Today’s object lesson is one of the most famous American paintings of Christ. Warner Sallman, a commercial artist in Chicago, painted several religious paintings in the early 1900s that are universally part of our faith imagery.
One of these is Christ Knocking at Heart’s Door.
This week turns the table on the Adult Object Lesson of a few weeks ago. In that lesson the Scripture had us knocking on Christ’s door. Now we are asked to listen for Christ’s knock on our door.
Many churches have a print of this painting hanging somewhere in their church.
It never hurts to point out a few things about the painting.
Christ is standing among the briars and thistles of the world.
A major light source of the painting is Christ’s heart.
The door between us is solid but there is a grill for us to see through. We can check things out before we open the door.
The door has no handle. We must open the door from the inside.
A discussion of this painting goes nicely with this week’s gospel which ends by placing a good bit of the responsibility for our relationship with Christ squarely on our shoulders.
“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
You can use the song Someone’s Knocking at Your Door to accompany this lesson.
Or you can use “Into My Heart”
Into my heart, Into my heart
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus
Come in today, Come in to stay
Come in to my heart, Lord Jesus
Why Congregations Must Own Their Ministries (and that includes property).
Part 1
A long time ago there was a church that had lost its way. It had many members. Almost every person in every city and hamlet belonged.
Each town had its own monument to God. These monuments were built by the people. The land was likely part of a tract of land provided by a local baron, who might have received his land as a reward for a winning role in a crusade.
The people built the resulting church or cathedral. Some laid the foundations and built the walls, some designed windows of rainbow beauty. Others made the hardware that hung the doors and secured the roof. Others carved the pews and illustrated the stories of their faith on the wall. Still others waited until the roof was complete to install the musical instruments for their best musicians to play.
And then there were the women who kept the homes going, the workers fed, the linens woven and held the hands of the many children they brought through its doors. It took several generations to make these splendid monuments to God.
These monuments became extensions of their homes. They were nurtured at their altars in their youth, strengthened through the years, and comforted in their old age.
They loved the buildings and what they meant to them, but they did not own them.
Absentee Landlords
Their churches were owned and controlled by leaders, far away on the other side of formidable mountains.
Church officials did not trust the people to own their own buildings. Their work was acceptable to God, but it was owned and controlled by hierarchy which tended to appoint and elect people who would comply and obey.
What was presented to the glory of God was used to glorify Man.
This system worked very well as long as everyone agreed on everything and there were enough people willing to enter lives of total compliance to sustain the structure. For centuries most people’s choices in life were made for them by the station of their birth. Change was seldom seen and challenges came from outside the faith.
Things Started to Change
Suddenly, the challenges of this lifestyle came not from infidels but from the faithful. How would the Church handle its own dissenters?
The knowledgeable religious began to see that sole ownership of the church by a corporate office in Rome was abusing the faithful. The Church had become a vehicle for personal advancement. Expensive lifestyles were sustained with the sacrifices of much poorer people. They were being gouged— charged even for prayer.
People wanted to believe that the Church they loved had their best interests in mind. They relied on trust—most messages from their leaders were delivered in a foreign tongue.
Then came Martin Luther and Gutenberg (among others).
He told them what was going on in their own language.
His printed message spread across Europe, uncensored by the Church for the first time.
Many of the faithful were kicked out.
Lucky! For the first time, they had some place to go!
The Church in a New Land
Many traveled to a New Land where immeasurable property was newly available. For the first time the people could actually own the property they donated and the buildings they raised. They could affiliate with a Church later.
The old system still exists today. It is failing fast. The Roman Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church still own all church property. Both bodies are closing churches at a record pace. The Episcopal Church is fighting many court battles over property. The Roman Catholic is being eaten alive in our area by the clergy sexual abuse scandals.
Some of this is because of the failing support and lawsuits. Some is control of their people. Disagree with the Church. We will take the property you built and paid for.
The Lutheran Church and other Protestant Churches, grounded more firmly in the spirit of the Reformation and growing in a new land, did not attempt to accumulate property for the benefit of a corporate church. There would be no grand collections of art and treasuries to collect the sacrificial offerings of the faithful for the benefit of clergy. We had left that thinking behind.
Protestant Churches of many sects prospered under this new system.
Early Lutherans in the New World forbade church hierarchy from owning property. They wanted to ensure that the officials of the church existed to serve not accumulate wealth.
But today the church is in trouble again. The Lutherans spent a good part of recent decades trying to unite with the Episcopal Church. They are now proudly in Full Communion (minus the long list of exceptions and disclaimers that follow the documents that most people don’t read). Full communion, sort of.
One reason today’s Lutheran bishops are comfortable claiming congregational property is this new association with Episcopal Church. In doing so, they are reverting to pre-Reformation thinking—the thrilling days of yesteryear when hierarchy controlled more than they led.
