Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Yes: Five Ways To Be Unsatisfied With Your Church

This is so, totally worth the read...it's not even funny.  There is truth here.  And I thank Shane, over at shaneblackshear.com for saying it.

1. Don’t participate, merely consume.
 
If I had to say the one thing holding the American church back today, it would be a consumeristic culture. We’ve come to expect that the latest technology comes standard in our cars. Our movie theaters should  have wide rows with extra padded seats and that lean way back.
Unfortunately, we think our church should be no different. Just like the movie theater, we come when the production starts, sit in our seats, are entertained, and think we should leave satisfied when it’s over.

When I was a pastor, those most unsatisfied in our body, were those who just showed up on Sunday’s (sometimes). There was little to no participation in small groups, service projects or teaching and serving within the church.

Obviously there are those in most churches who are seekers, or young in the faith that just need to be taken care of for a season, but that should be a temporary state.

2. Criticize your leadership.

I once heard about a couple who didn’t like their pastor because he told stories about his family in the pulpit before beginning his sermons. Quirky? Yeah, kinda. Unbiblical, sinful, illegal, harmful?! Definitely not. We’ve really got understand the difference.

It’s also not fair to compare your pastor to the celebrity pastor on the other side of the country whose book we just read and now believe that every church everywhere should be run like that celebrity pastors church. Remember that celebrity pastor is in a completely different context. He doesn’t know your church, and he also doesn’t come to your home when you have a tragedy or celebrate with you when you have a baby or other joyous life event.

We’re hard on our pastors. Their job is a very public job. One that’s performed in front of an audience (by ‘performed’ & ‘audience’ I just mean that the duties of the job are undertaken in front of a crowd of people). We would do well to remember that our pastors/church leaders are human beings like us, full of quirks and wrestling with sin and struggles just like we do. Instead of seeing our pastors with targets on their backs, we should see them with love and compassion and as people who have dedicated their time to serve the body.

If you have a legitimate concern, approach your leader about it, and don’t talk about the them behind their back. Be kind, be loving.

3.Don’t spend time with your church outside of the church building. 

Most of our churches corporate gatherings serve a great purpose. We worship together and we learn together. But most aren’t very conducive to getting to know each other on a deeper level. This isn’t a failure on the part of our leadership, it’s just the nature of a larger gathering. We need these small group gatherings (not just official ‘small groups’, but parties, coffee dates, men’s/women’s nights, etc.). I’ve found that I learn more about a person over 30 minutes of sharing coffee or a beer, than I did attending liturgy with them for several months.

4. Believe that everything should be about you and for you, all the time.

Not long after Kate and I started attending our current church, they undertook a ‘season of kids’. There was additional time in liturgy given to teaching the children in the church. The kids participated in the service in various ways. Even the sermons were about child-like faith and other themes centered around children.

Kate and I didn’t have children (we now have one on the way if you’re not keeping up), and we were not ourselves children. We had to understand – not everything is about/for us all the time.
That’s not to say that we didn’t get anything from the season of kids, it just wasn’t aimed directly at us, but even that taught us something important, because the church that teaches you that everything is about you, all the time, is preaching a very different message than – lay down your lives for each other.

We were also appreciative to be apart of a church that found value in children and went to great lengths to show it to them.

5. Be unhappy with the fact that it isn’t perfect. 

“There is no perfect church, and if you find one, don’t join it because you’ll ruin it.” I don’t know who first said that, but it’s true. All churches are strong in some areas and weak in others. Hopefully churches are always working on those weaknesses, but if we can’t settle for anything less than perfection, then we’re in real trouble.

In his book “Under the Unpredictable Tree,” Eugene Peterson helps pastors be content in the church they are in. Maybe there needs to be a version for church members. In the book Peterson coined the term “Ecclesiastical Pornography.” That is the perfect term to describe the problem that so many people have. We look at the church down the street, or the church in town that’s “doing really well,” or the celebrity pastor’s church and think – “they have it all together” or “they’re doing church right.”
Many people start attending those churches and after the honeymoon period wears off, they find that church has weaknesses of its own. Sadly many people go through life thinking the perfect church is just around the corner, or as many young evangelicals do, they decide that they don’t need church at all and embark on solo-Christianity.

