What does a Bishop do?

As I visit congregations, one question from children recurs, “What does a Bishop do?”  I suspect the adults wonder the same thing.   Now, that I’m nearly four years into this call to serve as your bishop, I realize that my work is in three areas.

  • Say Thank you
  • Provide Clarity
  • Cause Trouble

Let me expound.

Say Thank You.

Gratitude is everything. It just is, you won’t budge me on this one.  I think it is the central value of the Christian walk, heck, I think it’s the central value to being human.  You want scriptural evidence for this?  OK, I’ll give you scriptural evidence.  (66 uses of the word Thanksgiving from Leviticus to Revelation click here)  You can also find almost every Letter of St. Paul beginning with exhortations of gratitude.  It’s everywhere.

I’ve come to realize that a big part of my calling as your bishop is to say, Thank you.  So, I’m visiting church councils and saying “thank you” for your financial Mission Support to the New England Synod and the ELCA.  I’m grateful because those dollars are translating into the work of renewing congregations, like Redeemer in Lawrence, MA.  Your Mission Support has made it possible for the theological education of the new pastor, Rev. Eric Worringer.  It also made it possible for myself, Diaconal Minister Susan Lindberg Haley, and Rev. Jon Niketh to receive training in the Lombard Peace Mediation school, and use those skills to help the congregation gain clarity for it’s future.

This past winter, at our 3G Generosity training events, I was able to articulate the value of creating a culture of Generosity and Thanksgiving.  These events, combined with my church council sessions of 2015, enabled us to connect with 50% of the congregations in our synod.  Not only did I receive ‘thank you’ notes from these events, but I also heard of congregations such as St. Andrew in Charlestown, RI, where 35% of the members increased their giving as a result of implementing an Ask, Thank, Tell approach to stewardship.

Are you saying thank you?  You can’t do it enough.  Are you writing thank you notes to people in your church, your family, your community?  People love it.

One third of my ministry is saying “thank you.”  Sometimes, I think it should be 50% or more. 

Provide Clarity

Some people have told me this should read, “Tell the Truth,” but I prefer “provide clarity.”  Tell the truth reminds me of Jack Nicholson in that courtroom scene in the movie, oh what was the name of that movie.  You know, the one with Tom Cruise as the young JAG officer, and he says, “I want the truth.”  Nicholson says, “You…”  Well, you know what I mean.

I’m called among you to provide clarity.  This means I’m often the one in the room that has to say, “OK, let’s be honest now.  It seems to me that what we are really talking about is…”    Another way of putting it is that someone has to say “no.” or variations on no.  This means I’m not always popular.  I’m learning to live with that, which is getting easier, cause I was never very popular in high school either. 

I’m finding that my role is to help congregations face some difficult choices when it comes to their future.  When you are down to 12 people, and your building is falling apart, and you have no money – it might be time to look at other options.  I know it’s tough, and the memories and legacy are hard to move on from, but maybe Jesus has something else in mind. 

In addition, my role in providing clarity is to this whole synod.  I have attempted to do that in many ways:  Describing the reality of our cultural context as the most unchurched region in the United States, outlining my strong convictions that this synod is to be a place of full inclusion of all people, honestly answering the question “what’s one easy thing we can do to grow our church?” by saying, “there is no such thing in life as one easy thing.”

I fully recognize that engaging in ministry in our time is challenging.  But, it’s not just us, it’s true all across the ELCA.  We live in a transition zone from a mode of operation as church to something new that is being born.  But, I have no reservations, that the way forward is through a spirit of experimentation.

  • Prince of Peace in Claremont, New Hampshire took the leap of faith and partnered with the local Episcopal church to form something new. 
  • The members of the Intersection ministry in Dorchester, MA  are courageously entering into a new venture with a developer so that their ministry can move forward with space and resources. 
  • The Campus Ministry at Yale is engaging in plans to sell their property and re-birth themselves as a 21st century campus ministry.
  • Bethany Lutheran in Cranston merged with St. Paul in Warwick, Rhode Island, and they begin a search for a new pastor this month.
  • Philadelphia and Gettysburg Seminary are coming together to form a new Theological School that in time will train the next generation of pastors and deacons for this church.

These are good things.  I celebrate them all as expressions of bold experimentation.  We cannot go forward doing things the way we used to do them.  Yes, we embrace the core elements of our Lutheran identity centered around the justifying grace through faith in Christ Jesus.  But, we must be open to new initiatives in the style and language of ministry.  I encourage congregations to be laboratories of experimentation with worship, mission, outreach, service, education, etc.

Cause Trouble

Yup, this is my own addition.  I could have a more sophisticated phrase like, “be a disruptive innovator.”  But, that sounds too clinical for my shoot from the hip, be a little defiant, iconoclastic personality disorder.  Or is it a syndrome?  Anyway.

