What Josh is reading

The stack of things on my nightstand is growing taller. I thought I'd
share what's there and why I'm reading it.

The Mystical Way of Evangelism
Elaine Heath
Picked this up at Refresh 08, and heard Elaine speak there as well.
It's excellent about kenotic faith as the center of evangelism.
Refreshing and invigorating. I want to know how to put it into
practice at the campus ministry & church.

Good Omens
Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman
Just finished this quirky, hilarious novel about the end of days. Best
parts: four horsemen and the friendship between the angel and the demon.

Extension Ministers
Russ Richey
Reading this before strategic planning at campus ministry. Richey
wants to put extension ministry back at the heart of the Methodist
Connection. History + theology. So far a bit dry, but good information.

Why Go To Church?
Timothy Radcliffe
The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent book this year. Radcliffe looks at
the service of word+table (RC Eucharist, actually) as it leads us thru
faith, hope, and love. Looking forward to the read this year.

After these, I'll be working on The Challenge of Jesus (N T Wright)
and Small Gods (Terry Pratchett).

Happy reading!!

Curses, Lies, and Violence

Morning Prayer thew Psalm 10 across my path this morning:

The wicked boast
about their desires;
greedy for profit,
they curse the Lord.
They say with contempt,
"God does not care!
There is no God!"
They know their way to success;
your ways are beyond them.

They mock who-ever resists them.
They claim to be invincible,
beyond the reach of misfortune.
Their mouths breed
curses, lies, and violence;
trouble and deceit
hide under their tongues. (ICEL)

Was this written just this past fall, when financial institutions were crumbling and crushing employees, families, organizations as they fell? It seems like it. A damning indictment of human nature if I ever read one.

And the fundamental problem is something inherent in all of us: our greed, our contempt, our lack of consideration of others...which goes unchecked by any moral compass or sense of ethics that has God as its foundation. "There is no God! God doesn't care!" I don't know if these words were spoken in boardrooms or hearing rooms or offices...but they might as well have been for all the now-exposed practices that left no room for compassion or rectitude.

Any true, living connection with God, deeply rooted in Christian tradition (or for that matter Muslim or Jewish, etc.), would have opposed the self-interest and objectification which was exemplified by the financial collapse...and opposes the rooting of self-worth in monetary or fiduciary terms.

The rest of the Psalm condemns the violent and wicked...so there might be fodder here for a discussion of the vicissitudes of war, the annihilatory ethic of terrorism, and more. But for today, I hope you are struck--as I was--by the cry out to God for deliverance from the human-wrought terror of abandonment and the sense of being preyed-upon for profit and wealth.

In this day, Holy God, comfort us in trust that we are not alone in our struggle,
but that even in our groaning we live in hope by the Spirit. Amen.
(The Daily Office, Vol. 1, p. 297)

New Wine in New Wineskins

I've been thinking about Liturgy. It is the work of the people, God's people, in a particular place and a particular time. Liturgy connects us with each other and with the church throughout the ages. The work of liturgy has a particular shape, one that has been worked out for two millenia. This shape is what we call the "ordo" of Christian worship.

In the gospel of Matthew 9:14-17 the disciples of John have an argument with Jesus. How come his disciples did not fast like the pharisees did? Jesus answer is that although fasting is important the time was not appropriate for it. In other words context does matter not merely a practice.

I've been thinking about the Liturgy in my context and in the context of other churches. I am reminded that for close to a thousand years different regions of the Christian church had different liturgies and different lectionaries. It was only when Rome was trying to centralize their authority that the movement began for both universal texts and universal practice. It is true that the written liturgies followed a similar pattern - the ordo was the same. But the way that is was lived out was different in each community, different in ways that reflected their context (mozarabic in Spain, Gallican in what would become France, etc.).

In United Methodism we have the opportunity to have common prayer that reflects both our catholicity and our locality. Our rubrics are flexible and our ritual text rich theologically and poetically. Yet we still seem to be stuck in three camps: those who ignore the ritual of our church all together, those who use the ritual stiffly and coldly, and those who use what they can find when convenient.

