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July 2012

Ambassadors Visit Grace, Wyndmoor

The Redeemer Ambassadors have been busy since Easter in East Falls, but we returned to the road this morning. Several Ambassadors requested a visit to a church they often pass—Grace, Wyndmoor, just a few blocks from the city line.

Grace has a great deal in common with Redeemer. Its cornerstone has 1908 on it. Redeemer’s is 1909. We learned from talking to members that the building had burned in the 1920s. Redeemer, too, suffered a devastating fire at about the same time. We both rebuilt.

One of our Ambassadors was actually very familiar with Grace, having attended the church between 1991 and 1997 and actively supporting the church as a Sunday School and Vacation Bible School teacher. There were more new faces than old after 15 years. Same at Redeemer! Why are other congregations allowed to change, but Redeemer is locked in people’s minds as the same in 1960, 1998, 2005 and 2012?

On this muggy Sunday morning, there were about 35 in attendance. The sanctuary is small and that number filled it nicely.

We were late, regretfully. We read a page on their web site that describes their education program that had a different service time than the one that was on the home page. We shouldn’t have read so far!

But we were greeted warmly and a few remembered the two Redeemer members who were active in their community for six years.

We were aware that Grace’s pastor, the Rev. Carol Ficken, has been an active member of SEPA Synod Council that has been so relentless in trying to destroy Redeemer’s faith community. This made passing the peace during worship a bit awkward. Peace takes more than a handshake.

All the Ambassadors were impressed with the organist who we believe is listed in the bulletin as the Minister of Music, Sheridan Seyfried. His understated presence at the organ may account for the congregation’s strong voice.

We visited their fellowship space, which is nicely appointed. The classrooms surrounding an open hall are decorated to resemble a small village. Having been in the midst of a renovation when SEPA locked our doors, we were able to share with a member what we had done with our ancient kitchen range and oven and discuss the challenges of making basement meeting areas pleasant.

We usually write a letter to the congregations we visit, putting the letter in the offering plate. We are going to start posting our letters here, where we can be sure all members have access.

 

08 Jul 2012

Missing the Main Event in Mission

The Tour de France is hot on the sports news. The TV coverage is beautiful. The commentators describe each day’s course. The cyclists will pedal through the Alps, the Pyrenees, and any number of quaint French villages and a gorgeous countryside. The video shows beautiful flowers cascading over rock ledges, rolling hills and towering mountains. Thousands will line the course attempting to get as close to the racers as allowed, eager to be part of the action.

But how much will the cyclists see? Intent on only one thing—speed, they ride with their tinted goggles pointed toward the macadam right in front of their front tires. If they raise their heads, all but a couple of leaders will see a sea of colorful jerseys and tight black leggings. All else is blocked. Each cyclist makes every attempt to keep anything or anyone from impeding progress toward a pre-assigned finish line.

And the people who line the course . . . will their presence make a difference? Will any action they might take make a difference in the outcome?

When the race is over, the winner will be praised. Most of the riders will be able to say no more than they were there.

Where were they? Following the guy in front of them, oblivious of everything around them.

How much time do we spend in church racing towards a finish line defined by someone else, following a leader with narrow focus, who allows for little or no help from the sidelines, hoping to win all the credit, while missing the main event—the beauty of God’s creation and the people and places God calls us to serve?

photo credit: Yug_and_her via photo pin cc
07 Jul 2012

Why Creative People Don’t Go to Church

The Church has fostered some brilliant creative minds. Martin Luther and Johann Sebastian Bach are ancient examples in the Lutheran tradition. Modern Lutherans even like to take credit for Steve Jobs. His boundless creativity outlived his association with the denomination.

He was probably not alone. The Church is starting to recognize that creativity might be needed to meet the challenges of mission in today’s world. But old habits die hard.

At the heart of creativity is the ability to solve problems. You’d think the Church would be clamoring for creative minds!

Churches like to talk about rebirth and transformation. These desirable qualities will only take root if creativity can blossom. Too often the lauded rebirths and transformations are short-lived. That’s probably because they were engineered for short-term success—an ephemeral way to meet old-fashioned goals—not the product of true creative thinking. “Look, we’ve done the same thing we’ve done for a hundred years one more time!”

Creative thinkers soak up ideas from anywhere and everywhere. They have to surround themselves with things, ideas and people who are different. It is as necessary to their existence as water.

Creative people juxtapose the eclectic. They find in the clash of differences the spark that launches the new. They are usually surprised that other people can’t see what they see — at least at first.

