancient tradition,” “at the very origins of Christianity,” and “important for this day.” 

We are excited to begin the process of regathering this Sunday, May 31^st. We will start a new teaching series on the first 5 chapters of the book of Revelation – the Last Word. This material contains letters to seven churches in Asia Minor preparing them to deal with uncertain times and challenges to their faith. I am looking forward to this conversation together.

We will have two in person worship options while continuing to live stream our service at 9:30am – here. We encourage those in our most vulnerable populations to continue to worship with us from home.

Our two live options are:

• 9:30 am – Worship in the sanctuary (this is the livestreamed service) will be open to a maximum of 100 worshippers. Overflow in the Fellowship Hall will be open for a maximum of 35 people. More details can be found here. Please remember to sign up here if you plan on attending this service.
   
• 11:15am – Outdoor worship on the back lawn of the Emory Road House. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets to sit on. Our members and guests should spread out and maintain appropriate distances from other families and individuals. There are NO sign-ups required. You can find more details here. Remember to dress more for the weather than for church!

I look forward to worshipping with all of you and being able to see some of you!

Your friend,
Steve Wise

Dear friends,

The writer of Hebrews, in the “salad of Scripture,” [dad joke alert] urges: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). We have not been forsaking assembling together but we have not been able to meet together now for 10 weeks. But I am excited that is about to change!

We plan to gather for worship again on May 31^st. Rest assured that our livestream service will continue indefinitely for those who are in vulnerable populations or are not comfortable with returning to larger gatherings. But we have two options for gathered worship. We will follow guidelines laid out by medical professionals and governmental institutions for both services.

• 9:30 am – Worship in the sanctuary (this is the livestreamed service) will be open to a maximum of 100 worshippers. Overflow in the Fellowship Hall will be open for a maximum of 35 people. More details can be found here. We request you to sign-up if you plan on attending this service here.
   
• 11:15am – Outdoor worship on the back lawn of the Emory Road House. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets to sit on. Our members and guests should spread out and maintain appropriate distances from other families and individuals. There are NO sign-ups required. You can find more details here.

Finally, our team of folks has worked hard to come up with a great plan to get us re-connected wisely, effectively and in a healthy way. Please take time to thank Rachel Segars, Matt Smith, Loring Aument, Karen Copley, Dr. Jay Bearden, and Cathy Hyatt for their efforts.

Your friend,

Steve Wise

Dear friends,

After the tornado decided to leave 3 trees on my roof, I remember going to my house with my chainsaw in hand not knowing where to start. I felt like I was trying to put out a forest fire with a water pistol. And then people started showing up. Each one did what little they could and eventually we dug out. Now that the coronavirus has wreaked its havoc, many of us are looking around at the damage caused and wonder where to start.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). This comes right after he identifies the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control – which never break the Law. Paul then makes direct application – restore the wayward and help the struggling in real and tangible ways. The word “bear” refers to taking up something with one’s own hands and speaks of personal involvement. A burden deals with anything heavy, troublesome or weighs one down. This could be physical, relational, emotional, or spiritual.

After 8 weeks of the Corona-vacation or the shutdown (depending on how you see it), many if not all of us are burdened in some way, shape or form. These burdens may relate to job loss, financial stress, or relational difficulties. They may involve difficult emotions, hard decisions, and unpleasant choices. Now is the time for us to take care of one another and find ways to bear one another’s burdens. This is what being the church – the community of Jesus – is about.

So let me encourage those among us who are presently strong to be alert to the needs of those who are weakened at this time. Look after those you know. When you hear about that “thing” - make the phone call, write the note, reach out to check on them.

And let me encourage those who are weakened to reach out to others for help – perhaps with a close friend, a small group, or an elder or minister of the Church. Sometimes we can feel like everybody knows and nobody cares when in fact everybody cares but nobody knows.

So in the words of Paul translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message: “All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends, 

The political conversation focuses on the re-opening of our nation. Personal conversations center on the return to some kind of “normal.” As a church, we turn our thoughts to the re-opening of the Church for worship and fellowship.  The rebuilding of the Temple recorded in the book of Ezra (3:10-13) and Zechariah (4:10) teaches some important lessons for us in this process.

In 539 BC, Zerubbabel, the appointed governor, led the Judean Exiles back to Jerusalem from Babylon. Cyrus, the Persian King, granted him authority to rebuild the Temple which had been destroyed in 586BC. The priests mark the completion of the foundation – the first step in the process – with a worship service. The singers praised the Lord, “For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.” Priests sang this same refrain hundreds of years before when David brought the Ark of the Covenant into the city and when Solomon finished the Temple. The Psalmists use it on 5 different occasions. Jeremiah refers to it when he promises restoration to Judah after their coming exile. This is prophecy fulfilled right in the pages of Scripture!

The people respond in two very different ways. One group “shouted with a great shout” – an expression of excitement like a battle cry or a victory chant at the conclusion of this first step. Others, mostly priests and elders with some memory of the original Temple, “wept with a loud voice.” Does their emotion reveal disappointment over the reduced size or gratitude for seeing this new day or a little of both?  The shouts and cries were so loud “one could not distinguish the sound of joy from the sound of weeping.” Zechariah responds to these weepers with a promise and a challenge. He assures them Zerubbabel will finish this Temple.  He also confronts them for “despising the day of small beginnings.” Zechariah’s promise would be fulfilled – but it would take another 20 years. Construction would be stopped by local opposition and a new Persian king. But the message is clear – do not judge the finished product by the steps along the way.   