We’ll look at what this means for today’s Lutherans in an upcoming post.
Recent Old Testament lessons in the Revised Common Lectionary have been featuring the story of Abraham and his family. In the Judeo-Christian tradition this features Sarah and their son, Isaac.
Abraham’s life is foundational in the relationship we have with God today. It is also foundational to great friction which has much of the world dancing on eggshells today.
God kept his promise to build a great people from the seed of an old man and woman. With all those children there is bound to be some sibling rivalry.
There are several great Abraham and Sarah stories. There are
the visit from three angels who announce God’s intention to provide an heir
Sarah’s willingness to encourage other unions to produce an heir
the birth of Isaac
the sacrifice and salvation of Isaac
All of these are subplots to God’s demand that Abraham uproot his little empire and travel to a new land. He will not be the father of a great nation in Ur.
Today’s artistic choices are by contemporary artists. Each focuses on the elderly Abraham holding newborn Isaac in his arm. This new nation will be built upon love.
Here is another contemporary work by Tom White. It is a bronze sculpture of the same subject. The joy of sculpture is dimension. Every angle tells a slightly different story. Visit Tom White Studios.
To remind us that this story is part of an epic, we’ll include this painting from 1880 by Jozsef-Molnar. There’s a lot going on here. Sometimes we forget that because we can read the story of Abraham in one sitting that it all took place quickly.
The move from Ur to start a new nation was an act of faith, love and courage for all of Abraham’s household. It was likely to have been a logistical nightmare with only the incredible and unlikely promises of God as a reward.
We live today in the shadow of this great movement. You see, there was this other son of Abraham.
In yesterday’s post we talked about Bishop Claire Burkat’s tactic of bypassing clergy and church council leadership and taking issues dear to her heart directly to the congregation, who under the circumstances would be voting having witnessed the horrific treatment of their leaders.
Although this is always presented as democratic, it is a violation of church structure and a form of bullying. Sue the leaders; then ask others, whose collective knowledge of church procedure is likely to be low, to do the voting. (And if that doesn’t work, just issue an edict.)
It’s an irritating problem for church leaders. When pride and power reign and the possibility that you won’t make payroll looms on the horizon, it’s worth a try—constitutional or not. Bishop Almquist had tried it before at Redeemer (and failed).
This first Sunday of the month, as Redeemer heads out to worship in our own community, passing our locked church building (now equipped for the first time in its history with a security system), on our way to meet in the upper room of a local theater, we can’t help but wonder:
What would happen if SEPA bypassed the bishop, Synod Council and Synod Assembly and took the issue of Redeemer directly to the people of SEPA Synod?
Same strategy. Who knows what the results would be?
No worries.
It will never happen. Bishop Burkat would never stand for such a violation of church procedure. 😉
First eliminate clergy from the congregation. Wait for a change or force a change.
Second, cut the lay leadership down to size or eliminate them entirely.
Today’s post is about the third part of the Strategy—dealing with the congregation.
When both Bishop Almquist and Bishop Burkat decided to go directly to the people of the congregation they did so with an air of democracy. They were taking an issue directly to the people. Noble-sounding, indeed.
They were really manipulating the situation, using the congregation, and side-stepping the constitution.
The people they were approaching had followed their constitutions and elected leaders to—well—provide leadership. These leaders were authorized by the congregation to speak for them.
The pastor, too, had been called and could represent the congregation if he or she had the backbone.
The congregation doesn’t expect to be called together to deal with the regional body. They aren’t prepared and their interests have wide range—much of it personal, not corporate in nature. Leaders do a better job of sifting through the layers of congregational life to represent the “whole” people.
The bishop knows this. That’s why she needed these levels of leadership gone!
Redeemer knows it too. We have experienced it with both Bishop Almquist and Bishop Burkat.
In truth the congregation was being called together because the bishop and regional body knew that what they were proposing was not likely to be approved by the elected and called leaders of the church.
In Redeemer’s case, the congregation had just witnessed the inexplicable disappearance of pastors they had invested in both monetarily and emotionally.
This was followed by disregard and disrespect of the leaders they elected to act in their interest. One church council member who had approached a Synod Council member on the congregation’s behalf had already been threatened. “Get out while the getting is good. We have no intention of negotiating with you.”
Now synod leadership was coming to them!
The message was clear: Vote our way or else.
Of course, the congregation was intimidated.
This was actually voiced by Redeemer members during Bishop Almquist’s tenure. When he called for a THIRD vote on a call question, the people said, “If we don’t vote the way he wants, he’ll shut us down for sure.” Fear would have controlled the situation, not reason.
Redeemer recovered from that time with able lay leadership taking the time to heal the congregation.
But in 2007, under Bishop Burkat, the Synod was resurrecting the same familiar tactics.
