Issues between SEPA and Redeemer Are Not Fully Resolved
2×2 has been sitting on this post for a few weeks.
It is uncertain that the member churches of SEPA will give any regard whatsoever to this report. They are likely to continue to believe everything their leadership tells them — which is how this mess started.
Several weeks ago Bishop Burkat issued a letter to clergy and rostered leaders claiming all matters regarding Redeemer are settled. Although generally true, an important detail was left unmentioned.
As your 2013 Synod Assembly approaches, SEPA congregations should not be assuming that the litigation involving them and Redeemer Lutheran Church in East Falls is over.
The ruling in January was made without prejudice and awaits decisions in several other court matters. The current judge has retained jurisdiction over future litigation, a step that would not be necessary if the issues were in fact settled.
A full and correct report from your leaders would have included these details which affect you. Partial truths and even untruths have often fueled this conflict, which never had to be.
If you don’t know whom to believe, look into it for yourselves.
Everyone knows St. Patrick—the patron saint of Ireland, who lived 1600 years ago.
On a typical day Bishop Patrick donned a green robe and frolicked in the meadows of pagan Ireland, encouraging snakes to slither toward the sea and picking shamrocks.
At sunset, he would gather all his friends, neighbors, parishioners and merest acquaintances to join him in downing fermented beverages. As the night wore on, his inebriated following would begin asking theological questions—the answers to which Patrick excelled. He would pull a shamrock from the green nosegays he had collected earlier in the day and begin to explain the Trinity. His followers understood his teachings with amazing clarity.
The next morning, Patrick would pour himself a green milkshake. It helped the pounding in his head that came from thinking too hard about the Trinity.
And then he would sit down and write a hymn. It’s been a very long time since he wrote his most famous hymn. The tune is a rather awkward sequence of notes but the words reveal Patrick’s inner heart.
It reveals a man of piety that his festival day no longer honors.
I bind unto myself today
the strong Name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three.
I bind this day to me for ever,
by power of faith, Christ’s Incarnation;
his baptism in Jordan river;
his death on cross for my salvation;
his bursting from the spicèd tomb;
his riding up the heavenly way;
his coming at the day of doom:
I bind unto myself today.
I bind unto myself the power
of the great love of cherubim;
the sweet “Well done” in judgment hour;
the service of the seraphim;
confessors’ faith, apostles’ word,
the patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls;
all good deeds done unto the Lord,
and purity of virgin souls.
I bind unto myself today
the virtues of the starlit heaven
the glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
the whiteness of the moon at even,
the flashing of the lightning free,
the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
the stable earth, the deep salt sea,
around the old eternal rocks.
I bind unto myself today
the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay,
his ear to hearken, to my need;
the wisdom of my God to teach,
his hand to guide, his shield to ward;
the word of God to give me speech,
his heavenly host to be my guard.
Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort
and restore me.
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of
all that love me,
Christ in mouth of
friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself today
the strong Name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three.
Of whom all nature hath creation,
eternal Father, Spirit, Word: praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord.
Who is the real St. Patrick?
The real St. Patrick was captured as a teen and taken as a slave to Ireland where he herded sheep—good training for a bishop. He describes his six years as a slave as prayer-filled. A vision put the idea of escape in his head. He ran 200 miles to the shore and hopped a ship. He reconnected with his family in Britain and studied for the priesthood. He returned to Ireland as bishop. It is unclear whether his assignment was to convert the pagans to Christianity or to protect the existing Christians as a minority religion. Either way, St. Patrick was a man of piety and prayer. His earliest followers and admirers depicted him wearing blue.
He was not always revered. Contemporary Irish wrote this mocking ditty:
Across the sea will come Adze-head crazed in the head,
his cloak with hole for the head, his stick bent in the head.
He will chant impieties from a table in the front of his house;
all his people will answer: “so be it, so be it.”
