I wasn't a Lent Christian growing up. We were pentecostals and we didn't practice such traditions. Lent was seen as to Catholic and to ritualistic. Not that we had any objection to extended periods of prayer and fasting, but the penitence part was to "legalistic" and it was thought that it was to "dependent upon our own ability to be saved."
As long as I have observed Lent, I've never been to keen on the penitence aspect and this year was no difference. In fact I struggled to keep my Lenten fast in so many ways. At first this really upset me, it depressed me and made me feel inadequate, but then my friend and fellow pastor Coy Remer said, "Well then you're doing it right!" I thought about that and came to the conclusion that Lent is about us humans fixating on our humanity, frailty and fallen nature. Instead of penitence we ought to focus on our propensity for sin and our inability to do absolutely nothing about it! What better way to do that than to see myself fail in my attempt to please God on my own?
This Lent, do to many personal issues, has been one of the darkest Lents of all time for me and because of this I AM SO READY FOR EASTER! This Lent I have come to the conclusion that Christ is absolutely my righteousness and holiness. Without Christ I am dead.
This Easter seems like such a gift. I reminder that because Christ lives, so shall I also live. I suppose as a pastor I should have a pretty good grasp on the last two idea's, i.e Christ as my righteousness and having eternal life through Christ, but like anything the profundity of this truth can get lost in the everyday hassle of life and can become common place especially as a pastor. This Easter I'm taking it all in, this Easter I'm gonna latch on to this idea of life, freedom, and forgiveness in Christ and truly enjoy what it's like to live again! I invite you to do the same.
Have a blessed Holy Week and Easter!
In Christ,
Josh+
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Thursday, April 3, 2014
You and I are bad.
I have been leaning left for so long. It's been a reactionary thing I think. I grew up with a fundamentalist faith, but one that also stressed the mercy and grace found at the cross. Despite the "stressing" of mercy and grace I often felt so guilty that I never knew how to really be free and take advantage of that mercy and grace found at the cross. So every sense my Sophomore year in Bible College I've been leaning left. I teeter back right a bit from time to time, but for the most part I kept moving left.
As a seminary student I was forced to look at both sides and because of my bad experience with the right, even though I often that it might be literally right, I kept moving left until I finally came to the point were God was so transcendent and humanity was so full of potential perfection that I though perhaps God's not a being, perhaps Gods not really that involved, perhaps Jesus wasn't God, but demonstrated the fullness of the perfection we could obtain if only we tried harder. Over these last few weeks of Lent all of that leaning left and all of the human potential for perfection has come to a head. I've had a sort of awakening, a renewal of sorts, I clear and conscience picture that the truth is you and I are bad.
We can't make it on our own. He need the cross, we need Jesus to be our righteousness, because without his righteousness we have none. We are fallen, broken and sinful. We are mortal, frail and incapable. We are human. As Nadia Boltz-Webber says, "It's dark in hear." referring to our hearts. I wont ever return to the strict interpretations of faith and scripture of my youth simply because my mind has been opened and once a mind is opened to truth it's impossible to close it, but I wont belive that I am able to be perfect simply by trying harder. I need Jesus and is victory over sin and death to save me from my own sin and death. No matter what I believe the world needs Jesus to be freed from it's sin and death. This Easter will be the most special Easter I've experienced in a long while, because this Easter resurrection will mean more than it's ever meant before.
As a seminary student I was forced to look at both sides and because of my bad experience with the right, even though I often that it might be literally right, I kept moving left until I finally came to the point were God was so transcendent and humanity was so full of potential perfection that I though perhaps God's not a being, perhaps Gods not really that involved, perhaps Jesus wasn't God, but demonstrated the fullness of the perfection we could obtain if only we tried harder. Over these last few weeks of Lent all of that leaning left and all of the human potential for perfection has come to a head. I've had a sort of awakening, a renewal of sorts, I clear and conscience picture that the truth is you and I are bad.
We can't make it on our own. He need the cross, we need Jesus to be our righteousness, because without his righteousness we have none. We are fallen, broken and sinful. We are mortal, frail and incapable. We are human. As Nadia Boltz-Webber says, "It's dark in hear." referring to our hearts. I wont ever return to the strict interpretations of faith and scripture of my youth simply because my mind has been opened and once a mind is opened to truth it's impossible to close it, but I wont belive that I am able to be perfect simply by trying harder. I need Jesus and is victory over sin and death to save me from my own sin and death. No matter what I believe the world needs Jesus to be freed from it's sin and death. This Easter will be the most special Easter I've experienced in a long while, because this Easter resurrection will mean more than it's ever meant before.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
More controversy in the Church...whatever shall we do?
I'm amazed at the never ending litany of stories, blogs and reports clogging up my news feed on Face Book regarding human sexuality and the United Methodist Church. Most of you know my opinion on the issue. I think there is a clear difference between church marriage and civil marriage. One is a solemn ceremony conducted in view of God and friends and family. It is a sacred religious event that marks a major transition in the lives of two believers. The other is a legally binding contract between two consenting adults. For whatever reason an officer of the church, i.e Pastor, Priest or minister) is given the authority by the state to conduct state affairs and legalize and solemnize at the same time.
