Questions Every Church Should Ask Regularly

1. How well do we know our story as contained in the Holy Scriptures?

2. How often do we read our story as contained in the Holy Scriptures in our day-to-day lives?

3. How often do we pray to seek out God's will for our lives?

4. How often do we share our faith with not only our friends but strangers?

5. What role does our faith play in how we view the world and how we act within the world?

6. How often do we live into our story by being the hands of God extended to the world to transform lives?

Hiatus and Ordination Puzzlement

So yeah, I have been on a hiatus from blogging. Something about getting campus ministry started, changing dynamics of Methodism within the Winona community, and having a 6 week old to pair up with our 4 year old has left me focusing on other things then this blog.

I have missed it, but I wanted to posit a musing, no, a question for my post today. I am preparing all of my stuff for ordination this year and started to look over the questions to really think on them for a bit. This caused me to run across one of the questions that we must answer and to wonder how should I answer it.

The Book of Discipline poses in paragraph 335.c.1 the following question:

"How has the practice of ordained ministry affected your understanding of the expectations and obligations of the itinerant system?"

Okay, lets really think about this one.... (those of you who are Methodist and understand the whole process of the movement towards ordination might have caught it already)

Here is how I would like to answer that question:

Considering I have not "practiced" ordained ministry at this point in my life I do not feel equipped to answer this question.

Short. Sweet. Blunt. To the point. I am not ordained so how in the world can I answer a question about the practice of ordained ministry? Well there are a couple ways one could look at this question.

1) This question is a remnant from the old ordination process where one was ordained a deacon and then was ordained an elder later. If this is true well then as the process has changed those in charge of unifying the implications of change within The Book of Discipline have missed a very big edit. I have to be honest, I don't have old copies of the discipline and am a tad too lazy to go and try to find an old copy to see if this is what the case is. If this is the case, well then I might just answer the question with my italicized response above.

2) "Practice" refers to the provisional period where one is not "ordained" but is rather "practicing" like one would for a game. (I use this term for practicing because the type like a "practicing" doctor would bring us back to #1.) Honestly my gut is that #1 is the reason for this question, but I could see how it is #2 also, but if it is #2 I am a bit troubled. Is that really what provisional membership is? "Practice"? Theologically this just wouldn't do and so I am inclined to say that the reason for this question is #1. (Of course I am a proponent that we should be ordained instead of commissioned and have "full membership" with guaranteed appointment and all its concerns as a separate review step or something. If it is #2 then my response would be totally different.

However, whatever the case might be the answer I want to give addresses the faultiness of the question and not the "intention" of the question and that could cause problems. Do I just take it as it is intended and give a 3rd response that they would like to see? That is what I will be thinking about for the next couple of days.

Encountering Christ in the Stranger

So I have been on paternity leave the past two weeks to be with my wife and our second son, Kai, at home. It was a wonderful chance to be with family and to see how our first son, Micah, continues to adjust to this change in his life. However, something also happened while I was on paternity leave that I wanted to share with you all.

Last Wednesday, Stacy and I went to Target to fill a prescription for eye drops to clear out Kai's tear ducts and as we were leaving we saw something that I had yet to see in Winona in my 3 months here. There was someone on the corner holding a sign. We couldn't read it until we passed by and it read: "Traveling Need Food & Money." Well we don't have cash and we had a full car with two car seats and so we headed home. However, I have been really thinking about what it means to live into the life of a disciple and so as we drove home, I told Stacy that I was going to go back with my car and take the young man out for something to eat if he wanted.

Well I drove back to Target and the young man was still there, I motioned him over and asked if he wanted to go get something to eat and he excitedly said "yeah." So we were off. I introduced myself and he told me his name was Dan. I asked him what he wanted to eat and he said he didn't care he liked all fast food, to which I said that it was my treat and he could have anything and so we headed downtown for some asian cuisine. We started to talk and I found out he was traveling from Massachusetts to California and he mentioned he was traveling with 5 others. So I asked where they were and he said over in the Wal-Mart parking lot flying signs and so I said lets go get them. So we headed off and I said why don't you all come over to our place for supper and so the journey began.