That his festival day, which commemorates his death, has become a day of debauchery is a fairly recent historical phenomenon. The Republic of Ireland began highlighting the day in mid-1990s as a sort of branding. The intent was to unite Irish worldwide, projecting a culture rich in the arts. It was done in the name of national pride, tourism and economic development.
It has become a showcase for branding gone wrong. The intent failed to communicate the desired message. The imagery and reputation fell into the hands of the Irish themselves and Irish wannabes—consumers, so to speak. It immediately became associated with revelry — not artistry. It got out of control bigtime and became the advertising vehicle for big box stores, merchants of almost anything and every corner pub in the Anglo-influenced world.
Only some 20 years after setting out to create a cultural asset—even the Irish are trying to find ways to rein it in.
Too late. St. Patrick will be forever rolling in his grave.
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest, imagine you are a person with a level 2 strength of character and attitude looking at a level 5 problem. Would this problem appear to be big or little? From a level 2 perspective, a level 5 problem would seem like a big problem.
Now imagine you’ve grown yourself and become a level 8 person. Would the same level 5 problem be a big problem or a little problem? Magically, the identical problem is now a little problem.
Finally, imagine that you’ve really worked hard on yourself and become a level 10 person. Now, is this same level 5 problem a big problem or a little problem? The answer is that it’s no problem. It doesn’t even register in your brain as a problem. There’s no negative energy around it. It’s just a normal occurrence to handle, like brushing your teeth or getting dressed.
Let’s look at how this might relate to churches—most of which face similar multiple problems with varying degrees of urgency. Let’s say Big Church A and Little Church B both face thm same Level 5 Problem. Because we live in a society that considers bigger as better, smarter and more desirable, we are tempted to think Big Church A won’t find a Level 5 Problem to be any challenge. Similarly those who represent the big churches assume that Little Church B will find the Level 5 Problem to be insurmountable. The Management-minded Solution: Close Little Church B down and reallocate their resources to Big Church A who faces the same challenge. In reality Big Church A will have a more difficult time solving the problem.
It can avoid facing foundational problems longer. (The largest congregations in our denomination and region are showing large statistical losses, but are still viewed as more viable than small congregations that are holding their own.)
They have a process they must follow to solve any problem. Creativity is less likely to enter the picture.
Staff may be more bountiful, but problem-solving isn’t on any of the job descriptions.
Lay talents are viewed with suspicion.
New talents take longer to gain notice and acceptance.
The Level 5 Problem is likely to continue unrecognized for years. Taking on problems that few people recognize is asking for trouble.
On the other hand Little Church B is truly threatened by the Level 5 Problem. Their very existence depends on finding solutions. They start looking for answers. They evaluate the few resources and people they have and go to work.
And here is the magical nature of Little Church B. Every new person who walks through the door is a resource that can immediately be put to work. Leadership is cultivated. The roles of laity can change as problems force them to develop new skills.
The status of Little Church B, therefore, can change dramatically in months. Resilience.
Understand this. There are many more Little Church Bs than there are Big Church As. They are a valuable resource in themselves that is being squandered as we worship church size.
Management-minded regional bodies easily get stuck with prejudices — often fostered by years of disgruntled pastors who failed in leadership roles. They have rare interaction with smaller churches and view them as stagnating—lying in wait for the regional body to save them.
In reality, they haven’t given this notion a moment’s thought.
There is a prejudice that Little Church B cannot support professional services and therefore must be controlled or closed. No small churches have as their mission statement—We exit to support the clergy and contribute to the regional and national church. Yet this is the priority when evaluating viability.
This threat is felt at all levels of church leadership. They just don’t know what to do with Little Church B. Clergy hear God calling them only to congregations that ensure a comfortable living. The result is a form of cannibalism.
Regional bodies, strapped with their own survival problems, are tempted to manage small congregations. They usually manage them out of existence. Even so, small churches vastly outnumber large churches. They always will.
If the cannibalism (closing small churches and assuming their assets as their own) continues, the entire denomination will become a relic. There will be a few larger congregations sitting in suburban outposts with no real ability to serve the neighborhoods they stripped of their assets.
