Out the Door

Pastor Paleontologist

A pastor wears many hats.  Today I'm putting on my paleontologist's, er, I mean politiologist's.  You'll forgive me for the slip up, I'm easily confused.  A paleontologist studies dinosaurs.  A politiologist studies the polity of the UMC.  There's not a whole lot of difference.  Tonight I'm teaching the structure of the UMC to my Journey of Faith Activities class (known as confirmation class in some circles).  I feel like I might as well be talking about some old fossilized bones.  The bureaucratic, top-down structure of the UMC is a thing of the past.  Unfortunately, like a shipwreck victim clinging to a piece of driftwood, the church is holding onto it for dear life, though sooner or later this life preserver is going to sink. 

Let me give you an example.  Every other year in the Iowa Annual Conference we invest 1,000's of man-hours and 10's of thousands of dollars passing resolutions.  There are those who seem to think that if the AC passes a resolution that they have somehow furthered the reign of God.  Their liberal, political agendas prevent them from accomplishing much meaningful ministry in the local church, but when a resolution is passed, they can pat each other on the back and congratulate themselves for being such faithful people. 

I think it would be an interesting study to survey IA UMC members and asked them if they were aware that the AC has a Book of Resolutions.  I'm convinced the vast majority would answer in the negative.  There would be those who would say this is a failure on the part of the clergy to educate the people in the pews.  While there is an element of truth in that, I think there's a deeper issue.  People today don't want institutions telling them how to think.  They want to be informed, then to come to their own conclusions.

I remember a time a few years back, when a resolution came to the floor of the AC having to do with soil conservation.  The resolution called on the government to reduce soil erosion to x-number of tons per acre.  My lay delegate informed me that the governmental rules had already been changed, and the what the resolution called for would have been an increase in the amount of erosion allowable.  Not even those who proposed the resolution had bothered to read it and do any study.

Enough for now.  I have to go try to prepare a lesson that won't put the kids asleep.

Loren Mead in his classic book on church revitalization, The Once and Future Church, published by the Alban Institute, talks about the movement from a Christendom Church to something else yet to be fully discovered.  The in between time in which we live is filled with contradictions and stress points for laity, pastors, churches and denominations. 

One of these contradictions was pretty obviously at our Charge Conference.  Our District Superintendent opened the meeting by talking about the importance of helping individuals discover their spiritual gifts and passions for ministry, and rightly so.  This is truly the primary way by which 21st century people will become involved in ministry and mission.  I endorsed what she said, hoping that it sounded familiar to those gathered.

At the end of the meeting, she talked to us about appointments and how they were being used.  The way apportionments are presently collected is definitely based on a Christendom model.  The people in the pews give their money so that the professionals in the hierarchy can do ministry and mission.  And for years it worked that way because people believed it was their duty as church members to support whatever the hierarchy thought best.  It doesn't work anymore. 

It seems to me that those in Conference leadership positions need to listen to their own advice.  But that's part of the contradictory times in which we live.  There is some understanding of what it will take to do ministry in the 21st century, but the old ways of doing things aren't easily changed. 

I personally believe that apportionment receipts would increase dramatically if churches were given the freedom to support the apportioned ministries of their choice.  That way the congregations that have a passion for social justice can support justice ministries.  The congregations that have a passion for discipling can support discipling ministries.  Much of the objection to apportionments comes from the fact that people are asked to give financial support to ministries they either have no passion for or may even outrightly disagree with.

How soon the Conference leadership will start listening to their own advice is anyone's guess?  But unless they do so soon, the Conference will continue to suffer from financial woes.

The World Needs More Crazy People

After Julie & I got home from a 3 hour long Charge Conference last night, I said it must be a strange thing for our DS to come to our church and hear what's happening in our congregation.  I've been to enough Charge Conferences with the small churches that predominate United Methodism to know that most don't have a whole lot of new things to report.  It's not that small churches don't do important ministries, it just that there's not much on the cutting edge.  And while we're certainly not a large church with a whole host of dynamic ministries, for our size we do so pretty amazing things.  It was exciting for me and for our DS to hear the enthusiasm in people's voices as they spoke about what they had accomplished during the year.  I'm proud to be their pastor.