Church is like marriage in a lot of ways. In the beginning it’s fun, and exciting, but eventually the honeymoon comes to an end and it’s work, real work, but we find that the work is rewarding and worthwhile, and it’s work that God meant for us to be doing.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Grace: A Word from Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins

A letter of hope... and explanation... concerning the General Assembly resolution (or, "sense of the Assembly") GA  1327, from our General Minister and President, The Reverend Dr. Sharon Watkins.
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ -
 
Grace and peace to you in the name of the living Christ who lives and moves among us, who calls us to the Table, then sends us forth to serve.
 
I write to share a word with all Disciples congregations following an important vote at the 2013 Orlando General Assembly.
 
In these days following assembly,my heart is prayerful; my spirit hopeful; and my love for our church is strong. Surely, God has given Disciples a blessing and a mission for wholeness,
welcoming all to the Lord's Table of reconciliation and love.
 
That blessing and mission for Disciples begins in a congregation. In congregations we come forward and make or reaffirm our confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There we are baptized, our babies are dedicated, we are married and our parents buried. Our faith is nurtured and sometimes challenged in a beloved community of other Disciples we know and love.
 
We extend the blessing as we join hands with other Disciples congregations to share God's love in our communities and around the world. We offer words and prayers of comfort and challenge, as well as hands-on help, to our neighbor in times of need. In many diverse ways, we learn the story of Jesus and invite others to walk in his love.
 
The recent vote to "adopt" Resolution GA1327, Becoming a People of Grace and Welcome to All, has significance for the Church, but it is important to recognize the nature of that significance.
The intent of the resolution is to urge Disciples to welcome into our congregations and other ministries all who seek Christ. It serves as a reminder that among Disciples we do not bar the church door or fence the table from those who desire the embrace of God's love.

 
Here is what this "Sense of the Assembly" resolution is not:
 
  • It is not a statement of "unwelcome" for Disciples who did not support the resolution. All who confess faith in Jesus Christ are welcome. All means all.
  •  It is not a policy change. The congregation where you worship and serve will not be requested to establish (or change) a policy on gay or lesbian persons in the life of the Church. The region where your congregation is affiliated is not required to change its policies on ordination. Your pastor is not required to bless same-gender marriages.
  • It is not a theological mandate. It does not say that we have the same biblical understanding of sexual orientation or gender identity. Disciples, prayerfully and with biblical study and other research, come to their own understanding on these matters.
  
This resolution does, however, carry symbolic importance in the life of our Church. It reminds us that our baptism into the living Christ continues to be our common ground
 
It points out that within the broad membership of Disciples, among the many congregations in covenant with each other, there have always been gay and straight, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender persons who participate fully in the life and leadership of the church.It urges us to treat each other with gospel hospitality as we seek to understand each other better.
 
My deepest hope is that, in the coming weeks and months, with God's help, we will continue in worship and mission together even when we profoundly disagree - as we have so often done before - recognizing that it is God's covenant of love that binds us to God and to one another[1] in Christ. My prayer is that together we will continue to witness to God's gift of reconciliation and wholeness before the brokenness of the world.
 
United though not uniform, diverse but not divided, let us name our differences, then claim our common calling to be and to share the good news of Jesus Christ who came "that the world might be saved". (John 3:17)
 
Your sister in Christ,
 

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

General Assembly: Day 4

I have many thoughts swimming through my heart and soul tonight...but I seem to lack the clarity of thought, to commit them to paper (or internet, as it is!). 

So I would draw your attention to the "business" of the church...as an Assembly, we gather every two years to discern, discuss, and vote (though we use that word with hesitation) on issues that relate to the life of the church and the world it functions within.  This year, there were three "biggie" issues which included parental leave, drone warfare, and the full inclusion of GLBT persons into the life of the church.

If you'd like to follow along and see what's happening with these resolutions, you can find the link here. You can also find ministry reports there too...as well as an overview of how a resolution makes its way to General Assembly (which, if you're sorta a geek like me, you might find interesting!).

But about that "vote" that I referenced....

As you may know, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) stands by the idea of congregational autonomy...which means, that though we have a few "essentials" (which will be a future blog post)... for the most part, each congregation makes its own decisions, hires its own leaders, decides how to disseminate its financial gifts, interprets scripture, and practices the faith INDIVIDUALLY... without a judicatory or hierarchical body mandating the parameters. 

Because congregations practice autonomy, it also means that when the General Assembly gathers and "votes" on something (like say, full inclusion of all persons into the sacraments of the church), said vote becomes what is called, a "sense of the Assembly."  This means...that the denomination is leaning in this direction (at least those who have gathered)....but it's not a mandate for the local congregation.

