The Business of the Church

I was involved in an interesting discussion yesterday that I wanted to share with readers of The Shiloh Insider. As usual, I believe that the issues are appropriate for and important within to the wider Church as well.

The conversation arose within the context of budget discussions at Shiloh. A person involved in the conversation mentioned the point that congregations cannot sustain themselves financially unless they think of themselves as businesses. "Look at Shiloh," he suggested. "The congregation has not met its expenditures with its contributions for the past ten or more years." he said.

Actually, since I have served as Senior Pastor at Shiloh, more than thirteen years now, Shiloh has balanced its expenditures to income exactly one time. According to records that I see, Shiloh has rarely accomplished a balanced budget at any time in its history. In the past, the pastors were accustomed to visiting with key members of the congregation to ask them to write checks, sometimes in excess of $20,000 - $50,000, to help make expenses.

Despite what might be understood as lean times, however, Shiloh has built an endowment of more than $1,100,000. Of course, the congregation has used other reserves that were available to it, thanks mainly to the kindness and generosity of members and friends. Its expenses have been met with the generosity and forethought of people who contributed major gifts to the life of the church.

The intent of the conversation was clear, however. According to those with whom I spoke, Shiloh needs to reduce its budget, mainly personnel, by some $100,000 in 2014. That means that staff will have to be let go. That means that ministry will have to be trimmed. It means that the services to which congregation has grown accustomed will disappear. It means that Shiloh will do less.

The conversation ended with this point. "The church is a business, after all."

I could not have disagreed more. The Church is not a business. It is a ministry. While the task of a business is to ensure its own survival and profitability, the task of a ministry is to serve. I would further claim that the financial concerns of the Church have, especially over the past few decades, limited the ministry of congregations and faith communities. They have, because of a lack of funds, ceased to be communities of ministry.

Those places are dying. When ministry ceases, when churches stop doing the ministry to which they are called, they lose all meaning and purpose. They wither and die, from the inside out. Churches that see themselves as businesses pull back from financial risk and humanitarian investment. When we concern ourselves overly with the financial bottom line, we diminish that which we might accomplish together in our communities and throughout the world. We begin to say that "we can't" instead of "we can, and may, and will."

The argument of those who define the church as business is understandable. They want their church to survive well into the future. The problem is that the only way to ensure that this is the case is to invest wholeheartedly in the church's ministry and mission, in its service to the community and world.

So, no, the Church is not a business. It is a ministry. The business of the Church is serving Jesus Christ in, to and for our communities. The business of the Church invites us to risk, to be vulnerable, to care less about ourselves than we do about the service that we render. This, as I understand it, is the business of the Church.    

The Big Picture

Maybe it is just me. Maybe it is the way that I look at things. I have noticed a lot lately that people tend to become increasingly myopic the more they are involved in things that they find important. Don't misunderstand. I agree with them that what they are doing is often very important, in many cases perfect reflections of what those persons are called and empowered to do. I applaud their efforts. But I certainly wish that we could see with wider vision.

There may be justification for narrowed vision. After all, the big picture of the church today is not particularly rosy or promising. The Protestant Church in America has lost more than half of its active membership within the past fifty years. The developing culture seems less and less interested in religious issues and, more pointedly, religious institutions. Fewer people are worshiping, and even fewer are participating in ministry and mission activities. Many of our congregations are comparative ghost towns, relics of past generations. Many have closed their doors and ceased to exist, except in the precious memories of those who were a part.

Not all the news is bad, however. If the Progressive Church movement is correct in its basic assumptions, the death of the church-that-was is grand opportunity for the church-that-will-be, a movement that is more faithful to the calling of Christ Jesus. Where the self-serving church of the past ceases to exist, room is made for the servant and social justice church of the future.

In the church-that-will-be, congregational energy and focus rests upon equipping persons for the service and ministry to which each is called. Ministry is gift and talent based. Mission is hands-on, moving from impersonal benevolence to personal involvement. Church ritual and sacrament move from memorial and sacrificial models to vibrant acts of acceptance and enthusiasm. The church becomes more energetic, more colorful, more alive.

Through my years at Shiloh Church, we have intentionally led the congregation away from the church-that-was, toward the church-that-will-be. We have tried to bring everything that the congregation does into that theological and practical model. It is not like it once was. It is not yet what it will become. Shiloh is a developing congregation, a rebuilding, a reformation, a renewal. The church is a work in progress, and it is moving. 

