Saturday, July 28, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Becoming an Innovative Church!
We believe that Pasadena Presbyterian Church is in a season of dreaming. Who are we? Where have we been together, and how are we called to move forward now? How is God stirring our hearts and minds?As part of our ongoing mission and call, we want to be Sacred Space for the City. And in that posture toward the people and neighborhoods around us, we are curious about innovative forms of ministry and mission that are happening within our larger Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) denomination and in other churches and community groups. We are also interested in questions being asked around us - by those who have a faith commitment and by those who do not.
We have much to learn from everyone!
Here are some commentaries. We hope that they will call us anew to be an innovative, creative church that meets the needs of people around us!
#dreampcusa: God is at Work. Are We Paying Attention?
How to Share Your Faith (Evangelism Radio Style)
Walking Church
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Partners in Service!
This week, we celebrate many people from Pasadena Presbyterian Church who are partnering with others in mission. We add our prayers and hopes to their hard work, and we are grateful for the relationships they are building.
Korean Ministry in Partnership with Aguacalientes, Mexico
In the wee hours of the morning (1am today to be exact!) sixty members from the Korean Fellowship at PPC traveled to Aguacalientes, Mexico where we have mission partners and friends. Together, they will be hold medical clinics and plan Vacation Bible School for children.
Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are traveling, that they might learn, grow, and serve as they deepen relationships with the people of Aguacalientes. We are grateful for the wisdom and opportunity of our mission partners and friends in Aguacalientes. We pray that they would teach us and evangelize us through their lives and witness, and we pray that our Korean members and friends will serve well and bring this wisdom and passion back to Pasadena where we can continue to do great work!
God's peace on your endeavors. We add our prayers to that peace!
Lissett Matos in Partnership with the Synod of Ayacucho in Peru
Our thoughts and prayers are also with Lissett Matos this week. A recent high school graduate, Lissett is one of several youth traveling to Peru on the Living Waters Mission Trip through San Gabriel Presbytery. You can learn more about that trip here.
San Gabriel Presbytery has partnership with the Synod of Ayacucho in Peru, and youth from Southern California churches are traveling to build relationships and assist others as they create opportunities for clean water throughout the region.
We are grateful for Lissett -- all the ways she learns and serves here at Pasadena Presbyterian Church!
Our prayers are with all our friends and mission partners this week!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Young Adults in the News!
As a young adult community, we want to stay aware of the particular gifts that young adults bring to our world as well as the particular challenges that young adults face. We are curious to learn about culture and trends among young adults. Here are some recent news stories and blog posts: A New Vision for Collegiate Ministry
Miss Manners: Some Young Adults Live at Home Because They Like It
Extreme Kayaker Helps Young Adults with Cancer Through Outdoor Adventures
Raising Funds and Friends for Campus Ministry
Monday, July 23, 2012
Poem: With That Moon Language
With That Moon Language
Admit something:
Everyone you see, you say to them, "Love
me."
Of course you do not do this out loud,
otherwise someone would call the cops.
Still, though, think about this, this great
pull in us to connect.
Why not become the one who lives with a full
moon in each eye
that is always saying,
with that sweet moon language,
what every other eye in this world is dying
to hear?
-Hafiz
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Young Adults in the News!
As a young adult community, we want to stay aware of the particular gifts that young adults bring to our world as well as the particular challenges that young adults face. We are curious to learn about culture and trends among young adults. Here are some recent news stories and blog posts: Douhat: Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?
Bass: Can Christianity Be Saved? A Response to Ross Douhat
Douhat & Bass: Asking the Wrong Question?
Texting Dominates as Teens and Young Adults Make Fewer Phone Calls
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Sermon: Belonging
Psalm 100, Psalm 139, Deuteronomy 7:6-11, Romans 8:31-39
Introduction to sermon series:
Well, I dare say it would not be summertime at UPC without, you guessed it, a sermon series. We may be without a senior pastor, but we are certainly not without sermons.
When the staff met earlier this spring to decide what topic our series should cover, we decided not on something predictable like The Lord’s Prayer or The Beatitudes; no, this summer we decided on something distinctly Presbyterian.
We would focus on one of our church’s confessions; namely, A Brief Statement of Faith.
This confession of faith was commissioned in 1983 after the “Northern” and “Southern” branches of the church reunited to form our current denomination, the Presbyterian Church USA.
Our denominational leaders at the time believed this monumental event called for the preparation of a brief statement outlining our core beliefs as newly united body.