That's frustrating for many of us...especially when these "sense of the Assembly" votes move the arc of justice and inclusion and hope in such a way that points to God... but it's also a gift.

We live in a world that is very "black and white" with stark lines drawn between Democrat and Republican, Liberal and Conservative, Pro-Life and Pro-Choice, Homophobic and GLBTQ Advocate, Pacifist and War Supporter, Christian radio listener and Top 40 jammer...you know.  But the church (because of this congregational autonomy, which means that we readily and willingly fall on both sides of just about EVERY issue) gets to figure out how to live together and talk together and argue together and pray together and weep together and break bread together... because we're in this together!

We know, deep in our souls, that unity is not about likeness of mind...but about likeness of Spirit. We know that sometimes, thoughtful dialogue is the spirit at work.  We know that sometimes God uses dissension in the community of faith to increase our capacity to love [Suchocki].  We know that relationship trumps doctrine. 

And what a gift we have to share with the divided world...a gift of new vision: a vision of the Kingdom of God, in all of its diversity and messiness and confusion and gray areas, that is still united in Spirit and Love!!

What a gift it is, to be church.

Thanks be to God...

rt

Prayer: Finding

We will not find
that needed justice
in our apathy;
we will not find
that elusive wholeness
with our quarreling;
we will not find
our hoped for unity
with our doctrines;
we will not find
our misplaced love
with our hating;
we will not find
that rest we crave
in our overflowing planners;
we will not find
the peace you offer
in our well nursed grudges.

but
we will find you
in the brokenness of the Bread
and in the breaking of our hearts;
we will find you
when we drain the Cup,
refill it with our gifts,
and offer it to a little child;
we will find you
when we squeeze closer together,
making room at the Table
for all your people.

Help us to find you,
God in Community, Holy in One. . .
 
Amen.

~ written by Thom Shuman

Monday, July 15, 2013

General Assembly: Day 3

Surely the Kingdom of God must look a little like, what we experienced tonight, in worship.

A table piled high with loaf after loaf of bread.
Lights shining.
Guitars and drums and violins making joyful noise.
The "least of these," preaching a prophetic word.

The littlest ones, playing in the center of it all.
Adults water-coloring with children who were not their own.
Puppets telling the story.
Scripture being read in five - FIVE - different languages.
And songs being sung by heart.

Bread being consumed in the soul.
Holding hands.
Wiping tears.
Loving God.
Living faith.

THIS is Kingdom.


"And God was in their midst."

Thanks be to God...

rt

Prayer: Unity

O God, we are one with you.
You have made us one with you.
You have taught us that if we are open to one another,
you dwell in us.
Help us to preserve this openness
and to fight for it with all our hearts.

Help us to realize that there can be no understanding
where there is mutual rejection.
O God, in accepting one another wholeheartedly, fully, completely,
we accept you, and we thank you, and we adore you,
and we love you with our whole being,
because our being is in your being,
our spirit is rooted in your spirit.
 
Fill us then with love,
and let us be bound together with love as we go our diverse ways,
united in this one spirit which makes you present in the world,
and makes you witness to the ultimate reality that is love.
Love has overcome.
Love is victorious. 

~ written by Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

Sunday, July 14, 2013

General Assembly: Day 2

Tonight, The Reverend Dr. Sharon Watkins, our General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), presented to the gathered assembly, the State of the Church. 

You know the numbers.  We've talked about the stats.  The depressing downward slide.  The troubles... the "why are they so big when we're so small" conversations... the hand wringing... and heavy sighs.

We know all that. 

We're living all that.

But tonight she said one thing, that I want us to remember....to claim...to make our own, as we move into the future: "If we were to compare ourselves with God's future, rather than our past...the horizon would be bright."

When I first heard that sentence...that statement of FAITH and HOPE and FUTURE... an "amen" erupted from my lips! 

May we be those people...as congregational people and denominational people... but even more so, as faith people... who compare ourselves to God's future... with faithful abandon and reckless hope...and believe (like, way down in our toes and in our gut!) that God is NOT done with us yet! 

Thanks be to God...

rt

Cost: Trayvon

When a child dies at the hands of another...especially at the hands of violence...it costs us. 

Sure, it costs money and air time and news space and all those bits of "cost" that actually, somehow, manage to benefit someone else...someone other than the one who has died (namely, lawyers and networks)...