If we could just allow ourselves to raise our heads from the work in which we are intimately involved long enough to see the bigger picture, perhaps we might better join together in the daunting task of moving the congregation toward a hopeful, vibrant future. Better, perhaps we might see that what we are doing plays a vital part in that larger scenario of new church development and reformation.

I should mention that this coming Sunday is Reformation Sunday, an occasion to honor and celebrate the spirit of renewal and re-formation in the Church of Jesus Christ. It's a big picture Sunday. Come and join us.

Celebration of Ministry

On October 12, members and friends of Shiloh Church gathered for a celebration of the congregation's ministry. We repeatedly asked the question, "What does Shiloh do?"

The context of the question arose from conversation with a congregation - not Shiloh - that is in the final stages of its life-cycle. In meeting with the congregation's leadership, I asked, "So, what does your congregation do?" The responses were limited. The congregation worships and gathers in small numbers for fellowship groups and Sunday School classes. Then there is the annual community dinner, that funds much of the church's function.

"No," I said. "I mean, what do you do in your community as a ministry to, with and for others? What would be missed in the neighborhood if you were not here?"

The leadership looked at me in a way that reminded me of a dog that hears a strange sound for the first time. "What do you mean?" they asked.

I recounted the many ways that Shiloh's ministry is vital to our local community, and beyond. Our golf outing raises funds that support needy families throughout the holiday season. This year, we raised another $7,000. We sell pumpkins, an effort that has raised over $10,000 for the Navajo reservation where they are grown. We budget over $60,000 each year for support of missions and benevolence, and engage in tens of thousands more dollars worth of direct, hands-on ministry. We offer excellence in hospitality, including our Front Porch Ministry, which has become a popular neighborhood feature of Shiloh's Farmers' Market. We have the Fall Fair and the Holiday Bazaar. Our Mission Fair attracted persons from around the community.

I was just getting started, but the leadership of the congregation with which I was working waved their hands, as if they had heard enough. "We can't do any of that." they said. "We don't have the people or the energy."

Shiloh, while becoming leaner in population, participation and financial support, is expanding its ministry and mission. The congregation's impact is widening. On October 12, we celebrated, for over an hour, event after event, program after program, person after person who would be missed in our community and beyond if Shiloh were to withdraw or cease. Our ministry, mission, benevolence and hands-on mission work would be missed. The helpful acts of supportive men and women would be missed. Our love, grace and mercy would be missed.

Congratulations to each and every one of Shiloh's ministries, programs, projects, missions, and functions. Congratulations to the people who do the work. You do much. You would be missed. Congratulations especially to Larry and Carol Oldham, who were named the 2013 Shiloh Service Award recipients. Your service to the community, to Shiloh Church, and the humility with which you approach your calling is obvious to us all.

You can be a part of Shiloh's increasingly vital mission and ministry. Get involved today!

 

  

Roots of Discipleship and Apostleship

I hear friends, colleagues, church members and read scholars who bemoan the shrinking church of 21st century America. It is true, of course. Over the past fifty years, mainline denominations have lost more than half of their former membership numbers. Attendance and participation is diminishing. Dollars for ministry are becoming increasingly difficult to raise. The modern Church of Jesus Christ is in trouble.

I think that this is very good news for what will become the Church of Jesus Christ.

Somewhere along the course of its history, the Church became an organization that people joined in return for the social benefit that they would receive from membership. People joined because they were promised certain services in return for their membership and participation. Somehow, expectations about church members being served overpowered the basic call to ministry and service. Servanthood was eclipsed by member entitlements and member demands.

This development was far removed from the foundations of the Christian movement. As a departure from its Judaic origins, the way of Christ became a movement of equality, compassion and mercy, even in the face of traditional criticism, judgmentalism and exclusion. Jesus continually demanded that persons represent God's will by acts of grace and kindness, generosity and forgiveness. The way of Christ required that persons be both disciples (students who learn from a particular teacher) and apostles (those sent to represent the teachings of their mentor).

Participants in the way of Christ were disciples and apostles. They were servants. They embodied the faith in what they learned, said and did. Moreover, the acts of apostleship were necessarily public. Those who would be practitioners of the way of Christ must have stood with Christ on the side of those who struggle and suffer. Participation meant being equipped and prepared to minister and serve. The leaders often died in representing Christ's teachings. The faithful sacrificed everything in order to represent Christ.