We are not rebuilding a Temple but we are preparing to re-open our Church. Ezra and Zechariah teach us some important lessons. First, changes – known and unknown - are happening all around us. Things will be different! Our return to corporate worship may not look like we think it will or feel like we think it should. This may cause sorrow and frustration for some of us. Second, celebrating steps along the way is not the same thing as being finished. But celebrating steps is important. Third, we can defeat discouragement in the process by worshiping along the way. Joy comes through reminding ourselves, as the Judeans did, of God’s goodness and love.

Dave Gunderson, in a timely article about change, gives us four important attitudes and actions to cultivate as we re-open our Church. First, operate in gratitude rather than nostalgia.  Give thanks for the past rather than comparing it to the present. Second, anticipation replaces uncertainty. We look for the things God wants to teach and do in this time rather than living out of fear and anxiety. Thirdly, communication minimizes confusion and the tendency to withdraw or attack in irritation or frustration. The antidote is working hard to understand one another and to help others understand us. And finally, active participation moves us beyond mere excitement. Spectators turn into players.

Our session has established a team of people to help guide us through the process of reopening. This team will work closely with our staff to determine the wisest, most efficient, and healthiest ways of returning to our corporate gatherings. We are asking each of you to fill out this survey ASAP to help us in our prayerful planning. We encourage multiple responses from each household (i.e. spouses and children).

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends,

In Ephesians 5:16-17, Paul writes “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” By my count, today is day 45 of the Corona-cation. The word evil means bad, harmful or injurious. 45 evil days and counting!

Scripture teaches and Jesus demonstrates that God has the remarkable ability to take the worst evil and turn it into the greatest good. This is not always apparent in the moment. For many of us, this is one of the biggest tests we have faced!

Paul advises us to be thoughtful and wise. Wisdom can be defined as skill in the art of living when the moral boundary lines are unclear. It means knowing what to do when it is difficult to know what to do. We demonstrate wisdom when we make the most of our time – literally exchange it for something of greater value or use it for a better purpose. This wisdom enables us to understand and interpret God’s will in the midst of any and every situation. In the words of a friend, it means not being a doofus!

As we approach a 2^nd month of a very different experience of time than we are used to, I want to make sure I know what the Father wants to teach me in this time so I won’t forget it as I move back into a more “normal” life or into a new “normal.” I would encourage you to take some time to reflect on what you have been learning in these days and write it down for future reference. This is always a good spiritual discipline or practice; but it is especially pertinent and applicable now.

For me, one major lesson regards the best way to love other people. I am learning that loving people well involves managing my own anxieties and expectations in healthy and realistic ways. I fail others when I transmit my fears to them or my expectations onto them. My own spiritual formation is the best thing I can do for anybody else. Not a lesson I didn’t already know on some level, but certainly a graduate level course I didn’t necessarily sign up for. But I trust that the Lord is teaching me something here I could not learn anywhere else.

So here’s the question of the day, what is the Lord is teaching you in these difficult days?

* Recommending elders – We are Presbyterian, which means we are governed by elders (presbuteros is Greek for “elder). We are beginning our process earlier this year to allow the Nominating Ministry Team more time to prayerfully discern who the Lord might be calling to serve as an elder. They will be receiving recommendations through May. Please pray about people you might recommend and for the Nominating Ministry Team. You can find a form here.

* Continue to join us for livestreamed service at 9:30am on Sundays - https://wpcspartanburg.org/live.

* You can view past services on this site as well.

* We are beginning to discuss our plans for re-opening the Church for corporate worship and fellowship. More information will be coming in the days ahead. Please pray for the team of people charged with this task.

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends, 

Words cannot describe the gratitude and love we (our whole team) have for you! Walking in the sanctuary to the beautiful gift of your faces filling the pews was overwhelming. It was a joy to walking the pews and look at each picture – giving thanks for you and praying for you in the circumstances and situations I know about AND the ones that I don’t. I find myself choking back tears through a big smile as I think about it. Your love for us and your encouragement of our whole team is overwhelming! You can see a 30-second video of those pictures with our Worship Team singing “Love will Hold us Together” here. The video can be found on the right of the live stream and entitled “Hold Us Together.”

As you participate in our livestream services, please notice a small wooden cross on the Communion Table. The story of that cross is one you need to know. You can read the full text here. The cross was made by our own Jim Brady from the wood of an oak tree felled by the tornado(s) that ripped through our community. Though originally purposed for the Fellowship Hall during our overflow Easter services, it was re-purposed for our sanctuary during the pandemic. It serves as a reminder of the Father’s protection and provision during this past local catastrophe and assures us of His protection and provision in this present and international crisis. 

The Creed we recite each Sunday represents in words the beauty of the Gospel that has stood through times as perilous and uncertain as ours – wars and rumors of wars, disasters and disease, kings and kingdoms, ages and epochs. So too this Cross serves as a visual representation of the beauty of the Gospel that carried us through some difficult days, carries us through these difficult days, and will carry us through to the Day when all disease, disaster and death will be swallowed up in health, wholeness, and life in the goodness and love of God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

* A few new options this week –(email blast and Realm for details) 

• Community prayer 12:30-1:30 – zoom call
• Wednesday evening Bible study – 6:30-7:30pm 
• Sunday morning post-worship discussion – 11:00-12:00

* We continue to livestream one service at 9:30 am – https://wpcspartanburg.org/live. Past services are also available at that site.

In your prayers include: 

• our political and medical leaders regarding decisions about our next steps
• our health care providers and other workers who are serving others at this time
• our business leaders, small business people, and others faced with difficult circumstances
• our fellow citizens in different states of distress from all associated with the pandemic
• our church as we seek to minister to one another and the larger community
• our session as we make decisions regarding the gathering and future of Westminster. 
• (please feel free to add)

Your friend

Steve Wise