In front of you you should find, there in the pew rack, a small [insert color] card with the The Brief Statement of Faith printed on it. This is for you to use this summer either as a fan or, if you choose, as a reference aid. You’ll see that it’s been broken down by lines into small manageable chunks; each chunk representing that Sunday’s text.
For instance, this morning we’ll be focussing solely on line 1; and next Sunday Ted Wardlaw will be focussing on lines 2 through 6. That’s right, Ted Wardlaw has to follow me. Please keep him in your prayers this week. (I’m kidding, of course, and say this only because I know he’s preaching in New York this morning.)
With that being said, my preamble is complete. Let’s begin with line one. But first, let us turn our hearts and minds to God in prayer. Let us pray:
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of each heart in this gathered body, be acceptable and pleasing to you, God, our strength, our hope, and our redeemer. Amen.
—
“In life and in death we belong to God.”
That’s been my Facebook status since Thursday morning, and can you believe it’s only gotten 26 likes? What is wrong with my Facebook friends?! I could upload a picture of our dog wearing reading glasses and it would get more likes than that!
It did, however, get some pretty great comments. One, in particular, from our own Randal Whittington, who shared that whenever she hears those words, she always thinks of Jack Stotts.
Jack Stotts, you may know, served Austin Seminary as it’s president from 1985 to 1996, and was often referred to as “a gentle giant.” He was tall, but his hugeness had more to do with his intellectual prowess and cheerful spirit than it did with his stature.
What you may not know about Jack Stotts is that he was appointed as moderator of the special committee responsible for writing A Brief Statement of Faith.
It took the committee 8 years to write the 80 lines that make up the confession. And of those 80 lines, Stott’s says, the first one is the most important. Perhaps that’s why Randal thinks of Jack whenever she hears those words; words he believed were foundational to who we are as Reformed believers, as Presbyterians, and as God’s own chosen and beloved children: “In life and in death we belong to God.”
Shortly after the document was adopted into the Book of Confessions, Stotts shared some of his reflections on the Statement during a chapel service at Austin Seminary. I listened to this address, which I could unfortunately find only on cassette tape, earlier this week while sitting in my car because that was the only tape player I could find.
And while sitting there, motionless in my carport, not knowing whether there would be anything of worth on this crummy, 20-year old cassette tape, I heard Jack Stotts deliver an eloquent defense of those first nine words. He said:
“The 80 lines are summarized in the first line: In life and in death we belong to God. Those nine words are, I believe, the throbbing heartbeat of what we hold most dear. They’re the anchor we toss out when times are difficult and waters are assail by storms. They’re the star that can guide us in the midst of sorrow and joy both. They are the handholds on a rocky cliff that prevents us from falling into the abyss. They reflect what is at the heart of the reformed heritage, the sovereignty of god. In life and in death we belong to God.
Those nine words, he said, have the rhythm of a mantra. Words to be said over and over again. Words to soak down into ones experience and into ones consciousness and into ones unconsciousness, so they may bubble up when we need to hear them or we can say them to ourselves or to some others whom we believe need to hear them. Listen, in life and in death we belong to God.”
The tape, I decided, was worth listening to. He was right, those nine words need to be heard over and over again. And each time we hear them, they are perhaps something new for us: a throbbing heartbeat, an anchor, a guide, handholds on a rocky cliff. Whatever their manifestation, they are, at their very core, words of deep reassurance and hope. Words that rescue us even in the most desperate of situations.
In life and in death, and in the midst of life, we belong to God.
One of the younger members of the committee responsible for preparing the Statement, a theologian by the name of Bill Placher, says of this first line, “It does more than say where life and death are to be found. It says where we are to be found in life and death–belonging to God.”—
In an age where it would be unacceptable to list God as your child’s emergency contact, it’s difficult not to believe that we belong to our parents and our children belong to us.
It’s not uncommon for a parent to list the experience of holding their child for the first time as one of the most profoundly meaningful experiences of their life; their life forever altered in the moment they realize, seemingly all at once, both the responsibilities and privileges of parenthood.
And yet in spite of the gravity of such a moment, some parents still fail to live into their parental responsibilities and abuse their privileges.
On Wednesday evening, Holly and I went to an informational meeting for people who are interested in becoming foster parents in the state of Texas. Prior to the meeting I had tried to prepare myself for what I might hear; I knew I would likely be disturbed by some things and surprised by others, but ultimately I had no idea what to expect. Before the meeting started, as I watched people walk in, pick up their handouts, and take their seats, I noticed the wide range of types of people there. There were young people and older people, white people and persons of color, single people and couples, people who already had children, and people that currently had none. But in spite of all this diversity, there was one characteristic we all shared: the desire to provide a child with a place to belong–even if only for a little while.
