Sabbatcial Leave Taking.

Litany of Leave Taking   

Litany of Leave Taking: Adapted from the writing of Rev. Bart Kelso written for the sabbatical sendoff of Rev. Stacy Swain on Sunday, July 26, 2020 at The Union Church In Waban, United Church of Christ in Newton Mass

Benediction adapted from the writing of Rev. Eric Elnes found here:                          https://www.facebook.com/eric.elnes/posts/10159825106481907

All: We bring before you Holy One, our sister in Christ, our Pastor and friend, Carly Stucklen Sather. We send her on sabbatical with our earnest prayers, asking your blessing upon her, and upon this congregation that she serves.

Council: May this sabbatical be for Carly a time of adventure and discovery. May her travels introduce her to people and places new to her but known to you.

All: Guide her steps, O God. May she know your accompanying presence on each journey and find you waiting for her, welcoming her, at each destination.

Council: May Carly enjoy, in this time away: a release from responsibilities, a child-like curiosity, and a thorough refreshment of body, mind and spirit.

All: “Come to me,” says Christ, “all you that are weary and are carrying heaven burdens, and I will give you rest…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11: 28 &30)

Council: Grant to her, Gracious God, times of reading, times of play, times of deep contemplation, of rich conversation, of both leisurely dreaming and focused reflection. And enable her to gaze in wonder at the beauty of your creation.

All: “O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Ps. 8:1). “O Lord, how manifold are your Works! In wisdom you have make them all; the earth if full of your creatures.” (Ps. 104:24)

Council: Hear your servant when she prays to you, Holy God. Help her to worship you freely, whether in multitude of in solitude, joy or sorrow, in strength or in weakness. Watch over her and draw her close to yourself.

All: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness. Come into God’s presence with singing.” (Ps. 100:1-2). “I will sing of loyalty and of justice; to you, O Lord. I will sing.” (Ps. 101:1).

Carly: I leave you in the care of our church’s leaders – Council Leaders Tom Lowry, Jean OBrien, Erik Toman, Sherri Ries, Deborah Gardiner, and Brian Kasnick, and capable staff, Ryan Cox, Stephanie McCullough, Ginger Scarborough, AnnLaura Tapia. They will steward the gifts and graces of this community of faith in my absence.  I pass to Jennifer Burney the mantel of caring. She will lead you in caring for one another in my absence.

All: Let God, the God of the spirits of everyone living, set them over this community to lead us, to show the way ahead and bring us  so God’s community will not be like sheep without a shepherd. (Numbers27:16-17)

Carly: Friends, hear these words from the Apostle Paul to Christ’s people in Corinth. Let them be my word to you as well as God’s: “Finally brothers and sisters, goodbye. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. The amazing grace of the Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.” (1 Corinthians 13: 11&14, The Message).

All: “You shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace.” (Isaiah 55: 12a). God below you, God before you and behind you, God everywhere you turn and within you. Amen

Choral Response:        Aaron's Blessing         Walter Rodby sung by the Chancel Choir

Sending:  

All: May the Spirit of the Living God

Go before you to show you the way;

Go above you to watch over you;

Go behind you to push you into places you would not necessarily go yourself;

Go beneath you to uphold and uplift you;

Go beside you to be your strong and constant companion; and

Dwell within you to remind you that you are surely not alone on life’s journey, and that you are loved - loved beyond your wildest imagination.

Carly: And may the fire of God’s blessing burn brightly upon you, within you, and through you, now and always.

All: Amen 

I'm Leaving! Sabbatical Begins!

Portions of this article are quoted or adapted from the writing of Rev. Leah Robberts-Mosser who shared a pastors tasks on Facebook.  Found here.Here

 Beginning Tuesday, February 1,  I will be on sabbatical through May 14. I’d like to take a moment to write about what pastors do, about sabbaticals and why it's a good that pastors have them. 

A friend in this congregation said to me shortly after meeting him, "You have the hardest job," This was not a reflection about this or any other congregation. It is a delight to lead, teach, and minister among each and all of you....I love being your pastor and being in mutual ministry with you. Still, even when you are pastoring a congregation you love and that works so well together, pastoring is still the hardest job. 

This friend gave a couple of reasons for his perspective: Pastors have to wear many hats: CEO and janitor, caregiver and boundary setter, financial guru and fund raiser, evangelist and moral conscience in the community, and activist for “the least of these," cheerleader, truth-teller, entrepreneur, and--in these days—midwife to new ways to exist as a community of faith. 

Being a pastor is emotionally taxing. We have to hold different boundaries with the people that are completely different than those of anyone else in the helping field.  

