"A Glimse of What Is Possible"

The word is getting around about SpringHouse Ministry Center (that's the new name), the new building where First Christian is moving to and working with a UCC and a Lutheran congregation. I've shared about how First Christian came to join this partnership and now here are some words from Geoffrey Black, the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ. He was in Minnesota recently and toured SpringHouse. This is what he had to say of this new venture:

What I saw was three Minneapolis churches that are about to move into one building and share life and ministry. They call the new building the SpringHouse Ministry Center. These churches are not merging—and that is an exciting element of their story. What they have decided to do is take the largest of their respective buildings and refit it. The building will now serve three congregations, thus reducing their aggregate carbon footprint. The new facility will provide each congregation with an accessible facility where they can live out their distinct identities while sharing in Christian formation, community and mission. Lyndale United Church of Christ, Salem Lutheran (ELCA) and First Christian Church (DOC) are the churches that have come together to embark on a new life in the edifice that was once the sole home of Salem Lutheran. The building will now house three sanctuaries, classrooms, offices, community space and a full-service kitchen. One interesting feature of this arrangement is that the congregations will rotate their use of the sanctuaries, giving each the opportunity to experience the unique features of each worship space. This is a good news story, and it may give us a glimpse of what is possible and what the future might look like for many churches. In this instance, the churches coming together have ecumenical ties since the UCC congregation has a full communion relationship with both the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church. While the Lutherans and the Disciples do not have this kind of relationship, I'm sure that this living arrangement will enable these two congregations to discover a way toward oneness that might be a gift to their respective denominations. Of course, the presence of the UCC in the SpringHouse might just be the ingredient that makes it all work.

I'm proud of the step of faith that First Christian has taken. Actually, I'm excited that all three churches have decided to follow where the Spirit leads, which of course will be someplace pretty awesome.

"Welcoming Every Member of the Body"

As many of you know, besides my duties as the Associate Pastor at First Christian in Minneapolis, I also work as the Communications Specialist for the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. I worked with the Presbytery's Disabilities Concerns Taskforce to put together a special issue ofInPrint, the bimonthly newsmagazine I put out. There are several good stories in this issue including one by me on being a pastor with autism. I wanted to share it with others and feel free to share. It's great to work with others who are trying to make sure that all really are welcomed at Christ's Table. [scribd id=71335540 key=key-hqywe4q75ftmuihh4f mode=list]

Notes from a Scrapper

I've been meaning to share this post by Carol Howard Merritt, but life has been busy and so I never did get around to it. But hearing about some fellow Disciples of Christ clergy who feel that they have no place in the church reminded me of it again. She uses the term "Scrappers" to describe a generation (or two) of folks who have worked to piece together a ministry, in this time of diminishing resources. Here's a snippet of what she's talking about:

A Scrapper is pragmatic. We are people who have learned to work outside of institutional structures in order to get stuff done. It doesn’t always mean that we’re anti-institutional. It just means that after facing years of rejected articles and diminishing job opportunities, we’ve learned to build our own unsteady platforms and live out our creative callings. When we can’t get published, we start blogs. When we don’t get invited to speak for large audiences, we fire up a Twitter feed. When we’re not allowed to use amplification, we call on the people’s mic. When we we’re not invited on radio shows, we start podcasts. When we cannot find pastorates, we plant churches. When we get tired of the same people at conferences, we stake out our own venues. When the media does not cover our concerns, we find ways to get the word out. We are usually under the age of fifty (aka, Gen X and Millennials), but not exclusively. We’re Scrappers. We’ve learned to survive this way. The question is… how will we thrive? It’s hard to be a Scrapper sometimes, because we don’t usually make a lot of money for the work we do and (as I said earlier) we’ve often been rejected by the established structures. We didn’t cry or whine over that fact (at least not too much). Instead, we DIYed it. We worked really, really hard and created something else.

While I don't agree with her politically, she is right on about how young persons in the church have to live in this age. We won't be handed things on a platter. We have to learn how to basically DIY our callings. I look at my current call. It was totally constructed. Same with Community of Grace. Mainline Protestants are learning something that evangelicals have known for a long time: that when the resources are sparse, you have to learn how to create your own ministries. Denominations and congregations are no longer rolling in cash to just provide us with a nice job or a great salary. To those frustrated Disciples clergy, I can only say: I know of what you speak because I was in your shoes. And the thing is: I very well could be there again in a few years. I know that you can get frustrated at the denomination and think that it's filled with idiots who are letting the ship sink, but I can tell you that the leaders in most mainline Protestant denominations are feeling the same way- trying to figure out what's going on and feeling scared to death. Yeah, the institution is failing you and me, but it is also trying to figure out how to be church in an age that it wasn't prepared for. Remember that we are called by God to preach the good news. Remember that people like Abraham and Moses didn't have the easiest time trying to follow God. Suffice to say, life didn't turn out the way they expected. Remember that all of these folk walked on faith, starting new journeys and challenges only on the shear hope in God's word. The years ahead aren't going to be pretty: more and more churches won't be able to afford full-time pastors. But the Gospel still needs to be preached. We are going to have to learn to be scrappers, to find ways to be church in the world. We are going to have to learn to be bivocational and be creative in sharing the good news. No doors will be opened for us, so we need to start knocking some walls.  

Where Did All the People Go?

As I was sitting on the chancel at church this morning, I looked out into the congregation.  The crowds were a bit thinner than usual, because many of the women were at a retreat.  The average worship attendance is anywhere between 70-90 these days, which is pretty good.  But then again, those 70-90 folks seem mightly small in a sanctuary that seats 500.

At it's height, First Christian had around 1500 members and even into the 1990s the average attendance was probably 150-200 per Sunday.  The congregation is part of a trend that is happening among mainline churches; few members and more gray hairs among those that remain.

So, here's the question that was rattling in my head this morning:  where did all the people go?  If a church had so many members and so many kids, where did they all go?  Did they stop going to church?  Did they go to megachurches?  I know some of them have passed, but what about the others? What can mainline churches do to stem the "bleeding?"  Or can nothing be done?

I don't have the answers.  Maybe we just have to learn to live faithfully in the low tide.

Where Did All the People Go?

As I was sitting on the chancel at church this morning, I looked out into the congregation.  The crowds were a bit thinner than usual, because many of the women were at a retreat.  The average worship attendance is anywhere between 70-90 these days, which is pretty good.  But then again, those 70-90 folks seem mightly small in a sanctuary that seats 500.

At it's height, First Christian had around 1500 members and even into the 1990s the average attendance was probably 150-200 per Sunday.  The congregation is part of a trend that is happening among mainline churches; few members and more gray hairs among those that remain.

So, here's the question that was rattling in my head this morning:  where did all the people go?  If a church had so many members and so many kids, where did they all go?  Did they stop going to church?  Did they go to megachurches?  I know some of them have passed, but what about the others? What can mainline churches do to stem the "bleeding?"  Or can nothing be done?

I don't have the answers.  Maybe we just have to learn to live faithfully in the low tide.

Repost: Acting, Aspergers and Sundays

From November of 2010:

 

Gavin Bollard has a good blog post on how persons with Aspergers tend to be actors:

I think that aspies tend to be good at acting because they spend so much of their daily lives acting - and from a very early age.

For example, it's true that aspies often don't get jokes (although you rarely hear us complaining when neurotypicals don't get ours). Young aspies quickly learn that it's easier to "act like you got the joke" than it is to take the brunt and embarrassment of being the only one who didn't. We are quite often called upon to "act amused".

Then there are those sad and solemn occasions where sometimes we feel intense waves of emotion - and sometimes we don't. Again, honesty in these situations leads to ostracisation. Sometimes it's simply better to "act sad" or "act shocked".

For years, when there was a time of sadness, like a death, I would try to force emotions and even at times "act sad."

