Thursday, June 30, 2011

What I'm Reading #26: The Company of Strangers (Parker Palmer)

The Company of Strangers: Christians and the Renewal of America's Public Life, by Parker J. Palmer

I discovered The Company of Strangers (Crossroads 1981) through my pastor and supervisor for the summer, Kevin Armstrong. This book will definitely figure in my evangelism paper, particularly in the section I plan to devote to Lockerbie Central UMC and Earth House. It is also relevant to what North UMC is currently doing in exploring public ministry. Relevance all around.

Palmer emphasizes the importance for the church and the world of public life and interaction with the stranger in ways that challenge some basic assumptions about how one lives a good life. Especially in today's American culture, we value privacy and intimate relationships. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but Palmer admonishes the church not to devalue the public life and relationships with the stranger in the meantime, even and especially where we find those things threatening.

Although Palmer insists that a robust private life is vital to the health of the public life, he stresses that the former will suffer without the latter. He writes, "The word 'private,' which we often use to denote the opposite of the public realm, literally means 'to be deprived of a public life.'" For Palmer, the public and the private are interconnected and interdependent. A healthy private life enables people to live publicly, while a healthy public life gives meaning and context to the private. Problems such as crime and safety are often approached with private solutions such as home security and gun ownership, but in reality, a public solution—making the public more connected and aware of itself and all of its members—better ensures private well-being.

Another interesting point Palmer made is that our obsession with intimacy and warmth can become problematic. If we only value close relationships, we jettison all other associations, which almost always has a homogenizing effect, especially in churches. It also puts enormous pressure on any relationships we do have, because if they are not conducive to intimacy, we assume they are not valuable and abandon them. The stranger, Palmer says, is precisely where we learn things about ourselves that we do not like, or learn things about others that can help us grow. The stranger could be someone of a different socioeconomic class or of a different political persuasion, and without such interaction we become insular and self-satisfied. Moreover, we see in the Bible that God identifies with and comes as the stranger (Abraham and the three men/one man at the Oaks of Mamre in Genesis 19, Jesus on the walk to Emmaus in Luke 24, etc.). God not only meets us as a friend, God confronts us as a stranger, as the "other." If we forget that, we run the risk of domesticating God and making God in our own image.

Of course, it is in the public where we meet the stranger, and so Palmer insists that the church must be concerned not only with what goes on within its walls but what goes on outside the walls. The church must find a way to be in public ministry, not to increase its numbers or to make itself look good, but because it is in the public and among strangers where we meet a God who is bigger than ourselves.


Favorite Quotations

"The God who cares about our private lives is concerned with our public lives as well. This is a God who calls us into relationship not only with family and friends, but with strangers scattered across the face of the earth, a God who says again and again, 'We are all in this together.'"

"I once asked a politically active black minister in Washington, D.C. to name the primary task in his ministry. I suppose I expected him to say something about political organizing, protest, and the like. Instead, he said, 'To provide my people with a rich social life.' I asked, ‘Do you mean parties and pot-lucks and socials and things like that?' thinking his answer sounded a bit frivolous. 'Of course,' he said, 'things like that give my people the strength to struggle in public.'"

"We gain a deeper understanding of our relation to the stranger when we remember that Jesus did not merely point to, but identified himself with the sick, the prisoner, the stranger."

"Hospitality means letter the stranger remain a stranger while offering acceptance nonetheless."

"The best deterrent to crime against private property and persons is not a home arsenal, or even a skilled and well-financed police force, but the presence of a public which is aware of and cares about itself."

"The irony is that every community which rejects the stranger and anxiously protects 'its own kind' gives witness, not to the strength of its identity, but to its deep-rooted insecurity."

Finding True North #23: Boycotting a "Not Kosher" Hotel

This has almost nothing to do with my field ed placement. However, it shows the kinds of friends I'm making in Indy: awesome ones. Today, my friend Rebecca, a Moravian pastor here in Indianapolis (but originally from NC, what's up!), roped me into participating in an action against the Hyatt Hotel downtown. The hospitality workers and community members have been working for fair process and union rights at the Hyatt for several years now. I had no idea what I was getting into, but the more I learn, the more interesting this looks.

The group I tagged along with today is called UniteHere! and today, housekeepers across the nation spoke out against poor working conditions at Hyatts all over. Here's something from UniteHere's website:

When two housekeepers in New York came forward to report assault on the job, taking on some of the most powerful men in the world, they exposed some of the grittier and oftentimes hidden aspects of hotel work--the work of scrubbing toilets, changing sheets, and encountering guests alone behind closed doors. Hotel housekeepers--overwhelmingly women, immigrants, and people of color--are the invisible backbone of the hotel industry. While incidents of sexual assault are uncommon, the women who work as housekeepers routinely face a broader spectrum of dangers at work, from sexual harassment to the debilitating injuries that many women sustain after years of making beds and scrubbing floors.

Perhaps most fascinating to me is that a group of clergy has come together and published an investigation into working conditions at Hyatts. Their findings have caused rabbis to pledge to declare the Hyatt "not kosher." Wow. (Read more here.)

I'm theoretically pro-union (because Amy Laura Hall is pro-union and I take my marching orders from her), but I've never paid really close attention to worker's rights beyond a vague interest in the recent brouhaha in Wisconsin and some talk about a living wage. Needless to say, I had never participated in a public action like this. It was kinda fun.

I was a part of the distraction. A group of us walked into the atrium of the Hyatt holding posters covered with pictures of various leaders at non-union Hyatts around the country, singing "We Shall Overcome." Meanwhile, a delegation, including both workers and community members, went to the general manager's office with the intention of giving him one of the posters and asking for an audience to discuss workers' rights and fair process.

Downstairs, we got through probably 15 stanzas of "We Shall Overcome" before we were asked to leave. It was, I admit, a little awkward, standing there in the lobby bellowing out a spiritual as people leaned over railings all the way up the multi-story building to see what we were doing. But public embarrassment is a big part of activism, I suppose.

We learned later that the delegation had been treated rudely in the office. The general manager was (apparently as usual) out for the afternoon. The delegation spoke with some other people in authority, and one Latina worker told about confronting an employee from Colombia who did not have time to talk, but the worker said, with tears streaming down her face, that she didn't understand how a person from the Latino/a community could be a part of a company that treated her own people so poorly.

So that was my adventure for the day. Rebecca said she'd keep me in the loop for the rest of my time here in Indy, and I intend to do further research to get up to speed on what's going on with the Hyatt, plus to figure out where this kind of thing is happening in Durham. I told some friends last night in an email that my inner activist is waking up, and it's freaking me (and, I suspect, the people around me) out a bit. In a good way.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Finding True North #22: Disaster Preparedness

Yesterday in staff meeting, we spent a good bit of time looking at a draft of a disaster preparedness plan that a team from North has been working on for some time. The goal of such a plan is to equip the church ahead of time to deal with crises both within the walls of the church and in the surrounding community, whether that means a health emergency during a worship service, a tornado ripping through the city, someone bringing a gun to church or some sort of widespread pandemic.

I learned that few churches apparently have such a system in place, and interestingly enough, this plan was adapted in part from one adopted by McMannen UMC in Durham, a church I am fond of because they have supported the Wright Room Summer Program (not sure if that video's public, it's on Facebook) at Asbury Temple UMC, where I worked its first two years of existence. The connectional system gets personal again.

Anyway, I thought it was pretty interesting that North has put so much time and energy into this sort of preparation. Some of it involves ensuring that church documents and valuables are recovered in the case of something like a fire, but if there is attention on intra-church disaster, there is more on how the church might respond to one in the wider community. They are working on getting officially registered with the Red Cross to serve as a shelter in times of emergency; their facility in and of itself could be a valuable resource in a crisis, not to mention the church as a place for worship and prayer. Here's an excerpt that I found moving because it evokes the importance of the church as a spiritual center and respondent in crisis:

If the church should fall victim to the disaster and not be safe for occupancy or remain only as a pile of holy rubble, find a tree, a tent or awning to gather under. Set up a homemade altar and make a cross to adorn it. The pastor and the victims will need this Holy Ground to turn to.

Basically: whatever it takes. It'll be interesting to see how the plan evolves and is implemented. Thank God for churches like North working to be everything Christ would be even in unthinkable circumstances.

Do your churches have anything like this? What do you think about a disaster preparedness plan, and what should the church's role be in a time of crisis?

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Finding True North #21: Jesus' Public Ministry

This past Sunday, North UMC launched a worship and sermon series focused on Jesus' public ministry. The goal of the series, which will also include curriculum to support small group discussion along the way, is for the church to figure out how to publicly proclaim its welcome to all people. There is a particular focus here on the LGBTQ community, with the question being not whether to be welcoming but how (and whether to affiliate with the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN)). The discussion also includes questions on how better to support families of children and adults with disabilities.

These are things that North is already doing, so ironically, they are trying to work out how to "talk the walk." Usually for a church, it's the opposite. I am truly blessed to be in a place where actions speak louder than words, but words are also taken seriously. North's approach to the ministry of welcome and inclusiveness has been intentional, scriptural, theological and corporate in a way that I haven't really seen before, especially not in a pretty mainline Protestant church. On Sunday, as I listened to Kevin explain the public ministry series and deliver a sermon entitled "From the Inside, Out," challenging the church to think about how they might take the hospitality that is already demonstrated within the walls of North UMC and proclaim it to the broader community.

As part of the process, a letter was sent out to the congregation and printed in the bulletin. You can open a PDF of the letter here. It was drafted by the Inclusiveness Task Force at North, a group that was charged a while back with helping to structure the conversation and move the church forward in the goal of more publicly stating its welcome to all people. I was able to meet with this group a few weeks ago and was impressed not only with their focus and sense of purpose but also with their concern for making space for other voices. They recognize that because this move toward inclusiveness is supported by the majority of the congregation, those who may not be comfortable with such a public statement may feel like they cannot speak up for fear of seeming unwelcoming. North had this conversation (specifically about affiliating with RMN) 18 years ago and it was tabled, and apparently there are still people around who have residual struggles from that. But Kevin and the task force are doing everything in their power to bring those voices into the conversation, something that I rarely see happening on either side of the discussion—or really in any discussion these days.

I'm thrilled to be at North as they embark on this conversation. It's been incredible to see how they're approaching it and to be a part of the process, even tangentially. Kevin has asked my help in some aspects of worship planning around this series, so I've been able to contribute some, particularly in the way of hymn suggestions. We opened the service this past Sunday with a David Haas hymn that I love, "We Are Called," based on Micah 6:8. Here are the lyrics:

Come! live in the light!
Shine with the joy and the love of the Lord!
We are called to be light for the kingdom,
to live in the freedom of the city of God!

(Refrain)
We are called to act with justice.
We are called to love tenderly.
We are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.

Come! Open your heart!
Show your mercy to all those in fear!
We are called to be hope for the hopeless,
so all hatred and blindness will be no more!

Sing! Sing a new song!
Sing of that great day when all will be one!
God will reign and we'll walk with each other
as sisters and brothers united in love!


I'm so excited to be part of a faith community, even just for a summer, that is dedicating itself to living in the light and finding its prophetic voice intentionally and prayerfully in an increasingly polarized world.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Finding True North #20: Inside the Bottle, Outside the Box

On Thursday evening, I went to a fundraiser for a nonprofit organization called Outside the Box, or OTB for short. The event, a wine tasting and silent auction, was cleverly billed as Inside the Bottle. Jordan Updike, the executive director of Earth House, a member of Lockerbie Central UMC and one of my unofficial guides to Indy for the summer, is on the board of directors for OTB and so had an extra ticket and invited me along. I had heard some about OTB and was interested in learning more, and I had never been to a fundraising event like that, and since I'm theoretically working on a professional certificate in nonprofit management from Duke Continuing Studies, I'm taking any opportunity to learn about grassroots organizations.

Here's a snippet from OTB's mission on their website:

Outside The Box Inc.’s mission is to empower people with disabilities to be the leaders in their lives and create meaningful days. We believe in every person’s ability to create a meaningful and productive day based on their strengths and what is important to them.

OTB is an organization that provides customized services to adults with developmental disabilities. Their model has been recognized as unique in many ways, and they joked at one point that they don't see other groups with the same client base as competition, but rather as a referral source. They work with clients on everything from character development to finances and have a 100% success rate in job placement. Their services include day programs and employment services as well as a really neat arts program called Studio OTB. Some of the art created by clients was for sale as part of the auction, and Earth House will actually be hosting an exhibit called "Outside the Cigar Box" where 150 cigar boxes painted by clients and staff of OTB will be on display. You can check out some of the boxes and the creative process for that on Studio OTB's blog.

Here's a video that gives you a better look into what OTB is and does:



I was really moved by this event, not only because it was a huge success with hundreds of attendees and over $30,000 raised. I have an inner activist/community organizer that has been hibernating for the past several years, but in the last few months it's been waking up. (I blame Dr. Amy Laura Hall, the Toward a Moral Consensus Against Torture conference, and the Jack Crum Conference on Prophetic Ministry for this.) This summer is already opening my eyes to the ways grassroots movements can make a real impact on the community, and even how the church can be involved creatively—but more on that later.

The fundraiser was largely aimed at raising money to renovate a new building that OTB recently acquired. The organization started in a tiny room with a handful of clients and has steadily expanded, and the recent acquisition of a 7-acre property with an old nursing home promises to double their capacity in terms of clients served. The move was made possible in large part by a $100,000 grant from an incredible organization called Impact 100. Here's a brief description from their website: "Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis is a charitable women's giving circle dedicated to awarding high impact grants to nonprofits in our community in the areas of arts & culture, education, environment, family, and health & wellness." The idea is that a group of women comes together to make a real impact on an organization collectively, giving a $100,000 gift to a select group and then smaller gifts to others as well. OTB was this year's large grant winner. That this gift was given by a group of women was made even cooler by the fact that both the executive director and board president of OTB are women.

I really enjoyed myself at Inside the Bottle, but it was especially neat to learn more about Outside the Box. I'm going to see about visiting OTB at some point this summer. North UMC is currently discussing how publicly to profess its openness and inclusivity, a conversation that is largely about the GLBTQ community but which is also being expanded to include the differently abled and even socioeconomic classes that aren't necessarily represented or potentially welcome (or perceived as welcome) at North. Maybe OTB can give us some ideas for how better to reach out to and support families of children and adults with disabilities. Interestingly enough, the executive director of OTB attends North.

I love how everything is connected.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Finding True North #19: A Faith of Aesthetics



My new favorite spot for quiet time and prayer is the chapel at North UMC. It is a small, beautiful space located at one corner of the main church building where we have morning prayers each day. I love it for its intimate feel, the piano I've taken to playing in the mornings, and the beautiful stained glass windows that tie together the semicircular external wall.

I picked up a brochure on the chapel windows, which I was pleased to know was available just outside the chapel. The art was commissioned in 1997, the artist being MAuren McGuire from Phoenix, AZ. The five windows trace salvation history from the birth of Jesus to the descent of the Holy Spirit, and though I'd want salvation history (or, to use a word I really don't know why I remember besides the fact that it's fun to say, heilsgeschichte) to go back to creation, I realize 5 windows is limiting. In any case, the windows are beautiful and draw anyone paying attention into the stories.

Naturally, the first window that caught my attention was the last one, which depicts Pentecost. As I was preparing my Pentecost sermon, anything having to do with the Holy Spirit was grabbing me. I love the broad sweep of the dove's wings and the little tongues of fire hovering over the disciples' heads. You can see close-ups, as well as many pictures of the other windows, in the slideshow at the top.

A while back, I was reading a book by my favorite author, Sharon Kay Penman (yes, it's historical fiction, I'm a dork). It was probably her book Time and Chance, because I remember it was Eleanor of Aquitaine whose thoughts Penman was exploring. Queen Eleanor was kneeling in a beautiful chapel to pray, and she found herself thinking that she had, to use the one phrase I recall, "a faith of aesthetics."