• With tender hearts we listen to you talk about your anxiety and anger, your addictions, and your affairs. 
• We sit with a parent to help explain to their child that their other parent has died. 
• We remind you that you are forgiven even when you cannot forgive yourself, even when others refuse to do the same, especially then. 
• We are the person you talk to when you don't know where else to turn. 
• We figure out whom to call when you don't know who to call. 
• We sit in hospital rooms, funeral parlors, emergency rooms, and ordinary rooms where unspeakably awful things have happened. 
• We show up with grace and cups of coffee and sometimes those things are exactly same. 
• We hold your broken hearts in our hands and try to patch them up with the love of God. 
• We do patch jobs on poverty when desperate folks call or drop by the church. We fill gas tanks and buy diapers, pay prescription costs.
• Sometimes pastors witness your rage....sometimes it gets projected at us, especially when there are things you cannot control or do not understand. We have to learn to differentiate, and heal our own brokenness too. 

And we do these things discreetly.... never drawing attention to those helped or ourselves. We are on call 24/7, 365 days a year. Even on days off and on vacations, we get texts, emails, and calls about church – like “is it time to go virtual again?”.

It's not all broken hearts, though. Sometimes we get to witness your joy.  

• We're often the first to sing over your newborn child
• We bless your adoptions
• We officiate at your weddings
• We celebrate graduations and new jobs
• We celebrate anniversaries and birthdays with you.

In between preaching, laughing with the children, and pastoring, we brainstorm and trouble shoot. We lead and support the staff, work to keep the staff, and work to find new staff members when something doesn’t work out. We run the numbers, choose the resources, and train and coach volunteers. And then pastors show up to remind everyone that we are the Body of Christ and we are loved, endlessly. 

We do all of these things every week while trying to think theologically and frame current events in terms of our collective faith, while experiencing these events in real time. We are often only one step away from the surge, and sometimes it nips at our heels. We're lucky if that's all it does. 

And, in today's post-Christian era, we do all this with a fraction of the resources our predecessors had. Denominations are dying out -- we're having to create systems of support that were standard issue not so long ago. 

This is the work of pastoring people, God's beloved, made-in-God's-own-image messy, impossible, endlessly loved people. It is unlike any other work. This "odd and wondrous calling" is such a gift. And it's a weighty one.

And it is exhausting!  COVID has made this all the more challenging. Pastors have had to do "on the job" retraining to learn how to record or live stream, edit videos, and broadcast worship.  We've had to invent new ways of caring for the members of the congregation and help them keep connected to one another.  We've learned new technology like Zoom and Facebook Live.  We've learned how to teach confirmation with no students in the room, and lead communion while the sanctuary is empty.  All while dealing with our own loss of connection, family challenges, death of loved ones, and exhaustion.  It is no wonder that there are more people leaving ministry outside of retirement than at any other time.  Or, to put that another way, young pastors are leaving ministry  in droves AS WELL AS people who are retirement age. This going to lead to a huge shortage of clergy for churches that survive this panDAMNit.    

Sabbaticals are designed to allow pastors an extended period of time in order to regain the sacred rhythm of rest. For me, this sabbatical means that I can turn off my "minister's brain" and do something completely unrelated to ministry, something for me, myself, and I -- something that I've always wanted to do but could never make/take the time to do.  Getting away for a long enough time to rebuild the roof of my life, and stabilize the professional and emotional beams that hold up the walls of my living. Learning to be fluent in Spanish, and walking the El Camino both promise to renew my brain, heal my spirit, and revitalize my passion for ministry.

Sabbaticals are designed to allow congregations to stretch their wings and be self-directing.  For FCCLG, this means hearing a great variety of preachers, actively participating in the ministry of administration, thinking of new ways and new places to do the work of the church.  It also means that the lay leadership will have to step up and be the church in a more meaningful way, a way that you will discover and carry out.  

And so, I bid you so long for now.  I will post here and on facebook in a one way conversation that will keep you abreast of where I am and what I'm doing.  

Remember that YOU all are the hands, feet, and mind of Christ in this place. You have a calling and a ministry.  Be the church. Renew the faith.  Revitalize the message of God's extravagant grace and abundant love.  

Hasta que nos encontremos de nuevo..... paz.  

Carly

Sabbatical Plans

 

What Will Happen While the Pastor is Away?

The time during which the pastor is away is not “lost time.” It will be an opportunity for the congregation’s renewal as well.  The Lily Foundation Clergy Renewal Grant includes funds for the congregation to experience new ideas, activities, and growth.  From the application, our Moderator wrote of this time:

As a congregation, FCCLG looks outward for clues to guide us into a new generation of mission orientated service. We have noted and appreciate that many of our newest members are eager to give their time and talents towards advancing social justice. That God is still speaking to us on these important issues clearly resonates with our congregants and their children. As Carly has now led us through many administrative and cultural challenges, we are ready to forge ahead into a new phase of worship and mission. During her sabbatical and time of spiritual renewal, we will look to renew the spirit of our church body as well. Relying on guest preachers, fellowship events that focus on a journey of the spirit, retreats and nurture team planned events, we will gain a fresh perspective. …. FCCLG will be prepared to realize our future hopes, dreams, needs and mission. Finally, we will welcome a spiritually and physically refreshed Carly back with open hearts and new vision for our modern generation to Accept All, Reach Out, and Touch Lives.

