Pastor’s Ponderings—February 2026

To the church of God as found at Marion Salem Church, called to be saints together with those in every place who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ: You are miracles of God’s grace and mercy!

I think these newsletter thoughts are going to address the elephant in the room and that’s the recent progressive provocation during a worship service in a congregation in Minnesota. It was wrong, disgusting, and thankfully it’s being dealt with. Contrary to popular belief, this was not the first instance of such an incident. I recall seeing video of a progressive “pastor” interrupting a sermon of a friend of mine several years ago. It didn’t get nearly as much attention within the church or nationwide. What seems to be different this time is that there was a flood of media attention (thanks to the self-serving and self-incriminating individuals there) and those in government positions are finally holding wrongdoers accountable.

Should we be worried? No. Violent disturbances in churches are rare. They get outsized media attention. When they occur, the vast majority are caused by people who know someone in the church or they are targeted incidents like Minnesota’s City Church.

Should we be prepared? That depends on what you mean. Do we need to hire security guards? Absolutely not, that would be over doing it. As a security measure, after worship starts all doors but the sanctuary entrance are locked and that door is monitored every Sunday by several members during worship for trouble.

But it could still happen… A great many things could happen, and yet we are called to live not with a spirit of fear, but with power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). If there are ever disturbances in worship the following would happen: “You are invited to calm down and take a seat and worship. If you continue, you’ll be asked to leave. If you do not, we will press charges for disturbance and trespassing at a minimum.” If the situation escalates law enforcement will already be on their way—and in Ohio, Marion County… I am reasonably assured of that outcome, and you can be too. Rest easy.

We do not live in town. While not impossible, the kind of trouble January 18th makes us afraid of is highly unlikely out here. The most common kind of trouble we aren’t likely to have either. We won’t have drunks stumbling in to the front row to join us for worship and ask for money afterwards (had that happen elsewhere to me, fun times). Even the out-of-town travelers looking for gas money aren’t likely. Of course, when folks like that regularly come in we definitely know who we’re trying to reach for Christ and what kind of ministry we can offer to change lives. Our work as a congregation to reach the lost is different and perhaps a little harder. We’ve got to go find those who are suffering in and from sin. When we find them, we’ve got to reach them for Christ where they are as we minister to their need. Only after we’ve built a relationship with them can we invite them to Salem to grow in Christ.

So no, I’m not worried about the incident in Minnesota happening at Salem. My bigger concern is finding more lost souls to reach for Christ so that we can grow.

Blessings

Jason