And so I couldn’t help but think about those words: in life and in death we belong to God.
Throughout the entire meeting that short phrase looped and looped and looped in my head like a pesky tune. It bumped into memories from my childhood and adolescence: to whom I belonged was never anything I questioned! I always knew. I knew my parents would take care me, and if something happened to them and they weren’t able to, then I knew another important person in my life would swoop in and claim me. I began to worry that my understanding of belonging was only one sided. What would someone whose life has been riddled with displacement think or feel about the word “belonging?” What conscious or subconscious thoughts would bubble up for them?
And then it occurred to me: these words weren’t written for a denomination torn asunder who put themselves back together again. These words were written for lives that have been torn asunder by powers and principalities that claim we belong, not to God, but to them.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, not even death can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ.
There is a reason, I believe, this climactic and reassuring passage from Romans is so popular at funerals. Funerals, of course, imply that someone has died. But this passage is not for the deceased; it’s for the living, for those struggling to survive the severe pain of separation.
What can separate us from Love? Nothing. Nothing. Not even death.
One criterion the committee required of A Brief Statement of Faith was that it must help us have hope for the future. Without hope, God’s involvement in our present lives, especially in the midst of great suffering, might amount to little more than a feeble expression of the company that misery loves.
I believe these nine words: in life and death we belong to God, contain enough enough hope for a lifetime–from birth and death and every time in between.
[Reformed theologian, Shirley Guthrie, is often remembered for saying, "The best insight we have into what God will do is found by looking at what God has done. In other words, Christians remember the future."
Hope does not belong exclusively to future; in many ways, without our past we our hope for the future is dismal at best. In 2008 a storytelling project was founded. Stories for Hope, is a storytelling project to help young Rwandans overcome a violent legacy. Many of their lives were ruptured in the 1994 genocide. Their remaining elders were quiet, fearing new grief or the spark of revenge. Lots of young women and men were left as orphans, without knowing the important stories of where they came from. They needed access to the past, without having to repeat it, and that's where the storytelling project came in, helping to facilitate dialogue between young story-seekers, and their chosen elders. These conversations revealed hundreds of untold family and cultural stories. But, in order to carry young Rwandans to the brink of hope, the elders were encouraged to include difficult accounts of resilience and strength. And because of their courage to share stories about their past, the young listeners have since reported improved family relations, self-esteem, and the motivation to keep moving forward.
These nine words are our story, a complete account of our faith containing enough hope for a lifetime--from birth to death and for everything in between.]
Jack Stotts concludes his reflections on A Brief Statement of Faith with these words of hope:
When disappointment comes to your life as surely it will, remember you belong to God, not to disappointment.
When failure comes as surely it will, in some way, some time, and in some place, remember you do not belong to failure, you belong to God.
When suffering comes, as surely it will come, to me and to you, to our dear friends and neighbors. Remember, you do not belong to suffering, you belong to god who suffers for us and with us.
No matter what happens in the future, remember this promise: In life and in death we belong to God.
That is a solemn promise on which we depend. It’s God’s promise in which we have confidence.
The confession itself ends with a resounding echo: with believers in every time and place we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
-Kaci Clark-Porter, Director of Campus and Young Adult Ministries at University Presbyterian Church
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Becoming an Innovative Church!
As part of our ongoing mission and call, we want to be Sacred Space for the City. And in that posture toward the people and neighborhoods around us, we are curious about innovative forms of ministry and mission that are happening within our larger Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) denomination and in other churches and community groups. We are also interested in questions being asked around us - by those who have a faith commitment and by those who do not.
We have much to learn from everyone!
Here are some commentaries. We hope that they will call us anew to be an innovative, creative church that meets the needs of people around us!
Jon Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen
Homeboy Industries
Fresh Expressions: Different Churches for Different Cultures?
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Young Adults in the News!
The Church We Mean to Be
In the Middle: Intersection Between Age & Wisdom
The Ministry of Fudge and Loving Youth
Crisp: Young Adults Are Driving Less, Fueling Change
Grace Ross: Young Adults Have a Harder Time Making a Living
Monday, July 9, 2012
Post-General Assembly Sermons
Today we offer you voices from several pastors across the nation.
--My Sermon Response to the 220th General Assembly
Pastor Jason Cashing
Presbyterian Church of Franklinville
Franklinville, NY
--The Mainline Church and Dusty Feet
Pastor Emily C. Heath
West Dover Congregational Church
West Dover, VT
--Home is Never the Same
Robert Williamson Jr.