Sabbatical Congregational Renewal Activities

The January 30, 2022 worship service will include a “sending” liturgy, and the fellowship hour will center around Rest, Renewal, Rejuvenation, and Revitalization. Carly will symbolically pass her stole to Jennifer Burney, our former intern who will share preaching with four ordained clergy, and who will lead members in caring for one another through the Called To Care team.  During the fellowship hour that follows, members of the congregation will be encouraged to bless her on her way.

The congregation will provide for congregational care through the Called To Care Team, and for worship through five preachers: Rev. Douglas Asbury, Jennifer Burney, Rev. Molly Carlson, Marylen Marty-Gentile, and Rev. Carol Ann Munro.   One Sunday in Lent will feature a choral sermon and musical focus instead of preaching.

While Carly is away, the Nurture Team will plan two “Church Family” events where families of every shape and size can gather together for fellowship and learning.  These will be intergenerational activities aimed at bringing friends and families together, including all ages and stages, for fun and fellowship.

The grant also includes funding for the creation of a labyrinth in the church.  We will create the labyrinth in an accessible area of the church (yet to be determined). It will be available for both the community and members to mediate and renew their spirits.

We will engage the expertise of Rev. Brandyn Simmons who will lead members of the congregation in a day long retreat on February 19 and two workshops on March 5, and April 2 on reinventing ministry for the Post Pandemic.  These will include introduction to walking the labyrinth, a journey through appreciative inquiry to find a path to talk about faith, and walk alongside new approaches to being the church.

On May 15, the worship service will include a “welcoming” liturgy with our Intern symbolically returning to Carly her stole; it will be followed by a catered Town Hall Gathering to share stories of the sabbatical and celebrate our pastor’s return.

Summary of Congregational Activities

Two congregational gatherings.

• ·       A Fellowship Hour following worship on January 30
• ·       A Catered Lunch following worship on May 15

Two opportunities for intergenerational activity

• ·       Created and led by the Church Nurture Team
• ·       Intergenerational and Inclusive of all
• ·       Fun, Fellowship, and community building

Three Congregational opportunities led by Rev. Brandyn Simmons –

Rev. Brandyn Simmons is an experienced trail guide for the congregation to explore new spirit songs, new approaches to being the church, and new conduits to mission. An intern’s trailblazing a path to ministry will offer the congregation new outlooks and vistas for faith and practice.

• ·       Praying the Labyrinth
• ·       A Journey Through Appreciative Inquiry as a means to talk about faith
• ·       Walking Along Side New Ways of Being the Church

You can learn more about Brandyn Simmons at https://www.thecrossingchicago.org/who-we-are

Other:

Creation of a walking labyrinth in accessible space in church building.

Covenant of Belonging

 

Covenant of Belonging

Invitation

If in this community of faith you have found a sense of belonging and are ready to claim your home here, if you wish to join with us in the movement toward a different world, a better existence for all, we offer to you the opportunity to affirm that you belong and to be affirmed in that sense of belonging.

I ask that if you are present in this space that you come forward. If you have found belonging through technology, I ask that you put your name and geographic location either in the comments section of your screen, or text this information to the phone number at the bottom of the video. {{Church Office Text Number at the bottom of the screen}}

Opening Sentences

We have all come to this community seeking belonging and a connectedness that is sustainable through a God that unites us all. We are remain in this community as those who seek to follow the two great commandments:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

Love your neighbor as yourself.’

We share in the common desire to share the gifts with which we’ve been blessed, and  We journey together as a family while working together for God's realm of justice, equity, grace, and extravagant love. 

Belonging is feeling a sense of connectedness.  Connectedness is built through our service together, devotion to God and one another, and by developing love for one another and for the stranger. Trust is developed through times of tension; this trust is dynamic and strengthens our spiritual tendons and muscles. We find grace in disappointment and forgiveness, and practice all of this in our families and in our communities.  And through this all, we are reminded that as the body of Christ we are the church – not just a building that we drive by during the week, but connected to one another as something that symbolizes and points to—something greater than itself.

Friends, today you are not joining “the church” -- the institution -- the way that you would join the health club or the Rotary.  There are no contracts to be signed, and few tangible benefits of being a member. Instead you are covenanting with others in this quest for God’s kin-dom on earth as it is in heaven.  

Questions of the candidates:

Q: Do you desire to claim your place in this community of belonging?
A:  I do

Q:  Will you, as best as you are able, follow the teaching of Jesus – to love God and neighbor, to resist the forces of oppression, injustice, and hatred; to share love and kindness; to live with compassion and humility; and to share the extravagant grace you’ve been given?
I will with the help of God.