I strongly identified with this because space and visuals have always been important to me in life and especially in my faith. I appreciate and find God in beautiful things, whether that is a stained glass window, a Gothic sanctuary or an ordinary space made sacred by something as simple as a candle. For me, aesthetics has to do not only with visual art but with things like wood and stone, the feel of a seat or the floor, and the sounds of a space. Music is part of my aesthetics, whether it's playing out loud or in my head. At times, aesthetics have been all that has sustained my faith, and though I'm tempted to feel guilty about that, I refuse to do so.

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite was the 5th/6th-century Christian theologian and philospher whose idea about a celestial hierarchy influenced later theologies of aesthetics, including arguments made by Abbot Suger of the abbey of St. Denis, whose basilica was the first church to use Gothic architecture as it came to be in the cathedrals and churches of medieval Europe. Criticized for the decadence of the structure, Suger argued, as Pseudo-Dionysius had, that visual beauty called people to contemplate the beauty and transcendence of God. The lines of Gothic arches and the light streaming through stained glass windows, he said, drew people's eyes, hearts and minds upward.

There are a lot of questions in such a discussion about stewardship. When I took a course on Gothic cathedrals in undergrad, my dad sent me a cartoon that depicted a bishop protectively holding a model of a cathedral while Jesus, depicted as a beggar, holds out his hand asking for help. The construction of Chartres cathedral in particular created a divide between the church and the city that even Duke and Durham's town-and-gown complex can't imagine. Of course, sometimes we focus our understanding of stewardship too narrowly on the building itself; understanding the impact of such a structure on the surrounding community is a helpful broadening of the discussion, but Elaine Heath argues that stewardship ultimately needs to be about creation care. How can the upkeep of a large facility be maintained in such a way as to be environment- and community-friendly?

Last night, I attended a meeting of the Board of Directors at NUMC. One thing they discussed was the use of their building. I had already been part of conversations on the subject, and one staff member said she feels strongly that the building is part of the church's ministry. It truly is, and part of the discussion last night was how to make that even more true. North has a gorgeous neo-Gothic building that sits on the corner of Meridian and 38th Street, a bizarre meeting place of vastly different cultures and socioeconomic groups. Last week through Party in the Park, an outreach event that started up last year, North invited the community to come over for food, fellowship, games, stories, crafts and more. Party in the Park is held in the parking lot, and for many of the attendees, just coming that far onto the property was probably a big deal. Of course, people are in and out of the building all the time, so not everyone is afraid of this big stone structure.

How can churches like North with large and beautiful (but, to some, intimidating) structures open themselves up to their communities? How can beauty and aesthetics become inviting and instructive, not simply for show? These and more are some of the questions North is wrestling with and which the church at large needs to face as membership and giving decline while large portions of budgets must continue to go to building maintenance. How can a beautiful building like North's become a gift to the community and not simply a burden on the membership?

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Worship Design: Style (or Not), Preparation and Fear

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got the opportunity to spend a few days shadowing worship designer Marcia McFee at the Indiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. I had a great time—in addition to being a wonderful artist, leader and practical theologian, Dr. McFee is a fun person to be around. I took copious notes in a teaching session she held for the conference, and although I could reproduce her presentation here verbatim, I'd rather just pull out a few salient takeaways.

1. Worship style is not as big of a deal as we make it out to be. Dr. McFee didn't say this outright, but her approach makes it clear. In a church obsessed with worship style and divided by wars over guitars vs. organs, Dr. McFee's work is refreshing because she approaches worship design with absolutely no reference to style. She is steeped in the language of ritual and liturgy, but she emphasizes the importance of context and of working with what you have. Don't add more bells and whistles in an attempt to make worship more exciting, she says. Instead, work on getting more out of what's already there. Even the simplest settings have the potential to be a spiritual portal to transformation, what Dr. McFee says worship always should be.

2. Preparation gives you the freedom to worship. Dr. McFee used a metaphor that I appreciated: worship preparation is like building a pile of leaves. It takes time and energy, and you may be worried about messing it up once it's been built up, but the bigger your pile, the freer you are to dive in. Worship should be a freefall into the love of God, a fall broken and enabled by the preparation. Sometimes people are resistant to too much preparation because they want the Spirit to be free to move, but that's just why the image of a leaf pile is perfect—it is built with intention, but you cannot be so attached to it that you're afraid to mess it up by diving in, as leaf piles are intended to be dived into. Dr. McFee encouraged pastors who feel like they never get to worship when leading to take a closer look at how they are preparing themselves, both logistically and spiritually. Even worship leaders should be free to worship, to invite others into worship in which they too are participating. Dr. McFee talks about moving from presiding over worship to residing within the worshiping community, from being "guardians of religious practice" to being "midwives of sacramental moments." Wow, right?

3. Fear around changes in worship reflect an unarticulated fear of losing God. This point struck me as important. I've observed some pretty irrational reactions to changes in worship (or in churches in general) with much puzzlement—including, at times, my own reactions. Dr. McFee said that because worship is most people's access point to God, a change can leave them fearful of losing that connection. At the heart of this, of course, is our problematic tendency to domesticate God, to put God in a box of our choosing. This is not something for which to chastise parishioners, but it is something to understand when meeting resistance to change in any church setting, especially in worship.

Those are just a few things Dr. McFee talked about in her presentation, and there was much more I learned in conversation and observation. All in all, I learned a lot from my few days with her, and I look forward to exploring these and other themes around worship not only this summer but throughout my life and ministry.

What I'm Reading #25: The Mystic Way of Evangelism (Elaine Heath)

The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach, by Elaine Heath

It feels like my pace of reading has slowed down lately, and although that's partly true thanks to field ed revving up, I'm feeling less productive in finishing books because I keep picking up new ones before I get done with old ones. The Mystic Way of Evangelism is one of those. It was recommended to me in conjunction with the evangelism directed study I'm working on, specifically as I look at Lockerbie Central UMC/Earth House in downtown Indy, Lockerbie being an emergent congregation whose expression of radical hospitality (though not equated with it) is this coffeehouse collective focused on the arts, wellness and conscious living. Elaine Heath's book, I was told, would help me understand some of what is going on there, and it certainly did.

This is a beautiful book, it's not long and it's an easy read, so I'd happily recommend it to anyone, even if you aren't interested in something too theologically heady. Heath explores the examples of various Christian mystics across time and space, engaging with favorites of mine like Julian of Norwich, Henri Nouwen, Hans Urs von Balthasar and more. Through a hermeneutic of love grounded in contemplation, sustainability and community, Heath builds a theology of outreach that acknowledges the challenges of post-Christendom and re-imagines basic concepts like holiness, sin and stewardship.

Heath does what many of the other authors I'm reading on evangelism have done: she makes it clear that this is no longer Christendom and no longer modernism. However, although the church is certainly in financial jeopardy as membership and giving decline, for Heath this is an opportunity for the church to become more fully the church. She describes this as "the dark night of the soul," applying a mystical theme to the corporate life of Christianity as it stands today. This dark night is precisely what the church needs to purify itself and to reclaim its prophetic voice, Heath says:

"Contrary to being a disaster, the exilic experiences of loss and marginalization are what are needed to restore the church to its evangelistic place. On the margins of society the church will once again find its God-given voice to speak to the dominant culture in subversive ways, resisting the powers and principalities, standing against the seduction of the status quo. The church will once again become a prophetic, evangelistic, alternative community, offering to the world a model of life that is radically 'other,' life-giving, loving, healing, liberating. This kind of community is not possible for the church of Christendom."

The modern frameworks once used for evangelism are no longer in place. We need a new model—and not just a new set of tactics, but a whole new (or old) way of understanding faith, community and healing.

One of Heath's projects is to re-frame how we think about sin. Using Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love, she shifts from the language of original sin to that of original wounds. Julian's visions displayed God's compassion for God's children, especially in a vision where she sees humans as an overeager servant who falls headlong into a ditch and injured himself terribly in his rush to do his master's bidding. Heath writes that Julian "locates sin in the context of wounds, offering a therapeutic vision of redemption." This completely changes the way God looks at sin, and how we should look at sin: "Wounds precede sin—original wounds—and for this reason the eyes of the Lord look upon the human predicament 'with pity and not with blame.'" Heath takes this even further when she draws a comparison between the story of the fall in Genesis and childhood sexual abuse. Adam and Eve had no reason or capacity to mistrust the serpent, Heath explains, just as a child may be told not to talk to strangers but has no defense mechanism for when their uncle or family friend says or does something they can't understand. This reminds me of the theologian Irenaeus, whose theology of the fall Dr. Warren Smith succinctly described as "we tripped on our shoelaces trying to stand up." The language of wounds, which prompts compassion, is, I think, a far better suited paradigm than that of sin, which only draws blame.

Heath also engages with Phoebe Palmer and other who were part of holiness movements. For Heath, holiness is not about keeping oneself clean and pure while rejecting any potentially tainting influences. She discusses the parable of the woman with the hemorrhages whom Jesus heals. I literally teared up reading this. "Instead of her uncleanness polluting Jesus, his goodness makes her whole. Jesus is glad to touch her." I cannot help but think of this fear of pollution in the context of the ongoing struggle within the church over homosexuality (which parallels a long discussion Heath has about divorce). This post by Dan R. Dick concerning the ongoing church trial of Amy DeLong has this heartbreaking line in it: "our Christian family is broken and that we are seeking ways to amputate limbs from our body." The church, Heath insists, is not called to purify itself in the sense that it should remove influences it sees as bad for its self-righteous holiness; rather, the church is called to kenosis, to self-emptying for the sake of the world. Holiness is not about us but about becoming vessels for God's grace: "We are not set aside and made holy for our own pursuits; we are now in partnership with God in God's mission." The idea of kenosis is directly related to evangelism, for while we often think of evangelism in terms of boosting membership or giving, it is really in the giving away that the church most truly embodies the reign of God: "The church has been at its missional best when giving itself away."

Finally, Heath discusses the concept of stewardship at length. She invites the church to shift its thinking about stewardship from building maintenance and capital campaigns to creation care. Evangelism, she insists, is never complete unless it is good news announced to the whole of God's creation. "Evangelism is not good news until it is good news for all of creation, for humanity, animals, plants, water, and soil, for the earth that God created and called good." Heath challenged me with her ideas on how a pastor should live—that is, the church should move toward a model where buildings and staff are a minimal or nonexistent expense, and all funds go to mission, theological education and the like. The goal of all of this is sustainability and a holistic evangelism that embraces all the world. "[T]his theology of stewardship is grounded in the conviction that the Christian lifestyle, in regard to material goods, should be one of simplicity, adequacy, and sustainability." She advocates for a model of bivocational pastors in small urban and rural communities rather than the growth-oriented church of suburbia. Yes, Heath is helping me understand Lockerbie Central, and making me like the concept more and more.

I could write much more about this book, but instead I'll recommend it highly. It won't take long to read, and it invites the reader to come home to love that he or she might better love others. It is a beautiful little book that offers hope for the future of the church and the world.


Favorite Quotations

"Christian mysticism is about the holy transformation of the mystic by God, so that the mystic becomes instrumental in the holy transformation of God's people. This transformation always results in missional action in the world."

"[A] high Christology requires a hope for all people; otherwise we imply that the sufferings of Christ were insufficient, incapable of bringing about the possibility of salvation for all."

"God's mercy and justice are one and the same. The One who judges the world is the One who died to save the world. Therein lies our hope."

"The call to give ourselves in ministry is first and always a call to come home to love."

"Bonaventure asserts that the incarnation of Christ was not brought about by sin. Rather, the incarnation is the final perfection of creation, the completion of the universe."

"With a hermeneutic of love I give myself in prayer and friendship to the people around me, not so that I can get something from them, not even a commitment to join my church, but so that I can minister to Jesus in them, Jesus who thirsts."

"A hermeneutic of love is fully aware of the devastation of sin and evil, yet refuses to give them the last word."

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

"You're Too Young to Preach!"

I'm usually pretty laid-back in life, but there are a few things about which I have a chip on my shoulder. One is the fact that I look young. It doesn't generally bother me, and I know one day it'll be a good thing, but when it interferes with how people perceive me in a position of authority—or with my own capacity to embrace that authority—I get irritated. So I'm going to sound annoyed for the first part of this post, but hopefully I'll get over it by the end.

I am young. I turned 24 in April. But I can't tell you how many time in the past few weeks I've heard some version of "You can't be more than 20!" Call me back in a decade when that starts to be a compliment. In the meantime, having someone say to me (as a woman did just today), "You're too young to preach"—that doesn't do much for my already lacking self-confidence.

I've tried to make adjustments on my end to make it easier for people to accept me as a leader-y type. I bought grown-up clothes and cut off my hair (OK, that was really just an impulsive thing. Check it out). But there is nothing I can do about the fact that I am a petite, cute blonde girl. Look, I know that I'm freaking adorable. If that sounds narcissistic, I'm just making up for a lifetime of false modesty that left me with a horrible self-image I'm starting to salvage.

I whined about this to my friend Ben my first week here in Indy. I was complaining about feeling like people don't take me seriously as a pastoral figure because I'm small and cute. I was frustrated with myself because a situation had arisen where I was questioning my own ability to comport myself pastorally without letting that other stuff get in the way. Ben pushed back—look, he said, you can be as professional and pastoral as it gets, but wearing an alb doesn't make you any less interesting or attractive (thanks, friend!). I don't cease to be me when I'm in the role of a pastor. Yes, there are boundaries to navigate and ways of interacting with parishioners that I need to learn, but that's precisely what I need to be figuring out now in preparation for ministry. If I look young now, I'll probably still look young in ten years.

I don't really want to complain about looking young or cute. Heck, I like being adorable. I like wearing pretty dresses and having a sassy haircut. I don't think that being a pastor means I have to be less attractive—sure, modesty is a thing, but that's a whole other discussion (seriously, post coming eventually about clergy apparel/women's clothing). So while comments about my youth might make me grumpy if I'm feeling particularly sensitive that day, here's my solution: I'm gonna keep doing my thing, chasing God and being awesome. I'm going to keep wearing my absurd collection of dresses and being young at heart and in demeanor. I'm going to pursue my vocation and kick its holy butt with God's help. There will always be someone who won't take me as seriously as I'd like because I'm a woman or Southern or short or Christian or cute...but maybe I take myself too seriously anyway. If I let myself get bent out of shape over such things, it'll only make it worse. (Am I doing that now? Ha...) Some days it feels like being young and pretty holds me back—but I bet it can be useful at times, even in a pastoral context, because what's not to love? :)

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Finding True North #18: Why Do We Do This Again?

This morning at North UMC, I led the prayers and sang with the choir on the offertory anthem. Joining myself, Kevin and Brian in worship leadership was 13-year-old Alyssa Welch, who served as our lector for the day. Alyssa has a voracious appetite for books and highly recommended a few fantasy bookss to me between services, but that's beside the point. With the candor of a tween, Alyssa said something before the 8:30 service that was funny but also prompted me thinking about not only North Church itself but the church at large—maybe even life in general.

Back story: NUMC has 2 Sunday morning services, at 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. The 8:30 service averages not quite 150 people on a good day, the 11:00 more than double that. I have learned two things about these worship services since being here: one, that the two services are basically two different churches; and two, that the people who attend the 11:00 service are baffled by the small, subdued character of the 8:30. This is amusing because Barbara, my awesome host, attends the 8:30, so frequently when 11:00-attending church members ask who I'm staying with, they draw a blank when I respond. It's also helpful to me to be staying with Barbara, because I understand that the people who go to the 8:30 actually like it being quieter, less crowded and calmer than the 11:00 (noting that both are traditional, high liturgy services). End of back story.

Moments before we walked into the first service, Alyssa poked her head into the sanctuary, observed the 70-80 people who were seated at that point and turned to us with a simple question: "Why do we do this service again?" The pastors and I laughed, in part because that question has actually come up in meetings (which, ironically, have always involved all 11:00-ers). Alyssa was asking a pretty obvious question: why, when so few people attend, do we bother holding an 8:30 service?