These days, the time that I tend to act the most tends to be on Sundays when I'm at church.  Being a pastor is probably not the best vocation for someone with Aspergers.  What I've learned over the years is that pastoring is an incredibly people-intensive duty that can wear even neurotypicals out.  But I believe God called me to this, so I learn to "fake it."  I've learned (the hard way) to be more outgoing, more willing to engage in small talk and listen to folk.  It's wearing and there are times I want to run and hide, but it's important, and I do get to learn more about the people at church.

Acting is something people with Aspergers have to do if they want to get anywhere in life, especially if we want to remain employed.

Gavin concludes by saying that there is a price to paid for all this acting:

Acting can be very tiring work. You can't expect the aspie to "act normal" all of the time. Aspies who are doing a lot of acting will often find that they need more sensory breaks and alone time than when they're not acting.

Indeed. Which is usually why after church, I have to take a nap just to "recharge."

I don't want to give people the impression that being an Aspie pastor is one big chore. A few Sundays ago, I was at church for six hours during the Trunk or Treat event. I left tired and "peopled out" but I was also jazzed about the ministry that was going on at church.

Acting can be draining, but it's also damn rewarding.

Testing Out Wordpress

So, I need your help with a bit of a dilemma.

I've been blogging for about nine years, and for most of that time, I've used Blogger.  It was one of the early blogging platforms and is easy to use.  However, over the past few years, I've also started using Wordpress, not just to blog, but to create whole websites. 

Over the last two years or so, I've been going back and forth about moving some of my blogs over to Wordpress.  I move them over and try to start blogging there and then get pulled back to Blogger. 

I'm going through that tug again.  I tend to think Wordpress has a better SEO than Blogger and I tend to like Wordpress better.  But probably in true aspie fashion, I like routine. 

Nevertheless, I've started blogging again at the Wordpress version of this site.  What I need you to do is let me know which one you like better and why.  I'd like to have some advice on which platform is better and maybe I just need a kick in the pants to follow my heart and (gasp!) break routine.

Anyway, for at least the time being, follow me at my wordpress pad: http://questorpastor.wordpress.com/

Autism and "Alphas"

I've been fascinated by SyFy's new series Alphas, which wraps up its first season tomorrow. For the uninitiated, think a lower-cost version of X-Men. There's a lot about the show that I find cool and interesting, and one of those is the inclusion of an autistic character; Gary Bell, played by British actor Ryan Cartwright. Gary's ability is to see and understand electromagnetic frequencies, which he can move with ease through his hand movements. Cartwright's portrayal might not be the most perfect, but I do think it is one of the better ones in entertainment. In a recent story in the Washington Times, we find out that there was some thought put into how to correctly portray an autistic adult:

Naturally, the autism community carefully watches portrayals of autistic characters on television, something the show's creators seem to be aware of. "Everyone involved in the show is taking great pains to be sensitive to the autistic community," says Cartwright. Interest in creating a realistic portrayal of autism started before filming began with Dr. Susan Bookheimer, a faculty member at the UCLA Neuroscience Program, who has served as a consultant for "Alphas," offering advice on aspects of Gary's presentation and symptoms. Bookheimer also consulted on each script as it was developed. "I read the dialogues and gave input on how this character might have reacted, the kinds of things he would and wouldn't say, and generally tried to give insight into the inner life of a high functioning person with autism," she says. "I wanted to help make the character as genuine as possible, not a caricature, but a real person with many of the issues that an individual with autism has." For his part, Cartwright researched autism in order to be able to play Gary as a real person. He says that in addition to consultation with people who work with autistic individuals, he watched documentaries and read books by autistic authors Temple Grandin and Daniel Tammet, along with vlog and blog sites created by autistic people. "Reading about autism and neuroscience helped me understand the reasoning behind a lot of the physical attributes and difficulties of people with autism, which in turn helped me create, as opposed to imitate, a physicality for Gary," he says.

One autistic blogger was sold on Gary after one early episode:

With episode 104, or the fourth ALPHA show, I am even more fascinated. In this episode, Gary, who is most accurately portrayed by Ryan Cartwright, meets another autistic woman and his demeanor and attitude take a dramatic turn. Even with his lack of eye contact (which I absolutely adore seeing on the screen) does not hide his..affection for finding someone else, in female form, who speaks his language and with whom he can easily communicate. I soo identify with this episode and the profound and not so subtle changes that take place in Garys life upon meeting someone of his...kind. (I do not want to be rude or offend anyone with some of my word choices here, so bear with me) Quite suddenly, he is Not the odd man out or flying solo. He meets a woman and it really changes him.

I was also interested in that episode, not only because they got Gary's mannerisms and need for routine so dead-on, but because we find out that woman who is severely autistic has special capabilities of her own and reminds us that even those who are profoundly affected by autism can still communicate and have value. If you haven't seen the series, which has been renewed for a second season, download them and judge the Gary character yourself. I think it's a good step in the right direction.

Retread: This Is Our Hope

The following was originally posted on February 14, 2011. First Christian had its annual Anniversary Dinner yesterday, celebrating 134 years of ministry.  I decided to make a video outlining what missions and ministries took place in the last year at church.  Below is the result.

Prayer and the Public Sphere

From Professor John Stackhouse:

Evangelical Christians have been complaining about not being included in various commemorations of 9/11, whether in New York City, Washington, D.C., or even here in Canada. But we shouldn’t be...

...Prayer in public secular events is like holding up a photograph of your mother and saying, “I’ve got Mom on speakerphone now, so let’s all tell Mom how much we love her as our mother and how we hope she’s proud of us for what we’ve done at university/work/war.” People would look at each other and then at you and think, “You’re crazy. She’s not our mother, and we didn’t do it for her.”

Evangelical Christians of all people shouldn’t agree to pray at public events such as 9/11 services. Prayer is too great to be sprinkled on a secular occasion. That’s why I’m against formal prayers also in North American legislatures, city councils, school boards, and the like. These institutions, from start to finish, have no intention of conducting their business “under God,” with constant reference to the Bible and Christian tradition, seeking the Kingdom of Heaven in all they do. So it dishonours God to drag God in for a token celebrity appearance at ceremonies for institutions that otherwise ignore God all the rest of the time.

Read the whole thing.  (And yes, I do agree with him.)

Retread: Faith in Low Tide

This post is from November 2010.

This past Sunday, our church held a Trunk or Treat event at church. A number of members got together and decorated their cars and welcomed people to come by. We had a few people who actually did come with their kids. One gaggle of kids included a little girl in a cheerleader costume who went around giving everyone hugs. It was priceless. Since we didn't have a ton of kids, one could see this as a failure. The thing is, very few of did see it that way. There was talking of doing this event next year, maybe on Saturday evening to attract more folks. People were generally excited to be doing something that opened the church up to the neighborhood and well, allowed them to have fun. First Christian is a church trying to accept the fact that it's not a big church anymore. In fact, it's more of a small church these days. There are two ways to respond to that, and I see both at times. Sometimes in the same person. One way to respond is with anxiety. Pastors feel anxious because they want to do something, anything, to make the church "successful" again. We might not want to admit it, but I think deep down, we pastor-types want to see the church grow numerically and tend to think it numbers. We get mad that the congregation isn't "doing anything" to allow themselves to grow. We get mad at ourselves for not being able to make the congregation grow. Lay folk also get anxious that the church isn't growing and get mad at each other and frustrated at the pastor for...well, you know what I'm getting at. The other response is to just get out there just do stuff. You go on mission projects or decorate your car and fellowship with others on a nice, sunny day. You basically walk in faith and just keep being faithful, feeding the poor, learning more about God and having fun. Episcopal author and pastor, Loren Mead wrote recently in a two part essay about the current state of the Mainline Church. In part two, he talks about trying to do ministry in an "outgoing tide," when churches are losing members, money and dealing large, aging physical plants. Mead suggests that pastors need to learn to do ministry in this context. The long and short of it, according to Mead, is that we all better to get used this, because it's going to be a while. He has some advice for pastors during this time, but I think it could apply to the laity as well: Clergy have, now, the hard job of learning to lead in a world where the tide is going out. It is my hunch that the outgoing tide has many years to go. How do we lead the church during the time of an outgoing tide? No one knows for sure. But as one who has enjoyed a time when the tide came in, and as one who has struggled to understand how to cope with the change of tides, and as one who has worked alongside the present generation of courageous pastors to hold steady during the outgoing tide, I have some thoughts about leadership in such times.

