Interactive Sermon

Attention Groupies .3

A note specifically for those involved in my reading/discussion group of the best-seller The Shack: This coming Sunday be prepared for a conversation over Chapters Five and Six.

Chapters Three and Four served to unveil the Great Sadness in Mack's life for us.  One moment a camping trip with his children--everything as good as it gets.  The next moment chaos and then horror at the realization that his daughter had been abducted, and likely at the hands of a seriel killer.

Our group spent time discussing some of that back-story.  We related to the family's camping get-away and the way they drew close to their new found friends.  We relished with Mack the opportunity to count his blessings (before Missy's disappearance) and we pondered the depths of his despair, and the speed at which everything changed.

We also spoke a bit about the how and why questions we're all tempted to ask when tragedy stikes, as well as the dreadful "what if" and "if only" regrets.  Finally, we wrapped up discussing what it might be like to have been one of Mack's friends or family members--what would sympathy and compassion look like?  How might we minister loving care in such dire circumstances?

Any other impressions you may have had over the opening sections?  Feel free to drop a comment here or pick it up in conversation with someone in the group.  See you Sunday! 

This is the Church, This is the Steeple...

Open it up, and... where's all the people?

Well, studies suggest that they're all online.  I'm amazed at the number of my pastor friends who question the relevance of social media, web presence and blogging.  Read these numbers.

Where are the people, pastor?

Attention Groupies .2

A note specifically for those involved in my reading/discussion group of the best-seller The Shack: This coming Sunday be prepared for a conversation over Chapters Three and Four.

Last weekend we looked back at the impressions that the Foreword and Chapters One and Two had on us.  Where the Foreword was concerned, we discussed the initial impressions we gathered of Mack and Willie, and of their relationship.  We discussed how Willie's statement about Mack's story, "I definitely want everything Mack told me to be true" struck us.

Chapter One's title gave us a little thought provocation--confluence meaning "a flowing together", we discussed the ways in which many things flow into who we are and into our perceptions and understandings of God. 

Over chapter two we mused about the story of the Multnomah princess and the gospel story--specifically how stories are heard and processed.  We also spent time talking about "the Great Sadness" in Mack's life and how clouds of sadness or disappointment are pretty common across our human experience.

Any other impressions you may have had over the opening sections?  Feel free to drop a comment here or pick it up in conversation with someone in the group.  See you Sunday! 

Back At The Ponderosa

Hoss has been thinking.

Three weeks.  That's how long matters of a family leaving one congregation and surfacing in another have dominated the conversation at the local pastor's meeting.  Be assured, it's not just a family deciding to change scenery, but rather showing up in a new location spewing venom towards their previous church home.  It's emotional.  It's personal.  It's a danger within the church community.

If airtime at the meeting wasn't enough, a couple of these matters have spilled into (seemingly) endless strings of "copy all" email.  Has anyone else considered that email is not the best manner of communication over things that have emotional and personal charges attached?  Oy vey!

One pastor has suggested a formal covenant be struck between the local pastors and leaders.  Another has begun drawing up such a document.  Still another invited the leader of a pastor's fellowship in Massachusetts to come visit us to share what they've written up there.  Still another pastor sent an email saying he's picking up his jacks and he's going home.  Email, again! 

A pastor, newer to our group, had a very interesting take.  He pointed out that we've spent the better part of three weeks (I think he's only been with us three weeks) arguing over a small handful of families that are "in" the church.  He pointed out that folks in some 95% of the households in our community don't attend any church anywhere.  He wondered aloud what might happen if we focused some of our energy on those folks.  Let me just say, Hoss likes the new guy.

I'm not opposed to signing a covenant. I'll sign it. I prefer, however, that relationships within our local church community ran deeper than a formal agreement--they were there once. 

For my reading of the scriptures, unity and love are those things, when evidenced in the church, that cause a watching world to take notice.  I'm just sayin'...

Attention Groupies

A quick post for those in my Sunday morning reading/discussion small group reading through The Shack.

Sunday come prepared to chat about the Foreword and Chapters One and Two. 

Don't worry if you missed our first meeting last week.  We spent our time enjoying a cup of coffee and familiarizing ourselves with the book--considering some of the endorsements, mentioning some of the controversy that has arisen, and discussing some interviews that the author Paul Young has given concerning the book.  Certainly all of this will come up again as we progress through the story.

I still have a couple copies of the book on hand if anyone wants to jump in last minute. 

Come at 8:30AM for an Interactive Java Stop.  Our small group begins at 9AM.

Where Did You Come From?