The ones that do not use the ritual claim that using it is archaic and will not attract or form people in the way of Jesus. Many want to have freedom to worship in ways that are not bound to the ways of the past. "New wine in new wineskins" they say.

Those that use the ritual coldly claim that it is the doing of it that matters and that people need to stop worrying about themselves and focus on God. If they did that then they will realize what a big favor the ritual is doing to them.

Then there are the ones who want to be "liturgical" and "creative." They seem to pick and use whatever seems most convenient, exciting, different. Sometimes there is little connection between one aspect of worship and another. At other times there is so much newness that one becomes confused and distracted.

I want us to have a fourth way. A way that takes seriously the needs of our community. I want us to worship in ways that are formative and that reflect both our catholicity and our locality. Ways that represent the best of the past and the best of today. Ways of preaching, praying, singing, and silence that connect with current generations. Ways of worship that are both doxological and evangelistic.

I want new wines in new wineskins but I still want wine and I still want to hold that wine in wineskins. Am I making any sense?

Peace, Juan+

Who knows?

A fascinating reflection on Frederick Buechner's life and work. I love the description of the sermon which he heard at Madison Avenue. And I concur with Tom Long about one of his favorite quotes, it's one of the first I ever heard about preaching (from Telling the Truth, which I highly recommend).

Minister sees divine in everyday struggles (from the Boston Globe)

Entering Ministry

Pastors sometime make it hard to understand why anyone would want to enter ministry. For instance, there's the habitual b...complaining that many of my colleagues engage in (and even I do from time to time). Which, let's be honest, is not surprising--there's many frustrating, even maddening things about church people. I understand God in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New much better now that I'm a pastor myself, what with all the frustrations and dealing with complaining and people missing the point and all.

But the real joy of pastoral work is something that pastors ought to know about and communicate better. And resources designed, written, produced for people thinking about the possibility of going into ministry ought to bear that in mind. United Methodism's The Christian As Minister is a great example of the way in which we suck all the life, joy, grace, and gratitude right out of the pastoral vocation in exchange for limp descriptions of different career paths and the next steps in a highly bureaucratized discernment process.

So let's do something different. There are a lot of great writers who describe the glorious calling to be a pastor. What's your favorite passage or paragraph on the pastoral vocation? What is it like to be a priest, a prophet, a preacher, a pastor, a parson? Who excites your imagination, fires your passion, immerses your intellect in God's incredible calling? Email me, or post a comment here on the blog.

Here's mine--the one I can't stop thinking about. Something to chew on while you're thinking what to post here or send me:

They will think of themselves as priests or pastors...because the word and sacrament in the community where they preside is God's "shepherding," which is not pushing the sheep around but giving away holiness.

Gordon Lathrop, Holy Things

On Pomp & Circumstance

In a recent post on his blog Mike Slaughter, pastor of Ginghamsburg Church (A United Methodist Congregation), said in reference to the pope's visit:

I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with all the pomp and circumstance that surrounded the Pope’s visit. What does Jesus think of the waste of money that goes on in the pageantry of the church? No wonder so much of the world looks at the church as irrelevant when our leaders march in medieval robes and pointed hats? . . .

I was saddened a bit . . . after all I am a lover of the liturgy of the church. I believe that there is a place for all the pomp and circumstance in the worship of almighty God. After all we give pomp and circumstance to other things: heads of state, sports teams, movie stars, reality television personalities, politicians, and even to national symbols. Why not God?

Mike later says:

In regard to the pageantry and meetings, many of you will remind me that this is tradition and we have always done it this way. Those are the famous last words of a dying church. Jesus reminds us that you can’t put God’s new wine in old wineskins.

I am not sure that the problem in the American church is pomp, I think the problem is indifference. The problem is not that in the pageantry we have lost the meaning but that in making God so accessible we have made God another commodity: something that we can own, control, and turn off when we no longer need it.