First. It’s not your fault. Something big is going on. It’s not you who made the tide come in and it’s not because of you that it’s going our. Second. Work on your own faith. We KNOW how to keep spirits up when things go well. We DON’T know how to thrive when things blow up on us. Find the things that feed your spirit – what are they? Study? Periods of quiet? Hard exercise or strenuous games? Deep conversation with colleagues or friends? Special spiritual exercises or worship? Carpentry or Gardening? Going on retreat or to conferences? Music – listening to it or making it –whichever is right for you. Remember the Psalms? — they are obviously what Jesus turned to when things went badly for him. Try them. Whatever it is, be sure to make time for it. And do it. Find. If you haven’t already, what feeds your soul and do it. Don’t let ANYTHING get in the way of your own renewal. Third. Pay attention to the institutional infrastructure – the things like the building, the training of leaders including yourself, the nurture of the organization, learning how to raise and manage funds. Those are the things that tend to get overlooked when things tighten up – but they are the very things you’ll need when the tide turns. The blessing for you is that this is something you can DO. DO, while you have to wait, wait, wait, for the tide to change. Get busy with some stuff you can do. It will make a difference for the next generation. Fourth. Stand steady, no matter what happens. Everybody is scared of the changes going on. Nobody knows what to do or how it’s coming out. (Remember Jackson at Manassas? “There stands Jackson like a stone wall” it was said of him. He didn’t know for sure any more than anybody else, and I’m sure he was as tempted to anxiety and fear as everybody else – but he stood, and the men around him found they could stand, too. So, pastors, you must stand. If you can stand, others will be able to also. Fifth. Remember our story. It’s not your denomination or your congregation. It’s a story that begins with Abraham and Moses. It’s a story of a God who promises and keeps his promises, even though his answers often carry surprises. It’s a story that’s seen a lot of tides come in and go out. Hold onto that story. Preach that story. Live that story. So the tide’s going out? So what? Sixth. You are not alone. Remember Elijah, cowering in fear, sure everyone had deserted him. A voice told him that 8,000 had not bowed to Baal. You have far more than 8,000. Some of them you know. Many you don’t know. But they are out there, working their tails off, often not sure exactly what to do. You are not alone. When you DO feel alone, it’s your depression that’s getting you. Seventh. You may not win. We did not sign papers when we came on board, papers that said “You will never face losses or failure!” As a matter of fact, the name on your ordination (not necessarily the papers) is the name of somebody who ended up on a cross. Eighth. Prepare for the long run. Tides change when tides change. We are likely to have to lead for a long time in hard times. Don’t expect anything to be quick or easy. It doesn’t work that way. You’ve been called into a marathon, not a sprint. You may have to pass the baton to another before the race is over.

At the end of all this, Mead says something that is the hard truth:

Advice. That’s the best I have to offer. But let me say one thing straight and clear: over the past 50 years, we and many church leaders have gradually begun dodging reality.

In someways, congregations have denied the reality that things were changing. We also tried to find some magic trick that would change things and get us "back to normal." But the fact is, the world changed, and in some cases there was nothing to be done about it. So what do we do? Living in faith. As Mead notes, we have faith in a God that loves us. Peter left his boat and Abraham gave up a nice retirement because they heard the call to follow God. They relied on faith. I think in the midst of it, we are called to be faithful and put our trust in God. We have no idea where God will lead us, but it will be a wonderful ride. In someway, that little girl who gave out hugs reminds me that this is what the church is called to be, a faithful community that embraces God's world, welcoming all who come by. Live in faith. Give out hugs. Have fun.

"The Table Reveals Who We Are"

Disciples like to call that thing that's up front in the sanctuary a table.  Lutherans used to call it an altar, but more and more they've started following us and calling it a table.  Far more humble and fitting in my view.

Disciples Pastor Lee Yates reminds us that the Table reveals who we really are.  If you want to know something about the life of a church, then look how they deal with the table, which means a lot of our churches are in trouble:

While much of our church rhetoric includes the table, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about our casual conversation around the table. When people complain that worship is too long, we often point to how long it takes to serve communion. When we plan a Youth Sunday there is concern about how the kids serve, making sure they know the proper way to line up. Deacon and Elder training is often about where to line up and when to move. Unfortunately, much of our conversation on being church follows suit.

We talk about numbers and programs. We talk about what music will attract people to our buildings. We talk about what program will bring people to our church. We talk about how to structure committees to better be the church. We talk more about the institution of church than how to better live out our faith. We worry about numbers and structure more than passion and purpose. Again, the table reveals who we are.

For Disciples, if something new is going to emerge, it will probably come up at the table.

Since we Disciples place such a centrality on the Lord's Supper, maybe we need to take a good, hard and long look at how we do communion.  Who is it for?  Who do we welcome?  Who do we exclude? 

But I think we also need to examine how we feel about communion.  Is this just something we do every Sunday because its been done this way forever and ever?  Is it something we want to do, to take part in?  Are we reminded about the life death and resurrection of Jesus?  Do we leave the table wanting to serve Christ more, or are we waiting to meet up with our friends for lunch or catch the opening of that football game?

"The table reveals who we are."

Truer words were never spoken.

Super Simple Sunday School

I'm starting a new Sunday School class at First Christian that's called Super Simple Sunday School.  It's basically morning devotions/morning prayer.  The class goes a bit like this:

• We read one of that Sunday's lectionary text.
• We have a brief discussion of the text.
• We share prayer concerns.
• We pray.
• We leave.

That's it.  The whole point of the class is for folks who might want a bit of quiet time during the week or those who for whatever reason, don't want to get into the big time Adult Sunday School class.  We aren't discussing major bits of theology, but just coming for some quiet time with each other and God. 

The first event was great.  One person showed up, but it was a holy time nonetheless and that made me feel glad.

So, if you are in the area, please join me Sundays at 9:15am for a time of devotion with a good cup of coffee.

Forgive and Forget. Not. (Lectionary Musings on September 11)

Thirteenth Sunday of Pentecost
Matthew 18:21-35
September 11, 2011

1Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” ²²Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.


I found out about it on the bus.

On that late summer morning 10 years ago, I was on a bus heading towards work. I had graduated from seminary the previous May and was getting ready to do my 9 month experience in Clinical Pastoral Education in a week. As the bus made its way past the University of Minnesota and towards downtown Minneapolis I heard the news about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. I didn't think much about it, at first. I thought about the incident in the closing days of World War II when a military plane crashed into the Empire State Building and thought it was just a small plane that got lost.

But we now know that what happened on September 11, 2001 was not just a little event. Hell opened up and swallowed us whole on that day.

It's interesting that the gospel text this Sunday is about forgiveness. It seems like an odd that on the day we remember the horror that took place in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, we are faced with a question: how many times can we forgive?

How do we forgive when someone offends us?  How do we deal when someone is hurtful to us?  How do we learn to "forget" the other's sin?

God calls us to be a people who are forgiving, but it's hard to be forgiving in a world where people hijack airplanes and drive them into buildings.

Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Webber notes in her blog post on the lectionary text that the ability to forgive is not in our human nature and she's right.  The natural response to being hurt is to not forgive, to not forget.  We want to remember our hurt and we want to lash back. Forgiveness is not about being moral, it is supernatural.

Jesus calls us to being a loving and forgiving people.  God call us to be a people that doesn't remember people's sin.  But the fact is, we fall short and with good reason.  We can't forget that hurt and we want to hurt back.