Local Pastor's Meeting today~

Church hopping and church shopping.  We've conceded: the majority of church growth we're seeing is folks shuffling back and forth between our local congregations.  We get it.  We know that Pastor A is "too liberal" and the music at Church B is "lame."  We understand that Pastor C's church "doesn't relate well to families with children" and that Church D "is nothing more than a clique."  We've heard about your "run in" with Pastor E, and how Church F is, well... (insert your own obscenity).

Here's a sad reality: this week marks my tenth anniversary at Christ's Church and I am second in seniority in the local pastoral fellowship.  Average shelf life for a local pastor in our neck of the woods seems about four years.  That's actually better than the national average.  Pastoral ministry in this culture can be so discouraging.

A few of us old timers (the few of us who have been here together the longest) were lamenting the old days when all of the local pastors knew each other well enough that we'd ask a family showing up on a Sunday "Where did you come from?" and we could answer someone who came from the congregation down the road, "Oh, the pastor there is a very good friend of mine.  I know him well."  We nipped any bad-feelings (or people peddling disharmony) in the bud.

Picture L to R: Pastor Darin Shaw, Pastor Ron Tannariello, Pastor Mike Sacco and Pastor Nick Manha.

Guess what?  We've won the newbies over! 

We're ready to become intentional again about our pastoral relationships and the relationships between church leaders across our community.  Don't show up at Church A with complaints about Church B any longer.  Don't expect Pastor D to entertain your complaints about Pastor E in our community. We're not going to tolerate it.  We're on to you.  We're done playing.  We're shoulder to shoulder again.

We're collectively called to bear the gospel to our community.  It's time we put the distractions out to pasture and get back to what matters most.

You see, we're not many churches.  We're many local expressions of ONE CHURCH.  And we're getting back to acting like it.  You with us? 

The Emergent Label

If you've been a part of the emerging church conversation at any length, recent posts across the blogosphere might serve as fresh thought provocation.  I wrote last week about the blog-and-forth between Andrew Jones and Tony Jones.  Others have chimed in.  The most entertaining of them has to be Rick Bennett's Obituary for the Emerging Church.  All of it has led me to consider, all the more, the emerging label.  I'll plan to spill out some thoughts in a few posts.  For starters:

It was somewhere in the early '00s when I was asked by one of our music team leaders, "Is Christ's Church an emerging church?"  I answered that question with a question (seemed like something Brian McLaren gets in trouble for, so why not?): "Why do you ask that?"  The answer was that she had heard our congregation mentioned in the local church community as being "caught up in the emergent heresy."  

To that point, I had read a couple of Brian McLaren books.  Did this make me/us emergent?  I had begun reading Tall Skinny Kiwi's blog regularly and even linked to it from my own blog.  Did this make me/us emergent?  I was becoming more aware of our particular setting as a local expression of the body of Christ, and a growing discomfort with apologetic evangelism while also sensing more openness to genuine conversation and relationship.  Did this make me/us emergent?  As I read McLaren's More Ready Than You Realize, I realized that I was engaged in a couple of generative conversations myself. Did that make me/us emergent?  I became intentional about trying to augment my preaching and teaching ministry with more dialogue and conversation.  Did this make me/us emergent?  I instigated a reading and discussion group over the McLaren book Generous Orthodoxy.  Did this make me/us emergent?  What labelled us?

And heresy?

There has not been any change in our doctrinal statement.  There have been no changes in my personal theology, that I am aware of.  To my standard Reformed sense of humor--I'm still among the elite of the elect.

But there have been changes.  As a congregation, we've moved decidedly in the direction of embracing an incarnational evangelism.  Is that heretical?  We've welcomed people to "belong before they believe."  Is that it?  We've encouraged questions, dialogue and searching in matters of life and faith, rather than enforcing a standard of religious certitude.  Did that cross the line?  We've looked at ourselves and admitted that, at times, we've practiced more like Pharisees than followers of Jesus Christ--and we've determined to change that.  Was that it?  Heresy?

We've wanted to see sharing the gospel become more "who we are" than an "outreach program"; to see discipleship happen along life's way rather than in a classroom; to partner effectively with other followers of Christ--and those of difference and distance, too, not just those who look and think exactly like we do.

Funny thing is, these are all things we've been learning from the Bible, and seen in Jesus--not in a McLaren book or a Tall Skinny Kiwi blog post (although I've seen some of those themes repeated in those places for sure).

I don't guess I've ever thought of it as emergent.  I've thought of it as being a follower of Jesus Christ. And these are the things that I believe will outlast the label.   

More to come...

Emergent / Embraced?

There's been some banter back and forth in the blogosphere over the state of the Emergent Church as we enter a new decade. 