The big issue is whether or not LGBTQ person should be allowed to marry, legally and religiously, and should UMC pastor be allowed to conduct those ceremonies where it is legal to conduct them? I doubt we'll ever come to any real agreement on the issue, but a former professor of mine from United Theological Seminary as suggested a possible why forward for the continuous United Methodist Church. I think this way forward might just be the answer to pray so I wanted to share it with you this week. Below is a copy of Dr. David Watson's blog post for this week entitled "Separation without schism"
The big issue is whether or not LGBTQ person should be allowed to marry, legally and religiously, and should UMC pastor be allowed to conduct those ceremonies where it is legal to conduct them? I doubt we'll ever come to any real agreement on the issue, but a former professor of mine from United Theological Seminary as suggested a possible why forward for the continuous United Methodist Church. I think this way forward might just be the answer to pray so I wanted to share it with you this week. Below is a copy of Dr. David Watson's blog post for this week entitled "Separation without schism"
Lots of people are talking about schism in the UMC. I’m one of them. I don’t want a schism, but I recognize that one may be inevitable. Is it possible, though, that United Methodists could separate into two denominations without constituting a schism?
There have been many schisms, separations, and splinters in the history of the Church, but two stand out as most significant. The first is the schism between the East and West, which actually took place over centuries, but was made official in 1054 when Cardinal Humbert, the envoy of Pole Leo IX, walked into Hagia Sophia and placed a document on the altar a document excommunicating Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius. Even after this time, Eastern and Western Christians lived and worshipped together. Eventually, however, a state of affairs emerged in which these eastern and western churches no longer recognized one another’s sacraments (including ordination), teaching authority, and liturgical traditions. There were other consequences as well, and over time they became two entirely separate communions.
The second major schism is of course the Protestant Reformation. We normally date the beginning of the Reformation to 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his “95 Theses” to the door of the church in Wittenberg. As with the first schism, however, this one was a long time in coming. The result was that we ended up with more Christians in separate communion from one another, without recognizing one another’s sacraments, ordination, liturgy, and teaching authority. Luther and many others were excommunicated. It wasn’t long, moreover, before Protestants began to break off from one another, each group insisting that it had the proper way to interpret scripture and the Christian life.
Ben Witherington of Asbury Seminary has recently written a blog post calling for another of these Protestant separations. He argues for the formation of a new Christian denomination that could be called something like the Progressive Methodist Church. Those United Methodists who cannot or will not live within the boundaries stipulated in the Book of Discipline, he says, should be allowed to go their own way in peace. They should be able to keep their properties and pensions. We should make all this as painless as possible, because the state we’re living in now can’t continue.
I’m not ready to endorse this idea, but there is something appealing about it. We have to find some way to let some air out of the balloon, or it’s going to pop. The last General Conference was a madhouse. I’m certain that the next one will be worse.
So let’s say we took Dr. Witherington’s advice and separated amicably into the Progressive Methodist Church and The United Methodist Church. This would not necessarily constitute a smaller scale version of the Great Schism of 1054 or the Protestant Reformation. It seems likely, for example, that we would recognize one another’s sacramental authority. Implicitly, then, we would recognize the ordination of the people who performed the sacraments. After all, we recognize the sacramental authority of many different traditions. In fact, the UMC is already in full communion with the ELCA and the Episcopal Church (both of which ordain gay and lesbian people), which means, among other things, that we may exchange clergy with one another. We implicitly recognize the ordination of very broad range of traditions by recognizing the baptism of virtually every other Christian group. Last I checked, we don’t ask if the person who performed the baptism was gay. Problems could arise if the baptism was in some name other than Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but that’s probably about it. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, ELCA, PCA, PCUSA, UCC, Southern Baptist—it doesn’t really matter. If the minister was ordained in his/her tradition, we recognize his or her sacramental authority. It would require a full-communion agreement to bring their ministers into our churches, but we nevertheless implicitly state that their ordination is valid.
If the UMC separated into two different denominations, would we be less generous with one another than we are with, say, the Lutherans? It seems unlikely. What we’re talking about then, is not a schism, but a separation.
You may say, “You’re splitting hairs, here, Watson! You’re arguing semantics!” No, imaginary interlocutor, I am not. For Christians to recognize one another’s ordinations and sacramental authority is one of the most important ways in which we can promote unity in the body of Christ. It is the opposite of schism, and it is much more important than a denominational structure or some other formal means of identifying various Christian groups. Why? Sacrament is where the real action is in Christianity. The sacraments are where we most directly encounter God. When we say that we recognize one another’s sacraments and ordinations, we’re saying that in these sacramental activities, God is really showing up. Christ really is mediated to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Is there anything more important than that?
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Honor exchanged for shame: Thoughts on America's history with Native peoples
I am the father to three, soon to be four, Native American children and the husband of a Native American women. My wife and kids are all registered tribal members of the Oklahoma Band of Cherokee Indians, a.k.a Cherokee Nation. I am proud of their heritage and of the heritage of all Native peoples. Most Native peoples treated the land and each other with respect and had a particular amount of integrity towards the land and creation as well as honor and respect. I am ashamed of the way our nation has treated these honorable people and I believe there will be a reckoning for America's unrepentant sins towards indigenous peoples.
In Northern Michigan there is an Island, an Island I'm sure all of you have heard of before. It's called Mackinac Island. It's a beautiful get away from all of life's hectic things. It's trapped in time, there are no cars and all the homes and buildings are from the victorian era. It's known for it's cool summer weather, fudge and "the Grand" (the Grand Hotel, built by the rail road companies hoping to capitalize on the the industrial wealth coming to the Island at the beginning of the 20th century). I love Mackinac Island as most who have been there do. As a young person growing up in Michigan it was an annual summer trip to go to the Island, buy some fudge, walk around the state park and enjoy the ferry ride to and from the island.