It's only in Christ that we can forgive and love.

We can't forget September 11.  We can't forget the hurts that we are dealt in life.  We can't do it.  We just can't.

But because we are forgiven through Christ, we can forgive and live as a forgiven people.

So on this Sunday when we stop to remember the past, let us also remember we are forgiven, give thanks and then live in that forgiveness.

Go and be church.

Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.

Crossposted at Theobot

What Should Pastors Say on 9-11?

Good words from Methodist Pastor Alan Bevere:

1) First, I want to remind folks that there is indeed radical evil in the world, and because of that people commit heinous acts against other people. Moreover, when we reflect upon a day when such evil was committed, we need to do a "gut check" ourselves as to where and when we have been complicit in committing evil ourselves. The Bible portrays sin as a very seductive thing in which human beings become willing to participate even in the name of a moral cause. No one is immune from "Satan's snare,"--including Christians in America.

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2) The Old Testament prophets used the occasion of Israel's national tragedies to remind God's people of their calling and raise the question of whether they were being faithful to the divine mandate. The tenth anniversary of 9/11 provides an opportunity for preachers to raise the question as to whether or not the people of God, the Church, is fulfilling its mandate to make disciples of Jesus Christ. We do this not because we think the church is somehow responsible for 9/11, but because such evil and tragedy remind us that God calls us to be present in the midst of such times and that we must never forget the mission to which we have been called.

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3) That leads me to my next concern. This Sunday Christians need to remember that the church has been called to be a suffering presence in this world. The suffering of others is not to be kept at bay. Christians are to enter into that suffering, just as Christ entered into our suffering on the cross. We are to enter the suffering of those who still mourn the death of loved ones these ten years later, and we are to enter into the suffering of all who who have suffered in some form because of that terrible day.

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4) This Sunday is a day to honor the courageous-- firefighters, police officers, rescue workers and others who put their lives at risk (many losing their own lives) for the sake of others. C.S. Lewis said that courage was not one of the virtues, but the quality necessary to inhabit the virtues in our lives. Such examples of courage remind us that Christian faithfulness too requires courage-- the courage to live rightly, to act justly, and to reflect the image of Jesus Christ in this world, and to give our lives if necessary for the cause of the gospel.
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5) Finally, this Sunday is an appropriate time to remind God's people that in Jesus Christ God plans to put this world to rights, and that evil will, in God's own time, be defeated-- the evil that impinges upon us and the evil we perpetrate. Despite what happens in life, in the end, God will get God's way.

If you're preaching tomorrow, how will you reflect on the event and connect it to being a follower of Jesus?

Aspergers, Love and Frustration

I was reading a blog post over at Married, With Aspergers about relationships and was reminded about my own misadventures when it came to relationships.  Coming out as gay was hard enough, but then throw Aspergers in the mix and well, it can be a mess.

The thing is, way back when I didn't know I had Aspergers, but I think most of the guys I dated had to think at some point, that "this boy ain't right." 

Relationships have always been kind of a hit or miss thing with me.  Sometimes I come on too strong, and sometimes not at all.

I have to thank my husband Daniel for being so patient with me.  He's had to put up with my quirks and I don't think that's any easy task.  I also have to thank my friend Erik, who was my first boyfriend, for also sticking by me when I could be odd, which I certainly can be.

Having a romantic relationship with someone on the spectrum can't be easy for the NT person, but at least it isn't boring.

Lillian Daniel, Adam Copeland and the SBNRs

My last post created a lot of comments on Facebook.  A colleague of mine disagreed with the article and me for the attitude against those who consider themselves "spiritual but not religious."  Actually, I was agreeing to a short article written by UCC pastor Lillian Daniel and her comments have received a bit of criticism themselves.  Here's what Presbyterian pastor Adam Copeland had to say:

1. Really? An airplane? Would that be first-class or coach? I meet with people (young adults, mostly) every week who call themselves “spiritual but not religious.” They tend to be underemployed, live month-to-month, and are doing their best to find meaning in their tumultuous lives. Sure, the phrase “spiritual but not religious” needs some unpacking for pastors whose livelihoods depend on people’s public religiosity, but I’ve never heard it as “rebellion against the religious status quo.” Rather, the phrase is more a humble testimony that they just don’t seem to connect with fancy churches. And who can blame them?
2. As opposed to what Daniel suggests, the “spiritual but not religious” folks I talk to yearn for community. I have not found one who wants simply to have “deep thoughts all by oneself” as Daniel accuses. What might be true, however, is that the community they seek isn’t offered at most mainline churches with our endowment funds and dress codes and judgmental matriarchs and patriarchs. You see, some “spiritual but not religious” folks sense a certain righteous attitude from these institutions (go figure?). Many were once burned by hugely negative experiences with the church and it’ll take the church reaching out — in love, not in snark — for healing to begin.
3. God is working in the lives of the “spiritual but not religious.” I happen to believe they have a huge amount to teach the church about connecting to God, supporting true community, sustaining spiritual practices, and living out St. Augustine’s call for a “faith seeking understanding.” Daniel asks, “Can I spend my time talking to someone brave enough to encounter God in a real human community?” I say, Yes, feel free to do that in your church. But also be brave enough to listen to those encountering God in ways you don’t fully understand. Learn from them.

Copeland does have some points to make, but I can't help but agree more with Daniel's original snarky response, than with Copeland's defense of the SBNRs.  Maybe part of it comes from being in ministry a bit longer than Copeland.  Just a few weeks from my 42nd birthday, I'm not the angry young man I used to be.  Things that I thought were just the bees knees are now seen as sheer foolishness.  I'm not whining as much about how unfair the world is and more willing to say that we need to develop a spiritual toughness against the harshness of life.  The people inside the church are not as stupid and backward as we thought they were.  The folks outside the church are not the fonts of wisdom we once thought they were.

What Church Is All About

This article has gone viral and I think sums up what church should be all about: the communion of the saints.  The writer goes after the person that likes to say they are "spiritual but not religious." Here's a snippet:

Being privately spiritual but not religious just doesn't interest me. There is nothing challenging about having deep thoughts all by oneself. What is interesting is doing this work in community, where other people might call you on stuff, or heaven forbid, disagree with you. Where life with God gets rich and provocative is when you dig deeply into a tradition that you did not invent all for yourself.


Thank you for sharing, spiritual but not religious sunset person. You are now comfortably in the norm for self-centered American culture, right smack in the bland majority of people who find ancient religions dull but find themselves uniquely fascinating. Can I switch seats now and sit next to someone who has been shaped by a mighty cloud of witnesses instead? Can I spend my time talking to someone brave enough to encounter God in a real human community?  Because when this flight gets choppy, that's who I want by my side, holding my hand, saying a prayer and simply putting up with me, just like we try to do in church.

I think one of the million or so things I've learned in during my time at First Christian is that church is about this wonderful and odd collection of people who come together weekly and share their concerns and insights with each other.  I've seen true community happen.  I see 90 year old women make a prayer shawl for someone they thought needed prayer and a warm blanket.  I've seen men and women welcome a first time visitor and treat them like family.  I've seen the women of the congregation come and celebrate the arrival of a newborn even though the mother (and father) aren't members and they don't know the couple super well.

Maybe it's cool to talk about how you can find God in sunsets (I can find God there too, so you ain't special, sunshine), but the church is one of the last places were we can be a true community and it's the only place where we can learn about God from the lives of others.

The church isn't perfect, but I don't know what is.  But I do know that every faith community is a wonderful jewel filled with people trying to learn to be Christ to each other.  That's truly interesting and inspiring.

Can We Just Be Church?

The writer of this blog post is writing from a Methodist perspective as well as from a local viewpoint, but I think there are a lot of people who feel this way:

Generally speaking, there is a perception in Springfield that there are only two options in choosing churches. The first I will call “evangelical.” Congregations of this option are perceived as large churches with relatively newer and fancier facilities. They are perceived as younger, comprised of families with school age children. The perception is that they are conservative, and focus exclusively on one’s personal relationship with Jesus and getting into heaven when one dies.

