Transforming the Holidays

The holidays are coming—Thanksgiving, Christmas, the New Year! Does this strike joyful anticipation or dread in you?

This will be the first time that I go through this season of the year with my new congregation, and I have some apprehension. I know there are some things to learn and experience. Most congregations have ‘sacred traditions’ which are the unspoken—but highly meaningful—ways that a community remembers and celebrates its past. The way that most pastors find out about these traditions are to break them. Usually it’s because a pastor breaks them unintentionally. Then we hear. But woe to the new pastor who tries intentionally to break a holiday tradition!

I’ve already heard from many congregation members about what traditions they care about. And here’s an interesting observation: not all of them are the same! Some people are very interested in the community Thanksgiving service held in area churches on Thanksgiving Day, and some couldn’t care less. Some of them really care about the Christmas pageant and have a vested interest in seeing it remain on a Sunday. Some people very much care that the same decorations go in the same spots. Some want that candle lighting Christmas Eve to be dignified and quiet. Some care about hearing the same hymns or music, and some want to hear new things.

The holidays are emotionally charged times. Families have to negotiate how they will manage the social scene. Who will be visiting whom? Where will we have a dinner? A lunch? Who will host the Thanksgiving dinner? Who will buy the tree? The repeating and evolving rituals give us both comfort and stress. Many times, particularly after a loss, the holiday season is not a joyful time of year, because it serves to remind us of our loss.

So what to do? What would God have us do? How are our celebrations witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ? If we are truly open to the radical, transforming life that God has in store for us, what to do about the holidays?

One thought comes to mind—Grace. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) The Apostle Paul is reporting the answer that came to him after struggling with the thorny problem of “doing” rather than “being.” The Good News about God’s grace is that we have been set free from the hell of trying to live up to our own standards. The Good News about Jesus is that humans can be set free from the idol worship of petty priorities if we let God be the God who wants more than anything for us to belong to God’s very self. Everything else is idol worship. As long as we cling to the priorities of our own constructing, we will miss out on the true purpose of God’s incarnation into human life.

So bring on the Holidays! Let’s revel in God’s extravagant Love, and not feel compelled to DO anything. What would that look like? …just a thought.

Transformation--yea, and I've got beach sand, too

I have come back from St.Pete beach with a new bathing suit. They don't sell bathing suits in October in Virginia and I needed a new one. So I shopped at the beach duds store across the street from the hotel where 60 + Presbyterian pastors have been contemplating what Transformation means for the churches we serve. Transformation is a new buzz word for what church-types used to call "redevelopment." Sometimes dying churches can be redeveloped/transformed. Sometimes not. The congregation I serve knows that transformation is probably in the future--either that or slow death.
We were reminded by one of the conference speakers that in early Xn communities, baptism meant getting a new suit--going down in the water, stripping and coming back up in a new white robe. In the non-magesterial Reformation, the Anabaptists decided that their infant baptisms didn't fit anymore. They wanted a new suit, and so they practiced re(ana)-baptism. Some of the pastors at the conferenced joked that we should chuck out the membership every year and ask all the church members to re-up every year, re-take those baptismal vows every year. I have returned with a lot of new ideas.
I didn't model my new suit--still the same black one-piece appropriately modest for 55 year old woman, not slim. I just brought it back in the suitcase with the tags still on it. I haven't taken the plunge in it. I used the old Speedo swimsuit (one piece, black, non-descript) for the last time this morning in the Gulf of Mexico. I left it in the hotel.

The Neighborhood Church for the World

Just yesterday, a neighbor in this very affluent area of Arlington called the church on behalf of another neighbor who was a sudden widow. The couple have lived in the neighborhood of the church but never had any connection with it, and no connection to any recent faith community. They lived lives adrift from a church connection. But now, a memorial service was needed quickly--Friday. Could we accomodate? These requests are always heartbreaking. A family with very little faith resources is suddenly plunged into dealing with death. All the moorings are coming undone. It's times like these that I appreciate my church community. Christians are not adrift in a death-defying culture. It's an odd thing to comtemplate, but death is our thing. Jesus Christ--who dealt the death blow to death--is the one we follow and hold onto in times like these. Jesus Christ who came that we would have life, and have it abundantly, is the one we witness to when we hold a service of witness to the resurrection, in memory of one who has died.

