What starts to take place in the first chapter of Undercover Bishop Returns may seem unlikely.
A seminary student, having never had a single call, having never served a single parish, comes to a bishop with an idea. Gutsy, for sure. But what about the bishop who takes the time to listen? How likely is that?!
This could be the kind of twist on reality that is the making of fiction—or it may be part of the new order of the social connection era.
Structurally, Lutherans place great weight on the congregation. We believe that clergy and laity serve in different but equal roles. We are not hierarchical. That’s the theory anyway. The customs of hierarchical churches attract those craving power. The ways of other denominations are always a temptation.
This structure may be challenged in the emerging church. We are already seeing the seeds of change in recent statements of the new Roman Catholic pope, who seems to recognize that the Church will not survive if every foot is planted in the traditions of the past.
Social Media-based evangelism and ministry will be key factors in coming changes. The structure of the Church will change.
Social Media is so prevalent in our society that it changes the way people think. Our expectations of government and the way we conduct business have changed dramatically in the last ten years — probably for the better.
Hierarchical thinking is not likely to disappear, but it will not play the same role in the emerging church. Our educational methods are undergoing total restructuring. There is far less need for layers of agencies and positions overseeing every aspect of church life. People are starting to grasp the reality that one person with an idea can make a difference.
Change is coming, ready or not.
Bishop Ruby Kinisa is skeptical at first. She might even be a little put off. We’ll see in the next chapter. But her trusty colleague, Gil Ableman, is hungry for change.
It helps that Bruce James is able to build on his previous experience with this bishop.
A question to ask is: How would the church have been shaped had the power of Social Media been available to the earliest Christians?
This question will lead to others:
Would the hierarchies of the Western and Eastern Christian Churches have gained power?
Would the role of women in the church have been suppressed?
Would the abuses of power — from the Inquisition to more recent scandals been tolerated?
Would there have been a need for a Protestant Reformation 500 years ago?
We’ll never know the answers, but it is something to think about! Thinking about how Social Media might have benefited our faith through the ages may help us understand why things are the way they are — and that may guide our future.
Let’s see what is in store for Ruby, Gil and Bruce!
The story of Bishop Ruby Kinisa and the staff of NorthEast WestSouth Synod (NEWS) of the National Lutheran Church (NLC) continues. It’s a serial so enjoy a couple a chapters each week as NEWS Synod explores Social Media. Read it with your church leaders!
You can find the first book, Undercover Bishop, on our sidebar.
Chapter One:
The Undercover Team Reunites
Bishop Ruby Kinisa was late coming into her office. It was the first summery day of late spring. Traffic reflected the communal exuberance. Even so, twenty extra minutes in traffic was unsettling. She leaned back in her chair and stretched, hoping to relax.
She heard a commotion in the office but thought little of it. It was coffee break time.
Then she heard a familiar whistle. That could be only one person, her long-time colleague, Gil Ableman. “I wonder what Gil is up to now,” she thought.
She recognized the tune. She was accustomed to his use of hymns to accent some theme of the day, but this time he was whistling the theme to the Lone Ranger.
Then Gill appeared in her office doorway holding a small cake with a single lit candle. Her staff soon joined him, crowding the threshold. They began singing “Happy Anniversary” to the William Tell Overture.
At last it made sense. Her staff, prompted in all likelihood by her secretary, Pam, was marking her first year as the bishop of NorthEast WestSouth Synod (NEWS) of the National Lutheran Church (NLC).
She leaned forward as Gil placed the cake on her desk. Whoof! She blew out the candle to enthusiastic applause.
“Thanks, everyone,” the bishop said. “It’s been quite a year, hasn’t it?”
After a little chatter, Pam, took the cake promising to cut it in the break room and return with a big piece for her. The staff followed her, but Gill lingered.
“Ruby, do you have a minute?” he asked. “I have something I’d like to run by you.”
“Shoot,” the bishop said, “I have at least until Pam returns with the cake.”
Gill took a seat without being asked and glanced around the office.
His eyes settled on a portrait of the bishop with Bob and Martha Forster from Pleasantville Church. They and their whole congregation had been estranged from NEWS when she took office.
“I’ll say it again,” he mused. “It’s been quite a year!”
Ruby followed his eyes and smiled, remembering her first month in office when she visited the smallest NEWS congregations in disguise. It had been a gutsy move and could have been a disaster, but she had found the three visited churches were relieved that a bishop had paid attention to them at all. After she revealed her identity and after they got over their initial shock, they eagerly worked with her for months.
The project had marked the tone of her first year as bishop. It had revived Gil, who had come into her first term discouraged.
“I’m sure glad we did that,” she said. “I hear from the Forsters every month or so, now.”
“I’m glad, too,” Gil recollected, “I must say, I had my doubts . . . but I also had hopes.”
Gil was the senior member of NEWS staff. He had worked under every bishop who had served in the last 30 years. He was quickly nearing retirement, but his love for the church was so deep that he was still cutting edge in his thinking. It was he who had urged Bishop Kinisa to learn about small churches before making decisions that affected them.
“I ran into Bruce James at the conference I attended last week,” Gil paused. “He has finished his seminary studies. He is looking for that first call.”