Q: Do you promise, according to the grace and gifts given to you, to support the mission and vision of this community, to respect and reach out to others within the congregation, to share in worship, and to nurture love of God and love of neighbor in the world?
I will, with the help of God.

Q: Will you lovingly challenge this community to be the best version of itself and to live up to the things we say we believe?
I will, relying upon God’s grace.

Q:  Will you allow yourself to grow in faith and witness, and to be changed, shaped, and transformed by this community, living into your identity as a beloved child of God?
I will with the help of God.

Questions of the Community of Faith

Do you reaffirm your place in this community of belonging?
A:  I do

Q:  Will you be faithful to these people as they endeavor to walk with our community of faith?
We promise our faithful companionship to our siblings in Christ.

Q: Will you lovingly challenge these siblings to be the best version of themselves and to live up to the things they say they believe?
I will, relying upon God’s grace.

Q:  Will you allow yourself to grow, and to be changed, shaped, and transformed by these new siblings, living into your identity as a beloved child of God?
I will with the help of God.

Let us unite with all those who, in the words of the Prophet Micah wish to “do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.”
We trust in God, who calls us to transform ourselves and the world; in Jesus, who offers us new life and redemption; and in the Holy Spirit, who provides comfort, connection and inspiration.

Prayer

Let us pray.

O God, we are grateful for having been gathered into this community of faith, one part of Christ’s Body.  We thank you for everyone in our community and rejoice in the inclusion of these new siblings today.  Together may we live in the Spirit, building one another up in love, sharing in the life and worship of this church, and serving the world with justice and peace.  Together we say:
Amen.

Welcome And Reception (all who are able please stand)

Beloved, let us greet our siblings in this family of faith as we offer the hand of Christian love and welcome them into the company of this community of faith.
Thanks be to God!

 

 

This liturgy was written by Rev. Carly Stucklen Sather, in conversation with the writings of Rev. Elizabeth Dilly, Rev. Ellen Jennings, Allison Purdie, and others in the United Church of Christ Clergy (+MIDs) Facebook Group.  Please adapt, edit, and use as you’d like. 

The Unpublished Sermon

Some how in the midst of assembling all the Videos for Sunday's worship service, my recorded sermon did not end up in the final broadcast.  So, here's the text of that sermon...

Dry Bones in a COVID Psalm.

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 (The valley of dry bones)

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.
He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?”
I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”
I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

In her book, The Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler says: 

“All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you. The only lasting truth is change. God is change.” (1)

You’ve heard me say this before, The only constant we can depend upon is constant change. It is the new normal.
At our monthly Council meeting earlier this week, I invited the church leaders to take a moment and to breathe deeply for a moment and to linger with these questions.  

• How is your heart? 
• How is your soul? 
• How is your body? 

As each person in the conference call responded, I heard that things are changing too quickly, and we are struggling to adapt. I heard that people are finding joy in new experiences of community, and we're exploring new ways to help. This is bigger than we thought. And it has all been so much change. I heard grief, not unlike what the Psalmist bemoans. 

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! 

This has been another rough week for many of us.  I invite you to grieve all that is lost in this global crisis.  There are those among us who have lost jobs, income, social outlets, childcare, significant school occasions, graduations. We've lost predictability, routines, connection, our health. Some of us have lost beloved members of our family. All of us have all lost life as we once knew it.  

Even our way of being the Church has changed. Our traditions of how we minister with others and fellowship together are turned upside down, Our faith is being challenged.  We are an Easter people who celebrate the triumph of hope and life over fear and death. But how do we Easter people celebrate this holy season if we cannot get together on Easter morning and celebrate? 

There is so much to grieve. And God weeps with us.

And yet, in the midst of the challenges, steep learning curves, and wild uncertainty of this time, it seems to me that there is also something springing into life.  I see signs of a budding future somewhere in this wilderness. Dry bones are coming to life.

While our concept of what it means to "do church" is being dimantled, I'm also seeing new opportunities for those who don't "do church" to sample worship services without having to take that scary first step into the church building.  I'm seeing contemplative practices -- prayer, mindfulness, and meditation -- grow in popularity. And I'm seeing people who used to snaringly call our brand of Christianity “Social Justice Warriors” see the need and value in seeking the common good. I'm seeing people embrace this interconnectedness of humanity.

