Worship: Are You Experienced?

I noticed that lots of churches today are calling their Sunday gatherings an “experience” rather than a “service”. Changing the names of doing things Christians have done for centuries is a peculiar characteristic of the American Protestant branch of Christianity.  It is one thing that unites both liberal and conservative Christians in this country. It probably has to do with the fact that the United States religious landscape is characterized by competition and we are all trying to get an edge to help our congregations grow.  I understand that changing the descriptor of worship from service to experience is usually done for evangelistic reasons.  The idea of having an experience may seem less threatening than performing a service to people who have demands on their time coming from all directions.

However, worship is the primary action of the Christian community, so we should really take a step back and ask ourselves, is this a good thing?  Does the word experience communicate what we are seeking have happen in our worship?  We should also ask the same question of service.  I would start by taking a looking at our sources and see what they say about what our worship should be.

St. Paul gave a quick model for worship in his dialog with the Christians in Corinth: What should be done then, my friends? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 1 Corinthians 14:26 (NRSV)  So, is this experience, service or something different?

To the Christians in Rome Paul would describe worship in the following way: I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Romans 12:1 (NRSV) This one seems move us in the direction of service.   One doesn’t just attend worship but presents oneself as a sacrifice.  But still I think there is more than service going on.

In John 4, Jesus has a dialog about worship with a woman at well in Samaria: But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”  John 4:23-24 (NRSV) Do the words experience or service capture what Jesus is trying to communicate to this woman who was need of acceptance and healing?

If you asked me which term is more biblical overall, it would be the word “service”.  Forms of the Greek verb λειτουργια are used about 15 times in the New Testament and it can be translated as “to serve” or “offer service” and used on several occasions to describe worship.  The English word “liturgy” which traditional churches use to describe worship, is the loan word derived from this New Testament term.

Words that can translated to the English word experience occur 10 times in the New Revised Standard Version.  The King James only uses them 4 times.  No Bible translation uses the word to describe worship.  So, calling worship “an experience” is obviously a modern innovation.  That need not be deal breaker if we keep to the core of what our worship should be but does it?

My gut reaction to using the word experience to describe worship is a negative one.  The word is too passive.   It has connotations of entertainment and its goal seems selfish and unfulfilling.  It is too much like going to a concert or watching a movie and worship should be more.  Yet, I must admit that as a pastor one of the blessings in my current ministry is “experiencing” the ministry of our worship leader and team he has assembled to lead our congregation in song.  On countless Sundays over the years I have had to drag myself out of bed wondering how I could face the congregation I serve, only to have the worship inspire and encourage me to give. So yeah, part of great worship is the experience.

Even though the word service has a Biblical basis, I think it also is lacking.   Worship is not just about what I can bring to God, it is what God can do with, for, and to me.  If it is only about what we do, then worship can become drudgery.   Unfortunately, I have witnessed this happen when we in the church make too many demands of those who attend.   In summary, I suppose we should be careful about limiting the phenomenon of worship to the words we use to describe it or qualify it.

My choice for the congregation I currently serve is to let the word “worship” stand alone. I no longer use words like traditional or contemporary to qualify it.   Keeping it simple helps preserve the idea of majesty and even mystery.  For worship in Spirit and Truth that Christ describes will always be more majestic than our words.   Worship should be “an experience”, but remember we are saved for a purpose which means it should be a “service” to live out our call.   In all its unfathomable majesty worship should encourage, challenge, stimulate, comfort, heal, and all kinds of other things.   For indeed our best worship is when we meet and come face to face with the unfathomable God.

As we come into the church’s great season of worship, I pray that worship in your congregation may be so wonderful as to be indescribable.

Be blessed,
Pastor Knecht




 

3 Misconceptions About a Pastoral Vacancy

A church in a pastoral transition can be an exciting community with a sense of anticipation about how God will work to bring about a fruitful and blessed future, or it can be a place of foreboding where people worry about what has been lost.   Some churches may find themselves stuck in the middle neither going forward or back.  To keep your congregation healthy it is best to lay some myths about churches in pastoral transition aside.   Here are three common ones I have seen over the years.

1. We need to wait for our new pastor to do ministry.

The apostle Peter tells us.   But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9 NRSV) Each person in your congregation is called to his or her own discipleship path, each is given unique gifts by the Holy Spirit to use to help others and give glory to God.   That does not change in a transition of leadership.   Indeed, this can be a time when you can discover gifts you never knew you had.  We can see this during our worship each Sunday.  The word liturgy means service of the people, not just the pastor.   Think if you had a hymn and only the pastor sung it.   It would not be as beautiful as if the whole church sang it together.   Education, Community Service, Evangelism and Stewardship work the same way.  The work of the church belongs to all.  The church that keeps up momentum becomes a more attractive church to potential candidates to be your pastor.

2. We can't do anything new until we get our new pastor.

This is patently false.   A congregation with its ear to the ground can start new initiatives at any time.   For example, if you have previously relied on your pastor to follow up with visitors, the pastoral vacancy is an opportunity to become a more welcoming and hospitable church by having lay volunteers set up a process to welcome newcomers to your community.  In addition if your church does not have a prayer group, a pastoral vacancy is great time to start one.   A gathering of 5-6 people to pray for God to open the door for the right leader is a great step for any congregation in transition.  Committing  to prayer will help the congregation ask the right questions and be willing to look at new possibilities that God may provide for the best possible future.

3. No one will join until we get a new pastor. 

People join churches for many reasons, not just the pastor.    People usually stay in churches because of the connections they make within the congregation.  People that do not have two or three strong connections in the church usually drift away over time.   A church in transition can attract new people to their community if they are hospitable and welcoming.   If there is someone you don't recognize, just ask for his or her name and strike up a conversation.   Your church may have the best location,  size, worship style, Sunday school, youth group, or Bible study for a potential member.  So this is a great time to invite a friend to church, they will meet the wonderful people of your congregation.  A church that prepares to grow will more likely grow than a church that just sits back and does the same old thing.

A congregation needs to prepare for its new pastor.

While it is critical for congregations to look at their finances, the state of their parsonage, and paint the pastor's office to get ready for a new pastor, the most important way to prepare for a pastor is to tend to ministry.  The more things that the congregation can learn to handle during the vacancy will help free up space and time for the new pastor to use his or her gifts for the benefit of the church when he or she arrives.  There is one final myth I would like to bust, which is: a new pastor will grow our church. Churches grow when pastor and people work together to prepare an environment where growth can happen. There is no reason for the people of a congregation in transition to wait to do their part.  The funny thing is s church preparing for the future is more likely to see blessings of the present.   A pastoral transition can be a time of fun and excitement as the people pull together for the sake of the Gospel. 