Over the past decades, membership has come to mean being ministered to and served.

Culture has discerned the inherent hypocrisy of membership entitlement in the Church of Jesus Christ. It has called the Church-That-Has-Been selfish and self-serving. It has exposed the dark underbelly of the institutional necessities of the Church-as-corporation.

It is time in the Church of Jesus Christ that we return to the roots of discipleship and apostleship. If we are to faithfully represent Christ Jesus, then we have to become, once again, his faithful disciples and apostles. Each one of us. All of us. The Way of Christ needs to connect itself once again to the root of its very existence, to its core purpose and foundational values.

While the transition will be uncomfortable and difficult in the contemporary Church, to do so is vital for both the continued existence of the Church of Jesus Christ and the representation of Christ Jesus in, to and for our communities. It is time for us to recover a genuine sense of universal calling, to sit again at the feet of Jesus and learn from him what we are called to do in public acts of grace, mercy, forgiveness, kindness and generosity. We desperately need to shed our sense of entitlement in the Church and embrace once again our universal, global, regional, congregational, local and family servanthood.        

Major Fund Raising Drive

There are things a local church pastor should not know about the congregation that she or he serves. Primary among those things, I believe,  is the level of financial contribution of individual participants in the life of the church.

Imagine receiving two calls for pastoral assistance and being aware that one family who is calling contributes tens of thousands of dollars every year to the life of the church, while the other call is made by a family who does not contribute financially. What does the pastor do? In order to avoid such possible dilemma, I have found it better to remain in the dark about individual and family levels of giving.

There are times and occasions, however, when the pastor is privy to financial information. Sometimes that can be a cause for celebration.

Yesterday was a special day around Shiloh Church. Not only did we celebrate the arrival of more than a thousand pumpkins in the church's annual Pumpkin Patch - after unloading them, of course, because who is going to celebrate before unloading thousands of pumpkins? It was also a day when the congregation was going to meet a challenge that was made at its September 15 congregational meeting. That challenge was for members and friends of Shiloh Church to bring additional financial gifts to the life of the congregation. A member said that she and her partner would bring an additional $1,000 check, and she challenged others to do likewise.

We heard from a few families, throughout the course of the following weeks, who were planning to make just such an additional gift. Some were the challenged $1,000. Some were $500. Many were less, but no less appreciated.

I want to tell you the story of one of those gifts.

They are twenty-somethings who have just purchased their first home together. Both he and she are employed full time. They are blessed and they know it. Things are tight, though. There is not an unending source of expendable income, having a new mortgage, ongoing educational expenses, a house to maintain and improve, a wedding to plan, careers to map out, and uncertain financial times.

Our expectation might be that this young couple might make a small additional contribution.

But no.

He wrote a thousand dollar check. He put in Sunday's offering plate, in addition to their normal contribution.

I am inspired by this young family's willingness to risk, to dare to contribute at such a challenging level. Surely, they believe in Shiloh Church. Surely they have invested themselves in the congregation's mission and ministry. They have demonstrated excellent leadership.

Sometimes, pastors get to tell fabulous financial stories. This is one of them. Thanks to all who dare financially, who risk, who take such bold steps. Upon your faith rests the present and the future of the Church.  

"Shiloh Insider" Facebook post

Many of the readers of The Shiloh Insider have noticed that there are no comments on the blog. There is a reason for that, actually, one that few would assume. The restriction on comments has nothing to do with disagreement or the caustic nature of some comments. It has nothing to do with topics of sincere discussion and/or argument. I appreciate such discourse.

On the contrary, the restriction of comment on The Shiloh Insider is the direct result of advertising bots that place, often inappropriate, advertisement, disguised as comment, on the blog. There have been ads from everything to erectile dysfunction and sexually oriented material to skin treatments and hemorrhoid ointments. Despite changing my username and password numerous times, these ads became so numerous and disruptive that removing them was becoming a daily tedium.

Therefore, I disabled the comment function of The Shiloh Insider.

Lately, however, several persons have mentioned to me the desire to discuss issues and comments made through The Shiloh Insider. While the title may suggest that the blog deals exclusively with information that is exclusive to Shiloh Church UCC, the content quite often deals with theological and cultural information that applies to wider Church life. My colleagues often read The Shiloh Insider.  In fact, the blog has readers in Sweden and Scotland, in Mexico and the Philippines, from around the country, and right here in Dayton. It is a public site that many in my UD classes read. Often, people want to comment on the issues and arguments raised.

