Madison Blackwolf Speaks

Pastors: institutional managers or missional ministers?

2011-11-21T11:23:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

In the excerpt offered here:

http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=9821

John Addison Dally, in “Rethinking Ourselves as Preachers,” writes in part

Denominational white papers and worship resources may emphasize the ministry of the whole people of God, but the continued pattern of raising up a caste of professional clergy, and educating and paying them, ultimately diminishes the vast amount of lay ministry that is not raised up or compensated. The fact is, being specially trained and being paid a living wage both confer agency—the power to act—on individuals. Inversely, having little education and serving as a volunteer do not offer the same conviction of agency, even when it is “officially” conferred from the pulpit or service leaflet. It has become a commonplace to ask what congregation members might do as the church (outside of worship) rather than for the church (assisting in worship and maintaining the facilities). But this cultural shift still exists more dramatically on the pages of prayer books and denominational manifestos than it does in society at large, where churches are still largely viewed as voluntaristic organizations, like garden clubs and the Shriners, or sites for self-improvement, like libraries and health clubs. The typical churchgoer in North America may be complimented to know that he or she has a ministry to be claimed and exercised in the world, but most cannot get past a lifetime of formation that said clergy bear the lion’s share of responsibility for anything properly called ministry. So the icon of the clergy leader is both a threat and an opportunity for missional preaching: a threat, because the clergy leader has been trained and hired to maintain and grow an institution whose focus is self-perpetuation; an opportunity, because if the church is going to live into a new ecclesiology, the pulpit will be one of the most powerful tools to effect that change.

Among several things presented here, I am raising the question of the role of pastors. Are we trained and appointed (or whatever) with the expectation that we will maintain the institution, or are we trained and appointed with the understanding that we are change agents for God? If the former, why? If the latter (or both), how do we balance the realities of institution vs. missional work?

A second question simply echoes the end of the article: just how can preaching be a tool for missional ministry? Are preachers supposed to chip away at the traditional understanding of “Herr Pastor,” presenting opportunities for lay ministry and affirming those who seize the opportunities? If a preacher “succeeds” at this newer understanding (or renewed understanding of the work of all believers), will the preacher work himself/herself right out of a job?

For my part I hope there remains a role for a “pastor,” but I think the description of that role needs to change!

Shalom!

dave

Christmas! Sharing ideas from "Leading Ideas"

2011-10-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

i think the idea of a "layaway" offering for Christmas is a good idea, especially if that offering is for ministry OUTSIDE the local church programming.

http://www.churchleadership.com/leadingideas/issues/2011issues/111012.html

Shalom!
dave

Good Help!

2011-06-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

It's been WAY TOO LONG, but here's a good way to jumpstart:

http://doroteos2.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/failing-to-succeed-succeeding-to-fail/

It's Dan Dick's blog with five suggestions for church leadership today. i really like his suggestions!

Shalom!
dave

Adventure: Road Trip to Nova Scotia

2010-08-24T18:36:00.000-07:00

A digital scrapbook by Smilebox

Interview with Rob Bell about preaching

2010-02-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

A friend shared a link yesterday about a Christianity Today publication interview with Rob Bell of Mars Hill Bible Church, Grand Rapids MI. In addition to many excellent points about preaching, Bell speaks of how the congregation and its leadership worked with him and his family to provide the best possible understanding for the best use of his time as pastor.

I'd be interested in comments by pastors and laity alike on this article, but I printed it out, and it's six pages. Here's the link and a couple of questions and answers:

“Tying the Clouds Together” – an interview with Rob Bell

www.christianitytoday.com/le/preachingworship/preaching/tyingcloudstogether.html

There's a lot of emphasis today on practical preaching, helping people address their felt-needs, and giving direct application. Is that foremost in your mind when you prepare a message?

When I prepare to teach a text there are a few questions I always ask. First, "What's the thing behind the thing?" and "What's the truth behind the truth?" So if we're talking about tithing, we're really talking about generosity and participation. And if we're talking about generosity and participation, then we're really talking about whether you view the world as a scarcity or as a world governed by a Trinitarian God. Is the universe at its core a sliced-up pie where you grab your slice and then protect and defend it? Or do you believe that at the core there is an endlessly self-giving, loving community of God we are invited to step into?

So you can talk about tithing—giving your 10 percent. Or you can wrestle with a scarcity versus a Trinitarian view of the universe with tithing perhaps being an implication at the end of the message.

So you're trying to help people see a larger view of reality, through the lens of the gospel, rather than just giving them practical application.

Yes, exactly. I call it the truth behind the truth; the mystery behind the mystery; reality behind the reality. If you say we're going to do a series on marriage for the next five weeks, there's a chance that people who's aren't married, who are single, or who are divorced are going to think, Well, I guess I don't have to show up for five weeks.

Another way to approach the subject is to see marriage as one of the applications of the truth behind the truth. The truth behind the truth would lead you to preach one week on being honest, the next on apologizing, and the next on serving others. Those truths apply to everyone. And then each week you might include a point on how it applies to marriage.

And toward the end of the article, Bell makes this insightful comment: Preaching isn't just about the sermon, it's about becoming the kind of person who can actually handle the role.

That'll get a roomful of preachers talking....

Shalom!
dave

A Christmas Find and Found and a Quotation Shared

2009-12-26T19:24:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

There are at least two streams in the flow of this story. Three, perhaps, if one counts my own thought process.

The first is the introduction of the theme of “Christmas found.” One of our pastors shared a story with the children at the family Christmas Eve service. The book is HAVE YOU SEEN CHRISTMAS? by Vicki Howie http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=96782 . It’s the touching story of a homeless boy and his little scruffy dog named Christmas. It’s Christmas Eve, and as the boy wakens from his sleep in an out-of-the-way doorway, he discovers that Christmas has wandered away. Two friends of the homeless boy offer to help, looking in a fancy store and on the city square and here and there, asking “Do you know where we can find Christmas?” Finally, with the help of a friend, they “find” Christmas the dog—and the spirit of Christmas—in a church basement at a meal offered the public.

[Cokesbury is offering the book at a big discount: http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=446355 and one can read more about the book at the author’s site: http://vickihowie.co.uk/picture.htm (scroll to bottom of page).]

The children were pretty good in the telling of the story, though they were caught up in the Christmas thing, and the story may have gotten just a little long. As I listened, I wondered how much we might actually be like the children in the story, who ended up inviting the homeless friend to their home for Christmas Eve. Would we—would I?—and do we? The sentiment makes us feel good though: that folks who really truly have found Christmas would be the kind of people to do something for others. Of course, that “something for” might also be advocacy on behalf of the homeless or participation in the area homeless shelter program.

Surely, though, we must find Christmas each year or, perhaps, be found by it. William Willimon suggests in his book UNDONE BY EASTER: KEEPING PREACHING FRESH (Abingdon 2009) http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=790297 that those who attend worship services may have less a need for novelty than the preachers, that the holyday is found simply in the faithful retelling of the story. Does this simplify the pastor/preacher’s task as that one thinks of Easter at Christmas, Pentecost at Easter, stewardship at Pentecost, Advent in the autumn? Is it important to come up with that snazzy theme or unique twist on the celebration, or is it better to present the story as part of the developing life of the congregation?

Is Christmas found in the story, or maybe in the music, or possibly in the preparation? Is it found in the candlelight, or possibly in the pageant, or maybe in the accompanying cultural ornamentation? Does it help that all around our churches, the stores and the streetlights and the airwaves are filled with reminders of this holyday? Or might we be better off with a sharp counter-cultural stance?

I found Christmas this year—or was found by Christmas—in the story of a little dog and in a piano solo played just before that little candlelighting ceremony that so many have come to anticipate.

Then the next day—Christmas Day, we went to Milwaukee to pick up a daughter flying in from California. Allowing for weather conditions, we arrived at the airport in plenty of time, and I was delighted to discover that the used bookstore at the airport was open for business. I was looking very casually through some of the religion books when I found it. My Christmas find. Many years ago I had found in a small town library a book by Alan Watts titled EASTER: ITS STORY AND MEANING (Henry Schuman 1950). I checked out that little book time after time because I found it so helpful.

My little Christmas find still had its book jacket, now covered with a plastic jacket in addition, and it still had its original price of $2.50 on the flap. But in 2009 it has a new price: $16.50. Having found my find, I found my voice and said “I’ll take it” and proceeded to find enough money to buy it.

Here’s the quotation shared. From the Preface, these two paragraphs:

However, the orthodox Christian need feel no offense if the story of Christ is somewhat uncritically included with tales which are obviously myths. For if the resurrection of Christ is a fact of history it is also a myth. A myth is not a lie; it is not a falsification of history. Myth is a special kind of language, quite distinct from historical or scientific language. The purpose of myth is not to relate concrete facts and events which take place in time and space; it is rather to symbolize certain realities beyond time and space, realities of the divine and eternal order. In this sense of the word, no orthodox Christian will deny that the story of Christ is mythological as well as historical, for he believes that the very events of the life of Jesus differ from other events for the precise reason that, among other things, they reveal the mind of God.

Looked at from this point of view, the study of myth is one of the most exciting and worth-while tasks in the world. It is exciting because, on the surface, it is a realm of fabulous wonders, of story and poetry, comprising much of the most splendid and absorbing literature which the past has handed down to us. It is worth-while because, unlike modern fiction (great as much it of may be), myths are not the deliberate inventions of individuals. They arise in the mind of man as spontaneously and as naturally as his dreams, to represent, as psychoanalysis has shown us, things that are going on in the very depths of his psychic life—depths where, as the Christian would say, the soul has contact with the Holy Spirit of God. (pp. 10-11)

For me, these paragraphs are golden. Though it appears that Alan Watts had his own quite apparent tragic flaws http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts , here he has offered a most helpful insight into “myth” and its power. Perhaps Christmas is like this: a gathering together of event and story and possibility and power in a fashion that creates for us a “truth” about ourselves and our relationship with the transcendent, a truth that provides a vehicle for our hope and health, our present joy and our future wholeness.

My story for Christmas 2009 is told. I’ve found my find this Christmas, and it will sustain me through the cold clear white of Winter and the steaming blaze of Summer. It will offer substance and sustenance for the growth of Spring without and within and for the aging of Autumn. I am grateful!

Shalom!
dave

Everybody! Seeds and Tasks

2009-12-25T12:30:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

Michael W. Smith and The African Children’s Choir share "Everybody's Got a Seed to Sow," which seems to me like a good start for the season of Christmas and a new calendar year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irUzutYx5r0

Possibilities, gracious possibilities, abound!

Shalom!
dave

Argument weak. Yell.

2009-11-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

Remember the old joke? In the margins of a sermon, the preacher had penciled "AWYLH," which meant "Argument weak; yell like hell."

Dan Dick writes recently in his blog about "how contentious and competitive we have become."

http://doroteos2.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/pushing-buttons/#more-2451

It is amazing to me how contentious and competitive we have become. We seem to struggle so hard with holding opposing views on important issues. Somehow everything gets boiled down to good or bad, right or wrong, smart or stupid, spiritual or worldly. Why is it we do this to ourselves? If every issue is either/or, then everything is a debate at best, or a fight at worst. All a person has to do to push another person’s hot buttons is to disagree.

What does this do when it enters spiritual community? Well, if the spiritual community is strong, it does very little. But where spiritual community is weak, it is amazingly destructive. The weaker the faith, the stronger the negative passion. People who feel assurance in their beliefs are rarely threatened by someone who disagrees with them. I find this to be especially true about ecumenical and interfaith engagement. When Christians are strong and secure in their beliefs, they joyfully and gladly engage with people of other beliefs and faiths. The weaker the personal conviction, the more hostility, distrust, disrespect, fear, and judgement define the relationship. Same goes with secular phenomena as well. Evangelicals got all up in arms about Harry Potter swaying the weak and spiritually immature. However, it seems that this was little more than projection — raising the alarm from their own weak faith. Those who were strong in their faith and intellectually rigorous saw the stories for what they are — stories. Only those who believe that the devil is as strong as, or stronger than, God had anything to fear. Doubt is not the antithesis of faith; fear is. Where people scream loudest against opponents, it is fear that motivates them, not faith.

It seems to me that we need to be strong in our trust of God, so that we do not need to yell and condemn and put down one another! One of the strengths of "the congregation" can be its mutual regard for one another as a spiritual community. Things happen in a local church that point to the unity that God offers us as a gift.

I commend Dan Dick's blog to anyone for his provocative and evocative way of bringing the reader to reflection!

Shalom!
dave

Happy Birthday (almost), Joyful Noiseletter!