The first thing I've been thinking about in connection with this question is how distinct the two worship services are at North. Because I live with Barbara, I know why some people prefer the 8:30 service—I suspect at least some would not attend the 11:00 if the church were to consolidate (not that that's an option, I'm just speculating). This sort of disconnect is inevitable in any large, multi-service church, especially ones where the character of one service might appeal more to certain people. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but I am an advocate of cohesiveness and connectivity wherever it is possible, so I'm curious what other churches with a situation similar to North are (or aren't) doing to encourage a broader sense of communion among folks who may not be physically in worship at the same time. Even at North, the services aren't complete islands—for one thing, service time of choice is not the only classifying factor in the church, but also the Sunday School classes and various outreach ministries do bridge the gaps.

That was the more mundane line of thought prompted by Alyssa's comment; more broadly, I think "Why do we do this again?" is a great question to ask of anything and everything in the church (or in life). This should be true not only of things that are off base somehow but also of things that seem to be going well. Alyssa asked a question that plenty of 11:00-ers have probably at least thought if not said, but let's take her cue and apply it across the board. Why do we do the 11:00 service? Why do we send youth teams to Haiti? Why do we run a thrice weekly soup kitchen? Why do we have Sunday School? The answers to such questions would be as varied as the people giving them and more, and there's no correct answer, but what we should be listening for in responding to any of these questions is the place of God in the answer. Is God the source and goal of whatever it is we're doing? Is God even a part of it?

If God is working in a low-attendance service, let's keep having it. A better-attended service may actually have less God in it if it becomes a matter of convenience or social interaction or what have you. (I don't see that as an issue at North, just pondering in generalities here.) Let's hang on tightly to Alyssa's question: "Why do we do this again?" Hopefully, whatever it is, we do it to glorify God and build up one another.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Finding True North #17: Back to Normal

Having had one "normal" week in Indy and then one made crazy by Annual Conference and sermon prep, I'm not really sure what it means to go back to normal, but theoretically that's what I'm doing this week.

Today I got to church about an hour early (I usually arrive at 9:00 for morning prayers). I went to the chapel (a lovely space), did a little work, played some piano and journalled. I should make a habit of doing that. I had gotten into a good schedule of quiet time at home in the mornings my first week here, but that got so disrupted last week I'm not sure I could get back to it. And being in a space like that for some centering time is really helpful to me as a person for whom aesthetics and place are important spiritually.

I spent a good bit of time after prayers working on a new website for Lockerbie Central. Brenda had started on one using Weebly, an online content management system that lets you build sites from templates. I had fun working on the layout and organization of the site, setting up a Facebook page we'll theoretically get out there once the website is done, etc. My one semester of computer science in undergrad sparked an interest in web design for me, so even when I'm bootlegging it, I really enjoy it. Beyond the technical stuff, it's fun to think about how to tell a story and give people remote access to a community or idea or organization.

Kevin (um, Rev. Armstrong?) picked me up mid-morning to go to a meeting of the advisory board for the Spirit and Place Festival, an annual event in Indianapolis exploring the intersection of the arts, humanities and religion. Spirit and Place is a project of The Polis Center, IU School of Liberal Arts, and IUPUI. This year's program is centered around the theme of "The Body." It was an interesting group of people with some pretty creative ideas, and I wish I could be here in November to check it out. Here's a video that gives a sort of commercial for the event in general:



One thing I'm really growing to appreciate about Kevin is his engagement with the community and the city of Indianapolis. He is very much in touch with what's going on in civic life and works to be both a voice and a listening ear for faith in the midst of things.

Tonight I went to choir rehearsal, partly because it was their last practice before the summer schedule kicks in but mostly because I'm singing a solo Sunday. It's a beautiful arrangement of "I Surrender All" to a new tune by Steve Potts. It's lovely.

Now I am going to go read. I was doing so well my first week here with reading, and it's time to get back on the bandwagon.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Finding True North #16: Catching Up—Annual Conference, Preaching and More

Well, I am behind on updates. What a crazy week! I am still absolutely loving it here in Indianapolis. Though my adventures last week took me north to Muncie, IN and south to English, IN, so I'm getting out. Let's see if I can get caught up on life lately.

Last Wednesday through Friday, I was at Ball State University (which has the most confusing campus ever) for the Indiana Annual Conference. People joke about conference being a drag, and sometimes it is, but you know, it can be really cool to have all those clergy and laity together in one place. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Of course, I didn't have to go to the meetings and voting sessions because I was backstage most of the time with Marcia McFee, worship designer/leader extraordinaire. Dr. McFee was kind enough to take me on as her intern for the conference, so I got to shadow her and help out behind the scenes with worship. Well, until Friday, when Dr. McFee lost her voice and I was suddenly assigned a solo (a beautiful new setting of the hymn "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" to a tune by Mark Miller). That was not in the plan, but it was a lot of fun. I sang during the commissioning/retirement service, which was a truly beautiful occasion and got me excited about being on the ordination track.

(Side note: someone asked if I were Dr. McFee's daughter. Blonde worship geeks unite!)

I will probably do a separate post reflecting on Dr. McFee's worship workshop/seminar (I keep getting myself in trouble by promising later posts), but it was very educational simply to follow her around for a few days. She has an approach to worship design that transcends discussions of style, which I greatly appreciate, because I think the worship wars that plague the church today are complete garbage. Dr. McFee is a performer, so she is all about preparation, intentionality and presentation, but she also strives to make worship a performance that people are enabled to participate in rather than passively observe.

Annual Conference was also a lot of fun just for the people. Hanging out with Dr. McFee was great fun, and I actually got to chat with the bishop (Michael Coyner) some backstage. Bishop Coyner is pretty awesome, though the test of his awesomeness will come if he ever sees this picture—he left his dressing room door open with the bishop's crozier right there. What else was I supposed to do? :)

Anyway, I got to meet a number of really wonderful people, bonded with the musicians and ran into old friends at conference. Not only were several people from North there, I also got to meet Brent Wright, the pastor of Broad Ripple UMC in Indy (Brent and I have a mutual friend at Duke), and I ran into Brian Jones, former director of the Duke Youth Academy back when I was a student there. Have I mentioned that I love the connectional nature of the UMC? Because I really, really do. I love knowing people and making relational connections. Being in a wholly different state where I shouldn't have known anyone and yet finding new and old friends was pretty cool.

I came back from conference a day early because I had a wedding to attend on Saturday, and it ended up being doubly good that I returned Friday because I ended up going to a social gathering of people from Earth House. I love Earth House, and the people there are amazing, not to mention my age. In the past week, I've actually started making some friends in my age group, which is great. Hopefully Friday night was just the beginning of adventures with these folks over the summer.

Anyway, the wedding on Saturday was in English, IN, about 2.5 hours south of Indianapolis. It was a lovely wedding, and I got to see a lot of friends from college. But I also got to see southern Indiana, which has a lot of beautiful farmland and actually some hills (since central IN is pretty darn flat). Hooray for exploring the state a bit.

Then Sunday was my day to preach at North. I already posted my sermon, so feel free to check that out. I was pretty nervous about preaching, but excited too, and I think it went well. I actually had to practice my sermon for the staff the previous Tuesday afternoon, which was incredibly nerve-wracking—using a microphone in a huge, stone sanctuary with 5 people sitting there. Yeesh. But the feedback from the staff was very helpful and shaped the final form of my sermon.

I preached twice, at 8:30 and 11:00 a.m., and the second service went better, but that was to be expected. I was really encouraged by the feedback I got from parishioners—of course, church people are going to be nice regardless, but several people actually quoted back to me points I had made, saying they had resonated with what I said. That was affirming to me, because it means I connected with at least some people in meaningful ways. I enjoy preaching, but it's pretty terrifying and I don't have much experience, but this was a positive and helpful experience for me.

This week has continued to be intense, but in a good way. Tonight is the last day of Party in the Park, North's version of Vacation Bible School, sort of. This is the second year for Party in the Park. Basically, they've set up in the church parking lot and the park across the street with a big tent and several activity stations for kids, including storytelling, crafts, music, games and more. They've served dinner each night and invited the surrounding community to join in. It's been going great so far, though unfortunately it's raining today, which may put a damper on the last night, but hopefully people will still come when we hold it inside tonight.

I think that'll do for an update for now. Indianapolis is an amazing city. A few of the North clergy have been joking about me switching conferences, and as much as I love Western NC, I'm really starting to love Indy as well.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Finding True North #15: A Pentecost Sermon

I have a lot of updating to do here about Annual Conference and more, but for now I'll just post my sermon from this morning. The sections that are in verses and italicized were sung; you can listen to the whole of that song, "Spirit Hymn," below if you want to know what it sounds like complete and accompanied (I sang the verses a cappella).

Spirit Hymn by Sarah Howell


"The Ultimate Birthday Gift"
Pentecost Sermon 6-12-11
North United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, IN

Happy birthday, church!

If you didn't know it was your birthday, that's good. I didn't get you anything.

Today we celebrate Pentecost. This is when we remember the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples after Jesus' resurrection. Sometimes, Pentecost is called the birthday of the church. So, happy birthday, church.

A birthday celebration is different from a graduation or retirement party because it doesn't celebrate an achievement; it celebrates a person's existence. Spiritual writer Henri Nouwen says this about birthdays:

"On our birthdays we celebrate being alive. On our birthdays people can say to us, 'Thank you for being!' ...[Birthdays] remind us that what is important is not what we do or accomplish, not what we have or who we know, but that we are, here and now. On birthdays let us be grateful for the gift of life" (Here and Now, Crossroads 2006).

We can see in the reading from Acts that the church gets the ultimate birthday gift: the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is not a thing that is given to us wrapped in pretty paper. It is not an object or an instrument put at our disposal. The Spirit is God. She is an active divine agent, the source of our life as church, an equal member of the Trinity. Just a side note: I tend to refer to the Holy Spirit in the feminine. This is not an attempt at being politically correct. The Hebrew word for "spirit" in the Old Testament, ruach, is feminine. The Greek word for "spirit," pneuma, is neither masculine nor feminine, but I'll err on the side of the feminine for today.

The Holy Spirit is God, the gift and the giver. At Pentecost, God gives God's very self to us. This unique gift unifies us, brings us into God's story, and opens up God's grace to us. On this, the church's birthday, we celebrate being together through the Spirit who is the source of our being.

Spirit, unify us by your love
Spirit, draw us in your life above
Pour yourself upon our hearts
Through your grace which abounds
You are gift and you are giver, you surround


Of course, the gift of the Spirit is not something to be framed or placed neatly on a shelf. This gift does something to its recipients. When the Spirit rests on someone, she is not resting in the same way we might when taking our Sunday afternoon nap. The Spirit rests actively, and that active resting empowers us to participate in God's mission.

The Spirit does not come to individuals for their own benefit. The descent of the Spirit is not primarily about salvation. But the Spirit is concerned with individuals and with their particularity. When the disciples started speaking in tongues, the Acts passage says, "at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each" (Acts 2:6). The Spirit caused a miracle of diversity because the Spirit is the creator of diversity. God made and loves all the details and distinctions that make each of us who we are. Jesus came as a particular person in a particular time and place. God is not interested in saving "humanity" as a general category. God is interested in you, in me, in our individual particularity and in our gathered diversity.

Because, you see, unity is one thing and uniformity is another. Sometimes we mix those up and think that in order to be unified, we must conform and become all alike. But Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Unity has never meant uniformity." At Pentecost, we do not see everyone suddenly learning to speak or understand the same language. Instead, we see the good news miraculously being translated into each person's native tongue. Christianity has been a faith of translation from the very beginning. Muslims believe that if you read the Qur'an in a language other than Arabic, you are losing something central to its meaning. But Christians may read the Bible in any language, in every language.

I want you to take a look at the banner on the pulpit. If you can't see it well from where you're sitting, there's a picture of part of it on the front of your bulletin. Be sure to come up and look at it after service. Doris Douglas created this banner, and I had the immense pleasure of meeting her my first week here. For years, Doris' beautiful banners have adorned this church and led this community through the Christian year. These incredible works of art are born out of deep prayer and love. When I first saw this Pentecost banner, I knew I had to talk about it in this sermon. Take a look at the flames on the banner. Even in black and white, you can tell that they are all different colors. That's part of what I love about this banner—it dazzlingly illustrates diverse unity. Each tongue of fire is distinct, but together they all form one glorious blaze.

There are in this church many examples of this diverse unity. I've only been here two weeks and I'm already catching on. Just think about the Umoja Project through which this church is connected with other faith communities here and in Chilaimbo, Kenya. The very name of the project, Umoja, means "unity" in Swahili. I have heard the stories of relationships built across continents between people who are so very different—and yet who are united in love and friendship. These relationships have enriched the lives of everyone involved precisely because they represent diverse unity. The Umoja Project is a gift of the Spirit to all of those involved, and it is a richer gift for involving so many different kinds of people.

Both Doris' banner and the Umoja Project are illustrations right here in our midst of how the Spirit creates unity in diversity as the source of both. In Acts chapter 2, we read about "divided tongues, as of fire" resting on each person (Acts 2:3), but “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4), the same Spirit. God's image dwells in each of us in astounding, glorious variety. We must learn to recognize the image of one God in many people.

Spirit, open out our hearts to you
Spirit, make our sweet communion true
Give us strength to overcome
All the bound’ries in place
Open us to see God’s image on each face


Earlier in the service, the choir sang an anthem called "Hymn of Fire." You can find the text in your bulletin. I am particularly struck by these lines:

"By thy sharpened word disturb us, from complacency, release!
Save us from our satisfaction when we person’lly are free yet are undisturbed in spirit by our brother’s misery!" (Eugene Butler)

Most of us probably would not immediately associate the word "disturb" with the work of the Holy Spirit. In fact, it sounds like the opposite of one of the Greek names for the Spirit—parakletos, which means "comforter." But the Spirit's fire is not intended to give an individual a warm, fuzzy feeling. Because we are unified in love, whatever comfort we may find in our own lives can never be complete while another child of God suffers. 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it." The Spirit makes us all members of one body, Christ's body; and we the body of Christ suffer wherever one member encounters injustice, oppression, poverty or evil of any kind.

The Spirit empowers us to speak up against that suffering. This is almost guaranteed to cause us discomfort, because in this world, where there is suffering, there is almost always someone else benefitting from that suffering. The gift of the Spirit is not always easy to accept, because it may put us in opposition to earthly power. Throughout the Bible, from the Old Testament prophets to Jesus to the disciples, there is a pattern: the Spirit descends on a person, empowers him or her to participate in God's mission, and that person immediately gets into trouble. The ancient prophets were not well-liked. When Isaiah declared, "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me...he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners," his listeners probably did not cheer. The oppressed have oppressors. The captives have captors. The Spirit calls us to be brave, to speak prophetically into a broken world, knowing that there is a cost, knowing that in order to receive the Spirit's comfort, we may first have to experience discomfort.

In his book The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning points out that Jesus is constantly found sharing meals with unlikely people, often scandalizing the well-to-do in the community. Manning says that we may not grasp the full significance of this today, but in ancient Israel, an invitation to share a meal was an invitation to deep friendship, particularly if it involved inviting someone into your home. Food is an important aspect of our life as a faith community. There are plenty of jokes out there about Methodists and potluck dinners. But if we are all one body in the Spirit, we cannot limit meal fellowship to people we know or like. True meal sharing happens when a volunteer at Bread 'n' Bowl, the food ministry here at North, steps out from behind the table to sit and eat and form friendships. Proverbs 22:9 says, "Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor." I am inclined to read it this way: "Those who are generous are blessed because they share their bread with the poor, in their sharing of their bread with the poor"—a sharing I envision as mutual, at a common table. Martin Luther said that we are all mere beggars telling other beggars where to find bread. Wherever there is sharing across boundaries of culture, race, economic or other social status, the Spirit is doing her awkward but redemptive work of comfort.

