Short Reflection on 44 Years

September 15, 1974,
Grace Moravian Church,
Center Valley, PA

I was ordained into the ministry of the Moravian Church.

Not what would have been expected just slightly more than 13 years earlier when I had my Bar Mitzvah. (God can have an incredible sense of humor.)

For the next 30 years I served four different congregations and then took a leave of absence, then retirement, to move into the world beyond the church. I was already working very part-time as an alcohol and drug counselor, but decided it was time to make that my full-time work. As I said a few years later, I finally heard God calling me into ministry outside the church.

I am still at that ministry of addiction counseling! Back in the 1970s days I used to say that the older pastors should retire when they got to 65. They had earned the rest; they should relax and enjoy life. That kneeling 26-year old in the picture had no idea what he was talking about. I am now 70- and still working. Admittedly it is on an as-needed basis. But for the past four months that has been 40 hours per week. I have no thought of hanging it up. I like what I am doing, although admittedly the 40-hour grind can get a little much. I'm now at 20 hours/week.

But it is always and forever about being there for people. That's what ministry means to me. Over the years I have asked many non-clergy about how they "do ministry" in their daily jobs. Most were not able to answer me because they saw ministry as the work of the clergy. What I do now is not done because I am an ordained pastor (Ret.) Nor is it a job. It is an expression of who I am and what I have received and experienced from God, as I understand God.

It all officially began in that moment pictured above. After 44 years, it is no less exciting. And I still have so much to learn.

On This Date in 1974...

I was ordained into the ministry of the Moravian Church by Bishop Ed Kortz. Quite a journey it's been. Especially after I realized I didn't know what I was doing and started looking around for God.

Hymns That Move Me: Two More Lists

As I said last week, to limit myself to only 10 of my favorite hymns is nothing short of impossible. On the original Top 10 I purposely dd not include any of the great hymns of my Moravian tradition which is rich in music and hymnody. The earliest Moravians, followers of John Hus, published the first hymn book in the 1400s. Later, after emigrating to Germany in the early 1700s, they made music, including brass music, a central art of their life and worship. Sadly most of that music never got very far beyond the Moravian Church for many reasons.

So, I had to make a Top 10 for the Moravian Music, most of which would be at the very top of an all-time Top 10. But no, I had to make it 12 by adding two related honorary Moravian hymns.

(BTW, here's a link to an article a number of years ago in Christianity Today about us and our hymns.) So, here's the list:

Moravian-based Hymns
1. Sing Hallelujah, Praise the Lord
2. Jesus Makes My Heart Rejoice
3. Christian Hearts in Love United
4. Join We All With One Accord (No, not the car!)
5. Jesus Still Lead On
6. Hosanna
7. Morning Star
8. Most Holy Lord and God
9. Angels from the Realms of Glory
10. The Savior’s Blood and Righteousness
Honorary:
O Sacred Head Now Wounded (Passion Chorale)
O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing


But once you get me started, it's hard to stop me. I couldn't exclude the great "Gospel-type" songs, some of which are not really hymns but have become part of my spirituality and music. So, yes, here are another 10 which brings my list to 32.

Gospel-type Hymns/Songs
1. This Little Light Of Mine
2. Just A Closer Walk With Thee
3. Precious Lord
4. Just as I Am
5. Blessed Assurance
6. Will the Circle Be Unbroken
7. His Eye is on the Sparrow
8. I’ll Fly Away
9. Beneath the Cross of Jesus
10.Abide With Me

What next? Well, starting next Sunday I will work alphabetically through these three lists, picking one from each list each week to talk about here. It will be a series on "Hymns That Move Me". And by the end, there may even end up being a few more and I will then have my Top 40 Hymns and Gospel Songs. (I guess you can take the old DJ out of the radio studio but you can't get radio habits out of the old DJ.) Maybe I can introduce some of you to some of our Moravian hymnody and spiritual life in the process.

Easter- To Live.. For Others

The Lord is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed!

The Church is the Church only when it exists for others...not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison

Let those who have ears, hear!

Reflections on Bonhoeffer

For the writing I have been doing on the Dietrich Bonhoeffer quotes for Lenten Sundays, I have been reading the biography of him by Eric Metaxas. I am learning stuff I never knew about the 1930s in Germany and re-learning things I had long ago forgotten. Three issues have struck me.

1. Size of Germany- and how quickly Hitler took over. Literally a few months and he already had his storm troopers (SA and SS) ready to take over for the regular army. He was elected on January 31. Less than a month later, February 27 the Reichstag (Parliament) was destroyed in a fire, most likely instigated by the Nazis, though blamed on the communists. Within months of his election Hitler had managed to intimidate, legislate, and coerce the end of democracy in Germany with little to no opposition. We forget that Germany is about the size of our states of Montana or New Mexico. Consolidation of power was easier than say it would be in a country as spread out and diverse as the United States. Fortunately!

2. Taking over the church was part of the plan. It was already a state church when Hitler came to power. He hated the church and religion and was determined to co-opt and destroy it. The Deutsche Kristens (German Christians) movement sought to make it a Reichskirche, a Nazi religion. The almost succeeded but the Nazis were too open about their "theology" and its Nazi ideology. Instead, the overall German Evangelical Church (Lutheran) continued as the state church and was marginalized.