Bruce had been Ruby’s sidekick on her Undercover Bishop visits and had been invaluable at helping her talk to people without raising their suspicions.
“How is Bruce?” Ruby asked fondly. “I don’t want to let a good man get away!”
“He’s remembering that conversation we had about serving small churches,” Gil replied. “He’s coming in today to talk. Would you like to join us?”
“I can’t wait to see Bruce James or James Bruce,” she laughed. “I hope I can keep his name straight.” she said, recalling how he changed his moniker for their visits.
Bruce arrived in the NEWS office that afternoon in high spirits. The three sat together at the end of a long table in a large conference room. Bruce took the head and Ruby and Gil flanked him.
“Thanks for seeing me,” Bruce opened the conversation. “Bishop, Gil . . . I’ve been thinking about our undercover bishop project all year. I learned so much, especially in our follow-up visits to Grace and Zion. Do you remember asking me if I’d consider serving in a small church?”
Ruby nodded. She knew that the economics of serving a small congregation were more challenging to young pastors. It was hard for them to see a future.
“I’m still hoping! Are you here to tell us you’ve made a decision?” Ruby asked.
“Yes and no,” Bruce said. “If you remember, I didn’t turn you down that day. I said I’d have to explore the feasibility of supporting my wife and boys in small church ministry.”
Ruby’s hopes sank. Gil noticed. “Hear him out, Ruby.”
“Thanks, Gil,” Bruce said.
“Bishop, I have an idea. To tell you the truth, I’m pretty excited about it. I want to serve in a small church. Maybe I could handle the needs of two small churches. But I’d also like to work in social media.”
Ruby leaned back. “You want to be a Facebook preacher?” Her skepticism was obvious.
“Ruby,” Gil interjected again, more forcefully. “Here him out.”
Bruce continued.
“As you know, I was one of the older students in my seminary class, but I’m not exactly on Social Security,” he quipped. “I’ve got about ten years on the younger seminarians. At times it seemed like twice that! I watched them . . . how they studied, how they communicated. I was sitting behind them in lectures. I watched them look up everything the professors were speaking about on their laptops . . . right there in class. I would never think to do what I’m proposing without that experience. I’m living proof. You can teach an old dog new tricks.”
Ruby was puzzled but her interest was piqued.
Bruce continued. “I started studying social media and I think there is great potential in using it for ministry.”
“So, I’m right! You want to be a Facebook minister.”
What a fun topic for all artists of all ages! First there is no need to draw people. Most art on this topic is totally conceptual. A mustard seed is a dot. Who can’t draw a tree?
Most artists who turn to this topic build on the image of the tree. They populate the branches of the tree with doves or birds, often a symbol of qualities such as friendship, camaraderie, peace, purity and happiness in folk art. Earliest depictions use doves, a symbol of God from the Bible. Later artists built on this as you’ll soon see.
As you can see, the telling of this story can be very simple and stylistic.
Earlier artists tend to be more realistic and didactic in their portrayals. The artistic traditions of the Middle Ages, moving into the Renaissance and Enlightenment still had peasant viewers in mind. The reason for the art was to tell the story to people who did not read. Here’s one of the older depictions, drawn by Jan Luyken, a Dutch artist who lived in the 17th century.
Other depictions are stylistic. One is by an artist from Kazakhstan. Christian art from Kazakhstan!
I don’t know the source of the second depiction. It draws attention to the power of faith, which the seed symbolizes in Jesus’ parable.
The third was designed as a logo. Simply beautiful.
We’ll close with one of our favorite contemporary artists, James B. Janknegt from Texas. His painting is entitled World’s Smallest Seed. He builds on the aviary symbols of good fortune (quite a collection of fowl, at that) and builds a small city around the base of the tree—including directions to a seed store. Might that be a church?
Have your people draw their version of the tree and the mustard seed parable. What part of the story would they emphasize—the seed of faith, the source of the faith, the tree or the fruit of the tree?
What is happening in Pakistan in the last two weeks should be to Christianity what 9/11 was to the United States.
In two bombings at and near a Christian Church in Pakistan some 120 worshipers were killed and 250 were seriously injured. Taliban takes credit. They blame Christianity for their problems.
It didn’t happen on American soil, so there is no outrage. There isn’t even very high awareness.
Faithful Christians who value the right to worship should be outraged. 2×2 is in touch with the Pakistani Church. They are desperate for help—food, medicine and clothing. They cannot get the Christian world’s attention. They believe we don’t care. They feel very alone. And still they are faithful.
I checked the ELCA web site to see which of its 65 synods might be partnered with Pakistan. The answer is none. I wrote to the ELCA representative who oversees the Companion Synod program that teams an American Synod with a foreign Lutheran entity. I’ve had no answer.
It’s the same bureaucracy that never answered our congregation’s letters during the last five years. But the problems in Pakistan seem to outweigh ours.
This should be to all of Christianity what 9/11 was to America.
I’ll repeat that a bit louder.
This should be to all of Christianity what 9/11 was to America.
Here are some links to articles in the world press.
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.
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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).
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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
