The days of families meeting at church -- the husband coming from work, the wife coming from home and bearing a casserole -- shaped church hospitality for many years. Those days have ended.
One thing is ongoing -- the need for hospitality. Jesus ate with people. Table fellowship was a primary venue for his teaching and touching.
How, then, does a congregation provide hospitality?
For those few congregations that have cooking staffs and ample budgets, the answer is easy; for everyone else, not so easy. Some order food to be delivered -- portable food such as pizza or salads. Some heat up large lasagnas purchased in bulk. Some tell people to bring a sandwich with them. For an upcoming class on a Wednesday night, I plan to put out bread, peanut butter and jelly, and to say clearly, "This isn't fine dining, it's taking off the edge of hunger so we can learn together." Some shift their gatherings to restaurants.
So what happens when John Stuart posts his daily devotions on his blog, "Heaven's Highway"?
People write to him from India, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Folks from his congregation say things like, "That's not what I believe," or "I never thought about that," and conversations begin.
And, as an added bonus, a teacher from a local high school is having students download his sermon podcasts. The students are preparing for an upcoming production of the musical "Brigadoon," and their teacher wants them to get it right.
"They're copying my accent," Stuart, pastor of Erin Church in Knoxville and a native of Scotland, said with pleasure.
There is no blueprint to Web 2.0, but the simple truth is this. Presbyterians -- like lots of other folks -- are using Web-based technology more and more. They find it freeing, a doorway to discipleship, a way to creatively meld words and music and images and ideas.
In the beginning, there was Gutenberg. Those privileged few who owned the printing presses printed the text, while everyone else merely read it. To be sure, copies of a text might be circulated among friends, discussed around the dinner table, or used to prop up a short table leg, but the text itself remained static. Any underlined passages or notes in the margin remained isolated from the general public, existing solely in that copy of the text.
The beginning of the Internet (what we'll call "Web 1.0") was much the same. A limited few who had the technical or financial resources to do so created Web sites. The World Wide Web quickly developed into a great source of information, but not really a means of self-expression or conversation for the masses.
For those who can deny the malls,
and flying footballs on the screen,
there lies, tucked in between the feasting
and those first December days,
a blessed intermission, several hours,
at least, when nothing must be done,
My name is Bruce and I am a blogger!
Group response: "Hi, Bruce!"
There I said it, I am an unapologetic blogger. And not just any blogger, but I am a blogger that also happens to be a quickly aging Presbyterian pastor who is probably not as cool or hip as I once thought I was ;-) Please don't hold any of this against me.
As one of those folks whose age allows me to bridge the gap between knowing a time without the Internet -- gasp! - and experiencing online social networking as a natural part of my life, I feel like I not only have lived the great technological transition of the world, but have been transformed in the midst of it all. THANK YOU, JESUS!
Staying on top of the technological curve in ministry can eventually drive one crazy, but it is also one of the most effective tools in communicating with and connecting those in your congregation. With this in mind, one of the very first tasks that I set about in the summer of 2002 when I became the college director at Bel Air Church in Los Angeles, Calif., was to hire a professional Web designer to create a very attractive and interactive Web site. I was expecting this new Web site to bridge the gap for us in communication and connection within our community. We created pages for them to upload their artwork and photography, and we created a forums section where various issues could be raised and discussed for anyone who desired to enter the conversation. Since both my students and I were controlling this content, users weren't returning to the same static site that they had grown used to in the past. But having an attractive and interactive Web site in hopes to communicate and connect people was just not enough, and it is certainly not enough today.
I was driving home on Interstate 84 just outside of Wendell, Idaho, where I was serving as a director of youth ministries. I was talking with a friend on my cell phone and he told me I needed to get a blog. "A what?" I asked. "A blog -- you know, a Weblog?" Although I was very computer-savvy at the time, I hadn't gotten involved in blogging. My friend eventually convinced me that I needed to get one, and so I went home and started my first blog and called it Pomomusings ("Pomo," at the time, was the trendy version of "postmodern," so it was going to be my musings about issues of church, culture, and postmodernism).