Romans 12 has been a verse that has rung in my heart for decades, “Do not be conformed by this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing (experimenting?) you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

I do not believe we are called to be conformed to the standards of society,  whether that is in politics, culture or religion.  I’m not interested in being politically, socially or religiously correct.  I’m deeply interested in discovering what God is longing for in our world today.  I recognize that this third area of my calling has meant that I get in trouble.  That’s ok, I’d rather get in trouble by causing trouble, than stand around and watch, and do nothing.

In my role as Bishop, I want to be the cajoling, friendly yet cranky uncle who is pushing you to something new.  So, you will sometimes find me verbally poking  people, because I want them to think differently, act on creative impulses and move from safety to adventure.  The church of Jesus is an adventure, not a security blanket.  I push this out of love, not from a place of mischief or malice.  In other words, I’m not causing trouble for the sake of causing trouble.  Rather, I’m hoping to nudge, push and prod this church into a future that it does not know.  Why?  Because, it has been experience as well as my reading of scripture that the church has always been better and truer to it’s calling, when it is on the edge, fragile and slightly insecure.  The church is best when it’s on a mission.

 

 

 

 

 

Pastoral Leadership and the Future in New England Part 1

This is a first version of a series of writings that seek to get at some core issues that we are facing as a church.  More will come. Some of it will be wrong, probably most of it, but we will press into the future.

The purpose of this letter is to provide all of you with information about the broader context of the present and future of pastoral leadership in our church and in our congregations.  Over the past several years, I served on the ELCA Task Force TEAC (Theological Education Advisory Committee).  Among the many purposes of this task force was an investigation into the current and future state of the preparation of leaders in this church.  We examined the ways in which this church can better prepare leaders (clergy, deacons and lay) for the emerging context that demands a new set of skills for a changing culture.  The full TEAC report is available online.  The purpose of this letter is to highlight some specific points that are impacting the New England Synod.   I frame this letter in a series of questions that I am occasionally asked as I visit our congregations around the synod.

Will there be enough new pastors for the church?

The following chart points to the trend of enrollment in our eight ELCA seminaries.  These numbers reflect the total enrollment at the various schools of both full- and part-time students.  As you can see, there is a trend toward declining enrollment. 

LTSG=Gettysburg LTSP=Philadelphia LTSS=Southern LSTC=Chicago PLTS=Pacific

The chart does not include ELCA students who may be studying at Yale, Harvard, Duke, Princeton or other Divinity schools.  In addition to this trend, I can tell you that the total number of candidates available for first call to a congregation was 76 this year, down from over 100 last year.  The New England Synod requested 6 first call candidates.  This year we received only 2.  They are the kind of candidates we are seeking, but the question of what we will do when we need four more is now upon us.

What does this mean?

It means that for the foreseeable future, we can expect very few first call candidates to be available for our congregations in New England.  The impact of this will be felt in congregations that, either by size or choice, prefer a first call pastor. 

What is happening with the overall picture of all clergy in the ELCA?

The chart below depicts the number of ELCA Clergy by age.  As you can see the largest number are currently age 61, and the age wave of one of the largest generations in US history is reflected in the cluster of people between the ages of 55 and 65.

 In New England, we are beginning to see the trend of retirements of pastors in this wave.  In 2016 & 2017, I anticipate retirements will increase steadily.

When you look at the two charts above, you can conclude that we will begin experiencing a shortage of clergy.  This means we will have fewer pastors available to serve congregations.  It means that although we offer congregations the option to interview up to three candidates at a time, the reality is that we may not be able to find three qualified candidates for you to interview.

We are taking a number of steps to address this situation.  Those steps include a renewed emphasis on searching for pastors who desire to come to the New England Synod.  I have enlisted retiring synod vice president Mark Winzler, along with retired pastors Tom Chittick and Ed Saling to assist in evaluating potential candidates.  They are all serving in a voluntary capacity in this work.

Secondly, our staff will be working with congregations to help them evaluate creative ways forward. This may include conversations about shared ministries, alternative approaches to staffing, options for working with our ecumenical partners, and other ideas that will emerge.

Finally, I believe we need to be intentional about inviting the next generation of leaders to consider service in the church.  The future pastors and deacons of this church are in our confirmation classes, youth groups and Sunday morning worship services.  We need to have conversations with people we think would be good church leaders.  In addition, we need to make theological education affordable, so we have launched a New England Synod Fund for Leaders.  This will help support this next generation of church leaders.

I have always maintained that the church is in labor pains for the new thing God is birthing.  The labor pains are all around us and within us.  This one issue is among many.  We need to experiment, try something new, be willing to fail, and then get up and try again.  I invite you in to a time of persistence and patience as we move forward.

A Communication Plan for your Church

Guest Blog Post from Thom Rainer's Blog

Four Reasons You Need a Communications Plan for Your Church

By Jonathan Howe

Most, if not all, churches have a plan for their worship services. Hopefully your church has a plan for discipleship. And many churches have a long-range plan.

But what about how you communicate to members and guests? Do you have a plan for that? Here are four reasons you should have a communications plan in your church.