The second perceived option I will call “social justice.” It is perceived as the alternative to “evangelical.” Congregations of this option are perceived as smaller in size with older or more basic buildings. The perception is that they are comprised of older people, retirees and empty nesters. They are perceived as liberal, and focus exclusively on helping people who need help and making the earth a better place in this lifetime...

...A dynamic of these two prevailing models for congregations in Springfield is that people who associate with one tend to view the other in very generalized, stereotypical ways. The atmosphere in this community is highly polarized; there seems to be a strong either/or mentality in the Ozarks that predominates the public discourse. This trickles into the church culture as well. While the truth is far more nuanced, it seems that Christians in Springfield are labeled either an evangelical or a social justice type...

I have witnessed a spiritual hunger in this community for church-without-agenda. “Can’t anyone just be church?” is a question posed in some form in multiple conversations I have had with people who are not a part of a congregation. And a church “just being church” takes only one agenda as their own - God’s agenda - for which another term could be God’s mission, the mysterious and transcendent Missio Dei. God’s mission is made known in Christ Jesus, who not only came to announce the mission and undertake the mission, but to embody it. The mysterious and transcendent made flesh and blood in Jesus of Nazareth.

Since I'm an out, gay pastor, there are folks who probably think I have an agenda.  There are others who have an agenda and don't like my perceived agenda. 

But the reality is, I wish we could just be church.  I wish those of us who call ourselves Christians would learn how to love each other, even when we disagree. 

Of course, that would mean actually trying to follow Jesus, something that I think we fail to do, no matter which side we come down on.

Is "The Help" A Modern Tale on Materialism?

So says, Elijah Davidson:

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s serves as the backcloth for The Help, but I did not walk out of the theater with a renewed commitment to racial equality. I left deeply appreciative of women and deeply disturbed by how women are affected by our materialistic culture. To reiterate, The Help, I contend, is not about racism. It's not about sexism either. I saw in The Help a depiction of the destructive power of materialism.

The Help's villain is Hilly Holbrook, a racist, vindictive woman portrayed with vicious glee by Bryce Dallas Howard. Hilly reigns supreme at the apex of Jackson's social pyramid. She is the one lobbying for mandatory separate restrooms for blacks and whites. She is the one who excludes other white women who she feels don't belong in proper society. She is the one whose comeuppance symbolizes victory for the maltreated and misused. The audience is supposed to hate Hilly and all for which she stands.

It worked. For the first hour and forty-five minutes of the film, I hated her with passion. Then I realized the sadness and desperation of her own life. Hilly does not sit enthroned atop a gleaming pyramid. She reigns over a travesty. This is a truth not lost on the filmmakers themselves, as they make clear in Hilly's final confrontation with Aibileen.

Hilly is so desperate to keep everyone else down because all she has is her little self-created kingdom of social standing and wealth. Everything she does is an attempt to shore up the walls of this kingdom. She organizes "coat drives" to remind herself that she is not poor. Her women's committee lies to itself about making "a big dent" in African hunger. Her crusade against the housekeepers is born out of guilt that she is incapable of keeping her house on her own. She must denigrate the black women around her because they are ever present reminders of her own inadequacy and the weakness of her way of life.

Appearances are everything to Hilly and her covey of similarly self-interested wealthy, white women, because appearances are all they really have. The shocking revelation contained in the housekeepers' book isn't that racism runs rampant in Jackson society. It's that Jackson society is a sham.

The white women in Jackson are nothing without their housekeepers. They cannot cook. They cannot clean. They cannot take care of their children. More so, even with those responsibilities shoved off on their housekeepers, The Help demonstrates that the women cannot maintain their way of life, the deeper irony being that the oppressors (the white women) are themselves oppressed by the culture of Materialism.

 I will agree with Elijah that there is something in the movie about serving the gods of materialism, but I still think The Help is a story about racism.  Thankfully, the racism depicted in the film is now more a piece of history than it is the day to day life of black folks.  But in the end, this is story about America's recent past which had some racist bits.

It's also the lived history of a lot of living African Americans like my father, who grew up in Jim Crow Louisiana.  I remember recently hearing one of my older cousins who was born in Louisiana in the late 40s talk about his experience receiving care in charity hospital in Central Louisiana and let's just say the care wasn't top notch.

I'm not saying that materialism is a part of the story in the movie.  But this movie is about racism and how it affects the people in that situation.  I think that needs to be acknowledged and not downplayed.

There is one thing I totally agree with this take on The Help.  It's one of the final scenes that seems to me reminiscent of communion:

The scenes I found most poignant, though, were a scene in which Aibileen's friend and co-conspirator Minnie is presented with a feast by her employers and an immediately following scene in which Aibileen's church community applauds her and the risk she has taken to tell her story. I was struck then with the conviction that all women deserve a feast, and all women deserve applause for what they have done both to sustain us and to set us free.

Minnie ends up working for a white woman who is a bit of mess.  She can't cook and is shunned by the other women in Jackson.  The relationship that develops between the two outcasts is wonderful and the closing scene is one where the woman learns to cook and she makes a massive feast for Minnie.  The scene shows a white woman and a black woman sitting down together to eat a wonderful meal.  If that isn't a demonstration of what communion is all about, I don't know what is.

"The Help"

My partner and I recently saw "The Help," a hit movie that takes place in Civil Rights-era Jackson, Mississippi.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the movie.  I didn't think it would be any good, but it was able to tell a good story about the lives of upper middle class white women and their African American maids.  There are a lot of movies that have tried and I think failed to tell the story of the civil rights movement (I'm looking at you, Mississippi Burning), but this one got the story right.

Presbyterian pastor Paul Moore did a good job of a giving a review of the movie.  Here's what he said after watching the movie with his young daughter:

I’m glad Hannah watched “The Help” with me. It gave us a chance to leave a world that values Facebook and brand clothes to talk about issues that really matter. There was something at stake in what happened in the movie. Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny didn’t change the world, but they shared stories that illustrated the ugliness of their age. Their courage transcends time. 

I don't really want to use the word "feel good movie," because well, the times were not feel-good.  But you do leave feeling that there are some courageous people in the world and some of them might be sitting right next to you.  Go see the movie, you'll be glad you did.

We Need This

Interesting words from Lutheran minister Nadia Bolz-Webber:

I need to receive the Eucharist. I need to hear the gospel again and again and again, because I forget all of that. I think that’s what we do in Christian communities. We gather. We remind each other of who we are. We remind each other of God’s promises, and that’s what we proclaim.
I think people, especially liberals, conflate sin with low self-esteem. They’re like, “I don’t want to talk about sin anymore,” because [they’ve been told] sin is immorality. They’re like, “I’m tired of having someone tell me I’m immoral when I’m not.”

There’s very little to do with morality. Sometimes it intersects with morality -- absolutely, no question. Being curved in on self can cause some really immoral things.

If you could actually manage to be a completely ethical and moral person, you would still be sinful. It doesn’t mean you’re bad. It just means that God is God and you are not, and that’s actually good news.
I once visited this woman who had a 6-month-old baby die. I spent the day with her. She had a pack of cigarettes next to her bed, and she didn’t have custody of her other four kids, and she was a drug addict. She spent the whole time going, “You know, this all happened because of this cop or this social worker who had it out for me.”

She had this totally external locus of control. I was so sad after I left, and it wasn’t because of the situation, which was sad; I was sad because I felt like she was never going to experience the exquisiteness of God’s grace, because she can’t confess. She needs it, but she can’t get to that place. She’s not going to have the freedom that comes from that, because she keeps going, “No, it’s this, it’s that.” Total denial.

My church always has a confession and absolution at the beginning of our liturgy. A lot of church planters want to jettison the confession, because they don’t want people to feel bad. I’m like, “Oh my God, that’s central to who we are.”