A blog, or Weblog, is basically a Web site that has constantly changing content. The Oxford American Dictionary defines a blog as "a Web site on which an individual or group of users produce on ongoing narrative." Instead of the more traditional, static Web sites we are used to (where the content remains the same), people constantly add new posts to their blogs and often update them daily -- producing an ongoing story or narrative of their lives or thoughts. On most blogs, not only can you go and read the posts, but you can also leave comments and get involved in conversations on the blog.
I used to think blogging was stupid. Who would want to read some random person's thoughts? Why would I want to read what is essentially an online journal?
This was my opinion about blogging until I created a blog for our church's "Theology on Tap" group and wrote my first post. Last October, I returned home to see the sun setting on the row houses behind our own. The trees and the rooftops looked as if they were on fire. I was so struck by the beauty that I grabbed my camera and found myself writing about the experience on the newly created blog. I wrote about a moment that stopped me short and pulled me out of my busy life. I wrote what I was thinking and feeling and pushed "publish." From that moment on, I was hooked on this crazy thing called blogging. I soon created a personal blog and celebrated my first blogiversary on October 26.
What brought about this change of heart? For me, blogging is about two things. It is about community and the discipline of taking notice.
Do we really meet people where they are, even if it is on Facebook?
Seems that over the past months I have heard a couple of interesting comments from some pastor-type colleagues in regards to the www.facebook.com hysteria:
"What's Facebook?"
"Are People REALLY using Facebook?"
"I had no idea how cool Facebook is."
So, is Facebook just the latest Internet fad? Could be. Does it really matter in the whole scheme of the cause of Christ? Probably not. Should all pastor-types at least look at it? Probably.
c. 2007 Religion News Service
Before I was a journalist, I was an actor.
Briefly, a semester or so ahead of my debut in the pages of the Wheaton College student newspaper, I became a member of its theater company, a group known simply as "Workout."
The company performed in the Arena Theater, a simple black box that was transformed miraculously into imaginative sets for various productions. Long since I walked its stage, that theater remains a sacred space for me. I was transformed inside its walls, touched by grace and the hand of God in a way I've rarely felt elsewhere.
What happened in Workout was wonderfully creative and deeply spiritual, no matter what material we were working with. I learned as much about faith and doubt, forgiveness and trust, holiness and wounded wholeness from a raucous production of "The Man Who Came to Dinner" as I did from a magical adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's novel "A Wrinkle in Time."
Ethiopia shall stretch forth
its hands to God.
Psalm 68:31
Why does this Ethiopian come among us?
Ethiopian Moses, 3
References about Ethiopia and Ethiopians, like the ones above, are sprinkled throughout biblical and extra-biblical writings. Most of us are familiar with Luke's story of the Ethiopian eunuch (a treasurer of a queen of Meroë) who confessed his faith and was baptized after his encounter with the evangelist Philip (Acts 8:26-40). New Testament interpreters generally view this passage as a fulfillment of Acts 1:8, which declares Christianity is to extend to the ends of the world. Yet after the dramatic conversion experience of the Ethiopian, we hear nothing more from him, the Queen whom he represented, or the other people who may have witnessed this encounter. And though the biblical text says Christianity is to extend to the ends of the world, we who teach and research the New Testament have no readily available (or accessible) path to the world of the Ethiopians.
Ever wonder why church members seem to complain all the time?
I think it's because they feel powerless in at least part of their lives, and church is a safe place to deal with that powerlessness. If your boss is a brute, then complain about something at church. Pass along the aggravation.
Editor's Note: This article is based on President William P. Robinson's fall 2007 convocation address at Whitworth University.
I would like to comment on three aspects of community life at Whitworth -- rules, responsibility, and respect. I didn't alliterate these characteristics on purpose, although I can see where you might think that someone coming from a family of Bonnie, Bill, Brenna, Ben, and Bailley is into alliterations. Not true. My motto is Always Avoid Alliterations.
Rules. Rules are necessary and good. We can't live without them. Whether we are talking about the laws of nature or the laws of community, we suffer when we disobey them. However, rules are not as smart as values. For that reason, the most effective organizations and the most satisfying communities are driven by shared values, not by rules. Good judgment and faithfulness to community values will lead ....