I say more pomp is needed. More signs and symbols that the God we serve is the creator of the universe and that it is that God that wants to meet each of us in the person of Jesus Christ.

We can worship in this way without being snobbish, cold, and patriarchal. I agree with Mike when he grieves that in Roman Catholicism "women are excluded from the parade." I also agree that more representation is needed by the lay faithful in the governance of the church. These issues are issues of polity and theology not issues of worship. As a United Methodist pastor I believe that this makes it more important for us to recover our liturgical and sacramental theology and practice.

The pointed hats, the long robes, the long processionals, the incense, candles, and other signs are reminders, and powerful sign-acts that what we do in worship is no casual matter; that the one that calls us together is worthy of Glory, Honor, and Praise. In this rehearsal of the great wedding banquet we are most alive as people of God and better empowered to be the church in the world.

This encounter with the holy, week after week, is indeed new wine in new wine skins. Thanks be to God!

Peace, Juan+

Choose Life

Please stop whatever it is you're doing and read the address to the British Methodist Conference by their new Vice-President. In addition to its hopefulness, clarity, and inspiration, it also contains my new favorite pastor joke.

http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.newsDetail&newsid=273

Congratulations to Mindy Bell and Beth McDowell on their ordination Sunday as presbyters in the Methodist Church of Great Britain!

Evangelization...creatively

You know that Mortimer Arias' book on evangelization (not evangelism) is focused around the reign of God. Interesting that Christianity Today's most recent article on the Christian Vision Project describes an evangelism tool which incorporates the Kingdom of God into its 4 step plan.

At the Fourth of July parade there were a number of people (including 1 sitting close to us) handing out water in the name of Jesus & their church, with a sticky label on it giving a brief rundown of how to come to Jesus. Aside from the lack of reference to water until the 3rd & final prooftext, it just struck me as more of the same. If you're handing out bottles of water to people you don't know, why not ramp up the creativity? Connect the mission of Jesus--living water--to what is going on when you hand out a bottle of water. Why not connect it to a mission/justice project involving water?

All I'm saying is that we ought to be about getting creative in our evangelism--Scripture usage, metaphors & cultural connections, missions & social justice all need to play a part. Let's get out and do it.

Born on the 4th of July

The Christian Century has a great article up right now (happens to be from a former prof of mine...way to go, Ted!) about being American and Christian. So read away.

I sympathize with where Ted has been and is now. It's at this point I envy my father who manages to preserve his hope, faith, and joy while not ignoring or explaining away the sizable dark side. (Read this post, for instance.) And I sympathize with Ted's description of taking himself too seriously...if you knew how often over the past 6 or 7 years I've wanted to preach a sermon about being humbled to be an American...well, if I don't stop now then I'll be on my soapbox in 2.5 seconds. It's hard to know what to believe and think, much less do on this venerable holiday.

So here's what I'll be doing for this year's Fourth. We'll take the kids back to my hometown for one of the longest-running, continuous parades in the country. We'll have watermelon at the end, go home and grill some burgers, possibly take a nap, and watch the firework display. I know that won't be enough for some, and too much for others. But at the end of the day, salvation--my own as well as our collective--is not dependent on celebrating this holiday, nor on shunning it. It's about honestly and earnestly pursuing salvation in the midst of it. The ways we respond are just that--they come as a result of faith, not to cause it.

And I'll save the sermon for another year, perhaps.

Both Frederick Buechner and Rob Bell can't be wrong, can they?

I've been frustrated and downhearted about certain turns of events recently, even as recently as last week, having to do both with how we do administration (those things that enable ministry) as well as the actual ministry itself. What kind of messages do we communicate to youth & young adults? Why do we exert so much energy on spiritual arrogance? When do we let things go for a bigger reason, when do we stand up and shout "Enough!!"?