2009-11-05T17:15:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

For many years I have subscribed to a monthly newsletter called "The Joyful Noiseletter," put out by Cal and Rose Samra in Michigan. The best features for me have been the cartoons and the jokes, and the marvelous thing about this newsletter is that subscribers can make use of much of the content in church newsletters, etc. This has been a wonderful gift to me, as I think humor is essential in our faith lives. For years my goal was to have at least two cartoons in each newsletter, and sometimes I'd use some in the weekly bulletins too, especially on Holy Humor Sunday, the Sunday after Easter.

I had only been vaguely aware of the story of this publication...until this evening, when the January 2010 issue arrived via email. (I use the electronic subscription; one can also receive a hard copy.) Cal has written a history of the last 25 years, and, since he put the history on the website, I can share it as a link:

www.joyfulnoiseletter.com/history.asp .

It's quite a story, with a lot of actors.

The annual subscription ($29, I think) is worth every penny, and you can get all that info and subscribe from the link above.

If you don't know about this grace, check it out! If your pastor isn't aware of it, check to see if she or he would appreciate a subscription. And for goodness sake, laugh!

Shalom!
dave

Pastors: are calendars and clocks your friends or your foes?

2009-11-03T11:30:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

Once again, the Alban Institute people offer very helpful material!

“Taking Control of Your Time: It's All About Priorities” by Bradford Agry

http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=8654

which concludes with:

Your calendar is a finite universe. Learn to prune activities that are less important to your job and your organization's mission. This may involve delegating or re-assigning tasks to others, sharing parts of the work, or perhaps making them a lower priority. If you and your colleagues are in agreement as to what the shifting set of priorities are, then all can plan accordingly. By explicitly making room and intentionally planning for the crucial items, you will begin to shift from being a purely reactive scheduler to a more proactive time manager.

“Ministers Managing Time” by Ronald D. Sisk

http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=8655

which includes

I contend that time management is best addressed sequentially, through a series of touch points that punctuate a minister's relationship with a congregation—times when mutual expectations and intentions can be shaped and spelled out. Those touch points include the negotiation of an initial contract; the establishment of a ministerial schedule; the observation of contractual vacations, holidays, and sabbaticals; the minister's daily self-management; and times of congregational change. For the most part, it is the skill with which we ministers address the issue at these critical points that determines our competence as time managers.

IMO there's much to be said for being proactive at times like appointment and annual evaluation regarding the best use of time!

Shalom!
dave

Mirror-gazing: Spiritual Reflection

2009-09-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

The book is

ETERNAL LIFE: A NEW VISION--BEYOND RELIGION, BEYOND THEISM, BEYOND HEAVEN AND HELL by John Shelby Spong. HarperOne, 2009.

I’ve begun what Bishop Spong thinks might be his last book (or maybe not). Because it looked interesting, and because I often read newspapers and books from the last page toward the front, I read the last chapter first. Next, the Preface (and the page of dedications), and now the first chapter. Among other things, I’m discovering pithy statements, a lot of reflection on his experience with the benefit of his mature perspective, and some statements that could just as well be mine, though to be sure, no one would pay to read my observations!

He writes in his very personal first chapter of his experience as a pastor helping families at times of grief. Spong understands now that many people viewed him as one of the professionals who are assigned the task of handling the matter of talking about death. (The three professional groups he identifies are undertakers, doctors, and pastors.) He writes:

I learned in that process that what [the grieving] perceived that I represented was far more important than anything I said, or did, and even more important than who I was or what I thought. It was humbling to learn that my ministry was deeply symbolic and not really about either my being or my doing. (p. 7)

Yup. Been there. Did that. Got an honorarium.

I do not mean to demean a pastor’s attentiveness to task or what such a person might mean in her/his presence, words, or works with a dying person or a grieving family. But I do understand in my spirit that the pastoral importance is likely to be valued because the pastor is a flesh-and-blood symbol or stand-in for the presence of Christ.

“What a friend we have in Jesus” is comforting, in part, because this is a friend who is identified with God, and in those crisis times, we want all the symbols of God’s care that we can gather to us! I recall being a stand-in for a stand-in in a place where I served. I was covering for a pastor of another denomination, and one of his parishioners died. The family dutifully called the pastor who was covering for their beloved young pastor. They really didn’t know me; I surely didn’t know them. Yet they expressed gratitude for my being with them that day as they “said their good-byes,” made the necessary calls, and tried to decide what to do next. It wasn’t MY presence they valued—they didn’t really know much about me, but I think it was the presence of God/Christ that I stood for that mattered. For my part, it was moving to watch a grandchild sit on the bed next to the body of her grandpa and say what she wanted to share. We really do need to talk about death!

So I continue now from the beginning, moving toward new beginnings. I know I’ll like this book. Bishop Spong mentions Bret Favre on p. 218.

Shalom!
dave

Leadership is not a solo performance!

2009-09-17T11:45:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

While for much of my life and ministry, I have practiced the fumbling art of the lone ranger, I'm beginning to see the light! Recently too, I've been trying to read Dan Dick's blog regularly. Here's a quote from a recent entry:

Leadership in the church, by its very definition, must be a collaborative concept. With very few exceptions, we simply don’t have individuals with all the skills and gifts needed to effectively lead a congregation. And if we are truly serious about this disciple-making stuff, we are equipping all people to use their gifts and talents for the greater good — we are training, nurturing, and equipping people to share in leadership. All of ministry should be “with.”

http://doroteos2.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/to-for-or-with/#more-1922

ISTM that our congregations could be stronger and happier and more fruitful if we practiced collaboration in leadership!

Shalom!
dave

More on criticism of the pastor

2009-08-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

In the UM REPORTER, Mary Jacobs interviews some folks about how a pastor might handle or cope with criticism.

http://www.umportal.org/main/article.asp?id=5732

Again, I think this article offers some helpful advice!

Shalom!
dave

Lifelong learning

2009-07-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

The Alban Institute kindly shares this link with us: http://http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=8112 , and for what my opinion is worth, I highly recommend it!

The author shares his ten lessons about being a learning-centered teacher. All the ideas revolve around learning as a lifelong process which is cooperative between teacher and learner.

Good stuff!

Shalom!
dave

Wandering in the Pastoral Fields of Praise and Otherwise

2009-06-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

“Slings and arrows” is an article by Martin B. Copenhaver in the June 16, 2009 CHRISTIAN CENTURY, pp.20-24. I offer three paragraphs and a comment or two particularly for pastors...and maybe for parishioners as we think about the possibilities and perils of praise and criticism.

I have become convinced that in the ministry it is important not to take either the criticism or the praise too seriously. In fact, that may be the only way to survive. If you take the criticism too seriously, you can feel as if you are being “nibbled to death by ducks,” as one person has put it. Or you will be only as happy as your most unhappy parishioner. Or you will avoid speaking the truth. Or you will try to please everyone, which is impossible.

If you take the praise too seriously, you may find yourself doing more of whatever brings you praise, whether or not it is what you need to do to be a faithful and effective pastor. Praise may be a fitting reward, but it is a misleading motivator. And if you take praise too seriously, you put yourself in danger of forgetting that ministry is not about you.

Not taking criticism or praise too seriously reflects a certain paradox of ministry. The ministry requires that one care deeply about God’s people, including what they think. Otherwise why would one go into this work? At the same time, the ministry requires that one not care too much about God’s people, particularly about what they think. Otherwise how could one survive in this work? (p. 24)

Some suggestions offered by the author about how to deal with criticism include

+ the criticism isn't always ABOUT you, though it may be directed AT you;

+ if you think the criticism may have merit, ask "Would I seek out this person's opinion?" If your answer is "No," then perhaps you will want to disregard the criticism;

+ ignore anonymous criticism; and

+ understand that some times are better than others for receiving criticism!

Some words of advice about how to deal with praise include

+ beware of the pastor who needs too much praise;

+ keep a folder for notes and letters of encouragement;

+ become aware of your pastoral gifts and have confidence in them; and

+ understand that faithfulness in ministry is more important than seeking praise.

I like a lot of Copenhaver's ideas and phrases, one of which is the pastoral paradox of caring deeply but not too much for the people you are serving. It's a balancing act to be sure, but a necessary one. One test is when one moves or retires: can you let go of the deep attachments one forms in the pastoral role?

Another excellent short piece of advice: "Praise may be a fitting reward, but it is a misleading motivator." In my mind, this is paired quite well with his good point that ministry is not about the pastor, but it is about God. Our worship and our ministry point to God, not Pastor Soandsuch.

Shalom!
dave

A brief look at VITAL SIGNS, a book by Dan Dick

2009-05-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

I'm offering here and elsewhere (Holy Leftovers and UMCommunities) a brief look at a book that I think is very helpful. Once again, I'm delighted that Dan Dick is going to be with us in the Wisconsin Conference, UMC, for a while.

A Review of Sorts of Dan Dick’s VITAL SIGNS: A PATHWAY TO CONGREGATIONAL WHOLENESS (Nashville: Discipleship Resources), 2007.

http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=519483

The description from the Cokesbury link above reads

Becoming a vital church means having stable and growing congregations that are willing to challenge and be challenged in ministry. After years of research, Dan Dick is able to identify four church types: Decaying Congregations, Dystrophic Congregations, Retrogressive Congregations, and Vital Congregations. Dick carefully describes each category, while pointing out that the goal of being a vital congregation is “neither simple or easy.” The text provides examples of communities in each category, coupled with tools to move congregations down the pathway to vitality. As faithful Christian leaders it is time to transform congregations into communities which work hard and sacrifice to be called a church of God.

I like this book! Perhaps one reason is that Dan recognizes the differences among us. The same “success formula” does not work for all congregations. Moreover, he points out that there are many ways of evaluating “success” for a congregation.

In his study of over 700 congregations (p. 9) he developed two sets of criteria for determining the health of a congregation: growth and stability. From his research four “types” emerged to describe congregations. In his study, “vital churches” (stable and growing) made up just under 10% of the total. “Dystrophic churches” (not stable but growing) made up about 33%. “Retrogressive congregations” (stable but declining) made up about 7%. The largest type in the study is the “decaying congregation” (unstable and declining), which made up just under 51% of the total. Lest this information dismay you, Gentle Reader, Dan points out that he thinks most United Methodist leaders want vital churches, most congregations can work to become more stable, and every congregation has “at least pockets of vitality” that can generate growth.
(p. 13)

The author offers information about issues that matter for vital congregations:

The following seven focus areas are identified by vital churches as those critical areas that emerged as the greatest challenges to vitality. Unless and until the church dealt with these issues, health and vitality was impossible. The critical focus areas for congregations seeking vitality are: thinking holistically about the congregation, balancing inward and outward focus, pursuing lifelong learning, developing ways to measure and evaluate impact, establishing standards with accountability, becoming developmentally complex, and creating transparency. (p. 115f)

Regarding measuring and evaluating impact, Dan Dick suggests that

Vital churches develop qualitative metrics that measure:
· number of lives touched in a positive way
· number of people served
· evolution of participants’ understanding of Scripture and theology
· healthy lifestyle changes of the participants
· improvements in relationships
· levels of connection and commitment to the faith community

These are just a sample of the kinds of things that vital churches learn to measure. These standards take them away from a ‘growth as more’ mentality, to a ‘growth as depth’ mentality. (p. 119)

Dan Dick appears to be an enthusiastic supporter of the “high expectation” church, one that requires that members participate in ways that are subject to measurement and accountability. I waver a bit on this but think having expectations might at least “set the bar” for measurement purposes. He writes:

Vital churches define a set of ‘non-negotiables,’ things they believe describe the least a person must do to be considered a member of the church. Among the things they have identified are:
· prayer with other members of the congregation every week
· development of a personal devotional life (to which they are held accountable)
· participation in some form of communal worship each week
· participation in some form of spiritual formation group (Sunday school, Bible study, accountability group, or discussion group)
· participation in some form of Christian service, outreach, or witness every week (to which they are held accountable)

Individual congregations may have other criteria, but these emerge as the basics in every setting. What happens when someone fails to keep covenant with the basics? They are removed from the active membership roles until they meet the base criteria. (pp. 120-121)

I’m a bit more in tune with what Gustav Nelson has written in his book. Nelson has written SERVICE IS THE POINT (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), in which he states: If the church would see the life and work of each member as part of the mission of the church, then every member would be active. He encourages each member to write a personal mission statement articulating how the member will carry out discipleship within the congregation and in everyday life as well.

Some questions I would ask of these authors and anyone else:

1. How can we learn to balance our evaluation with a tendency to judge the value of a congregation? Or, how do I participate happily in a “decaying church”?

2. In what ways might we “hold one another accountable” for prayer or service?

3. How ought Conferences, etc., allocate resources among the four types of churches?

Shalom!
dave

2009-05-06T05:23:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

You know how it is as we age. We wonder about how our lives got to the place where they are now. What shaped us? What shapes us now?