Biblical Studies, Hendrix College
Conway, AR
--Lifting a Hand Against the Lord's Annointed
Pastor Sarah Ross
First Presbyterian Church of Pleasant Hill
Pleasant Hill, MO
--Perpsective is Everything: Clothe Yourselves with Compassion
Pastor Jerry Tankersley
Laguna Presbyterian Church
Laguna, CA
--Shaking Off the Dust to Dream
Emily Hope Morgan
Clarence Presbyterian Church
Clarence, NY
--Water From a Rock - Know When to Fold 'Em
Pastor Kurt Esslinger
Agape House
Chicago, IL
--Walking, Running, Soaring in Hope
Pastor Carlos Wilton
Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church
Pleasant Beach, NJ
--With and For the Rejected
Pastor Renee Roederer
Pasadena Presbyterian Church
Pasadena, CA
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Sermon: With and For the Rejected
And they took offense at him. . . He called the Twelve and began to send them out. . .
The story we just heard is a story of
rejection followed by a story of sending.
Rejection. Jesus has been
traveling on foot with his disciples, their feet dusty and sore. Jesus’ disciples are his students and his
friends, a group of people from a variety of walks of life, none of them
prominent or prestigious. These disciples have been following Jesus from town
to town -- learning from him, misunderstanding his parables, watching Jesus
heal people. and sometimes staring at him incredulous, even in fear: “Who then
is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” they ask when Jesus calms
the storm on the lake. Jesus and his
disciples have been traveling around, proclaiming to others that “The Kingdom
of God has come near.” “Repent. Turn
around!” they say, “and believe in the good news.”
In the midst of this great preaching and
healing tour, Jesus and his disciples use those dusty, sore feet to walk into a
place very near to Jesus: Nazareth of Galilee, his home town, the place where
he grew up.
I wonder what he expected to happen
there. I wonder what the people of
Nazareth expected.
Jesus came in with an energy that was
amazing and it seems, perplexing, to the people who had watched him grow up in Nazareth. He began to teach in the synagogue, a place
that must have felt like home to him: How many times did he hear important
words there – words of the Scriptures and words of his community, and how many
times were those words connected to the very actions of the ministry and healing
that he was bringing to other towns?
He began to share himself with them. He
began to teach, and they were amazed and perplexed. “Who is
this person?” they wondered. “Where did Jesus get this kind of wisdom?” “Didn’t
my son play outside with him years ago?” “Aren’t those the hands that made our
dining room table?” “Wait a second, this
guy is that carpenter, right? Isn’t
he the one who worked on my Dad’s house a few years ago?” Somehow, this
teaching, and this healing, and these deeds of power were too much to for them
to grasp.
After all the praise and questions of
wonder in this text, there’s an interesting turn in just one sentence. “Where
did all this wisdom and power come from?” the people of Nazareth keep asking in
a series of questions. Then one sentence
in the text suddenly shifts it all: “And they took offense at him.”
I wonder what was so offensive in their
eyes. . . The author of this text doesn’t give us many details here. But it seems like quite a shift, doesn’t it? And
in the context of this particular passage, without many details, we’re left to
wonder. So let’s wonder: I wonder if it
was just too difficult to see Jesus for who he was - a person who had grown
into adulthood with astounding gifts, a person who was there to proclaim a
Kingdom of God beyond anything that they had known before. I wonder if they were
reducing him to something familiar and manageable - to a child and adolescent
they once knew, or to an adult carpenter, known solely by trade he practiced
before venturing out. I wonder if they reduced
him and tried to sum him up in their minds, so that he wouldn’t have a claim on
them. If they could sum him up and
reduce him, they couldn’t be changed and challenged by him. In reducing him,
they thought they could stay safe from an invitation to grow and change. “They took offense at him.” The people known most deeply to Jesus
rejected him.
This must have been deeply troubling and
upsetting to Jesus. “Prophets are not without honor, except in their home town,
and among their own kin, and in their own house,” he said. It must have been
difficult for him to learn this by experience.
He was amazed at their unbelief.
He was rejected.
Rejection. It’s been on my mind in many ways this
week. It has been on my mind as I’ve watched
and followed General Assembly, an important gathering that took place in
Pittsburgh. Presbyterians across the
country came together to deliberate and discern a number of issues, and again
and again (sometimes exhaustively it seems -- once until 1:30 am!) they voted
to make decisions. A number of motions
and overtures passed by affirmative votes, but a number of motions and
overtures were also rejected. And in the
midst of those votes, I know that a lot of people feel rejected.