3. The ineffectiveness of the church in being the church. As a Christian, former pastor, religious individual, this was one more bit of data to add to what I have often seen. In general, the church as we know it has very little effect against such powerful odds. One reason is that it is easy to co-opt the church. One does not have to live in Nazi Germany to see this. Church historian Martin Marty named it "Civil Religion" in the United States. We see it every time we say or believe that we as a nation have a special place in God's favor. It is a mixing of patriotism, nationalism, and Christianity. It easily divides Christians along political and ideological lines and shoehorns theology into whatever we want it to say.

People like Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoeller worked at resistance and changing the way things were going. They did not succeed. They were steamrollered out of the way, co-opted by the Nazis and their supporters in the church. They became the "heretics" while those who were twisting Christian theology into Nazi propaganda were the official guardians of "correct theology." They were marginalized by laws making it illegal to be anything but a member of the official state church.

I am glad we have never had a state church in the United States. The general term "Christian" has often been seen unofficially as that. Evangelicals and Fundamentalists have acted that way. I hope we can manage to keep from allowing religion and state to become mixed up.

But there will be more thoughts on that in some of the upcoming Lenten Sunday posts. Back to my reading. I'll keep you informed.

Jan Hus- Apostle, Prophet, Martyr

I preached yesterday and since today is the Saints' Day for Jan Hus I brought some of my Moravian history and legacy to the Episcopal Church where we are now members. Here's the basic manuscript I went from.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday's Gospel

Mark 6:1-13
He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

The Sermon

On Being a Prophet

This morning’s Gospel is one of those eminently quotable passages: A prophet is not without honor, Jesus says, except in his home country. Mark made sure we saw the contrast as he moves from Jesus NOT being able to do many miracles in Nazareth to what the disciples did as they were sent out.

But this isn’t a story about having to leave your hometown behind in order to preach or minister. It’s about "call"- and the prophetic side of responding to the call. Which of course raises the question: What does it mean to be a prophet?

First we have to set aside the idea of telling the future - which is not what prophets are all about. When they tell what is going to happen in the future, they are telling what will happen when the people don’t follow God’s call to them. So the first thing prophets are about is hearing the "call". That leads to a sense of humility- the "call" isn’t about me, it’s about God calling the person. Humbling- or should be. When the prophet reaches that point then, they will begin to follow set of values or principles based on the way of God.

So far so good.

Unfortunately when one reaches that level of being “called” things begin to get a little dicey. A quick look around will show that the ways of God- God’s values- are not often the basis for what is happening around us in the world. You know- those values like

• caring for the least and the lost; 
• remembering the prisoner and the sick; 
• working for the betterment of the homeless and those oppressed by political, religious or economic injustice.

At which point the one hearing the “call” can quickly opt out or face an even more difficult choice. The choice is whether or not to challenge the status quo- the powers that be- and take the side of those who have no power; give voice to those whose voice is muted or silenced.

Perhaps that is why the prophet has so much trouble in his hometown- he knows the people as well as they know him and it becomes difficult to take those necessary stands in that setting.

But many DO stand up and find they have a more far-reaching impact than they would have ever thought.

Six hundred years ago [yesterday]- July 5, 1415- one of those prophets sat in a prison in Constance, a significant university and political center in SW Germany, near the Swiss Border. This prisoner had been promised safe-passage by the Emperor, but had instead found himself imprisoned by the officials of the Roman Church holding an ecumenical council in the city.

The prisoner’s name was Jan Hus and [today] is his Day on the Calendar of Saints of both the Episcopal and Lutheran Churches. He was a priest from Prague who was caught in the middle of church and state because he had responded to a "call" to stand up to what he saw as corruption in the church.

Awakened by the writings of England’s John Wycliffe, Hus antagonized the church by likening the pope to antichrist. He urged that lay people be allowed both the bread and wine at Eucharist instead of only the bread. Calling for a reformed priesthood, he repudiated indulgences and rejected masses for the dead as worthless. Like Wycliffe, he declared that the Bible should be the sole standard by which the church judges religious truth.

He went into exile in 1413, unable to return to Prague, where he had taught and preached for 13 years. He stayed in exile, not from personal fear, but because the pope has placed an interdict on any city which harbored him. Rather than give Rome a reason to deprive Prague of baptism and communion, he chose exile under the protection of his feudal lord.

Hus had been wrongly described as a heretic, charged with beliefs he never held.

Just before traveling to Constance, Hus had written to a friend that he knew that by himself he could not restore all truth but vows at least not to be truth’s enemy. The world may run on in its usual way, but as for himself, he said,

Truth conquers all things.

In Constance, the council refused to allow him to speak. They ordered him to recant his heresies which he couldn’t do, he insists, since he had never held them.

