What Tomorrow's Church Requires

This time last week the leadership of St. John's was meeting with David Schoen, Minister and Team Leader for the United Church of Christ. David spent time with us exploring what tomorrow's church will require. To help us get a sense of some of the cultural shifts that have been happening, he shared this video Did You Know? I have been thinking about these rapid cultural shifts as well as his presentation all week. We talked about the need for the church to be missional in purpose, relational in outreach, and conversational in witness.

Later in the week I had a couple of different conversations, each with individuals who question the role of the church in their lives and struggle with the strict dogma of the churches they grew up in. Their memory of the experience in their youth is a constant filter for how they interpret what the church is today. They are torn because while there are some things they feel as though they must reject, they are drawn to the community, to the mystery, and to the concrete acts of service of the church. I found myself saying, "I don't believe in the God you don't believe in either" and longing to be able to bear witness to all that I find is good and right and beautiful with the particular community of faith to which I serve and belong. And I thought again about how accurate David was in the challenges he raised for us.

On one level, meeting the needs of many generations in a rapidly changing society is overwhelming. We certainly cannot continue doing all of the same old things we have always been doing and expect that it will be satisfying, sufficient, or even faithful.

But it is also a hopeful time. Phyllis Tickle suggests that the church goes through a "rummage sale" every 500 years when it is able to keep what is helpful and get rid of what is not. We are certainly living through that time right now. On Thursday I began reading a new book by my colleague and friend, Phil Snyder. The book, Toward a Hopeful Future: Why the Emergent Church is Good News for Mainline Congregations is a breath of fresh air and I can't wait to keep reading.

Perhaps if there are enough us who are willing to stay with this "rummage sale" we will be able to be what the church requires for the future.

The Breakfast Table

Yesterday morning my husband and I lingered on our porch over a wonderful breakfast of french toast made with walnut raisin bread, crisp peppered bacon, perfectly ripe cantaloupe, and strong Italian roast coffee. As we were cleaning up I found myself wondering why we didn't do this more often. A good breakfast with someone you love is a great way to start the day; it is also one of the primary ideas behind a new ministry at St. John's called The Breakfast Table: Awakening Your Mind, Body, and Soul (TBT).

Do any of the following describe you?

You love to spend Sunday mornings with the people you love, often over a good home-cooked breakfast.

You are a visual person and make connections more easily when you are able to "see" an idea come to life.

You are a "hands on" person and want to DO something because of your faith, not just talk about it.

If church is going to be meaningful for you it needs to connect with your everyday life in relevant ways.

If any of these resonate with you, I think might enjoy The Breakfast Table!

The first TBT is this Sunday, September 13 at 9:00 a.m. We have six Sundays slotted throughout the year for TBT and are in the process of forming a "feeding team" and a "creating team" for each day. TBT will include elements of every day life: feeding ... eating .. thinking ... doing. Our hope is that this experience designed for people of all ages will deepen our faith experience, and stretch our minds and hearts. TBT will seek to make our faith more relevant, more engaging, and more integrated with our every day lives.

We have two great teams in place for our first experiment with this new venture. The "creating team" includes Diane Powell, Gary Reiss, Dixie Lauer, John Yakscoe, and Pattie Budd. They are meeting with me to design what exactly we will do after breakfast. Tom Yost and Rick Yost are the "feeding team." I don't know whether they will be making french toast, flipping pancakes or dishing up strata, but I do know it will be delicious and you won't need to cook it yourself that morning. Just come and enjoy! It will be a great way to start the day.

Why Bother?

With every new members class I find myself talking about how the autonomy (or the freedom) each congregation in the United Church of Christ has is both a blessing and burden. This freedom is certainly a blessing because we are free to govern ourselves and make our own decisions; we can live as fully into God's call for us as we are attentive, inspired, and willing to do. Yet, it is also a burden for these very same reasons. Within our denomination there is no one who will mandate what our position should be on an issue, or whether we should restructure ourselves, or change hymnals, or perform commitment ceremonies. That sounds great until we realize that in order to bring about change we must risk initiating those changes. We must risk being the one to take a stand or initiate dialogue. There is no larger structure to hide behind with the excuse that "they are making us do this!"

Upon returning from the General Synod, I have had a couple of people ask me (essentially), "Why Bother?" Why bother going to the national meeting when there is nothing that really happens with any authority? Why bother going through the whole resolution process and sitting through discussions and plenarys when all that ends up happening is that the national church gives us some recommendations?

On this Independence Day, I woke up and realized that my answer to "Why Bother?" is much the same as to why I listen to the news, why I read different perspectives, why being a part of a community is so important to me. If I live in my own little world (as comfortable as that can be), I can't possibly live responsibly. If I am not aware of different problems and perspectives, how can I respond to them?