Thus says the Lord God: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” ....and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 

Dry bones rattle!
People are finding new ways to connect and support each other in adversity.  We are becoming much more aware of interdependency and community. 
Dry bones have sinews and flesh! 
Technology and the arts are breaking open a new medium with human generosity and empathy. People are look around and asking: “What can I offer of myself to help others? I have a life, a history. What do people need?” 
And using their most authentic selves, they are merging empathy, art, and technology. We're seeing our most human instincts merged with our devices. 
Dry bones have breath!
In this COVID19 pandemic, we are not only alone together, but are also together alone.
Dry bones live!
In her weekly eblast, Cameron Trimble said, 

“I want to ask you to consider that on the other side of this, a better world could be waiting for us.  The scale of this crisis invites us to tap into a new level of consciousness to engage it. We will be different on the other side. We are developing a new way of knowing the world, one rooted in deeper wisdom that helps us ask the questions of life that matter most." (2)

This week in my DuoLingo Spanish lessons, I learned a new phrase:  "en conjunto." It means "together" or "togetherness." I believe strongly in our ability to come together and build a profound togetherness that will shape our would! While everything is changing, let us be the "en conjunto" people.  Let the breath of God enter our lives and let us be together in that breath.

"O my people," says God, "I will put my breath/spirit within you, and you shall live,.... then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

God is with us in the midst of all of this.  Our dry bones will rattle, will find their flesh, will breath the breath of God.  These dry bones do live. 

(1)https://www.amazon.com/Parable-Sower-Earthseed-Octavia-Butler/dp/0446675504
(2) https://us18.campaign-archive.com/?u=880d1564e06392011b7a6221e&id=b83f0e940d

Ask The Question 2

 We ran out of time for a number of questions asked in worship in August. Here is the next installment on responses to those questions.

The onscreen text for the Lord's Prayer twice used kin dom instead of kingdom. At first glance this seemed to be a typo, but I suspect method to your madness. If this was intentional, please explain.

My initial response to this question was that either I have a sticky “g” key on my keyboard, or I’m a rampant feminist. I’ve decided I should be more honest than that.

When I write, I rarely use the word “kingdom.”  When I say the Lord’s prayer, I always use the words Kin Dom rather than kingdom.  It was an unconscious slip on my part that that phrase ended up on the screen for worship.  But since it did and someone wondered about it let me tell you about why I have difficulty with the word KINGDOM.

  Remember that this is my opinion only.  I encourage you to recite this most common prayer we have exactly as you would like to pray it.

What comes to mind when you think of a king?  For me, it’s a portly male with an ermine-trimmed cape and a bejeweled, gold crown with an ivory and gold scepter in his hand. He is seated on a throne of gold with servants all around him.  He is very wealthy because of the work his serfs do for him, because of the wars fought at the cost of his subjects’ blood, and because he has complete dominion over all that is around him.  The word, “Kingdom” means the domain of the King.  The domain of the king is complete control over the layers and classes of people he rules.  There are the elite who sit with the king and share in the bounty. And there are the common people and serfs who do the work of the ruling classes.  The common people and serfs in a kingdom are expendable, and pawns for the power of the king.  Their only value is what they can add to the value of the king. In today’s culture, the term King wears a lot of baggage; by its very nature, kingdoms in today’s culture are oppressive to the common people and the disaffected.

Now put that image aside for a moment.  What do you think of when you hear the word, “kin”? For me, it’s a clan, a group of people with whom I share a common bond, either by blood or by a shared perspective or experience. Within kinship, there is equal footing, and each person is valued for what they bring to the brood.  All are part of the greater family, and the aim is to maintain the common good. Kin is family where all around the table are gathered to share equally in the harvest and the bounty.  I think of the Realm of God as a domain of kin gathered around the table where God is the host.

I’m not sure this is actually a “feminist” view as much as it is a different understanding and different connotations of the term “king” between 1^st Century Palestine and 21^st Century USA.

If Jesus Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection fulfill Jewish prophecy, why aren’t Jews Christians? What’s fundamental difference between Jewish and Christian orthodoxy?  The answer lies within the question:  Does the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth fulfill Jewish Prophecy? One’s response to that question marks the fundamental difference between Jewish and Christian orthodoxy.  Christian tradition reads the Hebrew texts through the lens of their experience of Jesus of Nazareth.  Early followers of “the Way” (they did not call themselves Christians) did not consider themselves anything more than a movement of revival of ancient understandings of the Jewish scriptures. There is truly little that Jesus taught that was not supported by one ancient Rabbinical writing or another.  By the time the gospel of Matthew was penned, however, there was a split between the religious leaders and the followers of Jesus’ teachings that was more about power and control than about orthodoxy.  The spurned followers of the Way looked for support in the Hebrew writings for support of their correctness.  They read the scripture looking for ways that their narrative could fulfill the requirements of a “Messiah.”  Matthew and John state specific texts that are fulfilled by their narratives of Jesus ministry and teachings.  The Pauline writings codify this understanding. And the early church built all orthodoxy upon it. 

Jewish tradition does not understand the ministry of Jesus as anything more than one more teacher of an interpretation of scripture. Not necessarily a heretic; just not the promised one. 

what is your favorite version of the Bible? What translation do you recommend for easy reading?  My favorite Bible is difficult to narrow to one.  I always read 3 - 4 translations and I consult the original languages just to see what the source says.