Knowing that he faced death by burning, if he did not recant, he made a final declaration on the 1st of July, 1415:

I, Jan Hus, in hope a priest of Jesus Christ, fearing to offend God, and fearing to fall into perjury, do hereby profess my unwillingness to abjure all or any of the articles produced against me by false witnesses. For God is my witness that I neither preached, affirmed, nor defended them, though they say that I did.

I say I write this of my own free will and choice.

 They sentenced him to die by burning at the stake. On the morning of July 6, 1415, Hus was given one last opportunity to recant- which he naturally refused- and he died singing.

His followers were both religious and secular. The religious side, within 40 years founded what is now called the Moravian Church. Luther a century later affirmed that he was a Hussite. The Moravians found their way to England in the 1600s and bequeathed the legacy to the Anglicans.

The secular side became Czech nationalists and this weekend, celebrations are being held around the Czech Republic on the 600th Anniversary of his death.

The idea that “truth conquers all things,” or “truth prevails,” is not original with Hus. A few years earlier, Wycliffe had written,

I believe that in the end the truth will conquer.

The work of a prophet is to speak the truth to power. It is to be a voice for God’s ways. It may not always turn out the way WE want it to. Nor is it likely to always be popular. But we- each in our own way are called to be a source of the grace of God. As we each hear the call to mission, ministry and the way of a prophet, may we heed the words of one of Hus’s prayers.

Seek truth,
listen to the truth,
learn the truth,
love the truth,
speak the truth,
keep the truth,
defend the truth with your very life!

One of Those Insights- Finally

They (whoever "they" is) have often said that age brings wisdom. I think I am beginning to believe that, if only in small ways. I had one of those wise "Aha!" moments the other day.

It was in the middle of a general BS session about the church. We were bemoaning the decline of the mainstream church. In my own small denomination, the North American church has declined by between 35% and 40% in the past 40 years.We're small to begin with so that really eats away at a critical mass that can support an ongoing denominational program.

We are not alone. A report to this year's Episcopal General Convention stated that losses exceed gains by about 16,000/year. They pointed out that this is the size of a small diocese.

The "big" religious news recently has been the rise of that group that is being called "The Nones," those who reply "None" to their religious preference. They have grown and continue to expand.

I was waxing sadly to my friend about how it feels to have watched that over the past 40+ years since I was ordained. This has, for all intents and purposes, happened on my generation's "watch." The culture and society of the Western World has shifted so quickly and dramatically- seismically, comes to mind- that the church was unable to keep up. We have seen so many things change- and we have tried to change with them.

All have failed in the long term. Nothing lasts longer than a decade any more. The cycle seems to be moving back toward more traditional worship, for example, after years of the contemporary style. Small group ministries are still around, but they are not the center like they were.

At this moment, I actually have no idea what the big, "In-Thing" is that church growth people are talking about. I know some of the movements that have been happening, but as far as the "experts" and "consultants" go- I have been out of touch and wouldn't even know where to start.

For at least the second or third time in 40+ years a number of church denominations are "restructuring" to be more able to respond to the changing scene around us.

Which brings me to the "Aha!" I had.

It was about this point in the discussion that I sat there and shook my head, resigned, hopeless.

"We tried everything we knew how to do over these years," I said. "The conservatives tried all they knew; the liberals all they knew; the middles tried both. And nothing has worked. We are still at this point today."

I give up! I have no idea what works. I just don't know!

At which point a weight lifted and a light came on in the back sections of my brain. I really don't know. It isn't in my hands, if it ever was. Not because I am now retired and not in any leadership roles; not because I'm stupid or out of touch with the society or culture; not because I am liberal and not conservative.

No, it isn't in my hands because it never was. WE have tried everything we have known how to do on both ends of the theological spectrum and in-between. WE have spent incredible amount of time, energy, and resources and we are still where we are.

Maybe, just maybe we are right where we are supposed to be today!

You mean declining? You mean having lost our central place in the society, the place of setting the rules and directions? That is where we are supposed to be?

Maybe. And the reason I say that is simple- that is where we are. Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today, the Twelve-Step programs tell me. Things are just as they are and who am I to say I know better than God?

 What a wonderful moment that was. I was at least momentarily aware that I don't need to feel guilty or responsible for the problems of the church that I didn't "fix" over the past 40 years. I don't need to make excuses or look for reasons for what has happened. Many wiser and more spiritually in-tune people have tried to figure that out. They have all come up with answers and solutions- and none of them have worked in the long-run.

But of course what is "long-run" to humans (say the past 50 years or so, i.e. most of my lifetime) is but the short-term in God's work. It is still an ongoing event. The church is changing, the church is struggling with our place in the world as the world itself changes.

Maybe it's time to stop looking for the answers or the right program or a scapegoat. (John Hus was burned at the stake as one of those scapegoats.) I am becoming very aware that these don't exist.

What does exist is what is right in front of us-

• the lost and lonely
• the hungry and homeless
• the suffering and struggling
• the hopeless and dying
• you and me

In other words the needs that continue to cry out for a response. They don't cry out for the right words or insights or scripture passage or worship style or even proper theology. They cry out for us to be there with and for them. They cry out to be accepted as children of God- a caring and loving God. This is not about growing the church or pointing fingers at sinners or kicking others out into the street or judging who is doing it right and who is wrong. This is about what we have always been called to do.

