I have heard it more recently than I had for a very long time, variations on the theme, "God has a plan." Some people say that everything happens for a reason. Some claim that they "can see God's hand in it." Some well-intentioned supporters say to those who are struggling and suffering, "God never gives you more than you can handle."
Don't worry, it's all part of God's plan. I heard it recently through the death of a mother's son. In the receiving line at his funeral reception, people were intending support. With the floods in Texas and West Virginia, as well as the fires in California and other western states. Not to worry...God's got this. A young woman friend recently broke up with a boyfriend of two years. No problem. Everything happens for a reason. With the tragic events in Orlando, and its aftermath, some were claiming it as part of God's plan, maybe vengeance.
I find it all a bit facile. It's all part of God's plan. Everything happens for a reason. Don't worry, God's got this. It will all work out in the end. Believe in God. Trust God. Pray this prayer. Offer this incantation. Utter this liturgy. Go to church. Be a good person. God rewards those who do God's will and punishes those who do wrong. What goes around comes around. Karma is a bitch.
I do not know if there is a thing that we can call "God's plan." If there is, we certainly are not in on it. Here is what I do know. It is cruel to say to parents who have just lost their infant child that everything will turn out okay because it is all part of God's plan. It is unkind to say to a mother who has just lost a son that God will fix this in the long run. It is ludicrous to tell those who are victimized by disasters, whether of natural or human origin, that this is all part and parcel of God's unfolding plan for us. It is an injustice to hold that some deserve their mansions while others sleep in squalor or on the streets. It is bias to claim that some deserve a vast majority of society's benefits while others merely survive, bereft of any of the pleasures that others take for granted. None of this can be God's plan, if God's plan is reflected in the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ.
So, what of God's plan? If we cannot believe that everything happens for some divine reason, are we to believe then that God is not in control? Are the tragedies of our lives not part of some spectral conspiracy to make us better people?
To conceive of God so narrowly leads to the kind of deism that had us at one time throwing virgins into volcanoes or burying statues upside down in our yards to sell our homes. It is the kind of mystery religion that equates everything that happens to divine caveat. Divine action can be affected, of course, with the correct magic words or acts, the proper practice of the right religion, but God is capricious and volatile.
Perhaps divine plans run otherwise. Maybe the Spirit is breathed into humankind as potential and possibility for living, each of us and all of us, according to positive virtues, those that serve everyone. Maybe deaths still occur and tragedies still take place, but we recognize the need in each of us to join as communities in coping with them. Maybe God's plan is far simpler that we have assumed. Perhaps it has to do with our unity in spiritual empowerment and mutual accountability. Maybe we are God's plan?!
That might mean that it is incumbent upon each of us, and all of us together, to figure out our spiritually-gifted talents, abilities, energies, responsibilities and accountability to one another. Then, when there is a death, an illness, a disaster, prejudice, injustice or violent act of hatred, we might mobilize those spiritual forces in response instead of offering the empty notion that God will take care of it. Or better, directly assist those who are victimized by any and all of it by offering ourselves as the kind of sacrifice of time, talent, ability, energy, money, and self as we have seen in Christ Jesus. Maybe his presence breathes life, as often as the spirit moves and breathes in and through us.
Maybe that's God's plan. I dunno.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Monday, June 13, 2016
Ohio Structure
It is a discussion long overdue. As most such conversations go, this one is uncomfortable and controversial, rapt with passions on every side. I have been personally inviting the conversation since 2008. Just when I was weary and ready to admit failure, new leadership was forced to make a move that brought the parties to the table. The conversation is now taking place.
The discussion is about structure. More concretely, it is about the structure of the Ohio Conference of the United Church of Christ and its Associations. Let me explain. Ohio is the only Conference within the United Church of Christ that is structured with both free-standing organizational Associations, served by Association staff who are called and hired by the Associations, and a Conference organization that ministers for, across, through and within all five Associations. I suppose the anomaly comes from the original merger of so many Evangelical and Reformed background churches with those that were Congregational Christian. Instead of reaching a compromise structure, those who organized the Ohio United Church of Christ decided that the mixed organization made everyone happy. The E&R folk appreciated the strong Conference presence, while the C/C congregations embraced the regionalized organizations.
The structure worked for a long time, like having two camps within less than 100 miles in the Conference. There came a time, however, when the structure no longer functioned optimally. That time was marked by a decline in membership throughout the church world. As membership declined, so did the dollars. As money grew tighter, churches in Ohio were forced to face the question of judicatory structure, its redundancy, and the efficacy of continuing to be both Associations and a Conference.
I think that everyone, from local church persons to Association and Conference Boards, to members of the national staff, acknowledged a need for change. The old structure, of providing for both the E&R centralized identity and the C/C local expression, was no longer viable. We all know it. But the questioned demands compromise: Should we organize around separate Associations or around the Conference?
I believe that everyone involved in the discussion loves the church and wants to do what is best and most effective. But I also believe that there are voices that remain adament about protecting certain pieces of the organizational pie.
The initial stages of the conversation, with representatives of every articulation of the United Church of Christ at the table, starts on Tuesday, June 14. While the outcome of these discussions is important to Ohio, its churches and the United Church of Christ, the process and our attitude toward one another is even moreso. Let's not be the kind of church that accuses, calls names, wonders at motivations and acts supiciously. We all have a horse in this race. No matter how we end up, though, let's make sure that everyone wins in the process.
The discussion is about structure. More concretely, it is about the structure of the Ohio Conference of the United Church of Christ and its Associations. Let me explain. Ohio is the only Conference within the United Church of Christ that is structured with both free-standing organizational Associations, served by Association staff who are called and hired by the Associations, and a Conference organization that ministers for, across, through and within all five Associations. I suppose the anomaly comes from the original merger of so many Evangelical and Reformed background churches with those that were Congregational Christian. Instead of reaching a compromise structure, those who organized the Ohio United Church of Christ decided that the mixed organization made everyone happy. The E&R folk appreciated the strong Conference presence, while the C/C congregations embraced the regionalized organizations.
The structure worked for a long time, like having two camps within less than 100 miles in the Conference. There came a time, however, when the structure no longer functioned optimally. That time was marked by a decline in membership throughout the church world. As membership declined, so did the dollars. As money grew tighter, churches in Ohio were forced to face the question of judicatory structure, its redundancy, and the efficacy of continuing to be both Associations and a Conference.
I think that everyone, from local church persons to Association and Conference Boards, to members of the national staff, acknowledged a need for change. The old structure, of providing for both the E&R centralized identity and the C/C local expression, was no longer viable. We all know it. But the questioned demands compromise: Should we organize around separate Associations or around the Conference?
I believe that everyone involved in the discussion loves the church and wants to do what is best and most effective. But I also believe that there are voices that remain adament about protecting certain pieces of the organizational pie.
The initial stages of the conversation, with representatives of every articulation of the United Church of Christ at the table, starts on Tuesday, June 14. While the outcome of these discussions is important to Ohio, its churches and the United Church of Christ, the process and our attitude toward one another is even moreso. Let's not be the kind of church that accuses, calls names, wonders at motivations and acts supiciously. We all have a horse in this race. No matter how we end up, though, let's make sure that everyone wins in the process.
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