As much fun as the island is and as beautiful as it is, it was once more beautiful, more sacred than most of us know. The island is a sacred place in the tradition of some of its earliest known inhabitants, the Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) tribes, who consider it to be home to the Gitche Manitou or the "Great Spirit". Gitche Manitou is also known as the "great mystery". According to the Ojibwa, Mackinac Island was created by the Great Hare, Michabou and was the first land to appear after the recession of the Great Flood. The island was a gathering place for the local tribes where their offerings were made (in the form of tobacco) to Gitche Manitou and was where tribal chiefs were buried. A place that was once an organic, living, breathing temple...a sanctuary...the home of God himself, is now a tourist trap known for fudge, opulence and worthless souvenirs.
Gitche Manitou is a god much like ours. He is benevolent and nurturing and owns the universe. He is unknowable, which is why he is often called the great mystery. He gave humanity his entire stock of tobacco, which he loves, and asks us to smoke the tobacco as an offering to him. This sounds silly, but in the mythology it is a great gift and serves as a medium between Gitche Manitou and humanity.
What happened to Mackinac Island is just one example of White Europeans taking something sacred from the Native Peoples and treating it with shame and treating them with shame. The systematic hunting and killing off of the American Plains Buffalo, the uprooting of the Eastern tribes, i.e. Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw and Seminole and moving them hundreds of miles to the red dirt of Oklahoma, the intentional exposure of the Sioux and other Central tribes to small pox...all this is serves as a witness to our nations willingness to make minorities a means to an end for the sake of wealth and power. I understand that this happened almost 200 years ago, but there has never been any formal apology or attempt to reconcile and neither has there been one with the descendants of the Africans who were enslaved on this continent for 400 years!
I hope that there is more awareness about the plight of Native Peoples, what years of genocide have done to this once honorable people. They live in poverty, addicted to drugs and alcohol and plagued with obesity. They're forced on to reservations (if they want land to live on for free) and are offered subpar healthcare. Shame on our ancestors for stealing these peoples honor. My God have mercy on our nation.
In Northern Michigan there is an Island, an Island I'm sure all of you have heard of before. It's called Mackinac Island. It's a beautiful get away from all of life's hectic things. It's trapped in time, there are no cars and all the homes and buildings are from the victorian era. It's known for it's cool summer weather, fudge and "the Grand" (the Grand Hotel, built by the rail road companies hoping to capitalize on the the industrial wealth coming to the Island at the beginning of the 20th century). I love Mackinac Island as most who have been there do. As a young person growing up in Michigan it was an annual summer trip to go to the Island, buy some fudge, walk around the state park and enjoy the ferry ride to and from the island.
As much fun as the island is and as beautiful as it is, it was once more beautiful, more sacred than most of us know. The island is a sacred place in the tradition of some of its earliest known inhabitants, the Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) tribes, who consider it to be home to the Gitche Manitou or the "Great Spirit". Gitche Manitou is also known as the "great mystery". According to the Ojibwa, Mackinac Island was created by the Great Hare, Michabou and was the first land to appear after the recession of the Great Flood. The island was a gathering place for the local tribes where their offerings were made (in the form of tobacco) to Gitche Manitou and was where tribal chiefs were buried. A place that was once an organic, living, breathing temple...a sanctuary...the home of God himself, is now a tourist trap known for fudge, opulence and worthless souvenirs.
Gitche Manitou is a god much like ours. He is benevolent and nurturing and owns the universe. He is unknowable, which is why he is often called the great mystery. He gave humanity his entire stock of tobacco, which he loves, and asks us to smoke the tobacco as an offering to him. This sounds silly, but in the mythology it is a great gift and serves as a medium between Gitche Manitou and humanity.
What happened to Mackinac Island is just one example of White Europeans taking something sacred from the Native Peoples and treating it with shame and treating them with shame. The systematic hunting and killing off of the American Plains Buffalo, the uprooting of the Eastern tribes, i.e. Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw and Seminole and moving them hundreds of miles to the red dirt of Oklahoma, the intentional exposure of the Sioux and other Central tribes to small pox...all this is serves as a witness to our nations willingness to make minorities a means to an end for the sake of wealth and power. I understand that this happened almost 200 years ago, but there has never been any formal apology or attempt to reconcile and neither has there been one with the descendants of the Africans who were enslaved on this continent for 400 years!
I hope that there is more awareness about the plight of Native Peoples, what years of genocide have done to this once honorable people. They live in poverty, addicted to drugs and alcohol and plagued with obesity. They're forced on to reservations (if they want land to live on for free) and are offered subpar healthcare. Shame on our ancestors for stealing these peoples honor. My God have mercy on our nation.
This is the day that the Lord has made!! Reflections on a month of blessings.
These past three weeks, of which I have failed to post at all, have been immensely busy for me and our world. There's been the Olympics, Russia taking over the Crimea, Fred Phelps was excommunicated and thats just the world news. Theres lots to report from my own life, as well as reflections on those events which I hope will help you in your life.
