The Creative Mess of Life in the Church

Thanks to Pastor Mark Christoferson, who sent me this quote:

The Rev. Dr. Eugene Peterson wrote:

A group of seminarians I was leading on retreat once asked me what I liked best about being a pastor. I answered, “The mess.” I had never said that before; I don’t think I had even thought it before. The answer surprised me as much as it did them. Sometimes a question does that, pulls an answer out of us that we didn’t know was there, but the moment we hear it we know immediately it is exactly true, more true than if we had had a week to formulate an answer.

Actually, I don’t like the mess at all. I hate the mess. I hate the uncertainty. I hate not knowing how long this is going to last, hate the unanswered questions, the limbo of confused and indecisive lives, the tangle of motives and emotions. What I love is the creativity. And what I know is that I can never be involved in creativity except by entering the mess. 

Mess is the precondition of creativity. The tohu v’bohu of Genesis 1:2. Chaos. Creativity is not neat. It is not orderly. When we are being creative we don’t know what is going to happen next. When we are being creative a great deal of what we do is wrong. When we are being creative we are not efficient.

An artist makes attempt after attempt at the canvas trying for the right perspective and missing badly, almost getting the right shade but not making it, realizing that this figure is an unconscious copy of a master and then rubbing it out, rejecting the imitative, returning to the beginning, refusing to quit, and all the time creating. A poet writes draft after draft of a poem, mercilessly excising cliches, feeling for the true rhythm, filling the wastebasket with crumpled paper, and eventually getting words together that tell the truth and tell it truthfully. Lovers quarrel, hurt and get hurt, misunderstand and are misunderstood in their painstaking work of creating a marriage: apologize and explain, listen and wait, rush forward and pull back, desire and sacrifice as love receives its slow incarnation in flesh and spirit.

In any creative enterprise there are risks, mistakes, false starts, failures, frustrations, embarrassments, but out of this mess — when we stay with it long enough, enter it deeply enough — there slowly emerges love or beauty or peace. Wherever two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ name, our Lord the Spirit is there. The Spirit is the Creator Spirit. In every congregation (I insist on the every) creation is in motion.

Peterson, Eugene H. . Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness (pp. 163-164). Eerdmans Publishing Co - 

The Good, the True and the Beautiful

One of my favorite books is Jaroslav Pelikan's Jesus through the Centuries.  It reveals the ways inwhich how we understand Jesus has changed throughout history and cultural change.  Pick it up, digest it, you'll love it.

One of the phrases that Pelikan uses in his introduction is a description of Christianity as a faith seeking the good, the true and the beautiful. One way to think about this concept is to look at the history of denominational developments.  Lutherans in particular embodied the pursuit of truth.  Our history of exploring questions of doctrine and teachings of the christian faith is one way of seeing that pursuit of truth.  Episcopalians could be viewed as a tradition that emphasize a denomination seeking the beautiful.  Their history of exploring the arts, liturgy, etc would be an example. Baptists or Quakers could be seen as traditions that, in two different ways, pursue the good.  How the christian faith has a moral or ethical code would be a primary question for those traditions.

Obviously, this is an over simplification, and we all know the categories are not clean, but it gives you a basic idea.

In an emerging post-denominational era, I wonder if we need to see this as a time to bring the good, the true and the beautiful together. One of the strengths of the Lutheran tradition is its clear thinking about the teachings of the faith.  But, I think we are in a time when we need to claim the beautiful and the good into our tradition. This probably needs to happen in other traditions, and we can help make that contribution.  We are in a time of bringing the whole together.

What is Mission?

It's a funny thing, but I find I have to explain this word.  What is Mission?  What do I mean when I use it?  The quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it best for me, “The Church is the Church only when it exists for others...not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.” 

Sometimes, stories and pictures tell it better.  Many of you know the story I have told about the small church in Kansas that had dwindled down to a precious few, only to be revitalized by discovering a nearby elementary school needed grandparents to read to the school children.

Here is an example nearby.  The Family Supper Table started last year by some people at St. Andrew Church.  Yes, it's my former parish, but this all started after I left, so all the credit goes to them.  Check out this video that tells the story of mission aka faith in action:

 

Let's Chat

Who: You!