One school of thought was expressed by Andrew Jones, a.k.a. Tall Skinny Kiwi, suggesting that 2009 was a real turning point for the Emerging Church.  You can read his entire post here.  Here's a soundbyte:

In my opinion, 2009 marks the year when the emerging church suddenly and decisively ceased to be a radical and controversial movement in global Christianity. In many places around the world, the movement has already been either adopted, adapted, or made redundant through the traditional church catching up or duplicating EC efforts. In some countries there have been strategic partnerships during 2009 or a significant rethinking process that has led to a new level of maturity, a sense of completion, or an re-evaluation of original vision and current practises.

In 2009, the emerging church either grew up, stopped being offensive, switched gear from experimental to normal, became the new mainstream, or a bit of each.

Author and theologian Tony Jones (no relation) replied--seeming to disagree.  You can find his post here, where you'll find these key points:

It seems to me that, yes, there is some radicality left in the ECM, for it seems to me that emergents are and have been among those proclaiming that the “emperor has no clothes” — here the “emperor” being the conventional church. 

And secondly, is the ECM becoming “less offensive”?  If my personal and anecdotal experience is any guide, the ECM is more offensive than ever.  In the States, the Evangelical Intelligentsia has determined that emergent leaders are not true evangelicals, leaving pastors like Dan Kimball and Bob Hyatt to choose between evangelicalism the ECM.  Personally, I have been disinvited from three speaking engagements this year, and one that I’ve got coming up in 2010 was moved off of a college campus and into a nearby hotel because of my presence at the event.

Note: Tall Skinny Kiwi then replied to Tony Jones, here.

All of this back and forth.  I want to weigh in!

Facebook: The Confessional of the Post-Church Era?

A confessional is a small enclosed booth used for the sacrament of penance, often called confession.  In traditional confessionals, the priest and penitent are in separate compartments and speak to each other through a grid or lattice. Confessions are usually whispered. A crucifix or cross may be placed near the penitent as an aid to prayer. Many modern confessionals have two or three lights outside that can be controlled by the priest from inside, or are automatic... a green light shows that the priest is in and available for confession, while a red light shows that he is already occupied. (From Wiki-pedia)

A little green light shows that the priest is available.

I've noticed an upturn, recently, in people "messaging" me through Facebook.  The conversations are a wonderful connection.  I get a message from someone who wants me to pray for them about a specific need that has arisen mid-week: "I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow.  Can you pray for me?"  Sometimes the message is a question about something I said on a Sunday: "What was that book you referred to in your sermon?"  More and more, it seems, the chat moves into a real meaningful dialogue: "My spouse suffers with depression and I don't know how to help. Where's God in all this?"

When I'm on Facebook, there is literally a little green light next to my name that tells anyone who cares to look--I am available.  And I'm finding that folks are seeking dialogue there.

You need to know, I used to think that green light was a bad thing.  I used to worry that if people saw me--worse, if they messaged me--I would be trapped into spending valuable time I didn't have to waste.  I've changed my mind on that.  Now I build time into my week to be online, green light illuminated, for just such opportunities.

As a pastor I think we need to be where people are.  Love it or hate it--you better own it--people are on their computers, online, and on Facebook.

And while we're thinking about this, what of some similarities?

That description of confessionals mentions a partition.  The internet offers a bit of a lattice.  It seems to me (someone who admittedly has never participated in the Catholic manner of Confession) that it would be easier to be introspective, honest and to say hard things to a minister you weren't looking at face to face.  That grill or lattice serves that purpose.  It makes it easier for people to open up.  Even though you know that minister, and he knows you (hopefully), there remains some semblance of anonymity in that there is a partition between--you could step out and walk away.  Similarly, online, you're not caught in the conversation.  You don't see one another.  And, one can always step away, "Hey, someone's at the door..." and bring an abrupt end to the chat.

The whispering?  Typing into a dialogue box has to be the digital equivalent to speaking under our breath.  We don't have to worry about others hearing our words--people sitting on the other side of the room hear nothing but keyboard clicks.  "What are you writing?"  "Oh, nothing, honey."  We don't even have to worry about hearing our own voices form difficult words--type, send, and when it's all over, delete!  Not to mention the fact that the really internet-speak-savvy utilize a new form of shorthand--who needs words anymore?  OMG, K?

Lastly, in the description I notice the mention of a cross or crucifix nearby "as an aide to prayer."  The cross or crucifix is aimed at helping the penitent draw nearer.  "Here's something that might help you feel more closeness."  I'd suggest that a wise utilization of new technology/social networking would afford the same opportunity--helping people draw nearer.  How to segue the virtual confessional into real meaningful relationship and community--now that's a question worth pondering, and an aim worth pursuing.

Your thoughts?

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Thoughts Developing...

Been thinking today.  Scary, I know.   

Facebook: Confessional of the Post-Church era. 

More to come.

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