Two weeks ago it was announced that I would be appointed to the Homer United Methodist Church in Midland, MI effective 7/1/2014. This will be my third appointment in the United Methodist Church and one that I a very excited about. I am, however, very sad to be leaving the church family we have here in Onaway and Millersburg and even asked my DS if it were possible, like a football coach, to bring with me some of my choice staff to help implement our game plan, of which he laughed and said no. I'm very grateful to the people of Onaway/Millersburg UMC for their love and support and their grace and patiences as I learned more about my call, gifts and trade. I was a 29 year old Seminary graduate when I came to Onaway and I showed it often. I really appreciate this collection of saints who helped refine this young pastors call. They will always be in my heart.
As significant as a new appointment is, probably the most significant thing that has happened professionally to me over the past 3 weeks is the approval of the Board of Ordained Ministry for commissioning as a Provisional Elder. This was a life time of preparation, even though I have not been a Methodist my whole life and I have been an Ordained minister in another tradition, I feel as if everything I have experienced up to this point was leading to the completion of this goal. I actually begin the journey in 2007 by joining the First United Methodist Church of Sallisaw, Oklahoma. I can really even go back a bit further to a conversation I had with Dr. Jack Harnish, who would tell you that he gave me a "kick in the pants" which motivated me to get going on my call to Ordained ministry.
The countless hours of work, worry, fear, doubt, joy, elation and the confirmation of the Holy Spirit, plus the countless amount of saints who have been there supporting me and encouraging me and showing me grace has all culminated with this one event...so far. Last Tuesday I met with the Board of Ordained Ministry for a round of interviews which went wounderfully. The interviews were encouraging, formative and a form of holy conferecning. The next day I received a call from a member of the Board informing me that I had been approved for Commissioning as a Provisional Elder. I felt weak in the knees and I cried, in fact the board member, a good friend of mine, told me to breath and relax. It was such an emotional moment I wasn't sure how to respond. I'm certain now that the only proper response is one of gratitude...gratitude to God and to the gracious saints who held my hand and made this possible.
Now as great as all that is I also found out recently that the baby my wife and I are having is going to be a girl!! After three ruckus and rowdy boys it'll be nice to have a sweet little baby girl. We have already decided to name her. Her name will be Sophia Elizabeth Blanchard. Elizabeth is a tribute to the Advent story of Zachariah and Elizabeth's surprise baby...John the Baptist. Sophie was a surprise to me, not an intentional pregnancy, but she will be great in the eyes of God and do great things in for God's kingdom.
I'm overwhelmed with blessings and I'm grateful. My heart is filled to the brim with gratitude and thanksgiving. I'm so happy to see so many of my life's goals coming to fruition and I know this is really just the start of more of life's challenges, but for now I will sit in the sun and absorb it's warm rays and enjoy the day, for this is the day that the Lord has made. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Josh
Two weeks ago it was announced that I would be appointed to the Homer United Methodist Church in Midland, MI effective 7/1/2014. This will be my third appointment in the United Methodist Church and one that I a very excited about. I am, however, very sad to be leaving the church family we have here in Onaway and Millersburg and even asked my DS if it were possible, like a football coach, to bring with me some of my choice staff to help implement our game plan, of which he laughed and said no. I'm very grateful to the people of Onaway/Millersburg UMC for their love and support and their grace and patiences as I learned more about my call, gifts and trade. I was a 29 year old Seminary graduate when I came to Onaway and I showed it often. I really appreciate this collection of saints who helped refine this young pastors call. They will always be in my heart.
As significant as a new appointment is, probably the most significant thing that has happened professionally to me over the past 3 weeks is the approval of the Board of Ordained Ministry for commissioning as a Provisional Elder. This was a life time of preparation, even though I have not been a Methodist my whole life and I have been an Ordained minister in another tradition, I feel as if everything I have experienced up to this point was leading to the completion of this goal. I actually begin the journey in 2007 by joining the First United Methodist Church of Sallisaw, Oklahoma. I can really even go back a bit further to a conversation I had with Dr. Jack Harnish, who would tell you that he gave me a "kick in the pants" which motivated me to get going on my call to Ordained ministry.
The countless hours of work, worry, fear, doubt, joy, elation and the confirmation of the Holy Spirit, plus the countless amount of saints who have been there supporting me and encouraging me and showing me grace has all culminated with this one event...so far. Last Tuesday I met with the Board of Ordained Ministry for a round of interviews which went wounderfully. The interviews were encouraging, formative and a form of holy conferecning. The next day I received a call from a member of the Board informing me that I had been approved for Commissioning as a Provisional Elder. I felt weak in the knees and I cried, in fact the board member, a good friend of mine, told me to breath and relax. It was such an emotional moment I wasn't sure how to respond. I'm certain now that the only proper response is one of gratitude...gratitude to God and to the gracious saints who held my hand and made this possible.
Now as great as all that is I also found out recently that the baby my wife and I are having is going to be a girl!! After three ruckus and rowdy boys it'll be nice to have a sweet little baby girl. We have already decided to name her. Her name will be Sophia Elizabeth Blanchard. Elizabeth is a tribute to the Advent story of Zachariah and Elizabeth's surprise baby...John the Baptist. Sophie was a surprise to me, not an intentional pregnancy, but she will be great in the eyes of God and do great things in for God's kingdom.