Yes, the Spirit is a comforter. She is the comforter. But God's definition of comfort may not always be the same as our definition of comfort. One individual's comfort is conditioned by the comfort and justice offered to others. Again, 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, "Where one member suffers, all suffer together with it," but then it goes on: "if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it." Our comfort is found not in personal good feelings but in the restoration of the whole body, and we are called to participate in that healing. The Spirit comes down as fire to burn away our complacency and our apathy. Have you ever heard the saying about "afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted?" It was originally said about journalism, but I think it also applies to the Holy Spirit. She "afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted." If we are too comfortable in our faith, we can expect to be disturbed and made uncomfortable by the Spirit. But on the other hand, if we find ourselves afflicted and in distress, just as surely we can count on the comforting presence of that same Spirit.

Spirit, comfort us in suffering
Spirit, to the body help us cling
Make us see upon the cross
Christ whose wounds are the balm
Hold us safe within the Savior’s nail-scarred palm


Now, let's go back to this notion of gift. Several years ago, my dad introduced to our family a tradition that he refers to as a "hobbit birthday." If you don't know what a hobbit is, let me explain: hobbits are found in the fictional realm known as Middle Earth. This is the setting of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Hobbits are essentially very small people with pointy ears and really hairy feet.

But that's beside the point. You see, hobbits do something interesting on their birthdays: they give gifts to other hobbits. So now, on his birthday, my dad gives my mother and each of us kids a present—for his birthday.

Maybe the church could learn a lesson from hobbits about birthdays. What kind of gift might we the church be able to give to others for our birthday? What do we have to give? Well, we already have the ultimate birthday gift. We have the Spirit.

The Spirit has been moving throughout God's salvation history, empowering her people for worship and mission. Today we are invited to participate, to take part, to live into the Spirit's continuing story. Bryan Stone says that learning to be a Christian "is not just learning about a story; it is learning to live into a story” (Evangelism After Christendom, Brazos 2007). When we witness to the work of the Spirit, we are pointing out the ways in which the reign of God is already here. We point to something beyond ourselves and yet find ourselves caught up in it. As we are caught up in the life of the Spirit, we want to draw others in with us and show them what has ignited our hearts. We have the ultimate gift to give as a church. What's more, the Spirit doesn't need any help from us to dazzle the world. We are called to be the kindling for the Spirit's fire. John Wesley said, "Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn."

Spirit, prophet and redeeming one
Spirit, with the Father and the Son
Let us live into your love
As partakers of God
Help us witness to your glory shed abroad


Holy Spirit, let us live into your love. Would that all your people were prophets, and that you would put your spirit on us! Make us witnesses eager to share the gift of yourself that you pour out on us. Amen.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Finding True North #15: Youth Sunday @ NUMC // Lyceum @ LCUMC

Yesterday, I took communion three times. Maybe that's gluttony, but in my mind it made up for the fact that I'm pretty sure the last time I had Eucharist was May 10, during field ed orientation.

My second Sunday in Indianapolis involved three worship services—two at NUMC and my first at LCUMC. I got to be in the congregation for the two NUMC services because it was Youth Sunday.

Youth Sunday was excellent. I was curious to see how it would go because I've seen some pretty awful Youth Sundays in my time. But the NUMC youth did a great job. They used the theme "Stranger or neighbor?", from a Lenten retreat they did recently, to frame the service, and explored what it means to recognize one another as neighbors. The youth group here is diverse (in many ways) and missionally driven. Two graduating (or recently graduated) seniors told their faith stories, each of which was compelling, though both were different from the other and demonstrated the breadth and depth of the experience of a youth at this church. The service was convicting. The youth even took the opportunity to publish a letter in the bulletin expressing a call to the church to support full inclusion for the GLBT community, using the youth group's mission statement to frame it: "North United Methodist Church Youth Ministry seeks to learn, serve, and celebrate God's awesome love with EVERYONE!" This was not a normal Sunday service with youth plugged in at random; through liturgy, Scripture and music, the youth got to tell their stories of faith, even participating in the Great Thanksgiving. It was great to be there.

Then, yesterday evening, I participated in my first service at Lockerbie Central UMC. This week, they started what they're calling "Lyceum," changing the format of Sunday evenings to include 25-30 minutes of worship and then a time of presentation/discussing with various speakers coming in over the course of the summer. Last night, the speaker was...me. Well, Brenda and me. Anyway, first was worship, and I ended up bringing my guitar and playing along with Kari, a member who is cool in general but also plays piano, so, bonus points. We did a song I hadn't heard before called "Here Is Love" (that's the normal AKA lame version, but I found it in Welsh too!!). It's pretty, and it worked well with Kari on piano and me on guitar. We also did two Taizé chants, and in between were prayers, Scripture and a brief reflection on the Word. Then we moved into communion, and I (sort of) assisted. It was awesome! I mean, I just broke the bread and lifted the cup when Brenda got to that part, but I'd never participated in that beyond leading musical responses to the Great Thanksgiving or serving communion. So that was neat.

After worship, we migrated downstairs to the cafe. Brenda and I gave a brief presentation about "Approaching the Bible in the 21st Century." Because I'm me, I had put dibs on talking about the Old Testament, so I had composed a list of things I think are important to keep in mind when thinking about the Old Testament. You can look at that here if you care/are looking for ideas on ways to start a basic conversation about the Bible/want to judge me. :) We opened the space up for conversation, which was pretty interesting, though there were several people I wished had spoken up. We'll keep working on the format to encourage discussion while keeping things on track, but I thought it went well.

I'm excited to continue to help out at LCUMC and to get to know the congregation better. That will be a place where Brenda and I will get to sort of try things out, and hopefully I'll get to do more music there as well.

Also, I have an in/out button at NUMC, and it makes me feel really cool.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Finding True North #14: A Busy Week (or so) Ahead

In the past few days, I've realized the next week and a half is going to be a little crazy. Here's my upcoming schedule, as much for my sake as for your perusal:
  • June 5 (today): Youth Sunday @ NUMC in the morning; helping lead worship and discussion @ LCUMC in the evening.
  • June 6-8: Leading morning prayers @ NUMC (which also means leading devotion at Tuesday staff meeting).
  • June 6: Three meetings back-to-back in the morning/midday—senior staff, Earth House staff, weekly meeting with Kevin (my pastor/supervisor). Then Inclusiveness Task Force meeting in the evening.
  • June 7: Practicing my Pentecost sermon for whoever will listen after staff meeting.
  • June 8-10: Indiana Annual Conference—hanging out with Marcia McFee. :)
  • June 11: Megan Shelton's (friend from undergrad) wedding in Southern Indiana.
  • June 12: Pentecost—I'm preaching. Then LCUMC in the evening.
  • June 13-15: Party in the Park, a big, three-day community event held at NUMC.
There are probably some other meetings in there somewhere, but I don't have my calendar in front of me. (Anyone know how to access Outlook remotely?) So, yeah! Busy week. I should work on my sermon some more and figure out what we're doing for morning prayers (and probably find a sub for Thursday...)

Friday, June 3, 2011

Finding True North #13: Earth House/Lockerbie Central UMC

Earth House Cafe from Craftedspoon on Vimeo.


Welcome to Earth House. I had a meeting here this morning and decided to stick around for a while and hang out. This is going to be my go-to place to chill this summer.


Here's a little bit about Earth House from their website (bold text is my emphasis):

At Earth House we support the arts, promote healthy living, and encourage sustainability by collaborating with local organizations and artists to cultivate community in action. Housed in the historic Lockerbie Central UMC building, the Earth House experience includes all-ages concerts, films, performance arts, classes, social forums, volunteer events and Indiana's only 100% fair trade/organic coffee shop. We believe that creating a healthy, sustainable community begins with you.

This place is cool. I mean, you can see that clearly in the video. Plus, I had mango black bean pizza for lunch. And there is currently a beautiful exhibit called "Windows and Mirrors," a reflection on the war in Afghanistan, on display here. It's pretty incredible.

Let me back up. Earth House occupies the building of Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, a downtown church that was the result of a merger between two dying Methodist churches. Attempts by young people to revitalize the church led organically to the emergence of Earth House, which is now its own entity, though the church is connected with its programming and hopes to make that connection more of an emphasis. Brenda, the Pastor of Discipleship and Formation at North (one of my summer supervisors), is the volunteer pastor here. She is full-time at North, but she is also appointed as the pastor here, through some strange arrangement that the conference and NUMC are just sort of allowing to happen because it works. LCUMC meets on Sunday evenings and follows an emergent worship style, though for the summer they plan to switch things up a bit to create more space for community discussion. Hence, I'm helping to lead a conversation about the Bible this Sunday. As in, 2 days from now.

Earth House is constantly holding all kinds of events. It is the only 100% fair trade, organic coffee shop in Indiana. It is the largest all-ages music venue in Indianapolis. They are located at a unique spot in the city, sort of at the intersection of several demographics. This is one of the few church-related places where a Jewish youth center feels comfortable holding events. In the past 2 years, more than 100,000 people have come through here. Jordan Updike, the executive director of Earth House, says he hopes this is filling a deep need he perceives for artistic space for his generation (which is also my generation...what are we, Gen Y??).

The meeting I attended today involved several people from Lockerbie Central/Earth House as well as a group from The Garden, the non-traditional worship community that is connected with St. Luke's UMC here in Indianapolis. I don't know enough about The Garden to speak too much to what they do, but it sounds pretty interesting and I intend to learn more. Anyway, this group of people was exploring the possibility of The Garden starting a service at LCUMC on Sunday morning, the only time when there isn't already programming happening in this building. As Brenda explained it, there is a sort of gap in terms of the church having a theological voice and providing non-threatening opportunities for people to enter into those kinds of conversations, and The Garden could be a helpful third entity in tying things together at the location.

It was really interesting to eavesdrop on the conversation for many reasons. These groups are not doing your typical church stuff. You know how I always laugh when people tell me that Duke is too liberal? Those people have no idea what's out there. And, as it turns out, what's out there is pretty awesome.

Part of what interests me most in talking about Earth House/LCUMC/The Garden is the high level of suspicion of evangelism. (I'm right there with them.) I've been doing all this reading about evangelism in a post-modern America, and here is a church (LCUMC) that is seeking to welcome the neighboring community without tricking them or pressuring them to conform. Last summer, I played a show at a youth-oriented coffeeshop that was totally awesome except for one thing: in order to get in, you had to either pay $2 or have a 5-minute conversation with one of the adult volunteers, and the goal of every one of those conversations was to squeeze a conversion out of some teen who just wanted to play pool. I was, how do you say...uncomfortable. That is not what Earth House/LCUMC is going for, and I am very much interested in it. One thing that several LCUMC people talked about in the meeting was that they have adopted, over against traditional evangelism, is an emphasis on a ministry of presence. Several time, people mentioned that they don't have to go find people to tell about the church; through programming at Earth House, people ask them all the time. In articulating the vision of Lockerbie Central, one person (maybe Jordan, I'm forgetting now) said that there are sort of two sides to their mission: Micah 6:8 (act justly, love mercy, walk humbly) and the idea of sanctuary, of creating a safe space. Part of that involves not handing out tracts or making people feel like the price of being in the building is conforming. But there is witness happening here, simply by how the community's needs are being met, both in ways they might want and in way they might not expect.

I'll be thinking about this question of witness a lot this summer as I work on this directed study on evangelism. I will probably write my main paper on this class in part as a field study on Earth House/LCUMC (and possibly NUMC if I get involved in their conversations around hospitality). What I'm learning in all my reading so far is that there is a lot involved in the question of how to understand and approach evangelism, so there is much to explore...and that's kind of exciting.

(Sorry, I just love this blog Hyperbole and a Half, which is where that picture came from.)

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Finding True North #12: Bread 'n' Bowl, Farmer's Market, Meetings and Choir

Barbara (my host) offered to make me a sandwich today before I left for work, which I really appreciated but was able to turn down gladly because I had cool lunch plans. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, North hosts Bread 'n' Bowl, a soup kitchen open to the community. Kevin took the Kenya interns and me out to lunch on Tuesday, so today was my first opportunity to check it out. I showed up a few minutes before they opened the doors and was immediately put to work. They serve a meal and let people take bags of soup and bread with them, so for the first little while I was in charge of keeping the desserts and soup bags stocked on the tables. Once the 11:00 rush subsided, I got a plate and sat down with some people. I got to talk to Charles, an older gentleman (he's 89) who was very nice and has been coming to Bread 'n' Bowl for a long time. I also met a few other people, including Mike, who kept telling me how pretty I was, though not in a way in which I felt threatened at all (though there is almost certainly a MUCH longer post coming eventually on that topic (being a pretty woman in ministry)). I found the group really friendly and plan to come to Bread 'n' Bowl as often as I can while I'm here.

I worked on writing the call to worship and prayer for illumination for June 12 and did some other work after that, plus a few extra things like reading about North's architecture and stained glass. I ran some errands and proved that even in a city laid out on a grid, I can get lost. One of my errands involved getting a padfolio. My friend Emily Knight (one of three red-headed Emilys in the Div School) had shown off hers right before I came to Indy, and I decided I needed something to make me feel grownup, especially since I've been bringing my backpack to work. (It worked, by the way.) I also found the youth room in a very successful hunt for a comfy place to lie down and read for an hour before the Farmer's Market, which started up this afternoon. I got there right as it opened, pet a puppy Great Pyrenees, and bought a quart of delicious strawberries (there is approximately 1/2 qt. left).

I ran back to the house briefly to get some food and change, and when I came in the door, Barbara was standing in the hallway looking at my sheepishly. "I'm going to buy you a new pair of shoes," she said in an apologetic tone. "Why is that?" I asked. Apparently Sadie isn't a big chewer but will occasionally get into shoes, and I've been intentionally keeping my doors closed when I'm gone, but today there was a guy here cleaning the windows, and my bedroom door got left open. Barbara discovered one of my shoes in the living room, its wooden heel gnawed on the end. Fortunately, I was already planning to throw that particular pair of shoes away, so it wasn't a big deal. It was just funny to see her apologize for something that wasn't a big deal.

And so back I went to church to the Board of Directors meeting. This was interesting. They went over some finances and checked in on a few issues I'll get to hear more about later (i.e. there are 2 task forces, one on inclusiveness and one dealing with some property the church has acquired, that are having meetings soon to which I am invited), but then we started talking about the new website that is under construction. Apparently a tech task force had been assigned the task of approving the design, but communication wasn't what it should have been (ironically) and now there is the possibility of backtracking on some of the work that the design firm has done. Being moderately interested in web design myself, I had some opinions about the two designs they showed us, but I chose just to listen (I'm patting myself on the back right now, FYI). It was interesting to think about the power dynamics between a governing body of the church and a specifically formed task force, plus to hear a little discussion about the website, the church logo, etc. Again, there will be another meeting in the future devoted to talking about that more fully, and I let them know I'd be interested in attending.

By the time the meeting was over, I was late to choir practice, but I went anyway. I'm singing a solo in church on June 19, and I had not anticipated having to sing it tonight, but they were working on the piece, so...yeah, I was so hoping to impress Mark and Martin with my mellifluous voice and how perfectly it sat in this song, but that is not how it went, ha. But that's OK; it's a beautiful piece, and the choir was enthusiastic about welcoming and encouraging me. Rehearsal was fun, and we sang some good music, including a movement from Mozart's Mass in C Minor. Plus I got to sing along with one of the pieces they'll be offering on June 12 (Pentecost), when I'm preaching, and the text is fabulous; I'll probably be working it into my sermon now.

Side note: pretty much every situation I've been in so far at this church has had an atmosphere of joy and comfort that I just don't always (or even often) find in places, especially when I'm new and nervous. The hospitality and community here is amazing, and I'm so glad to be a part of it.