At the Synod we spent much time talking about the challenges we still face with racism. We didn't solve the problems, but I became more sensitive to them, as well as more hopeful for the future because I know there are many who care. I felt stretched by things I have heard and found myself reflecting more deeply on the intersections of race and poverty, race and our criminal justice system, race and education. I am not sure where that is leading yet, but I know I was helped by the discussion.

I came upon this photograph titled Freedom is the Possibility of Isolation. It is titled after a quote from "The Book of Disquiet" by Fernando Pessoa. I am one who loves the beautiful sand and sky and times of isolation; yet on this Independence Day, I am saying a prayer of thanks for the community that pulls me into relationship and responsibility.

Immersed in Worship Ideas

One of the things that I have been watching closely here at Synod are the many ways worship participants have been pulled into the experience through all of their senses. Yesterday I learned of the team that met last November to plan how they might bring to life the theme, "Immerse Yourself" in Grand Rapids. From the evocative stage and energetic dancers to the varied music and litanies, we have been wading deep into this theme that draws from the gift of water.


The Rev. Alexandra Childs, a pastor at Alameda (California) First Congregational Church coordinated the physical set. It took Childs and a dozen other volunteers five days to create the handpainted 25 x 42 foot canvas that serves as a backdrop, (the floor actually) for the worship participants. It has whirls and wisps of blues and greens that evokes a vivid interpretation of sky, mountain, lakes, and rivers. There is also an 8 by 8 foot immersion pool at centerstage and 200 gallons of water that recycled itself over 3 levels creating a beautiful waterfall that is not only lovely to look at but wonderful and peaceful to hear. Framing these falls were plants and fieldstone. At the back wall there are two "rain panels" made out of multi-blue hued LED lighting and soft fabric.

In addition there is a jumbo screen and then many video panels throughout the hall so everyone can see everything that is happening. The images on the screens have been so thoughtfully selected that they enhance rather than distract my worship experience. Within every worship service there is a variety of musical styles and instrumentation. There is dancing. There are different languages spoken. There are many, many ways to engage each participant.

Part of my keen interest in these worship elements this year is because I have been thinking about and praying about how we might more effectively use a variety of experiences in our worship service. The space in our sanctuary is entirely different from a convention hall but the need to be attentive to all the ways people experience and learn has inspired me to try to expand what we are doing now.

Is there anyone who wants to dream about this with me?

Getting Outside Myself

I have been reading An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor; in it she provides a beautiful reflection on the practice of "encountering others" that I shared with the congregation this past Sunday. Yesterday I realized how I had experienced this - not really from doing anything on my part other than "showing up," but through the grace of others. There is great power in simple encounters.

I will confess that Wednesday I started out feeling a little irritable. It was one of those days I would have preferred to just stick to myself. However, whatever was irritating me was soon erased after the greetings I received at The Largest Table. The moment I came downstairs I was greeted by someone who had not been here for awhile and shared with me how much he missed it, and how he was glad to see me. Everyone was raving about the chili and baked potatoes from Wendy's that the staff and students from The Wellington School had brought for lunch. The news must have spread outside our building because I met a couple of people who told me that they had come because someone had told them what a great meal they had just had. And the music! Wellington also brought several students who played brass instuments and keyboard for our lunchtime entertainment. They were fantastic and the fun atmosphere prompted smiles, laughter, and applause. All of this served to pull me out of my own worries and recognize how much there is to be grateful for.

That evening there were several people at my home for a meeting. While we attended to business, there was also laughter and much genuine give and take about what was going on in our lives. Simply talking with others about concerns I had in my head suddenly made them seem much smaller and more manageable.

There is great power in simple encounters.

God Moments

Yesterday in the confirmation class we discussed how God can be experienced in many different ways. This was part of a larger conversation about the concept of the Trinity so we talked about how God can be experienced in creation, through others, and through the Spirit.

I often find that an individual seems to have a primary way he or she experiences the presence of God. From a very young age, I have experienced God regularly in worship - not through specific music or words or liturgy, but from feeling the presence of something much greater than anything tangibly present amongst us. I name my experience of the Spirit as a "God moment." It is not something I feel every single time I worship, but often enough that I can't imagine my life without it and the strong community in which it is set. I also will often have "God moments" when I am beside bodies of water. There are moments when the beauty of creation assures me of God's presence. The picture here is of one of my favorite places on Lake Michigan, a place to which I return every summer.

How and where do you experience God? Please share a "God Moment!"

A New Channel of Communication

For the past year I have been considering entering the blogging world, mostly because I had heard that blogging is such a powerful channel of communication. However, there is a difference between hearing about something and experiencing it. My experience convinced me that this was something I should try to do.

Recently I have been following two blogs, Mary's Blog for Healing and Tom's Ohio Nature Blog. Each, in a different way, has not only informed me about what is happening in his or her corner of the world, but has also inspired me to see grace and hope in my own life experience. As the pastor of St. John's, I have a unique vantage point from the church that sits at Third and Mound. Through this blog, I hope to share some of the things I see that inspire me.

What are the blogs that you follow and how do they inspire you?