We have voted to stay

Some of you may have been following our church's conversations and deliberation about whether to stay in our building and invest or move and share space with another congregation.  We asked these questions not out of desperation but to make an intentional choice about how to spend our resources - recognizing the religious world has changed and is changing rapidly around all mainline churches.

In the end, a majority of the congregation voted to remain in our building and to be more intentional about using our building as an asset to the community - a base from which to do mission.  We also value the 32 year relationship with Temple Micah.  Staying means investing - fixing deferred maintenance and evaluating our worship space for the 21st century.

Come be our guest and learn more about the exciting things happening in ministry here.  Welcome!

Is Someone Else Pulling Your Strings?

“There is something in every one of you

that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself.

It is the only true guide you will ever have.

And if you cannot hear it,

you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings

that somebody else pulls.”

-Howard Thurman

Be Alive Until You Are Not

The singular and cheerful life

of any flower

in anyone’s garden

or any still unowned field–

if there are any –

catches me

by the heart,

by its color,

by its obedience

to the holiest of laws:

be alive

until you are not.

-from “The Singular and Cheerful Life,” by Mary Oliver

Sunday, September 11th

We will join six other congregations in not having our own Sunday morning service on September 11th. We will gather as an interfaith community - Christian, Jewish, Muslim - at Montview Presbyterian Church at 1980 Dahlia Street at 10 am. We all felt this fit better the hopes and aspirations of our faith traditions than to sit separately from one another worshiping the same God. Please join us.

The Real Machiavelli Quote

Niccolo Machiavelli

The misquote: "The ends justify the means."

The actual quote "One must consider the final result."

What a difference!

This has me tripping!

So, I'm reading tons of material to prepare to teach UCC History at Iliff. Not only am I reading current UCC materials, but also books from the perspective of those who either did not join the UCC at the merger or who have left since.

In a book by one such group, The First 50 years of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, in the section about why churches have left the UCC recently, my name appears! There is a paragraph that quotes an article in the Cleveland newspaper about my ordination in 1993. This is one of the reasons given by a church in Ohio that they left the UCC!

This is a relatively obscure book to anyone outside that particular denomination. To see my name was a trip.

Principles of the Christian Churches - predecesors of the UCC

From the The YEAR-BOOK OF THE CONGREGATIONAL AND CHRISTIAN CHURCHES in 1930:

THE PRINCIPLES AND ORGANIZATION OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
(for those studying our UCC history, this is the group that joined in union with the Congregational Churches in 1931)

The following Principles are generally accepted and proclaimed by the
Christian churches. There is no uniform phrasing of them, however.

PRINCIPLES

I. Christ the only Head of the Church.
II. Christian a sufficient name for the followers of Christ.
III. Christian character the only basis or test of fellowship and membership.
IV. The Holy Scriptures our only creed.
V. Individual interpretation of the scriptures, the privilege and duty of
every believer.
VI. The union of all the followers of Christ.

These six Principles have frequently been summed up in this one basic
principle :

"The Church of Christ is One; it embraces all those who have been accepted
of Christ as his real disciples; and, in its whole and in its parts, it should be so
organized, named, and governed as to include all and exclude none of those
whom Christ has so accepted."

Civility - 1925

I'm reading lots of history these days and came across this statement from a book called The Congregational Churches by Frederick L. Fagley, published in 1925:

"We long to be saved from meanness and from narrowness, to usefulness and character. We are under no illusion that this can be done for us by anyone else; that anyone, either God or man can buy it for us, or work it out for us and present us with it... Character is not a gift, but an attainment."

Of course, the text goes on to say of the Congregationalists, "The world has never known an emigration of people made up of men and women of such uniformly high character, such purity of motives and such resoluteness of determination."

Self-esteem doesn't seem to be a problem!

Civility

"So let us begin anew -- remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us."

- John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, January 20, 1961. (Source: American Rhetoric)

Socialism in America

Jim Wallis of Sojourners Magazine, a guide for Progressive Christians, just wrote a very interesting and timely commentary on the extension of tax breaks for the rich. In part he wrote:

"At the root of the [current financial] crisis was just a handful of banks -- not the banking industry, not business in general, but a handful of very rich people who took big and selfish risks. They are already getting richer because of our taxpayer bailout, and now we're giving them more tax breaks and estate tax bonanzas. There is socialism in America, but it's only for the rich. Risk has been socialized for some of the very richest people in the country, and then, the "free market" pain is distributed to all the rest.

Our national economic philosophy is now to reward the casino gamblers on Wall Street and to leave the majority of the country standing outside the casino with a tin cup, hoping that the gamblers are at least big tippers."

It's hard to know what to say, but consistently, Jim Wallis says it.
David

Your Life, Better

There's an excellent new resource from the UCC called "Your Life, Better" that includes spiritual practices. The most recent is called "8 Ways to Wake Up to God" by Barbara Brown Taylor.

Check it out, and all the other spiritual resources, at http://www.ucc.org/feed-your-spirit/your-life-better/#6

It's about the effort

Archbisop Oscar Romero said, "we don't follow Jesus with perfection, but the effort to follow him is what makes a true disciple."