The whole group was traveling from a "Rainbow" gathering in Massachusetts and were heading to California. All of them were from the ages of 19-23 and were stuffed into two vehicles. We ended up having a great time together as we headed to the grocery store to pick out some food for supper (we had grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, and fresh fruit---strawberries, grapes, and pineapple) and then came back and got everything ready. I got to hear some interesting stories of their travels and how they approached the weird looks they get from time-to-time since they don't fit the societal norm. As we gathered around the table I shared with them that in a sermon on Labor Day weekend I had given each household in the congregation a loaf of bread and challenged them to use it to practice hospitality and enter into the life of another person and that this was one of the ways that our family was responding to that challenge. So we had taken the loaf of bread out of the freezer and unthawed it and to begin the meal we broke the bread and passed it around the table and I shared with them how as a Christian I understand that Christ invites us into the life of discipleship and part of that journey is gathering around Christ's table and I recounted to them the events of the Last Supper and then we invited them to dig in. We had a great time hearing some of their stories, hearing about their families, and just being in fellowship and communion with one another. Micah enjoyed "his visitors" (as he called them) and they were wonderful to him. As we finished the meal we hung out some more and I invited them to spend the night to which they said they were going to stay at Latch Island and so I said they were welcome to stay the next night if they were still around and that we could watch a movie. Plans were made.

Well the next day I ran over to the church and shared with David about the group I was entertaining at our house and wondering if the church would be willing to help me out by giving some money for bibles and some money for gas and food as they continue the journey. The church gave some money and I headed off to get some cards and bibles to give to our new friends. I spent the afternoon running to Rochester to find a Bible translation that used more everyday language of today (which I ended up getting the Poverty and Justice Bible which looked intriguing and connected with some of the things they cared about that I had picked up via our conversations) and then came back. I wrote each of our friends a letter sharing how I was thankful for the chance to meet them and how I wished them the best in their travels and why I was sharing with them this bible for them to take and then included some money for each to have. That evening we sat around the table to have some left-overs (we had made enough for 2 meals the night before) and continued our conversations and then at the end of the meal I shared with them how the Christ had reached out to me through the church when I was a teenager in need and why I was grateful for the opportunity to meet them and how what we were doing was in response to the love God had shown us through others. Hugs went around, etc. and then we went up and watched the movie "Saved" and had a great conversation afterwords. Cletus and Whitney spent the night at our place and the other four headed back to latch island.

Friday, they came to pick up Micah with me from school (something he had wanted them to do), but they arrived late. Micah didn't seem to mind and we talked some more and they let me know that they still planned to be in town on Sunday and so we talked about going to church together and so plans were made. They came to church and the church was very welcoming and extended hospitality out to them (which warmed my heart). We made plans for them to stop by our house on their way out and they did and we said goodbye, wished them well, and invited them back at anytime that they may be coming through again.

So why do I share this story? I share this story because Dan, Sean, Samantha, Seth, Cletus, and Whitney helped Stacy and I to begin to practice our hospitality. They helped us learn a little of what it means to be Christ in the world around us. They helped us to step into our life of discipleship. Did I convert a soul? No, and that was not my goal in practicing hospitality. We saw someone in need and wanted to show them that we cared and more importantly that God cared. We wanted to show them that Christ cared for them and loved them no matter how different their life was from what society expected. They helped us to take that first scary step of inviting a stranger into your home and Stacy and I were blessed by their presence and we hope to continue this practice with those who live in our community.

Seth, who is a Christian, took me aside that first night and said, "I just want you to know that I am so thankful for what you are doing. I have been telling them that their our Christians out there like you and this has helped them see it." I said thank you, but also responded by saying that Stacy and I are just trying our best to show other the love that God had first shown us.

They weren't perfect. They live life differently then many of us would. They smoke pot. They have been arrested.

BUT......They are God's Children too and nothing they have done negates the fact that they deserve to be treated just the same as we would treat our parents, siblings, or own children.

They helped me to understand that deeper. They put flesh and real stories to those intellectual realities I head in my mind and heart.

They became our friends. Stacy and I will continue to hold in our prayers each of them and trust that God will continue to work through others that they might meet.


From Left to Right: Cletus, Seth, Dan, Me, Samantha, Sean, Whitney

Wrestling Thoughts: Public vs. Private

Over the past week I have really been mulling over a post on the micro-church written by Andrew Conard. Some of the comments really got me thinking about public life vs. private life. You can read the post and comments here.

Now I think there is some genuine wrestling with one of the commenters on the functionality of the "home" within the life of a faith community. The commenter states:

I am wondering about possible shifts in the concept of “home” from other eras when this worked in the past, like the early church or even early Methodism. Seems like we have a great many more public places to gather; resturants, coffee shops, movie theatres, etc than might have been available in the past. “Home” seemes even more private, intimate, vulnerable to me becuase of this.

I assume your concept is that it is easier to invite someone to one’s home than elsewhere, but isn’t it possible that it is also harder?

I think these are important questions to ask, but it really got me thinking about some thoughts I have had over the past few months. Why is there such an emphasis on privacy? There really seems to be the strong demarcation between public and private and I am wondering if our Christian Identity calls us to challenge those sentiments.