Fewer churches means there will be fewer traditional jobs for church professionals which will result in fewer seminaries, fewer service initiatives and much less need for the regional body.
Pretty soon, the larger churches who were content to watch as neighboring congregations were managed out of existence will feel something nibbling at their own toes.
Let’s end with another quote from a 20th century genius.
The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.—Albert Einstein
Redeemer Ambassadors have now visited nearly 60 churches. We are perennial visitors. If there is such a thing, we are experts. Practice makes perfect.
Our status is unique. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America locked us out of God’s House. What they expected to happen as a result is unclear. We started visiting churches.
We are learning the strengths and weaknesses of churches and their hospitality efforts.
Some congregations are more welcoming than others.
Many churches have no hospitality program.
Some congregations have welcome teams who are ready to tell you all about their ministry.
Two gave us a token gift — a mug and a candle.
Most think they are very warm and inviting, even those who don’t say a word to us.
Some have a genuine sense of caring that permeates the entire community. Three of the most welcoming churches we visited had no pastoral presence.
Some say “welcome” but seem a bit suspicious. We understand. There’s a lot of gossip out there. The bishop even sent a letter warning churches that we visit—including a number to call if we cause trouble. How welcoming can you get!?
That was three years ago and we’ve done no harm. None was intended.
The bishop’s unwelcoming tone trickles down. Think what the opposite might do. Clergy could play a big role in setting a welcoming example. They often do not.
We have noticed that pastors are rarely present during fellowship and often stay in the sanctuary or hallway, talking to a select few. That translates in the fellowship room to pockets of people talking to one another with no effort to include visitors.
In three years and 56 visits only one pastor wrote acknowledging our visit afterwards. When we followed up, the conversation stopped. One pastor called and met with us. His church ended up leaving the ELCA. Another pastor returned a call when one of our ambassadors called with a question. Pastors don’t want any part of the situation they helped to create.
In general, the welcoming approach of churches tends to be self-centered. They have a product to sell — membership. And with the purchase of this product you get the following benefits. The list that might follow is a little unclear.
Salvation?
Love?
Acceptance in our community?
The right to contribute?
The right to vote (until the bishop takes your vote away)?
The right to be part of something bigger?
The right to take the blame?
The responsibility but not the power to move the church forward?
The pleasure and satisfaction of doing things our way?
This may sound pessimistic and cynical but it is precisely the uncertainty that lay people face. If visitors are new to church, it is even more unsettling.
The approach of the church with every encounter — with individuals or with groups — should be filled with questions. Gracious, non-judgmental, questions.
How did you find us? What brought you here?
Where are you from? What is your work?
Do you have family? How can we serve your family?
How can we help you?
How can we get to know you?
Do you have a special burden we might be able to lift?
The approach toward visitors should not be list of “talking points”—programs offered, your congregation’s wish list.
It is the job of the church to love others. We can’t do that when we are always looking in a mirror.
In general, although our Ambassadors enjoy our visits, we very much look forward to our own worship once a month. There is no place like home, even if home is borrowed space in a local theater. We can sing the hymns we want to sing, pray the prayers we need to pray, know that the people we are communing with are not attacking us or taking what is ours or looking at us with judging and critical eyes—without ever talking with us outside a court room.
Putting a WELCOME sign by your front door is a promise. Keeping that promise is work that each member needs to be trained to do.
We often hear today of pastors feeling burned out. This term belongs to the modern age. There was no such thing allowed when we were an agrarian society. A farmer cannot face a field of ripe crops and succumb to burnout. A herd of cows with bloated utters must be milked. We had no choice but to do the job that was our lot in life. And still we found time for church.
In those days, there was always a reward at the end of such tasks. The reward was fairly immediate. You had vegetables and milk to consume or sell.
There were also dire consequences for not doing what needs to be done. If crops were not reaped on time, there was no seed money for next year. If livestock was left unattended, they were deadstock.