I've been reading both of Rob Bell's books, and he reminds me that the point is to engage, even if we don't understand or don't like the answers or can't figure the answer out (Velvet Elvis, "Movement 1: Jump"). Buechner is an old friend on my shelves, and I was flipping through when another statement caught my eye - that becoming disheartened is normal, but it isn't going to last, because our experience and relationship with God doesn't let despair linger (Listening to Your Life, 9/26). Instead, the deepest part of ourselves compel us to get up and struggle again, like Jacob with the angel/God.

So, behind the exhaustion and the frustration and the disappointment, I'm learning slowly to find the reason I'm in this gig to begin with. That the words and signs and experiences are just that--pointers to God, but not the real thing. "I believe; help my unbelief."

Blog Recommendation

Not that anyone is reading this since we haven't posted since February, but if you're looking for something different in the blogosphere, check out my dad's blog:

http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/waynehalesblog/

Violence and Salvation

As I write this article, the shootings at Northern Illinois University, outside Chicago, happened just a few days ago. It breaks my heart that this is not the first time this has happened since I entered campus ministry just 18 short months ago. In the wake of horrifying violence yet again, a few things need to be said.

Violence will never heal our wounds or salve our conscience. Whatever our pain, it will not go away by making others suffer, too. The only effective antidote to suffering is healing that comes from God. It may be physical healing, or there may be peace in our hearts and souls. It may mean taking the long road of forgiveness towards someone who has wronged us—or of asking for forgiveness of those we have wronged. Only in Jesus Christ, the Suffering Servant, can we find peace and wholeness again.

I know that a new round of public-policy debate has already begun. Is it too easy for someone to have a concealable weapon? Could such tragedies be prevented if concealed gun permits extended to school campuses?

I don’t know what the answer to the problem is here in the US. But I do know that no amount of weaponry, no personal armory will be sufficient to make us completely secure. We can establish reasonable safeguards, but if someone wants to commit violence against us, they will find a way. How can we be saved from such tragedy?

We are not saved by our own laws; we are not saved by our own guns; we are not saved by our own security plans. We are saved through the grace of Jesus Christ. Grounded in baptismal faith, nothing can change the ending of our story. “For if we have been united with [Christ] in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5). May God grace us with the ability to turn from our violent past and embrace a just and peaceful future with him.

[written for this week's Wesley UMC Circuit Rider.]

Lunar Eclipse Feb 20-21

A total lunar eclipse, visible from the USA, will happen Wednesday night thru Thursday morning. For more information, check out NASA's page for the eclipse.

Maybe

Maybe Jesus had it right after all! In calling a group of sinful people, flawed people
to be him in the world, Jesus knew what he was doing:

Only broken people could reach out to broken people,
sick people to sick people,
blind to blind,
lame to lame,
mute to mute,
imprisoned to imprisoned,
hungry to hungry,
naked to naked,
marginalized to marginalized,
victim to victim,
victimizer to victimizer,
sinner to sinner.

Maybe Jesus knew that in our struggle
for peace, justice and restoration
the biggest enemy was in the mirror.

Maybe this called out people will see each other
and see themselves,
will see each other and see Christ . . .

Maybe this called out people will want to let others know
that they too are called out,
they too are good,
they too are loved,
they too are beloved,
they too are holy,
they too are God's own.

Maybe this is why thanksgiving is at the center of this gathering,
maybe the broken spillness is the mirror where the called out people see themselves
and are reminded of the plight,
of the need,
of the hunger . . .

Maybe.

Feast of the Holy Innocents 2007

The Eighth Day

outpoured song outpoured Spirit
outpoured water outpoured wine
outpoured blood outpoured breath
outpoured sweet sad humankind
in the pouring is the finding
outpoured song outpoured wine

broken prayer broken promise
broken lyrics broken life
broken bread broken body
broken God in all our sight
in the breaking is the sharing
broken bread broken life

raging storm ruined shame
doubtful humans dawning hope
kindling knowledge knowing kin
perfect one perfecting all
in the rising sin is routed
reversing fall sounding call

Holy Cross Day, September 14, 2007

On Prayer

I wonder what drives our conversations with God? Is it about getting to know God better, being part of the divine plan, deepening our relationships, letting go of our burdens? Or is it about God the "sugar daddy" who wants to give us stuff and responds to our every whim?