Palestinians – and Palestinian
Christians in particular – had reached out to us in the hopes that the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) would divest from three companies that participate
and profit from their own oppression – including a company whose equipment
regularly and unpredictably destroys Palestinian homes and infrastructure. We voted not to divest. I imagine that Palestinians feel rejected.
Individuals and couples from the LGBTQ
community were also watching us this week as the Assembly voted on a recommendation to change
the wording about marriage in the Book of Order -- our constitution -- from a
“man and a woman” to “two people.” We
all expected this vote and debate to be controversial. It was voted down by 4%,
30 votes difference. I watched the
debate and the vote online through the live feed. It lasted three and a half hours. There were
powerful words of affirmation and inclusion along with genuine words of concern
and of question. But there were also words
that were profoundly dehumanizing. One woman’s comments, in particular, I
believe, crossed the line from disagreement into raw hatred, and they’ve been
ringing in my ears ever since. This morning, gay and lesbian individuals and
couples feel deeply rejected by our church.
We need to remember them in our thoughts and prayers.
And throughout all of this, another
community has come to my mind again and again. They give me hope and an exciting sense of
vision. I am amazed and at times,
perplexed, by their incredible gifts.
Our young people – our youth and young
adults – were present at General Assembly as well. Mostly, they served as Theological Student
Advisory Delegates and Young Adult Advisory Delegates. I want you to know that they served us
well. Time and time again, as I watched
the Assembly, I was blown away by their own hope and vision, touched and
honored by their convictions, moved by their respect for themselves and others,
and challenged by their questions. Now did you hear the term in their
title? Advisory? They were Advisory Delegates. That means that they were able to speak on
the floor and advise the Assembly. They
were also able to give a mock, advisory vote electronically before
commissioners cast their own votes, the votes that would actually count and
make the decision final.
I want you to hear this statistic. Please let it sit with you: Of the
commissioners who were gathered this week to vote and make decisions on behalf
of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), only 7% were under the age of 45. We had youth and young adults present to
advise this assembly, but 93% of the commissioners were over the age
of 45.[i]
Do we value young people in the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)? Who are we
if we don’t have their voice and their amazing and perplexing gifts of
ministry? So often people ask, “Who will
we be without them? Without them, the church won’t survive in the future!” But let me say emphatically, that the church
is impoverished right now – right
now! right this very second! – without them.
They need our attention and love, and we need their gifts and
passion. We need to be in relationship
with our youth and young adults, and we need to value their voice among us.
The story we heard this morning is a
story of rejection, but it’s also a story of sending
The preaching and healing tour didn’t
stop. Instead, Jesus chose to empower
his disciples and to send them out with the gifts they needed to do the work of
the Kingdom. They were empowered, but
that didn’t mean they would escape rejection.
The text is realistic: Rejection was going to come sometimes. But they
were sent out to proclaim and heal, nonetheless. And that is exactly what they did.
Young people, today I want to empower
you and tell you that God has given you gifts for ministry. God’s Spirit is upon you – not just because
you are young – but because your life is claimed by God. Listen.
Put your ear to the ground. And
stay under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
God is going to use you here. God
is going to use you beyond these walls.
And to all of us, may we all remember that
our lives are claimed by God. God’s
Spirit does not abandon us once we are older.
No! We have the very gifts,
wisdom, and experience to offer children, youth, and young adults who have been
rejected by this church. God has given
us what we need for the journey. We are
being sent out.
So we can be with and for those who are
rejected! We can choose to stand with
Palestinians and Israelis alike! We can
have ferocious compassion for gay and
lesbian youth who are bullied and school and concern for legally married couples
who have to check ‘single’ every year on their taxes. We can be a church that says an emphatic ‘yes’
to our young people – right here and in this neighborhood. We can be sent to those who feel rejected. And with God’s help, we can proclaim and
heal. With God’s help, we will also be
healed by those very people who feel
rejected.
So what does it look like? What does it look like to be a church where
all generations love and challenge one another, where all generations say ‘yes’
to loving rejected people? I’ll tell you.
It’s Vena and Adrian, the musical
directors of our two children’s choirs.
It’s the way that they give each other support, trading stories and
wisdom about teaching in public schools. It’s also the way they care for our
children.
It’s the fact that I don’t think I’ve
ever had a conversation with Warren McClain – not one! – where he didn’t tell
me how much he appreciates me. You can
keep that coming, Warren! I appreciate
you too. (By the way, you’re also allowed to get mad at me sometimes. And that goes for all of you).