When the DS asked me afterwards how it is possible for us to do all we do, I answered by saying we simply do what she talked about in her opening remarks, setting people free to use their gifts and to pursue their passions.  I'm not a great pastor or even all that smart, but this I know, that God has given his people gifts and passions for ministry and when people are given the chance to use those as God leads them to, without having to get by a bunch of gatekeepers, great things happen.  In many churches that's pretty radical thinking.  You would think after decades of committee work that has left many churches locked in status que and slowly dying, people would get a hint.  But insanity is the norm, that is insanity defined as "doing the same things and expecting different results."

I thank God for the members of my congregation who aren't insane, but who are crazy.  One of my new favorite Bible verses is 2 Corinthians 5:13 "If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God.  And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit" (NLT).  Anyone who is truly passionate about Christ and doing ministry appears to be crazy to anyone churched or unchurched who is not.  And that is exactly why the world need more crazy people.

ACLU Favors Governmental Involvement with Religion

The Anti-Christian Legal Union (ACLU) thinks the government should be involved in the practice of religion.  At least that's how I'm reading the law suit the NYCLU filed on behalf of Michelle McCusker (pictured right).  Michelle McCusker was fired from her teaching position at St. Rose of Lima School in Rockaway Beach because she is pregnant and is single, thus violating her contract which requires unmarried individuals to refrain from sexual relations.  (Read NYCLU's take on the story)

The NYCLU thinks the government should be able to tell the church how to run its ministry.  So much for separation of church and state!

Does the church have the right to require its employees, especially those who are instructing children to uphold certain morals?  The NYCLU says no.

Ms. McCusker said. "I have been devastated over this incident. This was my first teaching position and I was excited and looking forward to the school year with my young students. I don't understand how a religion that prides itself on being forgiving could terminate me because I am unmarried and choose to have a baby."

Ms. McCusker has the same attitude as many.  "I should be able to do whatever I want to do and if the church thinks I did wrong they should just forgive and forget."  This kind of thinking points to a missing component in most churches, accountability.  It reminds me of the Beth Stroud case.  Ms. Stroud knew that her behavior violated her contract to live according to the UM Discipline, but she thought she could do her own thing and then expect the church to pat her on the head and say "There, there, we understand.  It doesn't matter to us that you broke the rules, just as long as your happy, that's all that is important to us."  Hogwash!

A Question of Ownership

This story is a part of the daily devotional email I receive from churchgrowth.org.  They reprinted it from MarketplaceLeaders.org.  I think it has an important message.

A Question of Ownership
TGIF Today God Is First, by Os Hillman 

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. - Matthew 10:39

Otto Koning was a missionary in New Guinea. He worked among a native tribe that had known only their village ways. One of those village ways was stealing from others. When Otto and his wife arrived and moved into a hut, the natives often came by to visit. The Konings would notice that after the natives left the missionaries' home, various household items had disappeared. They saw these items again when they went to preach in the natives' village.

The only fruit Otto could grow on the island was pineapples. Otto loved pineapples, and he took pride in the pineapples he was able to grow. However, whenever the pineapples began to ripen, the natives would steal them. Otto could never keep a ripe pineapple for himself. This was a frustration, and he became angry with the natives. All during the seven-year period in which this took place, Otto preached the gospel to these natives, but never had a conversion.

The more the natives stole, the angrier Otto became. Finally, one day Otto had a German Shepherd dog flown in from another missionary to protect his pineapple garden after other frustrated efforts failed. This only further alienated the natives from him.

Otto took a furlough to the United States and attended a conference on personal rights. At this conference, he discovered that he was frustrated over this situation because he had taken personal ownership of his pineapple garden. After much soul searching, he gave his garden to God. Soon the natives started having problems among their tribe. They discovered that Otto was the reason for their problems because he gave his garden to his God. The natives saw a correlation between what Otto had done and their own lives being affected by calamities in their village. When Otto gave his garden to God, he no longer got angry and was free from worry. The natives started bringing him fruit from the garden because they didn't want any more calamities to come into their village.