I constantly am reminded as a young pastor that I need to make sure that I take time for myself and my family. I know this stems from pastors in the past spending all their time at work or allowing their work to dictate their life to the point that it led to exhaustion and split families. However, maybe I am just wired different. I believe that our lives as disciples call us to journey with our brothers and sisters in Christ and to grow together, and I am sorry but isn't the best way to get to know someone in their home? Isn't there something about having someone over for a meal and having discussion? Isn't there something about them seeing the photos you have on the wall and asking questions about the people causing you to share a bit more about who you are? Have we lost this?

Why is the home avoided in so many instances within the life of the church? We gather with these same people on Sundays and yet for most members of the church they might not even be able to tell you where most of the people live, let alone their story? Pastors have an interesting position in that they can do home visits, etc. and get to know those within the community better, but shouldn't this be what we are all doing? How can anyone feel comfortable sharing their struggles if no one truly knows who they are? Isn't it in these interactions in the home where intimacy between individuals is fused?

Public life seems to have allowed us to be totally anonymous while still feeling connected. We do have so many public places, but that makes it to easy for us to "feel" connected to people without really connecting with them. When I invite someone to my home that means that I care enough about them that I am willing to open up a space that our culture has made almost exclusively private. People can see the photos (even those embarrassing photos that show the fashions of times gone by), people use the bathroom (and you risk them seeing that place where you trust they will not snoop--the medicine cabinet--or in our case the "drawers"), you allow them to see how you live, what you value. People enter into your life. Not only that but when you invite someone into your home, you don't just welcome them and then invite them to take a seat on the couch while you make the meal, serve it, and then speak only to your family (wouldn't that be awkward?....oh wait that is probably what it feels like for many to come into our churches...oh snap). No, you invite them in, you talk to them, you ask them questions, you allow them to enter into your life by getting to know you intimately.

Perhaps that is why I have structured part of my campus ministry the way I have. Each week (beginning in October after I get back from paternity leave....whenever this 2nd son of ours arrives) we will gather at my house to have a meal and to celebrate the Eucharist around the table. People will get to know me and my family and I will get to know them as we journey together to understand God and how our lives interact with our faith. This intimate discussion just couldn't happen in a public setting because it is just too easy for us to remain anonymous.

This means that some of my "family" or "private" time is being invaded by my job, but you know what....my wife and I would have it no other way. We, as disciples, are fed by connecting with and learning from other disciples. These students are part of our family and we know of no other way to know them intimately than to invite them into our home where they can see all of our warts and blemishes but also really know who we are.

Perhaps we do really need to look more deeply at each faith community's relationship to public and private life. If most of our members have never been to other member's homes we might have to ask ourselves what type of community we are?

Just thoughts I continue to wrestle with.

I Need Your Help

So last night at the Outreach/Missions Committee meeting they were talking about T-Shirts for the Church, etc. and debating whether or not to do them as a fundraiser or to just have them for advertisement. Well I decided to interject and proposed that we do something different. I proposed that we make T-Shirts with our name on the front somehow (however that will be done will be up to someone else), with a slogan on the back.

Here is the catch though. I wanted this to be more than about T-Shirts, I wanted this to be a mission opportunity and so I proposed that we make the shirts and every shirt cost $10 and all that money go to Nothing But Nets (a favorite of mine). So every T-Shirt purchased will buy a bed net to help prevent the spread of malaria. (Granted I now get to try and convince people that this is a worthy thing to support and that I can turn their donation to help make the shirts into a greater gift for the larger body of humanity, etc.).

BUT I NEED YOUR HELP. I need to come up with a catchy phrase on the back that references the fact that the T-Shirt the person is wearing is helping prevent malaria by paying for a bed net. I know I have creative friends and so please do help by posting your ideas in the comment section.

My goal is going to be to get the church to get 200 bed nets by selling 200 T-Shirts (plus then that is 200 people spreading the news about Malaria and how it can be prevented on the back of their shirts......again the reason it should be catchy and intriguing).

Thank you in advance.

Stewardship and Church

I have really been mulling over stewardship and its relationship with the life of the church over the past few days. It was all sparked at our staff meeting over at Central UMC when a member led a presentation from Igniting Ministry. It had some very valuable questions that pushed the staff to reflect on what it means to be church and to move forward in ministry.

However, one thing really struck me. Throughout all of the material the church was referred to as "our church." Now I understand what was intended by saying "our church." The intention was surely to recognize the bond of the faith community, building, with the individuals who find themselves as members within that local context. However, I am starting to wonder if the "possession" of the church by its "membership" is somewhat misguided.

I have heard/read many theologians who push us to remember that all we have is given to us by God. Usually this language is pushed to get us to remember that the gifts we have and the resources (money, etc.) we accumulate are not fully ours but are given to us by God. In that way it really isn't "my money" it is rather "God's money" that has been given over to me to be a steward of. This was emphasized in my life by my mother.