What: Online chat with Bishop Jim Hazelwood

When: March 6, 7-8 p.m.

On Thursday, March 6, I invite you to join me for an informal hour-long web chat!

Here's the write up:

Is a little bit of heresy a good thing? Bishop Hazelwood will talk about why doubt, wonder and heresy, among other things we don't understand or agree with, are a part of our faith, and why we should embrace that. That will lead to a wide-ranging discussion that starts with that thought, but will be open to any topic. The web chat will be hosted on the Synod's GoToWebinar account, which allows audience members to submit comments and questions while watching the Bishop talk in real time. If you want to chime in with questions or comments, join the chat!

To register for this web chat, click here. Upon registration, you will receive an email with instructions for logging in to the chat. Spots are limited, so group gatherings are encouraged!

Chinese New Year at Good Neighbor and Good Shepherd

 

One of the joys of this work I do is visiting congregations.  This past weekend I joined the good folks at Good Neighbor and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church for a Chinese New Year Celebration.  Great chinese food, gifts, speeches and prayers!  Thank you to Pastor Ryan Lun for inviting me.


Pastor Ryan gives explanations of the Chinese characters.


I'm wearing the cap dubbed a Chinese miter. here with Ryan and Pastor Nathan Pipho


Crafts for the Children


Mission Director Pr. Jane Shields draws numbers for prizes


Last picture - all the children go stand over there, naturally I went where instructed.

Course or Coarse correction….

I saw this tweet yesterday by my colleague Larry Wohlrabhe, Bishop of Northwest Minnesota Synod, which I retweeted followed by Pr. Tiffany Chaney.

 

THis is a FACEBOOK LIKE 17 times over, and I realize, that I/we need to be exceedingly careful as we wrestle with the breakdown of Christendom.  The 'nones' conversation is all the buzz right now.  It's the 2010's decade version of the 'seeker' conversation from the 90's.  The conversation is basically the same, only I want to add a major course correction.

We need to shift away from "reaching the nones" to ministry with the 'nones.'  These categories are helpful for shortening the need to define the large swath of people, 75% in New England, who do not participate in a church, temple, or synagogue, BUT, they are not helpful in that they reduce human beings to objects or even, prey.   I'll continue to use the phrase 'nones' as a shorthand, but know that I am speaking about Cory, Debbie, Carol, Luis, Shavon, Terrence, George.

Alan Roxburgh has been very helpful to me, in reaffirming the Jesus movement was primarily about joining people in their communities and discovering what God is doing in their lives.  So the questions we engage in today are not, How do we get the nones to come to our church or how do we market to them.  THe question is, how can we join the nones in discovering what God is doing in the neighborhood.

Ideas 

Church folk making friends with non-church folk

Walk across the street and shovel your neighbors walkway or mow the lawn

Pay the toll for the person behind you

Get to know people and invite them for coffee in your house

Attend an open AA meeting and just sit there and listen

 

Our posture as christians need to shift from proclamation to discernment, and discernment means listening. That's a skill we can all benefit, and will indeed contribute to making the world a better place.  Infact, I would suggest it might even be the first step in our time for partnering with God in the rebuilding of the community of the world (aka the Kingdom of God if you want the biblical language)

Ouch! Hurt, Angry and Bored.

"It took me over a decade to think about attending a church from another tradition."  She was describing the pain of leaving the church of her childhood, in this case the Roman Catholic church

One of the more interesting pieces of research on the growing number of people who have left the church comes from the work of Elizabeth Drescher. In this article/interview, she describes something that I have intuitively sensed for years, but never had confirmation. Roman catholics have left their church largely out of a sense of betrayal.  Whether it is over divorce or sexual abuse scandals, many RC's have moved on out of a sense of lost loyalty i.e. they were loyal but the church was not.  Those who have walked away from evangelical or what we might call conservative churches have left out of anger.  They have a sense of being duped or tricked on topics like evolution, and as they matured in faith and life they discovered new ways of thinking about life.  But, most people who have left mainline congregations, such as Lutherans, Episcopalians and Methodists, left because, well, they were bored.  They did the church thing and got it, and it seems there was nothing more.  They got bored and dropped out.