  1. Everyone knows their role and responsibility. Unless one person is handling all of the communications of a church, everyone on the team needs to know who is responsible for each channel. With Facebook, Twitter, email newsletters, Instagram, bulletins, phone calls, and more available to churches, it’s easy to see how communication could get confusing. A plan where everyone knows what they need to distribute and when it needs to go out helps align all of your communication channels.
  2. Fewer items fall through the cracks. Even when one person is in charge of all church communications, things get missed when there is no plan. Add in three or four other people, and that creates even more opportunities for things to fall through the cracks. Having a plan—and possibly a weekly checklist—allows you to be consistent with what, when, and where information goes out.
  3. Your communication is more strategic. If you lack a communications plan, you cannot be strategic with how you communicate. When you lack strategy, members and guests are less informed and less engaged. And with attendance waning in many churches, we should be doing everything possible to increase engagement from members.
  4. Members and guests benefit from consistency. Related to the previous point, having a communications plan that is consistent in distributing information about your church allows members and guests to become more engaged with your church. Engaged and informed members are more likely to attend and, as a result, grow in their faith. As for guests, moving them to membership is much more likely when their questions are routinely being answered before they have to ask them.

Next month, I’ll discuss the components of a strategic church communications plan. But for now, what other benefits do you see of having a strategic plan for your church communications?

David Bowie, Close Friends and an Affirming God

Ironically, my rather traditional Midwestern conservative father was the one who introduced me to music.  He was a little flummoxed when I moved from his love of Jazz to the wild sounds of David Bowie.  I recall him seeing the album covers, and just closing his eyes. If Bruce Springsteen grabbed my attention for the stories he told, David Bowie captured my imagination.  The Los Angeles that I grew up in the mid 1970’s had an underground rock scene that would later emerge as punk rock and new wave sounds.  It began in 1972 with what many consider one of the finest rock concerts of history.  Bowie’s music was constantly changing and evolving from ballads in the late 60’s through an Avant gaard period in his collaborations with Brian Eno in Berlin.  I began going to Bowie concerts on the Station to Station tour in 1976.  

But, David Bowie introduced something else to me at an impressionable age.  Like many adolescents, our views of human sexuality are profoundly influenced by events in our lives.  These events can include family dynamics, divorces, exposure to images and practices of human sexuality, along with our own psychological development.  I’ll spare you the Psychology 101 lecture, along with the views of Freud, Jung, and Erickson.  You get the idea.

 

Bowie as an artist personified a different way of expressing his sexuality.  He could be androgynous in his appearance.  He would move from wearing elaborate makeup to dressing like a suave European nightclub singer.  He once described himself as a “closet heterosexual.”  An eye injury from an early age left one eye permanently dilated.  This appearance added to the mystery.

Later, in college I became friends with several young men who were struggling to understand their own sexual identity.  Over those college years, we talked on occasion, and in the end several of them came to a full understanding that they identified as young gay men.  This was between 1977 and 1981, not exactly a time period when homosexuality was embraced by the culture. 

From an early and formative time period in my life, I had been exposed to various perspectives of human sexuality.  I had heard stories of family members who had come to understand themselves as gay, of men and women who were comfortable in same gender relationships. 

By the time, I had moved toward an acceptance of a life as a follower of Christ at a Lutheran Camp in Southern California, I had already known many people who were gay.  They were my friends, acquaintances and neighbors.  I naively entered the Lutheran church with the assumption that everyone had this same experience.  Didn’t we all know people who were gay?  Didn’t we all grow up with David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, and Rock Hudson?  Didn’t we know that the church organist was gay, or that college professor was lesbian?

 

It was only much later while in seminary that I began to pick up on this notion that not everyone in the church accepted gay or lesbian people.  I never entered into any form of activism about the issue.  I just watched and listened.  I heard people say things I couldn’t believe.  Eventually, I was asked to address the matter in a series of private conversations with people who were members of congregations that I served.  In settings of pastoral confidentiality, I was asked about my views.  I articulated an unequivocal acceptance, grace and embracing of people.  I couldn’t see why people would not.

All this is to say, that I’ve never really thought of sexuality as something to fear.  Oh, to be confused by, yes indeed.  I think we are all trying to understand who we are as sexual beings.  That’s part of the life long journey. 

Somewhere in the time period between the formal beginnings of my Christian faith and my second parish, I took time to study the various biblical passages that had typically been used to support a case against homosexuality.  What I found were a few passages in Leviticus and a passage in Romans. I did some reading and research, and I’ll admit it was not a thorough dive into all the scripture, but it was enough to give me a solid perspective.  There were a range of responses from those who held up these passages as clear evidence of God’s condemnation of homosexuality.  There were also clear bodies of scholarly work that pointed out these passages were not to be understood as legislative rulings.  I also found absolutely ridiculous ideas on both sides of the argument.  I concluded that while there are passages in the Bible that speak to this matter, there were also passages in those same parts of the scriptures that we choose to ignore.  For instance, it’s clear that the Biblical concept of Jubilee, in which all debts were wiped clean was never practiced in ancient times, and certainly we don’t practice that today.  