Prayer is foremost about God. We come seeking relationship, comfort, and strength. In prayer we acknowledge our dependence on God and our willingness for Christ to be Lord of our lives. The relationship built by prayer allows for each of us to be transformed into God's own image one conversation at a time.

In his book Worship and Spirituality, Don Saliers tells us that the Liturgy "waits for us." So indeed prayer, our conversations with God, waits for us constantly as we come seeking the divine. The channel is always open, the line secure. Prayer makes God available and yet the more we practice it, the more we work for it, the more we realize God's mystery.

I do not want "Lord baby Jesus" or "old man with a beard." What I want is to be heard and to align myself with the divine life. This means that prayer is really not ours for it belongs to the whole people of God. Our communal prayer on the Lord's day spills into our daily life as we pray without ceasing. Thanking, blessing, asking, are some of the ways that we pray as we work at life. Are we ready for this kind of encounter with Almighty God?

What's your take my brother?

Peace, Juan+

Liturgical Language

The recent "Imus controversy" has sparked in me a desire for further conversation about the impact of language within the Christian tradition. As one who is formed by liturgy I believe that the language that the community uses is of utmost importance not just for the worship of God but for the formation of Christian disciples.

The challenge transcends what has been called "inclusive" language. Inclusive language has traditionally refers to gender neutral and race sensitive articulation in prayer, sermon and written word. The latest verbal snafu by a member of the media reminds us that the church has a duty to speak counter culturally. This reminds me of a question posed to Tom Long about the why's of inclusive language. The one asking the question thought of inclusive language as a politically correct ideal and not necessarily a matter of liturgical (my words) necessity. To this challenge Tom answered, and I will paraphrase, "inclusive language is important in the church because it models the ideal in a community of faith, it models who we strive to be."

Here I am advocating a Christian ethic of language and its use. Based upon the idea of a God who is Word and who continually uses word to reach out and bring forth a new creation. Three possible points of my argument are that word is creative, prophetic and redemptive. Any Christian language that does not bring forth these things should be reconsidered.

So, my brother, this is just the beginning. I am working on the essay as we speak. What do you think.

Peace, Juan+

JC's Bookshelf

William Seth Adams, Shaped By Images: One who Presides(Church Publishing, 1995). I am half way through this one and is a practical theology of the pastor as presider. The author sees presiding as the primary identity of the pastor out of which all other roles stem.

Gordon Lathrop, Holy People: A liturgical Ecclesiology (Fortress Press, 1999). I am finally towards the end of this one. (It's taken me over a year to get this far). The most powerful of Lathrop's concepts is the idea of ecclesia as a transformative gathering of God's people to meet God.

Samuel Silva Gotay, Protestantismo y Politica en Puerto Rico 1898-1930 [Prostestantism & Politics in Puerto Rico 1898-1930] (University of Puerto Rico, 1997) I just started this one. It speaks of the social role that the protestant church played in the political status of Puerto Rico. Its larger contribution is that it gives us an example of what happens when North American protestantism is taken as the normative expression of Christianity by a colonized people.

Alf J. Mapp Jr., The Faiths of Our Fathers (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003). I am a third into this one. The author explains the theological positions of some of the founding fathers of the U.S.A. This is an important book especially living in a region of the U.S. where many people see the founding fathers as evangelical Christians.

Dan Brown, The Davinci Code (Anchor Books, 2003). I am almost finished with this controversial book. It is well written and a good thriller. The most interesting part to me was its treatment of the idea of the sacred feminine.

