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Growing Christian Community with Conflict

Two Redeemer members relaxed for a moment after a particularly rough day. One member came within a day of losing both her home and her income to court actions that have resulted from the conflict with SEPA Synod.

She learned of the problem by accident with only a weekend and a day to do anything about it. Every effort was being made by a half-dozen Redeemer friends to stop the travesty and by noon we heard that there had been some success.

And so we paused over coffee and a donut.

One might expect hate and despair and finger-pointing to reign in such an atmosphere, but the opposite has been true in our faith community.

One member commented that one blessing of the conflict has been that we’ve really gotten to know each other — and some of us have known one another for a decade or more.

We started talking about what we had learned about the character of our members, how their very differing personalities that we once enjoyed as passing acquaintances on Sunday morning had become endearing and appreciated.

Conflict defines character.

After this conflict, we know whom we can count on. We know which preachers mean what they preach. We know to whom we can turn for action, for prayer, for ideas, for legal knowledge, and the list goes on. We gather for Sunday worship and brunch as an eclectic mix of people brought together by faith and a common cause. We leave on Sunday, each with our individual spiritual gifts, ready to serve.

After such a close call, it would be no surprise if the endangered member had thrown up her hands in despair and vowed to have nothing to do with us or religion ever again.

Instead, by the end of the day, she had presented a few new ideas for our ministry as the holidays approached. Amazing!

We know each other well. Too bad SEPA doesn’t know us at all.

01 Oct 2012

Seven Baptized in Pakistan

Our Friend in Ministry, New Life Fellowship with Pastor Sarwar, baptized seven recently. See their 2×2 page.

29 Sep 2012

Devotions for this week have been added to the Daily Devotion Page

Daily Devotion Page

24 Sep 2012

Writing Your Congregation’s History: A Real Whodunit!

Continuing our look at the Book of Nehemiah with Pastor Jon Swanson, we note that large portions of this historical account are lists of names.

Nehemiah was a savvy leader. He was embarking upon a great work. He needed help. He rallied the support of a lot of people. He rewarded them by remembering their names and recording their contributions.

Contrast the Book of Nehemiah with the typical parish history. Our Ambassadors have had the opportunity to read many of these online. The typical parish report lists the terms of pastors and what building renovations were made during their tenure. In fact, there is an online archive of Lutheran churches which isn’t much more than that. It’s not unlike the account of Nehemiah but in Nehemiah, you can almost see the workers lugging the stones, felling the trees, sawing the wood, shouting out orders, guarding the progress, and organizing the people for mission.

Nehemiah noted the names of the lay leaders. He included their genealogy. He detailed exactly what each foreman accomplished in the overwhelming task of rebuilding the vast temple. He provided a detailed archeological survey of the site — the gates, the pools, the steps. We are standing there with him amidst the dust and rubble, watching greatness happen.

Don’t waste time. While it is still within living memory, write your parish history from the lay point of view. Who led the choir, who taught the children, who renovated the kitchen, who fixed the furnace?  Who started the food pantry or visited the sick? Were they part of a long-standing family presence or were they new to your community and congregation?

It will build your congregation’s esteem. Members will feel like part of something bigger than themselves — part of a mission that should go on and on—long after not a soul remembers who was pastor when the work was done.

Soon the readers of your history will be like the readers of the book of Nehemiah. They will see your ministry growing action by action, sacrifice after sacrifice, offering upon offering.

It may help you see your congregation as part of a great plan and help you draft a plan to move forward in mission.

22 Sep 2012

Small Churches Have Great Advantages

One of the great things about being relatively small and unknown
is that the cost of failure is not that harmful. — Srinivas Rao

This business writer goes on to explain why innovation comes from small companies.

Small companies have the leverage to dare.

Small churches have the same leverage—the leverage to dare.

Would the big flagship church in the mammoth building on the corner of Broad and Main change the liturgy dramatically? No, too many people who like things just the way things are would leave with ruffled feathers.

Do bigger churches start innovative outreach ministries? Sometimes. But they are more likely to use their resources to add another pastor or tie into some established social ministry project supported by other big churches.

Small churches have the power to rock the world—the same power once placed in the hands of 12 disciples.

  • We small churches can change the worship time and survive the grumbling.
  • We can include non-English words in worship and not worry about losing 10% of the congregation.
  • We can do one-on-one ministry because we are more likely to personally know the life challenges of each person facing the altar.
  • We can fund a small foundation and charge it to do spread innovative ideas on the web without a pastor feeling his or her territory has been invaded.

Wow!

photo credit: Nina Matthews Photography via photo pin cc
20 Sep 2012

What’s in A Word: Faith

The definition of the word “faith” is the foundation of any remaining schism between Catholicism and Protestantism.

Up until 1522, faith meant agreeing with church doctrines.