In addition, our understanding of human sexuality has evolved over time.  One brief example.   It used to be considered that the sole purpose of human sexual activity was for the purpose of child bearing.  Fertility was everything.  Do we still hold that view today? 

I recognize that my perspective is not embraced by everyone.  That’s ok.  I’m not writing this to be coercive.  I’m simply articulating some, and not all, of the pieces that brought me to this understanding. 

In 2009, the ELCA made a decision that opened up this church to the gifts of gay and lesbian persons.  The reality is that gay and lesbian people have been serving in the church for 2,000 years.  But, now it could be publically affirmed in our denomination.  We as a church developed some careful guidelines, that made it possible for there to be clarity around the circumstances those persons could be authorized for ordination, such as committed relationship, which has now evolved to legal marriage since the Supreme Court decision.  We also put in place provisions for persons and congregations that did not want to be served by a gay or lesbian pastor.  In short, we opened the tent, allowed for flexibility yet embraced a non-coercive practice.

Since being elected as Bishop in New England, I’ve had the opportunity to preside at the ordination of a number of persons who express their sexuality in multiple ways.  Some are gay and single, others are straight and married, and others are celibate.  In other words, there is a range.  And what I have found in this range of expression of human sexuality is some amazingly gifted and faithful people.  I want to emphasize this point.  THESE ARE GIFTED PEOPLE AND GIFTED PASTORS.  In many cases the congregations they serve are thriving.  They are thriving because they are being served by gifted people, who happen to be gay.

David Bowie, some close friends and an affirming God gave me a gift early on – the gift of accepting people as sexual beings in various expressions.  I’m grateful for that.

 

Bruce Springsteen, Poet, Prophet, Preacher

There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor 
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm 
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down 
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground 
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart 
Blow away the dreams that break your heart 
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted 

The dogs on main street howl, 
'cause they understand, 
If I could take one moment into my hands 
Mister, I ain't a boy, no, I'm a man, 
And I believe in a promised land 
I believe in a promised land...

Bruce Springsteen has captured a central narrative of many Americans who grew up in the post-1960's.  We were the younger borthers, sisters, cousins or neighbors of those who fought in Vietnam, or participated in Selma or Berkeley.  It's an America that is both nostalgic and optimistic, past and future.  What Bruce has captured is the present. It's a present that has a lot of brokeness in it.  In reality all times have brokeness, so the theme is universal and timeless. This is probably why his recent appearance in Boston gathered people from ages 7 to 70.

When his iconic 1975 Born to Run was released, I had just acquired my driver's license, so all the imagery of cars was highly appealing to a 16 year old on the steets of southern California.  Forget the Beach Boys, I listened to the Boss.  I missed his appearance at the LA Roxy Club in 1977, but stayed home to record it on my TEAC cassette recorder since it was broadcast on FM radio.  While the automobile continued as a thread in his music, Springsteen moved on and his many recordings have reflected both the changing times of our society as well as his own growth as an adult.   He reflects on the dreams of the common man in the song The River

Now those memories come back to haunt me 
they haunt me like a curse 
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true 
Or is it something worse 

Or in the title song to his Nebraska album, he tells the story of mass murderer Charles Starkweather, and using an economy of language, he describes a broken sinfulness of life

They declared me unfit to live said into that great void my soul'd be hurled 
They wanted to know why I did what I did 
Well sir I guess there's just a meanness in this world

A meanness indeed.  Yet, he is not limited to the darkness that lies on the edge of town, or on the edge of our own hearts, Bruce Springsteen is also able to capture the resilience of humanity. This can be heard in songs like Reason to Believe, Hungry Heart, and the recent Land of Hope and Dreams a kind of ode to the best that is America, is it the best of humanity.

This train...
Carries saints and sinners
This train...
Carries losers and winners
This train...
Carries whores and gamblers
This train...
Carries lost souls

I said this train...
Dreams will not be thwarted
This train...
Faith will be rewarded

His post - September 11th album the Rising holds a special place in our house.  We had lived in New York at the time of the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, so when 9-11 came, we grieved the loss of many people. None we knew directly, but it felt close.  The Rising was Bruce Springsteen's emotional response, and it contained songs that reflected both the heartache of that time, as well as the resiliency of the city.  His song "Further on up the Road" is such a visceral response of anger, but even Bruce himself regretted seeing how it had been misused to justify acts of revenge.  He stopped playing the song on that tour after only a few shows, and has not performed it live since.  The album's title song captures the perspective of a New York City Firefighter on that fateful September morning.

Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line

Come on up for the rising
Com on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here

The New Jersey born musician has not shied away from controversry. In American Skin 41 shots, he tells the story of Amadou Diallo, the young man killed with 41 bullets in a NYC walk up by NYPD.  It was performed live in 2012 following the Trayvon Martin murder.  Bruce had been a hero of the northeast working class white man, here he was reminding all of us that there is a call for justice that surpasses skin color alegiance.


Going to a Bruce Springsteen concert is not a musical event - it's a revival. His E Street Band has changed a few members over the years, as both saxophonist Clarence Clemens and keyboardist Danny Federici have passed away.  But, the music rolls on.  It's Rock n Roll, it's story telling, it's lament, it's celebration - heck, it's just good liturgy.  Toss in a meal, and you've got the whole deal.  The man I saw live in 1978, 80 and 84, who used to have wild screaming 19 year woman running on stage to dance with, has moved on.  Last week, he sang Hungry Heart with a 7 year old held up by her daddy, and Bruce danced on stage with a 10 year old.  The Boss, as he is sometimes called, is now 66, and while he is no longer running across the stage and sliding on his knees as he did in the 2009 Superbowl halftime concert, he is still rocking the show for a full 3 and a half hour concert. He has penned an autobiography, which is due to be released in September.  The New Yorker Interview from 2012 is a wonderful reflection of a man who has captured much of the mindset of a generation or three.

If you get a chance to see him live.  It'll stay with you.


How to Use Facebook

Thom Rainer offers some worthwhile thoughts on using Facebook in your mninistry.
  1. Give as much information as possible in the “About” section. Facebook offers several fields for you to enter information about your church—use them. Don’t make those interested in your church have to click away to your website and find the basic information of service times or location. Also, set up your church as a “Company Organization, or Institution” and not a “Business or Place.” Certain functionality is included in the specific categories, and the former is preferred for churches.
  2. Use correct graphic sizes. Avatars (or profile pictures) should be square and the cover images (header images) should be sized correctly. Visit this Facebook page for all the specific graphic dimensions. Well-done graphics allow you to make a great first impression with potential guests. Poor graphics do not.
  3. Remember your audience. Many of those who like and view your page will be members looking to stay in the know about what is happening at the church. But you will have potential guests viewing as well. Your content must appeal to both.
  4. Post appropriate content. This is related to the previous point. As with your church bulletin, not everything going on at the church needs to be on your Facebook page. I’ve seen everything from funeral arrangements to surgery updates on church Facebook pages. In most instances, those don’t belong on a church’s public Facebook page. Use private emails or church groups for those kinds of updates. Facebook page content should be of importance to both guests and members and be of great importance.
  5. Get permission to post photos of kids. Many parents have an aversion to posting pics of their children, so it’s always best to ask or make parents aware that there is the possibility pictures from events might end up online.
  6. Use Facebook events for major church-wide events. I’ve seen some churches add an event for every service, every week. This is not good. At all. Facebook events can be highly effective, so save their use for major ministry or outreach events.
  7. Encourage your members to share. Do not hesitate to ask members to share updates, promotional pictures, or events. It’s always better to have a few hundred people sharing a post rather than just your church page. As always, make sure what you are asking people to share looks good, is grammatically correct, and will be attractive to potential guests.
  8. Answer any messages or questions promptly. The only thing more frustrating than not being able to find an answer is asking a question only to have it ignored. When people ask you questions through the message app or in comments, answer them quickly and courteously.
  9. Monitor the page and stay current. You may not have major events or news to share each day, but someone (or a team of someones) should be checking the Facebook page routinely. Always be available to help a member or potential guest.

Fix it yourself!

In 1975, I turned 16 and got my driver's license, which was a very significant event for me as a teenager in Los Angeles.  I went to the DMV on my 16th birthday, and passed my test with a 97.  My one mistake was some little thing about turning on a blinker.  Hmmmm, still forget to do that sometimes.  Later that year, I bought my first car.  It was a 1966 Ford Mustang.  Do I regret not keeping that car?  You bet. The body was in great shape, but as with all cars, especially at that time, mechanical repairs were needed.  My mother had taken a class in auto repair, so she and I set out to a series of major overhauls for this Mustang, which included a new engine.  Yes, you read that right.  My mother and I installed a new engine into that Ford.  It was a straight-6 cylinder, and in those days, you could actually do this kinda work on a car.  Today, not possible.

Forty years later, I'm able to do some basic work on my motorcycle, but for some reason when I started cycling last year, the repair and maintenance of my bicycle seemed a bit confusing.  So, I did what most over-educated people do, I took a class.

This winter I set aside 3 days for continuing education.  (Don't fret, I used my own money, and did this on my days off)  We covered the whole bike, from top to bottom, from cleaning to adjustments, repairs and replacement of parts.  My instructor was Ed, who is a lifer in this business.  He knew about bikes going back to the time before I got my Mustang, and rode a ten speed schwinn around the San Fernando Valley.  I shoulda kept that bike too, along with the Mustang.