If I had to choose between the vast array of choices of translation to just 2, I'd go with the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version) AND the Message.  The first is a good translation from the original languages, but often misses the innuendo of the source in its attempt to be literally accurate.  The second is a "paraphrase" in common American English that completely gets the innuendo but is horrid about the literal accuracy.  The truth is half way between the two.

With majority of churches holding virtual services, how do we maintain our identity and distinguish ourselves from others?  Our “niche” has not changed. We offer inclusive and progressive beliefs; openness to diversity of thought, background, and creed; excellence of music; and a caring community.  I’d like to think that because we’ve been broadcasting longer than most congregations (since 2008), that we are in a better position to offer a better quality broadcast.  Many churches are livestreaming raw, unedited cell phone streams, holding Zoom meetings for worship, and offering poor sound and graphic quality.  I know we’re not professional quality, but we’re not beginners either.

How do we reconcile all our possessions with following Jesus who told the rich man to sell all his possessions and follow him?  Can we?  Consumerism is, in my opinion, our biggest idolatry.  We live in an economy that is consumer-product driven – which is why our sheltering in place is so very dangerous to the state of our economy!  It is difficult for 21^st Century US Americans to fathom selling all we have.  We an rationalize giving money to the poor (the part of the scripture not mentioned in the question).  But I (and I will only speak for myself) cannot imagine living the life of a monk with nothing to call my own, without the comforts of my furnishings, my electronics, my warm clothes, my car, my second home.

And so we turn to our rationalizations: “What Jesus really meant was….” 

·       Find your self worth in how well you walk the path of faith, not in what you own. Or accomplish.

·       Trust God to provide for your needs rather than thinking your self sufficient. 

·       Depend upon only God and not wealth.

·       Stockpile love and honor rather than stuff.

·       Keep up with Jesus, not your neighbors.

I cannot possibly reconcile Jesus’s teaching about possessions with what I own.  That makes me a hypocrite, a rationalizer, and probably a fake Christian.  But it also makes me all the more aware of how much I depend upon Jesus’ teachings about grace, forgiveness, and extravagant love.

 

COVID-19

In our Indiana home there was a gnome in my garden.  We have lovingly named him Gnomenclature.  He stood near the bird feeder with a watering can in one hand and a daisy in the other welcoming the ground feeding birds and keeping guard over the sprouting and flowering perennials in the garden.

Every spring, Gnomenclature got a "make over"-- fresh paint to recolor his clothes, boots, hat, eyes, cheeks, lips, watering can, and flower.  And, by the following Winter, he would sprout white spots that did not originate from the feeding birds.

One morning Gnomenclature had an unusual visitor, an interloper in the realm of the mourning doves and cardinals. They saw the visitor coming and quickly scattered to the branches above the feeders and the roofs of the neighboring houses.  The visitor offered no real threat to them; they weren't accustomed to seeing such a creature at their regular feeding place.

The interloper approached Gnomenclature cautiously.  This tiny elf looked and smelled like humans, but held terribly still like a rock.  The interloper crept slowly toward the gnome with ears and nose carefully focused to augment what the eyes were sensing.  When the visitor was certain that the acrylic statue offered no threat, s/he pounced on the rock beside the gnome and proceeded to eat the tender tulip that protruded through the freshly thawed garden.

As we move forward into the unknown future, we tend to do the same.  We approach the unknown cautiously; until proven otherwise, we suspect it will only do us harm. We sniff it throughly, inspect and listen to have our suspicious validated.  Only when we are nearly through the changes do we begin to relax and go about the job of finding nourishment for our souls.

But we were not born rabbit kits! We are God's favored children! The future is hope, grace, and shalom.  Scripture reminds us to "fear not!"

The news of COVID-19 is spreading fear more quickly than the illness itself, and with each news story, fear and anxiety increase. In this time when we are uncertain of what to expect, I encourage you to assume a posture of active awareness, of hope, and of faith. Paul writes to the Romans, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

In Hope and in Faith,
Carly

Let Yes be Yours

We live in a wishy-washy society in a wishy-washy world.  The Chicago mayoral election ads that keep popping up remind me of how indecisive we are.  Just what exactly do the words spoken by candidates mean? Are the really going to carry through with the promises they are making?

Politians are not alone in this.  The contractor says they’ll be there on Friday but on Thursday night leaves voicemail saying they can’t make it and requesting I be in touch to reschedule.  The package is promised to be delivered by Wednesday and doesn’t arrive until Saturday.  We have an appointment to meet a friend for coffee and they don’t show up.  Or, my personal pet peeve, someone says they’ll complete a specific task and it never gets done.

But scripture tells us that we are the “Yes” children of God.

Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standards, ready to say "Yes, yes" and "No, no" at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been "Yes and No." For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not "Yes and No"; but in him it is always "Yes." - 2 Corinthians 1:17b-19

Paul reminds us that in Christ, our word is always yes.  As surely as God is faithful, so will we be faithful in our word.