Creative people who insist on using their gifts are often a threat to the status quo and seen as unable to “get along.” Getting along is important to church leaders. Often the discomfort at the presence of friction is a startling revelation to the creative mind. They thrive on friction.

What does the Church do with creative minds? We tend to give them jobs that display talent but not creativity. They become, for example, pastors who do the pastor thing or the organists who do the organist thing. What the Church is looking for is people who can fill jobs they have already defined, sometimes with exceptional flair, but often, just so-so is just fine.

Revelation: some creative people can’t preach or play the organ! These are skills. Creativity is its own skill.

Consequently, change comes about very, very slowly. The temptation to revert to old ways at the first sign of creative discomfort is a magnet. Put a drum set next to the organ, but don’t get rid of the organ!

Creativity is always a bit discomforting!

That’s why creative people don’t go to church. What is most important to them as part of God’s creation is of little value.

06 Jul 2012

Statistics and What They Mean in the Church

Albert Einstein had a sign posted in his Princeton office:

Not everything that counts
can be counted, 
and not everything
that can be counted
counts.

Tweet this!

This is precisely the dilemma facing the modern church. We faithfully count the people who are in church on Sunday morning, the amount they give — even the number of times they receive the Eucharist.

We do not count the people who are not in church, the work and spirit offered by those who cannot give money, and the good will distributed beyond the sanctuary. They are important, too!

Good news! It’s possible to value both.

05 Jul 2012

Adult Object Lesson for July 8: Go 2×2 and Travel Light!

Mark 6:1-13 reveals the part of mission work with which we are all fear: REJECTION.

The passage begins with Jesus receiving criticism from those who knew him best, his neighbors. Jesus was not unaffected. He had a hard time doing more than a few healing miracles among his own people. It ends with Jesus sending the disciples out into the same hostile world. They are to go 2×2. They are to carry nothing but a walking stick.

The plan is not very inviting. Few today would accept such a call. It would be considered economically unfeasible.

Use a small suitcase or sports bag. Pack it with a few travel essentials: razor/toiletries,  extra set of clothes, bottle of water, a couple of power bars, a wallet with money.

Talk about going on a mission trip. Read Jesus instructions from verses 8 and 9.

Slowly unpack the suitcase or duffel as you read the list of forbidden items from scripture. Soon your bag will be empty.

Talk about Jesus sending the disciples out to do his work with nothing but a staff to lean on. Ask church members why He might have taken this approach. What would be the benefits or impediments? Give them time to think about this.

Finish the sermon by latching or zipping up the empty bag and taking a quick walk around the sanctuary greeting a few people with a paraphrase of the scripture verse from the accompanying Epistle lesson: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10.

  • God’s grace is sufficient.
  • In our weakness we are made strong.
  • Be content with hardship for Christ’s sake.
photo credit: dbtelford via photo pin cc
05 Jul 2012

Where the Bill of Rights Fails

Freedom to Be Oppressed by Your Religion

America was founded on the principle of Freedom of Religion. Early settlers came to escape state oppression of the emerging sects in Europe. Over the centuries, many faiths have sought refuge on American soil.

The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion.

The legal system lives in fear of stepping on the exercise of religion. In recent court decisions they have gone so far as to determine that religious groups do not have to follow their own rules. That opens a new door. The leaders of religion can themselves become lawless oppressors.

That is the result of a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that determined the case brought by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA against a member church (Redeemer, East Falls, Philadelphia) could not be heard. Yes, they brought a case against a member church and then argued that the case they brought should not be heard.

The court gave SEPA Synod a victory by default —not based on evidence. They determined that it was up to the denomination to police its own rules. Fat chance.

A strong dissenting opinion concluded that if the law is applied, Redeemer’s arguments deserve a hearing. How are members of faith communities to assume that the laws they agreed to upon joining the community mean nothing?

That creates a very real problem for all the faithful. If constitutions agreed upon by religious groups when they go to the legal trouble of incorporating mean nothing, then faith communities are faced with potential lawlessness. The laity are sitting ducks for potential abuse. Clergy will run.

Faith communities can expect to be victimized by hierarchy. It is happening with greater frequency. The conflicts are usually about the value of real estate — not doctrine. Within the ELCA there are several cases of “hostile” takeovers—raids in the middle of the night or by stealth and deceit. One bishop, anticipating trouble, went so far as to call ahead to the sheriff and police department and warn them to expect a call from church members, but that they were allowed to change the church locks.