You see I grew up in a single-parent household and we always went to church. However, when I was around 12 or 13 my mother ended up doing adult foster care for four gentleman with developmental disabilities. Sometimes it would happen that she couldn't bring the guys to church because one of them was having a bad day, etc. On those days mother would send a check with me to put in the offering plate. For the most part I would just drop that check in without looking, but one day my curiosity got the best of me and I opened the check.....$200....I was floored. You see money was very tight for us at all times growing up. My mother worked sometimes up to 4 jobs to pay the rent, buy us food, and maintain the car. She worked extremely hard for the money she got and I know as a young kid I always wished we had more money so I could have all the cool things my friends had. I can remember the moment vividly of my mind racing thinking of all the things we could have if mom didn't give away so much of "her" money to the church. I went home and asked her about it and her simple answer was this, "That money is God's not mine." I was left perplexed and stayed perplexed until I started to mature, had more conversations with my mother, and began to understand exactly what God had given me.

I have to admit that it took me a long time (until after college) for me to cultivate that same attitude, but I look back now and am thankful that my mother took the time with me to help me understand our relationship to God. Every year, Stacy and I are trying to increase our giving to God. There are times when I look at the checkbook register and realize that the money could have been used to decrease some of the debt accumulated in our early married life as student(s) but then I remember that I wouldn't have that money if God had not first given us the gift of life, the mental gifts for work, and the gift of faith so truly it belongs to God.

Now back to my original train of thought. When we use personal possessive pronouns in relationship to the church, I wonder if it doesn't reveal something about our thought. When I say "my" church or "our" church I am claiming some possession in it, somehow I am an "owner" of it. But is this right? I wonder when did the personal possessive pronoun come in to use when referring to church? These are questions I ask that I need to investigate some more, but they don't change some of the things I am thinking.

What would happen if we banned the use of personal possessive pronouns when referring to church. What if every church in its local context were referred to by it's name, but more importantly identified itself as "God's church?" Would attitudes begin to change? Would we start to really try and understand where God is calling us to and who God is calling us to be? Would we become less focused on "survival" and more focused on mission? Would our own lives be transformed in a way that realizes that we are but stewards of what God has given?

I have vowed this week to never again refer to the church I am placed at as "my" church (something we pastor's often do surprisingly) or as "our" church in any conversations. I will refer to them by title name only or "this" church when talking to those within. It is not because I don't feel a part of this faith community (I already feel very welcomed), but rather because I think we have to be very intentional in our language because in a way what we say helps transform and form who we are.

These are the thoughts running through my head. They are still at their beginnings and I still will be thinking about them and I would love to hear others thoughts. Am I off base? Am I missing something? Does it really matter?

Will "we" have that?

So today at lunch time I went down to the Guild Hall at Central UMC and had dinner with those invited to the "Golden Years Celebration" (read that as those 65+). It was a good time of food and distracting myself by texting the youth that were helping by serving the tables.

At the end of the meal they did a variation on a Hymn Sing. It was a variation because it really wasn't an open hymn sing where those gathered choose the music but rather was already planned out. Not surprisingly though many of the hymns included in the sing probably would have been chosen by those gathered. As I sat there singing with them and joining the tunes that I grew up hearing my mother play on the piano as she practiced for Sunday worship, I started to ask myself the following questions:

"What will be my generations "hymn sing"? Will there even be such a thing for us or even those a generation before me?"

Now I realize that there is a chance that some "praise" hymns could take the place of those old-time hymns, but I wonder about the staying power since none of the instruments used for "praise" hymns (outside of the piano) seem to have the same staying power as "the organ." Then I started wondering if we have lost our connection between music and spirituality. Personally, I don't think that connection is lost. There are so many songs I have heard by what some would call "secular" artists that explore the human condition and navigate the condition through relationship to God in some way. These songs feed my soul, but you know what they aren't part of "worship" within the church building and to be honest they weren't written to be sung by "all."

Have we as a society moved so far away from the corporate task of music in worship that all we have is the "old" hymns or hymns created within the "old" medium to help us join together in song? Obviously this isn't fully the case as many churches have other mediums than the organ and piano upon which they corporately join in song, but even when that occurs I can't help but have a feeling of passive reception.

I don't know if I will ever figure it out. This question is just one of the many questions I have been having about worship lately. As I myself seek to enter into authentic worship that comes from celebrating the presence of God in my life and the community around me, I can't help but wonder about what worship will be when I am in those "Golden Years." Will my authentic response to God within the medium of Worship evolve and change as my life changes? I have to believe it will. When I was 17, I had a better chance of connecting with God by interacting with those who had music that connected with the my teenage angst, but now I connect more with the mellow reflective music (granted I still love punk but only in smaller doses)?

Which leaves me with the following question to ponder: When we stick in one pattern of worship to we cease to authentically engage with the presence of God within the work of worship?