There were few people to blame when things went bad in an agrarian society. It was either the weather or the farmer—or perhaps the government.
Burnout in the church happens because goals and rewards are less clear. Responsibility is something of a roulette wheel. Add to this expectations that are dated or unrealistic or which are no longer desirable and you have a perpetual malaise. Consequences are delayed. Failure can go on for a long time without the congregation taking steps to change things. In fact, not changing things in the face of failure is encouraged.
Pastors can complain of burnout. They may be well-trained and prepared for calls that no longer exist—at least the way they have been taught to expect. When they spend several hours writing a sermon, week after week, that they will deliver to fewer and fewer people, they get discouraged. “Why am I unappreciated?” is the question that must go through their minds. Clergy have other clergy shoulders to cry on.
The same problem plagues the laity. They have fewer places to register their complaints without being judged. Lay people volunteer their time, week after week. They rarely get credit, often face criticism, and have no support system except their family and friends.
The result: a deadend blame game that polarizes the Church. The clergy blame the laity. The laity blame the clergy. The only ones who are happy are the ones who accept the status quo.
The Prevention of Burnout
The church needs to do a better job at supporting both the clergy and the laity.
The problem may be that our whole structure of expectations needs to be turned upside down. We are trying to “do church” the way it has been done for a long time but under very different conditions—both socially and economically.
Things are generally a mess in the mainline church, but dwelling too much on reality is painful. A new church will emerge but it will not resemble the church that is failing.
In the new and emerging church, the pastor will play a different role, concentrating on reaching people where they are — and it is not in church on Sunday morning.
The skills of lay members will be elevated in importance and put to work. Part of the failure of today’s church is that it is relegating enormous and varied lay talent to tightly structured roles that are no longer challenging, necessary or satisfying. The wealth of lay talent is ignored and often seen as in competition with clergy.
Skilled lay leaders —movers and shakers in their communities — are offered few ways to contribute beyond being a lay reader or usher or some other tightly defined task that doesn’t compete with clergy expectations and which pose no rewarding challenges. Lay people of tomorrow’s church will want to know that they are making a difference. If the Church does not allow them to use their skills in service to God, they will find some other place where they can grow and serve.
This is already happening. People are shopping around for ways to give back that have meaning and grow their skills at the same time. There are many other places they can spend their evenings and weekends.
The Emerging Church Will Be Entrepreneurial
The old economic model has already failed — yet we keep measuring success by the offering plate. Congregations that survive to be part of the emerging church will be entrepreneurial. They will have to fund ministry without relying on member contributions.
This is OK! Churches should be serving the people least likely to be able to contribute.
The size of a congregation will mean far less than its reach. Congregations with the greatest influence may be very small indeed.
Clergy will eventually look for calls not by the size of the congregation but by their resourcefulness. Why?
Today the Roman Catholic Cardinals chose a new pope. Pope Francis of Buenos Aires stood on the balcony in St. Peter’s Square and asked for the faithful to join in prayer. He stood in silence for a long moment before saying a word. We are encouraged that the cardinals chose a man known for humility and servanthood and pray, as he requested, that he will nurture such traits among all religious leaders.
Best wishes as the Roman Catholic Church enters a new era.
Another Favorite Story for Artists Through the Ages
There are many depictions of the story of Jesus’ visit to the home of Mary and Martha.
Here are a few, beginning with a straightforward representation of an icon. Icons are for contemplation. Icons present the basic story but leave the interepretation to the viewer.
Seventeenth century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer’s rendition concentrates on the three key figures—Mary, Martha and Jesus. Jesus is being so patient as he explains his view of the situation to Martha. Focusing on the three main characters is a common approach. The biblical account suggests there were many more people present, including Lazarus and the Disciples.
Most artists tell the story in the setting and garb of their own era.