The Bible Challenge

I challenge you to read the Bible in 2018. Not parts of the Bible, the whole thing. “We must learn to know the Scriptures once again… as our fathers knew them. We must not grudge the time and work it takes. We must know the Scriptures first and foremost for the sake of our salvation. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together)

To be a Christian is to be a person of the Word of God. We were called into a relationship with God through the Word. As we say in the Lutheran Church, it is the source and norm of our faith. It is the place we go to find out about how we should deal with the central issues of life. Contemporary culture may not hold the Bible in high esteem, but that is to its detriment; it need not be ours. We have the gifts of God given to us through the Word, we must not throw them away, or relegate them to dust covered bookshelves in the spare bedrooms of our lives. Our life and our salvation is the most precious gift we have, therefore the Word should have pride of place.

Yes, the Whole Enchilada!

While every person of faith has parts of the Bible they like better than others, it is important to read the whole story so that we may know the strengths and weaknesses of our faith. We can at times place ourselves in a spiritual feedback loop, which constantly confirms long held beliefs without question or introspection. This happens often with devotionals that only use individual verses, or churches that only follow a lectionary with narrow range of the wider body of Scripture. Focusing on pieces of Scripture to the exclusion of the whole story of salvation can stunt the growth of a faith life or leave one ill equipped when life brings new challenges. Holy Scripture does not consist of individual passages; it is a unit and it is intended to be used as such (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together)

Christians are People of the Book

To be a Christian is to be in relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We cannot do that without the reading of Scripture. “Consecutive reading of biblical books forces everyone… to put (oneself)… where God has acted once and for all for the salvation of (people).” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together) In other words, God’s story becomes our story, and yes vice versa our lives become part of God’s story too. Regular Bible reading changes who we are and that can be a blessing to others and even the entire world.

As one who reads history often I can tell you that so many of the blessings that we have today were inspired by those who steeped their entire lives in the biblical story. From things such as the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, child labor laws, to the freedom of individual conscience, the story of God’s salvation inspired those who fought for these things. “The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.” (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451) I challenge you to be a Bible person (not a thumper) one who lets God’s story breathe through their life. As you will read in the Gospels, Jesus lived in exactly this way; just look at how many times he quotes the Hebrew Scriptures.

How to Start

If you have not read the Bible regularly before, I encourage you to begin by reading 1-2 chapters continuously of the New Testament daily beginning with Mathew’s Gospel and ending with Revelation. By doing this, you will complete the New Testament in well under a year. As Christians, we read the rest of the Bible through the eyes of Christ, so this is the best place to start.

If you have some experience with the Bible, perhaps a chapter of the Old Testament read continuously, with a Psalm, and when you finished them, a chapter from Proverbs, followed by a chapter of the New Testament. You will not finish the Bible in a year, but will have read the majority of it.

To complete the Bible in a year you can google a plan, there are many available, or you might read 5-6 chapters of Scripture a day. It is important not to get bogged down when you get to those sections of Scripture that can seem monotonous, such as descriptions of the temple furnishings, genealogies, or obscure parts of the Torah. It is important therefore to have a mix of Old Testament and New Testament readings. It is also OK to skim these parts, as long as you aware of what you are leaving out. The goal is the familiarity with the big story of the Bible. I hope that this can be blessing for you in 2018 and you too can let the story of God breathe through your life.

Be blessed
Pastor Knecht

Why I Give: A Witness

Giving is spiritual act,  it is also a deeply personal one.   How and why we give is a critical part of how we relate to God and the world.   People give for a variety of reasons. Sometimes I need to ask people to give, so think it is important for those whom I ask to know a couple of things about me.

First, is that I give, a Christian congregation is a community and as a servant leader I am called to do my part.   Since our capital campaign Mei and I have been giving approximately 12% of our income to Holy Cross for the work of  the ministry.  We also help out in the wider community and give to causes and ministries outside the church.

Second, is why I give.  This is helpful because we can all learn from each other when we share our stories and motivations for giving.   So the following are some heartfelt reasons why I give.

1. To Learn to Trust God 

The most important reason I give is to remind myself that God is good, and that God will provide for me and my family when I take the risk to give.   My witness is that so far God has proven faithful.  While I would always want more financial security, more opportunities, and yes even more stuff, God has always met every actual need we have actually had.   Often we have been surprised by a timely gift or opportunity that met a need we were worried about.   It has not always been easy, a giving lifestyle means making intentional choices every day.   My witness can also tell you that making these hard choices is not so bad in the long run.   So what if my kids don't have smart phones and tablets, they read books, play sports, make art, and do well in school.   Yes my cars are getting old, but they still work just fine.  No we don't go out to eat much, but we like home cooking better anyway.  Being able to give has deepened my relationship with Christ and I have had tangible signs that God is walking with me through both the good and bad of life.

2. To Lead the Community 

A key part of what I do is help people examine how to live a life in relationship to Jesus Christ.   Giving financially has been a key discipleship practice since the formation of the first Christian community as recounted in the book of Acts in the Bible.  In order to really teach something one must know how to do it.   One of the things that helps lead and teach others is my own experience of giving.   Over the years I have given in many different ways,  these help remind me and show to others that everyone has a different situation.  You may need to give in a different way than I do.  I give financially in at least three ways:  direct withdrawals from my bank account monthly,  in kind gifts of things the church needs, and occasional extra contributions.  You may need to give weekly, monthly or yearly and that is OK.  The most important aspect of giving that I teach is that it be done in prayer.   Lots of people have told me they do not electronically give because writing the check has become a prayerful act for them, and that is a beautiful thing.  Financial giving should not be done in isolation but in combination with our other faith practices.


3. To Live Faithfully  

I don't know about you, but I have trouble asking people to give if I am not willing to do so myself.  I would feel awful if I was merely taking from the community without contributing to it.   I see the contributions of many faithful people at Holy Cross and I am inspired to serve.   I am blessed to be part of community that is so generous, and I do not want to take that for granted.   My giving makes me more of a part of the congregation because I have a stake in it.   My giving also helps me take my faith life more seriously.   I am more likely to pray, serve the poor, worship regularly, talk about my faith because I give.   My desire to give comes from my faith, but it also reinforces it as well.  God gives us the chance to give because it can strengthen faith and people can find joy and peace in doing it.

There will be times when we can not give financially, and it is important to remember that giving is not a goal in itself, the goal is a strengthened relationship with Jesus Christ, and that it will be blessing for us and the world. If giving gets in the way of this then one should pray about giving in different way. St Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:7-8:

Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. (NRSV)

Faithful giving is motivated by a desire to be a blessing to others.  Like the perfect love of God described in 1 Corinthians 13 it never demands repayment.   It is not an investment that demands return,  it is grace given freely.  The model is God's own son Jesus Christ who gave it all for the sake of the world.  This is something we are unable to give back, but that we are able to pass on.

So my only request is that you prayerfully consider your own financial giving so that you can bless others the way God has blessed you.  We at Holy Cross will be asking people to support our work, but we hope that by doing so you can deepen your own discipleship walk with Jesus.