And now it is 10:00 p.m., and I am home and ready to fall into bed. Tomorrow is technically my day off, though I do have one meeting (but a cool one—more on that tomorrow!), and Barbara and I are meeting her daughter and granddaughter for sushi dinner. I also have plans to take the Monon trail south tomorrow morning (assuming I get up at a decent hour). Hooray Friday.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

What I'm Reading #26: The Company of Strangers (Parker Palmer)

The Company of Strangers: Christians and the Renewal of America's Public Life, by Parker J. Palmer

I discovered The Company of Strangers (Crossroads 1981) through my pastor and supervisor for the summer, Kevin Armstrong. This book will definitely figure in my evangelism paper, particularly in the section I plan to devote to Lockerbie Central UMC and Earth House. It is also relevant to what North UMC is currently doing in exploring public ministry. Relevance all around.

Palmer emphasizes the importance for the church and the world of public life and interaction with the stranger in ways that challenge some basic assumptions about how one lives a good life. Especially in today's American culture, we value privacy and intimate relationships. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but Palmer admonishes the church not to devalue the public life and relationships with the stranger in the meantime, even and especially where we find those things threatening.

Although Palmer insists that a robust private life is vital to the health of the public life, he stresses that the former will suffer without the latter. He writes, "The word 'private,' which we often use to denote the opposite of the public realm, literally means 'to be deprived of a public life.'" For Palmer, the public and the private are interconnected and interdependent. A healthy private life enables people to live publicly, while a healthy public life gives meaning and context to the private. Problems such as crime and safety are often approached with private solutions such as home security and gun ownership, but in reality, a public solution—making the public more connected and aware of itself and all of its members—better ensures private well-being.

Another interesting point Palmer made is that our obsession with intimacy and warmth can become problematic. If we only value close relationships, we jettison all other associations, which almost always has a homogenizing effect, especially in churches. It also puts enormous pressure on any relationships we do have, because if they are not conducive to intimacy, we assume they are not valuable and abandon them. The stranger, Palmer says, is precisely where we learn things about ourselves that we do not like, or learn things about others that can help us grow. The stranger could be someone of a different socioeconomic class or of a different political persuasion, and without such interaction we become insular and self-satisfied. Moreover, we see in the Bible that God identifies with and comes as the stranger (Abraham and the three men/one man at the Oaks of Mamre in Genesis 19, Jesus on the walk to Emmaus in Luke 24, etc.). God not only meets us as a friend, God confronts us as a stranger, as the "other." If we forget that, we run the risk of domesticating God and making God in our own image.

Of course, it is in the public where we meet the stranger, and so Palmer insists that the church must be concerned not only with what goes on within its walls but what goes on outside the walls. The church must find a way to be in public ministry, not to increase its numbers or to make itself look good, but because it is in the public and among strangers where we meet a God who is bigger than ourselves.


Favorite Quotations

"The God who cares about our private lives is concerned with our public lives as well. This is a God who calls us into relationship not only with family and friends, but with strangers scattered across the face of the earth, a God who says again and again, 'We are all in this together.'"

"I once asked a politically active black minister in Washington, D.C. to name the primary task in his ministry. I suppose I expected him to say something about political organizing, protest, and the like. Instead, he said, 'To provide my people with a rich social life.' I asked, ‘Do you mean parties and pot-lucks and socials and things like that?' thinking his answer sounded a bit frivolous. 'Of course,' he said, 'things like that give my people the strength to struggle in public.'"

"We gain a deeper understanding of our relation to the stranger when we remember that Jesus did not merely point to, but identified himself with the sick, the prisoner, the stranger."

"Hospitality means letter the stranger remain a stranger while offering acceptance nonetheless."

"The best deterrent to crime against private property and persons is not a home arsenal, or even a skilled and well-financed police force, but the presence of a public which is aware of and cares about itself."

"The irony is that every community which rejects the stranger and anxiously protects 'its own kind' gives witness, not to the strength of its identity, but to its deep-rooted insecurity."

Finding True North #23: Boycotting a "Not Kosher" Hotel

This has almost nothing to do with my field ed placement. However, it shows the kinds of friends I'm making in Indy: awesome ones. Today, my friend Rebecca, a Moravian pastor here in Indianapolis (but originally from NC, what's up!), roped me into participating in an action against the Hyatt Hotel downtown. The hospitality workers and community members have been working for fair process and union rights at the Hyatt for several years now. I had no idea what I was getting into, but the more I learn, the more interesting this looks.

The group I tagged along with today is called UniteHere! and today, housekeepers across the nation spoke out against poor working conditions at Hyatts all over. Here's something from UniteHere's website:

When two housekeepers in New York came forward to report assault on the job, taking on some of the most powerful men in the world, they exposed some of the grittier and oftentimes hidden aspects of hotel work--the work of scrubbing toilets, changing sheets, and encountering guests alone behind closed doors. Hotel housekeepers--overwhelmingly women, immigrants, and people of color--are the invisible backbone of the hotel industry. While incidents of sexual assault are uncommon, the women who work as housekeepers routinely face a broader spectrum of dangers at work, from sexual harassment to the debilitating injuries that many women sustain after years of making beds and scrubbing floors.

Perhaps most fascinating to me is that a group of clergy has come together and published an investigation into working conditions at Hyatts. Their findings have caused rabbis to pledge to declare the Hyatt "not kosher." Wow. (Read more here.)

I'm theoretically pro-union (because Amy Laura Hall is pro-union and I take my marching orders from her), but I've never paid really close attention to worker's rights beyond a vague interest in the recent brouhaha in Wisconsin and some talk about a living wage. Needless to say, I had never participated in a public action like this. It was kinda fun.

I was a part of the distraction. A group of us walked into the atrium of the Hyatt holding posters covered with pictures of various leaders at non-union Hyatts around the country, singing "We Shall Overcome." Meanwhile, a delegation, including both workers and community members, went to the general manager's office with the intention of giving him one of the posters and asking for an audience to discuss workers' rights and fair process.

Downstairs, we got through probably 15 stanzas of "We Shall Overcome" before we were asked to leave. It was, I admit, a little awkward, standing there in the lobby bellowing out a spiritual as people leaned over railings all the way up the multi-story building to see what we were doing. But public embarrassment is a big part of activism, I suppose.

We learned later that the delegation had been treated rudely in the office. The general manager was (apparently as usual) out for the afternoon. The delegation spoke with some other people in authority, and one Latina worker told about confronting an employee from Colombia who did not have time to talk, but the worker said, with tears streaming down her face, that she didn't understand how a person from the Latino/a community could be a part of a company that treated her own people so poorly.

So that was my adventure for the day. Rebecca said she'd keep me in the loop for the rest of my time here in Indy, and I intend to do further research to get up to speed on what's going on with the Hyatt, plus to figure out where this kind of thing is happening in Durham. I told some friends last night in an email that my inner activist is waking up, and it's freaking me (and, I suspect, the people around me) out a bit. In a good way.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Finding True North #22: Disaster Preparedness

Yesterday in staff meeting, we spent a good bit of time looking at a draft of a disaster preparedness plan that a team from North has been working on for some time. The goal of such a plan is to equip the church ahead of time to deal with crises both within the walls of the church and in the surrounding community, whether that means a health emergency during a worship service, a tornado ripping through the city, someone bringing a gun to church or some sort of widespread pandemic.

I learned that few churches apparently have such a system in place, and interestingly enough, this plan was adapted in part from one adopted by McMannen UMC in Durham, a church I am fond of because they have supported the Wright Room Summer Program (not sure if that video's public, it's on Facebook) at Asbury Temple UMC, where I worked its first two years of existence. The connectional system gets personal again.

Anyway, I thought it was pretty interesting that North has put so much time and energy into this sort of preparation. Some of it involves ensuring that church documents and valuables are recovered in the case of something like a fire, but if there is attention on intra-church disaster, there is more on how the church might respond to one in the wider community. They are working on getting officially registered with the Red Cross to serve as a shelter in times of emergency; their facility in and of itself could be a valuable resource in a crisis, not to mention the church as a place for worship and prayer. Here's an excerpt that I found moving because it evokes the importance of the church as a spiritual center and respondent in crisis:

If the church should fall victim to the disaster and not be safe for occupancy or remain only as a pile of holy rubble, find a tree, a tent or awning to gather under. Set up a homemade altar and make a cross to adorn it. The pastor and the victims will need this Holy Ground to turn to.

Basically: whatever it takes. It'll be interesting to see how the plan evolves and is implemented. Thank God for churches like North working to be everything Christ would be even in unthinkable circumstances.

Do your churches have anything like this? What do you think about a disaster preparedness plan, and what should the church's role be in a time of crisis?

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Finding True North #21: Jesus' Public Ministry

This past Sunday, North UMC launched a worship and sermon series focused on Jesus' public ministry. The goal of the series, which will also include curriculum to support small group discussion along the way, is for the church to figure out how to publicly proclaim its welcome to all people. There is a particular focus here on the LGBTQ community, with the question being not whether to be welcoming but how (and whether to affiliate with the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN)). The discussion also includes questions on how better to support families of children and adults with disabilities.

These are things that North is already doing, so ironically, they are trying to work out how to "talk the walk." Usually for a church, it's the opposite. I am truly blessed to be in a place where actions speak louder than words, but words are also taken seriously. North's approach to the ministry of welcome and inclusiveness has been intentional, scriptural, theological and corporate in a way that I haven't really seen before, especially not in a pretty mainline Protestant church. On Sunday, as I listened to Kevin explain the public ministry series and deliver a sermon entitled "From the Inside, Out," challenging the church to think about how they might take the hospitality that is already demonstrated within the walls of North UMC and proclaim it to the broader community.

As part of the process, a letter was sent out to the congregation and printed in the bulletin. You can open a PDF of the letter here. It was drafted by the Inclusiveness Task Force at North, a group that was charged a while back with helping to structure the conversation and move the church forward in the goal of more publicly stating its welcome to all people. I was able to meet with this group a few weeks ago and was impressed not only with their focus and sense of purpose but also with their concern for making space for other voices. They recognize that because this move toward inclusiveness is supported by the majority of the congregation, those who may not be comfortable with such a public statement may feel like they cannot speak up for fear of seeming unwelcoming. North had this conversation (specifically about affiliating with RMN) 18 years ago and it was tabled, and apparently there are still people around who have residual struggles from that. But Kevin and the task force are doing everything in their power to bring those voices into the conversation, something that I rarely see happening on either side of the discussion—or really in any discussion these days.

I'm thrilled to be at North as they embark on this conversation. It's been incredible to see how they're approaching it and to be a part of the process, even tangentially. Kevin has asked my help in some aspects of worship planning around this series, so I've been able to contribute some, particularly in the way of hymn suggestions. We opened the service this past Sunday with a David Haas hymn that I love, "We Are Called," based on Micah 6:8. Here are the lyrics:

Come! live in the light!
Shine with the joy and the love of the Lord!
We are called to be light for the kingdom,
to live in the freedom of the city of God!

(Refrain)
We are called to act with justice.
We are called to love tenderly.
We are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.

Come! Open your heart!
Show your mercy to all those in fear!
We are called to be hope for the hopeless,
so all hatred and blindness will be no more!

Sing! Sing a new song!
Sing of that great day when all will be one!
God will reign and we'll walk with each other
as sisters and brothers united in love!


I'm so excited to be part of a faith community, even just for a summer, that is dedicating itself to living in the light and finding its prophetic voice intentionally and prayerfully in an increasingly polarized world.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Finding True North #20: Inside the Bottle, Outside the Box

On Thursday evening, I went to a fundraiser for a nonprofit organization called Outside the Box, or OTB for short. The event, a wine tasting and silent auction, was cleverly billed as Inside the Bottle. Jordan Updike, the executive director of Earth House, a member of Lockerbie Central UMC and one of my unofficial guides to Indy for the summer, is on the board of directors for OTB and so had an extra ticket and invited me along. I had heard some about OTB and was interested in learning more, and I had never been to a fundraising event like that, and since I'm theoretically working on a professional certificate in nonprofit management from Duke Continuing Studies, I'm taking any opportunity to learn about grassroots organizations.

Here's a snippet from OTB's mission on their website:

Outside The Box Inc.’s mission is to empower people with disabilities to be the leaders in their lives and create meaningful days. We believe in every person’s ability to create a meaningful and productive day based on their strengths and what is important to them.

OTB is an organization that provides customized services to adults with developmental disabilities. Their model has been recognized as unique in many ways, and they joked at one point that they don't see other groups with the same client base as competition, but rather as a referral source. They work with clients on everything from character development to finances and have a 100% success rate in job placement. Their services include day programs and employment services as well as a really neat arts program called Studio OTB. Some of the art created by clients was for sale as part of the auction, and Earth House will actually be hosting an exhibit called "Outside the Cigar Box" where 150 cigar boxes painted by clients and staff of OTB will be on display. You can check out some of the boxes and the creative process for that on Studio OTB's blog.

Here's a video that gives you a better look into what OTB is and does:



I was really moved by this event, not only because it was a huge success with hundreds of attendees and over $30,000 raised. I have an inner activist/community organizer that has been hibernating for the past several years, but in the last few months it's been waking up. (I blame Dr. Amy Laura Hall, the Toward a Moral Consensus Against Torture conference, and the Jack Crum Conference on Prophetic Ministry for this.) This summer is already opening my eyes to the ways grassroots movements can make a real impact on the community, and even how the church can be involved creatively—but more on that later.

The fundraiser was largely aimed at raising money to renovate a new building that OTB recently acquired. The organization started in a tiny room with a handful of clients and has steadily expanded, and the recent acquisition of a 7-acre property with an old nursing home promises to double their capacity in terms of clients served. The move was made possible in large part by a $100,000 grant from an incredible organization called Impact 100. Here's a brief description from their website: "Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis is a charitable women's giving circle dedicated to awarding high impact grants to nonprofits in our community in the areas of arts & culture, education, environment, family, and health & wellness." The idea is that a group of women comes together to make a real impact on an organization collectively, giving a $100,000 gift to a select group and then smaller gifts to others as well. OTB was this year's large grant winner. That this gift was given by a group of women was made even cooler by the fact that both the executive director and board president of OTB are women.

I really enjoyed myself at Inside the Bottle, but it was especially neat to learn more about Outside the Box. I'm going to see about visiting OTB at some point this summer. North UMC is currently discussing how publicly to profess its openness and inclusivity, a conversation that is largely about the GLBTQ community but which is also being expanded to include the differently abled and even socioeconomic classes that aren't necessarily represented or potentially welcome (or perceived as welcome) at North. Maybe OTB can give us some ideas for how better to reach out to and support families of children and adults with disabilities. Interestingly enough, the executive director of OTB attends North.

I love how everything is connected.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Finding True North #19: A Faith of Aesthetics



My new favorite spot for quiet time and prayer is the chapel at North UMC. It is a small, beautiful space located at one corner of the main church building where we have morning prayers each day. I love it for its intimate feel, the piano I've taken to playing in the mornings, and the beautiful stained glass windows that tie together the semicircular external wall.

I picked up a brochure on the chapel windows, which I was pleased to know was available just outside the chapel. The art was commissioned in 1997, the artist being MAuren McGuire from Phoenix, AZ. The five windows trace salvation history from the birth of Jesus to the descent of the Holy Spirit, and though I'd want salvation history (or, to use a word I really don't know why I remember besides the fact that it's fun to say, heilsgeschichte) to go back to creation, I realize 5 windows is limiting. In any case, the windows are beautiful and draw anyone paying attention into the stories.

Naturally, the first window that caught my attention was the last one, which depicts Pentecost. As I was preparing my Pentecost sermon, anything having to do with the Holy Spirit was grabbing me. I love the broad sweep of the dove's wings and the little tongues of fire hovering over the disciples' heads. You can see close-ups, as well as many pictures of the other windows, in the slideshow at the top.

A while back, I was reading a book by my favorite author, Sharon Kay Penman (yes, it's historical fiction, I'm a dork). It was probably her book Time and Chance, because I remember it was Eleanor of Aquitaine whose thoughts Penman was exploring. Queen Eleanor was kneeling in a beautiful chapel to pray, and she found herself thinking that she had, to use the one phrase I recall, "a faith of aesthetics."