I am therefore considering the creation of a Facebook page that would invite discussion of the topics raised in and through The Shiloh Insider. I believe that I can provide a weekly link from Facebook to The Shiloh Insider. Contributions to the blog would be available to potential readers through Facebook, as well as through the Shiloh UCC website, www.shiloh.org. I am posting the idea on the Shiloh Facebook page, attempting to determine if there is enough interest for me to go to the trouble of the weekly effort. If you are interested, look for the post on the Shiloh Facebook page, and let me know.

I look forward to the discussion.

It's About Money

In churches specifically, and religious/non-profit organizations in general, the love of money is often the root of all evil. Do not misunderstand, money is also a genuine blessing to churches and human service organizations. It depends, I suppose, on how the church or organization thinks of its money and upon what it does with what is contributed.

I worked with a congregation lately that was considering closing its doors. My first meeting with the Board was a simple fact-finding mission. Where are you in the congregation life-cycle? What ministries or outreach projects are important to you? What do you do in, to and for your community? What do you want? What are your plans for the future?

Worship, done their way, was important to them. Their social group in the congregation was their social group in general. Their building was in need of repair. Their organ was not working. They could not afford to pay for a pastor. They were exploring every possible option to keep them in their building, doing things their way...and, forgive me, for themselves. They could point to no outreach ministry to the community. They could identify no ministry beyond service to themselves. Nothing flowed from inside the building to its community or neighborhood.

Vision for the future meant only survival. It did not entail expanded ministry or retooling in any other direction than that accepted and embraced by the handful who still gathered. They did not want to lose "their church," nor compromise the traditions that had been established there.

Over time, my discussions with the congregation were beginning to make some progress. People were starting to envision a place of mission and ministry, where the church becomes a resource in and to its community. They were beginning to think and dream, beyond their own interests, to the foundations of the faith.

Abruptly, all discussion ended. There was no contact for several months. Finally, when I was able to corner the Board president, I was able to ascertain the cause of our broken communication. The congregation had received a large financial gift, in excess of $500,000. The leader told me that this would sustain them for roughly ten additional years, and that there was no need for them to do any of the things that I had been recommending to them.

The potential ministry of that community of faith may well die because of the money. It is possible that the church may use the funding to move into a ministry model, to develop meaningful mission and ministry to and with its neighborhood and community. I pray that it does. Given the way that this congregation thinks about money, as a means of survival, I suspect that it will not dare to risk its financial security in the chancy avenues of ministry and mission.

Money can do that. Or, better put, the ways that we think about money can do that. Money becomes a blessing when it is used for ministry and service, not when it is retained and protected for survival. Money is simply a means to mission and ministry. If a church fails to utilize it in this way, if it ceases to be a place of meaningful service to, with and for its community and neighborhood, then money becomes a curse. It is the death knell of ministry and mission. It is the death knell of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Every congregation, Shiloh included, needs to consider whether its money is a source of mission and ministry or if it is used simply for protection and survival. Is money a blessing or a curse?    

Every Person in Four-Way Call

I was thinking this week about last week's post in The Shiloh Insider. In that article, I explained the four-way call of clergy within the United Church of Christ. In the UCC, clergy are responsible for being in relationship with God, the local setting and calling body, the community in which one serves and the wider church. Our code of ethics makes clear that the call is to represent God's will in multiple arenas, at all times, as well as one is able.

What if that calling belonged to more of us than just the clergy class? What if it were understood as God's calling to each of us?

As the themes of the Revised Common Lectionary have highlighted over the past several weeks, those who would be Christ's disciples must take up the Cross and follow him. Apostleship involves self-sacrifice and sometimes radical notions of service to others. Those who follow Christ Jesus must intentionally engage in works of self-sacrificial service, carried out for the sake of those who are served, and for the betterment of the community at-large. From that ministry we cannot turn back. We cannot escape it, if we are to be faithful followers.

Therefore, the four-way call, that previously belonged exclusively to clergy, is a helpful way to think about the ministry and calling of every person. Each of us is responsible to represent God's will in faithful relationship to God. This is the prime directive. Every person is accountable for representing the grace of God in Christ. Each is a mechanism of grace and kindness and mercy. Each is a vehicle of God's love and forgiveness.