Bishops do not have the right to call congregational meetings. If they want to meet with congregations they are supposed to work with local leadership in doing so. That’s the way the constitutions are written.
Bishop Burkat never asked the local leaders for suggested meeting times. She just wrote letters saying she was coming. In her world, lay people are waiting for her to find a convenient time to pay attention to them once every decade or so.
The first time she tried this, in September 2007, she chose the local back-to-school night. Redeemer members decided they wanted to attend their children’s back to school events.
This was interpreted as resistance.
When we finally met in November, the meeting went very well. Bishop Burkat agreed to review our ministry plan and resolution to call a pastor. She promised we could work with the newly appointed Patricia Davenport. “You will love working with her,” she told us.
We were never given the opportunity. Bishop Burkat broke the promises made to us in her only meeting with our leaders.
Once again, Bishop Burkat scheduled a visit to Redeemer with no consultation with the congregation. This time she chose the Sunday of our Annual Meeting and luncheon and an afternoon birthday party for our pastor.
First, she announced the outcome of the meeting before the meeting was held. She was closing Redeemer with no congregational vote or consultation. NONE!
We informed her immediately upon notice that the date wouldn’t work. We reinforced this by email, fax and letter. We had hoped that she would meet with our leaders and work through any issues. But then NO issues had been raised.
The fabricated report that was read at Synod Assembly was written just a few days before Synod Assembly, three months after this. It was NEVER shared with Redeemer. It was inaccurate and untrue and would not have withstood scrutiny.
What happened at Redeemer was a property grab facilitated by pure bullying. It set the stage for all litigation.
Not exactly the atmosphere for an honest congregational vote.
Bishop Burkat was embarrassed that her plan to lock us out that day was thwarted in front of her company of witnesses. Any reasonable person could not have imagined it going any other way—but then they thought no one from Redeemer would be present. They could change the locks and surprise us the next Sunday when we all arrived for worship.
Had Bishop Burkat respected our leaders, this embarrassment would never have happened. Every subsequent action was face-saving and vindictive.
Bishop Burkat boasts of empowering laity. We have seen the opposite in her dealings with our congregation. Empowered laity are laity who comply.
Next: We will examine why Lutheran congregations own their own property.
This is the second post in a series that revisits the last five years of court actions involving the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (SEPA / ELCA) and member church, Redeemer in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pa.
Understanding the Legalities
Five years of costly and hateful litigation have shed little light on the legalities of the land grab in East Falls.
The courts are far from united in the various rulings in all the cases of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America against member church Redeemer in the East Falls neighborhood and carefully selected members of the congregation.
The early rulings were that courts have no jurisdiction in church affairs.
This first ruling was upheld by a split decision of the Pennsylvania Appellate Court. Two dissenting judges strongly supported Redeemer. If the law were applied, they concluded, Redeemer should be heard.
Keep in mind that all this litigation was just about HEARING the case. It has never been heard.
A similar case WAS heard at the very same time involving a Presbyterian denomination and a member congregation in western Pennsylvania. That judge took five days to hear the case and ruled in favor of the congregation. The ruling came five days after the Redeemer “no jurisdiction” ruling. This decision has held through the appellate process and was last heard at the state supreme level this April with a decision due any day.
SEPA wasn’t satisfied with their default win. They wanted Redeemer to pay more. They went after individual members.
They held the cards now and they fixed the deck. The ace up their sleeve is “Contempt of Court.”
Synod locked the members of Redeemer out of the church within 36 hours of the ruling. Redeemer members had no access to anything in the church. Synod (again with no consultation with Redeemer members) sued members for contempt of court for not supplying things we still think ARE IN the church.
If they couldn’t find something they were looking for, they could have asked. But no! Straight to litigation where they are immune from the law and church members are not.
Redeemer members are in the position of not being able to prove that the items are in the church building.
Note to other SEPA congregations: They are likely to use this tactic again. Protect your church leaders now.
In the Redeemer case, subsequent judges have shown growing sympathy for Redeemer.
First, let’s ask, Where were the clergy?
Clergy fled at the first sign of trouble.
The pastor who had been serving us for nearly two years when Bishop Burkat was elected and who was well-liked, disappeared after a private meeting with Bishop Burkat and a congregation (Epiphany) who had been in covenant with Redeemer and was sharing our building. That church never discussed breaking the covenant with us, but after a private meeting with the bishop, they announced they were closing. The pastor gave 10 days notice by email (not the constitutional 30 days notice.) He never planned to talk with us about his decision. He left the Synod.
Epiphany continued to share Redeemer’s property outside of the covenant for six months, rent free. They were never locked out!
Redeemer found a pastor to replace him. Redeemer hand-delivered to Bishop Burkat the congregation’s resolution to call him in November 2007. In February 2008, he had just encouraged Redeemer members to “stand firm” in our ministry. He visited the bishop’s office hoping to talk things through.