I noticed the end feature in the May 4th NEW YORK TIMES email page, and it took me back to seminary days. I was finishing up my first year.

TODAY'S HEADLINES
The New York Times on the Web
Monday, May 4, 2009

- ON THIS DAY -

On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on anti-war protesters at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others.

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20090504.html

Besides all the turmoil of the Vietnam era, there were at least two other things working on me around that time. One was the Chicago Eight/Seven Trial, and the other was the subject of this TIMES look back to Kent State. I can remember washing dishes as I listened to the soap opera that was the trial and wondering what in the world had happened to us as a people!

Apparently I was asked to edit the student newspaper (one typed it, proofed it, dittoed it—remember the ditto fluid and those blue sheets?—and placed it in the mailroom) right after the Kent State killings. I edited that issue and the entire next year. But those killings affected me deeply. There were other killings on other campuses too. How could we do this to our own people?

So I commented on the killings in the paper. In fact, though I am no artist, I drew a “cartoon,” which consisted of a peace sign with four bullet holes in it. Among my comments was this sentence: “Revising politics, regaining compassion, restoring relationship, and renewing life all begin at home.”

Now about two years after retiring, I observe that the challenge remains just about the same, and the violence we use to contain violence has about the same effect it did then. When will we ever learn? How long, O Lord, how long?

I note that in the article the TIMES did in 1970 it was reported that when the National Guardsmen fired their guns, some of the guns were pointed to the sky, and I remember that my college roommate, a gentle, sensitive man, had been drafted. I read his letters. One was about his attending a Bob Hope show before he was shipped to Vietnam. He wrote to the effect that he wished he could tell the protesters that he didn’t favor the war either. He came home. He was different, said the woman he married, but he came home.

“All we are saying,” sang protesters, “is ‘Give peace a chance.’” It’s the song we still need to sing!

Shalom!
dave

New Wesley Journal: Methodist Review

2009-05-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

The NEWSCOPE for May 6, 2009, reports that there is a new, online, free source for Wesleyan studies!

The board of directors and the sponsors of The Methodist Review, Inc., launched “Methodist Review: A Journal of Wesleyan and Methodist Studies” on May 1. As an open access, peer-reviewed electronic academic journal at www.methodistreview.org, Methodist Review publishes scholarly articles in all areas and eras of Wesleyan and Methodist studies, including biblical, theological, ethical, philosophical, practical, historical, biographical, and social-scientific topics and methodologies. The journal is partly a successor to and partly a transformation of “Quarterly Review: A Journal of Theological Resources for Ministry (QR), which was published jointly by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and The UM Publishing House from 1980 to 2005.

The lead article looks interesting. Here's the abstract:

What Makes Theology “Wesleyan”?

Sarah Heaner Lancaster, Catherine Keller, Donald A. Thorsen, Dennis C. Dickerson, Charles M. Wood

Abstract

In an address to the 1982 Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies, Albert C. Outler outlined an agenda for what he called “Phase III” of Wesley Studies, proposing a slogan for Methodist theologies: “Back to Wesley and his sources, and then forward—with his sense of heritage and openness to the future as one of our models.” Subsequently, much work has been done in the area of Wesley Studies to illumine Wesley and his sources. This has led to questions about the possibility of, and need for, what might be called a “Phase IV” of Wesley Studies—moving beyond Wesley Studies per se to apply the results of research in the area more broadly to the constructive theological work that is now being carried out in the life and thought of the body of Christ (and not only in those church traditions having a historical connection to John and Charles Wesley). Some theologians use Wesley and Wesleyan themes in their work, but they may or may not self-consciously identify themselves as standing in the broad Wesleyan (or Methodist) tradition. Some make specific reference to or use of the theology of John and Charles Wesley in their own constructive theological work; others do not. The panel discussion presented here, from a Wesleyan Studies Group session at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, focused on the question of whether a “Phase IV” of Wesley Studies can yet be discerned by addressing the question “What makes theology ‘Wesleyan’?”

Shalom!
dave

Change and Church

2009-05-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

The Alban Institute is featuring an interesting book with the following excerpt:

http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=7754

Seems to me that there's a lot of helpful recognition there! The local congregation is its own organism, and in my opinion, each one is unique. When we keep trying to apply the latest "thing" to every situation, we keep being frustrated!

Shalom!
dave

May is Mental Health Month

2009-04-30T13:05:00.001-07:00

Shalom!

The Mennonites are offering good resources for mental health issues, including worship resources.

http://www.shadowvoices.com/topics/faith.asp

Shalom!
dave

How are you today, Pastor?

2009-04-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

Clergy health, physical and emotional: an ongoing concern! Here's a report from the Lewis Center:

http://www.churchleadership.com/leadingideas/leaddocs/2009/090429_article.html

I'm appreciative of The United Methodist Church taking an interest in my health, as much as I complain about it!

Shalom!
dave

The Art of Preaching

2009-04-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

Dan Dick, recently with the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church, is coming to Wisconsin to work as a leader in our Conference, and I'm excited about that!

On his blog in March, Dan wrote about preaching.

http://doroteos2.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/preacher-feature/

Among the many interesting things he noted about preaching and its importance is this:

Perhaps the greatest challenge to modern mainline preachers is an almost 50-50 split between those who want sermons to be challenging, intellectually stimulating, and provocative and those who want sermons to calm, pacify and comfort. 51% of listeners don’t want to have to work hard when listening to a sermon. They prefer stories with morals rather than admonition, invitation, or a call to action. However, 49% (predominantly from those not affiliated with a congregation) want preaching that not only educates but also requires a response. There is a deep sense that preaching should motivate (but not manipulate) people to act. There is also a strong preference for sermons focusing on what God wants us to do, instead of what God doesn’t want us to do. In other words, less focus on the past, our sins, and our failures, and more focus on the future, our gifts, and a vision God’s will for all creation.

Besides pointing to one of the challenges facing the preacher who speaks regularly, this points to something I have long tried to practice: to focus less on our past and more on the promise of the future.

What do you think?

Shalom!
dave

Honor the Earth!

2009-04-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

Today, we are reminded, is Earth Day, an idea promoted by Gaylord Nelson, whom I am proud to say was a US Senator from Wisconsin. The Spirituality and Practice folks have some ideas of things we might do to reflect on our connection to Earth:

"Earth Day: 12 Spiritual Practices to Honor the Earth"by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/days/features.php?id=10964

I was reminded the other day as I uploaded my walking steps to the HealthMiles site that since I began walking with this program, I've uploaded a bit over one million steps, or about 442 miles. That's miles around the neighborhood or up and down a Florida beach or, when the weather is not good, around and around a little "garden path" I've fashioned in the basement amidst boxes and bookcases and misc. stuff.

The basement garden path reminds me of the huge footprint I have on Earth and how it would be good to shrink my shoe size. The walks on the beach reawaken a sense of awe at water and wind and earth and sky. The walks around the neighborhood remind me of persons and offer peeks at Spring flowers poking out of the ground.

We need the Earth, and in a sense, the Earth needs us. "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it...." (Ps. 24.1)

Shalom!
dave

Millard Fuller dies

2009-02-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

It's of interest to me how Millard Fuller turned his life around and about, as well as how he chose to be buried.

www.koinoniapartners.org/

Fuller got his idea for Habitat for Humanity from the housing work done at Koinonia. What Christians do does matter!

And, in addition, Koinonia sells the best chocolate products!

Additional info from Habitat: http://www.habitat.org/how/millard_feb2009.aspx

Shalom!
dave

The Grand Slam

2009-02-04T07:11:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

Well, Spouse and I ate breakfast at Denny's yesterday, right along with hundreds of our newest friends. See http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/03/news/companies/dennys_breakfast.fortune/index.htm .

So we "splurged" and she had a cup of tea and I a cup of coffee. Did you know that each drink is $1.80 now? No wonder we usually have just water. Anyway, our free breakfast only cost $8--four for the two drinks (I didn't wait for any change) and four for the tip for our busy but pleasant waitperson. (That works out to about a good tip for the usual bill. No sense in shorting the waitperson because the company had a promotion.)

So I looked around. Folks were pretty happy given the free breakfast. There were several single adults with children. There were some families with several young children. I suppose it was a good way to have a "treat" for the whole family without paying too much. There were a lot of laborers in for a snack and out for the work load remaining. I didn't see a lot of older folks, and I didn't see persons that were "apparently" homeless. They would have had to travel some to get to the location where we ate.

The article cited above suggests that this was a great success for Denny's. They hope to capture or recapture market share with this promotion, and if enough of us paid for drinks, perhaps the "breakfast food" might pay for itself. Good deal all around!

Grace. I thought about grace. Here's a business in business to make money inviting everybody to come in for a free breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes. (Spouse saved part of her breakfast for later; I ate the whole thing; we went walking afterwards.) People responded well to the gracious invitation. Hunger? Value? Freebie? Just checking? I don't know.

What happened at this one Denny's, however, was that people waited patiently and spoke with one another. One young man came out to catch us before we left. We had come in and found the lobby jammed; he came out to tell us it would be just a short wait and he had heard it was worth the wait. People were smiling. People were grateful for this offer on the part of the restaurant. People were wondering out loud just how Denny's could do it and would it help them. The article suggests that it may help: giving away free meals may help business!

Do we in the Church offer gracious invitations to our free meals? (Do some churches continue to have high-priced communion?) When folks come, do they find smiles and conversation? Is the service friendly and good? Is the food nourishing? Do guests wonder how we can do it in the church? Do we share the secret: it's grace!

Shalom!
dave

Parker Palmer's "The Broken-Open Heart"

2009-02-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

Got my copy of the March/April WEAVINGS the other day. The issue offers insights from and about the work of Parker Palmer at the Center for Courage and Renewal. In his intro to the theme, editor John Mogabgab writes this interesting line: "The uncontainable energy of God's desire for life in abundance topples the tidy logic that governs our days."

The first article is Parker Palmer's "The Broken-Open Heart: Living with Faith and Hope in the Tragic Gap." He begins the article with some comments that I really appreciate--so much so that I share them. I'm a bit uncomfortable with his phrase "primitive brain," but it sheds light on some things I've been thinking about lately.

On the long list of hopes that have driven our ancient and unfinished project called "becoming civilized," overcoming the tyranny of the primitive brain is surely at or near the top. No one who aspires to become fully human can let the primitive brain have its way, least of all Christians who aspire to a gospel way of life.

When the primitive brain dominates, Christianity goes over to the dark side. Churches self-destruct over doctrinal differences, forgetting that their first calling is to love one another. Parishioners flock to preachers who see the anti-Christ in people who do not believe as they do. Christian voters support politicians who use God's name to justify ignoble and often violent agendas. When the primitive brain is in charge, humility, compassion, forgiveness, and the vision of a beloved community do not stand a chance.

The primitive brain contains the hardwiring for the infamous "fight or flight" reflex that helps other species survive but can diminish, even destroy, human beings. The moment we sense danger, real or imagined, that hardwiring induces a state of tension that we want to resolve right now, either by eliminating its source or by removing ourselves from its reach. That's a good thing when you are about to be attacked by a tiger or hit by a bus. It is a very bad thing when you are dealing with an attitudinal teenager, an idea that threatens some taken-for-granted belief, the challenge of racial or religious "otherness," or a local or global conflict that would best be resolved non-violently.

Unfortunately, the fight or flight reflex runs so deep that resisting it is like trying to keep your foot from jumping when the doctor taps your patellar tendon. But against all odds, resisting is has been key to the project called civilization ever since we climbed down from the trees. Learning how to hold life's tensions in the responsive heart instead of the reactive primitive brain is key to personal, social, and cultural creativity: rightly held, those tensions can open us to new thoughts, relationships, and possibilities that disappear when we try to flee from or destroy their source.

He goes on to list several "cultural inventions" which help us hold the tension. Among them are language, the arts, education, and religion. Palmer quotes a most wonderful Hasidic tale about the need for our hearts to be opened, and he quotes "the Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan: "God breaks the heart open again and again and again until it stays open.'"

"In Christian tradition, the broken-open heart is virtually indistinguishable from the image of the cross."

Great article. I recommend reading your copy of WEAVINGS or finding someone who gets it and will share it. ISTM that with our Wesleyan emphasis on the warm heart, we should have an inside track on what it means to live life today with a "broken-open" heart!

Shalom!
dave
(Posted also at Holy Leftovers and 7Villages)

"Born Again American"

2009-01-16T19:47:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

As usual, Bill Moyers can provide interesting and thoughtful and thought-provoking programs, and he did it again IMO tonight. His show was on the American character, and toward the end, he shared a Norman Lear effort to get Americans reinvigorated about community and efforts for the common good in our nation. The song and the website to which he drew attention is
http://www.bornagainamerican.org/ . As I wandered on the site I discovered that the young violinist from NYC began her musical journey in the much-maligned Milwaukee public school system. How about that?