I'm overwhelmed with blessings and I'm grateful. My heart is filled to the brim with gratitude and thanksgiving. I'm so happy to see so many of my life's goals coming to fruition and I know this is really just the start of more of life's challenges, but for now I will sit in the sun and absorb it's warm rays and enjoy the day, for this is the day that the Lord has made. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Josh
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
The Might Month of March!
Where I pastor ww are just wrapping up a series of sermons called, "The All-America Month of February." It was kind of a tongue a cheek series. Obviously a month with record snow falls and cold temps doesn't evoke images of American greatness...well not quite like July does. It does however have several holidays that are uniquely American, but perhaps are not thought of as holidays, i.e Super Bowl Sunday, Ground Hog day, and Presidents day. Along with tying together the biblical theme togetherness we also explored the theme of the other. Being that it was Black History Month we also covered some of America's greatest Black historical figures. I think it went well. I had fun planning, preparing and delivering these sermons. Next up is March!
There's no catchy theme for March because for me March will be a very busy month, but also because this year March contains the early part of Lent. Growing up in a Pentecostal church we had little to no Lent, but plenty of lint...ha ha ha. Really though, I never recall hearing anything about Lent other than it was a Catholic thing and there for must be bad. Little did I know that Lent was a time of growth, reflection, introspect and reconcilliation. Lent is a truly blessed time of simplicity and un-indulgence.
I discovered Lent as a wayward, back sliden, recovering fundamentalist and pentecostal via the Episcopal Church. At that point in my life I was ready to embrace any form of Christianity that did not resembled the form of which I knew, i.e Pentecostalism. It was explained to me by a very wise, old, and country Priest that Lent was a time of repentance and reflection, used to help prepare us for the joy of the resurrection and the new life in Jesus. In away the relationship that Lent has to easter is very similar to the relationship that our earthly lives have to our eternal lives, it prepares us.
This year I'll start it all off with ashes, but hopefully I'll be more intentional about engaging in prayer and end up with a better understanding of God. I will fast and abstain and all those other Methodist things, but I also want to add, to do more, read more, pray more, give more, so that this time of reflection is not simply about not eating donuts or drinking diet coke or not logging on to Facebook or not txting while driving, but is about growing and becoming something new.
Lent is a gift. A chance to look inside and reflect on what we are and where we are going and if we find out that we are not what God is calling us to be or we find that we are heading down the wrong path, come the last Friday in Lent we can rally at the cross and be reborn on Sunday! So this Lent embrace the the time to reflect, to look inside and enjoy the mighty month of March.
There's no catchy theme for March because for me March will be a very busy month, but also because this year March contains the early part of Lent. Growing up in a Pentecostal church we had little to no Lent, but plenty of lint...ha ha ha. Really though, I never recall hearing anything about Lent other than it was a Catholic thing and there for must be bad. Little did I know that Lent was a time of growth, reflection, introspect and reconcilliation. Lent is a truly blessed time of simplicity and un-indulgence.
I discovered Lent as a wayward, back sliden, recovering fundamentalist and pentecostal via the Episcopal Church. At that point in my life I was ready to embrace any form of Christianity that did not resembled the form of which I knew, i.e Pentecostalism. It was explained to me by a very wise, old, and country Priest that Lent was a time of repentance and reflection, used to help prepare us for the joy of the resurrection and the new life in Jesus. In away the relationship that Lent has to easter is very similar to the relationship that our earthly lives have to our eternal lives, it prepares us.
This year I'll start it all off with ashes, but hopefully I'll be more intentional about engaging in prayer and end up with a better understanding of God. I will fast and abstain and all those other Methodist things, but I also want to add, to do more, read more, pray more, give more, so that this time of reflection is not simply about not eating donuts or drinking diet coke or not logging on to Facebook or not txting while driving, but is about growing and becoming something new.
Lent is a gift. A chance to look inside and reflect on what we are and where we are going and if we find out that we are not what God is calling us to be or we find that we are heading down the wrong path, come the last Friday in Lent we can rally at the cross and be reborn on Sunday! So this Lent embrace the the time to reflect, to look inside and enjoy the mighty month of March.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
United Methodist Ministry: What are we doing and Who are We?
This past week I posted a question in a Facebook Group page on the role of Local Pastors and their use of traditionally Ordained person styles, garments and vestments. I got a lot of different response, but most of them were either of the visceral type or showed complete indifference. I suppose on the grand scheme of things whether Local Pastors can wear collars, stoles and robes and whether they can use the style Rev. in front of their names really is inconsequential. What matters is whether or not good ministry is taking place and whether or not the gospel is being taught and shared and changed lives are the result of that, I understand, believe me I do.
I've been a Licensed Local Pastor (LLP) now for over five years. This May, assuming everything goes well, I'll be an Elder, a commissioned Elder, and will begin my two year probationary journey to Full and Ordained Elder. I understand the difficulties, the challenges and to and extent, perhaps the discrimination some LLP's feel, so again, I get it. I also understand that there is a difference between an Elder and an LLP, one that should be distinctive, but in away is vague when we sit down and try to discuss it. After all an LLP is a pastor, he can celebrate sacraments, perform wedding, funerals and all other Pastoral ministry and is intinerate. What does and Elder do? Please refer to the prior sentence. The practical difference that I can see is guaranteed appointments, larger churches and better salaries. Elders are, for the most part, guaranteed those things. On tope of those things Elders can expect to have close to $70,000 in debt, endure a rigorous and sometimes random and always frustrating Ordination process, and an expectation of constant professionalism.