Whether this man died, knowing that Christ died for him, I know not. I have been preaching about the mission that is right in our neighborhood. Who are these people who live in the neighborhood of the church? What shapes do their lives take? Are they adrift? Will they feel some longing for good news that leads them to call a church on an emergency basis? Do they know that we are praying for them to hear the good news before the emergency and for us to say it out loud when the opportunity arises?

Tradition!

Tevya sang it: Tradition...tradition. The things we do that make us "us." They define who we are. In the church, there are traditions and then there are TRADITIONS that make for a congregation's identity. They are the-way-we-do-things-around-here.
I'm a new pastor, working her way around the congregation, trying to find out what are the traditions that are 'sacred cows'. In my meeting with small groups, someone asked about traditions in the church--who decides what they are and when can they be changed. I gave a long and way too complicated answer about Presbyterians and group decision making in prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit. It turns out that the person wasn't really interested in that, just that the last pastor (with probably the most innocent of intentions) left out a tradition during the Christmas season. It seemed like someone's toes were stepped on, and there probably wasn't enough attention to the way the decision was made.
Even so, the question got me thinking...what do we do together, and how does that shape our Christian witness? Jesus was accused of being a hedonist, and someone who didn't pay enough attention to the traditions of the Mosaic practices that had been revived by Pharisee groups in the centuries just before Jesus' birth. The Mosiac law was/is a good way of life. These traditions were good things to do, things that made Jews resilient, ethical, and an effective witness against the forces of Roman oppression and abuse of power. So why did Jesus and his followers criticize them? Jesus was pointing out that the traditions of the ancestors had another pernicious effect--they kept outsiders at arm's length. Jews and non-Jews couldn't eat at the same table, or mingle in worship. The Mosaic law practitioners interpreted them in such a way as to keep outsiders out. This prevented the good that they were intended to do from being spread among the wider world. If God made the Jews to be a witness to salvation for the whole world, the Jews were going to have to figure out how their practices could be interpreted so that outsiders would become insiders. This is what the Acts 15 controversy is about--how could Jesus' followers who were Jews be witnesses to the reconciling and saving love of God TO THE NATIONS, that is non-Jews?
We have a similar situation in the world today. Many of our practices, our Christian traditions are good things to do. They help us define our life together, give us ways to be with each other for love and compassion. But they are also designed to keep outsiders out, barriers to inclusion and a subtle indication that we don't really want to mix with people who are not like us. Some say that Sunday morning is the most segregated time in America, not only segregated by race, but by any other demographic you can think of--ethnicity, age, economic or educational status, political affiliation, etc., and any other litmus test question that we feel passionately about. A "big sort" happens in churches because we all want to be with folks who know "the-way-things-are-done-around-here." We keep out people who don't do things our way, think like we do, or look at the world the way we do. Is this the right way of interpreting the radical hospitality of God?
When outsiders enter our church, what traditions are there as barriers? If a tradition is really a good witness to the gospel, it will serve to show that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. If we can't point to that reality with our tradition, I suggest that the tradition is a barrier, and should be abandoned, for Jesus' sake!