I recommend the whole program too ... but you'll have to find it yourself!

I suppose this song borders on some form of civil religion, but that's part of the point. One of the engines that drive our national character is the sense of religious feeling in some way or another. Perhaps now, as we welcome President Obama, we will find a rebirth of our national spirit, a turning toward another path for us to take as a people.

Shalom!
dave

Conversation with the Dr.

2009-01-15T14:55:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

SOJOURNERS offers a conversation with Walter Brueggemann at
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&article_mode=edit&issue=soj0902&article=a-conversation-with-walter-brueggemann

For me, it is fascinating to “listen in” to a conversation with Dr. Brueggemann and hear his comments on our present financial crisis. He also speaks of the source of his hope and his well-being today.

I am particularly struck by his notice of the hope that comes from the everyday life of our congregations. ISTM that in congregations large and small and in-between, wealthy or not so much, there is that spirit of sharing which Dr. Brueggemann suggests as vital in our care for one another in this perilous time.

Shalom!
dave

Self-care for pastors

2009-01-05T15:51:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

As a subscriber to "The Joyful Noiseletter," I think I can properly copy this article from the online humor monthly. Cal offers perspective on learning from one another and on taking care of our physical and emotional bodies. As self-care becomes more of an issue for pastors (again), this serves as a reminder to pay attention to our bodies.

BTW I highly recommend and appreciate "The Joyful Noiseletter" and value it for many reasons: humor, cartoons, comments, and persistence!

Shalom!
dave

A LENTEN LESSON FROM AN AGNOSTIC
A tale of three humorists; prevention also a life issue
By Cal Samra Editor, The Joyful Noiseletter Vol. 24 No. 3 March 2009

In the November JN, we eulogized Tim Russert, the masterful moderator of “Meet the Press” and chief of NBC’s Washington Bureau, who died of a massive heart attack at the young age of 58. Russert had a sunny disposition and a keen sense of humor, was fairminded and nonpartisan, and was civil to everyone. In his office he had a large sign proclaiming “Thou shalt not whine.”

A devout Christian, he was a very prayerful man, and had an abiding faith in God and country and devotion to his lovely family. Russert had been diagnosed earlier by his doctors with coronary artery disease and diabetes. He was considerably overweight, and drove himself hard, working unceasingly in his various positions. A colleague noted that Russert showed up for work early one morning after working all night and getting only one-hour’s sleep. “It’s going to take four or five people to replace Tim,” one of his TV news competitors said.

Nobody is sure what his doctors and pastors told him, or did not tell him, in the privacy of their offices, but it’s sad that they failed to persuade him to lead a healthier lifestyle. Tim Russert’s premature death reminded me of the untimely passing of another of my favorite journalists – the great English humorist G.K. Chesterton.Chesterton also was a brilliant writer, a gregarious communicator with a big loving heart, a keen sense of humor, and a devotion to his faith and family. Even those who disagreed with him liked him enormously.

I remember reading accounts of the spirited public debates in the early part of the 20th-century between the merry-hearted Chesterton, a relentless defender of Christianity, and George Bernard Shaw, an agnostic humanist playwright renowned for his wit. (It was Shaw’s play Pygmalion that was later turned into that magnificentmusical, My Fair Lady.)Chesterton and Shaw disagreed on just about everything, philosophically and politically, but their entertaining public debates were models of civility, mutual respect, good humor, and crackling wit. On most issues, I found myself agreeing with Chesterton.

In the course of their public debates, these two literary giants learned a lot from each other and grew to be good friends.Chesterton was a huge man, weighing 294 pounds, with a hearty appetite and a love for cigars. Shaw was forever lean, a nutrition-minded vegetarian who ate moderately, exercised regularly, took daily afternoon naps, and shunned tobacco. Ironically, the agnostic Shaw was almost monastic in his selfdisciplined lifestyle, though he was married. Chesterton once remarked to his lean friend: “To look at you, anyone would think there was a famine in England.” Shaw replied, “To look at you, anyone would think you caused it.”

Shaw mourned when his friend Chesterton died in 1936 at the comparatively young age of 62. Shaw himself lived on to age 94, dying in 1950.

If there is a Lenten moral to this story, perhaps it is simply this: Nobody, even the best of us, has a lock on all the truth. We can all learn from one another. Agnostics can learn from Christians. But Christians can also learn from some agnostics. You’d have to be blind not to see that so many of our political and religious leaders of all persuasions are overweight and underexercised. The Protestant televangelist Rev. Jerry Falwell weighed nearly 400 pounds when he died not long ago in his early 70s.

We should encourage our political, religious, and news media leaders to take better care of themselves, and to stop leading unbalanced, lopsided lifestyles. We need them all in these desperate times.

Perhaps we greatly need in our churches what Rev. Felix A. Lorenz Jr., pastor of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Dearborn Heights, MI, calls a “stewardship of the body.”“Please remember,” he recently told his congregation, “that you are also a steward of your body. ‘Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?’ That is a mandate to take your health seriously.” The good Lord made the body to be used and fed properly. Use it!

And while we’re debating how best to provide affordable health care and health insurance to Americans, we can also serve the people by not neglecting the importance of prevention. Prevention is also a life issue.

(Cal Samra is the editor of The Joyful Noiseletter, the author of a dozen humor/cartoon books, and the former lay executive director of a medical research foundation. His newest book, The Funny Side of Tennis, is also about the health benefits of tennis or any sport played with good humor and good nutrition, and the longevity of players who play tennis into their seventies, eighties, and nineties. The book may be ordered from www.joyfulnoiseletter.com or 1-800-877-2757.)

Church stewardship matters

2008-09-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

The current Lewis Center for Church Leadership email newsletter offers this article:

http://www.churchleadership.com/leadingideas/leaddocs/2008/100908_article.html .

I like it! So often churches do not seem to know why or how persons give, and the churches do not seem to know how to ask for money or express gratitude for gifts. This writer gives wonderful practical advice!

Shalom!
dave

'Tis the season for UM pastoral (and congregational) transitions!

2008-05-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

I received an email recently with my Lovett Weems newsletter from the Lewis Center for Leadership Development. The subject is pastoral transitions, and both articles look very, very helpful to me! Wish I had been able to use them as a checklist a year plus a few months ago as I prepared for retirement.

http://www.churchleadership.com/leadingideas/issues/2008issues/210508.html

In about half of the transitions of which I was a part the person who followed me could not or would not meet with me. This seemed a bit strange to me, but some follow the "clean slate" theory of change, I suppose.

Shalom!
dave

New for Spring . . . or Summer

2008-05-07T19:06:00.001-07:00

Shalom!

Well, it's been a long time! I'm planning to invest more time in this blog, as I have gotten burned out on another site! Of course, with this medium, I have no idea, really, if anyone is reading . . . .

Back to some basics: some suggestions picked up here and there, and comments about life in the church today.

Shalom!
dave

Ethical preaching

2008-01-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

Here's an Alban link about preaching:

http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=5604

I think it offers some excellent points about the integrity of preaching.

As I reflect on responses to my preaching, I think folks valued what might be called my transparency, my willingness to offer testimony from my own experience. Not because my experience or my insights were so wonderful, but because I was speaking from experience, not the commentaries or somebody's essay. And, as the article points out, we are pretty limited in our context. Hence, my preaching, I hope, was also characterized by a great deal of humility.

As I get older, I understand how little I know. And it doesn't bother me much. A friend has a cap which offers this advice: "Question authority!" I agree. If I were to wear an advice cap these days, it would probably offer this advice: "Embrace ambiguity!"

Shalom!
dave

Madison WI WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL column

2007-12-21T12:39:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

Here is a column from today's WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL. Bill Wineke writes really good stuff (IMO), and here he has found one answer for our cultural war situation: Santa (for a price, of course, will support Jesus as the reason for this season. What can one say?

Shalom!
dave

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/column/index.php?ntid=263339&ntpid=1

DEC 21, 2007 Jesus has a new spokesman by BILL WINEKE Wisconsin State Journal

You can stop worrying about Jesus being lost in all the Christmas hoopla.

Santa is now defending the Christ child.

Of course, Santa charges for the endorsement.

Here 's how it goes: A St. Louis-based Web site, ChristmasGram.com, has developed a video from Santa explaining the "real reason for Christmas -- Christ. "

For $19.95, the company will send your child, via e-mail or DVD, a video of Santa talking about the birth of Christ.

"From the delightful setting of Santa 's Toy Workshop and from his quiet living room, Santa speaks to each child by name, reminding them of the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Christ. "

And why is ChristmasGram.com doing this? This is the best part. ... wait for it:
"We as Christians should not allow others to strip the holiday of its religious experience, " explains volunteer Jan Godfrey. "Who better than Santa to help put Christ back into
Christmas? "

That 's right. These good people are hawking $19.95 ChristmasGrams because they, in the words of their press release, "believe the true meaning of Christmas is being hijacked by political correctness, commercialism and apathy. "

So, there you have it. In order to rescue Christmas from commercialism, these guys are employing the very symbol of commercialism, a made-up character whose visage is used to sell everything from Coca-Cola to pornographic underwear.

If you can get your church or religious group to sell the ChristmasGrams -- to be honest, it 's probably too late to do this now -- they 'll even give you a 25 percent kickback.

All in the name of making Christmas less commercial.

Now, Santa may be a Christian, but that doesn't mean he's a fool. If you go to www.ChistmasGram.com, you will receive a warning that Santa doesn't offer "any liability or warranty of any kind, expressed or implied. " You will also be reminded that "Santa does not condone regifting."

The "Santa " on the video is a guy "also known as Ricky Baldwin, " who has been featured as "Santa in commercials, plays and films. " No doubt, the "commercials" are good commercials and not the bad commercials Baldwin is trying to discourage. He is, at any rate, a "committed Christian who believes that the real reason for the season is not in conflict with Santa's own mission."

Of course not. Santa's own mission has always been to sell the "real reason for the season. " Just ask any merchant.

Contact Bill Wineke at bwineke@madison.com

Mystery worshippers: help or bother?

2007-12-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

http://wwrn.org/article.php?idd=27278

It's not a new idea, but it's still intriguing. I note that a couple of English churches got 100% ratings from experienced but not Christian mystery worshippers.

Shalom!
dave

Fantasy for Christmas

2007-12-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

Christmas doings in The Little Village (with many, many apologies to Garrison Keillor and others)

Enough fluffy snow has fallen to put folks nicely into the Christmas mood. Wesley’s Quad is bright white with the new snow, and the variety of lights gives a festive look to the whole business area. That wonderful central structure that becomes what is needed when it is needed is featuring the winter setup complete with a roaring fireplace and cheerful seasonal decorations.

Friday night concerts are a highlight of the Advent season. In the warmth and bright light of the park structure local youth and adults take turns sharing their music. The Chamber of Commerce supplies warm cider and cookies, and families gather at about 7 each Friday in Advent to hear violin solos and guitar choirs and forensic declamations and male quartets and the quite well-known Women’s Double Quartet and, of course, the high school band. There’s often some newer music, and there is no rule that says the music has to be churchy. (You can imagine what the high school drum line does for “Little Drummer Boy.”) But at the end of each concert, around 8 or 8:15, folks just seem to expect to sing a few familiar carols together.

We used to have mimeographed sheets with all the words, but now the High School Service Club provides projection equipment and a couple of young people who know computers, and all the words are projected on the wall next to the fireplace. So you kind of have to sit where you can see best in terms of distance and having an unobstructed view and all, but because everyone has their faces up and not pressed down on their chests to read the words, well, the sound is better.

In light of legal issues, the Village Board accepted the offer from the Trustees at First and Foremost United Methodist Church, and the rather attractive nativity set that for years had appeared on the Quad near the central area now makes its home on the front lawn of the church. The Village provides storage space (same as for all the holiday decorations that grow quickly and almost magically annually on the light poles), but a group of volunteers from the churches and the Optimists puts up the display, and the United Methodists pay for the juice to run the spotlights and the boombox that cranks out the carols.

At the coffeeshop, the Grounds for Justification, the regulars enjoy a couple of extra drink specials for the holiday season. There’s a kind of warm eggnog and a peppermint coffee. It’s an internet café, so there are the usual town people who come in regularly to check their email. Maybe after Christmas, there will be fewer as the computers make their appearance under the trees around town.

Pastor at First and Foremost UMC is the Reverend Arnold Geddon, who prefers to be called Pastor Arnie Geddon. There seems to be a lot of conflict wherever he serves. He thinks of himself as a plain man and tries to help the congregations he serves look to the future.

There is a Catholic Church in town. It’s over on Tradition Way, near the village library. Father Favor is the priest at Blessed Beautiful Savior, and he’s been there a long time. The old-timers have a line that goes “We’ve found Favor with God forever.”