Be blessed

Pastor Knecht

How to Share Your Faith without Annoying People

Christian Life is Proclamation

Jesus started his ministry by saying "The Kingdom of God is near!" (Mark 1)  Jesus teaches the 12 disciples (Mathew 10) and then later on 70 more (Luke 10) to do what he does and they report back some great stories.  The disciples then proclaim the Good News of Jesus' Resurrection at Pentecost (Acts 2).   The Apostle Paul travels around the Mediterranean proclaiming and building up communities of proclaimers.  (The largest part of the book of Acts, Romans 10)  Christian life is proclamation.

What Christian Proclamation is Not 

Somewhere along the way some believers reduced the Christian life to a series of accepted facts. Evangelism was also thereby reduced to getting others to accept these facts.   So some believers became argumentative and annoying so the world stopped listening. The real tragedy is that a relationship with the living God of Jesus Christ was lost to countless people.

This summer while on vacation in Virginia Beach as my 8 year old son and I were walking from our hotel to get some ice cream we encountered a group of believers who were trying to get patrons of a local bar "to accept the facts".   They were doing this primarily by yelling condemnations through a bullhorn to try to get people to see that they were wrong.    My son whose experience with Christianity is overwhelmingly positive and nurturing was quite bewildered at this circus.   As we ate our ice cream, we talked about what was going on.   I tried to be as gracious as I could about these street preachers and told him that they really thought they could help people.   He said simply "I don't think it's working."

When I speak about evangelism or faith proclamation this is unfortunately is what most people have in mind.  They actually think that when the church sends people out, it is to annoy other people, argue, and get them to submit to what we think.  No wonder people don't want to evangelize.  Who in their right mind would want to do this?   Fortunately this is not what we are called to do when the Bible speaks about proclamation. Real faith sharing is much more meaningful and life giving.

Real Proclamation has Real Stories

Let me show you another picture by talking about how anyone can share the Good News of Jesus Christ in 5 steps without becoming another person's burden and without feeling guilt or shame.

Step 1. Just share your good news! 

The word evangelism originally meant "good news sharing".   So we talk about the good things God is doing in our lives and in the world.   Biblical evangelism should always be positive.   So we talk about what God has done for us, how we came to know God, why a life in Christ is important for us.  We can also share how we have witnessed what good things God has done for others.  So we keep the "good" in the Good News.

Step 2. Just talk about your experience!

No need to give a history lesson, or talk about someone else.   We start with our own encounter of God. We might also include how we we encounter Christ anew through our community of faith.  The most powerful witnesses are where our stories meet God's story in Jesus Christ.

Step 3. Just relax!

Lutherans confess that it is the Holy Spirit who calls us to faith.    You are not responsible for the outcome.  Christians are called to share what God has done, is doing, and will do in the future.   Whether another accepts this is not up to us.   We just want to share some good news that might inspire or help people.   We are not called to argue, convince, persuade or manipulate anybody.  We can bless and help people no matter what they believe.

4. Just listen! 

This is where many times our proclamation breaks down.   Effective faith sharing often involves more listening than speaking.   When people are called to faith they are called out of their isolation into a relationship with God and other people.    Effective relationships always involve both speaking and listening.   One of the joys of faith sharing is that you begin to heat the stories of other people, you will get to know them, and build friendships with them.

5. Just pray!

Our faith sharing must have its source in our own living relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit.    If it does not than it is not really evangelism or genuine proclamation.   We talk about God they way would would talk of others whom we are in meaningful relationships with.  Prayer will help us see with eyes of faith where and how God is working in our life.  Prayer can also frame our witness so that we are not hurting or injuring others through our words.  Prayer is the most essential component of faith sharing.

My own prayer is that this clarification can help you have the wonderful blessing of being able to share God's story for your life with others.  May God bless you as you share your story of the Good News.

Be blessed

Pastor Knecht

Discipleship Academy

I would like to invite you all to consider taking part in a new innovative program we are working on with the New Jersey Synod Discipleship and Witness Team.   Please check it out below and contact me if you are interested in trying this out to help build up the life of your congregation. 

Discipleship Academy
Build- Grow-Go

The Discipleship Academy is a ministry designed to:

Equip congregations and their leaders with resources to fulfill their mission to grow the people of God in their location,

Work together and share the untapped wisdom found in our clergy, deacons and lay leaders,

Lift up publically those in our congregation who can be examples or mentors for others in a growing life of discipleship.

The Basics

The Discipleship Academy is a series of 4 week courses to encourage deeper faith through practices of discipleship. The courses are created by participating congregations and will be designed so that they may be lay or clergy led. There are seven core courses that emphasize the building up of foundational discipleship practices. Elective courses on a wide variety of topics will also be offered as supplementary courses. All the courses will be found at a website linked to the synod’s site.

The core courses:

Sacred Storytelling and Witness
Bible Reading
Prayer
Community in Christ
Generosity
Our Lutheran Witness
Serving Our Communities

Some Details

4-8 minute videos will be posted on the web for each course via YouTube on the Discipleship Academy Channel.

Each course is offered in individual congregations according to the congregation’s schedule. The pastor reports those who complete the courses to the ministry’s synod representative of Discipleship. When people complete four courses they receive a certificate of accomplishment (What about Phase 1: Follower Milestone 1) and a public affirmation of their work in their home congregation. Names will posted on the synod website to celebrate and encourage them in their growth. A second certificate is issued along with another public affirmation when four more courses are completed (Phase 2: Disciple Milestone 2). A third certificate is offered upon completion of the seven core courses (Phase 3: Apostle (Sent One) Milestone 3). Those who wish to continue to grow are are encouraged to enroll in either Diakonia or some other theological study. It is our hope that those who do so will keep us informed of their further study so we may celebrate it with them.

We are recommending that courses have a small fee, which is used at the complete discretion of the participating congregation. This is to help the participants to understand that this is intended to be a commitment. Scholarships should always be given to allow anyone who wants to attend to come.

We are planning for this to be a living curriculum in two ways. First, we would ask each participating congregation to offer an elective course to the academy. Secondly as the courses are given, we will be asking for the input of the participants and leaders so that the courses can be edited over time and additional resources given. Together, we can grow disciples in New Jersey and make a difference in this corner of the world for the reign of God!

What’s the outcome? 

The goal is to grow disciples. As we are all at different places in our journey, we would like to celebrate and encourage disciples in their growth. We would like to encourage different milestones through Discipleship Academy. When an individual finishes 3 core courses and 1 elective, they reach Stage 1: Follower. When they finish another central course and any three additional courses, they reach Stage 2: Disciple. Stage 3: Apostle (Sent One) occurs after the completion of all the core courses. After that, we encourage the disciple to seek further theological training through Diakonia or other similar programs.

How much does it cost? The course is a FREE resource, we only ask that if you participate, you would create an elective course of your choosing that follows the structure of the core classes.  It would then be posted on the site with all the other courses.  We also recommend a minimal fee for each participant (to encourage commitment). The money gathered by the course is to be used with your congregation’s discretion.

Who leads the course? The course is designed so that anyone can teach it. Each course will include a brief video accessed through YouTube. Each congregation picks and chooses which courses to teach, working within the schedule and life of your particular congregation.