Ministry.

That I have done for these past 40 years. That I continue to do in non-institutional church settings where I am now called to work.

Are churches still dying? Are denominations shrinking?

Yes, but those are institutions. It isn't up to us to build them. (Remember- Jesus told Peter that he was the rock on which Jesus himself would build the church!!!) It is up to remain faithful to the call to care with God's love!

And for that all I can do is give thanks that I have been part of it for so many years!!!

Singing a New Church

In many, many ways the "old hymn tunes" still have an amazing musical power that most newer contemporary tunes don't have. Some of that, of course, is because the older tunes have an emotional power that new songs can't match. The old tunes are also rich in musicality. I am a big supporter of those who write new words to these older tunes.

Delores Dufner, OSB, is one of those amazing lyricists.

Last week in church we sang one of her powerful hymns, Sing a New Church, which is sung to the old tune many of us know as Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. That song is amazing and the connection with the old tune gives the tune itself a staying power.

Dufner's words hit me with the wonder of the third line of the refrain. It is a call to "sing a new church into being."

A new church- a renewed church- sung into being. SUNG into being. The music and melody of faith bringing faith into being.

I love her use of words that describe this:

• Summoned
• Gathered

• Diversity
• Unity

• Male AND Female
• In God's Image

• Dare to Dream
• The Vision Promised

• The Art of every race
• Weaving a song of
• Peace and Justice

Then finally coming together in the Eucharist- the Table

• All the human family
• A circle wide and
• Free

Amen- and
Amen!

© Oregon Catholic Press

Calendar of Saints: Copernicus and Kepler (1)

Twice a week I post a quote from saints from the Episcopal Calendar of Saints that week. They are to be meditative and mindful, playful and thought inducing. I hope they are helpful in your spiritual journeys.

Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler
Astronomers
May 23

Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was the first astronomer to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology, which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe.

Copernicus' epochal book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), published just before his death in 1543, is often regarded as the starting point of modern astronomy and the defining epiphany that began the scientific revolution. His heliocentric model, with the Sun at the center of the universe, demonstrated that the observed motions of celestial objects can be explained without putting Earth at rest in the center of the universe. His work stimulated further scientific investigations, becoming a landmark in the history of science that is often referred to as the Copernican Revolution.
-Link

Toward Pentecost (30): Connections

Being Picky

As I have admitted before, I can be quite picky and "snarky" about things that don't make sense to me, especially when those things are posted in a public place for others to see. Sadly, these things are usually put up to be "cute" or "funny" or "attention getting." Many of these, because of my own predilection toward things religious, are found on church outdoor signs.

It happened again last week. Driving along, minding my own business, a church sign told me that

Food for the soul doesn't use any calories.

First reaction: Silly.
Second reaction: There's something wrong with that.

It was a few days later that I realized what I felt was "wrong" about that. I am assuming that the quote was meant to imply that partaking of "food for the soul" was safe for those watching their weight. There are no calories there. So, come on in and have some "food for the soul." [I noted that they did not use "soul food", so I won't either.]

Well, right there was the misquote of the sign- food doesn't USE calories, it provides them!

What the sign was saying is that "food for the soul" uses no calories- it isn't work and takes no energy to accomplish.

Maybe "food for the soul" provides calories for the soul.
Maybe "food for the soul" gives us spiritual energy.
Maybe "food for the soul" offers nutrition we need to grow in our spirit.

But now I'm being as "cutesy" as the sign was.

But, again, the sign worked. It got my attention.

Why am I so gullible?  :)

Following

I liked this poster the first time I saw it- other than the standard problems I have with most representations of a white Jesus in a robe.

Sure, it's a religious schmaltz.
Sure, it's even tacky.

But I am sure it captures the essence of what Jesus said to his first followers.

It also describes the struggle that any "follower" has. Whether it's the fishermen along the Sea of Galilee 2000 years ago or my answering a "call" to "ministry" 45 years ago, it will be a wrestling match. Such a struggle never goes away. As times change, so can our call.

Just some thoughts.

Not Just a Job

Being a pastor was never just a job. Far from it. I did what I did because I was called. That word is not about hearing voices or some vision of heaven. It is living at the center of what God has given us the gifts to do.

For thirty years it was almost entirely within the context of a local church and a larger denominational setting. It was exciting, challenging, always new, and never what I expected it to be. I was honored, blessed, and humbled day in and day out with the opportunity to walk with people in their struggles and pilgrimages. I was able to sit in sick rooms, at death's door, in times of deep tragedy. I was also able to sit at weddings and baptisms, confirmations and graduations. I was there in some way or another as myself and as a servant of the church that called me.

At the heart of the call is to trust God. As believers we listen to Jesus' call to live in a faithful way. None of us does that well, which is where grace enters the picture. We all have different ways of doing that. The call- and ALL Christians are called- will change, grow, evolve. My ministry has been outside the institution for 10 years now, working with people who, in many cases have been hurt by the church or were afraid of setting foot inside one. It is no less important than when I was in the parish.