Graham Greene, The Complete Short Stories (Penguin Classics, 2005). Greene is my favorite short story writer. He came to Roman Catholism later in life. It seems like in all his stories he struggles with religion in some way.

This is all for now. I will be looking for Volf's book and also for Anderson's. By the way Celebration of Discipline was one of those books that began my journey towards the sacramental life (interesting since it is written by a Quaker).

Bookshelf

So, here's what I'm reading at the moment.

Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace. (Zondervan, 2005)
Almost finished with this one, and it has been excellent. Blending theological reflection on St Paul and Martin Luther with family experiences in Eastern Europe and the USA, Volf writes urgently and simply about the importance of giving and forgiving to Christian Faith. Basically a primer on the Christian life from the vantage point of these two practices. Easily approachable and persuasive.

E Byron Anderson, Worship and Christian Identity: Practicing Ourselves. (Liturgical Press, 2003)
Just begun this one, but it speaks to the place of worship in contemporary United Methodist circles. A bit more dense theologically, but still drawing on the experiences of everyday Christians, especially from case studies of two congregations. A favorite topic for me.

Alister McGrath, Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life. (Blackwell, 2005)
Again, barely started. Reading this for our monthly theological bookgroup. Takes on Richard Dawkins, the brilliant scientist and vivid atheist. McGrath has a PhD in the sciences and is also a theological scholar, so he's the perfect author for this book. More on this soon.

Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline. (Hodder & Stoughton, rev 1989)
Leading a weekly study of this book. Foster is an excellent teacher of spritual practices, and this book includes the basics. It's proving to be quite valuable for this small group of congregation members.

Andrew Smith, Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth. (Bloomsbury, 2005)
Smith's postmodern search for the meaning behind America's Apollo missions to the moon puts on a human face as he meets with the men who actually flew to, walked on, and returned from the moon; he also recalls the turbulent late 60s & early 70s from his own memories. An interesting perspective, written by an American expatriate for a British audience.

Terry Pratchett, The Truth. (Corgi, 2001)
Another Discworld novel, that special blend of fantasy and satire. Pratchett is to fantasy what Douglas Adams was to sci-fi; always good for an intelligent laugh. This one satirizes the newspaper industry.

Juan, what about you?

Young & in Ministry II

Why are young people not entering the pastoral ministry?

I ask myself this question all the time. When I go to clergy meetings most of the people there could be my parents and some my grandparents. I look around and try to find new faces and new voices but they are not there.

I believe there are three reasons why in United Methodism we have this situation: lack of a clear theology of ministry, the climate in our churches, and (what I will call) an unclear future.

Methodism has always struggle with its theology of ministry. We were a lay movement in the early days that only by chance became a church. In American Methodism the heavy influence of a lay movement still resonates in our church. How are we to understand the ordained ministry in our setting? I believe that the struggle for a theology of ministry is really a struggle due to a lack of a clear ecclesiology. Are we a church or a movement? And if a movement does it need an ordained ministry? Due to the lack of clarity many young persons, who want to be part of something, see United Methodist ministry as a burden instead of an important vocational choice. Couple our ambiguous theology with issues such as intinerancy and we have more "stumbling blocks" for young people to answer the call.

The church is not set up for the current generation. We still have old patterns of worship and education. In many parts of the U.S. any new ideas are seen as threats to the current order and to the faith in general. The current divisive political climate makes it more difficult for young people in ministry.

With the current divisive climate, where does the church go? I believe our future is bright because God is with the church. I think we need to find ways to talk to one another with respect. There needs to be a realization that although different in ideology we can be one in the spirit. One of the things that I am doing here is Louisiana is to gather all 22 clergy under the age of 35. We are going to caucus and begin plans to support young clergy and to provide a young clergy voice at the Annual Conference, Jurisdictional Conference, and General Conference level. This will allow us to begin to make progress towards a better church and a better defined theology of ordained ministry.

Here it is Josh. It's been a long time coming but what do you think? Could you caucus the young clergy in the Texas Conference?