But it costs us...as human beings...who have been knit so intricately together, by the Divine strand of creation...it costs us our spirits.  It costs us that little glimmer inside that says "God is bigger than this" and we start to ache in ways that are insatiable.  We start to glance at others with a shroud of suspicion.  We start to believe that humanity is just as "bad" as we've been led to believe.  We start to pray a little less.  Shout alleluia a little less.  Fall on our knees a little less.

And God weeps.  God weeps for Trayvon and all the children who have known a violent death at the hands of another.  God weeps for his mother and all the mothers who grieve for children who were snatched from their embrace sooner than they could have in a million years, dreamed.  God weeps for those who take another life and snuff it out, as if their hands did not possess the Divine thread.  God weeps for those who seek "justice" in ways that beget violence.  God weeps when we turn our heads from that which startles us or makes us uncomfortable... or when we ignore the violence that we have a hand in perpetrating.  God weeps when we lose heart...when our souls fail to sing...when our eyes dry with apathy.  God weeps...

Yes.  God weeps this day. 

But let that be enough.  Let the Divine Tears take our jadedness and our exhaustion and our grief and our fear and our apathy...so that we might rise above it and be who we have been called and ordained to be.  That is...let us be and act and react as those who are knit together by the Divine...created and sustained by the Divine...called GOOD by the Divine...and sent out by the Divine.  Let us be those who are life-giving and not death-dealing...justice oriented and not ego oriented.  Let us act in ways that require great feats of love, rather than disdain or apathy or listlessness.  Let us react in ways that are grace filled and not retaliation minded. 

Let us, dear Lord, be the people of God...

Thanks be to God...

rt

Saturday, July 13, 2013

General Assembly: Day 1

Day 1 of General Assembly has come to a close and as I get ready for bed, I'm struck by a few things:

1. There's something about General Assembly that evokes a renewed sense of denominational pride and loyalty.  So much so, that I painted my toes to convey that pride and loyalty! And the fact that I took, and published, a picture of said toes, is a testament to how proud I really am, of our Church!  (I may or may not have a weird aversion to feet.)

2. Worshipping with 4,500 other people who all breath the same Disciples air you breath...is well...breathtaking.

Tonight, in the sermon, a church in Ohio was referenced.  This church has, just outside their entrance and engraved in stone, the following:

We agree to differ;
Resolve to love;
And live to serve.

Can we all just engrave this on our hearts, and be done with it?!  As people of faith, as local churches, as regional bodies, and as the general manifestation of a what it means to be "church," I wish we could make this our mantra (if we were the kind-a folks who had mantras).  "We agree to differ, resolve to love, and live to serve."

Instead, we get things muddled.  We forget that the church is bigger than us.  We forget all the good that the church has nurtured in us...all the moments of reconciliation it has fostered...all the voices of justice that it has reared...all the glimpses of the Divine that it has allowed us....

And I think what General Assembly does, at least for those who actively participate, is help clear the muddled waters a bit.

I mean, it's not like we don't step out of the worship service saying things like, "I would'a ended that sermon differently," or, "I can't believe I paid $35 for that piece of dry chicken?"  Afterall, most of us (or the clergy at least), spent three years of seminary learning how to critique.  Everything.  It's part of our job.  It's part of being prophetic.  It's also just part of being human.  And dare I say, it's part of being church.

But in spite of our critiques, there's a hope that floats just a little above our hearts and a giddiness in our voices, that reminds us WHY we're church. 

...When the fear of "not good enough" tries to conquer us...we are reminded that God has called us to be the Divine presence to a broken world.  Even in our own brokenness.
...When we fear "what might be" and retreat into safe-keeping...we are reminded that God is with God's people...be it, in the desert or the valley or the sea.  Or even in death.
...When we fear saying something - anything - because it might ruffle a feather...we are reminded that God spoke mightily, and gave even those who were not public speakers, a voice that was salvific. And God expects us to continue to be a voice of Justice, Peace, Hope, and Reconciliation.
...When we fear that the world is too much...the injustice and the murder and the hatred and the anxiety and the pain...is just too much, and it begins to seep into our soul... we are reminded that the burden is not ours to carry alone, but one to share with the One who is creating and re-creating and the One who empowers us, as co-creators.
...When the fear of dying tries to break us...we are reminded that God is a resurrecting God.  And new life can only begin, when we let that which is dead in us, die fully.