Where can I get this course? The Discipleship Academy courses will be available through the New Jersey Synod Discipleship and Witness page starting September 1st.   We are currently beginning a test run in some congregations this March.

Seven Myths of Contemporary Worship

I began to preside over what is commonly called contemporary worship while serving as pastor of the Kaohsiung Community Church in Taiwan in 1994.  In New Jersey,  I worked with Messiah Lutheran in Oakland, to start their first contemporary service in 1999.   At Holy Cross we only have this type of worship.  Probably the only things these experiences actually have in common is the lack of a pipe organ, the absence of hymnals, and the projection of lyrics on a screen.     The earlier forms were keyboard based with larger groups of singers and often called worship and praise. Then it moved on to styles that had a more melodic pop song style (think Michael W. Smith),  later percussion and driving bass moved in heavily influenced by U2,  these days country, southern rock, folk and roots music have also come into the picture.   At Holy Cross today our songs come from artists such as Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and Hillsong.   Songs that are very different than the Twilla Paris songs of the 1980's.   This type of worship is always in flux as new styles come into being.   As I attend our synod gatherings and meet with pastors I have always seen there there are lots of misunderstandings about this phenomenon.  I will try to offer a clarification of the attitudes I commonly read and hear of.

1.  The lyrics are bad theology

This is the number one insult I hear and read of,  and frankly, it comes across to me as a merely an unreflective, dismissive, and disrespectful attitude used to justify one's own comfort with their prefered style. Many songs written in today's popular styles have wonderful and moving lyrics. A large portion of these songs such as Petra's We want to see Jesus Lifted High are just reworkings of the lyrics of traditional hymns (ie. Lift High the Cross) made fresh for a new generation.   Often the artists are trying to combine their own love of a great old hymn with the newer forms of music they like to make.   Chris Tomlin's Amazing Grace/ My Chains are Gone and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross/ the Wonderful Cross are great examples from a few years back.

The fact is that lots of traditional hymns and songs have bad theology as well.  So are there contemporary, or rock based worship songs with bad lyrics? Of course! Just as there are bad lyrics in medieval, baroque, victorian, gospel and other organ based hymnody.  When one examines ancient Israel's songbook, the Psalms, one can also find words that one should not base doctrine upon. Don't believe me?  Check out Psalm 137:9  imagine a congregation singing this.   Hymns and Songs in my view are more akin to prayer than teaching and reveal the longings and yearnings of the community.

2.  The music is simplistic

At Holy Cross where I serve now, our Music Minister must work to get 4-7 instrumentalists to work in concert together every week.  All songs are worked out to have multiple dynamics to to include the the entire worship team and better lead the congregation in song. The guitarists, keyboardists,  percussionists, and others must come to rehearsal prepared in advance or else it does not work.   I have been a member of various traditional choirs and choruses in my life and I can detect no difference in the amount of work involved to make good music whatever the style.   Do some churches take short cuts?  Yes they do, but lots of traditional church choirs just show up on Sunday morning and wing it too.  Excellence is excellence, and it always takes work.

3.  Less people are engaged in leading worship

Sometimes in the summer you will come to Holy Cross and only see three people up on the altar leading the worship songs.  However, there are always two more on the balcony, one running the sound board another operating the media software.    Right now most Sundays we have 4-5 on the balcony and 5-7 up on the altar, so that is 9-12 people every Sunday.  We also have a scripture leader,  a prayer leader, a person to lead announcements, and 5 people to help with communion distribution.  Like most churches we also have a couple of ushers to help with the offering.  Doing the math that is is 19-21 people in addition to the pastor engaged to help make worship happen for a mid sized Lutheran congregation.    Engagement of a good percentage of people to help lead worship is not dependent on a particular style but on the intention of the pastor and church leadership.

4.  It is hard to find people to help lead the songs

My experience over the years has been that it is harder to find effective traditional music ministers than effective contemporary worship leaders.   I have found that it is relatively easy to find competent guitar players from within the congregation.   One can often find keyboard players relatively quickly as well.  The most difficult to find have been effective percussionists.  In every congregation I have served we have had someone who played in a rock band, or had learned guitar or drums and was able to come forward and share their gifts. These people are in our congregations right now with these gifts untapped, it would be sad if we couldn't find ways to engage them.

Contemporary worship works best when it is firmly grounded in the congregation.   When people from within the congregation are raised up to help lead the songs and make worship music, then the worship will have an authentic voice for the congregation.   It will be "the work of the people" or a genuine liturgy.    Any worship style brought in from the outside or imposed from above by arbitrary authority will work against this. Great worship works best from the bottom up,  the congregation brings its best to the glory of God,  if a traditional style does that for you,  praise God!

5. Contemporary worship is not Lutheran (or any other

mainline tradition)

There is no legitimate reason why contemporary worship songs should be arbitrarily excluded from a Lutheran order of service.   The grounding actions of our worship are proclaiming of the Word of God and administering the Sacraments.   In the seventh article of the Augsburg Confession we read

 For the true unity of the church it is enough to agree concerning the teaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments. It is not necessary that human traditions or rites and ceremonies, instituted by men, should be alike everywhere.¹

The contemporary worship services in Lutheran congregations I have served all have had weekly communion.  We have always had a weekly rite of corporate confession, we confess the Apostle's Creed, proclaim the Great Thanksgiving, use the time honored Words of Institution. They may not be in the same order as they were in  the 1970's but the pieces of our tradition are all there.   

The format we use allows for an expanded time to proclaim the Word through the sermon. We have also tried to use technology including electronic presentations (PowerPoint & MediaShout), film clips, podcasts, and streaming video to enhance our proclamation of the Gospel.   It helps us reinforce the message to those attending, reach those virtually who are unable to attend physically, and help both dig deeper by having the sermon on record for review.

One of the things I really enjoy about contemporary worship music is that it more closely resembles the music I listen to for fun.    Our current music minister leads our team in a style that resembles the alternative music I might hear on WFUV or WXPN (alt-rock radio stations in my area).  This serves a useful purpose for me; it helps bridge the gap between secular and sacred in my own life.   It helps me to see that all of my life is holy.   This should not be an alien idea to Lutherans (or other Christians).  Luther himself used popular forms of music as tools to write hymns to help lead congregations in song.   Ulrich Leupold writes in the introductory section of Luther's Works Vol.  53.

The German folk song was the good earth from which all of Luther’s hymns sprang. Its style textually and musically is evident everywhere, and its patterns are often clearly recognizable. The very first hymn by Luther, “A New Song Here Shall Be Begun,” is modeled after the folk ballads, which told the stories of important events and personalities. Characteristic stock phrases and melodic turns of the folk song are found in all of Luther’s hymns.²

Luther translated the Mass into the vernacular,  he made the Bible available to the people in the plain German language spoken at the time, and he used popular music to enhance worship.  I would argue that those who endeavor to use popular and contemporary forms of music are trying to do some of these same things that Luther did himself.  So there is no reason why would can not have faithful Lutheran contemporary worship. 