As the season changes from Epiphany to Lent, rather than saying “no” to something, I challenge you to say Yes. I challenge each member of this community of faith to say 

• “Yes” to a new experience,

• “Yes” to the opportunity to help another, 

• “Yes” to someone asking for help, 

• “Yes” to that project that seems impractical, 

• “Yes” to the work trip, 

• “Yes” to the chance to serve others.  

We are the “yes” people of God; we are called to say “yes” to the hope for tomorrow, “yes” to the possibilities for grace and extravagant welcome, and “yes” to forgotten and the outcast. 

You and I are “Yes” people.  Let your yes be always yes.  

Yes is my response to God's invitation.  Let yes be yours.

Blessings,

Carly

Sinful or just Incomplete?

The following article is a salute to John Shelby Spong's work, The Sins of Scripture.

Peace to you and grace, from Carly, called to be a bearer of the Good News to the saints and sinners of La Grange and beyond.

“Sin” was a word that was thrown around and thrown at people regularly in the fundamentalist church in which I dabbled in college.  Everyone was considered a sinner in need of being saved from the clutches of evil – or “Satan.”  The leaders were fast to call anyone who did not agree with their theology or ideology a “Sinner.”  The sweet joy of being saved was the drawing card of that congregation.  

Jonathan Edwards
Congregational Preacher
1703-1758

At one time in history of Congregationalism, “Sin” had prominent role.  In 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon published under the name, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” where he used over 20 metaphors to illustrate God’s wrath toward sinners and the torment of hell.  The sermon, while preached to the Congregationalists in Enfield Mass (now Enfield CT), was in the style of that preached to a person about to be executed.  Edwards used fear as persuasion to “be saved.”

The thesaurus lists a long list of ugly words as synonyms for sin:  Wickedness, iniquity, immorality, debauchery, evil, turpitude, peccadillo, offense, indulgence, crime, transgression, wrong, felony, fault, misdemeanor.  While these fit the English language definition of sin, the Biblical definition of the word is more nuanced.

American Civil Religion, the English language, and the church I mentioned above have each taken the Deuteronomic cycle, the model of humanity’s inadequacy in the book of Judges, as the definition of human life and it’s basically “sinful.”  In this cycle, Israel turns away from God (sin), an enemy oppresses Israel (punishment), Israel cries out for help (repentance), God sends a redeemer (deliverance), and there is peace under the redeemer’s leadership (new relationship).  This approach assigns an innate inadequacy to humanity: we can never get it and keep it right. 

We have taken these texts from the bible and we have used them to denigrate our humanity and to cause human beings to be plastered with guilt and a sense of inadequacy. Maybe, if we can make people feel bad enough about themselves, that will immediately translate into their thinking how great God is, that God can love/save a wretch like you and me.

Perhaps it’s time to take a look at human life from another perspective: one that does not view people as corrupted, but rather as emerging and becoming. 
     

Perhaps the role of the church is not to rescue fallen sinners, where, in order to make them understand the great gift of God, we’ve got to constantly beat them up by telling them how awful and wretched they are.  Rather, perhaps the role of the church is to recognize that all people are incomplete and need something in order to be empowered to become so fully human that we no longer have to build ourselves up by tearing somebody else down.  Perhaps that something is the extravagant and unconditional love of God and not the wrath of an angry god.

Sin isn’t a word we like to use because it is loaded with denigration and inadequacy.  This isn’t to say that we are always perfect, that we never hurt others, or that we are always in the right.  Rather, I’m suggesting that we begin to think of each person as incomplete and seeking wholeness.  From this perspective, we approach one another with compassion and empathy. 

From the Cutting Room Floor

Grace and peace to the hands and feet of Christ in LaGrange and beyond, from Carly, called to be a servant leader amongst and beside you.

The lectionary texts offer more than can be shared in a 12 minute, 1000 word “moment” on Sunday morning. Each week, I read and study, sift and distill what the scriptures offer and assemble a large amount of verbiage and mental images that are relevant to the text.  Then, when I construct the sermon, most of what I have assembled in preparation lands on the cutting room floor.  

The narrative from Mark this past Sunday was a healing story wrapped inside another healing story.  The sermon focused on having the heart, the faith, the courage to persist in the midst of hopelessness.  But I’d like to share with you snippets of what landed on the cutting room floor.  These are snippets with no context or order.  They are the random thoughts and findings about the passage from Mark 5:21-43.