Please don't misunderstand me, I love LLP's and value their ministry, I feel certainty that I am called to Ordained ministry, but why would one go through all this when they can virtually do the same thing with 1/4 of the complications? I know plenty of people, even those who commented to my post over the weekend, who said they were happy being and LLP an that they felt no pressure or urgency to become Ordained. Even young people in their mid thirties are opting to remain as local pastors because it's to much money and work to become and Elder and DCOM's and BoOM's are fine with that.
I believe in the call to Eldership in the church. The church needs Elders, it needs the Ordained Elder, the Ordained Elder is a gift from God, they are called of God to order the life of the church, preserve the apostolic presents and administer the sacraments. Without the Ordained Elder the church would fail. I think it's time we discuss what Ordination is instead of just taking about what they do. They do everything an LLP (essentially a temporary clergy person or lay pastor) can do, but at a much higher cost, personally and finically. But what does it do to them, what changes about them, ontologically how are they different from the LLP? The cost to them is greater, the devotion, the sacrifice and the life time spent sold out out to the body, like St. Paul, becoming a servant, giving up their rights and identity. But how do we recognize this other than with higher salaries and bigger churches? All those things are great feats of faith that the Elder provides to the church. Her witness and devotion to God by willing to give everything up is a great feat of faith, enabled only by a perfecting God. The Elder devotes her life, her finances, her family to service the church. What does that mean for her, how does that change her?
I think LLP's are great pastors, who also sacrifice, but they're pastors. Is an Elder just a pastor? I don't think so. I think they truly are the gift of the apostolic presents in our churches. I've heard it said once that though your young pastor might be 30 years younger than you, when he wears that stole, he is 2,000 years old. My hope is that we continue to discuss the role of the ordained, and what ordination does and not just what they do. I hope that LLP's recognize the sacrifice and devotion of Elders. So many LLP's seem to have a chip on their shoulder regarding Elders. They feel that they are just as good, just as qualified, just as significant to the church...and they are, to an extent, but if all the church needed was the LLP, we wouldn't have Elders, if all we needed was the Pastor, we wouldn't need Elders. This is a conversation, like most in our church that will be polarizing and controversial and to some inflammatory, but we need to have it. I hope my thoughts don't offend any of you, but instead calls us all to reflection.
I've been a Licensed Local Pastor (LLP) now for over five years. This May, assuming everything goes well, I'll be an Elder, a commissioned Elder, and will begin my two year probationary journey to Full and Ordained Elder. I understand the difficulties, the challenges and to and extent, perhaps the discrimination some LLP's feel, so again, I get it. I also understand that there is a difference between an Elder and an LLP, one that should be distinctive, but in away is vague when we sit down and try to discuss it. After all an LLP is a pastor, he can celebrate sacraments, perform wedding, funerals and all other Pastoral ministry and is intinerate. What does and Elder do? Please refer to the prior sentence. The practical difference that I can see is guaranteed appointments, larger churches and better salaries. Elders are, for the most part, guaranteed those things. On tope of those things Elders can expect to have close to $70,000 in debt, endure a rigorous and sometimes random and always frustrating Ordination process, and an expectation of constant professionalism.
Please don't misunderstand me, I love LLP's and value their ministry, I feel certainty that I am called to Ordained ministry, but why would one go through all this when they can virtually do the same thing with 1/4 of the complications? I know plenty of people, even those who commented to my post over the weekend, who said they were happy being and LLP an that they felt no pressure or urgency to become Ordained. Even young people in their mid thirties are opting to remain as local pastors because it's to much money and work to become and Elder and DCOM's and BoOM's are fine with that.
I believe in the call to Eldership in the church. The church needs Elders, it needs the Ordained Elder, the Ordained Elder is a gift from God, they are called of God to order the life of the church, preserve the apostolic presents and administer the sacraments. Without the Ordained Elder the church would fail. I think it's time we discuss what Ordination is instead of just taking about what they do. They do everything an LLP (essentially a temporary clergy person or lay pastor) can do, but at a much higher cost, personally and finically. But what does it do to them, what changes about them, ontologically how are they different from the LLP? The cost to them is greater, the devotion, the sacrifice and the life time spent sold out out to the body, like St. Paul, becoming a servant, giving up their rights and identity. But how do we recognize this other than with higher salaries and bigger churches? All those things are great feats of faith that the Elder provides to the church. Her witness and devotion to God by willing to give everything up is a great feat of faith, enabled only by a perfecting God. The Elder devotes her life, her finances, her family to service the church. What does that mean for her, how does that change her?