6. Contemporary worship is attractive only to young people

In fact, some young people actually prefer traditional worship and old style hymns, on the other hand,  we have had people in their 70's specifically come to Holy Cross because we have contemporary worship music.   The early baby boomers are approaching their 70's and many of that generation were instrumental in leading the church to embrace these more contemporary forms.  At Holy Cross we have a wide variety of ages that embrace our style,  just as in the churches with traditional formats have wide varieties of ages embracing theirs.

7. Contemporary worship will lead to an increase in attendance 

This is patently false.   Churches that are alive and vibrant communities centered on the Gospel will have a worship that resonates and reflects the community gathered on Sunday.   Many vibrant churches will use traditional forms, others will use contemporary ones.   The keys for vibrancy are:  passion for the worship the congregation currently provides,  an intention to include all gathered in the worship in some way, a commitment to excellence (all giving their best for God), and most of all a grounding in the liberating Word of God.  I am an advocate for contemporary worship because I believe that many congregations who are struggling to bring new life to their communities may actually find that they can present a more contemporary style better than they can their current one.   The question for a congregation to decide is which forms best allow for excellence in worship for their community.

Worship Ought to Be Worship 

In conclusion I would say that I long for the day when modifiers like contemporary, traditional, relevant, emerging, ethnic and liturgical are simply omitted when speaking about  the worship we bring.  One of the things we do other people to degrade their dignity is to make judgements about them and place them in categories of our own creation.   Call me crazy, (some have) but I believe really great worship ought to be contemporary and traditional, relevant and timeless,  ethnic and universal, emergent and liturgical,  profound and joyful all at the same time.   Impossible you say? Well I don't think so.   When a diverse people gather together at the foot of the cross of Christ and have an encounter with God, amazing things can happen with new things and old.  Whatever worship style or tools you advocate, may they be blessings for you to help reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.


¹-Theodore G. Tappert, The Augsburg Confession : Translated from the Latin (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2000, c1959), 32.

²-Martin Luther, vol. 53, Luther's Works, Vol. 53 : Liturgy and Hymns, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, Luther's Works (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999, c1965), 53:196.

Thanks, Atheists!

This post comes from colleague Linda Thurston originally posted on her blog January 24, 2014 you can find this and her other posts here

I recently read an obituary for a wonderful, faithful woman. It spoke of her love for her family and detailed her work with a variety of community organizations; it outlined her volunteer commitments and the career she made working on behalf of the disadvantaged. But for the mention of Vacation Bible School and other church commitments and the fact that her husband was a minister, however, a reader might never have guessed that her life of service derived from her faith in Jesus. There was no mention of God or Jesus anywhere in the obituary – not even a God-invoking euphemism for death or a mention of Jesus among the things that she loved.

This struck me because I’ve been thinking lately about how we Christians talk (or don’t talk) about God.

Perhaps you’ve heard about this new movement out of the UK called Sunday Assembly, which one of its founders described as, “all the best bits of church, but with no religion and awesome pop songs.”

As a recent NPR story put it, “There’s little God talk at Sunday Assembly.”

The movement’s website puts it this way: “The Sunday Assembly is a godless congregation that celebrate life. Our motto: live better, help often, wonder more. Our mission: to help everyone find and fulfill their full potential. Our vision: a godless congregation in every town, city and village that wants one.” 

The oxymoron-ish idea of a “godless congregation” and the photos of earnest non-worshippers, singing Rolling Stones tunes together hands in the air, make Sunday Assembly seem ripe for ridicule. News of a recent schism in the New York assembly will, no doubt, only increase the urge for parody among believers and non-believers alike. (See, it really is just like church!!)

 But I’m not interested in making fun of Sunday Assembly. Rather, I’d like to thank them for the opportunity to open some conversation about what it means to be church. You see, it seems like these atheists have a better understanding of what church is about than some church people I know.

One of the founders of Sunday Assembly started the movement because she wondered, “is it possible to have all the wonderful things that church does, like create community and help others and encourage thinking about the world, yourself and improvement, but without the God bit?”

 One commentator described what those attracted to the movement like about church – “”They miss the community, they miss the music, they miss the multi-generational coming together with people that you might not otherwise be hanging out with.”

 So often, when church people talk about why they go to church or what they love about their particular congregation, it is these things that they talk about – the music and the community and the opportunities to help others. At least in the Protestant mainline where I hang out, people seem much less likely to mention God or Jesus.

Now it could be that for many people church really is about all these other things more than “the God bit,” and perhaps these folks really would be just as happy at a Sunday Assembly as at their local Christian church. But it could also be that we leaders of the church haven’t done a very good job with the God-talk – both talking the talk ourselves and teaching and equipping people in our congregations to talk it.

When we don’t do the God-talk, to the outside world many of our congregations seem indistinguishable from other local community organizations that help people “live better, help often, or wonder more.” How is the church different from the Kiwanis or the Girl Scouts or even a health club that collects toys for impoverished kids at Christmas?

The folks at Sunday Assembly, at least, understand what makes church different from all these other organizations including their own. It’s not the ethical teaching; it’s not the service to our neighbors; it’s not the pastoral care; it’s not even the collective singing or the intergenerational fellowship (although these are harder and harder to find in our society). It’s the God-talk. Period.

While sometimes the problem may be that we’re simply lacking any God-talk at all, sometimes the problem is that the God-talk in various congregations doesn’t sound like very good news. Our God-talk should be the “best bit about church,” the most “wonderful thing that church does.” 

 The church exists to proclaim the good news of God in Jesus Christ, to “preach the damn Gospel” in the immortal words of Dr. Timothy Wengert, to tell people that God knows them and loves them anyway, that they are beloved children of God, created with meaning and purpose and called to help do God’s work in the world.

This is what makes us distinctive. This is what we have to offer the world. When our singing and our potlucks and our good deeds overshadow our God-talk, then we stop being the church and just become one more Sunday Assembly. So thanks, atheists and other non-believers for this important reminder of what makes the church the church.

Why Churches Fail

My BA is in economics and from time to time I still like to read and think about it. I have recently been Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. It is a work of historical economics that uses history to formulate a hypothesis of why some countries like our own are prosperous and others fail to deliver even basic needs to vast numbers of their citizens. I found that much of the book was resonating with my experience in serving communities much smaller than nations, churches. While sociologists and economists would have to do a formal study to see if there are indeed parallels with micro-communities, the principles of Why Nations Fail seem to correspond nicely to my own theological orientation.  This is merely an exercise of making connections, understand I could be totally off base.  I am the kind of guy that is often excited about the last thing I read.
reading the book

Extractive Communities

The authors' premise is pretty straight forward. Societies where an elite sets up the rules so that they alone can reap the benefits of its resources are doomed to a reinforcing cycle of poverty and zero sum conflict that will lead the nation to fail at some point. The authors call these extractive societies. The goal of those in power is get the resources out of the ground in any way possible and then to keep all proceeds of the resources for themselves. Even some of the poorest societies around the world have an tiny elite that is fabulously wealthy by global standards. The late Kim Il Sung of North Korea, where millions are repeatedly affected by famine, spent $800,000 per year on cognac alone. The reason for this is that society is set up exclusively for their benefit. The point the authors want to make is that without people working together to build up society for the common benefit of all, a country can only tolerate all this extraction for so long before it collapses.