Tonight, The Reverend Dr. Glen Miles (minister of Country Club Christian Church in Kansas City, Missouri) served as the opening worship preacher...an honor, no doubt.  And during his sermon, he said something (well, several things...but one in particular) that struck me as truth. He said: "Fear is about our ego... and not about God."

If we're to be a people about God...and not about the ego (let the world do that...it's pretty good at it anyway)...then we have to let those fears go.  We just have to. 

We're breathing the same Divine air (be it Disciple or Buddhist or Anglican or...or whatever air you breath).... let it inspire our pride and our loyalty, our passion and our compassion, our voice and our heart.......let it inspire us

Just a thought, on this General Assembly evening...

Thanks be to God....

rt

Friday, July 12, 2013

Worship: Live Streaming From General Assembly

While Disciples from all over the country, gather in Orlando for five days to study and learn, pray and teach, laugh and cry...one of the things they/we will do best, is worship! 

If you are interested in watching a live stream of these daily and nightly worship services, click on the link here, and follow the instructions as necessary.

Teach us to pray, O Lord!! Teach us to pray!

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Mark 4: With Story

Then Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man who then goes to bed and forgets about it. The seed sprouts and grows—he has no idea how it happens. The earth does it all without his help: first a green stem of grass, then a bud, then the ripened grain. When the grain is fully formed, he reaps—harvest time!

How can we picture God’s kingdom? What kind of story can we use? It’s like a pine nut. When it lands on the ground it is quite small as seeds go, yet once it is planted it grows into a huge pine tree with thick branches. Eagles nest in it.

With many stories like these, he presented his message to them, fitting the stories to their experience and maturity. He was never without a story when he spoke. When he was alone with his disciples, he went over everything, sorting out the tangles, untying the knots.

+Mark 4:26-34(MSG)


I don’t know who Samuel Johnson is, other than he was an Anglican and an English poet, but I’d like to buy him coffee.  Because in two sentences, he has articulated the plight of mainline Christianity, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)…and maybe more specifically, Cherokee Christian Church.
It’s not new news, that there are some denominations and some independent congregations who have no problem telling others what to believe and how to function in the world.  Be it marriage equality, immigration reform, Biblical literalism, or the “place” of women…someone, somewhere, in the world of religion, is making a bold and courageous statement about something (even if it’s NOT the bold and courageous statement I would make). 
And because these congregations and denominations feel comfortable making these statements about the “big issues,” they have little hesitation in making bold and courageous statements about the micro-issues, like…weather or not a congregation should sell their building or if they should change the color of the paint in the hallway.  Oh sure…there’s always some moaning and gnashing of teeth for any change…we are a people who value homeostasis…but for most of these apostolic and theologically conservative expressions of faith, when change is in the air, it’s just common knowledge that the “buck stops” with the leader…the priest or the pastor…even if you don’t agree. 
Either fortunately or unfortunately, that is not the case for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  It would be nice sometimes though, wouldn’t it?  If the region would just come in here and tell us what to do…no more thinking about it or praying about it or bloomin' discernment. But that’s not how it works for us. 
Instead, we have a long history of looking unilateral decisions right in the eyeball and then…coming up with every possible objection, alternative, voice, and argument we can think of…until we’re so tired of talking about it, that we give up…retreat…and end up back where we started.  Which is: stalled.
And it’s where we’re at today.  As Cherokee. 
You’ve been Unbinding Your Heart and waiting for New Beginnings for over three years now…and in the past six months, I’ve listened to all the reasons why new ministry ideas won’t work.  I’ve listened to why old ministry ideas, tried once and having failed, would never work again.  I’ve fielded calls and emails wrought with anxiety about how to keep “this” going, but when I’ve asked what the caller on the other end of the line might do to help, I’ve been greeted with silence.  I’ve listened to the yearnings for fellowship and service and study and yet, when offering opportunities for fellowship, service and study, few of those who have asked, are filling the seats.  I’ve heard complaints about the music and the bulletins and the air conditioning and the yoga studio and the AA group and the kind of toilet paper that can be found in our bathrooms…
...but I have not heard us talking about the disproportionate suicide rate of these kids who are returning from war or the alarming number of homeless, run away children who are gay, lesbian, or transgendered.  I have not heard us talk about the lack of support for the working poor or the lack of advocacy for those seeking citizenship in our country.
To be frank, I haven’t heard us talk about any of the kinds of things that Jesus talked about.  And if we wanna be church…well, then we ought to be talking about those things….not the “used to” things or the “that’ll never work” things or “we’ve done that before and failed” things.  But the things that matter.
My guess is, you wanna talk about those things.  But don’t know how.  Or don’t wanna get into it, in case you offend someone. Or you’re afraid of the work it might require.  Or maybe you didn’t know that the church was a place where you could talk about those things.  Or maybe you’ve gotten so used to talking about all the other stuff… you’ve gotten so used to talking about saving yourself, and all the micro-ways we try to do that (by controlling who uses the building and how, or what sort of toilet paper we should buy)...maybe you gotten so used to talking about that stuff, that you’ve forgotten how to talk about the stuff that matters.  I don’t know.
But I’m gonna be blunt here and say, we’ve gotta make a shift, as the whole Body of Christ, from those who love this church…to those who love God, who serve Jesus, and who trust the Holy Spirit.
I get it, you guys….I really do.  We love this place.  I probably don’t love it like some of you love it…because I didn’t raise my children in this place or walk my daughter down the isle or grieve my spouses death in this place.  I haven’t sat in the same pew for 45 years, looking at the same storied window through all the hills and valleys of my life, like you have.  I haven’t tasted communion on my tongue and wondered where it’s been my whole life, like you have, in this place.  But I get it.  Our places matter.