The big news around town this year is that Pastor Arnie and Father Favor have convinced the pastors and congregations to do some things together for Christmas. And here I must stop for now. What do you suppose The Little Village churches are going to do for Christmas?

Two resources to share

2007-12-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

Two things to share. The first is a site that should get you to some options to listen to a podcast with Paul Webster. The long version I listened to was about 14 & 1/2 minutes. Wisconsin United Methodists will recognize Paul's name. He has been an agricultural missionary in Africa since 1992 and is doing really good work.

http://new.gbgm-umc.org/work/missionaries/podcasts/index.cfm?i=15726

The second item is an article by George Bullard. He offers some possible trends for the near future. Click on his site and look for the Nov 28th article.

George Bullard, congregational and denominational leadership coach
http://www.bullardjournal.org/

November 28, 2007
Ten Global Trends Impacting the Future of Congregations

Shalom!
dave

A Christmas Letter

2007-12-01T19:23:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

Received this today via email from a friend in Florida. Perhaps you've seen it. Maybe you wrote it! I found it helpfully provocative. I don't have any other attribution for it.

Shalom!
dave

Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the Christmas season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year, and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival, although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that, let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square, because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you, and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1-8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth, here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing George complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her. Really forgive them.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas", that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sundays. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army, or some other charity which believes in Me, and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love, and remember: I LOVE YOU.

JESUS

Advent Celebration

2007-11-28T16:42:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

Gentle Reader and Prompt Planner, I realize I am terribly late for most folks for this Advent, but maybe for another year . . . or this year if you are the sort of procrastinator I am all too much aware of myself . . . .

Pastor David Sprang, Christ the King Lutheran Church, Gladwin, Michigan, suggests a way to mark the Sundays of Advent on e-talk, an email listserve administered through Wood Lake Books. (To subscribe, e-mail: e-talk-subscribe@joinhands.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: e-talk-unsubscribe@joinhands.com )

“I will wrap a box and put it somewhere up front for the kids to find. Inside the box will be something to express the theme for the day.
Advent I - Hope- I will fill the box with blue stuff which might symbolize hope
Advent II - Generosity - I will fill the box with food that goes to the local food pantry and talk about Jesus "filling the hungry with good things"
Advent III - Anticipation - The box will be filled with Mary and Joseph from the nativity crèche and we will talk about not being able to wait
Advent IV - Patience - (I am still working on this one) Either I will place another wrapped box inside the box, or a branch and talk about the gifts of God that come to us every day or the gifts that we will not see till the end of time.”

Building on David’s idea, Thom M. Shuman, Greenhills Community Church, Presbyterian, Cincinnati, Ohio, writes:

“I will begin Advent 1 with an empty box - to symbolize both the hopes the kids have about what they will find on Christmas morning - but also to symbolize God's heart, where we can place all our hopes - even those we don't want anyone else to know about.

Advent II - Generosity - Same as you are doing

Advent III - Anticipation - I will use Joseph and Mary as well, but will talk about the anticipation they had of finding a place to stay with and how they dealt with that anticipation not coming true (and remind the kids they may not get everything they anticipate for Christmas.

Advent IV - Patience - That's a tough one, isn't it? 2 days before Christmas and patience has flown out the window. I might go with the empty box again, just to talk about the fact that Advent is all about being patient enough to let God surprise us with a gift we didn't expect.

Then, on Christmas Eve, I will put the bread and the cup in the box, to symbolize the full meaning of Christ's birth."

Personally, I really like this sort of idea. I always struggled with the Advent wreath--creating it, finding folks to light it, preparing or finding fitting words for it, moving around it during worship, etc. This kind of idea could start the service off, or come in at the children's time, and really get the attention of everyone.

Shalom!
dave

Excuse me?

2007-11-20T14:26:00.000-08:00

Shalom!

Here's a thought:

http://rev.org/article.asp?ID=2815

Many of us either don't think we would ever have such a problem, I suppose, or we would be unwilling to invite folks to try another church. But of course, this makes sense.

IF THE VISION IS CLEAR and if it is good, then putting it into real practice will go better with persons who agree with it. Those who don't might mutter or may even go along, but do they put out the necessary energy and enthusiasm for a vision they don't support?

Maybe this could be part of the new ecumenism, in which we all work to get persons "on board" in ways that fit their particular situation. I'm NOT suggesting here that we stifle or eliminate opposition or avoid conflict or "purify" the group. I am suggesting a marshalling of our resources in an effective way. The whole Christian church needs more than any one congregation can provide.

Shalom!
dave

Rethinking church efforts

2007-11-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

In the Jim Wallis (Sojourners) blog

http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2007/10/willow-creek-repents-by-diana.html

Diana Butler Bass (The Practicing Congregation, 2004) writes of what the Willow Creek staff is saying about program and discipleship disciplines. In part, she quotes Bill Hybels:

"We made a mistake," says Hybels: "What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become 'self-feeders.' We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own."

Notice what Hybels says is missing: intentionality, practice, and vitality. Or, as the Leadership blog put it, "Spiritual growth doesn't happen best by becoming dependent on elaborate church programs but through the age old spiritual practices of prayer, bible reading, and relationships. These basic disciplines do not require multi-million dollar facilities and hundreds of staff to manage."

This would seem to offer all sorts of sunbeams (rays of hope) for less-than-mega-churches! Perhaps it helps explain how small and medium congregations hang on. Of course, ALL congregations need to be intentional about providing help with the spiritual practices, but if we focus on that instead of worrying about size and viability (funding), then we'll all be the better for it!

Shalom!
dave

General Conference preparations

2007-11-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

For United Methodists, here is a site from which you may learn more about the proposal to change the organizational structure of the UMC. It would allow the Church to form the United States into a central, or regional, conference.

http://www.worldwideumc.org/

Shalom!
dave

Book Review! (Well, a few ideas anyway....)

2007-10-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

The following ideas are taken from another book by Lloyd Rediger, a pastoral counselor who is perhaps best known in clergy circles for his book of a number of years ago about "clergy killers" or persons who abuse pastors in a variety of ways and tend to keep congregations in turmoil. This book on toxic congregations is about three kinds of congregations--the healthy, functioning congregations, the ones who could go either way, and the toxic or dysfunctional congregations. I don't claim to accurately convey Lloyd's ideas! You may want to check out the book yourself.

“Agendas for Human Behavior” from G. Lloyd Rediger’s THE TOXIC CONGREGATION: HOW TO HEAL THE SOUL OF YOUR CHURCH (Abingdon Press, 2007) Lloyd Rediger discusses “Why People Act Like They Do” in his book and makes use of a helpful chart, which I cannot reproduce here but will try to describe with words.

We have three agendas as human beings. An agenda is a “primary, overriding motivation pattern.” The first agenda is survival; the question is “Am I safe here?” Lloyd says this is the most powerful agenda because “it is governed by the two most potent human emotions—fear and pleasure seeking.” Feelings are dominant in this agenda. As one feels safe, one can move to the second agenda.

The second agenda is identity; the question is “Who am I, and what difference do I make?” Rediger says thinking is more dominant here, and the issues are competition or jealousy. On the chart, he shows anger and love (self and others) as the emotions felt.

The third agenda is relationship; the question is “What’s in this (whatever the issue the group is considering) for each of us and all of us together?” There is an integration of thinking and feeling, and sadness and joy are the emotions felt.

Lloyd suggests that the movement from survival through identity to relationship is a growth in awareness, self-management skills, and caring, but all the time there is a strong, maybe stronger, downward pressure of events and feelings that try to move us from relationship to identity to survival.

All of the above describes how we deal with what is facing us. Rediger suggests that while we all have various principles or rules to guide our behavior, "But the real determiners for behaviors, often despite the principles, are consequences." (p. 78) In other words, many times we act because of rules or principles, which we may think are rules that everyone accepts, when in fact, everyone does not. Why not? Because while some people want to regulate their behavior with the principles, others find their behavior regulated by the consequences of their decisions.

"And so today, ethics and morality are again dominated by consequences as the ultimate reference point. Though there are sharp divisions between the absolutist (‘my ethics are universal’) and consequential (‘we all have to live with each other’s consequences’) believers, it is difficult to sustain either view as ultimate for every situation. For beliefs can be wrong or ambiguous, and consequences can be unintended, unknown, or connected to other consequences." (p. 80)

Rediger adds an appendix to compare these two approaches to ethics:

“Appendix C” from G. Lloyd Rediger’s THE TOXIC CONGREGATION: HOW TO HEAL THE SOUL OF YOUR CHURCH (Abingdon Press, 2007)

Comparison of Absolutist and Consequential Ethics

Absolutist Ethics

Truth is absolute.
Truth can be known.
Truth is universally applicable.
Behavior that violates truth is unethical.
Ethical behavior benefits all.

Consequential Ethics

There are no absolutes, only consequences.
Behavior has shared, cumulative consequences.
The mind is the reference point.
Decision making is the ultimate behavior.
Negotiation is the primary skill.
Fairness is morality.
Learning is experiential.
Research on consequences is key to the future.
We know God and one another through consequences.
Beliefs and values emerge from consequences.

This is helpful to me. Everyone is working on the three agendas, which, while described in a vertical fashion with relationship at the top, really describe, ISTM, a process of maturation. Like Maslow's chart, we move from basic survival needs to more complex situations or challenges. We all have principles and we all agree with some common rules. And we all have consequences in our lives for decisions good or bad. We want to move to integration of thought and feeling and a sense of community, but there is a great pressure to revert back to matters of basic survival. Many of you will find this pretty ho-hum, but it moves me down the road a bit!

Shalom!
dave

Hmmm.... October is Clergy Appreciation Month!

2007-10-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

I have discovered that October is Clergy Appreciation Month. Hallmark likes that, of course, and I think Focus on the Family promotes it, but in any case . . . "We love you guys and gals!" as the line goes.

How to appreciate clergy . . . hmmmmm.

+ compensation in line with others of like education and experience in the community
+ an email or note of appreciation
+ a renewed commitment to give the pastor/parsonage family privacy and time alone, especially on days off
+ a special treat of some sort for pastoral spouses and children
+ paying apportionments on time
+ gift to mission in honor of pastor and family
+ ?????

In appreciation for the working pastor from a retired one,

Shalom!

dave

Situational preaching

2007-10-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

So many Wisconsin UMC colleagues traveling today to the Clergy Day in Stevens Point! I trust there will be good, safe travel and good, supportive conversations while carpooling!

Here's a funny from Mikey:

today'sFUNNY

The preacher's 5-year-old daughter noticed that her father always paused and bowed his head, for a moment, before starting his sermon. One day, she asked him why. "Well, honey," he began, proud that his daughter was so observant of his messages, "I'm asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon." "How come He doesn't do it?" she asked.
[forwarded by Steve Sanderson]

today'sTHOT: //////__ __ __ __ __ ... The domino effect at work.

PASS IT ON! Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com

For reasons a bit beyond me, I'm still stuck on preaching. Feedback on my thoughts is pretty much invisible, but I'll just keep babbling on, hoping to say something helpful! Note in the joke above that the observant child is a girl, and the preacher is a man. This is not all the current reality. Note too that the child (among and within us) has an expectation that God He can help us preach a good sermon. Well, surely the Spirit helps, and all that and more, but a good sermon also has something to do with the exchange or lack thereof between speaker and hearer.

Hence, my tiny essay on situational preaching, by which I mean the on-going process of interpreting Scripture for a local congregation given a specific community situation and a specific speaker and a generally regular congregation. I presume the speaker prepares and the congregation comes more or less to engage the Scripture in a community setting. [I find as a person now in the chairs/pews, I do in fact come with the hope that the service in general and the sermon in particular will provide help for me in interpreting the movement of God in the present day.]

A good sermon, in my opinion, will engage the mind and heart of the listener, offering encouragement for applying love to life and insight into how I might better connect with God. My sermons had a point (admittedly, often well hidden), but they were also offered as a starting place. That is, I really didn't care if the listener "tuned out" for a while to go where the Spirit led. In fact, I encouraged that. I also hoped that my preaching would "get inside" the hearer--not stop at ears or brain, but rather get right into the gut. [That's another reason why I prefer spontaneous prayers.] At some point, perhaps the speaker and the listener came together again in the course of the sermon and found empowerment or, at least, encouragement to keep on keeping on.

In preparing, then, I tried to figure out a theme for the entire worship service. It wasn't always a conscious thing, but I tried to tie together music, Scripture, children's time, and sermon. If I hit upon that theme early enough, I could "open up" my mind to the kinds of things that work well in sermons: illustrations from daily life, tidbits from reading, etc. Later, I could connect the dots and place a vision before the congregation. The vision thing is where the children's time was good. If I had a visual aid or a brief experiential thing, so much the better, but I do see real value in making the message easy enough for children to grasp. Yes, because the adults might listen more attentively to that than to the sermon . . . .