This leads me to the introspective question about our congregations. Can churches become extractive? Are some set up for the benefit of a few insiders? Are things in others organized to give the pastor or key families the majority of benefits of the fruits of the congregation's life?

I am sure each of you has in mind a case where a pastor built a cult of personality around her or himself in some mega church somewhere. The ministry is set up around the pastor's life and becomes synonymous with it. Sometimes the pastorate is passed on to the children like in a monarchy. The worst cases are where the congregation becomes playground of predator. Remember Jesus's words against the religious leaders who devoured the property of the vulnerable.(Mark 12:20) Perhaps even more common, especially in smaller churches, is when an oligarchy of insider families take control of a faith community and set things up so that they are real power brokers and the majority of the congregation is on the margins with no real say.  In both of these cases the congregations would be less resilient than healthier communities.

In congregations where people have the choice to go and worship elsewhere, people will not tolerate being used and abused by others for very long.  Even those who may stay around and worship become less engaged, often volunteering and giving less.   Is some of the decline in church participation witnessed in recent years due to the fact that too many churches are set up to be extractive for the benefit of a few?   The argument of Why Nations Fail states that communities can grow for a while under extractive conditions, but they will always end up collapsing at some point.  When religious observance is more socially valued perhaps extracive congregations can hang on much longer.   When the prestige is ripped away how healthy the church is will really matter.

Inclusive Communities

The argument in "Why Nations Fail" continues that societies that are prosperous and resilient tend to be inclusive.   By inclusive the authors mean that a diverse group of people has a stake in society;  many can participate in the decision making process.   Rights and obligations are well defined and respected.  There is a clear rule of law and no one is above it.  Particularly important for the authors argument is that their property rights are respected.  All of this provides a stable environment where people will invest in the local economy, innovate new products and work hard to improve their lives.   This tide raises the standard of living in the society.

If you think about what the authors mean by inclusivity,  you will see is something deeper and more powerful than using the correct pronouns or having the right pictures in your brochure.   At their core, inclusive communities protect the dignity and worth of all the community's members.  In economies that dignity is symbolized by private property.   It is a tangible measure of how a particular society values the dignity of its citizens.  Notice that even in our own society, which is inclusive by world and historical standards,  the poor are more likely to have their property rights abridged than the wealthy.  Just think about how interstate highways are built,  wealthy towns can usually get them diverted or even canceled, like what happened with the continuation of 1-95 in New Jersey.  Poorer communities will not have as much of a say unless they can mobilize a broader support base to make their case.  It is a blessing to live in a relatively inclusive society where this can happen.    This does not mean our society is always just, but we do have tools to do something about it, unlike those living in many places around the world.    

Each and every Christian should realize that inclusivity is a core virtue of the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ. The church of the New Testament was a radically inclusive community by the standards of any time.  The first Jerusalem church found in Acts 2-4, the types of communities Paul is trying to build as seen in his letters, and perhaps most importantly the church of Antioch, which we find in the heart of  the book of Acts demonstrate a biblical view that places a high value on inclusivity.

Building an inclusive congregation is hard work and takes intentional effort.  In micro-communities like churches, we do not have a  reference like property rights that can quickly symbolize dignity, so we have to work harder to maintain it.   It congregations dignity is maintained by being intentional about communication, extending trust, giving permission to follow one's true gifts , respecting differences. and most importantly active listening.   Active listening and responding graciously to the people of our communities is how we show we value the dignity of those who comprise it.

Another key toward inclusivity is paradoxical.  A certain degree of centralization is necessary for societies to become inclusive.   People need a common bond in which to engage the community.   In congregations that common bond is maintained by the twin pillars of mission and message.   The message will be how the community uniquely proclaims the Gospel to its service area,  the mission will be how it lives out the Gospel by serving the people where they are located.   It is critical that both are in sync, right belief is right action.  If our congregations are not clear about these two areas it will be hard for them to become inclusive because their members will be unsure of how to engage them.

Healthy Institutions

Acemoglu and Robinson argue that institutions matter for the health of society. Societies are less likely to turn extractive where institutions set limits on the exercise of power, protect private property, appropriately value labor, and most importantly allow for broad base of people to engage in making decisions.  Good institutions are set up to promote inclusivity.

In reality this is really all about appropriate boundary setting, and healthy boundaries and limits are important for communities of any size. In congregations where boundaries are fuzzy bad things are more likely to happen, because those who wish to abuse power have nothing to stop them. So while we may at times lament that our structures and boundaries may give us some extra work, calling meetings, making reports, having one more conversation about an issue that was already settled, these actually help keep a wider group of people engaged in our congregation.  The work of good boundaries in a congregation can be fruitful when they are constructed to draw out the ideas and contributions of the widest possible extent of the community's membership.

Fear of Creative Destruction

The real Aha! moment of the book for me was the premise that in extractive societies the leaders will always resist change and innovation for fear that it will upset the current power relationship and the leaders will will be less able to exploit the society.   There is a fear of creative destruction.  A dictator will not allow land reform because if the citizens had property rights, it would limit the power of the leader.   A labor saving device like a back hoe would throw hundreds of peasants out of work.  They would then have nothing to do except advocate for change which would threaten the dictator's hold on power.    Extractive societies are set up for zero sum power struggles over resources, therefore any change is a threat.

In many congregations fear of creative destruction is palpable.  When wanting to widen the circle of the community often some things have to die, and new things have to take their place.   If a local congregation does not let those things which fail to reach the outside world die they risk stagnation and decline.   Often people in churches participate because of the sense of empowerment.   This is a good thing generally,  but when the feeling of empowerment overrides the unifying mission the congregation will resist change because it will bring some destruction as well as new life.   As Christians we should realize this, when the temple curtain was torn in two at the death of Jesus it was God's act of creative destruction.   Replacing something that had become exclusive with a new reality that is inclusive.

In the end churches will fail when they are no longer able to that which they were created by God to do for Lutherans like myself that is to preach the gospel, administer the sacraments and provide a place for people to mutually care and support one another.

Where's My Hardware Store?

A few weeks back my six year old son hung on the coat hooks next to the front door in our vestibule. He pulled the entire rack out of the wall. I told him he had help fix it and pay for the materials necessary to do the job, which amounted to a small container of joint compound to fill in the holes where the moly-bolts were. He got his allowance money and we drove to downtown Springfield to buy our supplies at our local hardware store. We parked our car in the back of the store and went to the door and saw that is was locked. We looked in the windows and all the stock was gone, and got in the car and drove to the massive Home Depot in Vauxhall. I know this is not the first hardware store to close in recent years, but this affected me deeply because something I relied on to be there was now gone.

