A missional Christian

To be a "missional church" you have to have missional Christians as members. That means your parishioners have to see their faith as something that needs to be lived out in the community. You see faith isn't a precious collectible that is put on a shelf and adored. It is a piece of furniture that you use every day. Missional Christians see their work, their involvement in community affairs, their interaction with friends and neighbors as an extension of who they are in Christ.

I want to give you an example of someone who thinks this way. Dick Strouse grew up in our church. He was hanging out in the kitchen since before he could walk. He attended Sunday School classes all the way up through high school. He was involved in the Youth Group and always felt church was a good place to be. A few years after he and Cynthia were married (they met at church) the family settled back in own and began raising their family. Dick got involved and before long he took on several responsibilities including serving on the Trustees and acting as the Church Financial Secretary (Collector back in the day).

If all that Dick did in the church wasn't enough to tell you where his heart was, he also did some work with ABCCONN and the Camp Committee at Wightman. As time went on he began to serve in various capacities in wider Baptist Circles. His faith, which moved him to serve the greater community prompted him to join the Norwich Rotary Club where he soon became a Director. And then when the call came to serve on the Backus Hospital Board of Trustees, he answered the call because he believed in their mission to serve the community.

For the last three years Dick has served as the Chairman of the Board. He has spent countless hours in meetings and he's overseen the last major Capital Campaign and building project at the Hospital. He has given himself to the job and the whole community has been blessed by it. You ask Dick why he got involved and he'll tell you it goes back to the way he was raised and it goes back to his faith. He was born to serve.

Dick Strouse understands that our faith is not something to talk about. It is something to be lived and he has let Christ shine through him as he has served God in each of his roles through the years.

Congratulations Dick on a job well done!