It is not the Church’s finest hour. As proven by Redeemer’s experience, Church leadership will not hesitate to use their protected status to tyrannize their members — those with the least power, the laity. You won’t read much about this on the pages of The Lutheran.

“I have the power,” Bishop Burkat was heard to say as she prepared to raid Redeemer. If so, it is a power allowed by courts side-stepping the issues. It is not a power given by the ELCA constitutions/articles of incorporation or by God.

It’s legal because the law exempts the church. Perhaps there is hope.

The law has finally stepped in on the Roman Catholic Church and its handling of crimes within its ranks—but not before a great deal of damage was done to both victims and the Church.

On this Independence Day, it is worth noting that the Bill of Rights does not protect the members of faith communities from the abuses of their own leaders. This can be stopped by the members of the faith community, but experience is proving that the religious don’t care unless they are directly affected. They are free to use other provisions of the Bill of Rights such as Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly. Odds, in the current atmosphere, are against it.

What a waste of the First Amendment.

04 Jul 2012

For God and Country

Redeemer traditionally closed worship on the first Sunday in July with a patriotic hymn sing. Visitors often confessed they knew only the first verses of most of the patriotic hymns and hadn’t sung them since their school days.

Somewhere in recent history it became politically incorrect to mix love of God and country. To most service men and women, it is hard to separate the two. Faith in God gives them the courage to face patriotic duty that might bring them at any moment before their Maker.

Such courage is needed outside of war as well. Important battles are fought every day—in homes, offices, schools, communities and churches—without guns and armor.

Perhaps a God-driven sense of patriotism is less understood today since the armed services are now voluntary. It is less common for young people to sacrifice two to four years of their lives in service to their country.

Parishioners—who may have spent months of their youth in cold, muddy trenches dug in foreign soil—watch pastors who never laced a boot carry the nation’s flag from sanctuaries.

Sanctuaries are for worshiping God, not country. The flag must be removed. Patriotism and religion will not mix.

There is little point in arguing that God and patriotism mix often in the Bible. Back in the day, the leaders of God’s people moved seamlessly between the altar and the battlefield.

It has been possible for Christians — and other faiths — to blend their love of God and country.  There may be no connection, but churches were fuller in the days when they did.

Today and next Sunday, sing the hymns of faith.

Here are a few:

My Country, Tis of Thee

America, the Beautiful

The Star-Spangled Banner The fourth verse especially: Blessed with victory and peace, may this heaven-rescued land praise the power that made and preserved us a nation.

God Bless America

Faith of Our Fathers

The Battle-Hymn of the Republic

03 Jul 2012

Settled Pastors and Unsettling Mission Goals

Settled Pastors vs Interim Pastors

Traditionally, it is a goal of church management to foster long-term bonds between a congregation and one leader. These long-term pastors are called “settled” pastors.

That a settled pastor is desirable or necessary for a healthy congregation has been a relatively unchallenged concept.

Expectations are in conflict with reality from the start. The length of most pastorates is less than seven years.

Unrealistic expectations may be a root source of decline in the church.

Settled pastors evoke a caretaker image. You have a community of people who go happily about their lives, knowing that a pastor will be there to nurture the young, guide critical life decisions, celebrate life passages and hold hands in times of crisis.

But so much involving church mission is unsettling. Mission requires leaders who can strategize for change, respond to a crisis (the earlier the better), introduce the unfamiliar and shake a congregation’s sense of complacency.

The Church’s desire for long-term pastorates has created a new job title—the interim pastor.

The concept of interim ministry is to provide short-term leadership—which in the Church can mean one or two years—to help a congregation assess their ministry as they seek a new long-term pastor. Does it make sense to place a pastor for one or two years to prepare a congregation for a pastor who is likely to stay only three or four years?

Interim ministry is described as a time for putting aside affection for a departed long-term pastor (they actually use the term “grieving,”), restructuring and goal-setting.

Affection for a pastor is assumed by Church leaders. You can only measure the people who come to church. Even the best church analysts cannot count the people who stay home because of dislike or opposition to a pastor. Yet, this is a real part of congregational dynamics. So while Church leaders assume the congregation is grieving there may be a strong faction that is welcoming change and raring to go!

The concept of interim ministry was first fashioned to deal with congregations who face unexpected change in leadership (sudden death of a pastor, pastoral wrong-doing, or church conflict). It has grown to become almost compulsory.

This managerial goal may be in conflict with a congregation’s ultimate goal — mission. The Church exists in community to worship and serve God.