Editor's Note: This essay won the 2007 Outlook Church-College Partnership Award open to graduating seniors invited to write on the topic, "How my education at a PC(USA)-related college has equipped me for significant service and leadership." The winner received a $1,000 prize. Information for the 2008 contest is available on page 32.
... and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God (Micah 6:8).
Such are the words chiseled into the lintel of the Lyon Business and Economics Building at Lyon College, the college where I invested myself -- my time, my money, my heart -- these past four years. This simple yet powerful passage was the first thing I read on the Lyon campus as an entering freshman, and will be one of the last things I read when I depart as a graduated alumna. I have had many memories at Lyon and shared in its many famous traditions -- our rich Scottish heritage, our Spring Break mission trips, our close ties to the surrounding community. I have danced the Scottish fling, floated the Buffalo, taken class after class after class, and yet as I prepare to don my graduation regalia, spending what little time I have left reflecting on what four years at this institution have meant, this passage from Micah keeps entering my mind. I consider this passage the fullness of what it means to attend a PC(USA)-related college, what it means to attend Lyon College, and to go forth as a servant-leader walking humbly with our God.
Many congregations emphasize giving in the fall months and during the holidays. Here are some factors to consider when your church talks about finances, budgets, and contributions.
· Giving follows membership. A decline in membership will be followed one to two years later by a decline in pledging. An increase in membership will lead to an increase in giving. The best stewardship program is a major commitment to membership development.
· People give for many reasons, some discernible, some not known even to the giver.
Editor's Note: This essay was first runner-up in the 2007 Outlook Church-College Partnership Award open to graduating seniors invited to write on the topic, "How my education at a PC(USA)-related college has equipped me for significant service and leadership." The writer received a $200 award. Information for the 2008 contest is available on page 32.
In the Gospel of John, chapter 12, Jesus serves his disciples by washing their feet. Afterwards, he commands them to wash one another's feet. This example of servant leadership was the subject of a Bible Study given recently by Eckerd College's Dean of Students. Jim Annarelli led a group of students in a foot-washing service to demonstrate the importance of serving others and allowing oneself to be served. This is just one of many examples of how Eckerd College has fostered my passion for service and desire to act as a servant leader. My experiences of service within the classroom, through extracurricular activities and Campus Ministries, have provided me with many opportunities to develop my leadership skills within the context of service.
The most visible change in mission funding in recent years has been that of ministries in higher education. The shift from both national and regional agencies (read synods) to presbyteries and congregations has been nearly universal. One observer of a new thing happening among the presbyteries in North Carolina says, "You've just reinvented the old Synod of North Carolina!"
The five North Carolina presbyteries, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, New Hope, Salem, and Western North Carolina share a common history and a common theology for ministry in higher education. Campus Ministry has long been the passion of Presbyterians in North Carolina, a commitment that embraces both public and private institutions. In addition, the five presbyteries have covenants with nine Presbyterian related colleges and universities.
We are not good enough to kill those who kill. We are too good to kill those who kill.
On November 22, 2006, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that it is not cruel and unusual punishment to execute murderers by lethal injection. "Conflicting medical testimony prevents us from stating categorically that a prisoner feels no pain," the court declared. "But the prohibition is against cruel punishment and does not require a complete absence of pain." On December 15, 2006, Governor Jeb Bush of Florida suspended the death penalty because of the troubled and lengthy execution of Angel Nieves Diaz. Bush appointed a committee to study lethal injections and their constitutionality and inhumanity. Shortly after Bush's decision, a federal judge in California ruled against the lethal injection system as a violation of the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. On September 28, 2007, in response to the United States Supreme Court's halting of an execution in Texas, officials in that state declared their intentions to proceed with impending executions. At that time, 25 Texas inmates had been executed in Huntsville in 2007 by lethal injection.
"The compelling purpose of Presbyterian College, as a church-related college, is to develop within the framework of Christian faith the mental, physical, moral, and spiritual capacities of each student in preparation for a lifetime of personal and vocational fulfillment and responsible contribution to our democratic society and the world community."
In case you're in doubt, this is the mission statement of Presbyterian College. It is the simplest and most authoritative description of our common task as a college of the Presbyterian Church.