to be a blessing

If there's one thing I've learned in the past week, it's that there is a lot of hurt in the world, even in the world around North Arlington, a re-gentrifying city if ever there was one. The houses are beautiful. The gardens are plenty. More and more people are looking for a shorter commute into Washington, and this drives up the demand for housing on this side of the Potomac. Beautiful houses are being built and beautiful condos. Wealth is everywhere. Trendy restaurants, stylishly dressed young professionals, expensive cars. On the outside, everything looks fine, even more-than-fine...outwardly blessed.
As this congregation's new pastor, I'm listening to the life histories of many people connected with the church. Some indeed record more than their share of blessings...interesting careers, successful businesses, many years of marital happiness, smiling children. But there is much to morn, too,--betrayal, anger, abuse of self and others, disappointment, estrangement.
My sermon this morning was about the call of Abram/Abraham, and his response to God's promise of blessing. God promised that he would be blessed so that he would be a blessing. God's promise of blessing to Abraham was not just for Abraham's sake, but for the purpose of blessing the rest of the world.
The rest of the story is a story about God's promises of blessing, and the threats to that promise. It's not a clear cut path to individual happiness, but God doesn't give up on us. What if we, too, are blessed in order that we be a blessing? What if stepping out in faith is meant for passing along God's blessing?
Everyone's story has a joyous side and a tragic side. Why has God given us such a range of experiences? Maybe we can't know, but we can pass along those blessings given to us. And maybe that's what faith is for.
North Arlington has a multitude of blessings. Church of the Covenant, how can we pass along those blessings?

Why Are We Here?

In the past several days, I've been meeting with the folks at this small church in the north part of Arlington, Virginia. They are a very brave, committed, and gifted congregation. Still, they are voicing hopes and dreams for the future of the church. Why are we here? What is God calling us to do and be in this situation? to start thinking about this together, my sermon topics for the next few weeks will look at the call stories in the Bible. In every age, God has called particular men and women to do specific things and be specific people to the end that God's purposes for human life will be fulfilled. These people met God in particular ways, and God called them to respond in particular ways. God still calls women and men to be and do certain things in the circumstances of our lives. What is God calling us--Church of the Covenant--to do now?
In order to understand our own life together, I've proposed we start by sharing our own faith stories. Why are we here? My questions to everyone are:
1) What brought you to Church of the Covenant?

2) What blessings are you seeking?

3) What blessings have you received?

4) What blessings are you sharing with others?

Are we bold enough to speak about these things with each other?
God knows...comment below!
Blessings, Pastor Beth

Must a church have a website?

I received a solicitation today from one of the big Christian publishing houses that said "80% of your visitors will find you on the web." They wanted to sell us some web site design and hosting services. Our church doesn't have a website. I'm very new to this blogging thing. Does this count?
I know that keeping up a website is another whole round of activity that small churches may or may not be able to afford. What if we spent our time actually talking with people, listening and interacting with flesh and blood?
Do churches absolutely need a website in today's culture? What if we really wanted to tell people about Jesus in person? Doesn't the anonymity of virtual space make people even more lonely? I'm not sure that the answer is clear.
The brand new moderator of the Presbyterian Church USA--Bruce Reyes-Chow--is a web-sophisticate. He uses the multi-channel communications of web 2.0 with ease and abandon. [See his blog at right.] One of the reasons he was chosen by our branch of the church, I'm guessing--I wasn't there, was that he can communicate so well in a variety of media. I suppose when Jesus comes again, there will be something like an absolute explosion of communication, or maybe community. Then we will know face-to-face and perhaps this will all be moot.
The unique message of Christianity is that God so loved the world that God communicated IN PERSON. Ours is an embodied faith. Jesus is human AND divine. I still think there's something to be said for eye-to-eye, stand-facing, mouth-grinning, heart-to-heart conveying of the good news.
Must a church have a website?
If you have an opinion about this, I'd like to hear it.

Covenant Church doesn't have a website

I will preach my first sermon as the pastor on Sunday, August 3, 2008. Jacob wrestles with a "man" at the ford of the Jabbok. Like all good Bible stories, this one has many interpretations. Over the centuries, this story has been heard as many things: a struggle with a river demon, a test of leadership, an initiation rite, a psychological confrontation with guilt; an allegory of the church?
I've worked at churches before, but the church I'm the new pastor for-- Church of the Covenant in Arlington, Virginia--is odd. The church doesn't have a website. Maybe this is a good thing...
We like our relationships face-to-face. Like Jacob at Peniel, we wrestle with God and humans in person. Whether we prevail or not remains open, but we're hanging on for a blessing. I'm wondering what the church will decide to do: website or NOT?
Stay tuned...