The delivery probably generally had a rough, unpolished, unfinished feel to it. For sure, my sermons were unfinished--because the world isn't finished! I used notes to help keep me on track as I would try to involve the hearers in the process of drawing present-day meaning from the ancient text-that-continues-to-live-and-grow. I guess I've generally thought of sermons as ephemeral things--here now for this moment and then pretty much gone. My Father typed his sermons in manuscript form, and many colleagues do too. [That helped when Dad's eyesight would act up--or down, actually, and someone could then literally step up and read his sermon.] But I've never been one to read collections of sermons, and I was usually more comfortable working from notes.

Lastly, at this point, what I would say in one community on a given text might be much different from what I would say from the same text but in another town. That might have to do with the level of education in the area, or it might have to do with what I perceived was the kind of worship experience the congregation expected. Over the years and the situations, I discovered that, really, there can be more in common across congregations than different. Receptivity to the sermon has a lot to do with getting to know one another as pastor and people, and that seems to be a factor of our common humanity.

Anything to add or discuss, Gentle Reader?

Shalom!

dave

Hospitality in our congregations

2007-10-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

Remember, now, that I'm simply trying to be helpful. I'm no expert.

A couple of summers ago I took a three month leave. I called it a sabbatical leave, but I guess it was more correctly called something else--study or renewal or ????? Anyway, Barb and I took the opportunity to visit a number of congregations in the Milwaukee area for Sunday morning worship. This summer, newly retired and looking for a place to call (church) home, we again have been visiting in several Madison area churches.

What have we learned?

+ A congregation needs to expect guests in worship. Some do; many don't, or at least, it looks and feels that way. I think someone greeted us at each place we visited, but often that was the person assigned the task for that day. Even for us introverts, it helps if a human being/becoming smiles and says "Hi" and helps us find the sanctuary. This is really important when the main way in gets you to an odd spot--like the door just off the front of the sanctuary. Good clear signs can help.

+ Please don't ask me to stand and identify myself. It's pretty obvious I'm a newbie anyway. Don't give me a name tag unless, maybe, everybody else is wearing the same kind.

+ Do invite me to sign the attendance pad if there is one. I think it helps if everyone present is encouraged to sign the darned thing. I think it might be helpful if I could be told why I'm giving this information. Will I get a note or letter in response? Will I be put on the newsletter list? Will my address be sold for a profit to some off-the-wall charity?

+ It helps this introvert if when guests are welcomed and asked to sign the attendance pad, they are also informed about anything unusual in the service that day. Communion? The UMC offers the elements to all. Pledge Central? No problem; you don't need to fake anything. This is the point where I say that printing the Lord's Prayer and the doxology and such in the bulletin/program is a good idea.

+ I don't need a little welcome gift--especially at the very beginning of the service, but some might like that. And I don't feel slighted if no one shows up at my home that afternoon. This practice would depend a lot on the local situation, it seems to me.

+ It's been helpful for us to have someone invite us to whatever coffee hour there might be (some are hidden away in the Secret Place) or to introduce us to the pastor.

+ Joys and concerns, announcements, and prayer requests pose interesting dilemmas in my view. How can we incorporate these things into worship without causing the casual or seeking guest to wonder who these folks are and why should I care?

+ In new church preparation, we had been taught/it had been suggested that at the time of the offering, guests be assured that they are not expected to put money in the plate. I picked up on that and used it the rest of my career. Why? Well, it's not their church to support yet! And maybe they didn't come prepared. And also, the whole offering time gives us a chance to tell a story about what happens with the money and to emphasize that the offering needs to collect more than checks and dollars and coins!

+ Recently at the church I served we tried to give first-time guests a gift--notecards--when they came in, or, if we missed at that point, before they left. This was a start at the hospitality that, I think, needs to extend itself after worship. Say goodbye! Invite the guest to return. Check out the experience with them. While the building is familiar to regulars, some guests will have trouble even getting out the door they came in!

All these things and more. But nothing too extraordinary. Think of it like how you might welcome guests in your home.

I've been working off the balding top of my head. Use these ideas if you wish. Feel free to respond with your own ideas or reactions to these!

Shalom!
dave

Call your Representative on October 16th!

2007-10-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

The Coalition on Human Needs folks at http://www.chn.org/ invite us to call our federal House of Representatives representative tomorrow, Tuesday, October 16th, to encourage them to vote to override the presidential veto of the SCHIP legislation. That's my position too, but if you want to call to support the veto, well, it's a free country . . . .

Here's some info from the Coalition on Human Needs:

On October 18, the U.S. House will vote on overriding that veto so these millions of children can get care. Rejecting the veto takes a two-thirds vote. It will be close. That's why your call is so important. Please call your Representative on Tuesday, October 16

Toll-free number: 1-800-965-4701

Ask for your Representative's office* - Urge him/her to vote to provide health coverage to millions of uninsured children by overriding the veto of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 976).

*If you don't know your Rep's name: http://www.house.gov/ (enter your zip code, upper left side)

See how your Rep. voted on final passage of the children's health bill: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll906.xml

If your Rep. voted no, or didn't vote, your call is especially important - some of the no votes or absences must be turned around in order to get to two-thirds. We can get there - if you and your neighbors call!

Why you should call even if you're sure your Representative will vote in favor of the bill--

We need a huge volume of calls - enough to convince everyone that people are watching and want children to have health care. That tells proponents their constituents want them to keep fighting.

Blackwolf again: . . . or call to encourage the legislators to keep LOVING. They don't seem to have much trouble fighting.

Shalom!
dave

Healthy pastoral care (care for pastors by pastors)

2007-10-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

Here's a press release from the UMC. I'm struck by this emphasis on health: life, not death. It reminds me of the lifting up of abundance vs. scarcity in stewardship.

Shalom!
dave

Healthy churches need healthy leaders, speakers say

Oct. 12, 2007
NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.
By Deborah White*

WICHITA, Kan. (UMNS) - "If you're really serious about serving the Lord, you'd better start taking care of yourself," Bishop Scott Jones told health ministry leaders at a national conference.
"Empowering Ministries of Health: Starting, Implementing and Advancing" was the theme of the third annual National Congregational Health Ministries Conference, held Sept. 23-26 at the Spiritual Life Center in Wichita. The event was sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits and the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

The conference continued a growing emphasis on health ministries in The United Methodist Church. It attracted 165 United Methodists from 54 annual (regional) conferences, more than double the attendance at the 2006 National Congregational Health Ministries Conference in Memphis, Tenn. A fourth annual conference is planned for Sept. 21-24, 2008, at Lake Junaluska, N.C.

"We have got to figure out how our churches become centers of healing - spiritual and physical," said Jones, who leads the denomination's Kansas Area. His opening keynote address laid a holistic foundation for the conference.

After reaching a point of exhaustion, Jones said he started paying more attention to his health. Now he wears a pedometer to count his steps, brings carrots to cabinet meetings and limits his caffeine intake.

Building healthy churches

Weaving scriptures and personal experiences, several other speakers joined Jones in emphasizing that self-care for leaders is an important step in building healthy congregations. Participants also toured two health ministries in Wichita and broke into four workshop tracks to study aspects of health ministries including planning, evaluation, teamwork, communications, coping with stress and making self-care covenants.

"The challenge is to get healthy ourselves, to pull back from the table," said the Rev. Embra Jackson, assistant to Bishop Hope Morgan Ward of Mississippi. Jackson, Ward and 600 clergy members in Mississippi wear pedometers and walk several miles a day as part of the Amazing Pace health ministry.

In the 1950s, pastors were at the top of the health charts, Jackson pointed out. "Now we're at the bottom," he said. "We need to get well. If leaders get healthy and well, the church gets healthy and well."

Kim Moore, president of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund in Hutchinson, Kan., shared his personal struggles to stay in shape - such as lifting weights before a physically demanding mission trip and walking at 6 a.m. instead of sleeping while out of town on business.
"We increasingly know the behaviors that matter, but we struggle to incorporate them into our lives," Moore said.

The literature of health ministries says "get a team," Moore said. "Too many people believe they are essential. I thought I was essential. I took a sabbatical and found that my colleagues could run the Health Ministry Fund without me.

"We've got to get this attitude into the church: I am valuable but not essential."

Time for fitness

During his presentation, Moore used an exercise DVD to lead 10 minutes of simple exercises. The DVD, "Fuel Up and Lift Off LA," was produced by the California Department of Health Services to demonstrate how to fit fitness into meetings.

Bishop Mary Ann Swenson of the church's Los Angeles Area remarked about the growing participation in the health ministries conference. "To see how it has grown over the last three years is truly amazing," she said.

She told stories about long-distance tandem bicycle riding adventures with her husband to illustrate the principles of good teamwork: trusting each other, handling conflict in a healthy manner, building commitment, offering accountability and prioritizing results.

"Jesus sends disciples two by two," Swenson said. "It models the partnership God offers us through Christ. We are not alone. ... The one next to you is ready to go with you into the land of health, wholeness and holiness."

Bishop Ward said the health conference is an invitation to go forward with a rule of life. "Our rule of life is what we practically do," she explained.

For example, Ward exercises early in the morning. But it took her quite a while to put this practice into place in 1995. After exercising - somewhat reluctantly - for two months with her husband, she finally woke up and wanted to go. Her headaches disappeared. "I don't feel well if I don't exercise," she said.

"As we move forward in health ministries, we will engage with people who want to be well. It's important that we be rooted and grounded - and with strength that comes with humility," Ward said.

'Causes of life'

"This room is filled with people who embody faith and health," said Gary Gunderson, senior vice president for Health and Welfare Ministries at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis.
Gunderson, internationally known for his work in faith and health, outlined the "leading causes of life." He stressed that this "language of life" is a better way to communicate about congregational health ministries than the language of death.

"Public health looks for unexpected pathology. We are looking for unexpected vitality and how you get more of it," he explained.

He defined the "leading causes of life" as:

Connection. "A small congregation is the size of the connection that causes life."
Coherence. "Congregations can't help but make coherent the love of God by showing up. That's the health power that is in congregations. It makes life coherent when you are falling apart."
Agency - the capacity "to do"; making choices that matter for those who matter.
Blessing - a sense of connection that ties one generation to the next.
Hope. "Hope chains us together toward life. We live out of our expectations, our hopes."

Gunderson said using the "leading causes of life" as a framework helped pastors in Memphis set up a Congregational Health Network that connects church members with the five hospitals in the Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare system.

In this network, a "navigator" representing each hospital and a liaison with each church work together to help church members when they need hospital care. The goal is to have 400 congregations in the network.

"The whole structure is to make sure a person is held in a web of intentional compassion," Gunderson said.

Setting priorities

At the closing worship, the Rev. Fred Douglas Smith Jr. of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. said Jesus came to "trouble the water," referring to the story of Christ healing the man who waited years by a pool to be healed.

"Jesus asked, 'Do you want to be healed?' The question is really why do you want to be well?" Smith said. "Do you have a reason to live? Why do you want to be healed? What is it that gives your life meaning? What is the hope you have welling up inside of you?"

Smith said people served by health ministries often do not comply with guidelines for taking care of themselves. "They have no reason to comply," he suggested. "You need to ask the question, 'Is there something more important to you - than fried chicken or drugs?' ... Jesus entered the scene full of life and full of grace, saying, 'I have a reason.'

"Life is contagious. It spreads from smile to smile, from tender touch to tender touch. If you want to live, you need to be around folks who are alive."

*White is associate editor of Interpreter magazine and served on the leadership team for the National Congregational Health Ministries Conference. Both Interpreter and United Methodist News Service are ministries of United Methodist Communications.
News media contact: Deborah White, Nashville, Tn., (615) 742-5102 or newsdesk@umcom.org
********************
United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org

How are you today, Pastor?

2007-10-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

I'm more than a little slow on two things at least! One is the reporting out of the Connectional Table State of the Church material, and the other is this concern about the health of clergy. It's dated Nov. 1, 2006.

http://www.umc.org/site/c.gjJTJbMUIuE/b.2221635/k.EC98/Connectional_Table_affirms_four_provocative_proposals.htm

Partial quote from the article:

"During the meeting, the health task force presented information to the group that health care claims by United Methodist clergy in the United States are 16 percent higher than those of other employers with more than 500 employees across the nation. Barbara Boigegrain, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits, explained that the surveys showed United Methodist clergy are also obese in greater numbers than the national average.

"Boigegrain said the data lead the group to question: 'What is going on in the lives of the clergy that is causing them to be heavier, to have higher stress, and to be measurably less healthy than the rest of the population? …We need to look at the systems of the church.' The task force suggested that annual conferences and agencies provide comparative data and best practices to focus on the systemic issues and prepare recommendations for General Conference."