When I was leaving the parish ministry I would speak of "leaving the ministry" since that is often how the church sees it. I never left the ministry. I finally heard God calling me to a "secular-based" ministry. (That takes another couple of pages of description.) There is no difference between the ministry within the church and outside. Ministry is ministry is ministry. We all as followers of Christ are called to do it.

The End of the Church Year: The Servant King

Today was the last Sunday of the Christian liturgical year. Next week the cycle of the church year starts over with Advent. But first, on this last Sunday, our ceremonial "New Year's Eve", we remembered that Jesus is in charge. Period. End of discussion. Well, sort of. Especially on the years in the cycle when we read the assigned Matthew scripture:

Matthew 25:31 - 46 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This happens to be the Scripture passage that has been my watchword practically since I first heard it well over 50 years ago. I find it the perfect ending for the church year because it reminds me again of what it means to be a Christian. In this remarkable parable Jesus doesn't ask what you believe, whether you have been "born again" or have accepted him as your savior. Rather he simply tells them what he has seen. That's it. Forget the words. Forget the preaching.

Here, Jesus says, let me tell you when you served me.

And they were all surprised because they never noticed they were (or weren't) doing these things. They just went about their business each day doing what they felt was the next right thing. It turns out that in so doing some were actually serving Jesus- and some were outright ignoring him.

Jesus is rarely this clear in his proclamations. Most of them can be open for interpretation. This one leaves very little wiggle room. (I know there is some, but it is built on very shifty sand!) When I get this kind of message from God, I really do try to follow it, though very imperfectly, I must admit. I am sure I have passed Jesus by often this past week when I didn't stop for the homeless guy at the highway ramp. That's one I am still working on.

There I sat this morning feeling pretty damn good about what I was hearing. I started thinking about some of the stuff in the news over the past weeks- the guy arrested in Florida for violating the law that forbids feeding the homeless, for example. But the one that kept running through my mind was the big explosion over the immigration issues. I wanted to do something like the following:

When you don't take care of the least of these, you are not caring for me.
--Jesus


My mind then went to all those politicians who have been using this issue- and these children- as a political football. Many of these have professed to be real Christians (as opposed to us "liberal" Christians who really aren't.) They even found it disgusting that Obama would stoop so low as to quote the Bible about this issue. After all, doesn't the Bible only care about abortion and condemning gays?

In short I was feeling quite smug and secure. (Okay, self-righteous might apply.)

But one thing I do try to do is prepare myself when I go to church to be made uncomfortable. I really believe that "comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable" is a basic standard of Jesus. Even so, I wasn't prepared for it when it happened. Why would I be? All I was doing was praying the liturgy. When along comes the Lord's prayer:

...forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Who me? You talking to me again?

Of course Jesus was. I suddenly realized I was treating those "other politicians" in a way that I wouldn't treat Jesus. What might Jesus say when he came upon this part of my story?

Ouch. That hurts!

But it is not in comfort that I learn how to be a better person. It's when the shoe pinches, the message gets too close to home and the metaphorical 2x4 connects with the metaphorical side of my head.

I need to do something differently. I need to stop doing what I am "accusing" those others of doing- judgement, self-righteousness, and treating others less than I would like to be treated. In that sense it doesn't matter what they are doing (or not doing). What matters is what I am doing since I am the only one who can change me.

Therefore I'm going to use an old recovery meme. I am going to take two weeks to pray for those I am judging as being on the "wrong side" of the issue. I am going to ask that they be blessed and supported. No, I will not pray that they change their mind or heart. That's not mine to decide. But I am going to spend the time simply asking that the grace and spirit of God bless them. Period. Nothing more and nothing less.

After all, when the King comes in all his glory I already know what he's going to say. He told me this morning.

As usual I was brought up short and reminded that humility is something I should think about practicing more often.

A Week Late- But Never Out of Season

I know that last Sunday was All Saints Sunday. But it is always appropriate to remember the saints, known and unknown. Our handbells at church last week led off the All Saints celebration. Here is the video. Enjoy.

1. For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

11. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Completely Orthodox

She's a "company person." She gives the free food with no strings attached and then has the prayer service. She is part of the church alive in St. Paul. Here's a report from Religion and Ethics Newsweekly:

Being Pilgrims- As It Should Be

Since the title of this blog is the Wanderings of a postModern Pilgrim, and pilgrimage is a key image for me, I was struck by the title of a book I came across at our local library: Strangers and Pilgrims Once More: Being Disciples of Jesus in a Post-Christendom World by Addison Hodges Hart. (Note: Whoever finds books to pick for our local library does an amazing job of finding diverse and broad-based ones. If you ever read this: Thanks!)

In this book, Hart is setting up the idea that we are in the midst of a very significant shift in the Church's life and history. The world we live in, Hart says, is a post-Christendom world, the end of a world that began when Constantine followed the cross and Christianity became a state religion. It is now time for the focus to become Christianity, not the state-supported version(s) that have existed for 1800 years.

After an introduction to the ideas of Christendom and state religion, etc. he sets up five ideas, the first four of which he compares and contrasts with the world that Christendom has fostered.

