Messenger September 2006 Page 2

Striving to be Average
By
Brad Sipp

About a year ago my family had the pleasure of becoming a part of the congregation at Westminster Presbyterian Church.  My daughter Esme was attending the Westminster Preschool so we thought we would give the church a try.  From the first Sunday that we attended there was a realization that this congregation was different from any other that we had ever seen.  The people that we met were engaging, but more than that they were all involved with their church.  I’m not just talking about the person who greets visitors at the door, or the ushers or the nice people that hand out doughnuts and juice every week, I am talking about the "average" Westminster member.  We were introduced to many areas of service within the church; the small group ministry, Bible studies, the "Fish project" etc.  It was one thing to hear Andy preach each Sunday that the church is spiritually alive and broadly inclusive, but it has been even better to experience it firsthand.

This positive energy surrounding Westminster has made me want to strive to be a better Christian, to be more like those that I worship with every Sunday, the "average" church members. After many hours of prayer, I made the conscious decision that I also wanted to be an "average" Westminster Church member.  I have thus attended regularly, helped teach Sunday school in Faith Village, participated as a member of the Stewardship Ministry and have tried to meet and greet as many people as I can each Sunday in order to welcome them to this church. I don’t believe I am blowing my own horn as these are things that every "average" member of the church is doing, and I am only trying to be "average".

In my quest of trying to be truly "average", I approached Cheryl, Westminster’s Business Administrator, and asked her what the average member pledged per year to fund the programs and ministries at Westminster that have such a life changing effect on so many people. Cheryl told me that "The average family at Westminster pledged around $1700.00 last year." I am going to admit that I am not "average" in my giving, but I am  going to strive to be because being "average" is my goal. I want to be "average" in my service to God, my devotion to God and my giving to God.

Is striving to be "average" a good thing? Each and every person may have their opinion on the subject, but for me personally it is the least I can do as I try daily to follow the will of God for my life. For me striving to be an "average" member of the dynamic and spirit filled congregation of Westminster is a task of enormous undertaking, and one that I take seriously as a part of my walk with the Lord.