Retirement has quickly taught me that in spite of my self-perceived self-image, I'm about as fat as the kids said I was! Grandchildren would ask when the twins were due. My dear, health-conscious wife has invited me to walk most every evening in the neighborhood, and that has been wonderful. So far it hasn't done much for the total weight, but I think the pounds have been rearranged a bit. We've been trying to eat less. So I think there is progress on the physical front, literally.

There's also progress on the stress level. Retirement will do that for you, if you have decent health and a plan for living in retirement--a plan that needs to include more than how to pay for it. Frankly, I had no idea how high my stress level was until suddenly, I didn't have a job. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy my work--I did!--but the normal stress, let alone the extra stress, was wearing on me.

So, cool, retirement settles a couple of scores. But in my quest to be helpful and supportive for active pastors, what are some ways active pastors can deal with weight and stress matters?

I'd love to get answers to that question, but in the meantime, how about these:

figure out a time and a way to get some regular exercise each day. A walk in the neighborhood, time at a gym, games with the children....
park away from the hospital or store entrances and walk more. And take steps in the hospital instead of the elevator. There were times when that was the extent of my exercise program. That might explain the looks I got from nurses as I stepped out on the 4th floor or the 6th floor of area hospitals.
meditation or prayer or a scheduled time for reflective or fun reading....
delegate, delegate, and delegate some more. Sometimes it's easier to change the light bulb yourself, but if everybody in the building assumes that Pastor can do that each and every time, it gets to be a stressor....
know your way. Some of us may actually "work best under pressure" but we may need to make sure those around us know that . . . or change the pattern because if it starts to be destructive for us or for our congregation.
make friends with somebody! Dare I suggest the circuits in the Wisconsin Conference of the UMC? Keep in touch with one or several colleagues.

That's my short list for tonight. What works for you? How do you take care of your body and your spirit?

Shalom!

dave

Just a thought . . .

2007-10-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

The NY TIMES feature offers something to ponder today:

- ON THIS DAY -

On October 5, 1947, in the first televised White House address, President Truman asked Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry on Thursdays to help stockpile grain for starving people in Europe.

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20071005.html

Here's a thought: what's wrong with this approach to international relations? Why can't we a) talk with people we don't like who happen to be the leaders of other nations, b) consider helping other nations with basic needs, c) model what it means to love the neighbor?

Shalom!
dave

Energy tip for early October

2007-10-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

Got this from a friend and thought I'd pass it on. It's a good and simple way to save energy and money too at home or in the church building!

99 cents for an energy efficient light bulb sound good?

You can buy CFLs now for good prices like this. The first two weeks in October is the best time to buy energy efficient CFLs. Most hardware stores in the area participate in "instant rebate" promotions, and have much better selections than at other times of the year. Many stores offer CFLs to replace 60w, 75w or 100w incandescents. 99 cents a bulb for any of these three sizes. Get 'em while they're hot.

More on the promotion, including a full list of Wisconsin's participating stores: http://www.focusonenergy.com/page.jsp?pageId=1766

Shalom!
dave

Mental Health

2007-09-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

I enjoy reading this column from our Mennonite friends on a regular basis and want to copy the current issue below. The website Melodie mentions toward the end is a website by a United Methodist pastor.

http://www.mentalhealthministries.net/index.html
Website by UM pastor Susan Gregg-Schroeder

This is a subject we don't often touch on too much, at least in my church experience.

Shalom!
dave

Holding On: Depression Screeningby Melodie Davis

It was early summer by the calendar, but there on my path in the woods where I often walk lay some leaves already fallen to the ground. The leaves were riddled and weakened by some pest that had devoured the life out of them. Weakened, the leaves could no longer hold on to the tree.I thought immediately of a professional colleague who had taken his life about six weeks earlier. He was not a close personal friend of mine but I respected his work profoundly, and he was very close to a number of my friends. His death impacted them and all of us in ways that none of us could have ever figured ahead of time.

He had struggled with bipolar illness, which many people knew, but no one knew just how deeply he was struggling at the time. I knew him well enough to feel that he would have not have taken his life if he had been feeling better. As insights from close friends and colleagues and family came out, it become clear that he had gotten to the place where mentally his mind was so devastated that he could no longer hold on.

As I held the leaf I thought of Lee, and said a prayer for his family. I happened to share the leaf story with a professional counselor, who said she thought it was a very useful metaphor for what happens with mental illness and suggested I write about it.

With the U.S. National Depression Screening Day coming up October 11, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage anyone and everyone who struggles with ongoing depression or even suicidal thoughts to seek screening and treatment. When stress piles up, it is easy to become overwhelmed. It takes time and effort to seek treatment. Who wants to take time out of a busy schedule to go to the doctor or the hospital?

This summer our staff helped facilitate workshops at our national church convention on mental illness rising out of the award-winning documentary we produced, Shadow Voices: Finding Hope in Mental Illness. I mention the award from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) not because of our work but because of the ten heroes (my word) who shared their stories of dealing with mental illness in the program, which I have written about before in this column. (See <http://www.shadowvoices.com/> www.shadowvoices.com or write to me for a series of columns on the topic). As persons are open about their illnesses, they help others find the courage to seek help even amid the stigma that still surrounds mental illness.

At one workshop, I was moved by the comment of one middle-aged man who shared his pain of practically raising his children by himself because of the illness of his wife. He was a member of a congregation, yet because her illness was a mental one, he did not receive the kind of support that he likely would have received had her illness been cancer or heart disease.

This is not to condemn churches in general because as a society we do not know how to relate to persons with this kind of illness.

However, this must and will change. Earlier in the spring, I conducted a 13-week Sunday school class using the Shadow Voices DVD at my own congregation and was pleasantly surprised at one of the younger members of the class expressing a "what's the big deal" attitude about the topic of mental illness. She was very open about sharing her own depression and treatment. "Everyone I know is on some kind of med," she said with a slight bit of exaggeration.

National Depression Screening Day (NDSD) will be held on October 11. NDSD screening sites are sponsored by hospitals, mental health centers, government agencies, social service agencies, advocacy organizations, colleges, primary care clinics, workplaces, healthcare companies and some faith communities. For more information or to find screening sites in your area, visit <http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/> Mental Health Screening. Tell others about the screenings. In addition, Susan Gregg-Schroeder, a United Methodist minister who has experienced deep depression, heads a ministry called <http://www.MentalHealthMinistries.net> Mental Health Ministries and has many additional resources available at her website.

** ** ** ** ** **Another Way column by Melodie Davis. Send your comments to melodie@MennoMedia.org or dialogue with others on this topic or previous topics at Another Way Conversation - http://www.thirdway.com/talk/?Topic=AW

"Christianity in today’s society no longer looks like Jesus." -- Barna study

2007-09-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

Here's a site to find info on the Barna Group's recent study about how young Americans perceive Christianity.

http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=280

Among a number of interesting tidbits is this line that was used by many to describe how Christianity is perceived now: "Christianity in today’s society no longer looks like Jesus."

What does Jesus look like? (I don't mean the physical description.) Many discussions in the Village have gotten pretty detailed about a number of things (I know this because I've been a contributor of some of the fine-pointing.) Maybe we have managed to look over or past the stories of Jesus interacting with the world around him. He didn't use big words. He didn't run for office. He didn't work any particular business plan that I know of. He did spend time with children and women and poor people. He did tell stories. He did get himself into big trouble with powerful governments and religious leaders. He was killed, but we live as if he is alive.

He's known for accepting people, speaking plainly if a bit enigmatically (but folks seemed to get the point), valuing his relationship with the Divine, and standing up for what he may have called the Kingdom of God.

Jesus summarizes all the law and prophets with three things: loving God, loving neighbor, and loving self. When he offers a story of judgment (Matthew 25), he determines the up or down vote by how his followers cared for "the least" who were hungry, thirsty, naked, alone, sick, or in prison.

Do you suppose if we Christians today looked like that, we could attract more young adults to our churches and ministries? I'm thinking, Yes!

Shalom!
dave

Quilts and Chocolate chip cookies

2007-09-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

As far as I know, my grandmothers never fashioned quilts, but a character in Philip Gulley’s JUST SHY OF HARMONY (HarperSanFrancisco, 2002) valued her grandmother’s quilt highly. It was Jessie Peacock’s grandmother’s wedding ring quilt made by Jessie’s great-grandmother. As the story unfolds, and the quilt comes back to Jessie and her husband Asa, Gulley points out the value of such a day—a day “like Thanksgiving and Christmas and the day you got your grandma’s quilt back.” Quaint, to be sure, but understandable in my mind! My Mother's Mother lived with us for a few years when I was younger, oh so much younger, and she baked chocolate chip cookies. I think they must have been for me. Grandma was a very nervous person, and she sometimes did strange things. I think the cookies were for me because I was the only child, my father was diabetic, and my mother worked most days. Now that I think about it, though, Mother liked chocolate chip cookies too. Anyway, Grandma would bake them and then hide them. I would find them. And devour them. Like Thanksgiving and Christmas and the day you found your grandma's chocolate chip cookies . . . .

Gulley’s fictional story of Harmony and the Quakers there seems to be a lot like of Jan Karon’s Mitford series. Yet it all rings true for me! Mitford or Harmony, Episcopalians or Quakers, sophisticates like Fr. Tim and Cynthia or down-home folks like Sam and Barbara—the stories about life in church and parsonage have the ring of authenticity.

The church member writing the church column for the local paper commented on the pastor’s faith crisis:

The elders at Harmony Friends Meeting will be preaching until Sam Gardner
believes in God again.

All over town, folks have been talking about it. The old men down at the Coffee Cup ruminate about it over their bacon and eggs. An atheist pastor. Some of them are thinking of going to church just to see what happens.

Just to see what happens. I think that's a marvelous reason to gather for worship week in and week out: just to be there when something happens by the grace of God, and by the grace of God, something does! That holy something isn't always in the order of worship or the sermon or the choir anthem or the pastoral prayer or the hymns--certainly not in the ones I hate!--or in the passing of the peace. It's likely to happen during the time for children. It may happen in a conversation before worship or during the coffee hour. Watch for it! It will happen!

That Pastor Sam with the faith crisis? He kept going to the Meetinghouse for service. And in time he preached again. I imagine it was a day like Thanksgiving and Christmas and the day you got your grandma's quilt back. Here's my question: did some of those Coffee Cup men go to church, and did they see what is happening in our worship?

Shalom!
dave

Survey summary and a new survey!

2007-09-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

On two blogs I received a total of four responses. Hmmmmm..... Here's the summary for the survey from recently. I'll post my reaction later. After the summary, I'm asking a few more questions.

Shalom!
dave

The survey (from Sept. 6, 2007):

1. Are you a lay person or an ordained person?
a. 4 responses (hardly a healthy sample!)
i. 1 ordained United Methodist elder (anonymous)
ii. 2 lay (women)
iii. 1 lay man currently in process toward Local Licensed Pastor
b. i thank these four persons for responding so thoughtfully!

2. In your opinion, what are the top three or four issues facing local congregations? (I have mixed up responses in this general listing.)
a. Lack of vision for promoting growth in membership
b. Local congregations getting older and trying to attract and keep those in 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s
c. Congregations who do not feel a need to change
d. Starting “from scratch” with searching people because we missed a generation in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
e. Individuals or small groups who confront the pastor instead of offering cooperation
f. Commitment—looking more for entertainment than spiritual growth
g. Apathy among members
h. Members are often opposing one another instead of working together
i. Clergy itineracy and compensation
j. System discourages churches and pastors from doing long-term work needed for continuing maturing growth
k. Only a few members active; many are pewsitters
l. Lack of growth/declining membership
m. Lack of Biblical and Wesleyan knowledge/understanding

3. In your opinion, what are the top three or four issues facing clergy in congregations? (I have mixed up responses in this general listing.)
a. Lack of vision to promote growth in membership
b. Burnout due to heavy expectations
c. Mismatch in appointments (between pastor and congregation)
d. Declining enrollment (i think this means fewer pastors.)
e. Too much to do in too little time
f. Trying to make needed changes without upsetting power people
g. Length of ordination process
h. Numbers game at Conference level
i. Competing interests/conflict of interests for members—have to choose between worship and soccer
j. Worship services that are not meaningful for attending persons

4. In your opinion, what are the top tools a pastor ought to have in the pastoral skill kit? (I have mixed up responses in this general listing.)
a. Energy!
b. Better communication—more heartfelt preaching, better listening skills, more teaching/practicing of Wesley’s covenant groups
c. Communication skills of all kinds
d. A supportive spouse
e. Support system of family and friends outside the congregation
f. Two colleague support groups—one of UMC pastors and one ecumenical group
g. A good understanding of counseling theory and why people act the way they do
h. A calling to whatever type of ministry they are in
i. Being sure to take time away for family and self and fun
j. Retreats for spiritual growing
k. People to talk with
l. A visitation program within the parish and persons willing to do some visitation to help the pastor have time for other tasks
m. D.Min.