• dogma, creed and orthodoxy, not dogmatism that divides and confuses;
• the Bible, not anti-intellectual biblical literalism;
• evangelism, not polemics, arguments and controversy;
• sacramental unity in baptism and communion, not disunity through abuse and misinterpretation;
• and always stays focused on the centrality of Jesus.

Hart is an amazingly eclectic person, although I am not sure he would agree with that about his theology. I get the feeling that he has a very strong and deep understanding of what being a Christian, a follower of Jesus, means and how that often differs significantly from the Christendom model where issues take on a more legalistic (my word) direction. He sees how through the past 1800 years the church- and therefore the message of Christ- has been co-opted by merging it with nationalism, patriotism and state control melding with church control. He is a strong critic of many policies of governments that many in the United States (the religious right) have made hallmarks of faith.

At the same time Hart seems to miss the stricter understanding of Christian morals and values that a Christendom model supports. In the early explanations he says that many of the failures of morals and values in our world today is a sign that the Christendom model has lost its power. Which, as I see it, leads to his view that Christians who follow the morals and values of Christ are going to be strangers and pilgrims in the world again. The believer will be outside the political and cultural mainstream now that the mainstream is no longer based on traditional Christian values.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised- and frustrated- by the book. Hart appears to be quite consistent in his understandings and explanations. There is a sense, though, that his moral stances may very well be the Achilles heel of his thesis. In some ways his arguments do not leave open the possibility of continuing revelation of understanding in a vastly different world from the one the Church began in. He is clearly not a fundamentalist or right-wing Christian. Maybe he is right, though, that we have such difficulty with "morals and values" because we have accepted the ways of the world in order to be good citizens.

It is an excellent book, however, and caused me to take steps back and think about what it might mean to be a stranger and pilgrim in this different landscape.

A 40-Year Memory

I sat in church yesterday before the service started meditating on 40 years. I wondered what I would hear or experience that would fit for this anniversary of my ordination.

Bishop Ed Kortz (r) and District President Thor Harberg (l)

That previous Sunday, September 15, 1974, was a beautiful sunny day in Center Valley, PA. I had been serving the church there, Grace Moravian Church, as a student pastor for a year and was now to be the first full-time pastor at the church in a number of years. Bishop Ed Kortz was the ordaining bishop and Eastern District president, Thor Harberg led the service.

The church was packed. It was a little chapel-sized church that had been a community Sunday School prior to becoming a Moravian Church. With the back door open we managed to have over the 125 that we could seat. Family, church members, college friends, seminary colleagues, clinical co-interns and neighbors made it a day of celebration.

As some of you may remember, I posted back in May on the 50th anniversary of my baptism at age 15. In those 10 years in-between I discovered a great deal about myself and my world. I moved from the small town at the edge of the northern Pennsylvania wilderness to the southeastern PA extended metro area north of Philadelphia in the Lehigh Valley of Bethlehem, Allentown and Easton. I had graduated from college, spent two years working as a conscientious objector, got married, spent a month in Israel and another on a cross-cultural trip to the Navajo reservation with the seminary. Now, 10 years later, I was making my ordination vows as an ordained parish pastor.

I became politically very liberal and was at the early stages of a theological journey that continues to this day. With the trip to Israel in 1973 I began this whole pilgrimage that I now call "postModern". Wikipedia defines pilgrimage as

a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith, although sometimes it can be a metaphorical journey into someone's own beliefs.

I am not one who is ever satisfied with where my faith is. Life and events and the world continue to move on around me.I am not the same person I was two weeks ago, let alone 40 years ago. Being a parish pastor helped me in that pilgrimage by continually confronting me with the changes in others, the world we all live in, and myself. I had to work regularly, if not daily, at deciphering the meaning of the faith in that given day and age.

It began earlier than forty years ago today, of course, but September 15, 1974 is one of those major milestones that cannot be overestimated in my life.

As I knelt before Bishop Kortz I knew I was placing myself in a unique relationship to the church. Not to God, mind you. I believed strongly in the ministry of all God's people, the Priesthood of All Believers, but I was being called to a particular type of ministry within the work of the church. My understanding of that has grown, changed, evolved, devolved, morphed and all kinds of things over these past forty years. I am not yet at a place where I am ready to sort all that out. I'm having enough trouble, and fun, doing that with the roots and flow of my life in my roots in the land and water of northern Pennsylvania. When I get done with that, this will probably be my next phase.

Then, 10 years ago I heard- and finally responded to- God's call into ministry beyond the church and its understandings of call and ministry. My second career has led me into even more opportunities that I would never have believed possible in 1974. Some of it strengthened what I thought I knew then; other times it forced me into challenging myself about faith and life and spirituality.

So, going back to yesterday morning in church, what did I discover, hear, or learn? Very simply there were two things. First was a reaffirming of my personal place within the Christian tradition. The Liturgy, the music, the movement of the Spirit within the service all continue to speak to me in ever deeper ways. Sometimes I have to really pull myself back to these basics. Sometimes it happens intuitively. But it does happen if I am willing to let go of my ego and let my God and Savior guide.