I like that. It's trying. Which should be obvious given the obtuseness of the original 12. Though at times I think Jesus grew at bit exasperated as their denseness, he didn't replace them. He just kept trying to teach a better way.

Good advice for us. It's about the effort that makes us disciples.

The Rabbi and the Pastor

The latest issue of Greater Park Hill News included a wonderful article about Temple Micah and Park Hill Congregational Church and the relationship of their clergy. It was a beautifully done article.

http://greaterparkhillcommunity.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1301:the-rabbi-and-the-pastor

www.goodshop.com

One of the easiest ways to raise money for the church - or any of 90,000 different charities - is to use www.goodsearch.com or www.goodshop.com. For example, I buy lots of stuff from amazon.com. All I do is to first go to www.goodshop.com, make sure I choose "Park Hill Congregational Church" as the charity I shop for, and then click on amazon, expedia, hotwire, dell or any one of 600 different internet retailers. The church then gets a percentage of each sale. Click on "Amount Raised" to watch the progress. It adds up and makes a big difference for our ministry. Please take a second the next time you internet shop and help us. Thank you!

Pistol Packin' in Church

Church goers in Louisiana can now bring their concealed weapons to church. The new law signed by Governor Jindal requires pastors to announce that there might be gun-toters in their midst. This replaced an older law that banned guns in houses of worship.

At my church in Ohio, we had to place signs at every door indicating guns may not be allowed inside. It was such a welcoming sight to see at every entrance a gun with a big red line through it. But, if it wasn't present, we could be held liable for gun violence inside the building.

I just don't get it...

(By the way, we don't allow guns in our church.)

Prop 8 Declared Unconstitutional

In the marriage rite of our Book of Worship, upon announcement of the union we declare, "Those whom God has joined together, let no one separate."

We are moving ever slowly to realize the dream when it will say, "Those whom God has joined together , let no one deny." (note, it is God who is the source of love)

The 2005 General Synod of the United Church of Christ called for full marriage equality. It was seen as a divisive statement by its opponents. But, we pray, it is simply the prophetic word which one day will be the norm.

(I was a delegate at that glorious Synod in Atlanta. Upon the positive vote of over 80% of the delegates, I blubbered like a baby in joy)

Small Churches

A recent cover story in The Christian Century - a liberal Christian magazine read by many mainline clergy and lay people - addressed being Church in the land of Mega-Churches. It has many insightful comments and I'll blog on some of them in coming weeks, but the one that struck me most is this:

"Becoming part of a small congregation can look like a lot of work" (from the perspective of a visitor who has Mega Church expectations of a full array of services to meet a multitude of needs). The author of the article, "Oversized Expectations," a smaller church pastor added, "And it is."

He adds, "Their (guests looking for a church home) criticism (or leeriness) is valid. It does take a lot of work to be in a small congregation. Many people visit a small church thinking it will be simple and quaint, when the truth is that life in small churches in complex. Members of a small church have multiple roles and responsibilities..." And one example of the need for flexibility and to improvise: "On Sunday mornings it is not uncommon for a family to show up and have all its members drafted into roles they were not expecting to play when they left home."

Recent statistics indicate that 60% of churches in the U.S. have fewer than 100 members. A mere 10% of congregations - of every denomination or independent - have 350 or more members. A Mega Church is defined as having more than 2,000 in services over one weekend.

Mega Churches are not the norm, but they are becoming normative in terms of what prospective members consider important characteristics - multiple programs and specialized staff.

PHCC has around 150-175 members with an average of 82 (in 2009) adults and children on Sunday and we share all the joys of a small church - knowing many if not most people, easy to get involved - and all its challenges - seemingly never "enough" to do all the things we'd like to do.

Having always been part of smaller congregations, I wouldn't want to be the pastor of anything else. I feel blessed, if not at times stressed.

Where is God?

From Mother Teresa:
"We need to find God, and God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature -- trees, flowers, grass -- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls"

Gratitude

I attended a fantastic conference this week of the United Church of Christ Musicians National Network here in Denver. There were 80-100 participants from around the country, including many of us from Denver. I met some really great people - including the man who wrote my favorite song in the new UCC songbook, Sing! Prayer and Praise. James Martin wrote Come My People, Welcome to Worship (#12). We heard great plenary lectures (don't think sitting still and boring) from Dr. Marcia McFee and amazing music by Mark Hayes. I took some notes, but mostly I sat inspired from just listening.

One of the memorable quotes from Mark Hayes:
"We are not called to be grateful FOR all things, but grateful IN all things."

That's a challenge I'm grateful for today.

The Three Faces of Compassion

According to Stephen Gilligan, compassion has three energies or faces:
Tenderness in the face of pain;
Fierceness in the face of injustice;
Mischievousness in the face of resistance.

I especially like the addition of the third face because it makes me smile, but also because it's clear that creativity is needed to fully live compassionately.

(Thanks to Tracey Dawson for the idea in her ordination paper!)