Second Survey

1. Are you a lay person or pastor/licensed local pastor/deacon?

2. In your opinion, what are the three or four strengths of The United Methodist Church?

3. In your opinion, what does a United Methodist presence (church) bring to a community?

Please respond!

Shalom!
dave

An issue for United Methodist clergy

2007-09-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

Today's UMCom news service carried an article about younger clergy. A quote follows:

“There was a sense among many (although not all) that the church has not created space for young adults to be faithful disciples as they understand it. Instead, like a round peg in a square hole, they feel jammed into ministries that do not fit their gifts, into churches where they feel sucked dry and futile, into ministries that others define for them, without any room to explore what it means to be both Christian and postmodern at the same time. There was a sense that for many, The United Methodist Church is not looking for gifted Christian ministers; rather they are looking for by-the-book, work-within-the-system professionals who would pay their dues, innovate only within the system and not rock the boat.”
--Benjamin Yosua-Davis

http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=2072519&ct=4434793

Of course, i had a similar "sense" back in my seminary days (in another denomination) in the early 1970's. i think the stress is greater now, though, because of the way society has been changing in recent decades. Another concern of seminarians today seems to be an on-going seminary thing too: that seminaries and their teaching staff do not seem to be in touch with what is happening in local congregations. We know now that college educations are more or less outdated within several years because of the pace and scope of technological change, sociological understanding, etc. i think we just need to learn to live with rapid change!

i'm still going to compile the several responses to my survey upstream, but it seems to me that this quote enters into the discussion about the stress of expectations and the tools for pastors today. What is the role of leadership in local congregations, and how do we meet the ever-unfolding drama of daily living and spiritual growing?

Shalom!
dave

How do you preach?

2007-09-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

NOTE the survey here! Gentle Readers, you can help me shape this blog into something more helpful that a blob.

How do you preach? This does not anticipate answers like "Marvelously" or "So-so" or "I haven't taken a survey lately". I'm looking for responses around the following questions and others. Feel free to tick through the questions in your own mind, or respond here on the blog.

Do you think of the sermon as a central element of worship or one of several equal worship elements?

How do you see your preaching as "performance"?

Is it important to have a record of what you said? (Do you prefer to use a manuscript, and if so, why?) Or, is the sermon a "working through" the text with the congregation in a more informal fashion? How successful is that?

Do you have a way to measure the impact of a given sermon, and would you care to share that?

What else needs to be asked and considered?

Shalom!
dave

Musing on living into the future

2007-09-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

"Fear not for the future, weep not for the past." --Percy Bysshe Shelley

i'm a timid fellow. i am an introvert, per the MBTI. i was a cautious--probably too cautious--pastor. i tried to replace worrying with brooding but can't say how successful that was. i claimed it was all a part of my gift of creativity . . . .

So now i wonder if i lived too much in the past and how i might practice living in the present, not fearing the future. It helps that retirement has come as a gracious gift, and i live with a loving wife, and the sky outside our new home is bright blue with accents of puffy white clouds most of the time (so far). Storms will come, i suspect.

i have this nagging fear about what might happen to me and to the world. Yet increasingly my thinking leads me to an understanding of an open-ended future--which could give one great pause--and an ever-present Love. Reading Spong and others has helped clarify my uneasiness over recent years about the neatness of my faith. i used to think that God was drawing creation to a fulfillment, but now i'm not so sure about that. If God and i are co-creators, then how can either of us know the outcome? And if all of this that we call Creation is constantly evolving--or maybe a better word is changing, then what provides any sense of security?

i find the security in that ever-present Love, which is right now the closest i come to describing what i used to call God. The ever-present Love is large and compassionate and aware and many other things. This understanding provides me with meaning for my life. i can worship with other believers/trusters and sing the old hymns (though sometimes needing to edit the words as i sing) and share in the corporate experience. i still use the word God and i still need to be in conversation with persons with other thinking patterns. i am excited that the ever-present Love leads me/goes with me into a future that promises growth and increased awareness and a greater sense of feeling a part of all creation.

But i still have fear! i think it's a bit like John Wesley's Aldersgate experience. It is said that he continued to have lingering doubts that God loved him after that evening of the Hot Heart. There might be some Mother Teresa in there too: keeping to her compassionate caring even in the midst of a sense of being lost or alone.

i think i was afraid of the future as a pastor to the extent that i did not suggest or work for things in the life of the congregations that i served--things that would have changed the way things were! You know what i mean! But it was in part a survival issue. If i went past a certain line, sometimes more clearly visible than other times, then maybe people would leave the church or stop giving money or stop leading a program or a class or a project and then maybe i would a) not be liked or b) not be paid or c) get a call from my Superintendent or d) something else.

"Fear not" is one of the big themes in the Bible. Being excited about the future is one of our challenges these days. i wonder if anyone can help me support pastors nowadays who i think may experience fear themselves or be fearful of moving congregations in new directions? What are ways in which, together, we can "fear not for the future"?

Shalom!
dave

One reflection on 9/11

2007-09-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

Bill Moyers interviewed (PBS, Friday, Sept. 7) Jack Goldsmith, author of THE TERROR PRESIDENCY and a recent lawyer in the administration. Goldsmith says of Vice President Cheney's longtime legal counsel and current Chief of Staff:

“David Addington once said to me, he was the Vice President's counsel, when I advised that I didn't think something they wanted to do was lawful, he once said to me, ‘If you rule that way, then you will have the blood of 100,000 people who die in the next attack on your hands.’”

One point Goldsmith was making, it seemed to me, was that the present Bush administration reacted to the terrorist act of 9/11/2001 with fear. It feared more deaths in the United States, and that fear pushed forward what many of us regard as unwarranted and counter-productive measures leading to the war in Iraq and numerous infringements on constitutional rights in our own nation.

Was/Is that fear justified? I don’t think so. Even as we mark today the terrible event that seems to us so invasive and irresponsible, we recognize that innocent persons die each month in many places around the globe. Our government is responsible for many of those deaths.

It seems to me that we need to be about the task of grieving death and despair wherever it arises in our world. We need to be acting out of hope and compassion, not fear and anger. If I understand Goldsmith’s point correctly—and if he is right, then our supposedly Christian nation and born-again President have been acting in most un-Christian-like ways characterized by fear, force, and faithlessness. We need to lift up the premises of religious expressions: that the Divine is “pure, unbounded love” inviting us to mature, to grow in grace, and to grow into the likeness of Christ.

Shalom!
dave

Resource for the Practicing Pastor

2007-09-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

“Religion In Campaign ‘08”
http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/353.pdf

.... a report from the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “fact tank” that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world ....

Practical Suggestions for the Practicing Pastor

2007-09-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

For those who ask for joys and concerns before prayer in worship:

The other Sunday we worshipped in a church in which the worship leader—Ken Pennings—asked the congregation for joys and concerns. In my mind, this works best in smaller groups, but it seems to be a common practice in the places we have visited here. [Does it seem like an “in-house” kind of thing to you? It does to me, though perhaps it can draw in the guests too.] Anyway, one way to help the process is to repeat the joy or concern so that all can hear (or use a handheld microphone). Another thing—and this is what Ken did—is to ask the congregation to “covenant to remember _______ in prayer this week” with the congregational response, “We will.” Works for me.

However, I found myself this week unable to remember what I had agreed to pray for last week! Hence, this idea: have someone prepare a slide to project at points in the rest of the service to help folks recall the persons and situations, or, maybe better, have someone prepare a half-sheet of paper with the prayer requests which could be available as you leave the sanctuary. Again, I could note the requests in my bulletin, but it would be easier for me to have someone else prepare and distribute that list! [The usher counts the crowd so all we curious folks don’t have to. Same principle for noting prayer needs.]

Tilt-a-World

2007-09-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

I think Diana Butler Bass writing for Sojourners (see link)

http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2007/09/american-christendom-rip-by-di.html

is on target: as some of these leaders of a more Right Wing faith expression pass from the scene, it will be easier to see what's coming. Maybe. [A couple of weeks ago Carmen Porco preached at Madison's First Baptist Church and lifted up an image that has stuck with me. We need each other. A bird flies with a right wing and a left wing; with only one, not so much. He suggested that God is the body that flies with both wings, and if we want the flight to be true and effective, we need both wings. How do we manage this today in the Body of Christ?]

I suspect that many of the congregations in our nation(s) worship in a traditional or some sort of blended style. Is this because such a style (and somewhat consequent theology) is correct? Is it because that's what we pastors know and are comfortable with? Is it because many of the main supporters (read: "givers") of our congregations are older and more comfortable with what they have gotten used to?

This is not an issue for me if the bottom line of congregations is outward-focused: how does the body of Christ constituted as the XYZ Church in Anytown, World serve those in need in the larger community? If any congregation engages only in navel-gazing and lint-picking, then there is a problem! A caring congregation can worship in a variety of ways.

But I wonder: how do we (congregations) and we (pastors) set a vision that keeps pace with much of what is going on around us in politics, economics, life style, etc.? I think the fall of Christendom is a good thing, but how are we shaping what will become "church" in the next few years?

And, working pastors, dear friends, how may the rest of us help you?

Shalom!
dave

Quick survey

2007-09-06T12:45:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

For those who a) find this, and b) care to respond,

1. Are you a lay person or an ordained person?

2. In your opinion, what are the top three or four issues facing local congregations?

3. In your opinion, what are the top three or four issues facing clergy in congregations?

4. In your opinion, what are the top tools a pastor ought to have in the pastoral skill kit?

I think you can click on the comment box below and respond. You may respond anonymously.

Shalom!
dave

What are we learning in schooling today?

2007-09-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

The NY TIMES points out that

- ON THIS DAY -On Sept. 4, 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to prevent nine black students from entering Central High School in Little Rock.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20070904.html

I was ten then. Can't say I remember the event, but I am aware that I grew up knowing OF the event. It was one of the civil rights moments that played a large role in shaping my growing up years. Today, the struggle continues as we contend with racism, and today I continue to grow up!

Pastor, what events of this day are shaping our youth? How is the Potter of our Present Clay shaping us in this world? How are we assisting or resisting in this process of change?

In worship last Sunday I became aware of the importance of this human activity (all over again for the first time some more). People choose to gather together to share in an "order of worship" in which there is attention to the Divine and caring for those around us. For some, the spoken word--Scripture or sermon, for example--is paramount; for others, the opportunity to weave melody and harmonies in group singing. For some, the touch and voice of friends; for others, the opportunity to be alone with Divine in the midst of others. Some have been brought to worship; others have come willingly and gladly. Some leave empty; others, filled to the brim with Spirit and spirit to face the days ahead.

How can congregations, which have a good thing going, improve in this area of connecting the events of the world with the story of God's love for all creation? I remember that some persons spoke favorably of the pastor who always preached on the headlines in the Sunday paper. Does this mean that s/he began sermon preparation a couple of hours before worship? Or is there an on-going conversation in which the headlines of the moment--the crawl on the screen of daily living--interact with the sweep of reflection on the gift and purpose of life?

Enough. Today let us hold in the energy-focusing of our praying the students and teachers and school personnel and families caught up in the enthusiasm and anxiety of this traditional first day of school. Ask anyone this evening, "What did you learn today?" and see if our education is making a difference in our daily living!

Shalom!
dave

Labor Day

2007-09-02T14:48:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

Monday is Labor Day. I'm hoping no pastor reads this on Monday! It's a Holyday!

Monday was one of my days to really dig in to the work of the week. So when Monday was a holyday/holiday, I just assumed that meant more opportunity to get a jump on the week. Not so! It's a holyday.

Bill Moyers interviewed poet Robert Bly on his recent PBS JOURNAL. Bly was encouraging all of us to rest and seek a calming balance in our lives. He recited these lines from his own translation of Rainer Maria Rilke:

"I am circling around God, around the ancient tower,
and I have been circling for a thousand years,
and I still don't know if I am a falcon,
or a storm,
or a great song ..."

Holydays help us remember, it seems to me, that we are great songs.

Shalom!
dave

Welcome!

2007-08-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

This recently retired pastor wants to offer support to the pastors still serving. My friends and some others also recognize my inability at the moment to step away from sharing news and ideas and wonderings. Oddly enough, I miss worship leadership more than preaching, but perhaps that's because I've been working on this resource & support thing!

The current plan is to offer a variety of things here and let you, Gentle Reader, pick and choose and cut and paste.

For now, a quotation:

"I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for oneself, one's own family or nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace."
--His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Shalom!
dave