I like going to the small store and knowing the proprietor. The people in Home Depot are usually pleasant and I do not usually have any complaints with the service or products, yet the anonymity and the scale are intimidating when all I need is something small to do a quick job. The economy these days has made the small scale hardware store a thing of the past, unless a store has niche it is doomed.

I began to obsess "is our congregation like that hardware store?" Have the economies of scale and the expectations of people in our our area that the church will provide high quality program with minimal commitment conspired to doom the midsize congregation to oblivion. Statistics seem to be leading in this direction. Large congregations are chugging along, many small congregations do wonderful ministry by using their intimacy as a strength. The midsize church seems to be most at risk. The small congregation seems to be analogous to the home based business and the large to the big box store or prominent franchise. Where does that leave the rest of us.

We Are Not a Store 

The hope that I cling to is that the community I serve is not a store, but as Eugene Peterson writes a “community of sinners gathered week after week… the Holy Spirit gathers them and does his work in them." (Working the Angles p.2) Our task is not to be a purveyor of goods, services, or an experience, but to simply bring people together with God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer shakes us out of our stupor and fear with these explosive words, which open his masterpiece The Cost of Discipleship: “Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjack’s wears.” If we are to be Biblically faithful (rather than market driven successful) we need to call people into a relationship with God and their fellow sinners to join in this movement, which is dedicated to following our savior Jesus Christ. This means we understand that we are part of a wider family than our congregation and hopefully realizing that we are not in competition with the other expressions of Christianity in our vicinity.

We Still Need a Niche 

Yet we still need to recognize that how the people of our communities engage the world matters. In a recent Alban Institute post, Peter Coutts blogs here “We live in a fully democratized, consumer-oriented society in which people believe they have the autonomous power to make choices, including within the realm of religious belief, practice, and participation.” So we have to use the tools of Law and Gospel to reveal the truth of God’s Word to the people we serve. The law is that every human choice whether to shop at the hardware store or home depot, or to go to the mid-size church in town or mega-church by the highway is bound by our innate sinfulness. The grace of God reveals that God makes himself available to be freely chosen. As Christian leaders we are called to help people make the right choice, the choice of Jesus, the choice of life. Hopefully if we really do it right, those who walk with Jesus will realize it really was not a choice at all.

The way for us who have more limits on our people and resources to begin to live out this calling is to help the communities we serve find their niche or place. This usually means leading people to prayerfully discern where their gifts lie, communities can then specialize according to the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to them. One community will allow people to see the grace of God through excellent and passionate traditional music, another will demonstrate it by serving the poor, another through good preaching, another through education, still another through support groups for people in critical phases of life, and even some that just provide a well rounded spiritual home. So yes my hardware store is gone, but our church still lives, breathes and moves to bring God’s love to our world.

Left or Right Mission Strategies?

Confrontation or Accommodation? 

Christianity has always had a tension between challenging the culture it finds itself in on the one hand or learning to adapt and live with it on the other. During my time in Taiwan I learned about this tension by witnessing the polar opposite mission strategies embraced by Roman Catholics and Protestants. In many ways the Roman Catholic church sought to make peace with the culture and translate teaching and practice to the Chinese culture. Early on Roman Catholic missionaries accommodated ancestor worship into their proclamation. Ancestor worship is the central practice of Chinese folk religion. One is called to make sacrifices for and to one's forbears. If you have seen the Disney film "Mulan" you may remember how the shrine to the ancestors played a prominent roll in the film. By adapting its doctrine of the saints Roman Catholics sought a way to proclaim the Gospel in the Chinese context. They accepted where Chinese people were at theologically and made accommodation for them. Most Roman Catholic churches in Taiwan have a set place where one can pray to and for their ancestors. For the sake of discussion I will call this a left handed mission strategy.

Protestant missionaries from the beginning adopted the opposite strategy and basically continue to to so today. While the reasons for this are more theological than missional, the result ended up being an effective mission strategy. When one becomes a Christian as part of a protestant congregation in Taiwan, one gives up ancestor worship. In fact, many churches have a ritual demolition of the family ancestral shrine and any household idols around the time one is baptized. While we in the secular west may be aghast at this level intensity, many Chinese see it as a natural outcome of one's coming to Jesus. Most protestant Christians in Chinese contexts accept this. The reason for this acceptance is fairly clear. There are many in Chinese cultures who find the system of ancestor worship to be oppressive. It's system of obligations is particularly hard on women. To realize that one's loved ones are ultimately in God's hands can have an effect of profound liberation for a person. So I will call this type of delineating a clear alternative to the culture a right handed mission strategy.

Winners and Losers 

Perhaps another way to look at this is to take a look at who are focusing our mission toward. When we embrace a left handed strategy that accommodates cultural trends, we are embracing those who are fine with the culture the way it is. In stark terms, it is mission to and for the "winners". When we take up a right handed strategy we are focusing on those beat up by the culture who want liberation from it. So a right handed strategy that presents an alternative to the culture is a a mission to and for the "losers." Now before we get on our moral high horse and either defend or justify ourselves, let's get both feet firmly planted on the ground and realize that Jesus ministered to both winners and losers. As we the lectionary texts from Luke are revealing to us this summer, Jesus sometimes used a left handed strategy and at others used a right handed one. The place for us to figure out how to proceed is prayer. We are called to discern, pray and to ask the Spirit to guide us how to minister to those God has placed before us. In the end most, churches have a mix of right handed and left handed strategies unique to their contexts.

Consumer Society 

The discussion about whether to adapt or provide an alternative to the culture we live in the North American context will eventually always come around to how do we deal with the fact of consumerism. In sociological terms "the consumer" is the chief archetype of our society. Do we accept this and find ways to mission using the language and practice of the culture, or do we reject it and seek to provide a clear liberating alternative? The most fascinating aspect of this discussion for me is the fact that the many of the prominent conservative churches in our country have adopted strategies that embrace cultural norms of consumerism. Rick Warren (Saddleback), Bill Hybles (Willow Creek) and Andy Stanley (North Point) have all presented mission models that accommodate consumerism in some way. In short, the right wingers are using left handed strategies. Conversely much that I read from liberal circles makes consumerism synonymous with a form of demonic possession. Shane Clayborne, Brian McLaren and others from the emerging church movement (along with many who write at the Alban Institute) have embraced notions of ministering to those beat up by consumerism or a right handed strategy.

Please be aware that I have simplified things for the sake of having a discussion. The reality will always be a bit murky. I have accommodated aspects of the dominant culture into my ministry at times, and at others I have sought to fight against it. The simple point of this is to ask us all to be in prayer so that we are being intentional about which strategy we embrace. The point of this intentionality is not effectiveness but love. It takes intention to truly show love, this is one of the primary aspects of the cross and resurrection. Without love, it matters not whether we use our right hand or left, because without love we are not in mission. May you be blessed in your service to Christ today.