I think LLP's are great pastors, who also sacrifice, but they're pastors. Is an Elder just a pastor? I don't think so. I think they truly are the gift of the apostolic presents in our churches. I've heard it said once that though your young pastor might be 30 years younger than you, when he wears that stole, he is 2,000 years old. My hope is that we continue to discuss the role of the ordained, and what ordination does and not just what they do. I hope that LLP's recognize the sacrifice and devotion of Elders. So many LLP's seem to have a chip on their shoulder regarding Elders. They feel that they are just as good, just as qualified, just as significant to the church...and they are, to an extent, but if all the church needed was the LLP, we wouldn't have Elders, if all we needed was the Pastor, we wouldn't need Elders. This is a conversation, like most in our church that will be polarizing and controversial and to some inflammatory, but we need to have it. I hope my thoughts don't offend any of you, but instead calls us all to reflection.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
When I say Bishop, you say Deb!: What A Biblical Model of Episcopacy Ought to Look Like Through the Eyes of a Young Clergy (FL)
I've not been a United Methodist very long (about 6 years and 5 of those years under appointment), but long enough to know that not all Bishops are created equal. I mean yes they are made in the image of God and yada, yada, yada. What I mean is that not all of them posses the pastoral qualities that I think a bishop should have. Perhaps I'm treading on thin ice talking about our Bishop and such. I'm not even a provisional member yet (hopefully I be will in May). I'm just a FL (Full Time Local Pastor) who recently graduated from seminary and is serving in obscurity on the Northern boarder of the Saginaw Bay district, so maybe my opinion doesn't amount to much, but I've got to say...we in the Michigan Area are blessed to have one of the, if not the, most pastorally minded Bishops in the connexion.
In July of 2012 the North Central Jurisdiction assigned Bishop Deborah Lieder Kiesey to the Michigan Area, which is essentially a two point charge. It's composed of the West Michigan Conference and the Detroit Conference. This is an area of nearly 150,000 church members. Thats the size of many denominations in North America! She came to us from the Dakota's, perhaps serving in obscurity herself in a rather small episcopal area. There was a lot of hope and anticipation surrounding her assignment. Personally I attended seminary with a group of young clergy from the Dakota's and they all said great things about her. Particularly they said, and a concern of mine, was that she was very interested and responsive to young clergy and clergy families. I'm happy to say that I have found this report to be true and that all the excitement and energy surrounding her assignment was not smoke and mirrors, but very appropriate. One of the first things she did upon arrival was tour the area. I attended a gathering at Indian River UMC where she preached to and fellowship with clergy and laity. Thats when she told us we called call her, "Bishop Deb." Wow, I thought, she wants us to use her first name!? I think thats when I realized that we had been given a gift as an area, a truly pastoral bishop who is going to want, most of all, what's best for us. The following year in the summer she spent a day and a night at camp with a group of young clergy families. She watched our corny talent show, sat around the fire as we told stories and asked questions. The next day she lead worship and followed it up with a 2hr question and answer session with both clergy and clergy spouses. She ended her time with us by eating lunch and giving us all a blessing as she departed. On top of those actions she has always responded to my personal e-mails, i.e. questions, invitation to preach and a welcome.
In July of 2012 the North Central Jurisdiction assigned Bishop Deborah Lieder Kiesey to the Michigan Area, which is essentially a two point charge. It's composed of the West Michigan Conference and the Detroit Conference. This is an area of nearly 150,000 church members. Thats the size of many denominations in North America! She came to us from the Dakota's, perhaps serving in obscurity herself in a rather small episcopal area. There was a lot of hope and anticipation surrounding her assignment. Personally I attended seminary with a group of young clergy from the Dakota's and they all said great things about her. Particularly they said, and a concern of mine, was that she was very interested and responsive to young clergy and clergy families. I'm happy to say that I have found this report to be true and that all the excitement and energy surrounding her assignment was not smoke and mirrors, but very appropriate. One of the first things she did upon arrival was tour the area. I attended a gathering at Indian River UMC where she preached to and fellowship with clergy and laity. Thats when she told us we called call her, "Bishop Deb." Wow, I thought, she wants us to use her first name!? I think thats when I realized that we had been given a gift as an area, a truly pastoral bishop who is going to want, most of all, what's best for us. The following year in the summer she spent a day and a night at camp with a group of young clergy families. She watched our corny talent show, sat around the fire as we told stories and asked questions. The next day she lead worship and followed it up with a 2hr question and answer session with both clergy and clergy spouses. She ended her time with us by eating lunch and giving us all a blessing as she departed. On top of those actions she has always responded to my personal e-mails, i.e. questions, invitation to preach and a welcome.
Recently she has invited input on normally "top secret" discussions from area clergy, both lay pastors and ordained. She has opened discussion for all 150,000 Michigan Area United Methodists on creating a "new work in the Michigan area." A combined conference, not a merger, but a new work. Like I said, I've not been around very long, but I've been around long enough to know just how fortunate we are to have Bishop Deb as our Bishop and I, along with many other Michigan Area Clergy and Laity, are looking forward to a hopefully long relationship of leading by and following of Bishop Deb!
Grace and Peace,
Josh
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
MLK, Human Relations Sunday and the push for a progressive Wesleyan faith
This coming Monday, January 20th, America will take a moment, at least officially, to honor one of it's most prophetic and heroic figures...Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unfortunately even though it's an official holiday lots of people will ignore it and lots of people will treat that day with contempt. I recently had a member of one of my churches say that it's not fair that Martin Luther King, Jr gets his own holiday and that some schools and banks close to observe that day. He went on to say his kids are expected to attend school on Veterans day and that Veterans did more for this country than any Black preacher could ever do. I agree Veterans are important and so is their sacrifice, but that "black preacher" transformed a backwards, bigoted and racist society into one that, for the most part, has at lest learned tolerance for the other. Tolerance, however, is not and should not be the vision we desire to have for relationships with others in our communities who's skin, gender, and lifestyle is different from the prevailing and dominant raced as white and sexed as male culture we live in. Tolerance is not love, tolerance is not grace, tolerance is saying, "I wont hurt you, discriminate against you are even kill you because you are different." The truth is tolerance is the enemy of love and grace. What our vision ought to be is acceptance. We need to have a vision, or what Dr. King called, "a dream", of a society that embraces the various ways that God's image is in each and everyone of us, despite our race, gender and sexual orientation.