Each is called to represent God in the local setting, in those arenas that are closest to us, most familiar. Each represents God in family and friendships, in how we work for justice and peace in our towns and cities, how we represent God in our most intimate relationships. Each is responsible for assisting the local setting be a clearer expression of God's will. As each person does so, we work together to shape community. God's will expands form the most personal and intimate relationships to the social arena. Each person in accountable for expressing God's will in the social, cultural arena. As a natural expansion of the personal, intimate setting, our social obligations occur organically. As we live, personally, in relationship with God, we can live in personal relationship with others, with our communities and with the wider population. We are called to represent God's will regionally, nationally and globally. There can be no disconnect between expression of God's will on any level. (Disconnect is hypocrisy in the eyes of the world, after all.)

Each of us, lay and clergy, is called to represent God's will in personal, community and global expressions of faithfulness. Each is called to embody grace and acceptance, generosity and kindness, love and compassion.

At Shiloh, we attempt at all times to equip persons for fulfilling the ministry to which each is called, in relationship with God's will, with those who are closest to us, in our communities and in the wider, regional and global communities. To this end, God empowers us with God's own Spirit, equipping us with everything that we need to bring God's kingdom on Earth. Join us, as we each work out our four-way call.  

Four-Way Call

I serve the wider church, and the community, in a number of ways. Sometimes, it seems that I serve the wider church and the community as much as I serve the local church to which I am called as Senior Pastor. This situation can occasionally become a matter of concern for persons who do not understand the four-way call of clergy.

As part of the clergy call, there are four areas of responsibility for which clergy are accountable. The first arena of call is to the Word and Will of God. Clergy persons are asked to exercise great care to ensure that what they say and do is reflective of God's love and grace. That Word and Will call clergy to act in ways that sometimes fail to reflect other values or other considerations. Clergy are accountable for faithfulness to the Word and Will of God. This call takes considerable time and energy and includes prayer, study, spiritual discipline and meditation.

The second arena of clergy call is the community in which one serves, as part of the global community. Clergy are responsible for representing Christ in, to and for the community in which one is located. But clergy are responsible for seeing local community as part of the global family of God (see arena #1). To be an active and vital part of the community, clergy are called upon to represent Christ, not so much as examples to be followed or honored, but in initiatives and life-styles that reflect God's love and grace. Once again, this takes considerable time and energy.

Thirdly, clergy are called to accountability to the local church in which one pastors. Clergy persons are responsible for ensuring that the local church represents God's love and grace in the community and the world. Clergy must see the local church as an expression of and embodiment of God's grace within and for the community (applying God's will within specific communities). Clergy are accountable for local church training, education, preparation and action that faithfully expresses God's word and will in the community and world. Of course, this requires a considerable amount of time and energy.

The fourth arena of clergy call is the wider church. Clergy persons are accountable for the ministry of the church beyond local settings. Clergy must be actively involved in wider expressions of God's grace and love. Sometimes, and with some persons, personal skill sets are needed by the wider church in different ways and to different levels. Lately, I have been called upon to be very active in the wider church. I serve the Association in a host of different capacities. I serve even wider, as a participant in the conversations about Conference restructure and as a delegate to The United Church of Christ General Synod. These responsibilities take tremendous amounts of time and energy.

Clergy are called to all four arenas of accountability, not just one of them. This happens to be a period when my skill set is being used in the wider church. I believe that God has called me, equipped me and enabled me to fulfill the richness of the ministry to which I am called, in all four arenas. I hope that the local church can demonstrate patience and understanding in a period when my gifts are called upon in the wider church. I am not ignoring or abandoning you, as someone claimed to the head of Shiloh's Personnel Committee. I am not padding a resume. I am not thinking of myself. I am being faithful to the four-way call to which I am called.

This is too Hard!

Two weeks ago, I opined, in The Shiloh Insider, about the three basic theological/practical objections to a theology of grace. I claimed that those three arguments are: 1. Grace is about radical equality, but the traditional Church has preferred a religion of privilege and power; 2. Grace sounds too facile in theory but is, in actually, too difficult in application; and 3. Grace is about the here and now instead of the hereafter.

