A colleague of mine at Good Shepherd recently summarized a ministry dilemma in two words:  presence vs. process.

My friend correctly observed that I place an extraordinarily high value on the ministry of presence -- that I personally want to be there in ways that a) help newcomers feel welcome in the church; and b) represent the church during the most vulnerable moments in people's lives.

Those twin passions stem no doubt from training I received in seminary and from serving nine years in a small-town congregation.

In fact, during my time at Good Shepherd some of my times of greatest frustration with other teammates have come when I don't feel that they share my enthusiasm for and commitment to the ministry of presence in the lives of people.

And then my friend made a corollary observation:  other churches on the same kind of growth and expansion cycle as Good Shepherd realize that the ministry of presence is difficult to maintain if it revolves around one person (the preaching pastor), and so they develop a process to make sure the church is well represented in those two areas I mentioned above: welcome and crisis.

Which means that even if a pastor can't be at every surgery, funeral, counseling session, or Welcome Center conversation with a first-time guest, he or she ensures that there is a process in place to enable the church and its DNA to be well represented in all those situations.  In our case, that means that someone represents what it means to invite all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ in those critical moments in people's lives.

If the process works well, that someone won't always be me or even another staffer -- because we have prepared and positioned people in the church to use their gifts in ways that make their ministry surpass ours.

This is not a new conversation, nor is it a new struggle in my own understanding of pastoral identity and what it means to lead a large church preparing to start a new campus.

It's just that now I have some new language that can help me wrap my mind around the issue.  And a challenge to embrace: establishing processes that will multiply presence.

You've probably had this experience: you're driving down the road and a song comes on either the radio or you iPod and you realize, "Oh, I haven't heard that song in forever and I forgot how much I like it."

It's a song you forgot you liked.

With that in mind, I have assembled a list of five "forgotten" songs suddenly remembered.  Here goes:

1.  Can't You Hear Me Knockin'? by the Rolling Stones.  With the recent death of Bobby Keys, the Stones' sax player, I (along with a million other people) realized just how good this song is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fa4HUiFJ6c

2.  Fool In The Rain by Led Zeppelin.  I never don't love this song, from the first chord change on.  I once heard it played as the offertory at a Texas church, and if I didn't already work at Good Shepherd, I would have transferred my membership on the spot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d52M5M6OOXs

3.  Believe, The Bravery.  So 2007.  But for me, that's like yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv2OyI0nXEE

4.  Passionate Kisses, Mary Chapin Carpenter.  Really?  Really.  I'm a little bit country.  And if I'm not mistaken, she grew up in Princeton, New Jersey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TCMpA5TfHc

5.  Love Sees, Pam Thum. Who is Pam Thum and why is this song on the list?  Well, when I first became aware of contemporary Christian music in the mid-90s, this song was popular on New Life 91.9 (then a new station; now K-Love!).  Anyway, I thought then and think today that this is a truly lovely song, free of irony and full of grace.  Am I the only one who hears echoes of Your Song in this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxoesfT0qeQ

If you come to this space regularly, you'll notice that www.talbotdavis.blogspot.com has become wptemp.dev.tribaldawn.com and the design of the page has been considerably modernized.

Why?

Well, I'd had the previous design uninterrupted since 2008 and with the upcoming release of Head Scratchers, The Storm Before The Calm, and The Shadow Of A Doubt, I felt it was time for an upgrade.

Plus, Chris Macedo told me I needed a new look online, and I almost always listen to what he says.

To see more of what he said yesterday in church, check www.gsumc.org and then click on "Watch A Service."

See you on this space tomorrow for Top Five Tuesday.

Because while the look may change, the really important stuff never does.