 Keep the Faith,

Our Role in the Culture

A recent Alban Institute post Culture Streams outlined how culture can affect the congregations we minister to.    It identified the macro culture with its large trends,  meso culture which is all about regional ways that people interact and the local (micro) community culture.   The question I would like to ask ministry leaders is what is our role in each of these areas.   In order to start a discussion I will out line a few thoughts on each.

Our Role in the Wider Culture 

I can honestly say that I have only seen a few of instances of a depiction of a clergy person in film or television that did not leave me creeped out (Rev. Book in the cult Sci-Fi series Firefly, the Vicar of Dibley from the BBC, one memorable episode about Rev. Lovejoy on the Simpsons are a few of the rare positive examples).   Most often the clergy person is set up as a straw man (or woman) to further some aspect of the plot.  They almost always lack any depth at all.  The judgmental religious nut (who is always sexually repressed),  the naive out of touch boob who has no idea of what real life is like, the goody two-shoes  helpless (usually) guy who means well, and the wooden saintly figure are some of the typical archetypes.

In addition, most of the stories in the news media that people will see and read about the clergy are overwhelmingly negative.    They usually involve one of our profession doing something criminal, stupid, or both (think Jim Baker or Jimmy Swaggart).  Factor in that less and less people are coming to church and never see what we actually do first hand, and one can see that we should no longer expect prestige or a positive reception because of what we do.  Therefore because of our wider culture trends we should have to expect to work harder at building trust, be vigilant about our boundaries, and be clear in our own understanding about what our role is.  Most of all we need to learn to be patient with those we serve to demonstrate our genuine love and concern in Christ.

We still do have some significant privileges left that should not be taken for granted. the Federal government affords us a special status in the tax code. We are often still given positive roles in public ceremonies and events, and because the overwhelming majority of people are still interested in dialoging about God I have never found opportunities to engage in faith conversations lacking.   We need to be thankful for these privileges and leverage them faithfully to help bring God's Word to our communities.

Our Role in New Jersey 

The chief reason I no longer wear a clerical collar is that I am tired of being called "Father".   As Jesus taught us our true "Abba" is in heaven.   I am only the earthy father of Beata and Paul and honestly that is all I should be.   As a Lutheran, I am called to preach the Word and administer the sacrements, to do what Eric Gritsch and Robert Jenson called "tending to the life of the Gospel."   In a regional culture where the Roman Catholic priest is the primary archetype of our calling we will always have some explaining to do  (even when we don't dress in black).  People can see how we can serve God through our ordinary lives as neighbors, parents and friends.

The other major factor I have dealt with in our area is the pace of life.   People just do not seem to have it in their DNA to slow down and let God breathe into our lives around here.  This has had all kinds of implications in my ministry over the years.   Worship service lengths are under strict (albeit informal) time covenants, prayers can be rushed through to get the the "real business" of the church, and everyone has limits on their time because they have to be somewhere else.  The pastor can then be merely viewed as one more person making a demand on their time which always seems to be running through their fingers.  However, it is precisely in this aspect of our culture where we may be able to help lead people toward a healthier way of living.    Eugene Peterson identified "prayer and spiritual direction"  as two of the three pillars of ministry (the other being tending to the Word).  We can help people slow and down take time for the simple things so they can see how God works in their lives.

Our Role in our Congregation 

I have served three congregations in New Jersey and each has had it's own distinct culture and the role of the pastor has varied greatly in each.   One expected a high degree of pastoral care and affirmation,  another revitalization and new life,  and another reconciliation and unity to bring the congregation together to move forward in mission.   I have always found that there is a tension between what I feel called to do and what the congregation culture expects.   This tension can be creative and life giving if dealt with openly through prayer and discussion.   I have grown both as a person and a minister because I have been given the opportunity to learn from those I am called to serve,  it is certainly one of the greatest blessings of ministry.   There is always lots more to discuss on this aspect and I look forward to those interactions.

Black Friday or Good Friday

This post comes to us from James Krombholz Pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, New Providence NJ

I am becoming increasingly wary of comparisons of a church to a business enterprise -- even missional church. The comparison is all too easy, especially since all business is concentrating on staying "mission-focused" and mission driven. When we confuse church and business, don't we reinforce a way of relating to each other that reduces all relationships to customer-service relationships. Here's what I mean.

"Black Friday is the retailers’ showcase, a time when they should do everything they possibly can to ensure they perform flawlessly—to inspire customers’ long-term loyalty by delivering more than they were expecting."

Now substitute Christmas, Easter or other high-traffic church events for Black Friday and church or congregation for retailers. When we do this we come to diagnose (misdiagnose, I think) our problem as an inability to inspire our customers' long-term loyalty by delivering more than they were expecting. Maybe our churches cannot change, not because our basic model is broken, but because we as people and pastors cannot think or act or relate except as merchants or industrialists. We have received from our tradition and from our ancient scripture an agrarian way of understanding the world, each other and our God, not to mention God's work in our lives and in the world (see the parable of the sower), but we continue to think it would be better if we treated church as business and industry. We have applied industrial technique to agriculture with disasterous consequences. Why would we expect any better result for our churches. Treat a farm like a business and it will go bankrupt or become an plantation or destroy its environment in search of greater and greater profit. Maybe the same can be said for churches. I love this story from Wendell Berry's Economy and Pleasure ...

"I was fortunate, late in life, to know Henry Besuden of Clark County, Kentucky, the premier Soutdown sheep breeder and one of the great farmers of his time. He told me once that his first morning duty in the spring and early summer was to saddle his horse and ride across his pastures to see the condition of the grass when it was freshest from the moisture and coolness of the night. What he wanted to see in his pastures at that time of the year, when his spring lambs would be fattening, was what he called "bloom" - by which he meant not flowers, but a certain visible delectability. He recognized it, of course, by his delight in it. He was one of the best of the traditional livestockmen - the husbander or husband of his animals. As such, he was not interested in "statistical indicators" of his flock's "productivity." He wanted his sheep to be pleased. If they were pleased with their pasture, they would eat eagerly, drink well, rest, and grow. He knew their pleasure by his own. "

That sound a lot more like the work of a pastor than this ...

“I personally apologize for the experience you had, and I apologize for any other customer that might have experienced that,” he told me. ... When I asked about why that Wal-Mart worker [pastor] had pooh-poohed the website’s inventory listing [the religious or spiritual service I came looking for], he said there were some “misaligned incentives” between store workers [clergy] and Web orders [your spiritual desires]. At the moment, in-store employees don’t get any credit toward their bonuses for sales made online [self-guided spiritual experience] but picked up in a store [by attending worship]."

But guess which one sounds more like my day? Customer service, you got it. But that's what the mission-statement says: We're a "Christ-centered [customer] servant community." I don't think we need to change our model as much as we need to understand what we are and what we have to offer a world that is being destroyed by Wal-Mart, Amazon and a host of other enterprises that thrive on statistical indicators and productivity. Maybe we can once again offer a place, a community, a savior, a kingdom to which this "brood of vipers" or "generation" can flee for refuge, repentance and redemption.

Anyhow, maybe our problem is that we're a nation of merchants. How do we change that?