As I was greeting a woman who has been a long-time visitor, she said one of the reasons she comes to our church is because of the communion.  The tradition that I've been a part of for nearly 15 years, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), places a lot of emphasis on communion...at least in theory.  But like most anything, I think we forget the importance of this act, this act of having fellowship with a God that knows us completely, especially when we mess up, and still loves us.

We need this meal.  We need to be reminded how we fall short and how God still loves and redeems us.  While we don't do confession and absolution, the Lord's Supper is kind of that all in one. 

I am reminded of my Lutheran seminary days where a professor said in a sermon that people want the gospel, they want to hear the good news.  They don't want tales of bunny rabbits, the want the gospel.

We need to hear that we are loved and forgiven by God and we need to see that in action through communion. 

I need this.  You need this.  Don't forget that.

Life of Brian at 30

Tony Jones links to a comment about the Monty Python movie.  I happened to see the movie for the first time on a Good Friday evening.

Yeah, I know: I'm so going to hell. ;)

Sunday Sermon: August 21, 2011

“Think Different.”

Exodus 1:8-2:10 and Romans 12:1-8

August 21, 2011

First Christian Church

Minneapolis, MN

Earlier this week, the political world was abuzz about an op-ed by investor Warren Buffet.  In the opinion piece in the New York Times, Buffet calls on Congress to “stop coddling the super-rich” and raise taxes significantly on persons like himself who happen to be super rich.

As someone who follows politics, I can tell the reaction was rather predictable.  Many on the political left cheered it, while conservatives thought that if Buffet thought he should give the government more money, then he should do so without asking for Congress to raise taxes.

I’m not here this morning to talk about Warren Buffet’s challenge or to argue the finer point of American taxation.  What I am interested in is something that Buffet talks about  at the start of his opinion piece: a call for shared sacrifice.  It’s a phrase that we hear a lot from politicians.  For Buffet the answer to is one of the upper incomes paying more in taxes.  That’s a political and economic answer to our ongoing problems with the economy and the deficit.  But what does it mean for us?  What does it mean for those of us who follow Jesus?  What does shared sacrifice look like?

1,2,3,4,5...1,2,3,4,5...1,2,3,4,5...

Every so often, I happen to watch the TV series "Haven."  Last week's episode spoke to me because it talked about a character with Obessive Compulsive Disorder.

Titled, "Audrey Parker's Day Off, " has our lead character reliving the same six hours over and over ala "Groundhog Day." In each instance she sees a different friend get killed by a hit-and-run driver.  She tries to do what she can to prevent the accident from happening, but she keeps seeing her friends die. 

Towards the end of the show, we find out that the reason she is living these hours over and over is because of one man who happens to have OCD.  Anson is a man whose marriage broke down over his condition and because he thinks he caused the accident by not counting the right way or what have you, his guilt basically "resets" time and keeps Audrey dealing with the same day over and over.

The Anson character is either counting the numbers of buttons on his shirt or wondering if he should touch the phone and so one.  A choice that might seem inconsequential to most folks causes him sheer pain.

The time loop ends when Anson in a way frees himself from the guilt and chooses to step in front of the speeding car, which kills him.

I bring this all up because this display of OCD is all to real for me.  Aspergers can come with other conditions which are considered co-morbid and for me, one of those is OCD.  Over the last 10 years or so, my struggle with OCD has been tamed with medicine, but it can still pop up.  Daniel notes the times I tend to wash my hands more than once.  But it was worse before I was medicated. I can remember trying to go to bed and getting up again and again to check to see if a rag was on the stove or I had turned on the stove thereby filling my apartment with gas.  I would do this so much that I then could not get to sleep because I was now just filled with worried.  When I was younger (high school days), I would fear that I had hit someone and would even turn around to see if I had struck down a person.

I could share other stories, but I think you get the picture.  I know that writing about this might give people the impression that either a) Dennis is just a nut; or b) that I am drawing attention to myself.  I guess I just want to share this with folks. For a long time I didn't share out of shame and probably because yeah, people would think "wow, Dennis is just nuts."

But the thing is, a lot of us deal with this.  Some of us have forms of autism and this kind of comes with the package.  It's not easy, but the thing is, we do get by and can still lead normal lives. 

So if we meet somewhere and I get a bit fixated and start washing my hands a lot or something, just be patient and nudge me a bit.  I'll get the message.

And I'll keep taking my medicine.

When An Aspie Get Invited to Dinner

...kind of describes my own social anxieties.

An Uncertain Trumpet

Several years ago, I was at a local GOP convention through my work with Log Cabin Republicans.  As I was going about meeting folks, I realized that a gentleman from a church I used to belong to was a delegate to the convention.  It was nice to see him, but it was also interesting since this man never talked about politics in church and as far as I can tell, still does not today. 

It was interesting that I never knew the man's party affiliation.  It never came up in discussions.  He's always been a straight arrow dealing with financial and legal issues facing the church.  Politics just never came up in most conversation.

I share this because I am reminded by a post by Episcopal blogger Fredrick Schmidt about American Christianity and where it intersects with today's politics.  More and more, I want to be like this gentleman that I know, keeping politics out of the life of the church.

I'm not suggesting that the church should just not be involved in caring for the poor or speaking out when need be.  But I am saying that our involvement in politics has not as much elevated the body politic as much as it has brought the church down the to level of crass partisan bickering that we see so much of on TV and on the web these days.  The church is mimicking what we see on Fox News or MSNBC and acting accordingly. 

Schmidt is not amused and he calls for Christians to be willing to pursue the truth no matter where it leads:

Christians are no better at navigating the American political landscape than anyone else. The name-calling among them may have a religious ring to it, but it is depressingly similar to the tribal incivility on display everywhere else. And, sadly, when we are commenting on the larger political drama we drop the religious language and we are as nasty and unreflective as the talking heads on Fox or MSNBC. Some of the epithets I have watched Christians use in political observations on Facebook aren't even fit to reprint here.

For that reason, I am not at all sanguine about Christians transcending the terms of the current debate. That doesn't speak well for the rest of the claims that Christians make and that's deeply troubling.
Christians will necessarily commit themselves to a point of view, but they should all be committed to the pursuit of the truth, wherever it leads. They should be tenacious about gathering the facts. They should be scrupulous about avoiding distortion. They should be committed to civil and incisive debate about the issues. They should foreswear name-calling and character assassination. And they should be capable of considering solutions to the problems that face us that lie outside the ideological parameters on both the left and the right. If we can't do that, we really add little or nothing to the public debate.

But the problem facing the churches is the same that is so common in our society today: our insistence on being right instead of being loving.  Conservative and liberal Christians are sure that they have the answer to public policy questions and the other side is not only wrong, but probably not Christian.  Conservative Christians mimic their big brothers and advocate against tax increases and supporting what they see as "big government."  Liberal Christians follow their siblings, calling for taxing the rich and for the continuation if not enlargement of the welfare state.  Each side finds a few Bible verses to justify their side and condemn each other.

That said, we also face a far bigger problem: we want to believe that God is on our side and ours alone.  And there we definitely reach for our Bibles as weapons.  Schmidt says we can't expect the Bible to justify our position:

First, there is probably nothing in the Old or New Testament that can be applied directly and unequivocally to the debates that we are having. Ancient Israel was a theocracy with a king. The early Christian community was a church, not a country. The early church described in the Book of Acts was a minority movement within its own world. Its members did not exercise responsibility for shaping Roman policy. They did not issue currency and they did not elect representatives. So, we live, work, and vote in a completely different environment than those in which the books of the Bible were written.

We can debate the merits of big government, the size of federal budgets, the structure of the tax code, and the advisability of creating a welfare state. But the early Christian community described in the opening chapters of the Book of Acts, in which "all things were held in common and no one suffered need," is not a model for nation-building and it is not a model for creating a thriving, modern economy. To suggest otherwise is to rely on sloppy exegesis and anachronism. It is logically misleading and romantic nonsense.