It’s the way that Shannon Ludt comes up
with brilliant ideas and questions about how we might minister to children in
Pasadena, specifically those who are struggling in poverty. It’s also the way she includes others into
the conversation about those ideas.
It’s the way that Dr. Mark Smutny, our
pastor, gets down on his knees in front of this congregation to do the Time
with Children. It’s also the way that
you, older than our children, so frequently choose
to get something out of that time for yourselves.
It’s the way that Thea, Myron, Mona, and
others often always seek to find those who don’t have a place to go for the
holidays – often young people – and invite them over for a delicious meal.
It’s the way that Pastor Hyun Sung and other
Korean leaders have chosen to do something absolutely radical: That is, to have
Korean young adults serve on the Session, something that hardly never happens
in other Korean Presbyterian churches. It’s culturally radical.
It’s Bryce Nicholson, who so regularly
pushes his grandmother, Mary, around in her wheelchair on Sunday mornings. They both model for us what it means to love
people of all generations.
I could give so many more examples. I
imagine you have examples.
So are you encouraged to be the people
we’re called to be today? Are you called
and committed to be a church for all generations? If so, say ‘Amen!’ Are you called and
committed to be a church for those who are rejected? If so, say ‘Amen!’ You can be. You will be.
It’s because of you and your
dedication – but primarily that God’s Spirit upon you -- that we will give this
great witness. We’re doing it today in
this very moment. Thanks be to God. Amen.
-This sermon was preached by Pastor Renee Roederer and the community at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. (7/8/12)
[i] I
learned of these statistics from Still
Waters, the blog of the Rev. Theresa Cho.
You can read the entire post, “In the Middle: Intersection Between Age
& Wisdom” here: http://theresaecho.com/2012/07/03/in-the-middle-intersection-between-age-wisdom/
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Becoming an Innovative Church!
As part of our ongoing mission and call, we want to be Sacred Space for the City. And in that posture toward the people and neighborhoods around us, we are curious about innovative forms of ministry and mission that are happening within our larger Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) denomination and in other churches and community groups. We are also interested in questions being asked around us - by those who have a faith commitment and by those who do not.
We have much to learn from everyone!
Here are some commentaries. We hope that they will call us anew to be an innovative, creative church that meets the needs of people around us!
Insights from Brian McLaren
What is Your Vision for the Church in the 21st Century?
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Why Seminary Debt is Killing Our Clergy
There is conversation going on at general assembly about capping the salaries of our pastors. they show this graphic and cite that we are being paid too highly. However, the injustice here is not what the graph shows but what it does not.
We have one of the hardest ordination processes in Protestantism. The amount of education required to become ordained disqualifies most people from even attempting the process. Those that are wealthy can pay their way through (they are few and far between) those who are brave take on student debt trusting in the call that God has placed in their lives.
The result for me is 100,000 in debt. Well technically it is a little more than that but I will let that nice round number sink in because it is not unreasonable. (Yes I have worked part time through the whole process but part time at a small church does not pay much.) The impact of student debt effects me and my choice for future calls.
On average I will face 2-18 months of crushing student debt payments with no means to pay. I am not allowed to look for a job until I graduate. The average search for a first call is 6-24 months. I can get 6 months worth of debt deferment. For every five pastors seeking a call there is one position open.
I am in no position to get married. I live life on a lean budget. I have a girlfriend of over two years that I love. We talk about marriage but I cannot afford a ring let alone be a financial contributor to a marriage. Furthermore, I have no idea where I might be called. Am I going to marry her only to move out of the area only to have neither of us have a job?
I can not seek a call that is innovative, experimental. The innovative stuff is fledgling. It starts small. Church planting, missional outreach, things of this nature are important but they do not pay much. I know that we as pastors are supposed to be people of principal but student debt encourages pragmatism.
The calls I do receive I will live in fear of being fired. Let's be blunt for a moment. Being a pastor can be tough. This is especially true in a denomination set on its ways. I am more likely to tempted to appease the status quo (which is resulting in a dying congregation) because I have bills that need to be paid.
So yes, we may be the highest paid on average. But we have a lot of debt to pay off. If you are a twitter person who feels similarly tell your story #ga220 #debt.
I will leave you with a question. Could it be that we are having trouble with the decline of our church because we are setting our pastors up to fail?
How much debt is it just to ask of seminarians and how are we working as a denomination to help people stay within those boundaries?
-David Derus
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Young Adults in the News!