So some of you walked out last Sunday…hurt, pained, and despondent.  Some of you walked out, saying things like, “fine, let’s just sell it  [the building] and be done with it.”

As if that were the only option.  And maybe it is…though that will depend on you.

Because there are some other options out there.  But they will require your participation.  They will require you to put aside your old conversations, and have new ones.  Because we just can’t sustain “this” for forever.  The way it is, right now.  If we do…we will die.  And Cherokee Christian Church will die. 

I mean, the brass tacks are this: There are 47 of us worshiping, on average, each Sunday…in 28,000 square feet.  It costs us about 46,000 a year, just to maintain the building.  That means, no big repairs, no major improvements, no assessability shifts, no facelifts.  But more importantly, that also means we don’t make big moves….we don’t engage in big ministries.  In part, because we don’t have the money (though this is a misnomer).  But I think mostly, it’s because we don’t have the energy. 

We may not even realize it, but a whole heck of a lot of energy goes into anxiety.  And anxiety kills dreams.  It just does. 

So it’s time to put the dream killing aside, and start telling our story again. 

A story of a tiny seed being planted in the middle of a growing little town, that grew so big, that it nested eagles. A story of widespread community outreach and intentional world outreach and tiny hands learning what it means to do outreach.  A story of celebrations and farewells and welcome.  A story of hope and work and prayer and pain and laughter…….all branches of a story, planted by one little seed. 

The seed that was planted here in 1950 has grown from tiny sapling, to aged tree….and in a lot of ways, the soil is no longer fertile.  The time we live in, does not assume full pews and full offering plates, and the needs of the community do not necessitate our inclusion.  And so WE need to fertilize the great and mighty tree. 

At the Wednesday Night Discernment Study…near the end of the series, we did an activity, which asked each member of the study to dream.  I think we had 10 people there that night (which, for those of you who are quick with your math, know…that’s about 1/5 of our congregation)…and once they divided up into pairs, they took some time to formulate their dreams.  Returning to the round table to share, we found out quickly, that each dream included nurturing children.  Which just makes sense, when you’re housing eagles nests, right.

And so, that dream has been taken to your Elders…that dream of caring for the least of these…and they’re talking about it and giving life to the dream.  Today, following worship, chances are good, they’ll start to make some tangible decisions about that dream as they’ve spent the last month intentionally praying about what sort of “hat hanging” ministry Cherokee might engage in with passion and commitment.

Cause see, Cherokee, over the years…has become a little complacent.  And that happens….it’s not a critique.  It’s just reality. The fervor of being a new church wears off….or the ease of being a big church dissipates…or the excitement of a new leader grows stale. 

Complacency just happens. It happens in our relationships…in our jobs…even in our hobbies.  But especially in our churches.  And it’s killing our churches.  Especially those of us in denominations who value the voice of the congregation and who seek to find common ground together.  We work so hard sometimes to find our common ground that we sometimes fail to ever touch the ground!

But if we don’t hang our hat on anything, other than being together on a Sunday morning… we’ll never grow.  Sure.  But more than that…we won’t live out our mandate – our command from Jesus our Lord – to love and serve our neighbor as ourselves.