It is the second of those arguments with which I am most interested today. As a regular feature of Shiloh's  7:00 p.m. "Discovery Time" contemporary service, the gathered worshipers comment on and discuss the texts/message. The text was from Luke 13, where Jesus heals a woman in the synagogue on the Sabbath. The message drew a parallel between what God asks of Jesus and what God asks of us. God asked Jesus to speak for him, to embody those words in acts of grace and kindness (particularly demonstrating God's love for those previously excluded), and to sacrifice his entire life for the sake of God's kingdom on Earth.

God asks the same of us. God invites us to speak for God, to articulate God's love, acceptance and mercy to every person in every place. God asks us to embody those words in acts of grace and mercy, paying particular attention to those among our brothers and sisters who have been rejected and made disadvantaged by the systems under which persons live. And, finally, God invites us to dedicate our entire lives to the establishment of God's kingdom on Earth.

As the worshiping community discussed the message and texts, one of those in attendance spoke what I imagine most were thinking. He said, "This is too hard. It is too much."

Grace sounds simple in its basic theory, but is remarkably challenging in its actual application. We are only human, after all. We are not able to speak for God, to embody God's grace in acts of love and kindness and generosity, and we certainly are not prepared to place our entire lives on the sacrificial altar of God's kingdom on Earth. It is too much. It is too hard.

This is too much and it is too hard. No human being can possibly speak and act from God's will. No human being is capable of sacrificing self for the sake of expressing God's will in real, concrete, practical situations.

Two questions. Firstly, then why does God grant us the power of God's Holy Spirit? Why are we empowered and equipped? Is it not in order that we may do far more with the Spirit than we are able to accomplish if left to our own skill sets? Does the Spirit not work miracles through us?

Secondly, why do we gather in communities of faith? Why do we worship together, study together, fellowship together, work together? Is it not to share the apostleship to which each of us is called? Is it not to support one another in the course of our mutual ministries and shared mission? Does the community not lift us, support us, enable us?

Grace sounds simple, but it is exceedingly difficult in its application. Sometimes, it is too hard. Often, it is too much. Thank God, in those times, we can rely on the empowerment of God's Holy Spirit and the shared apostleship of the Church. If the Church fails in doing this work, if it allows persons to feel less than empowered and supported, then it is not doing its work. If it fails to call persons to accountability for the Spirit that is breathed into them, and fails to embrace them in their work, then the Church is meaningless in establishing God's kingdom on Earth.

At Shiloh, we work all the time at finding ways to help persons feel empowered, to help people feel the support of a loving, called, equipped community of faith. We could use some additional help. How can you help us?

Charity Golf Outing

This past weekend, on Saturday, August 17, Shiloh Church held its annual charity gold outing at Cassel Hills Golf Club, in Vandalia. This year marked Shiloh's ninth annual golf outing. In the first three years, the occasion was simply used as fellowship. It made no money. In 2008, however, Shiloh saw the need to tie the golf outing to a ministry need. Seeing the need to support needy families in our area through the Christmas and holiday season, Shiloh tied all proceeds to that cause. In the past six years, Shiloh has supported local families with over $25,000 of direct assistance, all raised through the church's golf outing.

In the 2012 golf outing, Shiloh raised just over $7,100. This year, Shiloh is likely to see even more available direct assistance, as the congregation anticipates that final contribution levels will eclipse that sum. At the end of the outing, dinner and auction, the church had raised $6,500. On Sunday, we heard of many additional contributions being made by members and friends of the congregation. Those contribution figures are still pending, but one may assume that the numbers will be greater than those of 2012.

Shiloh's deep appreciation goes to every person who played in the outing, those who supported it with contributions and assistance, those who donated items to the auction, and those who thought about and prayed for the success of the event. The efforts of Pastor Jay McMillen are of special note, since his hard work makes the outing both a possibility and a huge success.

Shiloh wants to recognize its sponsors. If you see these persons, or if you happen into these businesses, let them know that you appreciate their support. 