This came through most clearly when the pastor made a simple quote from Paul. Sunday was Holy Cross Sunday and at one point all he said was, with Paul,

We preach Christ and him crucified.

I knew I meant it differently that the fundamentalist or evangelical preachers meant it. None of us has the final meaning of such a statement. But I could bow in gratitude and praise to humbly affirm that to the best of my ability I have done that throughout these forty years. For many of those years I used words; now I use words only when absolutely necessary.

Which is the second thing I felt Sunday morning. I reflected on the Christian preaching and the work of the church which was my center of life for most of the past forty years. Even when I left the parish ministry I was still connected. I have preached, I have been a member of churches, my wife continued in her ministry until she retired a couple years ago. The church and its life continues to feed, frustrate and empower me.

But I sat there and knew that my move to a different ministry, and understanding of the place of "not-ordained" ministry was correct. Fifty years ago, following my baptism, I resisted going into "The Ministry." I said that those who are not "ordained" could have a greater impact on their world. Today I would rephrase it in less "either/or" terms, but I know that what I did was respond to God's call to ministry in non-traditional terms. To respond to God to do "ministry" is not a space, location, or theologically-limited vocation. It is the Christian vocation.

So, today I celebrate the ordination that was such a major movement in my journey. I still have a "higher church" understanding of ordination, but higher has nothing to do with importance. It is all for the glory of God. Which maybe the third thing I got from worship yesterday. the Epistle lesson was from Paul's letter to the Philippians. It is wondrous, and deeply moving, no matter how you interpret it within our faith:
Philippians 2...

...have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Excellent- But Too Narrow

Here is a video I came across today, made by SALT for the Pension Fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It is powerful and makes its point very well. A great message.





I kept wanting him to go one step further. I know it's to recruit people into the pastoral ministry, which of course keeps the pension fund financed. But I have to strongly and emphatically add a very important point.

Ordained ministry is NOT, I believe, the highest calling.

Ministry is the highest calling....

and ministry isn't just what the ordained clergy alone do.

The ministry we perform when not ordained, the ministry we receive from the non-ordained matters as much. The highest calling is that we are all to be ministers. THAT is what truly matters. Ten years ago I heard the call to change my place of ministry from the institution to beyond it. It was a move from doing the ordination ministry to a non-ordained ministry. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to say these things? The assumption is that ministry done by or in non-ordained-type settings is less important than what happens in the church. Many years ago this even applied to some type of less-than-traditional ministry. What s shame.

In September it will be 40 years since my ordination and ministry has mattered in and out of the institution in my life. For the past ten years I have done a ministry that does not require ordination. Most people who do the ministry are not ordained. It is not in a "religious" setting. It is a health-care setting and I am not there as a chaplain. It took me a number of years to accept the call from God that I felt. It was taking me out of the church where ministry happens. But it has given me the incredible opportunity of doing "ministry" in the very best and broadest sense of the word with people who we don't often find in the church. Exciting is too narrow a word to describe it.

Yes, I need my pastor(s) but the ministry is not just located in the ordained. The church needs its clergy, I think. But it is not the highest calling. I am just as "called" today as I was 40 years ago.

Take a look at the video again. Listen as he describes ministry.

Then let's go do it- all of us- who dare call ourselves by Jesus Name.

A New Day

Last Sunday, the church I have been a part of for over 40 years made a momentous decision. The national Synod assembly which meets every four years passed a resolution permitting persons who are in a same-sex committed relationship, to be ordained and serve as pastors. (This assembly was about 250 lay and clergy delegates from around the country.)

(Link for more information)

That 40-year number is significant for me. It was exactly 40 years ago at another of these Synod meetings that I began my journey as a pastor in this church. And it was at that Synod that a ground-breaking-for-its-day resolution was passed which did not condemn homosexuality but instead called the church to be open to pastoral ministry for all who might be gay.

This was 1974. For those too young to remember that was only five years (5 years!) after what has since been known as the "Stonewall Riots."

Early on the morning of Saturday, 28 June 1969, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning persons rioted following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar at 43 Christopher Street, New York City. This riot and further protests and rioting over the following nights were the watershed moment in modern LGBT rights movement and the impetus for organizing LGBT pride marches on a much larger public scale.
--Wikipedia

For gay rights, 1974 was almost prehistoric. Harvey Milk had barely arrived in San Francisco and was still figuring out how he would make a difference.

In 1974 many people would say they knew no gay people. That was simply because most gay people didn't let people know. It was too dangerous. Any gay clergy in our denomination were well hidden. For the church to say that it was okay to minister to them without also adding that they were sinners in need of redemption was a truly forward thinking idea, perhaps way ahead of its time for a small, mainline, every-day Protestant denomination.

In 1974 there were no women clergy in our denomination, though the first was about to finish her seminary studies and, within 6 months, be ordained. There were those at Synod that year who strongly disagreed with what was about to happen. They said it was going against God's Word and God's Will. We were starting down a very dangerous path, they insisted. Most of these did not attend the ordination of our first woman pastor a few months later. They were conspicuous in their absence.