I want to dive into this topic more deeply with Elizabeth and Keith Anderson, when they are with us on Saturday, January 25th at Trinity in Worcester.  We'll be broadcasting this event on this new fangled thing called the internet.  If you would like to attend, you can register by clicking here.  If you are not in the area, send me an email, and I'll get you access for the internet webcast.

 

Engaging the 'Nones' in the task of Preaching

I am currently attending the final day of the Winter Conference of Bishops, where our closing lecture is from Shauna Hannen, professor of preaching at Southern Seminary. She has just outlined a simple yet wonderful idea that I wanted to share with you. Form a preaching preparation group that includes people in your community who are not a part of a faith community. If I were in the parish, I'd be all over this idea.

Here is the outline of how to do it.

- Gather five people from your congregation to be a part of a short term, say four week group.
- This is not a study group or a periscope study group this is a faith exploration group.
- Find one or two people in your community who do not go to church to be a part of the group.
- have the group meet off site I.e. Not in the church building.
- Pick one of the texts for Sunday, just one, probably the more narrative type text, such as the gospel.
- Maybe have this group engage in conversation over a meal or at least coffee and tea
- As you discuss the scripture I have found that asking 'What do you wonder about in this story?'
- As the leader of this group, you are not the master of all knowledge, you are the facilitator. Your task is to help people explore the interaction of the story with their story.
- if people share an illustration from their lives, and you are thinking of using it in a sermon, you can ask the person for permission to share it in your sermon. Or better yet, if they can be invited to tell their story during your sermon.

Try it for four weeks, then let people go, and find another five to six people for a new group.

Why we all need an alternative vocation

As some of you know, part of my life has been spent as a professional photographer.  In some ways, it was my first career.  My dream in elementary school was to be a newspaper photographer.  That was in an era when newspaper and magazine photographers were appreciated, valued and compensated.  However, I got side tracked by a career in snow shoveling with my younger brother.  

Then came seminary, family, kids, dogs and mortgage.  I resurrected the photography gear and went to work in the late 90's doing wedding and portrait work, initially for fun, then later for profit in order to send my son to college.  It was either that or lay the burden of a ton of student loans on the kid.  The wedding work paid well, but it was the portrait work that I loved.

I photographed a Modern Dance Group on the Beach 

A decorated sailor who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor


Surfer's on the beach, and an Old Man of the Sea


Street portraits for anyone who came along 

In time a ventured out in composite portraits with various Musicians and Hip Hop Artitists

There were athletes

It was a grand run, a creative burst of energy.  At midlife I was able to explore both a creative as well as a technical aspect of life that was not formally connected to parish ministry.  In many ways, it kept me going in parish ministry longer.   

I firmly believe that everyone needs an alternative vocational, some call it an avocation.  If you have another area of focus (gardening, or pottery, or carpentry or learning another language or music, or acting or you fill in the blank) it allows you to see the world differently, meet new people, reframe your consciousness.  It actually improves your main work. 

With very few exceptions, the trip to Israel/Palestine, I haven't had the cameras out very much in the last year and a half.  Infact, I sold most of my gear after being elected.  But, now I'm starting to carry the camera around more and more.  I'm not looking for jobs, not at all.  No, rather, I'm looking at life, at moments and people, expressions and impressions.  Today the camera is a tool for spiritual interpretation of the world around me.  Today it's functioning as an expression of my prayer life.  

Be ready, I just might take your portrait at an unexpected moment.

 

What the critics of Nadia Bolz-Weber don't get

Nadia Bolz Weber is the Lutheran Pastor at a new congregation in Denver, Colorado, called House for All Sinners and Saints.  Her life story has been chronicled in her latest book Pastrix.  She and her congregation have received quite a bit of publicity of late, and with that has come the usual cheap shots of shallow criticism.