I know you don’t wanna be that church, who “just” keeps their doors open.  I know your history…I know your hearts…and that’s not you.

Because, you’re that mighty tree -- that glimpse of the Kingdom of God -- who has nested eagles!

But it takes work.  And say what you will about being tired or wanting to pass the torch. I betcha, if you can release the energy you spend on being anxious about what the future of the church might look like….and put that energy in being present for that hat hanging idea that the Elders are excited and encouraged by…I bet you’d be surprise how much energy you have.  I bet you’ll be surprised how high you can hold that torch still.  I bet you’ll spend more time being filled with joy, than perfecting your furrowed brow.  God just works that way. 

It’s why God is SO good.  Because every time we say can’t or won’t or no way or I’m too tired….God’s says, “I have a different ending to that story.” 

God says, I give you a tiny little seed….and I will turn that tiny seed – in to a mighty tree, big enough and strong enough and good enough and wide enough to nest eagles.  And I’d like for you to be part of it!

God doesn’t need our help….  But God…from beginning to end…desires our help, our investment, our relationship……so much so, that we have been named co-creators.

Don’t you wanna be part of that God-activity?!  Don’t you wanna go from this place, knowing that whatever tiny seed you might sow today, has the potential to house eagles?! 

Let’s give passion a go.  Let’s give action and reaction and engagement with God’s mission a go.  Let’s write a different ending to our story.  We may still not be able to hold on to “this”…we may still find ourselves in need of major changes and needing to make difficult decisions…but at least we’ll have been living out and telling a story worth hearing.  Not a story of little church, that sputtered to a stop…but a story of a church who housed eagles, till the very last day and the very last moment.  Let’s be that church.  We have a story to tell.  And it’ll take all of us, to tell it.  Amen.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Welcome: Entering The Information Age

Who says the church is behind the times? Irrelevant?  Techno-phobic?

See.  We've got a blog.

Oh sure...blogs have been "a thing" since Al Gore invented the internet.  But look! We've totally jumped on that bandwagon.  Ten years later. 

Who are we kidding?  Twenty years later. *sigh*

The thing is, the church is slow to move.  It's slow to embrace every folly and every whim that society comes up with...mostly because within the concrete walls of the church (talkin' building, here) you've got a three year old, sitting next to a 93 year old...and that gap can be hard to bridge at times.  Because though the three year old is navigating his iPad mini with ease, the 93 year old doesn't always understand what the draw is...

And so the church moves slow.

The church moves slow, because we're diversified.  Sure, we could do better (afterall, it's common knowledge that the most segregated time each week, is Sunday morning).  But for the most part, the church functions because a long, long time ago, a group of men and women who fell in love with the message and mission of Jesus Christ, decided that it was worth it...to teach men the stories...to ordain women into ministry...to value the opinion of their elders...and to welcome the question of the child.  A long time ago these men and women who loved Jesus and dreamed big dreams about a world that looked like the Kingdom of God, decided that it was worth it...to welcome the faithless...to embrace the foreigner...to gather the broken...and to share bread with the unwanted.

In the intervening time, we've screwed this up, now and again.  We've misinterpreted the Bible and told women they are sinners and excluded our elders from our hand-waving songs of praise and silenced our children when we didn't know how to answer their questions.  We've shut our door to those who sin differently than us...and frowned upon those who sound different than us...and excluded those who love differently than us...and shuddered at the idea of sharing table with those who know brokenness differently than us.

But for the most part, the church hasn't changed much.  And so we still hope.

We still hope that the elderly life-partners have something to teach the newlyweds, who sit two pews ahead.  We still hope that the 93 year old, might watch the 3 year old, and rejoice with the child, when another level of Candy Crush is conquered.  We still hope that shouts of praise, no matter what language they are shouted in, are heard by God and rejoiced in.  We still hope that justice might rain down like water...that the poor might know respite, that the hungry might know satiation, and that the disenfranchised might know a safe place as they search for the bits of their heart.

And so...yes. We're twenty years late to the information-age. 

But in a lot of ways, that's because we're looking to our right and our left and trying to figure out how to be both relevant and respectful.  Hope-filled and awe-struck.  New and old.  And that's not always easy.

So bear with us.  And know that you have a place in church.  Even if it doesn't look like the rest of the world. 

Or maybe BECAUSE it doesn't look like the rest of the world.

Thanks be God.....

rt