Diamond Plus Sponsors:  Shiloh Church Women's Board and Vince Russel at Johnson Investments

Diamond Sponsors: Shiloh Church Deacons, Dr. Lisa Peterson & Family, Ben Rupp with the Insurance Board, Englewood Meijer Store, Englewood T.J. Chumps, Tom and Shelby Parnell Family

Platinum Sponsors: Dave Dillard at Dillard Electric, Northmont Class of 1993, the Ivory Family of The Kid's Institute, Reg Richwine Family

Silver Sponsors: Sandi's Clothes Encounter, Alan Pippenger at Requarth Lumber, Glen Green Construction, Bill Homan and Family

Gold Sponsors: Dr. Bob and Zoe Hittner Family, Dave and Lou Tiley Family, Linda Peterson and Family, Roth and Company, Superior Mechanical, the Benvenuto Family at Tony's Italian Kitchen, Shiloh Church Discovery Team (7:00 p.m. Service), the Gerhart Family at Titan Flooring, Jim Shepler DDS and Family at North Main Dentistry, Chris Clausen at Super Tech Automotive, the Bowser family at Miami Valley Vending, Chris Pulos at Brower Insurance, Bill Kindred at Kindred Funeral Home, Jeff Reichard at Reichard Buick,Tammy Greenberg and the Routson Family at Diversite Salon and Day Spa, Rick Snider at Baker Hazel Snider Funeral Home, Rick Holmes and Family at the Architectural Group

Donation Sponsors: Uptown Hair Studios, T.J. Chumps, Englewood, Texas Roadhouse, Regain Solace, Boston's Bistro and Pub, Buffalo Wild Wings, Englewood, Bead Dazzled (Kathy Penfield), Tony's Italian Restaurant, Shiloh Quilters, Pipestone Golf Club, Kroger State Liquor Store, Chick-Fil-A (Miller Lane), Miami Valley Country Club, Meadowbrook Country Club, Midwest Colerain RV, Shumsky (Lorie Woods), Linda Peterson and Family, Pastor Jay McMillen Family, Matt Weaver Family, Tiley Family, Earl McMillen Family, Dr. Lisa Salata Family, Judy Peck, Gary Wachter Family, Rev. Carl & Lisa Robinson.

Thanks to each of you, and our golfers, we are giving Christmas to sixty or more families this holiday season. God bless you all!

Enemies of the Theology of Grace

Paul's theology of grace was rejected as orthodoxy in the early church by, among other formulas, the establishment of Apostolic Succession. Apostolic Succession afforded authority in the late first and early second century Church by granting standing to those who would trace their theological lineage back to the original disciples of Jesus. Thus, it stands as a rejection of the theology of grace in Paul, because Paul, as we all know, was not among Jesus' disciples.

Today, the enemies of the theology of grace are a bit more subtle. They are real and powerful, but they work covertly, behind the scenes. They have shaped the ways that we have thought and acted and spoken. 

Firstly, the theology of grace in Paul was powerful in the Hellenistic world because Paul's theology resonated with the Hellenistic virtues. Grace makes great sense when we can claim spiritual status, when we can claim that, in Christ, God has changed the essential nature of humankind from earthly and physical (Adamah) to spiritual (in Christ). If the essential nature of humankind is altered in the Crucifixion and Resurrection, then all human nature is affected. It is a universal grace. In Christ, God diminishes physical human nature, with its passions and desires and hungers, and strengthens the spiritual, perfect, eternal heavenly virtues.

The Emergent Culture, that which has been surfacing since around 1968, is forcing the Emergent Church, or whatever readers may want to call it, to recover the theology of grace. Culture is leading the spiritual evolution of the Church. The Church has tried, for nearly fifty years, to reject the spiritual evolution being made necessary by culture progression. Conservative movements have tried to draw us back, away from a theology of grace, and toward an increasingly narrow understanding of our relationship with God.

The Church that has formed as a response to cultural evolution has rejected the theology of grace in at least three ways:

     1. Grace Counters Religious Advantage: If everyone's essential nature is made spiritual in Paul's understanding of grace, then there is no advantage to believing a particular thing in a particular way. There is no advantage to orthodoxy in ritual or sacrifice. There is no essential advantage to being in the Church. All are saved (made spiritual) and all are instruments of God's grace, inside or outside the Church.

     2. Grace Requires Action in Application: While the theology of grace reads simply enough, perhaps a bit too simply, it is incredibly difficult in application. It is more than a philosophy or system of belief. Grace required action. It necessitates ministry and mission. Grace can only be true insofar as it is expressed in relationship to living, breathing beings. Grace is the great mobilizing force of the Church-That-Will Be. The Church-That-Was rejects it as too easy in theory and too difficult in application.

