August 2012

Early Christians moved the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday as a reminder that the joy of Easter is central to worship. Accordingly, the 40 days of Lent exclude Sundays. Every Sunday is a celebration of Easter.

Joy, in worship, is often overlooked. How can we restore joy to worship and congregational life?

An atmosphere of joy is more than choosing joyful hymns or planning occasional festivities.

A joyful congregation is one whose members

• look forward to attending — at every age level.
• know they are safe from ridicule and criticism.
• feel their voices raised in praise will be heard.
• are excited to contribute in many and different ways.
• are proud to talk about their church during the week.
• feel comfortable inviting friends.

A joyful church is one in which visitors

• leave knowing that they are welcome.
• can visualize being part of.
• are eager to share their experiences with friends and family.
• look forward to returning.

Church people have a tendency to create rules for one another and dwell on human shortcomings, making joy difficult.

One unnecessary “rule” is the “sealing of Alleluias,” where members are discouraged from repeating the biblical word of praise during Lent, forgetting that every Sunday is a celebration of Easter.

The leader of a traveling American boychoir of professional quality talked about his experience touring with 65 boys in other countries.

A director of a host boychoir walked into a rehearsal where boys were energetically gabbing between numbers they were rehearsing.

The host director was taken aback. “I would never allow that lack of discipline in my choir,” he commented.

The American director was ready with a response. “We want our boys to give joyful performances. If you want joyful performances, rehearsals must also be joyful. The boys concentrate when they need to.” To illustrate his point he picked up his baton and the boys refocused with ease.

Joy cannot survive constraint. It must be expressed.

The 1984 Olympics were held in Los Angeles. During the opening ceremony, 200 countries marched into the Colosseum, following their countries’ flags in tight, almost military, formation. The USA team as hosts were the last to enter the Colosseum. They spilled into the arena to the roar of the crowd with unfettered joy. Years later athletes from other countries commented on how that joyful moment, which broke with all convention, inspired them. That’s the power of joy.

One of the churches Redeemer Ambassadors visited had an unusually large choir for its attendance. About 20% of those present were robed and singing. (Most churches we visit have no choir at all.) One choir member spoke to us after church. She talked about how much fun they have at rehearsals.  It showed on Sunday morning.

That’s the kind of atmosphere churches need to foster. Church work doesn’t have to be martyrdom. It should be a pleasure. Find leaders who can lead with joy. Let the “alleluias” flow!

photo credit: Pensiero via photo pin cc

The cauldron of the London Olympic games was beautiful—a pleasure to view even far away on television. It outshone the Olympics itself!

It was comprised of copper petals, carried into the stadium by children of the world and assembled to be lit not by one famous athlete but by seven child athletes whose names will be remembered—at least for the time being—by only their families and friends. The children are left to dream of the day when they might compete and their story might be recalled. “She was one of the seven children to light the cauldron in 2012.” Such is the thing of dreams.

For all its beauty, the cauldron debuted to criticism. It wasn’t what people expected. It wasn’t big enough. It didn’t tower over the games. Where was the power? Where was the big statement?

Criticism waned as the games were played. It’s beauty overpowered the nitpicking. The petals grew on us!

The cauldron story usually ends when it is extinguished. But this Olympic Cauldron will live on all over the world as the petals are disassembled and sent home to each participating country.

It was never one big urn of fire—the same but a little bigger than the games of previous years. It was the assembly of individual flames that gave it power and beauty. It was powerful because it was  thought through beyond the power of big. It will live in memory far longer than the cauldrons that were attempts at the colossal.

Well done, London.

You do not become a “dissident” just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of society. —Václav Havel—Living in Truth, 1986

The members of Redeemer have been living the unhappy lives of “dissidents” for the last five years. Redeemer members were forging a new ministry, doing what we thought was right (as the most recent judge pointed out to Synod). We were cast out and attacked by the Church to which we were and remain faithful.

The ELCA has created its own little world complete with its own rules—made, revised, and broken with regular and accepted ease. It has claimed immunity from the law, which might force it to follow its own rules. Meanwhile, it uses the law against its members.

It has become a lethargic source of benevolence, existing primarily to support itself, coat-tailing the efforts of secular organizations, with diminished vision and no sense that it actually can be a force for good—if it dares.

ELCA Congregations and their regional bodies are constitutionally interdependent. Consequently, each congregation has its own little culture — which one might think leads to diversity. It doesn’t.

Congregations are in many ways clones of one another. They hold worship services which are similar, become involved in similar causes in the community, acquire professional leadership with the same training. Some are larger than others. Some are more effective than others. Size has little to do with effectiveness.

In the world of the ELCA all is happy — the better to attract new members and create economic stability to attract people to professional service. The relationship between congregations and regional bodies is often little more than employer/employment agency.

When things go wrong, the true character of the Church becomes evident.

The ship of the ELCA has no keel. When rough waters threaten there is no leadership to steady it. Taking a stand might be politically dangerous, threatening a leader’s value to the employment agency.

In recent years, the domination lost 10% of its congregations in a doctrinal dispute. Church leaders remained relatively silent. The response: revise the rules to make it harder for congregations to leave.

Tough economic times have brought out the worst in Church leadership.

In the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod (SEPA) and several others, church leaders have been running roughshod over member churches to acquire property and wealth. Similar stories emerge from several synods.

Congregations have, for the most part, remained silent as their regional bodies attack sister congregations. This may seem like the safe route, but it leaves all church members vulnerable. All the resources of 150 or more congregations are available to attack an individual congregation. The attackers control the forums for appeal making the efforts at democratic involvement ludicrous.

Those who challenge are labeled and attacked personally to discourage others from taking a stand. The attacks continue long after there is any hope of further monetary gain. Hatefulness defies reason.

Havel wrote about this too.

Some people have the souls of collaborators and others the souls of resisters. Collaborators aren’t simply the active supporters of a system’s oppressions. They are everyone who tacitly accepts injustice without a murmur. They confirm the system, fulfill the system, and validate the system; they are the system.

We, the unintentional dissidents of SEPA Synod, visit church after church that voted against their own governing documents to take our property by force. From pulpit after pulpit, we hear Scripture that teaches that treating one another so hatefully is wrong. We listen to sermon after sermon, explaining the scriptures correctly. Failure to seek peace, reconcile and forgive is wrong.

We see no one able to act.