Why learn how to fix it yourself?  Why not just drop the bike off at the local bike shop once a year for a tune up?  Different people have different reasons.  Here are mine:

First.  I find that the work I do now as a bishop involves lots and lots of things that cannot be fixed.  For a guy who is a doer, and has a bias for action, this has been the single most frustrating aspect of my now not-so-new calling.  The irony is people think that because I am a bishop I've got all kinds of power, influence and authority to fix things.  Nope, it don't work that way.  So, the prospect of being able to fix my bicycle when the tire is flat, the chain needs replacing or the brake pads are shot is, well, very appealing.

Second. Most of my life and work involves people.  Here is the thing about people, in case you have not learned about this yet.  People are full of contradictions, joys & heartaches, self-delusion, hopes & dreams, irrational exuberance, petty myopic thinking, glorious cheerfulness and a whole litany of characteristics. 87.3% of the time, I enjoy getting in this muddle mix, but there are times when I just want to interact with some steel screws, rubber tires and aluminum cranks.

Third.  Grease is good.  Getting dirty, sweaty, grimey is a concrete reminder that life is gritty.  Working on a bike, or a car, or motorcyle, or even in the dirt of a garden, if that's your thing, is an external verification that each of us are a part of the stuff of this earth - this creation.  We are not above it, we are not better than others, no, we are all gritty grimey creatures in need of redemption.  In a sense, the work of cleaning the sand out of gears is a sort of confessional booth for me. Yes, there is liturgy in the repair business.

Fourth, and finally. I think it's essential in an increasingly specialized world, where the temptation (heck reality) of living in silos needs to be countered.  If you are in ministry, you've got to get out of your church stuff, and have something else.  If you are in finance, you need to go to the opera.  If you are in real estate, you need to take up pottery.  Odds are, that after you've learned the essentials of your field, you will benefit more from some cross fertilization.

That's it, sermon done.  Off to go fix something, Hah.

Lessons from MLK jr

John Maxwell is a motivational speaker.  I've learned a lot from him over the years.  Like many in this field, I'm not all in on his ideas, but overall it's been helpful.  This article looks a MLK as a strategic person.  Like Ghandhi, these men are often held up as sacred, but we forget they were very shrewed tactitions as well.

Borrowed from John Maxwell's E-Newsletter

3 Things Martin Luther King, Jr. Taught Us About Thinking

Easy answers and half-baked solutions. How often are these really effective? A MacGyver-style fix usually works in the moment, but not forever. And split-second decisions often cause regrets. A little duct tape on this, a quick patch on that and we move ahead to the next project. It's definitely easier to just check off a task instead of giving ourselves the time necessary for planning and solid thinking. 

John C. Maxwell says, successful people think differently than unsuccessful people. And, if you are willing to change your thinking, you can change your feelings, you can change your actions, and ultimately, you can change your life.

As we approach Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we reflect on a great man and a great thinker. He was not the kind of man to glaze over the details or take short cuts. He modeled solid, vision-driven thinking and because of that, he created a remarkable legacy. 

As we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., we reflect on three aspects of his skilled thinking that made him a successful leader. And, they are skills you can implement, too. These three methods of skilled thinking can help you discover new ways to consider the challenges and obstacles you face in your own leadership.

1. Strategic Thinking

What is needed is a strategy for change, a tactical program that will bring the Negro into the mainstream of American life as quickly as possible. - MLK


King knew hope wasn't a strategy. Having been denied their rights for the entirety of United States'
history, African-Americans could not expect change by working through the usual political
channels. The quest for racial equality would require radical activism. As King noted, "Freedom is never
voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
Inspired by the Montgomery bus boycott, King conceived a national strategy of widespread noncooperation
to challenge racist institutions.

In your leadership and personal life, you're responsible for doing the homework and planning the strategy for achieving your vision. It's not enough to hope for change or hope you reach your potential. Approaching your leadership with a strategy is the first step to success.

2. Uncommon Thinking

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, 'When will you be satisfied?' We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: For Whites Only. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. - MLK

When King said these words during his "I Have a Dream" speech, he was speaking out against a life-long prejudice that for hundreds of years was a cultural norm in the United States. What he said that day was radical, hard to imagine, and vastly different than any system the American public was familiar with. As a leader, he was courageous enough to share his uncommon, unpopular thinking. And, as a leader today, it's your job to inspire followers with the future and provide motivation day-by-day.

This means that the people in your organization must be able to look toward both the future and the present. They need to know where they’ll eventually be and what to do every day to get there. It’s your job to articulate an inspiring vision for the future and make sure everyone in the organization does the right things in the present to get you there.

 3. Big-Picture Thinking

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. - MLK

To be an inspirational leader, you must adopt an attitude of service toward those you lead. This requires laying aside selfish interests to add value to another person. When you serve, you awaken something magnetic inside of you. People are drawn to follow you because they know you'll find ways to make them better.

Having a vision, strategy and dream for your leadership will be key to the success of your 2016 goals. But, it all starts with solid, skilled thinking. 