You Are Not Special Commencement Speech From Wellesley High School
Open Letter from a Millennial: Quit Telling Us We're Not Special
Young Adults Choose Cities Over Suburban Living as 'Generation Rent' Faces Tough Economy
Monday, July 2, 2012
Following General Assembly
Commissioners and delegates will consider and vote upon a number of issues. A few of these considerations are controversial, particularly the possibility of divestment from some companies that do business in Israel and an overture that would allow for clergy to wed same-sex couples in states where it is legal to do so.
The Rev. Neal Presa has been elected to serve as the Moderator for General Assembly for the next two years. Our thoughts and prayers are with him, with those who are serving at GA, and with the wider denomination.
Today we offer some links to help you follow what is happening at General Assembly:
Real Time: Twitter Hashtag #ga220
Live Video Streaming
Neal Presa Elected as Moderator
Divestment
Presbyterian Divestment Propostal Spurs Heated Debate
Middle East Committee Votes to Divest, Encourages "Peaceful Pursuits" Investments in Israel and Palestine
Marriage
Civil Union and Marriage Issues
Live Blog: Civil Union and Marriage Committee
Sermon: Jesus Notices
“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
Desperate, Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet.
Jairus was likely overwhelmed to the
point of exhaustion and helplessness, but he kept going and kept pleading
because he was desperate. His precious
little girl – only 12 years old – was in his words,” at the point of death.” We only hear two sentences from Jairus, but
they’re packed with desperation. “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she
may be made well, and live.” Just two
sentences. But perhaps we can imagine the
urgency in Jairus’s voice as he spoke to Jesus, because the text also tells us
that while he was lying on the ground at Jesus’ feet, Jairus was begging Jesus
repeatedly. Jesus had compassion at the
first word, but we can imagine the desperation in Jairus’s voice. Perhaps he repeated himself and begged again
and again, just to feel a slight amount of confidence, like he was making
something happen. Sometimes silence can
feel very scary in times of great need.
Or perhaps as he kept speaking in urgency, his sense of panic and
anxiety grew even stronger like fearful refrain. We don’t know.
But we do know this: Jesus noticed this desperation
and had compassion on Jairus and the little daughter that he had yet to
meet. We don’t know what Jesus said to
Jairus as he lay at Jesus’ feet. But we
can imagine that Jesus’ was moved with love and care. The text says it simply. “So he went with
him.” Jesus entered Jairus’s need and went with him.
Jairus was a person of prominence in his
town and in his religious community. As
the leader of the synagogue, he was revered as a person of significance and
honor. But even people of privilege can
be reduced to desperation when death is so near, especially when a child’s life
is in danger – something that should never be, something more frightening and
heartbreaking than just about anything else we can experience.
Jesus noticed. He was present to Jairus’s desperation. Jesus went with him.
But things did not go smoothly or
according to plan. Desperation was
arising in other places too. There was a
woman. There was a woman whose identity
had been reduced to mere nothingness. In
her experience, it wasn’t as though she were simply ignored. That would be a difficult reality for sure,
but it would be simpler than the one she was living. She wasn’t simply ignored. She was isolated. Others feared her. She had a difficult hemorrhaging disease which
caused her to bleed continuously, and under the law at the time, that made her
continuously ritually unclean. She
couldn’t worship in the public spaces. She
couldn’t come into contact with anyone else.
Because if she did, she would make others ritually unclean too, at least
until they performed the essential rituals to become clean again, rituals that
would allow them worship freely and publicly.
But she didn’t have that option. The bleeding never stopped. She had done everything she could imagine to
be healed of this disease, everything in her power to become ritually clean
once again, but nothing worked. She had
spent all her money, everything she had on doctors who couldn’t heal her. Now she was not only sick but financially
destitute. She had nothing, and she had
no one. She had been isolated for twelve
years of her life. Socially, she was a
nobody. She had no prominence, and she
too was desperate.
And as the saying goes, desperate situations often lead to desperate measures. She had heard about Jesus, and she came up with an audacious plan. She said to herself, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” In all of her experience so far, every typical avenue for healing had not worked. It would be easy to doubt in this plan, but she seemed so convinced and convicted. What an shocking and offensive plan it was! If she touched Jesus, she would make him ritually unclean under the law and render him incapable of laying hands on anyone else for healing. She could hijack his ministry, at least for a while. How offensive this was! But she was convicted and she trusted in this plan. It went from an audacious idea to an offensive action. She put that plan into place. She touched Jesus.