The light came on one day when a native said to Otto, "You must have become a Christian, Otto. You don't get angry anymore. We always wondered if we would ever meet a Christian." They had never associated Otto with the kind of person he was preaching about because his message did not line up with his life. Otto was broken in spirit when he realized he had been such a failure.

At the end of seven years, he witnessed his first conversion, and many began coming to Christ once he fully gave his garden to God. The fruit grew so abundant that Otto began exporting it and growing other types of fruit, such as bananas. His village became the most evangelized in the whole region, yet for seven years he had not one convert.

It seems to me that Otto's attitude towards ownership is one of the major reasons congregations don't grow.  I received an anonymous letter a number of years ago.  While I don't remember the majority of what the writer said, I do remember that this individual accused me "of ruining OUR church" (emphasis mine).  When church members start to believe that it is their church, then next the natural step is the belief that they have the right to control whatever happens in their church.  And when  humans control the church, growth cannot happen.

While it's vital that people claim "ownership" in their church, none of us dare forget that we are merely stewards.  It is Christ who established the church and with the Father and the Holy Spirit is the only rightful owner.  Thus it is only Christ who is to control the work of the church.  And though it's an over used clique, we need to continually ask not, "what do I want to do?" but "what would Jesus do?"   And it is only by doing what Jesus would do that the church becomes the inviting and embracing body it was created to be.

Charge Conference Next Sunday

My congregation's annual charge conference is next Sunday.  Our DS will be present to lead us through the business.  There's a whole lot I don't like about this meeting.  I hate paperwork and much of what has to be done, I see little use for.  It is bureaucrasy to the core.  I don't recall the 1st century church doing anything like what we do.  Can anyone name what chapter and verse tells us to set an annual church budget?

I will admit however, that the charge conference does force me and my congregation to take a look at what we've accomplished and to set goals for the coming year.  If it weren't for this requirement it would be very easy to simply slide from one year into the next without ever taking time for evaluation and goal-setting.

And if I'm really honest, I do like to showoff some of the ministries we've done to the DS.  There aren't many established congregations our size that have a full fledged coffee house operating on their premises.  Or have a media and computer network like ours.  Or who have two very active youth groups. Or who sponsor bus tours to Christian conferences.  It makes my chest swell with pride.  The coolest thing is that while I give some guidance and encouragement, these ministries involve laity in passionate ministry.

What We Have to Offer

I'm a big fan of Leonard Sweet.  In Jesus Drives Me Crazy, he writes:

     Basically the church has only two things to offer the world: Christ and community.  Yet we have heard the word community so often that the word itself can become a blockage to its true meaning.  That's why I prefer words such as connectedness and relationships to community.
      Only in relationship do we discover God.  Only in relationship do we discover what it means to be human.  Only in relationship do we discover anything.....We know from new physics that nothing exists independent of relationships.

Wesley instructed his preachers to "Offer them Christ."  They did through the community of societies.  These societies provided people with a place to connect and place to build relationships.  As a result "scriptural holiness" was spread across the land. 

We need to learn from these saints of God.  Though I have found that in midsized churches like the one I serve it is a hard thing to do.  In small churches there is a natural connectedness.  Usually family ties and lifelong friendships bind people together.  In large churches, people understand that they can't possibly connect with all the others in the congregation, so they seek out small groups for community.  But midsized churches don't have the same kind of dynamics.  There are many who feel they should know everyone in the church like in a small congregation.  But at the same time like a large church there are too many people to get to know on a level beyond acquaintance. 

This issue of how community is built is perhaps the greatest danger to the health of midsized congregations.  I wish I had an answer.  I can offer people Christ, but building community is beyond my ability.  It will only happen as individuals decide they want to invest the time and energy in making it happen.

I'm Not Okay, You're Not Okay

I'm not okay, you're not okay must be the conclusion one reaches when reading Romans 3.  "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God,"  Romans 3:11.  It is by denying ones own not-okay-ness, that prevents one from being okay.  It's the denial of one's illness that stymie the healing.  Only those who recognize their need for a physician will seek out help.