What I wish to see in the modern American church is not a bunch of "red" and "blue" churches, but communities that seek to follow Jesus and are engaged in thoughtful discernment of public issues.  I want to see churches think about how best to help the poor, or spur economic growth, or what should be the scope of American foreign policies than just parrot what Rush Limbaugh or Rachel Maddow said that day.  I want to see communities where liberals and conservatives can talk about these issues knowing they don't have all the answers.  I want to see a church where we are humble about our political beliefs and willing to rest on God's grace and mercy instead of the Democratic or Republican party platform.

In the end, I'm not asking that Christians never talk about politics or their ideology.  I am asking that we model a different way of being in the world, that we learn to be Christ to each other instead of demonizing each other the way the "pagans" do. 

In some ways, this has made me an uncertain trumpet.  I'm not as willing to sound the horns for battle like I used to.  Yes, I have my opinions and as a political blogger, I do express them.  But as a Christian, I want to exhibit something a bit different.  I want to be about community and love, instead of being right.  Life is about loving our friends and fellow Christians even if we can't agree with them.  It's about loving as Jesus love.  That's a trumpet I want to sound anytime.

The Backwards Church

A story about how a child with autism was welcomed into church:

Finally, when Max turned 13, I could bear it no longer. I brought him back for the one thing he always loved about church when he was a toddler: when it was over. So, that’s exactly when we showed up. We called it “backwards church.” People were pouring out of the sanctuary and we walked in! It was the coffee hour, which at our church feels more like a backyard barbecue — friends talking and laughing, children playing Nerf football. Max fit right in. But something else was going on: God was about to grab his spiritual tool belt.

Within minutes Max started helping some of the men who were stacking chairs in the sanctuary. Before we left, one of the men approached Max. He put his hand on Max’s shoulder and asked if he would like to be an official member of the “Grunt Crew,” the team of men who clean and stack the chairs after each service. Max straightened his back and gasped with a rush of air so cool and cleansing that it felt like menthol. One small invitation, that one touch, changed our lives and the life of our church. For six years now Max has been a member of the Grunt Crew. He’s even become a greeter, which for Max includes leaping and dancing when the worship music begins. Max still doesn’t sit through the service, but his joy in serving is contagious. And he is a vital part of our church. It’s as if being with Max, this boy without armor or pretense, who knows the privilege of church, lets us all feel a bit of victory too.

Putting Your Taxes Where Your Values Are?

Alan Brevere makes a good point regarding Warren Buffet's op-ed on taxing the super-rich:

I like Warren Buffett. I admire him. He has been very generous with his money over the years. But when mega-rich folks like Buffett write editorials arguing that the wealthy should pay more in taxes, I am always puzzled by one thing. If he thinks he should pay more why doesn't he just do it? He could, for example, not take those tax breaks that the government allows him to take. There is no law requiring Buffett to do so. Or he can actually make a contribution to the federal government. Instructions on how to do so are right on the website of the Financial Management Service, which is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury...

It's one thing to write an editorial stating what others should do. I would suggest to Mr. Buffett that if he is serious about his words, he will back them up with action. Uncle Sam has his hand out and will not reject his check. I highly doubt that he will even ask Warren for two forms of ID.

When I stand up in front of the folks in church on Sunday morning and I encourage them to tithe (which should be the minimum gift to the church, not the maximum), I better be tithing and more myself. Otherwise my words have no integrity. If I insist that individuals read their Bibles and pray, I better be doing so as well.

I should add here that I agree with Alan that taxes probably need to be raised, though frankly I'd like to know why we want to raise taxes.  Buffet simply says taxes on the rich need to be raised, but then does not explain what this increased income is for?  Will it pay for social programs?  Entitlements?  Stem the debt?  We don't know.  All we know is that the rich need to pay more.

That said, I think Alan's charge that maybe Buffet should put his money where his mouth is makes some sense.  I used to think this was just a useless charge from conservatives, but not any more.  Of course, Congress and the President have to duke it out in raising revenue, but nothing is stopping Buffet from making a donation in the meantime.

The issue of taxation is one that we as a society must debate.  But if people are going to make such statements as Mr. Buffet's, maybe they should also make sure they are practicing what they preach.

Jesus for President?

Like it or not, Jesus is running for political office.

Jesus has been running for office for quite some time now.  What's his platform, you say?  Well, it's whatever happens to be your political pursuasion.  Are you a Democrat?  Well, Jesus is about as blue as can be, supporting government programs and very much for raising taxes on the wealthy so they can pay their "fair share."

And if you are a Republican?  Well, Jesus is a super patriot, is against raising taxes and government spending.

You can probably see where I'm going with this. 

In light of the recent budget and debt mess that has finally be resolved, I've heard folks talk about how it's not simply wrong, but downright sinful to cut any social programs.  I've also heard others try to infuse their conservative fiscal agenda with holy talk as well.  I hear people talk about "What would Jesus cut," as if Jesus was somehow involved in social policy during his time on earth.

Being a mainline Protestant pastor, I've hung out with other pastors who are decidedly on the liberal end of the spectrum.  The way they talk, you'd think Jesus came to earth to give every Social Security and Medicare.  Conversely, conservative Christians have somehow made raising taxes some kind of mortal sin that should send one to the very gates of hell.

I'd like to give my sisters and brothers who are partisans a little advice: stop using Jesus to prop up your arguments.

Jesus walked on earth during the first century, long before there was anything like a welfare state.  Jesus didn't have a position on Medicaid or defense spending.  Last I checked Jesus wasn't issuing his view on US tax policy. 

Jesus did care for the poor and  called us to do so as well.  But you might notice that Jesus never said how that should be done.  Maybe Jesus was smart enough (or extremely gullible) to believe we could figure that out.

I think there are good and moral arguments both for and against government programs aimed at alleviating poverty.  I think there are good and moral arguments both for and against raising taxes.  Jesus didn't call us to support this or that ideology; Jesus called us to be faithful.  We have to discern how to be faithful to his call to care for the least of these and odds are we will come to different conclusions.  That's okay. I think God is a god that likes to give us a wide berth to come up with how to be faithful.

So, can we please stop asking what Jesus would cut or not cut and stop trying to make Jesus some kind of mascot for our political parties?  Jesus came to give us abundant life, not free health care or lower taxes.

Why Do We Hate Rupert Murdoch?

I've really never understood the amount of animosity towards media mogul Rupert Murdoch and now that he dealing with the current scandal in the UK over phone hacking, some of these "Rupert haters" are now dancing with glee. The New York Time's Joe Nocera, who usually is an even keeled columnist, is enjoying how the hunter has become the hunted:

Let’s be honest here. There is something undeniably rich about seeing the tables turned like this. When I see photographs of Brooks, or Murdoch, or his son James (who until a few weeks ago was his father’s heir apparent at the News Corporation), sitting in their cars, staring blankly ahead, I can just picture the paparazzi horde jostling to get a decent shot of its prey. Murdoch’s papers have always feasted on scandals like this, picking the bones of their victims. Now Murdoch’s the one whose bones are being picked...

“The schadenfreude is so thick you can’t cut it with a chainsaw,” wrote The Wall Street Journal in an editorial on Monday, defending Rupert Murdoch and the News Corporation. (That’s right. After woefully undercovering the scandal in its news pages, The Journal’s editorial page is now leaping to the defense of its owner. Proving, yet again, that The Journal knows where its bread is buttered.)

Well, yes, the schadenfreude is pretty darn thick. Who would deny it? The whole thing reminds me a little of the ending of Ian McEwan’s wonderful novel “Solar,” in which the many awful things the central character has done in his long life suddenly come together to bury him in an avalanche of comeuppance. I’m O.K. with that.