This pastor had shared with us that he had been trying to talk to the synod for a year and couldn’t get a return call or a response to correspondence. (We had the same experience!).
So now he goes to talk to the Synod about serving Redeemer.
He never sets foot inside Redeemer again.
He suddenly has an interim call in Bucks County.
Clergy are out of the way.
Next. Lay leaders.
Let’s make this quick! All lay leaders, having had no hearing with Bishop Burkat on the subject of closing the church, were dismissed by letter from the bishop in February 2008. She had promised to work with us just four months earlier at a meeting which closing the church had not been discussed. No grounds were ever cited.
OK, lay leaders are out of the way.
There is still the congregation to deal with.
We’ll tell you how that went in our next post.
Hint: Any claim that there was a process of mutual discernment is a lie.
Why do people rob banks? That’s where the money is. Why should churches use social media? That’s where the people are.
The web is the most powerful medium the Church does not use.
The web is no longer new. It’s been part of our lives for 20 years. With each passing year it is more integral to our society and lifestyle. And still a good number of churches have NO web site—not even a billboard presence.
The majority of churches WITH web sites don’t use them for anything but posting the most basic parish information. They are narcissistic. “We’re great! Come to us!”
It is not unusual to hear older people argue, “I don’t do computers. I’m not going to learn. I don’t want to spend the money.” It is often followed with, “Do you mind looking this up for me?”
Apologizing for not using computers is like explaining that you don’t brush your teeth.
There is no excuse.
Any arguments will fall on modern ears like this:
You don’t have a web site. That means you aren’t serious about your mission. Why should anyone take a second look at your ministry?
The web is how you reach people in today’s world. It may be the only hope for smaller congregations. Done correctly, it’s not a “Hail Mary” by any means.Done correctly it can be the catalyst of a whole new ministry. There are some basic questions to ask before you commit to a web presence or revise the site you now have.
Who do you hope to reach? If you are hoping to communicate only with members, you are wasting your time. You have the ability to reach thousands of people you never thought might find their way to your pages, but who do you see as your audience?
How are you going to announce your presence and spread the word? Turn to your members—especially your younger members. You will need them. (Knowing they are important to mission beyond their pocketbooks will boost morale.)
How are you going to respond to your online community?
What will appeal to your prospective readers visually and content-wise? Looks matter on the web. If your site is crafted in awkward HTML , it broadcasts that you are not serious or knowledgable. This does not mean you need tons of training or that you need to hire an intermediary. It is VERY possible to look very professional with only a day’s experience.
What do you expect visitors to get out of your site? Do you expect them to take any action? You have to ask them!
How do you want them to feel when they leave?
If your web site is nothing more than a list of worship opportunities and a list of staff these are not concerns for you. But if this is the type of site you have today, you are squandering a valuable resource.
Here’s our experience. Keep in mind as you read this that our regional body considered our ministry dead. We had no professional support and dealt daily with hierarchical hostility. All our property and monetary assets had been seized. Any church reading this is going to be in a stronger position than we were in!
Redeemer’s Social Media Ongoing Adventure-2×2
2×2 started this experimental site in February 2011—about a year after our regional body took our property and locked our members out. The Holy Spirit knows its way around locks!
Our property had already been empty for 16 months. We had been meeting in members’ homes, which was frustrating because we felt isolated and unable to serve as we had been. (Isolating us was part of the power game.)
We had a pretty comprehensive mission plan before all this happened. We revised it.
We no longer had a physical site we could invite people to visit, so we made the web site as welcoming as possible.
We built on our strengths. Redeemer worship was very inclusive and somewhat innovative. We had minimal pastoral presence for decades and had learned to do many things as lay workers. We expanded on this experience, drafting ideas for small church worship.
We began offering the same types of resources we shared weekly in our worship. Art. Music. Poetry. Plays. Worship ideas.
Since we were exploring Social Media, we reported regularly on our Social Media experiment and sharing what we learned.
As a congregation of immigrants (both historically and recently) we explored multicultural ministry.
Redeemer was always a small neighborhood church. We had no illusions of ever being a large congregation. 2×2 has changed our vision. We now have about 1000 readers a week. We have formed mission partnerships all over the world. We have gained authority in the areas we addressed. We lead search engine traffic in many of them.
Embrace Serendipity
If you implement this type of ministry, it will take you to places you never expected. You cannot control who reads you, likes you, or friends you on the web. You can prompt them to share, but you can’t make them!
You can control how you react. It will reshape your ministry.You may find that you didn’t just add a new feature to your existing ministry. You may be changing the whole way you approach ministry, allocate funds, and how people work together.
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
Today’s object lesson is one of the most famous American paintings of Christ. Warner Sallman, a commercial artist in Chicago, painted several religious paintings in the early 1900s that are universally part of our faith imagery.