On one hand, such confidence. She had confidence in Jesus. She believed she could simply touch his robe and she would be made well! And maybe. . just maybe, I wonder if she had confidence -- even just a little bit – that she had worth as a human being made in the image of God. She needed this healing.
Of course I wonder, if at the same time she thought this action would be insignificant to Jesus. . .perhaps because another part of her believed that she was insignificant, a nobody. She could just touch him! No one would notice! After all, no one else seemed to notice her pain! No one else seemed to see her as the human being she was! This would be easy. She could be healed, and it would over. Simple and done.
But things did not go smoothly or according to plan.
Jesus noticed.
In the midst of a crowd that was pressing in on every side, Jesus noticed. When the woman touched his robe, he felt that power had gone out from him. And he asked a seemingly ridiculous question: “Who touched my clothes?” The disciples were perplexed by this question. The crowd was so large and intense, that the people were pressing in on them, likely making it difficult to keep moving ahead with Jairus to meet his daughter. “You see the crowd pressing in on you,” they asked. “How can you say, ‘Who touched me?” But Jesus pressed on with his question, turning around to see who had done this.
Then the woman, who thought she would be invisible, could not avoid being noticed.
Jesus noticed and loved her.
Desperate, the woman fell at Jesus’ feet.
We don’t know what this woman said to Jesus, but we can imagine the desperation in her voice. The text tells us that as she lay there at his feet, she told Jesus the ‘whole truth,’ – the truth about her condition and the truth about her audacious and offensive plan. She must have expected great condemnation, first from Jesus who was now ritually unclean because of her choice and also the crowd who was admiring him and pressing in on him the entire way. She must have expected a terrible ending to this attempt at healing, just like all the other attempts.
But things did not go smoothly or according to her expectations. Jesus was overcome with compassion and was in awe of her trust and conviction. “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
Daughter! What an amazing word! What an amazing thing to say to a woman who had been robbed of all her dignity. This woman was no less worth healing – she was no less worth noticing – than the little daughter that Jesus was on his way to save. Jairus’s little girl was twelve years old, at the point of death, and this woman, who had been bleeding continuously for twelve years, was always at the point of death, just as long as Jairus’s daughter had been alive. This woman was also a daughter, a person of great faith, a person of worth to God. No sense of desperation could ever take that holy birthright away. In the moment, she was healed of her disease. But she was also healed of her invisibility. She was seen and noticed as the person of worth she was.
But then tragedy struck. Some people came from Jairus’s house and said, “Why trouble the teacher any further? Your daughter is dead.” These were the words that Jairus had dreaded and feared. They had been delayed too long, in large part, by this audacious woman. What could be done now?
Surprisingly, Jesus could not be deterred in his determination to accompany Jairus in his own pain. Jesus noticed, saw Jairus in need, and saw more possibilities than could anyone else could imagine in the moment. Jesus, who was now technically ritually unclean, marched into a scene with mourners who were weeping and wailing, and he said, “The child is not dead but sleeping.” How audacious that was. If he but touched the girl, she would be made whole, and she would live. And that is what he did. “Talitha cum! Little girl, get up!” And this precious daughter of Jairus and this daughter of God was made whole, restored to life.
In life and in death, we belong to God. That is the conviction we voice together. We say it in our creeds and confessions. And we hear it in the words of scripture, written by the Apostle Paul. In life and in death, we belong to God. This is good news for us today.
This is good news for us every day of our lives because we too know desperation and we live in a world where people are experiencing desperation greater than anything we can imagine. In life and in death, we belong to God. We are God’s people. And God desire to heal us.
This is good news for us today because we can take such a conviction with us when times get difficult. We do need healing. We have weathered forms of sickness from which there has been no cure. We have also known death. I wish I could preach from this passage and tell us that every disease will be healed in this lifetime and that even when little children die, they can be raised to life again if we will just take them by the hand. I wish I could say that. But we have seen difficult situations.
But here is healing truth: Jesus notices. Jesus enters our pain and transforms it, and he will not let us go. He will not let disease or death or any other kind of tragedy separate us from the love of God. He will not let anything separate us the worth we have as God’s human beings. He will always accompany us. And he will heal us in a myriad of ways along the journey. His ways of walking with us are healing, and we are on that road together. We can have peace in the midst of great difficulty: That is healing.
In just a little while, we will experience love and healing in a very tangible way at the table, where we will take our need, and we will bring it to Jesus who says, “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Come in audacious faith. Come and see him. Come and touch. Come and be touched by a Holy God who will walk with you toward healing – toward faith, toward peace, toward confidence, toward worth. Come.
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