I strongly identified with this because space and visuals have always been important to me in life and especially in my faith. I appreciate and find God in beautiful things, whether that is a stained glass window, a Gothic sanctuary or an ordinary space made sacred by something as simple as a candle. For me, aesthetics has to do not only with visual art but with things like wood and stone, the feel of a seat or the floor, and the sounds of a space. Music is part of my aesthetics, whether it's playing out loud or in my head. At times, aesthetics have been all that has sustained my faith, and though I'm tempted to feel guilty about that, I refuse to do so.

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite was the 5th/6th-century Christian theologian and philospher whose idea about a celestial hierarchy influenced later theologies of aesthetics, including arguments made by Abbot Suger of the abbey of St. Denis, whose basilica was the first church to use Gothic architecture as it came to be in the cathedrals and churches of medieval Europe. Criticized for the decadence of the structure, Suger argued, as Pseudo-Dionysius had, that visual beauty called people to contemplate the beauty and transcendence of God. The lines of Gothic arches and the light streaming through stained glass windows, he said, drew people's eyes, hearts and minds upward.

There are a lot of questions in such a discussion about stewardship. When I took a course on Gothic cathedrals in undergrad, my dad sent me a cartoon that depicted a bishop protectively holding a model of a cathedral while Jesus, depicted as a beggar, holds out his hand asking for help. The construction of Chartres cathedral in particular created a divide between the church and the city that even Duke and Durham's town-and-gown complex can't imagine. Of course, sometimes we focus our understanding of stewardship too narrowly on the building itself; understanding the impact of such a structure on the surrounding community is a helpful broadening of the discussion, but Elaine Heath argues that stewardship ultimately needs to be about creation care. How can the upkeep of a large facility be maintained in such a way as to be environment- and community-friendly?

Last night, I attended a meeting of the Board of Directors at NUMC. One thing they discussed was the use of their building. I had already been part of conversations on the subject, and one staff member said she feels strongly that the building is part of the church's ministry. It truly is, and part of the discussion last night was how to make that even more true. North has a gorgeous neo-Gothic building that sits on the corner of Meridian and 38th Street, a bizarre meeting place of vastly different cultures and socioeconomic groups. Last week through Party in the Park, an outreach event that started up last year, North invited the community to come over for food, fellowship, games, stories, crafts and more. Party in the Park is held in the parking lot, and for many of the attendees, just coming that far onto the property was probably a big deal. Of course, people are in and out of the building all the time, so not everyone is afraid of this big stone structure.

How can churches like North with large and beautiful (but, to some, intimidating) structures open themselves up to their communities? How can beauty and aesthetics become inviting and instructive, not simply for show? These and more are some of the questions North is wrestling with and which the church at large needs to face as membership and giving decline while large portions of budgets must continue to go to building maintenance. How can a beautiful building like North's become a gift to the community and not simply a burden on the membership?

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Worship Design: Style (or Not), Preparation and Fear

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got the opportunity to spend a few days shadowing worship designer Marcia McFee at the Indiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. I had a great time—in addition to being a wonderful artist, leader and practical theologian, Dr. McFee is a fun person to be around. I took copious notes in a teaching session she held for the conference, and although I could reproduce her presentation here verbatim, I'd rather just pull out a few salient takeaways.

1. Worship style is not as big of a deal as we make it out to be. Dr. McFee didn't say this outright, but her approach makes it clear. In a church obsessed with worship style and divided by wars over guitars vs. organs, Dr. McFee's work is refreshing because she approaches worship design with absolutely no reference to style. She is steeped in the language of ritual and liturgy, but she emphasizes the importance of context and of working with what you have. Don't add more bells and whistles in an attempt to make worship more exciting, she says. Instead, work on getting more out of what's already there. Even the simplest settings have the potential to be a spiritual portal to transformation, what Dr. McFee says worship always should be.

2. Preparation gives you the freedom to worship. Dr. McFee used a metaphor that I appreciated: worship preparation is like building a pile of leaves. It takes time and energy, and you may be worried about messing it up once it's been built up, but the bigger your pile, the freer you are to dive in. Worship should be a freefall into the love of God, a fall broken and enabled by the preparation. Sometimes people are resistant to too much preparation because they want the Spirit to be free to move, but that's just why the image of a leaf pile is perfect—it is built with intention, but you cannot be so attached to it that you're afraid to mess it up by diving in, as leaf piles are intended to be dived into. Dr. McFee encouraged pastors who feel like they never get to worship when leading to take a closer look at how they are preparing themselves, both logistically and spiritually. Even worship leaders should be free to worship, to invite others into worship in which they too are participating. Dr. McFee talks about moving from presiding over worship to residing within the worshiping community, from being "guardians of religious practice" to being "midwives of sacramental moments." Wow, right?

3. Fear around changes in worship reflect an unarticulated fear of losing God. This point struck me as important. I've observed some pretty irrational reactions to changes in worship (or in churches in general) with much puzzlement—including, at times, my own reactions. Dr. McFee said that because worship is most people's access point to God, a change can leave them fearful of losing that connection. At the heart of this, of course, is our problematic tendency to domesticate God, to put God in a box of our choosing. This is not something for which to chastise parishioners, but it is something to understand when meeting resistance to change in any church setting, especially in worship.

Those are just a few things Dr. McFee talked about in her presentation, and there was much more I learned in conversation and observation. All in all, I learned a lot from my few days with her, and I look forward to exploring these and other themes around worship not only this summer but throughout my life and ministry.

What I'm Reading #25: The Mystic Way of Evangelism (Elaine Heath)

The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach, by Elaine Heath

It feels like my pace of reading has slowed down lately, and although that's partly true thanks to field ed revving up, I'm feeling less productive in finishing books because I keep picking up new ones before I get done with old ones. The Mystic Way of Evangelism is one of those. It was recommended to me in conjunction with the evangelism directed study I'm working on, specifically as I look at Lockerbie Central UMC/Earth House in downtown Indy, Lockerbie being an emergent congregation whose expression of radical hospitality (though not equated with it) is this coffeehouse collective focused on the arts, wellness and conscious living. Elaine Heath's book, I was told, would help me understand some of what is going on there, and it certainly did.

This is a beautiful book, it's not long and it's an easy read, so I'd happily recommend it to anyone, even if you aren't interested in something too theologically heady. Heath explores the examples of various Christian mystics across time and space, engaging with favorites of mine like Julian of Norwich, Henri Nouwen, Hans Urs von Balthasar and more. Through a hermeneutic of love grounded in contemplation, sustainability and community, Heath builds a theology of outreach that acknowledges the challenges of post-Christendom and re-imagines basic concepts like holiness, sin and stewardship.

Heath does what many of the other authors I'm reading on evangelism have done: she makes it clear that this is no longer Christendom and no longer modernism. However, although the church is certainly in financial jeopardy as membership and giving decline, for Heath this is an opportunity for the church to become more fully the church. She describes this as "the dark night of the soul," applying a mystical theme to the corporate life of Christianity as it stands today. This dark night is precisely what the church needs to purify itself and to reclaim its prophetic voice, Heath says:

"Contrary to being a disaster, the exilic experiences of loss and marginalization are what are needed to restore the church to its evangelistic place. On the margins of society the church will once again find its God-given voice to speak to the dominant culture in subversive ways, resisting the powers and principalities, standing against the seduction of the status quo. The church will once again become a prophetic, evangelistic, alternative community, offering to the world a model of life that is radically 'other,' life-giving, loving, healing, liberating. This kind of community is not possible for the church of Christendom."

The modern frameworks once used for evangelism are no longer in place. We need a new model—and not just a new set of tactics, but a whole new (or old) way of understanding faith, community and healing.

One of Heath's projects is to re-frame how we think about sin. Using Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love, she shifts from the language of original sin to that of original wounds. Julian's visions displayed God's compassion for God's children, especially in a vision where she sees humans as an overeager servant who falls headlong into a ditch and injured himself terribly in his rush to do his master's bidding. Heath writes that Julian "locates sin in the context of wounds, offering a therapeutic vision of redemption." This completely changes the way God looks at sin, and how we should look at sin: "Wounds precede sin—original wounds—and for this reason the eyes of the Lord look upon the human predicament 'with pity and not with blame.'" Heath takes this even further when she draws a comparison between the story of the fall in Genesis and childhood sexual abuse. Adam and Eve had no reason or capacity to mistrust the serpent, Heath explains, just as a child may be told not to talk to strangers but has no defense mechanism for when their uncle or family friend says or does something they can't understand. This reminds me of the theologian Irenaeus, whose theology of the fall Dr. Warren Smith succinctly described as "we tripped on our shoelaces trying to stand up." The language of wounds, which prompts compassion, is, I think, a far better suited paradigm than that of sin, which only draws blame.

Heath also engages with Phoebe Palmer and other who were part of holiness movements. For Heath, holiness is not about keeping oneself clean and pure while rejecting any potentially tainting influences. She discusses the parable of the woman with the hemorrhages whom Jesus heals. I literally teared up reading this. "Instead of her uncleanness polluting Jesus, his goodness makes her whole. Jesus is glad to touch her." I cannot help but think of this fear of pollution in the context of the ongoing struggle within the church over homosexuality (which parallels a long discussion Heath has about divorce). This post by Dan R. Dick concerning the ongoing church trial of Amy DeLong has this heartbreaking line in it: "our Christian family is broken and that we are seeking ways to amputate limbs from our body." The church, Heath insists, is not called to purify itself in the sense that it should remove influences it sees as bad for its self-righteous holiness; rather, the church is called to kenosis, to self-emptying for the sake of the world. Holiness is not about us but about becoming vessels for God's grace: "We are not set aside and made holy for our own pursuits; we are now in partnership with God in God's mission." The idea of kenosis is directly related to evangelism, for while we often think of evangelism in terms of boosting membership or giving, it is really in the giving away that the church most truly embodies the reign of God: "The church has been at its missional best when giving itself away."

Finally, Heath discusses the concept of stewardship at length. She invites the church to shift its thinking about stewardship from building maintenance and capital campaigns to creation care. Evangelism, she insists, is never complete unless it is good news announced to the whole of God's creation. "Evangelism is not good news until it is good news for all of creation, for humanity, animals, plants, water, and soil, for the earth that God created and called good." Heath challenged me with her ideas on how a pastor should live—that is, the church should move toward a model where buildings and staff are a minimal or nonexistent expense, and all funds go to mission, theological education and the like. The goal of all of this is sustainability and a holistic evangelism that embraces all the world. "[T]his theology of stewardship is grounded in the conviction that the Christian lifestyle, in regard to material goods, should be one of simplicity, adequacy, and sustainability." She advocates for a model of bivocational pastors in small urban and rural communities rather than the growth-oriented church of suburbia. Yes, Heath is helping me understand Lockerbie Central, and making me like the concept more and more.

I could write much more about this book, but instead I'll recommend it highly. It won't take long to read, and it invites the reader to come home to love that he or she might better love others. It is a beautiful little book that offers hope for the future of the church and the world.


Favorite Quotations

"Christian mysticism is about the holy transformation of the mystic by God, so that the mystic becomes instrumental in the holy transformation of God's people. This transformation always results in missional action in the world."

"[A] high Christology requires a hope for all people; otherwise we imply that the sufferings of Christ were insufficient, incapable of bringing about the possibility of salvation for all."

"God's mercy and justice are one and the same. The One who judges the world is the One who died to save the world. Therein lies our hope."

"The call to give ourselves in ministry is first and always a call to come home to love."

"Bonaventure asserts that the incarnation of Christ was not brought about by sin. Rather, the incarnation is the final perfection of creation, the completion of the universe."

"With a hermeneutic of love I give myself in prayer and friendship to the people around me, not so that I can get something from them, not even a commitment to join my church, but so that I can minister to Jesus in them, Jesus who thirsts."

"A hermeneutic of love is fully aware of the devastation of sin and evil, yet refuses to give them the last word."

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

"You're Too Young to Preach!"

I'm usually pretty laid-back in life, but there are a few things about which I have a chip on my shoulder. One is the fact that I look young. It doesn't generally bother me, and I know one day it'll be a good thing, but when it interferes with how people perceive me in a position of authority—or with my own capacity to embrace that authority—I get irritated. So I'm going to sound annoyed for the first part of this post, but hopefully I'll get over it by the end.

I am young. I turned 24 in April. But I can't tell you how many time in the past few weeks I've heard some version of "You can't be more than 20!" Call me back in a decade when that starts to be a compliment. In the meantime, having someone say to me (as a woman did just today), "You're too young to preach"—that doesn't do much for my already lacking self-confidence.

I've tried to make adjustments on my end to make it easier for people to accept me as a leader-y type. I bought grown-up clothes and cut off my hair (OK, that was really just an impulsive thing. Check it out). But there is nothing I can do about the fact that I am a petite, cute blonde girl. Look, I know that I'm freaking adorable. If that sounds narcissistic, I'm just making up for a lifetime of false modesty that left me with a horrible self-image I'm starting to salvage.

I whined about this to my friend Ben my first week here in Indy. I was complaining about feeling like people don't take me seriously as a pastoral figure because I'm small and cute. I was frustrated with myself because a situation had arisen where I was questioning my own ability to comport myself pastorally without letting that other stuff get in the way. Ben pushed back—look, he said, you can be as professional and pastoral as it gets, but wearing an alb doesn't make you any less interesting or attractive (thanks, friend!). I don't cease to be me when I'm in the role of a pastor. Yes, there are boundaries to navigate and ways of interacting with parishioners that I need to learn, but that's precisely what I need to be figuring out now in preparation for ministry. If I look young now, I'll probably still look young in ten years.

I don't really want to complain about looking young or cute. Heck, I like being adorable. I like wearing pretty dresses and having a sassy haircut. I don't think that being a pastor means I have to be less attractive—sure, modesty is a thing, but that's a whole other discussion (seriously, post coming eventually about clergy apparel/women's clothing). So while comments about my youth might make me grumpy if I'm feeling particularly sensitive that day, here's my solution: I'm gonna keep doing my thing, chasing God and being awesome. I'm going to keep wearing my absurd collection of dresses and being young at heart and in demeanor. I'm going to pursue my vocation and kick its holy butt with God's help. There will always be someone who won't take me as seriously as I'd like because I'm a woman or Southern or short or Christian or cute...but maybe I take myself too seriously anyway. If I let myself get bent out of shape over such things, it'll only make it worse. (Am I doing that now? Ha...) Some days it feels like being young and pretty holds me back—but I bet it can be useful at times, even in a pastoral context, because what's not to love? :)

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Finding True North #18: Why Do We Do This Again?

This morning at North UMC, I led the prayers and sang with the choir on the offertory anthem. Joining myself, Kevin and Brian in worship leadership was 13-year-old Alyssa Welch, who served as our lector for the day. Alyssa has a voracious appetite for books and highly recommended a few fantasy bookss to me between services, but that's beside the point. With the candor of a tween, Alyssa said something before the 8:30 service that was funny but also prompted me thinking about not only North Church itself but the church at large—maybe even life in general.

Back story: NUMC has 2 Sunday morning services, at 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. The 8:30 service averages not quite 150 people on a good day, the 11:00 more than double that. I have learned two things about these worship services since being here: one, that the two services are basically two different churches; and two, that the people who attend the 11:00 service are baffled by the small, subdued character of the 8:30. This is amusing because Barbara, my awesome host, attends the 8:30, so frequently when 11:00-attending church members ask who I'm staying with, they draw a blank when I respond. It's also helpful to me to be staying with Barbara, because I understand that the people who go to the 8:30 actually like it being quieter, less crowded and calmer than the 11:00 (noting that both are traditional, high liturgy services). End of back story.

Moments before we walked into the first service, Alyssa poked her head into the sanctuary, observed the 70-80 people who were seated at that point and turned to us with a simple question: "Why do we do this service again?" The pastors and I laughed, in part because that question has actually come up in meetings (which, ironically, have always involved all 11:00-ers). Alyssa was asking a pretty obvious question: why, when so few people attend, do we bother holding an 8:30 service?