During the age of the still life, many artists put brush to this topic. Here is one by Italian artist Vincenzo Campi. Martha in the kitchen, surrounded by all the wonderful textures of a still life, is the foreground. Are you looking for Mary and Jesus? Pull out your magniying glass and look in the upper left background—behind the dead poultry. Martha sure has her work cut out for her.
Then turn to this modern depiction by Maud Sumner, a 20th century South African artist. Mary is lost in her thoughts. Martha is thinking about the work that needs to be done. Where’s Jesus? That might be him, reflected in the mirror on table. He looks a bit exasperated with both the ladies.
The last image is a touching detail from the story. Jesus’ gesture of love and acceptance comforts the criticized, adoring Mary. Martha is out of the picture.
We talk about servanthood and sacrifice but there is always the temptation to accumulate wealth and prestige.
In order to accumulate wealth and prestige you must make people happy—especially people who already have some wealth and prestige.
These people hold power over the whole Church. They, by virtue of their status, are responsible for the Church’s success—and its failure. Don’t wait for them to admit it.
We are now watching the celebration of power, in its highest Christian form, with the activities in Rome.
But the Roman Catholic Church is not alone. Most church bodies are tempted to organize around power.
It’s funny. All this power doesn’t seem to help the Church grow.
Living within a power structure causes the people of God to look over their shoulders. The smallest idea or initiative, regardless of its potential, is likely to die before it can be tested.
An individual brings an idea to a committee.
The committee has to check with its version of elders.
The elders have to check with the pastor.
The pastor has to check with the bishop.
The bishop doesn’t have time.
Everyone promises to pray.
Nothing happens.
Perhaps one definition of “saint” is a Christian who steps outside this power structure and gets something done.
Your adults are surely familiar with today’s gospel story. Jesus comes to visit Mary and Martha who become indebted to him for resurrecting their dead brother, Lazarus.
Mary sits at Jesus feet and anoints his feet with very expensive perfume. At least one disciple is upset. The narrator of this story, John, does not hold back in letting us know how he feels about Judas.
In comes Martha. While Mary has been doting on Jesus, Martha has been preparing to feed and entertain Jesus and his entourage. Dinner for at least 16—no small feat in the pre-appliance age.
Jesus responds with a lesson in values and priorities.
If you can share this video with your members, please do. Show it in church, during fellowship, or at least include a link in your weekly email newsletter. (You do have a weekly email newsletter, don’t you?).
If you can’t show the video, tell the story. Your object can be a cup of coffee — or two cups of coffee—one paper, plastic or styrofoam cups and one more elegant. You might conduct your own experiment and offer an assortment of cups to your group. You might show the video at coffee fellowship.
Note that the professor in this video serves coffee to his guests after listening to a gripe session. He is not unlike Jesus in this regard. The former students were feeling put upon by the world — like Martha.
This story is not so much about right and wrong as it is about priorities. Weave the video’s message with Jesus’s message about how we determine what is important in our lives. Discuss the viewpoints of each key figure in the story—Jesus, Mary, Martha, Judas, and Lazarus. You might also include the author of this gospel, John. He chooses to tell this story for a reason!
Join Bishop Ruby Kinisa as she visits small churches "under cover" to learn what people would never share if they knew they were talking to their bishop.
Undercover Bishop will always be available in PDF form on 2x2virtualchurch.com for FREE.
Print or Kindle copies are available on Amazon.com.
For bulk copies, please contact 2x2: creation@dca.net.
Contact Info
You can reach
Judy Gotwald,
the moderator of 2x2,
at
creation@dca.net
or 215 605 8774
Redeemer’s Prayer
We were all once strangers, the weakest, the outcasts, until someone came to our defense, included us, empowered us, reconciled us (1 Cor. 2; Eph. 2).
2×2 Sections
Where in the World is 2×2?
On Isaiah 30:15b
Be calm. Wait. Wait. Commit your cause to God. He will make it succeed. Look for Him a little at a time. Wait. Wait. But since this waiting seems long to the flesh and appears like death, the flesh always wavers. But keep faith. Patience will overcome wickedness.
—Martin Luther