In a world where communities are totally restructured every decade or less, seeking a settled pastor may be undesirable, if not impossible. Yet, we still expect it, leading to a broad misconception that if a congregation has a series of short-term pastors that there is something “wrong” with the congregation. Short-term pastorates may actually be a sign of vitality!

The modern church must train all pastors in “transition” skills.

Maybe the new expectation of congregations should be mission-oriented, short-term pastors. After all, every pastor is interim — some just longer than others!

2×2 is happy to note that others are questioning interim ministry, too. Read the discussion at Alban Institute Roundtable.

03 Jul 2012

A Tale of Two Churches in SEPA Synod, ELCA

East Lansdowne — East Falls

Today there was a celebration in East Lansdowne, a Philadelphia suburb.

Over the past seven years, the aging Lutheran congregation, Immanuel, found new life by hosting a community of African immigrants led by a pastor, who himself had immigrated from Liberia.

They named their community Faith.

Today they officially merged with the remnants of Immanuel to become Faith Immanuel. Congratulations to the new congregation, its lay leaders, and Pastor Moses Suah-Dennis.

Tuesday’s Inquirer carries the story and quotes the previous bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod (SEPA), the Rev. Roy Almquist, who is ready—even in retirement—to take credit for the new congregation.

In a telling quote he reveals SEPA policy.

“Under normal circumstances, you would close a church that size,” Almquist said. “But they were determined not to close. They wanted to find a way for their church to minister in a changing neighborhood.”

He does not say who the “you” is who would close the small church. Constitutionally, it is the congregation itself that must vote to close.

In 2005, as Bishop Almquist was nearing the end of his second term, he recommended the arrangement which lead to the congregation’s merger.

At the same time, there were other opportunities beating relentlessly on his door that he just plain ignored. His inaction has been costly to his synod and to the neighborhood of East Falls.

East Lansdowne’s story is similar to that of Redeemer, less than ten miles away. The only difference is that Redeemer did not have to come crawling to SEPA, begging for help. In fact, Redeemer had more money than SEPA at the time Bishop Almquist was trying to help little Immanuel. In 2005 —and much of Bishop Almquist’s two terms — SEPA was in severe financial crisis.

Redeemer was every bit as passionate about “staying open” and had nearly four times as many members as Immanuel. Why help East Lansdowne and refuse basic services to Redeemer?

Redeemer had received a large bequest in the late 1980s and SEPA had eyes for it, actually withdrawing $90,000 from our bank account in 1998. Redeemer protested.

This conflict was unnecessary and fateful. Redeemer was left with a reputation of being “trouble.” Few Lutherans take the time to analyze the source of the trouble or to ask themselves what they might do if the Synod visited their bank without their knowledge.

SEPA returned the money (after two years of needless conflict with Redeemer) but refused to serve the congregation from that point on. Their strategy was to wait for Redeemer to die a natural death. Bishop Almquist’s message was clear: Do things my way or else. Redeemer was shunned.

Bishop Almquist refused to help the congregation find a pastor to call. Redeemer was left to fend for itself.

The rest of the story is not at all unlike Immanuel’s. Immigrants from East Africa began to join the little neighborhood church—first one family, then extended family, then friends. Redeemer found two pastors, both from Africa, willing to serve the congregation.

Having received 49 new members with many more interested, Redeemer approached the new bishop, Claire Burkat, and asked to call one of the pastors.

Bishop Burkat’s head was buried in Bishop Almquist’s play book. She took no time to consider that things might have changed since Bishop Almquist deserted his duty in East Falls.

She reviewed our reports with prejudice fueled by a six-figure deficit budget. She decided that only our white members should be counted. She assigned trustees who reported falsely that the congregation had just 13 members. (In court they are trying to hold us to a quorum for more than 70.)

Bishop Burkat pontificated, “White Redeemer must be allowed to die. Black Redeemer, we can put them anywhere.” Destroying Redeemer was the priority — not mission.  She set things in motion to force the church to close. It has now been locked for nearly three years.

Why not reward success?

The answer: SEPA was passing massive deficit budgets fairly routinely, relying on closing churches, seizing assets and selling property to make up shortfalls. Redeemer was known to have money and a valuable property.

We celebrate the successful union of Faith and Immanuel and wish them the best.

However, a wise church would also review its failures. The concurrent neglect and harmful policies practiced in East Falls are routinely swept under the rug as if the mess was all the fault of the people. This is wrong and innately dishonest.

01 Jul 2012