Nocera then lists the sins of Rupert Murdoch, number being Fox News:

Although I generally admire entrepreneurs who build giant companies, Rupert Murdoch, despite giving us Homer Simpson, generally has not been a force for good over the course of his long career. His Bill O’Reilly-ed, Glenn Beck-ed Fox News has done a great deal to coarsen the political discourse. His tabloids have lowered the standards of journalism on three continents — and routinely broken the law on at least one of them. He had dumbed down his prestige papers, like The Times of London. He has run roughshod over cross-ownership rules meant to prevent one man or company from having too much power — and then used his lobbying might to get those rules diluted. He has put kowtowing to China ahead of freedom of the press, even killing a book set to be published by his HarperCollins unit that the Chinese authorities objected to. He has consistently used his media properties to reward allies and punish enemies. It’s a long list.

While I think it's important to look into the phone hacking mess to find out how far up the corporate chain it went, I think it's a tad premature to tar Murdoch with all of this, as if he order folks to hack into phones.

One of the sins that Nocera mentioned is the advent of Fox News and how it has cheapened the public discourse. I'm not a fan of Fox News, but I have always said it has to right to exist. If people don't like Fox they can just ignore it. Also, its not as if political discourse was some kind of Eden before Fox. Fox News is just a symptom of a greater disease, and if it were to disappear tomorrow, we wouldn't all go back to being nice with each other.

All of this hate and schaudenfruede is a bit much. And frankly, at the end of the day it makes those that enjoy it look somewhat small and petty.

Maybe Murdoch is guilty. Maybe he did know what was going on at News of the World. If so, then he should pay the penalty.

But we don't know all the facts. Instead we want to see someone squirm simply because we don't like them.

I don't think that's right.

Repost: The Old Man and the Queen

This post is from 2008. One note: when this man dies, I will be at his funeral.

And I will cry.

As several denominations struggle with the issue of gay pastors, I am reminded of something that happened to me a few years ago.

I had just graduated from seminary and was doing my CPE at a local nursing home. I was still involved at the church where I was an intern and was asked to serve on the church board. It came to a vote and I was voted in nearly unanimously. I say nearly because one person voted against me. I knew who it was and so did many others. It was an elderly member of the church. He had some idea I was gay and many people assumed that was why he voted against me. After the meeting concluded, he asked me to come with him into another room. He explained that he prayed and studied the scripture on the issue of homosexuality, but his conscience was not swayed in favor. As he said this, he began to cry.

I was and still am touched by this guesture. He did have to speak to me to explain his actions, but he did. He might not approve of who I sleep with, but he did treat me with respect. This wasn't simply about being right for him, but about being loving.

Yeah, I know that his actions were hurtful. Yes, it would have been nice had he voted in favor. But I could respect his decsion even if it was wrong, because he valued me enough to respect me.

Why am I sharing this? I guess because sometimes those of us who fight for justice for GLBT folk tend to paint everyone and anyone who might disagree as evil and backward and not worth listening to. Many pro-gay people think saying anything that is against being gay is hurtful to gays and react strongly to anything that might be hurtful to gays.

But the thing is, there is a difference between words and people that do mean to harm and those that are just not there yet. There are people that truly hate gay people, but not everyone who might have an opinion opposing gay marriage or gay ordination is necessarily a bigot. And the fact is, I'm a big boy-I can handle an old guy.

I truly believe we must work for justice and inclusion in the church. But grace has to be part of the plan. The old man's opposition was tinged with grace and for that reason I could also respond in grace.

I still see the old man-he is now in his late early 80s, but still going strong. We are friendly to each other and he still treats me with the utmost respect and even sees me as Biblical scholar (?). And I love his tenor voice-which is still strong after all these years. I have no idea how he feels about me being gay or having a husband. But I do know that he has taken the command of love very seriously and I will truly weep the day this man leaves the scene. He has taught me about grace; and for that I am ever thankful.

Great, now I'm tearing up...

Graceful Conversation

I think in our day and age, we are losing the act of conversation.  It's kinda odd, in this time when we have so many ways of talking to each other, we really don't talk to each other, at least we don't talk to people who we happen to disagree with.  Instead, we stay in our little circles, unwilling to actually listen to someone who might disagree with us.

It's interesting being a moderately conservative guy in a room full of liberals.  At some point the conversation gets wanders around to someone like Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann and everyone takes turns knocking down Republicans.  I start to get a little uncomfortable at all the trash talk.  I have to believe that the same thing goes in conservative circles.  Woe is the lone liberal that has endure that experience.

The sad thing these days is that we really don't know how to listen and talk with each other.  We seem to forget that each person is a child of God and so we hurl invectives at the other camp.  We are so full of righteous indignation that we are blind to loving our enemies.

As Christians, we need to learn to have conversations.  I guess it's kind of ironic that the person who has trouble with conversations is the one bringing it up, but there you go.  Yes, there were times that Jesus got angry, but there were also times that he listened to people.  At times, we have to learn to give up our need to be right, our need to be angry to learn to love the other- especially when we disagree with them.

Presbyterian pastor Janet Edwards wrote a wonderful post on conversation with adversaries, especially when it comes to GLBT issues.  Here's a snippet:

1. Approach the other person as a beloved child of God. See Christ in the eyes of the other person. Set aside every presumption you may have about him or her except that God loves this other, just like God loves you. This is often a mystery for me that our talk with help solve.
2. Trust deeply that the Holy Spirit has a word for you both. Watch carefully for the gift God has for you in your exchange with this other. It probably will not be the same gift for both of you. It will most likely be a still, small voice so you must listen hard for it.
3. Try hard to see things from the other’s point of view. Ask questions like: “This is what I hear you saying, is that correct?” or: “I want to make sure I get what you mean, is this what you said?” My own convictions have been strengthened many times by testing them against the other’s heartfelt words.

I think these words are important, especially for those of us that are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. We have to be willing to hear for the Spirit speaking even from those mouths of those we disagree with.

I don't think any of this is easy. But then, no one said following Jesus was easy.

Who's A Feminist?

I know I will probably stir some kettles with this one...

About 15 years ago or so, I remember listening to a call in show on public radio that talked about women's rights.  At one point a caller called in and talked about a friend of hers that was in many ways a strong feminist except that she was pro-life.  The caller asked if this woman would be consider a feminist.  The guest on the program responded: no, she could not be considered a feminist because of her stance on abortion rights.

I remember being rather shocked about that.  I can understand not agreeing with someone on that topic and I can see myself (I am pro-choice, by the way) have some issues.  But I didn't think this one issue should disqualify a woman from being...well, pro-woman.

There's a post up at the Her.menutics blog (one of many blogs from the evangelical magazine, Christianity Today), that talks about "evangelical feminism" in light of the prominence of two women in political ciricles, Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin.  Now, I'm not a fan of either woman.  I strongly disagree with Ms. Bachmann's anti-gay views and I agree with former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty in that the congresswoman hasn't done much during her time in Congress.  I think Palin does have some smarts, as evidence in this recent Atlantic piece, but I think she decided to play the role of outsider instead of competent governor.  I know it might distrub folks to see these folks as feminists, but in a way, they are.

Before people start throwing tomatoes at me, let me speak.  What I am trying to say here is that both women are very strong, opinionated women who have worked hard to get where they are.   I might totally disagree with their views, but these are not the stereotype of conservative women that hide behind their strong husbands. 

Does that make people especially my liberal feminist friends, uneasy?  Yeah, it probably does.  But then maybe we need to think again about what feminism means.  If it only means being pro-choice, then you have made it the same narrow kind of club that we accuse conservatives of doing.  However, if there is a diversity of ways of being a feminist, then maybe people can come together on issues where they agree to continue to uplift the role of women in society.

Okay, just let me get my umbrella.  Now you can throw your tomatoes at me.

Autism and Sex

I know it might be bad form for a pastor to be sharing an article about how people on the autistic spectrum achieve an orgasm, but since there are a lot of us out there that will find a partner or spouse, it's probably a good idea to share this.  So, read it.