Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15 Our God is characterized by collaboration. Wisdom speaks in Proverbs about being beside God from the very beginning, a master worker, delighting in all that God called forth. Our God is characterized by gratuitous giving. Paul says in Romans that while we were weak, Christ died for the ungodly. God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Truly, God’s giving knows no end. Our God is characterized by stalwart, steadfast, advocating presence. Jesus tells his disciples in John that ultimately nothing will be left unsaid or unrevealed. Keenly aware of human finitude and limits, God makes accommodations, sending the Holy Spirit to tell the truth and help humans grasp the mind and heart and will of their God. Trinity Sunday grants us the joy of remembering and celebrating the amazing grace, the glory, the beauty and the goodness of our God. Trinity Sunday challenges us to pattern … [Read more...]
Staff spotlight: Jana Blazek
Jana Blazek joined the Presbyterian Outlook staff in 2011 and continues to bring passion, commitment and excellence to everything she does. And Jana does a lot! Her official title is associate editor and as such she oversees the website and social media, edits and manages content and much more. She is solely responsible for the award-winning Outpost blog and continues to seek out and cultivate the voices of young Presbyterian leaders. A graduate of University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, Jana is a minster member of the Chicago Presbytery and is currently serving as the stated supply pastor of Rogers Park Presbyterian Church. Jana is a friend among colleagues, inspiring all who work with her to give their very best as she does. We are grateful for all the gifts Jana shares so generously with the Outlook! … [Read more...]
Imagining a better life together
Another mass shooting. This time in a municipal office building in Virginia Beach. The news reported that this was the most casualties in a mass shooting since November. How should one react to the fact that we are a culture that must track such gruesome statistics? The responses came in like clockwork: heartbroken families and friends, thoughts and prayers, elected officials on various sides of the political divide offering condolences, talk of increased gun control laws, or not. At what point do we as citizens, and particularly we people of faith, seriously say: “Enough.” The answer to the question of how to end this mass carnage is complex. As noted in a 2018 New York Times article: “As convenient as it would be, there is no one-size-fits-all profile of who carries out mass shootings in the United States. About the only thing almost all of them have in common is that they are men.” Clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all remedy to such a pervasive and complicated … [Read more...]
Pentecost prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, bring light to places too long languishing in deep darkness and relentless fear. Come, Holy Spirit, bring fires of justice to people right now exploited, devalued and oppressed. Come, Holy Spirit, bring winds of change to the farthest corners of the earth, ushering in God’s peace and abundant life. Come, Holy Spirit, bring words of God’s deeds of power spoken in languages understood by all creation. Come, Holy Spirit, bring news ways of being community, a revolution of grace, mercy and kindness that reveal the dignity and worth of each and every person. Come, Holy Spirit, bring an upending of evil, an upbuilding of goodness, an upheaval of anything counter to the will of the Triune God. Come, Holy Spirit, bring flames that burn away our dross and refine our faith so that the whole world will be drawn through us to the light of Christ and the love of God. Come, Holy Spirit, bring truth that unmasks idolatry, undoes false teaching and leads to … [Read more...]
Pentecost — June 9, 2019
Acts 2:1-21 What would it mean for followers of Jesus Christ to speak of God in languages the world could understand? I wonder if in this day and time we might want to do more listening than talking, at least at first and for a while. James Davison Hunter in his book, “To Change the World” writes: “In public discourse, the challenge is not to stifle robust debate, but rather to make sure that it is real debate. The first obligation for Christians is to listen carefully to opponents and if they are not willing to do so, then Christians should simply be silent. To engage in a war of words is to engage in symbolic violence that is fundamentally at odds with the gospel.” Would a contemporary Pentecost in our context entail disciples listening more than speaking? Getting together to seek a word from the Lord, rather than entering the sanctuary solidly convinced we know what God says? I wonder if being silent is a prerequisite for colluding with the Holy Spirit, or at least not … [Read more...]
Navigating changes in church leadership
We pastor-types do not look for a job, we seek a call. Churches do not hire a minister, they extend a call. Presbyterian pastors do not have a résumé, we have a Personal Information Form. Churches do not write job descriptions, they go through a process of creating a Ministry Information Form. Pastor nominating committees and ministers alike use the denomination’s Church Leadership Connection. Even the language we use to describe this process of pastors and churches being “matched” seems odd and maybe cumbersome and at times obtuse. What are the rules? What is required? Who gets to decide? The revised Book of Order made possible leadership transitions prohibited in the past. Hence, in recent years, different models of pastoral leadership succession emerged. For example, some congregations have chosen to have co-pastors with the expressed understanding that when the longer serving co-pastor retires, the other co-pastor will become the head pastor. Other congregations have chosen to … [Read more...]
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