When the Police Come To Your Church
The Little Miracles God Does
By James L. Johnson
February 12, 2011

What's going on at Good Shepherd these days?

Twelve words will suffice to explain it.

Twelve words, each of them, simple, austere. Twelve words to prepare you, make you smile, give you hope. Twelve words for this weekend at Good Shepherd Church, where we will gather for worship on Sunday, Feb. 13, on Valentine's Day Weekend at 8:45 and 11:00 a.m. The first two words are for people who need a date on Saturday night or Monday.

Date Night.

Saturday and Monday are open for couples, a dozen, at least. Naomi Finney and the Crave Youth Group are raising money to send dozens of kids to Colorado. They are also helping us raise hopes for a Valentine's Date. Helping people raise their children. Helping Good Shepherd youth raise their hopes for getting to the Free Lutheran Youth Convention, July 3 to 8, in Estes Park. That news should make guys without Valentines plans fly into action. The night is here. The date is set. The time is ripe. The children are waiting. Parents can bring their kids to the Connection Center at Good Shepherd any time on Saturday or Monday after 5 p.m., and come and get them before 10, and your babysitting needs for Saturday night will be over. We'll love them and protect them and give them a good time. And any compensation you offer will help students go the the FLY Convention.

In Estes Park. That beautiful mountain-range city in the Rockies reminds me of the next two words.

Parking Problems.

Estes Park is a great vacation place, with lots of parking, and beautiful parks, but that's not always the case for Good Shepherd Church. It's going to be no picnic for parking on Sunday morning, around 11 a.m. Oh sure, on Sunday, at Good Shepherd Church, the worship will be great, and the place will be full. We're expecting 75 at the Foundations Service, at 8:45, nothing unusual about that. But more than 250 may show at the Fresh Start gathering at 11:00. The reason for the parking crush comes in the form of five other nouns. Personal pronouns. Five special persons -- California youths -- who love the Lord.

Ryan. Isabel. Carter. Nathaniel. Jasper.

It's Confirmation Sunday. And the five Good Shepherd family members named above will be standing in front of the congregation, bringing testimonies of their faith, and bringing their relatives and friends and neighbors, too. Ryan Hiepler, Isabel Perez, Carter Schaub, Nathaniel Seeba, Jasper Twigg. They finished the study. They passed the test. And so, on this annual day of celebration for high school age Bible students in Camarillo, we stop and hear their stories of how they want to follow to Christ and confirm their faith. After two and a half years, and a long study of the Bible, they have memorized dozens of Bible verses. And now, this Sunday, on Valentine's Weekend, at 1 o'clock, they will bring dozens of guests. For that reason, we hope that families who can will open dozens of spaces, by parking in the back, or the street, or in the lot near the medical clinic to the north of Good Shepherd, near the entrance on Arneill. Can you help?

Which brings me to the next word. It's a number. And because of it's size, I find myself asking the question in the last paragraph, again, after the number.

Fifty.

That's the last count. Fifty baseball players, between age 5 and age 11. Fifty novices coming to the park, to Valle Lindo Park, every Friday, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. With only Jim Johnson and Naomi Finney to teach them to play. Our Good Shepherd Baseball Clinics growing. They have caught on. They are no longer a small matter, like when we started. We started with six. In the past, we were happy with 12. But that number feels like it was dozens of years ago. The neighborhood outreach to the community is catching on. The parents have heard about our free clinics, sandlot style, just for fun. No registration, no medical forms, no uniforms, no umps. Just kids and parents playing ball in the park. We teach them to play and we teach them to pray. Several families have been coming to church because of the clinics. They come because we love their kids. They come because they have come to know us. And because they have come, we need dozens of helpers. People like you. Dozens. Can you help?

Which brings me to the last two words.They are related to the last two words on the paragraph above. And they are related to the final three words in the paragraph above, which you can use either way, same as above or switch the around. "We can help" and "Can you help?" Do you know what the final two words of the twelve are? They easy. Put up your hands. Because the words are...

The Police.

Don't be alarmed. The police are not. They are encouraged. The Sheriff's Department and local captain, Monica McGrath, and Sergeant Curt Rothschiller are filled with hope and talking about vision. Camarillo Mike Morgan is into it. They see a church that is ready to reach into the Barry Street neighborhood with old fashioned church and sports ministry.

The captain and the sergeant and the mayor have heard about our church. They have heard about our baseball and sports ministry and our story. They are surprised at the miracle -- one church giving away its property to another. A church lying dormant giving their facility to a growing congregation who cares about kids. They are coming to us, and have been, for a few months now. I have met with them four times. And their arms are now open. "You are the first church that is open for this," they said. "You are perfect for this." We are perfect for Barry Street, they said. And they let us pray for them. They have been waiting for a place and a pastor and a church that are willing to step out and open arms and reach the neighborhood. Captain McGrath and Sgt. Rothschiller see our campus and our neighborhood and our heart for sports ministry. They see the grass growing in our back lot. They see the diminishing vandalism and our Connection Center. They have heard about our baseball clinics. And now they want to step in and join us. They look at our church backyard and the see a sports park.

"We can help you raise the money," they said. 'We can help you lay the concrete." Sgt. Rothschiller sees basketball standards and baseball cages and volleyball courts. They see children in the neighborhood coming to Good Shepherd from 3:30 to 6 p.m., playing basketball and getting tutoring and eating hot dogs and having a brownie. They see a "Grandparents Brigade" and college students teaching kids to play hoops. They are asking us to partner with churches like Jubilee, who does this in the Nyland neighborhood of Oxnard, and they are asking us to partner with the Calvario Church and churches like it. They want to help, too. Police officers, they said, should be known for playing basketball and teaching kids to hit baseballs, too. The police want to meet with our board the second Tuesday in March.

That's what happened this week and on Friday.

Do you think God is doing something here?