Thanks be to God, such help is found in Jesus Christ.  "When we were unable to help ourselves, at the moment of our need, Christ died for us," Romans 5:6.  I know how totally helpless I am.  I can only imagine where my life would be had I not quit trying to make it on my own and turned to Jesus.

This is an invitation to all who read this, to join with me in confessing our need for a physician.  It's a simple prayer, "Lord Jesus, I'm tired of trying to make it on my own.  I've done my best, but it's not good enough.  Please help me."  Amen.

Idolatry in Brick & Mortar

Is there a line that can be crossed from constructing and maintaining a congregation's facilities and worshipping the buildings themselves?  And I'm not thinking about something like Lakewood Church's $95 million update of Huston's Compaq Center, that's on a whole different plane than where I'm coming from. 

Over the past couple of years my congregation has spent about $75,000 in building improvements.   Just last night a proposal was brought before the Bd. of Trustees to spend $15,000 for new flooring and window treatments in the Fellowship Hall, as well as another $5,000 to repair the roof on our youth building.  I realize that part of what is happening right now is compensating for years of doing little to modernize the 90+ year old building.  And certainly if we aree going to continue to do ministry from this location these improvements were necessary and they have had my full support.  I'm glad that I have been able to provide some leadership to see these things accomplished.

What concerns me is the fact that during the same time period my congregation gave less than $10,000 to missions.  When we installed the new air conditioning & heating system in the sanctuary and when we began construction on an elevator, we received 10's of thousands of dollars for these projects in a matter of weeks.  On the other hand, in September when an appeal was made for hurricane victims we were thankful to receive a couple of thousand of dollars.  It seems to me that this behavior borders on idolatry.  If it's true that one can judge a person's or church's priorities by looking at their checkbook, then it becomes clear that we're putting a greater emphasis on bricks and mortar than on human life.

As the pastor of this church, God has been convicting of this and I am determined to see it changed.  I have taken some beginning steps to refocus my congregation's priorities. I remember hearing a wise old preacher once say, "Focus on missions, and everything else will take care of itself."  I hope to live by his advise.

Fear, a Powerful Tool of the Enemy

Rev. Dan Gates on his blog for Nov. 9 calls for UM's to take a stand against those who would rewrite the scripture and who disrepect our Discipline.  A response from Pastor Bob to Dan's call is very telling.  Here it is in part.

I'm a local pastor. The bishop I "report" to is Krammerer. We were told during the executive session that we were not allowed to speak regarding Ed's case. With that said it has been made abundantly clear that if we (ie. especially local pastors) speak out then we will not be re-appointed. The bishop has made her stance very clear.

I know this is terrible on my part but I cannot be a sacrificial lamb for this cause..... I'm not guaranteed an appointment as an Elder is... and I've been told as a second career (non-under grad degree holder) it will be a snowball chance in .... to make Elder (even though the BoD allows it).   So I wimp out... I'm embarrased and ashamed but that is were I have come down to... I hang my head low ... knowing I have compromised greatly.

I can understand where Pastor Bob is coming from exactly.  I have felt many of those same things.  I find myself tore between wanting to speak out and knowing that if I do I could lose my ministry.  I'm in a little safer spot than Bob because I am an Elder, but having been under the supervision of a very liberal bishop I have sensed and still do to some degree the same fear. 

This kind of fear isn't of God.  "God has  not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and love and sound mind," St. Paul told Timothy.  We should not be surprised that those who stand against scriptural Christianity will use this tool of the Enemy to accomplish their goals.  They profess love and tolerance for all people, but will not tolerant or love those who disagree with them.

It is my belief that it is up to the laity to take a stand.  Only when those who sit in the pews and pay the church's bills, say "enough is enough," will change begin.  It is up to the laity to communicate their concerns to their bishop and DS's.  Pastors must however inform the laity what's happening and encourage them to make their voices heard.  Every time of great renewal in the Church has arisen out of a laity-lead movement.  Yes, the clergy have a role to play and need to be courageous enough to play it, but in the end the Church is the laity.

Maybe all this is just a cop-out, a way of facing my fear and I suppose to some degree it is.  On the other hand, the laity do need to fight for their church and not simply give up and go elsewhere.