Nadia at House for all Sinners and Saints  NPR photo

Her critics often pick on her truck driver language or her physical appearance which includes tattoos, or even her less than perfect background and life story.   Having been on the receiving end of criticism similar to these myself, I have little patience for this kind of tattle tale third grade approach, often leveled by online blogs and chat rooms of people hiding behind a veil of jealousy, self-righteousness and just plain mean spiritedness.  (Yes, I know you read this blog as well and I’ve intentionally given you some content here to keep you busy for a while)

What Nadia's critics don't get, and what they are ultimately critiquing, is that she is not interested in engaging the culture of nice churchiness.  She is engaging with the culture of broken people.  Now I'll admit that dualistic distinction is unfair, because we all know that brokenness is everywhere.  But, I'm going to use that split to make a point.

In the United States there is a culture of church life.  It is a culture that has some core values including: the value of being nice, the value of a language of orthodoxy (which is not orthodoxy but adherence to one way of articulating the faith) and the value of defensiveness.  The last one kicks in when either of the first two are challenged.  Nadia is not interested in that culture.  Her ministry is with people for whom that culture is as foreign as breathing on the moon.  

Her way of engaging people who are hungry and hurting for authentic community is reminiscent of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was attempting to create an alternative authentic Christian community in Finkenwalde, Germany during the Nazi occupation.  Nadia is exploring what the gospel of Jesus might look like outside of that church culture.  This is a profoundly significant experiment on her part and I applaud her efforts.  We have historically wrapped gospel, church and culture together into one package, and then said to people you've got to accept the whole thing.

No.  I think that is at the heart of our problem.  We have made gospel subservient to church and culture.  As I read the New Testament what I find is Jesus articulating gospel as having a unique message that speaks to culture and church often as a counter weight or critique.  Lesley Newbigin and Alan Roxburgh have shown us in their writings.  When Jesus sends his disciples out in Luke 11, and they are to greet the towns people with ‘Shalom’, that greeting is a direct subversive move against the occupying army of Rome, who would announce a different kind of Peace. The Romans held up the sign that said PAX, which meant there will be peace as long as you embrace the Roman culture and ideology.  The disciples greeted people with Shalom, a radically different kind of peace.  The Peace that passes all understanding.  The peace of the kingdom of God.

Not knowing Nadia personally, I am simply watching and learning like everyone else.  What I'm seeing is someone who I believe is genuinely attempting to be a disciple of Christ.  She's doing it with all the shortcomings that any of us would embark on such a quest. God's grace is sufficient.

In Nadia, I'm seeing someone get out of the nice church box and engage people, many of whom have little interest in that box, but a whole hell of a lot of interest in an authentic community where Jesus is present, whether they like it or not. 

We would all do well to learn from God’s experiment at House for all Sinners and Saints.

Below is a link to an NPR Morning Edition profile of her congregation, along with wonderful commentary by Bishop Jim Gonia of the Rocky Mountain Synod.

Peter Steinke helps us understand where we are

Back to the Future

by Peter Steinke

At a workshop I was leading, a woman stood up and said, “If 1950 were to return, my congregation would be ready.” Succinctly, she summarized a nagging problem for many churches. The context in which congregations now find themselves is quite different from 1950. “How we do church,” though, has been quite persistent: Become a member of the local congregation, contribute money and effort, participate in communal events, volunteer time and goods, and worship regularly or at least several times a year. This pattern of “church” continued for decades in North America, but then things changed quickly.

There once was a world where the church functioned according to what some have called the “attractional” model (others have named it the participatory model). People come to a place, consume the spiritual goods, and serve as patrons to “meet the budget.” But a shift has happened. North American culture has taken new turns.

Christendom refers to a period of time when the Christian faith profoundly informed the culture. And, in turn, the culture carried the traditions, symbols, and rituals of the Christian faith. Another often-used term—post-Christian era—captures the reality that the importance and influence of Christianity in North American society has been in decline for at least three decades. In a “post-Christian” world, the church cannot expect favorable treatment or higher visibility.

One could say that a gathering storm—a confluence of factors—has assailed the church and its dominant perch on the societal ladder. None of this has to do with the church's internal functioning. The sea change is external or contextual. There once was a world that was eager to be hospitable to Christian churches and supported “blue laws,” soccerless Sundays, eating fish rather than meat on Friday, public prayer in schools and at nodal events, deferring to clergy by way of discounts, weekly religion sections in urban newspapers, and greeting others with “Merry Christmas.” Now, suddenly, with steep changes happening in our society, congregations have to ask themselves whether they are responding to a world that no longer exists.