Legacy leaders like King show us the way and give us the inspiration to act. But, in order to carry this out in your own leadership, you need a plan.

A Bishop and a Mufti walk into a...

A Bishop and a Mufti walk into a ....
No, not a bar, actually probably an office.  We sit down and have a conversation about Islam, Christianity, contemporary society, terrorism, Donald Trump, America, faith, hope and love. The goal is for us to gain a greater understanding of one another and our religions.
This will happen later in January, when I sit down for a conversation with Mufti Ikram ul Haq, who is the spiritual leader of the Smithfield, Rhode Island Mosque.  A Mufti is a religious scholar of Islam.  In Islamic schools, a Mufti is considered the pinnacle in the hierarchy of scholars because of the advanced training required. 
Wanna be a part of this conversation?
You can.  Simply ask your questions here below in the comment section.  I'll sift through them, edit and include them in our conversation.  We will post the video of our conversation, and make a DVD available for congregational and small group study use.  The video should be available the very end of January.
In the meantime, you may want to check out this excellent resource from our Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services.  It's called My Muslim is My Neighbor, and it is an excellent introduction to Islam. Just click the lirs.org link below.
click here

Ask Thank Tell - Here is a year end Ask

Here is a Giving Opportunity - Consider the Ask. Put it in your end of year newsletter or bulletin or e-news.

– News about Special Tax-Free IRA Gifts for 2015! 

For those aged 70½ or older, it is once again possible to make tax-favored charitable gifts from traditional and Roth IRA accounts. 

On December 18 Congress passed legislation retroactively extending the charitable IRA rollover for 2015 and makes this provision permanent for future years. A total of up to $100,000 can be transferred directly from traditional or Roth IRAs to one or more qualified charities such as -(enter name of your church)- free from federal income tax each year. There may also be state income tax savings. Amounts given in this way count toward required IRA minimum withdrawal amounts for the year of the gift.

To make such gifts, it is important to not withdraw funds prior to a gift, but have the gift amount distributed directly from an IRA to one or more qualified charities. For those with check writing privileges on their accounts, this may be the most efficient way to make gifts directly from an IRA. Check with us, your IRA administrator or your tax advisor for more information.

A Top Seven list for 2015

It's the end of another year, and everywhere I look I see people making Top Ten lists, Top 100 lists, Top lists lists.  Here is my top seven list of things that just seem like they should get some attention. Sorry, only seven, couldn't come up with a tenth.

1. Most influential book.  Chris Crowley's Younger Next Year and Thinner This Year are hands down the most influential books in the past year for me.  The newest edition, Younger Next Year: The Exercise program came out on December 15.  The books changed my life, helped me get with the program of exercising 6 days a week (okay so sometimes my schedule makes it more like 5 days a week) and stop eating crap (you know fried food, red meat, refined sugar & flour)  I lost 35 pounds, an inch around my neck and two inches in the waist, and got off all my cholesterol meds.

2. Favorite Album of the Year.  This had a lot of competition.  But, if I use my iTunes catalogue as a measure of what I've listened to the most, I've gotta go with Over the Rhine's newest release Barn Raising. It's a 2 CD live concert, that's a great collection of their most recent music. Over the Rhine is one of the most profoundly spiritual groups I've come to know.  But, they are subtle about it.  Perhaps a reflection of their Quaker College roots.

3. Best Movie - So here is the deal, I don't get out much to see movies.  I don't know why.  When I go, I enjoy it, but it just doesn't happen much.  So, I'm going to go with a movie I haven't seen yet, Macbeth. Why?  Cause, you just can't go wrong with Shakespeare.  Someone once said, if you've seen Shakespeare, you've seen everything.  

4. Best TV - They say it's the golden age of TV with all these shows like Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, etc.  I liked the first two seasons of House, and Lillyhammer, but by season three the storylines seemed to go into the realm of fanciful, and I lost interest.  Best drama in a Televised event, how's that for a category?  The answer for me would be last February's Super Bowl.  You can't beat that game for drama.

5. Most Significant Religious Event - The Huffington Post has their own list here.  I'm going with two events that happened on the same day.  One is a tragedy and the other is an opportunity.  On June 17th, nine people were killed in a mass shooting terrorist event in Charleston, SC.  This tragedy occured on the same day that Pope Francis released On Care for our Common Home.  His writings on Climate Change.   Both of these events connect to two big issues in our world, racism and global climate change. 

6. Biggest Surprise of the Year.  Well, it's hard to write this, but when I'm honest, I have to say, Donald Trump.  I continue to be surprised that he is leading all these polls, and getting all this free media - as if he is a legitimate candidate for President.  I never thought he'd last this long.  Maybe it's not Trump I should be surprised at, but the unrest that is in a portion of our country that would find such a candidate appealing.

7. Best Event of 2015 - Hands down.  Gotta be, the birth of my grandson.  In the words of the poet Carl Sandburg, "The birth of a child is God's opinion that the world should go on."