As a pastor I am disappointed that our church has not arrived yet at a place of full acceptance and inclusion of all the various ways God is imagined in humanity. Our church, the United Methodist Church, is at a crossroads with a traditional and prevailing view of humanity and society. We cling to an archaic interpretation of family and sexuality and call it "being faithful" to tradition and scripture. It seems like when Dr. King and the social revolutionaries of the civil rights era were advocating for a more just and advertent society many in our church then were against that as well. There were pastors defrocked, churches attacked and even people killed because of the radical idea that all men were created equal and that society can truly be a place of liberty and justice for all.
Unfortunately our church, at lest the Methodist Episcopal stream, has always sided with traditional interpretations of life and scripture (when threatened with loss of membership or money) , but fortunately many of the other streams, such as the Brethren and the Methodist Protestant streams, had embraced progressive visions of church and society, i.e the ordination of women and black ministers, when it wasn't popular. I think overall the leadership of the United Methodist Church is moving towards embracing a progressive vision of church. Now some still don't and cannot and won't. For example, I had an Elder in my conference tell me that because of my support for dialogue, just dialogue, regarding full inclusion of homosexual persons in the life of the church, he regretted helping me with my commissioning paper work and would be voting against me at Annual Conference when my name is put before the executive session of Elders for provisional membership. I'm sure 50 years ago there where Elders who said the same thing to young pastors, especially in the South, who dared to say "blacks should have the same rights as whites, in society and in the church."
So this Sunday the Church celebrates Human Relations Sunday. We are asked to have special prayers, litanies, hymns, and to take up a special offering that help raise awareness on how we interact with other humans in our own communities and globally. I think it's safe to say that the circus that has preceded this years Human Relations Sunday, i.e the Gay Marriage trials, might have a negative effect on what we are trying to convey by having a Human Relations Sunday. This Sunday I'm going to attempt to share the importance of keeping Dr. Kings "dream" alive, not just over issues of race, but all issues of bigotry, i.e homosexual rights, workers rights, and women's health rights. I'm sure that in the small Northern Michigan community I live and serve in, this won't be popular. It'll have to be nuanced a bit, but hopefully the message and the agenda of a Human Relations Sunday will "get out there" and maybe at least challenge, if not transform some hearts and lives.
The biggest challenge we have as a Wesleyan tradition is adjusting to becoming a progressive church. My understanding of Wesley's faith was that he, as a son of the enlightenment age, had a rather progressive vision for Christianity, also he struggled with the traditional world view he grew up with and lived in. Fortunately in the frontier world that Methodism thrived in, Mr. Wesley's Methodism found some rather progressive partners who challenged a traditional world view and championed a progressive world view...in some ways;). Methodist were the first to have racially mixed worship and women leaders and preachers. By 1800 almost 80% of Methodist were black, unfortunately then, like now, we allowed social pressures to cloud our judgment and instead of being a mixed racial church we helped blacks start their own Methodist tradition, the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Methodism has in it's DNA the make up that is needed to be the most inclusive, gospel centered, evangelically minded form of progressive Christianity the world has ever seen! The question is will we embrace that possibility or will retreat back to stereo types, bigotry and exclusiveness? This sunday, Human relations Sunday, is a perfect opportunity to reflect on this question and maybe develop a gospel centered response for it. We will have to wait and see.
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Grace and Peace,
Josh
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
I didn't get the job, but instead found a calling.
About 7years ago I interviewed for a job at Birmingham First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, MI. I was then working at the Oklahoma United Methodist Boys Ranch as a counselor and resources officer. I enjoyed my job, but was anxious to find a job in ministry. There weren't too many full time openings in the tradition I was then currently part of, so I thought I tried my chances with a "sister denomination." I sent my resume, made my follow up phone calls and was eventually invited to a face-to-face interview with the leadership of Birmingham First. I was intimidated by the size of the church, committees and community and it was not my best interview. I few hours after the interview, the pastor, now one of my closest friends and mentor, Jack Harnish called to say, "Josh, you didn't get the job, but have you considered pastoral ministry?" I had, in fact that was what I really wanted to do, but as I mentioned, there were not many opportunities in the tradition I was currently part of. Jack went on to, "give me a swift kick in the pants" an encouraged me to pursue ordination and pastoral ministry in the United Methodist Church. I had consider this before, but I was intimidated by the sheer amount of work, education and discipline it took to become a United Methodist Elder, but for whatever reason, Jacks "kick to the butt" was enough that day and I decided I was going to do what it took to become a UMC Elder!
So, I didn't get the job I wanted, but I did get a vocation I am extremely proud of and happy with. I guess this goes to show that from time to time, we all need a butt kicking :) to get us going in the right direction and from time to time we don't get the job, but instead find a life calling. I'm looking forward to a life time of service as an Ordained person in the United Methodist Church and it all stared with a faithful, spiritually sensitive and life oriented church father who wasn't afraid to kick a little butt. Thanks Jack, you have my permission to land another swift kick anytime you think I need one! ;)
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| Me, my wife Amanda, Jim and Bev Miller and Rev. Jack and Judy Harnish at Onaway United Methodist Church |
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