“There is much that is glorious in pastoral work, but the congregation, as such, is not glorious. The congregation is a Nineveh-like place: a site for hard work without a great deal of hope for success…” — Eugene H. Peterson*

Location matters. A quick read of the psalms will reveal the surprising news that the God who created heaven and earth has decided to set up shop to work in a particular place: Zion. “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill” (Psalm 2:6 NRSV). Out of all the places for the God who was, is, and ever shall be to reside, for some reason He decided on a hill in Jerusalem.

The conviction that runs throughout the scriptures is that God works locally, on the ground in named places: Jerusalem, Bethel, Egypt, Jericho, Nineveh. While God cannot be contained by any one place, God is always witnessed and experienced in particular locations. God is not an abstract or philosophical idea to be contemplated in a vacuum, without regards to context. Rather, God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit always reveals Himself in relationship to people. And people can only be encountered in particular locations. We are never everywhere any more than we are nowhere. We are always some place, be that Nazareth, Rome, London, or Yakima.

For this reason, real pastoral work is always done locally. The call of a pastor is always contextualized and will include calls to live and work in named places to named people.

The goal of this project is to emphasize the local nature of ministry. Everything I share be it sermons, devotionals, poems, or podcasts arises from pastoral work done in a local context.

My current context of ministry is Naches Church of the Nazarene in Naches, Washington. My wife, Amanda, and I have served this congregation since the summer of 2017. We have quickly fallen in love with the area and the people.

Naches is a small town in Yakima County, nestled in the foothills of the Cascade mountains. We are the “Gateway to the Cascades”. The word “Naches” comes from a local Native American word meaning “rough and turbulent waters”.

In the last five years we have discovered that God is present in these rough and turbulent waters. This work is not easy, glamorous, or particularly noteworthy. The work we do is unique yet simultaneously comparable to the work of local congregations and local pastors all over the world.

These reflections are simply those of one local pastor among many.

May God bless you in your location as well.

Pastor Andrew Sinift

* Peterson, Eugene H. Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI, 1994, p. 16.