The loss of members, influence, and a sense of mission—the church's misfortune of the moment—resembles the experience of Israel's exile. The lesson of the present dislocation is clear, if still not learned. The era of Christendom is gone. No longer is culture subsidizing and supporting churches.

Today's rapidly changing world is pressing the church to respond to a shift of paradigms—but not for the first time. In previous shifts, the church has both responded slowly and responded imaginatively. More than once, much of what people have thought and done has had to be reworked.

Each shift carried both danger and opportunity. In today's context, the church is challenged by the astonishing pace of change in the world. We are in some ways ill prepared to act rapidly, since the church is as an entity made up of people who are creatures of nature, subject to seasons, rhythms, and stages. We cannot be mechanically geared for shifting quickly.

Regardless of the nature of change, the church affirms that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God who has been active in history and who will be active in the future. Faced with a strange new world, the church is challenged to be true to its purpose and attuned to its context. I believe the paradigm shift of rapid change constitutes a rich opportunity for the church. God has set the door open to the future. But the new day is as perplexing as it is promising. As Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann explains, “It is abundantly and unmistakably clear that we are in a deep dislocation in our society that touches every aspect of our lives.” We are living in a new context where old certainties are disappearing, old institutions are less dependable, old assumptions are questionable, and old neighborhoods are less cohesive. Logically, if not spiritually, we may even have to allow for the possibility that these dislocations could be part of God's new creation. It may be God working through the unknown that contributes to the destabilization of the world. God is no stranger to Eden's deportation, Babel's scattering, the exodus, the exile, and crucifixion. God can be surprising, mysterious, taking history into unexpected turns.

The challenge of change for a congregation on a steady downward slope is precisely to redefine and redirect its mission. They have to realize that decline is not an end to mission. Yes, they are mere shadows of their past. Yes, rethinking mission is difficult, for congregations are burdened by big or deteriorating buildings, smaller staffs, a paucity of young families, and a shortage of hope. But expansion is not the sole gauge of mission orientation. One problem with this thinking is the belief that, for congregations, all things are equal. But congregations are not in the same place, same stage, or same circumstance. That's not reality.

Congregations may hanker for a technique that will bring about results they want to achieve; they want to replicate what has been discovered by someone else: “Give me a copy of the wonderful plans.” Seeing what those plans have done for others, they want the same result—but without going through the process that got the others to that point. The shortcut of imitation certainly bypasses a lot of pain. How churches hunger for precisely this situation.

Meaningful, lasting outcomes are the result of the journey and the learning that takes place. Maybe a word of caution should be stamped on all programs: “Not transferable.” Transition time is life's curriculum. Being on the path opens new insight; being on the path, not the steps one takes, is the very condition necessary for learning.

The Bible is replete with stories of transition and exile. Jacob, who was always a wimpy character, is on his way to meet the brother he tricked and fooled. He struggles with an angel on the wet banks of the Jabbok River, and out of the struggle finds strength to meet his brother. Jesus spends forty days in the wilderness—alone, hungry, numb—and the devil tempts him three times. The process of thinking, testing, and exploring contains the lessons. Churches need to remember that no handbook is available on freelancing mission. Only by going out, being there, and seeing from a fresh angle will the process lead to learning. Discovering how to respond to shifts and changes is the learning. Self-confidence is a byproduct. But growth is in the struggle, the push, and the journey.

Adapted from A Door Set Open: Grounding Change in Mission and Hope by Peter L. Steinke, copyright © 2010 by the Alban Institute. All rights reserved.

What do they do?

Among the many ways our Synod staff are engaged in working with congregations for effective ministry, we also...

Repair driveways.

The entrance to our synod parking lot was in need of repair.  We initially put this out to bid from area contractors.  The lowest bid came back at $1500.

$1500, I shouted incredously, with multiple exclamation marks!!!!!

Paul Sinnott and I did the job on our own for only the cost of 4 bags of cold pack from Depot.  Total cost about $50.00.    We thought of going in to business on the side, and undercutting all the pavers in the area by 50%, but decided against it.

 

Photos by Jane Shields, who provided supervision.