• The Synagogue Leader’s name, Jarius, translates “Enlightened One.”  Is this really about the “healing of Jarius’ daughter” or is it about the Enlightening of the Synagogue Leader?  The leader of the synagogue is a man of privilege, but he has to learn to wait for the healing of a nobody, poor woman who has been bleeding for twelve years.  Jarius sees Jesus heal a woman in front of him – a miraculous thing – but that very healing means that his own daughter may well die before Jesus gets to her.  If you want your little daughter (or your spiritual community) to be healed, … then all the daughters have to be healed. Jesus does not give healing on the basis of status and income. Jesus heals the outsiders, too.  Trusting Jesus means living as though all people are equal— because they are.  A good deal of our "wellness" as a faith community comes from our attempts to include all of us— even though we struggle to do that as well as we'd like.

• Who enlightens. It is the poor, ill woman, the least of the community, who enlightens the leader. It is the woman who has no hope at all, but who still trusts Jesus, who teaches and enlightens the rich man in his time of need.

• Bearing Life is Polluted. The treatment of a woman’s bleeding – unclean and untouchable while bleeding.  The Talmud says she is “polluted” and everything she touches is polluted.  The bearing of new life causes a woman to be impure.  Angry people use parts of a woman’s reproductive system as swear words…  Why?  It blames the woman for her condition.  Yet all of us bleed.  More than that, we CAUSE people to bleed and then blame them for bleeding.

• The number 12. The child is 12 years old.  The woman has been bleeding for 12 years.  For as long as this poor nobody has had her life draining from her, the daughter of a privileged one has been growing into life.  Twelve years old is the age of adulthood – BatMizvah. A “sale-able” daughter.

• Crowds.  Everywhere in this section of Mark, there are crowds with which Jesus and the disciples are having to deal. Crowds are dangerous places. We never quite know when they will turn into a mob. In this story the crowds press in upon him. We are getting close to dangerous ground— to the truth of us— when we are in crowds.  Crowds are lost places; we lose ourselves in a crowd; we are made less of a person. Mark 6:34 says that "As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd…"  And crowds are a good place to be invisible. You don't want to stand out in a crowd, or it may pick on you, and vent all its fear on you.

• Stepping Out of the Crowd. This un-named woman had to step out of the crowd to confess to Jesus her hopelessness, her unjust journey, her faith in his better way.  Jarius learns he, too, has to step out of the crowd to model for his faith community that all are equal in the eyes of God.  He is to model stepping away from the violence of exclusion, and the violence of labeling people, step away from depending upon his status, and to step into trusting and living the way of Jesus.

• Feeding. “Give her something to eat.”  The daughter is healed – made well (the difference?); now nourish her, feed her, strengthen her so she will remain well. Connections to communion, community, strength, courage. 

The texts for Sunday, July 8, include a bit about the kid named Jesus who’s not allowed to grow up. Drop into worship this week and see what doesn’t land on the cutting room floor.

Blessings, 

Carly 

Ask the Question

We ran out of time for a number of questions asked in worship on April 15. Here is the next installment on responses to those questions.

You have been here almost 5 years. How much have we changed? What still surprises you about us?

As of today, June 21, I have been the pastor and teacher of FCCLG for 4 years, 2 months, and 2 weeks!  I jumped in with both feet running during the busiest week of the Christian year:  my first Sunday was Palm Sunday, April 7, 2014.  

I came with a specific call to lead the congregation into being a 21^st Century church by following through with the Alban Plan the congregation had adopted in the previous pastorate before I arrived.  The plan involved a major change in the structure of the congregation’s leadership, increased lay leadership in each ministry area of the congregation, expanding the financial participation of the membership and financial transparency by the leadership, and expanding our non-member use of our building and space on both an occasional and exclusive use basis. This has been the planning basis for most of what I’ve been doing.

All of these changes are Cultural changes.  Cultural changes in any group generally take at least 10 years to actuate. So we have some way to go yet.

We have made significant progress. We have filled the building with organizations sharing space.  We have changed software and reporting systems so that information is available in understandable and comprehensive formats; we need to find methods to regularly get this information into the hands of members, however.  We have a significant number of new donors, but we need to increase the number of members who give -- as well as look for other sources of income.  We have many new volunteers in our ministries, but are challenged to “fill the slots” on our ministry teams and leadership committees.  And while we’ve learned that we can’t depend upon paid staff to do as much as it did 10 years ago (when there were many more paid staff!), volunteers are not always forthcoming to do the work formerly done by staff.

The culture of the congregation IS changing!  We are making progress in each of these areas. 

I believe the culture is also changing in how we view the role of our faith in our everyday lives.  I am hearing people talk about their struggles to live faith-based lives in a world that often seems to lean toward injustice and oppression.  I think we are more aware of our privilege and our prejudices and are trying to engage in ways to work for equality and compassion.  I hope that we are moving more toward being the church than “going to church.”

After over 30 years in ministry, I have found ministry with and beside each of you to be more engaging, challenging, joyful, and rewarding than any of the congregations I’ve served.  I believe that I have found a home in your our church home.

Have a question about faith, the Bible, the Church, our congregation?  Submit it here and look for a response in a future Tidings.