Martin Luther redefined the word. He wrote, “Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.”

This definition requires a level of commitment for each Christian that surpasses the ordinary. Doctrine does not rule us. Faith in a forgiving and merciful God rules us.

How many of us would die a thousand deaths, relying on the grace of God?

Yet, this is what we preach. Here’s a discussion on the topic. 

The Protestant Reformation was powerful because it interpreted scripture with fresh eyes.

As great a moment as this was in religious and cultural history, it was never expected to be the last. The leaders of the Reformation were scholars, explorers, and discoverers.

This challenge to an accepted definition of one word gives us a freeing foundation to think and act boldly within our faith, knowing that we serve a merciful and gracious God — not any one thinker of any age — no matter how great.

How are we using this gift?

16 Sep 2012

Upcoming Workshop on Conflict Transformation

Weathering the Storm or System

Yesterday, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America announced an upcoming workshop for congregations. We first saw this listed as Weathering the Storm, but notice it is now advertised as Weathering the System.

Weathering the System
October 27, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
St. John’s Lutheran Church
505 North York Road, Hatboro, PA 19040

The six-hour workshop on conflict resolution is advertised as conflict transformation.

A buzzword unused is an opportunity squandered.

How do you weather a storm?

Make sure you win! Winning, at any cost, even at the expense of mission, outranks problem-solving in today’s church leadership. As one leading businessman wrote today, “It’s because defeat and power and humiliation and money have replaced ‘doing what works for all of us.'”

Although the names of presenters are not posted, you will learn from the best. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Lutheran Church in America, has been involved in years and years of conflict. They know the ropes!

Topics within synod’s expertise include:

  • how to create and define conflict using deceit
  • intimidating the opposition
  • exploiting vulnerable volunteers
  • how to identify which volunteers to eliminate to ensure victory
  • discouraging lay involvement to assure managerial success
  • how to pit clergy against laity to maximize success
  • guidelines for effective use of inflammatory language
  • when to apply the constitutions
  • when to ignore the constitutions
  • how to use Roberts’ Rules of Order
  • how to ignore Roberts’ Rules of Order
  • isolating the opposition from the rest of the Church
  • divide and conquer: tried and true techniques to guarantee divisiveness
  • tips for withholding professional services while appearing to serve
  • demonizing your opposition
  • use of litigation as a management tool
  • ignoring facts that do not serve your purpose
  • how to use partial truths to gain popular support
  • when to lie unabashedly
  • best practices in name-calling and finger-pointing
  • how to camouflage objectives with semantics
  • use of charm and charisma to deflect attention from the issues
  • how to keep knowledgeable people from asking questions
  • when and how to declare your opponents as non-existent
  • the underestimated value and strategic use of prejudice
  • creative use of statistics
  • techniques for silencing opposition
  • maximizing the “gotcha” factor
  • when and how to ignore Gospel imperatives
  • counting coup: the proper way to celebrate victory

The announcement quotes a former participant:

“Conflict and stress are a part of life. Both can be positive. It’s all in how you deal with it.”

Don’t miss the upcoming workshop. Learn how to deal with conflict from the masters!

Update: a subsequent announcement names The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Phelps Ollikainen of Liberty Lutheran as the presenter. Liberty Lutheran is independent of SEPA Synod, so content may actually be helpful!

12 Sep 2012

Change the Dynamics of Church

Give the People A Voice

The patriarchs and matriarchs who populate the pages of today’s Old Testament had a very personal relationship with God. Communication was anything but one way. They argued with God and did their share of ranting. They felt confident enough in dialog to attempt to make deals. They praised God and laid their sorrows and shortcomings at his feet. The result was a lot of creative energy. Something worth writing and remembering. Compare the Old Testament record with a typical congregational history today, which usually details a list of pastors and building projects.

Jesus continued that relationship in his discourse with the disciples and the growing tribe of followers. Jesus gave God a face, making it still easier for people to engage with God.

God wants to be part of our lives. The Bible encourages us to be in regular conversation.

A pastor in one of our recent Ambassador visits exhorted people not to go to God with their little problems. Solve them yourself and save God for the big things was her message. That’s not a limitation placed on us by God. God wants us to feel free to turn to him with matters big and small, joyful and painful.

God is big enough to handle everything.

The thinking that God needs a gatekeeper to handle our needs has fueled the ego of Church leadership through the centuries. It creates an illusion of power. Church leaders have God’s ear.

Church leaders speak; people listen.

This makes sense only among managers—not leaders.

This can change. The internet returns the voice to the people.

Even the pope cannot expect to make pronouncements that are met with silent obedience. Recently, the long arm of the Vatican reached across the ocean to slap American nuns on the wrist for not doing more to enforce Church teachings on contraception and abortion. Their response was something on the order of: Sorry, you’ve got us all wrong. We can’t be all things to the Catholic church. We know what our mission is and we aim to follow it.