Photography and Ministry

8 Photography Tips to Help Tell Your Church’s Story

 As a former professional photographer, I agree with this article.  Republished from www.unseminary.com

The church has the most important message to communicate: Everyone is unfathomably loved by God. The church needs the best communication tools to convey that message. Capturing great photos is one way to achieve this goal. Through incredible storytelling, photos can pull a viewer in and showcase powerful moments. Below are some practical steps to help you tell those stories.

  • photo-story-3Take candid — not posed — photos. // Posed photos focus on how the subject looks. Candid photos focus on what the subject is doing. Prevent the comments section on your social media platforms from digressing into a back-and-forth of who looks more adorable.
  • Remember to get establishing and concluding shots. // What did it look like when people showed up? What did it look like when they left? These shots frame the event within a storyline. Without these shots, it feels like you came to the party late or left early.
  • The most natural storyline is straightforward. // It has a beginning, middle and end. This chronological approach might feel formulaic, but it works. If you can find a better structure to the three-act story, great. If not, use it.
  • Capture a range of compositions: close-up, medium and wide. Use composition to your advantage. // Take the wide shot when you have a group of deadpan teenagers clustered together on their phones. Wait for someone in that cluster to look up from his or her phone and show some emotion before zooming in for the close-up.

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  • Capture a range of people. // Don’t just shoot your friends or the photogenic people at an event. Capture the widest range of those present. I can often tell who my college photographers have a crush on when I review their photos. (If you’re gonna use the camera as a flirtation device, try to be subtle!)
  • Capture a range of perspectives — get under, over, behind, beside and close to your subject. // If the subject seems boring from your current perspective, change your position to make it more dynamic.
  • photo-story-4Be observant for key moments that are “loaded” with emotion, meaning, significance, surprise, etc. // Better yet, anticipate moments that are about to happen so you can position yourself well to capture them. This anticipation means you’re thinking through your upcoming shots even as you deal with your current shot. It’s a skill that can take a while to master.
  • Shoot for emotions. // Most of the photos will be used to demonstrate the life-changing power of Christ. Try to capture that power photographically. If you want to capture joy, take photos of baptisms. If you want to capture peace, take photos of a candlelight service. If you want to capture boredom, take photos of the annual church meeting.

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Three Ways to Show Generosity at Christmas

This post is adapted from a similar post on egiving.com


This time of year, we’re all susceptible to getting caught up in the hubbub of church events, get-togethers with family and friends, shopping, cooking, and countless other tasks. In our busyness, it’s far too easy to neglect to show the people around us what we’re celebrating in the first place: Emmanuel, God with us. So, as Advent begins, why not be intentional about sharing God’s character through acts of kindness and generosity?

After all, Christmas is the season of giving, and there’s no better place to put generosity into action than right in your own church and community. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, we should be “rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others” (1 Tim. 6:18), so let’s look a few practical ways to do that this Christmas.

1. Bless Staff with an End-of-Year Bonus

If you’re a church leader, you know that it takes a lot of dedicated people behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly—and that service often goes unacknowledged. Showing staff members that their hard work is an important part of the life of the church with a small bonus (or even something like a gift card) accompanied by a thank-you note will remind them that their work is valued and appreciated.

I've seen churches do this in a number of ways.  Yes, it can be a formal decision by the church council, where people make donations for a staff gift.  But, it's also possible for individuals in the congregation to simply give gifts directly to staff.  Gene Olson, a member of my first congregation in Brooklyn, NY, used to give me a card with $100 bill every December.  It's a nice way to practice generosity and thank your staff.

2. Set Up a Giving Tree

Help the whole congregation embrace a spirit of generosity and spread some Christmas cheer by setting up a giving tree. You can partner with a local nonprofit or community organization that will connect you with families and individuals who need food, winter clothing, or financial help. Congregation members pick a recipient to donate to off of the giving tree, and your church as a whole has the opportunity to make a difference in your community this holiday season.

3. Be Neighborly

Sometimes it’s the people we’re around the most that are easiest to overlook—that family down the street, the co-worker in the next cubicle, that cashier or barista who you see every week. This season, make an effort to show love and generosity to some of those people, and encourage others to do the same. That might look like inviting a neighbor to an event at church, asking a co-worker over for dinner, or making a plate of Christmas cookies for someone you appreciate.

Sometimes it’s the practical, tangible expressions of kindness and generosity, however small—Christ’s love extended—that do the most to soften hearts and change lives. This Christmas, let’s be givers…not only will you be blessing others, but you also might just find your own outlook becoming a little more joyful.

“The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” – Proverbs 11:25 NLT

 

- See more at: http://blog.echurchgiving.com/3-ways-to-show-generosity-in-your-church-this-christmas/?utm_source=Another%20Website&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Sent120815&utm_content=week28&utm_campaign=Advert-LeadNet-TeachYourChurch#sthash.pgO3RX95.dpuf