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From the desk of Pastor Craig:
The Church as Gift Shop
I have a friend who turned a hospital gift shop from
money-loser to cash cow. How’d she do it? By trusting her experiences and instincts:
stocking the shelves with things she likes, needs, and uses - fewer knick-knacks and more
get-well, birthday, and anniversary cards; reasonably-priced, locally-produced jewelry;
magazines, newspapers, and puzzle books; things you need when you’re in the hospital
as a patient or traveling as a visitor.
How’d she get so smart? She was the hospital’s
nutritionist. So, she spent a lot of time talking with patients and their visitors about their
dietary and other needs. She didn’t just have a gift for retail sales. She had a gift for
listening and for administration.
I remember a comedian talking about Gift Shops. He
said that they are, by definition, full of things you don’t want: you go there to buy
things for other people. “How weird is that,” he said, “An entire store of stuff that you
wouldn’t get for yourself but, somehow, they think you’re going to wrap it up and pawn it
off on someone else.” He had a point.
And, it got me thinking about gifts, not the kind
you buy but talents you
already have:
Spiritual Gifts, the personal qualities we
possess that are given by God for the benefit of our and other’s lives.
Spiritual Gifts include things like:
Administration, Artistry, Discernment, Evangelism, Exhortation, Faith, Giving, Hospitality,
Intercession, Knowledge, Leadership, Mercy, Music—Vocal, Music—Instrumental, Shepherding,
Service, Skilled Craft, Teaching, Wisdom, Writing. [I once knew someone who claimed to
have the spiritual gift of “telling people off.” Seriously! She would regularly
confront people about their “bad habits.” Her
gift was not well-received. And, I never found it on any list of
spiritual gifts.] What talents did God give you and how can you give them away?
What if Peace Lutheran Church were to be a Spiritual
Gift Shop? The usual way we look at (think of) churches is, obviously, through our
own eyes: what is it about this congregation and building that I like, need, and
use? That’s a good place to start. But, it’s only the beginning. My friend at the gift shop
visited a lot of shops and made lists of the things she liked and didn’t like. Then, she
asked others what they liked, needed, and used. She tweaked her lists. And, always, she
remembered that the purpose of running a gift shop was to get all of the gifts off the
shelves and out the door. The goal is to turn goods into gifts.
That’s my dream for Peace: that we turn the good
that we have and do into gifts for God’s people. And, here’s how I’d like to start…
Below are two World Wide Web links to self-scoring spiritual gift inventories. I took
one in about five minutes.
For youth -
http://www.elca.org/youth/resource/inventory.html
For adults -
http://www.elca.org/evangelism/assessments/spiritgifts.html
Please, try it and, then, start thinking of ways you
could give those gifts to, through, and from Peace. Send me an email and tell me how you
did.
Becky Conrad, our soon-to-be Youth Director, and I
have been talking about this stuff (see if you can find this theme in the Mother’s Day
youth-led worship service) and we would like to see if Peace – youth and adults - can
become more gifting-minded. We have ALL been blessed with many gifts. Most of us
can name many things about Peace that have been gifts to us. And, Peace is a
wonderful place to give ourselves away. Come on in. The shop is open on Sundays. And, God
sent you here to be one of our suppliers.
Love, Pastor Craig |