Such cheekiness would have been unheard of decades and centuries ago. Today? It’s just the way it is going to be.

This will make the Church far more effective — if not powerful.

The old system is unwieldy. A church leader makes a pronouncement which probably must be repeated for years before the message hits home. Church members may ponder it. They may go home and do nothing about it. Action will probably result when something becomes dire, The Church does good, to be sure but in many areas, social action in the Church lags years behind actual need.

Today, no Church leader can expect to lead from the pulpit without being questioned. In fact, we should take a lesson from the Bible and encourage religious dialog.

God wants us to be involved. Our ears and voice is where that begins.

Today, laiity have equal voice. When they learn to use it — Watch out, world!

01 Sep 2012

Practicing Happiness Techniques in Worship: Part 4 of 5

he meditates day and nightMeditation

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

— Psalm 1

Meditation doesn’t come easily to me, but a few years ago I took a course in yoga.

I went to class and was politely dubious. The teachers were enthusiastic and likable. They had created a beautiful studio. But I felt so sorry for them. Next door there seemed to be a factory or a workshop and the noise of the machines was terribly distracting. I wondered why they had chosen such a loud location for their lovely studio.

It was a few sessions before I realized there was no factory or workshop next door. The noise was an “oooohhm” machine. The noise was intentional and it was meant to help us meditate. 

Mediation can be unsettling. A church leader routinely called for a moment of silence at meetings when someone in the congregation died. All heads would bow. After only a few seconds he would end the meditation with a brusk, “That’s enough!”

But apparently there is something to it. Here is a link to an ABC news report and video from about a year ago.

Shawn Acher claims that just a few minutes of meditation will increase happiness, by diverting attention from our tendency to multitask. Studies show that, as proud as we are of our ability to do many things at once, it isn’t really a good idea.

Meditation is used in some denominations more than others. Lutherans tend to abhor a vacuum in worship. We fill every moment with words or music. There is nothing more awkward than an organist losing the page in the hymnal and fumbling for endless moments of nothing.

Redeemer’s experience was tempered a bit. East Falls has a fine Quaker School, which many of our children attended. They experienced the meditative ways of the Quakers—a few minutes in  kindergarten to a full hour in high school. The children claimed to like it. It influenced our members’ tolerance for meditation. There is nothing wrong with a little empty space in a liturgy.

On a few of our Ambassador visits, there was time for mediation built into the service, usually after the sermon. Communion is also a time when members can meditate while waiting for others. Some people develop the habit of arriving early at church to enjoy a quiet moment.

While many churches open Easter worship with trumpet heralds or the organ equivalent, one small country church played a nature CD with the bird calls and gurgling brook garden sounds. It was very effective!

Like every other step in the Happiness Advantage. It’s a matter of creating a habit.

How can we encourage meditation. Here are some ideas.

  • Orthodox Christians use icons to focus their meditation. Use interesting art on your bulletins as a meditation tool. There is a wealth of images available on the internet. Many simply require a credit line as permission to use.
  • Find an inspirational quote. In worship, we focus naturally on scripture. There is a wealth of Christian thought expressed by theologians and poets that can fuel meditation.
  • Open the church for meditation during the week.
  • Teach simple meditation techniques. Concentrating on breathing is key. Here are some links that might help:http://www.yogajournal.com/for_teachers/1856

    http://www.artofliving.org/teach-meditation

  • Slow the pace of worship. Build some quiet in between sections of the liturgy.
  • Use a meditation CD.

However you decide to introduce meditation into your worship, remember to give it three months before evaluating.

22 Aug 2012

Tuesdays Are Object Lesson Days

abc's of object lessonsWe never set out to be experts in object lessons, although we were major contributors to a site specializing in children’s sermons before we (and our children) were evicted from our church.

Strange things can happen on the internet. Last November we visited a small church in Fort Washington, Pa. We wrote about the pastor delivering an object lesson in a church where there were no children present. It seemed to be more popular with adults than such sermons are with children.

That post, now about nine months old, still gets daily search engine traffic. In response to this interest, we have started to post an object lesson corresponding to the lectionary readings for the upcoming Sunday. We’ve posted about six so far and aim to try to add a new post featuring Adult Object Lessons each Tuesday.

Although we use an object (most of the time) sometimes we just present ideas for interactive lessons with adults. Many can be adapted for use with both children and adults—sometimes encouraging the age extremes to engage with one another.

We leave most of the theological interpretation to theologians. We just make some suggestions on how the topic might be handled.

We’re not quite sure what we are getting into or how much discipline it will take, but we’ll make the effort. Hope it helps!

photo credit: nettsu via photo pin cc

21 Aug 2012