The first thing I've been thinking about in connection with this question is how distinct the two worship services are at North. Because I live with Barbara, I know why some people prefer the 8:30 service—I suspect at least some would not attend the 11:00 if the church were to consolidate (not that that's an option, I'm just speculating). This sort of disconnect is inevitable in any large, multi-service church, especially ones where the character of one service might appeal more to certain people. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but I am an advocate of cohesiveness and connectivity wherever it is possible, so I'm curious what other churches with a situation similar to North are (or aren't) doing to encourage a broader sense of communion among folks who may not be physically in worship at the same time. Even at North, the services aren't complete islands—for one thing, service time of choice is not the only classifying factor in the church, but also the Sunday School classes and various outreach ministries do bridge the gaps.

That was the more mundane line of thought prompted by Alyssa's comment; more broadly, I think "Why do we do this again?" is a great question to ask of anything and everything in the church (or in life). This should be true not only of things that are off base somehow but also of things that seem to be going well. Alyssa asked a question that plenty of 11:00-ers have probably at least thought if not said, but let's take her cue and apply it across the board. Why do we do the 11:00 service? Why do we send youth teams to Haiti? Why do we run a thrice weekly soup kitchen? Why do we have Sunday School? The answers to such questions would be as varied as the people giving them and more, and there's no correct answer, but what we should be listening for in responding to any of these questions is the place of God in the answer. Is God the source and goal of whatever it is we're doing? Is God even a part of it?

If God is working in a low-attendance service, let's keep having it. A better-attended service may actually have less God in it if it becomes a matter of convenience or social interaction or what have you. (I don't see that as an issue at North, just pondering in generalities here.) Let's hang on tightly to Alyssa's question: "Why do we do this again?" Hopefully, whatever it is, we do it to glorify God and build up one another.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Finding True North #17: Back to Normal

Having had one "normal" week in Indy and then one made crazy by Annual Conference and sermon prep, I'm not really sure what it means to go back to normal, but theoretically that's what I'm doing this week.

Today I got to church about an hour early (I usually arrive at 9:00 for morning prayers). I went to the chapel (a lovely space), did a little work, played some piano and journalled. I should make a habit of doing that. I had gotten into a good schedule of quiet time at home in the mornings my first week here, but that got so disrupted last week I'm not sure I could get back to it. And being in a space like that for some centering time is really helpful to me as a person for whom aesthetics and place are important spiritually.

I spent a good bit of time after prayers working on a new website for Lockerbie Central. Brenda had started on one using Weebly, an online content management system that lets you build sites from templates. I had fun working on the layout and organization of the site, setting up a Facebook page we'll theoretically get out there once the website is done, etc. My one semester of computer science in undergrad sparked an interest in web design for me, so even when I'm bootlegging it, I really enjoy it. Beyond the technical stuff, it's fun to think about how to tell a story and give people remote access to a community or idea or organization.

Kevin (um, Rev. Armstrong?) picked me up mid-morning to go to a meeting of the advisory board for the Spirit and Place Festival, an annual event in Indianapolis exploring the intersection of the arts, humanities and religion. Spirit and Place is a project of The Polis Center, IU School of Liberal Arts, and IUPUI. This year's program is centered around the theme of "The Body." It was an interesting group of people with some pretty creative ideas, and I wish I could be here in November to check it out. Here's a video that gives a sort of commercial for the event in general:



One thing I'm really growing to appreciate about Kevin is his engagement with the community and the city of Indianapolis. He is very much in touch with what's going on in civic life and works to be both a voice and a listening ear for faith in the midst of things.

Tonight I went to choir rehearsal, partly because it was their last practice before the summer schedule kicks in but mostly because I'm singing a solo Sunday. It's a beautiful arrangement of "I Surrender All" to a new tune by Steve Potts. It's lovely.

Now I am going to go read. I was doing so well my first week here with reading, and it's time to get back on the bandwagon.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Finding True North #16: Catching Up—Annual Conference, Preaching and More

Well, I am behind on updates. What a crazy week! I am still absolutely loving it here in Indianapolis. Though my adventures last week took me north to Muncie, IN and south to English, IN, so I'm getting out. Let's see if I can get caught up on life lately.

Last Wednesday through Friday, I was at Ball State University (which has the most confusing campus ever) for the Indiana Annual Conference. People joke about conference being a drag, and sometimes it is, but you know, it can be really cool to have all those clergy and laity together in one place. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Of course, I didn't have to go to the meetings and voting sessions because I was backstage most of the time with Marcia McFee, worship designer/leader extraordinaire. Dr. McFee was kind enough to take me on as her intern for the conference, so I got to shadow her and help out behind the scenes with worship. Well, until Friday, when Dr. McFee lost her voice and I was suddenly assigned a solo (a beautiful new setting of the hymn "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" to a tune by Mark Miller). That was not in the plan, but it was a lot of fun. I sang during the commissioning/retirement service, which was a truly beautiful occasion and got me excited about being on the ordination track.

(Side note: someone asked if I were Dr. McFee's daughter. Blonde worship geeks unite!)

I will probably do a separate post reflecting on Dr. McFee's worship workshop/seminar (I keep getting myself in trouble by promising later posts), but it was very educational simply to follow her around for a few days. She has an approach to worship design that transcends discussions of style, which I greatly appreciate, because I think the worship wars that plague the church today are complete garbage. Dr. McFee is a performer, so she is all about preparation, intentionality and presentation, but she also strives to make worship a performance that people are enabled to participate in rather than passively observe.

Annual Conference was also a lot of fun just for the people. Hanging out with Dr. McFee was great fun, and I actually got to chat with the bishop (Michael Coyner) some backstage. Bishop Coyner is pretty awesome, though the test of his awesomeness will come if he ever sees this picture—he left his dressing room door open with the bishop's crozier right there. What else was I supposed to do? :)

Anyway, I got to meet a number of really wonderful people, bonded with the musicians and ran into old friends at conference. Not only were several people from North there, I also got to meet Brent Wright, the pastor of Broad Ripple UMC in Indy (Brent and I have a mutual friend at Duke), and I ran into Brian Jones, former director of the Duke Youth Academy back when I was a student there. Have I mentioned that I love the connectional nature of the UMC? Because I really, really do. I love knowing people and making relational connections. Being in a wholly different state where I shouldn't have known anyone and yet finding new and old friends was pretty cool.

I came back from conference a day early because I had a wedding to attend on Saturday, and it ended up being doubly good that I returned Friday because I ended up going to a social gathering of people from Earth House. I love Earth House, and the people there are amazing, not to mention my age. In the past week, I've actually started making some friends in my age group, which is great. Hopefully Friday night was just the beginning of adventures with these folks over the summer.

Anyway, the wedding on Saturday was in English, IN, about 2.5 hours south of Indianapolis. It was a lovely wedding, and I got to see a lot of friends from college. But I also got to see southern Indiana, which has a lot of beautiful farmland and actually some hills (since central IN is pretty darn flat). Hooray for exploring the state a bit.

Then Sunday was my day to preach at North. I already posted my sermon, so feel free to check that out. I was pretty nervous about preaching, but excited too, and I think it went well. I actually had to practice my sermon for the staff the previous Tuesday afternoon, which was incredibly nerve-wracking—using a microphone in a huge, stone sanctuary with 5 people sitting there. Yeesh. But the feedback from the staff was very helpful and shaped the final form of my sermon.

I preached twice, at 8:30 and 11:00 a.m., and the second service went better, but that was to be expected. I was really encouraged by the feedback I got from parishioners—of course, church people are going to be nice regardless, but several people actually quoted back to me points I had made, saying they had resonated with what I said. That was affirming to me, because it means I connected with at least some people in meaningful ways. I enjoy preaching, but it's pretty terrifying and I don't have much experience, but this was a positive and helpful experience for me.

This week has continued to be intense, but in a good way. Tonight is the last day of Party in the Park, North's version of Vacation Bible School, sort of. This is the second year for Party in the Park. Basically, they've set up in the church parking lot and the park across the street with a big tent and several activity stations for kids, including storytelling, crafts, music, games and more. They've served dinner each night and invited the surrounding community to join in. It's been going great so far, though unfortunately it's raining today, which may put a damper on the last night, but hopefully people will still come when we hold it inside tonight.

I think that'll do for an update for now. Indianapolis is an amazing city. A few of the North clergy have been joking about me switching conferences, and as much as I love Western NC, I'm really starting to love Indy as well.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Finding True North #15: A Pentecost Sermon

I have a lot of updating to do here about Annual Conference and more, but for now I'll just post my sermon from this morning. The sections that are in verses and italicized were sung; you can listen to the whole of that song, "Spirit Hymn," below if you want to know what it sounds like complete and accompanied (I sang the verses a cappella).

Spirit Hymn by Sarah Howell


"The Ultimate Birthday Gift"
Pentecost Sermon 6-12-11
North United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, IN

Happy birthday, church!

If you didn't know it was your birthday, that's good. I didn't get you anything.

Today we celebrate Pentecost. This is when we remember the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples after Jesus' resurrection. Sometimes, Pentecost is called the birthday of the church. So, happy birthday, church.

A birthday celebration is different from a graduation or retirement party because it doesn't celebrate an achievement; it celebrates a person's existence. Spiritual writer Henri Nouwen says this about birthdays:

"On our birthdays we celebrate being alive. On our birthdays people can say to us, 'Thank you for being!' ...[Birthdays] remind us that what is important is not what we do or accomplish, not what we have or who we know, but that we are, here and now. On birthdays let us be grateful for the gift of life" (Here and Now, Crossroads 2006).

We can see in the reading from Acts that the church gets the ultimate birthday gift: the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is not a thing that is given to us wrapped in pretty paper. It is not an object or an instrument put at our disposal. The Spirit is God. She is an active divine agent, the source of our life as church, an equal member of the Trinity. Just a side note: I tend to refer to the Holy Spirit in the feminine. This is not an attempt at being politically correct. The Hebrew word for "spirit" in the Old Testament, ruach, is feminine. The Greek word for "spirit," pneuma, is neither masculine nor feminine, but I'll err on the side of the feminine for today.

The Holy Spirit is God, the gift and the giver. At Pentecost, God gives God's very self to us. This unique gift unifies us, brings us into God's story, and opens up God's grace to us. On this, the church's birthday, we celebrate being together through the Spirit who is the source of our being.

Spirit, unify us by your love
Spirit, draw us in your life above
Pour yourself upon our hearts
Through your grace which abounds
You are gift and you are giver, you surround


Of course, the gift of the Spirit is not something to be framed or placed neatly on a shelf. This gift does something to its recipients. When the Spirit rests on someone, she is not resting in the same way we might when taking our Sunday afternoon nap. The Spirit rests actively, and that active resting empowers us to participate in God's mission.

The Spirit does not come to individuals for their own benefit. The descent of the Spirit is not primarily about salvation. But the Spirit is concerned with individuals and with their particularity. When the disciples started speaking in tongues, the Acts passage says, "at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each" (Acts 2:6). The Spirit caused a miracle of diversity because the Spirit is the creator of diversity. God made and loves all the details and distinctions that make each of us who we are. Jesus came as a particular person in a particular time and place. God is not interested in saving "humanity" as a general category. God is interested in you, in me, in our individual particularity and in our gathered diversity.

Because, you see, unity is one thing and uniformity is another. Sometimes we mix those up and think that in order to be unified, we must conform and become all alike. But Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Unity has never meant uniformity." At Pentecost, we do not see everyone suddenly learning to speak or understand the same language. Instead, we see the good news miraculously being translated into each person's native tongue. Christianity has been a faith of translation from the very beginning. Muslims believe that if you read the Qur'an in a language other than Arabic, you are losing something central to its meaning. But Christians may read the Bible in any language, in every language.

I want you to take a look at the banner on the pulpit. If you can't see it well from where you're sitting, there's a picture of part of it on the front of your bulletin. Be sure to come up and look at it after service. Doris Douglas created this banner, and I had the immense pleasure of meeting her my first week here. For years, Doris' beautiful banners have adorned this church and led this community through the Christian year. These incredible works of art are born out of deep prayer and love. When I first saw this Pentecost banner, I knew I had to talk about it in this sermon. Take a look at the flames on the banner. Even in black and white, you can tell that they are all different colors. That's part of what I love about this banner—it dazzlingly illustrates diverse unity. Each tongue of fire is distinct, but together they all form one glorious blaze.

There are in this church many examples of this diverse unity. I've only been here two weeks and I'm already catching on. Just think about the Umoja Project through which this church is connected with other faith communities here and in Chilaimbo, Kenya. The very name of the project, Umoja, means "unity" in Swahili. I have heard the stories of relationships built across continents between people who are so very different—and yet who are united in love and friendship. These relationships have enriched the lives of everyone involved precisely because they represent diverse unity. The Umoja Project is a gift of the Spirit to all of those involved, and it is a richer gift for involving so many different kinds of people.

Both Doris' banner and the Umoja Project are illustrations right here in our midst of how the Spirit creates unity in diversity as the source of both. In Acts chapter 2, we read about "divided tongues, as of fire" resting on each person (Acts 2:3), but “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4), the same Spirit. God's image dwells in each of us in astounding, glorious variety. We must learn to recognize the image of one God in many people.

Spirit, open out our hearts to you
Spirit, make our sweet communion true
Give us strength to overcome
All the bound’ries in place
Open us to see God’s image on each face


Earlier in the service, the choir sang an anthem called "Hymn of Fire." You can find the text in your bulletin. I am particularly struck by these lines:

"By thy sharpened word disturb us, from complacency, release!
Save us from our satisfaction when we person’lly are free yet are undisturbed in spirit by our brother’s misery!" (Eugene Butler)

Most of us probably would not immediately associate the word "disturb" with the work of the Holy Spirit. In fact, it sounds like the opposite of one of the Greek names for the Spirit—parakletos, which means "comforter." But the Spirit's fire is not intended to give an individual a warm, fuzzy feeling. Because we are unified in love, whatever comfort we may find in our own lives can never be complete while another child of God suffers. 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it." The Spirit makes us all members of one body, Christ's body; and we the body of Christ suffer wherever one member encounters injustice, oppression, poverty or evil of any kind.

The Spirit empowers us to speak up against that suffering. This is almost guaranteed to cause us discomfort, because in this world, where there is suffering, there is almost always someone else benefitting from that suffering. The gift of the Spirit is not always easy to accept, because it may put us in opposition to earthly power. Throughout the Bible, from the Old Testament prophets to Jesus to the disciples, there is a pattern: the Spirit descends on a person, empowers him or her to participate in God's mission, and that person immediately gets into trouble. The ancient prophets were not well-liked. When Isaiah declared, "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me...he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners," his listeners probably did not cheer. The oppressed have oppressors. The captives have captors. The Spirit calls us to be brave, to speak prophetically into a broken world, knowing that there is a cost, knowing that in order to receive the Spirit's comfort, we may first have to experience discomfort.

In his book The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning points out that Jesus is constantly found sharing meals with unlikely people, often scandalizing the well-to-do in the community. Manning says that we may not grasp the full significance of this today, but in ancient Israel, an invitation to share a meal was an invitation to deep friendship, particularly if it involved inviting someone into your home. Food is an important aspect of our life as a faith community. There are plenty of jokes out there about Methodists and potluck dinners. But if we are all one body in the Spirit, we cannot limit meal fellowship to people we know or like. True meal sharing happens when a volunteer at Bread 'n' Bowl, the food ministry here at North, steps out from behind the table to sit and eat and form friendships. Proverbs 22:9 says, "Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor." I am inclined to read it this way: "Those who are generous are blessed because they share their bread with the poor, in their sharing of their bread with the poor"—a sharing I envision as mutual, at a common table. Martin Luther said that we are all mere beggars telling other beggars where to find bread. Wherever there is sharing across boundaries of culture, race, economic or other social status, the Spirit is doing her awkward but redemptive work of comfort.