Fifteen years later I was still getting comments from time to time about how women should not be ordained. (I even heard it again recently!)

In 1974 clergy were expected to get permission from their Board of Elders if they were going to perform a wedding where one of the persons was divorced. (Many ignored it, or with the general acceptance of their Board just went ahead without that permission.) A few years later when a divorced pastor was elected to a major office, several people commented to me that this was just wrong.

I mention these two issues because they are gender and marriage-related as well as to show how times have changed. To me this seems like a very short period of time- yet it was so long ago!

Over these past 40 years the church has wrestled long and often with the questions and theology surrounding gay pastors, gay care, gay acceptance. The international church even called on all Provinces around the world to have a moratorium on the issue and associated resolutions, which we in the Northern Province followed. But the questions remained. The biggest was the "internal" church-related question- what about gay men and women in relationships or, where allowed, married?

The church accepted non-practicing (i.e. celibate) gay persons as pastors. Sort of. Some ordained pastors left the church to go into a committed relationship or to get out of the congregational spotlight. Other gay people had their faith strained to the breaking point by not being allowed to become pastors become of their sexual orientation.

Some pastors with gay children were left wondering what they could- or should- do about it. Some were left in anguish. Others became activists.

Even during the first decade of the AIDS/HIV epidemic the church talked about- and cared for- many HIV-positive individuals. But they often avoided the underlying difficulties of homosexuality. During those years I worked with the Wisconsin Conference of Churches AIDS Task Force and wrote our denomination's social issues study guide on HIV. Even then, in conferences and workshops, it was often difficult to keep the issues from impacting each other when talked about out in the churches. Someone always wanted to shift the topic from caring for persons with AIDS/HIV to sin and homosexuality.

Slowly things changed. We learned of more gay persons in our congregations; we saw shifts in public perceptions; a younger generation which has grown up in these past 40 years often wondered what the big deal was.

Four years ago our Province started, again, down the road of discussion and decision-making on the ordination issue. With great leadership and tact on the part of our Provincial boards, listening and discussion meetings were held. People were given many opportunities to hear and speak. It was not easy. They handled it, I believe, superbly, always insisting on our motto: "In all things love."

Last Sunday the resolution was passed, 181 - 62- not an insignificant margin. While the votes were being counted the delegates stood in a circle, holding hands, singing. People on different sides of the issue were moved by the "unity in non-essentials" that this showed. One of the bishops commented that it was the witness of unity that was the big message of the day.

The problems and issue haven't gone away. More questions were raised. More will be discovered. The feelings of the rank-and-file have yet to be heard and considered. The move was made, aware of the potential for divisiveness, but with many prayers that sometimes it is more important to do the right thing.

Several personal reflections have come to me in the past week.
1) It is humbling to see the whole arc of this story from my first Synod 40 years ago. While I was not physically at this one, there was a spiritual connection I felt (and others as well) through Facebook and other social media. My prayer presence was powerful. I have yet to absorb THAT aspect of it. It is also exciting to see the fruits of labor begun 40 years ago begin to become reality.

2) I am reminded of kairos (God's time) vs. chronos (linear time.) In the proper time things happen, not on my time schedule. That does make it very frustrating and even painful to those waiting in linear time. Why didn't this happen sooner? What about those who have been disenfranchised in the past 40 years? We can, of course, ask their forgiveness and then move on together. But to have pushed this on our time schedule and agenda would perhaps have been even more devastating. Plus, all we have is today to do what is right. The past is gone.

3) This is not the first (or last) time that the church has had to deal with difficult issues that are quite divisive. People have left the church, calling it heretical and dead wrong, over many issues. To name a few:

• baptism of infants vs believer's baptism
• slavery and civil rights
• ordination of women
• abortion
• liturgy in the common language of the people
• wine or grape juice in communion
• music in church
• the type of music in church
• and on and on and on

The same will happen over this issue and then another and so on. It was the awareness of this that helped me move through this issue. I remember the Civil Rights divisiveness, I have had to say goodbye to church members who left over our more liberal-middle of the road stance on abortion, at least one family left the church when I went into treatment for alcoholism and history very clearly reminded me that it was an unshakeable, inerrant biblical truth that slavery was just. If every time a potentially divisive issue comes up we hold to the old ways, the status quo or the way we have always done things, we will never go anywhere or do anything. We will allow the church to be held hostage by narrow minorities. No specific church has all the answers; no specific church or denomination has The Truth; no church or denomination can be all things to all people. The Church Universal might, but not any one of us.

That is probably the most important reminder I have gotten out of the struggle on this over the past 40 years. It is important and I think we need to take ourselves a little less seriously on many of these concerns. Let go of our grandiosity, our human tendency to want or think we have all the answers. to be open and listen and continue in fellowship with others.

At the end of the day I am honored to have been a small part of this movement over these 40 years. I am excited by what happened last week and pray that we can all find the joy of our Lord's presence in this work. I am sure he is with us and will continue to be so as we work out the wrinkles and concerns that still exist.

And once more, to the leadership of our Province- thank you for a job very well done!