Without saying so directly, it places us in the long tradition of liberal education that goes back to fifth-century Athens. While this tradition has changed in many ways, there are still recognizable continuities.
It began with a wrong turn in a familiar city, and the daily privilege I have in dropping my children off to school every morning.
The "it" to which I am referring is the progression of my thinking about the role of church-related higher education in America, particularly church-related higher education in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Many may not know the history of our denomination in America; a history that is long and committed to easing the burden of "the least of these" in our country and in our world. We focused on two specific forms of outreach: healthcare and education. With the exception of the many congregation-related community clinics in places like the Eastminster Church in Pittsburgh, Pa., or the weekly foot care clinic for seniors at the Queen Anne Church in Seattle, Wash., much of our church-related healthcare ministry has been subsumed by larger corporate entities. The name may still remain the same as is best exemplified by the plethora of Presbyterian hospitals that exist across the country, but the economics are much more complicated and the mission is understandably different. Quality healthcare is expensive, bureaucratic, requires a great deal of research and investment and, with but a few remarkable exceptions, is now an industry that has outgrown one denomination's ability to provide those services well.
©2007 John A. Lindquist II. Used by permission.
Ask this New Jersey born, east coast educated minister how he feels about life in the predominantly Mormon town of Ogden, Utah, and he'll tell you he is right where he is supposed to be. The Rev. Dr. Richard Paul Minnich is pastor of First Church, a congregation of more than 400 members. The gold brick building of First Church, nestled against the western bench of the Rocky Mountains, has been his home for 15-plus years.
His theological training and earlier pastorates were in the eastern states. After graduating from Princeton Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity, he completed his Doctor of Ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1992. His first calling was assistant pastor of youth ministry at Westminster Church in Upper St. Clair, Pa. Five years later he was pastor to the Elizabeth, Pa.'s Round Hill Church.
I stayed at the home of friends the night before Brent's funeral, in the hills on the north side of Pittsburgh, above the Ohio River. Unable to sleep, I listened to the lonely wail of trains on the tracks down below. Trains heading east slow down in this section, before heading over the trestle and into the city, their cars bumping into one another as the brakes are applied. Trains heading west pick up speed and their engines strain as they cut through the night, whistling at each crossing.
In the middle of the night in a strange bed, I recalled sitting in Brent's living room late one evening. He had invited three of us over for dinner. Afterwards, we sat around the fireplace and talked late into the evening, catching up on each other's lives. Hours later, the conversation paused. Then a train came by, quieter than the others. "That's the Capitol Limited," Brent noted, "Chicago bound. You can tell by the sound, you don't have the clanging of the cars." Every time a train came through that night, I thought of Brent.
Among the "tapes" we learn in childhood and need to unlearn as adults is a belief that God expects perfection and that the goal of religious life is to attain perfection.
In teaching the classic spiritual disciplines -- prayer, worship, confession -- we need to convey another message, namely, that God wants transformation of life, not a finished state called perfection. Faith is a journey, not an arrival and then a stopping.
In teaching prayer, for example, we teach people how to talk with God, how to open themselves to the holy, and how to sit in silence before God. The aim of prayer is an awareness of God's presence, not perfect wording, posture, or attitude.
Last Sunday morning, we studied the Lord's Prayer, and we never made it past the first word. Those simple three letters, O-u-r, in the prayer that Jesus taught us invoked a half-an-hour discussion on community and our spiritual lives. Because the nature of community is shifting radically in our culture, we had a great deal to talk about. A man in his forties seemed puzzled when he said, "I work with people who are under thirty, and they think of cyberspace as a real place. They think of chat rooms as actual rooms and people who meet on the Internet as friends."
"Yes," I smiled. "I've married couples who had a long Internet relationships before they ever met face-to-face."
Many Presbyterian churches are developing programs to serve young adults. Many are investing in young adult coordinators in order to help grow their church.
However, there is another reason for churches to focus on young adults -- the critical needs of the early young adult population in our nation.
The violence at Virginia Tech last April perpetrated by a disturbed young adult is a tragedy beyond belief. It calls attention to the challenges faced by an often overlooked age group.
While American society has appropriately focused on the needs of teenagers in recent years, we should not lose sight of the needs of young adults as well.
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