Yes, the Spirit is a comforter. She is the comforter. But God's definition of comfort may not always be the same as our definition of comfort. One individual's comfort is conditioned by the comfort and justice offered to others. Again, 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, "Where one member suffers, all suffer together with it," but then it goes on: "if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it." Our comfort is found not in personal good feelings but in the restoration of the whole body, and we are called to participate in that healing. The Spirit comes down as fire to burn away our complacency and our apathy. Have you ever heard the saying about "afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted?" It was originally said about journalism, but I think it also applies to the Holy Spirit. She "afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted." If we are too comfortable in our faith, we can expect to be disturbed and made uncomfortable by the Spirit. But on the other hand, if we find ourselves afflicted and in distress, just as surely we can count on the comforting presence of that same Spirit.

Spirit, comfort us in suffering
Spirit, to the body help us cling
Make us see upon the cross
Christ whose wounds are the balm
Hold us safe within the Savior’s nail-scarred palm


Now, let's go back to this notion of gift. Several years ago, my dad introduced to our family a tradition that he refers to as a "hobbit birthday." If you don't know what a hobbit is, let me explain: hobbits are found in the fictional realm known as Middle Earth. This is the setting of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Hobbits are essentially very small people with pointy ears and really hairy feet.

But that's beside the point. You see, hobbits do something interesting on their birthdays: they give gifts to other hobbits. So now, on his birthday, my dad gives my mother and each of us kids a present—for his birthday.

Maybe the church could learn a lesson from hobbits about birthdays. What kind of gift might we the church be able to give to others for our birthday? What do we have to give? Well, we already have the ultimate birthday gift. We have the Spirit.

The Spirit has been moving throughout God's salvation history, empowering her people for worship and mission. Today we are invited to participate, to take part, to live into the Spirit's continuing story. Bryan Stone says that learning to be a Christian "is not just learning about a story; it is learning to live into a story” (Evangelism After Christendom, Brazos 2007). When we witness to the work of the Spirit, we are pointing out the ways in which the reign of God is already here. We point to something beyond ourselves and yet find ourselves caught up in it. As we are caught up in the life of the Spirit, we want to draw others in with us and show them what has ignited our hearts. We have the ultimate gift to give as a church. What's more, the Spirit doesn't need any help from us to dazzle the world. We are called to be the kindling for the Spirit's fire. John Wesley said, "Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn."

Spirit, prophet and redeeming one
Spirit, with the Father and the Son
Let us live into your love
As partakers of God
Help us witness to your glory shed abroad


Holy Spirit, let us live into your love. Would that all your people were prophets, and that you would put your spirit on us! Make us witnesses eager to share the gift of yourself that you pour out on us. Amen.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Finding True North #15: Youth Sunday @ NUMC // Lyceum @ LCUMC

Yesterday, I took communion three times. Maybe that's gluttony, but in my mind it made up for the fact that I'm pretty sure the last time I had Eucharist was May 10, during field ed orientation.

My second Sunday in Indianapolis involved three worship services—two at NUMC and my first at LCUMC. I got to be in the congregation for the two NUMC services because it was Youth Sunday.

Youth Sunday was excellent. I was curious to see how it would go because I've seen some pretty awful Youth Sundays in my time. But the NUMC youth did a great job. They used the theme "Stranger or neighbor?", from a Lenten retreat they did recently, to frame the service, and explored what it means to recognize one another as neighbors. The youth group here is diverse (in many ways) and missionally driven. Two graduating (or recently graduated) seniors told their faith stories, each of which was compelling, though both were different from the other and demonstrated the breadth and depth of the experience of a youth at this church. The service was convicting. The youth even took the opportunity to publish a letter in the bulletin expressing a call to the church to support full inclusion for the GLBT community, using the youth group's mission statement to frame it: "North United Methodist Church Youth Ministry seeks to learn, serve, and celebrate God's awesome love with EVERYONE!" This was not a normal Sunday service with youth plugged in at random; through liturgy, Scripture and music, the youth got to tell their stories of faith, even participating in the Great Thanksgiving. It was great to be there.

Then, yesterday evening, I participated in my first service at Lockerbie Central UMC. This week, they started what they're calling "Lyceum," changing the format of Sunday evenings to include 25-30 minutes of worship and then a time of presentation/discussing with various speakers coming in over the course of the summer. Last night, the speaker was...me. Well, Brenda and me. Anyway, first was worship, and I ended up bringing my guitar and playing along with Kari, a member who is cool in general but also plays piano, so, bonus points. We did a song I hadn't heard before called "Here Is Love" (that's the normal AKA lame version, but I found it in Welsh too!!). It's pretty, and it worked well with Kari on piano and me on guitar. We also did two Taizé chants, and in between were prayers, Scripture and a brief reflection on the Word. Then we moved into communion, and I (sort of) assisted. It was awesome! I mean, I just broke the bread and lifted the cup when Brenda got to that part, but I'd never participated in that beyond leading musical responses to the Great Thanksgiving or serving communion. So that was neat.

After worship, we migrated downstairs to the cafe. Brenda and I gave a brief presentation about "Approaching the Bible in the 21st Century." Because I'm me, I had put dibs on talking about the Old Testament, so I had composed a list of things I think are important to keep in mind when thinking about the Old Testament. You can look at that here if you care/are looking for ideas on ways to start a basic conversation about the Bible/want to judge me. :) We opened the space up for conversation, which was pretty interesting, though there were several people I wished had spoken up. We'll keep working on the format to encourage discussion while keeping things on track, but I thought it went well.

I'm excited to continue to help out at LCUMC and to get to know the congregation better. That will be a place where Brenda and I will get to sort of try things out, and hopefully I'll get to do more music there as well.

Also, I have an in/out button at NUMC, and it makes me feel really cool.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Finding True North #14: A Busy Week (or so) Ahead

In the past few days, I've realized the next week and a half is going to be a little crazy. Here's my upcoming schedule, as much for my sake as for your perusal:

  • June 5 (today): Youth Sunday @ NUMC in the morning; helping lead worship and discussion @ LCUMC in the evening.
  • June 6-8: Leading morning prayers @ NUMC (which also means leading devotion at Tuesday staff meeting).
  • June 6: Three meetings back-to-back in the morning/midday—senior staff, Earth House staff, weekly meeting with Kevin (my pastor/supervisor). Then Inclusiveness Task Force meeting in the evening.
  • June 7: Practicing my Pentecost sermon for whoever will listen after staff meeting.
  • June 8-10: Indiana Annual Conference—hanging out with Marcia McFee. :)
  • June 11: Megan Shelton's (friend from undergrad) wedding in Southern Indiana.
  • June 12: Pentecost—I'm preaching. Then LCUMC in the evening.
  • June 13-15: Party in the Park, a big, three-day community event held at NUMC.
There are probably some other meetings in there somewhere, but I don't have my calendar in front of me. (Anyone know how to access Outlook remotely?) So, yeah! Busy week. I should work on my sermon some more and figure out what we're doing for morning prayers (and probably find a sub for Thursday...)

Friday, June 3, 2011

Finding True North #13: Earth House/Lockerbie Central UMC

Earth House Cafe from Craftedspoon on Vimeo.


Welcome to Earth House. I had a meeting here this morning and decided to stick around for a while and hang out. This is going to be my go-to place to chill this summer.


Here's a little bit about Earth House from their website (bold text is my emphasis):

At Earth House we support the arts, promote healthy living, and encourage sustainability by collaborating with local organizations and artists to cultivate community in action. Housed in the historic Lockerbie Central UMC building, the Earth House experience includes all-ages concerts, films, performance arts, classes, social forums, volunteer events and Indiana's only 100% fair trade/organic coffee shop. We believe that creating a healthy, sustainable community begins with you.

This place is cool. I mean, you can see that clearly in the video. Plus, I had mango black bean pizza for lunch. And there is currently a beautiful exhibit called "Windows and Mirrors," a reflection on the war in Afghanistan, on display here. It's pretty incredible.

Let me back up. Earth House occupies the building of Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, a downtown church that was the result of a merger between two dying Methodist churches. Attempts by young people to revitalize the church led organically to the emergence of Earth House, which is now its own entity, though the church is connected with its programming and hopes to make that connection more of an emphasis. Brenda, the Pastor of Discipleship and Formation at North (one of my summer supervisors), is the volunteer pastor here. She is full-time at North, but she is also appointed as the pastor here, through some strange arrangement that the conference and NUMC are just sort of allowing to happen because it works. LCUMC meets on Sunday evenings and follows an emergent worship style, though for the summer they plan to switch things up a bit to create more space for community discussion. Hence, I'm helping to lead a conversation about the Bible this Sunday. As in, 2 days from now.

Earth House is constantly holding all kinds of events. It is the only 100% fair trade, organic coffee shop in Indiana. It is the largest all-ages music venue in Indianapolis. They are located at a unique spot in the city, sort of at the intersection of several demographics. This is one of the few church-related places where a Jewish youth center feels comfortable holding events. In the past 2 years, more than 100,000 people have come through here. Jordan Updike, the executive director of Earth House, says he hopes this is filling a deep need he perceives for artistic space for his generation (which is also my generation...what are we, Gen Y??).

The meeting I attended today involved several people from Lockerbie Central/Earth House as well as a group from The Garden, the non-traditional worship community that is connected with St. Luke's UMC here in Indianapolis. I don't know enough about The Garden to speak too much to what they do, but it sounds pretty interesting and I intend to learn more. Anyway, this group of people was exploring the possibility of The Garden starting a service at LCUMC on Sunday morning, the only time when there isn't already programming happening in this building. As Brenda explained it, there is a sort of gap in terms of the church having a theological voice and providing non-threatening opportunities for people to enter into those kinds of conversations, and The Garden could be a helpful third entity in tying things together at the location.

It was really interesting to eavesdrop on the conversation for many reasons. These groups are not doing your typical church stuff. You know how I always laugh when people tell me that Duke is too liberal? Those people have no idea what's out there. And, as it turns out, what's out there is pretty awesome.

Part of what interests me most in talking about Earth House/LCUMC/The Garden is the high level of suspicion of evangelism. (I'm right there with them.) I've been doing all this reading about evangelism in a post-modern America, and here is a church (LCUMC) that is seeking to welcome the neighboring community without tricking them or pressuring them to conform. Last summer, I played a show at a youth-oriented coffeeshop that was totally awesome except for one thing: in order to get in, you had to either pay $2 or have a 5-minute conversation with one of the adult volunteers, and the goal of every one of those conversations was to squeeze a conversion out of some teen who just wanted to play pool. I was, how do you say...uncomfortable. That is not what Earth House/LCUMC is going for, and I am very much interested in it. One thing that several LCUMC people talked about in the meeting was that they have adopted, over against traditional evangelism, is an emphasis on a ministry of presence. Several time, people mentioned that they don't have to go find people to tell about the church; through programming at Earth House, people ask them all the time. In articulating the vision of Lockerbie Central, one person (maybe Jordan, I'm forgetting now) said that there are sort of two sides to their mission: Micah 6:8 (act justly, love mercy, walk humbly) and the idea of sanctuary, of creating a safe space. Part of that involves not handing out tracts or making people feel like the price of being in the building is conforming. But there is witness happening here, simply by how the community's needs are being met, both in ways they might want and in way they might not expect.

I'll be thinking about this question of witness a lot this summer as I work on this directed study on evangelism. I will probably write my main paper on this class in part as a field study on Earth House/LCUMC (and possibly NUMC if I get involved in their conversations around hospitality). What I'm learning in all my reading so far is that there is a lot involved in the question of how to understand and approach evangelism, so there is much to explore...and that's kind of exciting.

(Sorry, I just love this blog Hyperbole and a Half, which is where that picture came from.)

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Finding True North #12: Bread 'n' Bowl, Farmer's Market, Meetings and Choir

Barbara (my host) offered to make me a sandwich today before I left for work, which I really appreciated but was able to turn down gladly because I had cool lunch plans. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, North hosts Bread 'n' Bowl, a soup kitchen open to the community. Kevin took the Kenya interns and me out to lunch on Tuesday, so today was my first opportunity to check it out. I showed up a few minutes before they opened the doors and was immediately put to work. They serve a meal and let people take bags of soup and bread with them, so for the first little while I was in charge of keeping the desserts and soup bags stocked on the tables. Once the 11:00 rush subsided, I got a plate and sat down with some people. I got to talk to Charles, an older gentleman (he's 89) who was very nice and has been coming to Bread 'n' Bowl for a long time. I also met a few other people, including Mike, who kept telling me how pretty I was, though not in a way in which I felt threatened at all (though there is almost certainly a MUCH longer post coming eventually on that topic (being a pretty woman in ministry)). I found the group really friendly and plan to come to Bread 'n' Bowl as often as I can while I'm here.

I worked on writing the call to worship and prayer for illumination for June 12 and did some other work after that, plus a few extra things like reading about North's architecture and stained glass. I ran some errands and proved that even in a city laid out on a grid, I can get lost. One of my errands involved getting a padfolio. My friend Emily Knight (one of three red-headed Emilys in the Div School) had shown off hers right before I came to Indy, and I decided I needed something to make me feel grownup, especially since I've been bringing my backpack to work. (It worked, by the way.) I also found the youth room in a very successful hunt for a comfy place to lie down and read for an hour before the Farmer's Market, which started up this afternoon. I got there right as it opened, pet a puppy Great Pyrenees, and bought a quart of delicious strawberries (there is approximately 1/2 qt. left).

I ran back to the house briefly to get some food and change, and when I came in the door, Barbara was standing in the hallway looking at my sheepishly. "I'm going to buy you a new pair of shoes," she said in an apologetic tone. "Why is that?" I asked. Apparently Sadie isn't a big chewer but will occasionally get into shoes, and I've been intentionally keeping my doors closed when I'm gone, but today there was a guy here cleaning the windows, and my bedroom door got left open. Barbara discovered one of my shoes in the living room, its wooden heel gnawed on the end. Fortunately, I was already planning to throw that particular pair of shoes away, so it wasn't a big deal. It was just funny to see her apologize for something that wasn't a big deal.

And so back I went to church to the Board of Directors meeting. This was interesting. They went over some finances and checked in on a few issues I'll get to hear more about later (i.e. there are 2 task forces, one on inclusiveness and one dealing with some property the church has acquired, that are having meetings soon to which I am invited), but then we started talking about the new website that is under construction. Apparently a tech task force had been assigned the task of approving the design, but communication wasn't what it should have been (ironically) and now there is the possibility of backtracking on some of the work that the design firm has done. Being moderately interested in web design myself, I had some opinions about the two designs they showed us, but I chose just to listen (I'm patting myself on the back right now, FYI). It was interesting to think about the power dynamics between a governing body of the church and a specifically formed task force, plus to hear a little discussion about the website, the church logo, etc. Again, there will be another meeting in the future devoted to talking about that more fully, and I let them know I'd be interested in attending.

By the time the meeting was over, I was late to choir practice, but I went anyway. I'm singing a solo in church on June 19, and I had not anticipated having to sing it tonight, but they were working on the piece, so...yeah, I was so hoping to impress Mark and Martin with my mellifluous voice and how perfectly it sat in this song, but that is not how it went, ha. But that's OK; it's a beautiful piece, and the choir was enthusiastic about welcoming and encouraging me. Rehearsal was fun, and we sang some good music, including a movement from Mozart's Mass in C Minor. Plus I got to sing along with one of the pieces they'll be offering on June 12 (Pentecost), when I'm preaching, and the text is fabulous; I'll probably be working it into my sermon now.

Side note: pretty much every situation I've been in so far at this church has had an atmosphere of joy and comfort that I just don't always (or even often) find in places, especially when I'm new and nervous. The hospitality and community here is amazing, and I'm so glad to be a part of it.

And now it is 10:00 p.m., and I am home and ready to fall into bed. Tomorrow is technically my day off, though I do have one meeting (but a cool one—more on that tomorrow!), and Barbara and I are meeting her daughter and granddaughter for sushi dinner. I also have plans to take the Monon trail south tomorrow morning (assuming I get up at a decent hour). Hooray Friday.

 

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