   3. Grace is About the Here-and-Now Instead of the Hereafter:  The Church has learned to diminish the meaning of human life by placing salvation in another world, after humans die. Grace is the construction and maintenance of a new world in the here-and-now. It is qualitative. The effort to which grace calls humanity is development of kingdom...on earth....now. The emphasis of our efforts must lie in the development of a way of life, on Earth, that blesses and benefits every person in every place. It is justice and peace and compassion and mercy as ways of life, personal, interpersonal, social and universal.

The enemies of the theology of grace have been loud and confident. The voices of those who work tirelessly for the Church-That-Will-Be have been increasing in both volume and impact. Those voices are beginning to be heard. Let us shout from the mountaintops and sing in the dales the wonderful theology of grace.

Come sing with us!

   

Grace or Religion?

The Church of the first century was faced with the same dilemma that we face in the Church today. Then, the dilemma was best understood as the dynamic that existed between the theologies of Paul and the theologies of Judaizers, like some of the other early apostles. Paul taught the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ as an archetype for faithful life, one that reflected the perfect and eternal heavenly virtues of his Hellenistic culture. Peter, and others, taught that persons must remain true to ancient religious principles in order to attain salvation.

Peter's theological school of thought was primarily moral. Laws, rules and regulations established what it meant to be "in" the Church, in the faith, in relationship with God. Relationship was established and maintained only to the point to which persons were willing and able to remain faithful to the rules and regulations, including those unwritten and unspoken expectations that form community values.

Paul's theological school of thought taught that persons were saved exclusively through the grace of God in Christ. Essential human nature was changed in Christ from primarily physical (Adamah) to primarily spiritual (Christ). Crucifixion and Resurrection are about the empowerment of humans to participate in the process of universal salvation as instruments of God's grace in the world. Humans become spiritual beings, capable and called to exercise grace in relationship to others.

Peter is restrictive. Paul is permissive. Peter is exclusionary. Paul is inclusionary. Peter is judgment and criticism. Paul is empowerment and constructive.

Of course, the developing institution of the late first century chose the path of Peter's theological school of thought over that of Paul. It chose religion over grace.

The Great Reformation was, essentially, a recovery of Paul's theological school of thought. While the Reformers attempted to embody a theological system based in empowerment and grace, the systems that resulted could thing only in terms of new orthodoxies, rules, regulations and morals. Denominationalism failed to fully embrace the possibility of a Church of Grace. The Church continued to pursue religion instead of grace.

Today, culture is leading the way in the spiritual evolution of the Church of Jesus Christ. As it moves in more and more progressive avenues, as equality, justice and fairness among all peoples become hallmarks of contemporary culture, exclusionary religions become increasingly irrelevant. Grace abounds. Acceptance rules the day. Diversity is celebrated instead of feared.

The Church of Jesus Christ has a choice in developing inclusionary culture. It can be about grace or it may cease to exist. It can opt to fall into distant memory or it can be a vital force for the ongoing mission of Jesus Christ. The culture is forcing the Church to choose grace over religion. God is, as usual, acting in strange ways. Maybe this time, the Church will choose grace over religion.

Celebrating The Kid's Institute

For more than six years, the Kid's Institute has shared space with Shiloh Church as an arm of the congregation's community ministry. The Kid's Institute is a child care program that cares for children from post-toddler through students of junior high age. Hundreds of children have passed through the program, and the community has been well served through the partnership of Shiloh Church and the Kid's Institute.

 

On Sunday, August 4, 2013, Shiloh Church will celebrate the ministry of the Kid's Institute by including the families in the 10:25 service, including the sacrament of Holy Communion, and with a luncheon that will follow. Shiloh Church looks eagerly forward to welcoming the families the  Kid's Institute in both worship and fellowship.

 

The children of the Kid's Institute will share a song with the congregation and take part, with me, in reciting a scripture and poem that will form the foundation of Shiloh's intentional spirituality throughout the month of August. The text, Habakkuk 2:1-3, and the poem, "I Let Go of My Accumulations" were used as part of the worship at General Synod 29, held in June and July at Long Beach, California.

 

The partnership between Shiloh Church and the Kid's Institute also serves as an example of shared ministry and service that marries the efforts of churches with community resources. The relationship has sometimes been tricky, but Shiloh has been able and willing to sail through the rough waters of shared space and limited facility use to see service to extended communities and populations.

 

It is possible that Shiloh may even extend the model to incorporate other churches, as we are currently in talks with Christ Eternal Kingdom Ministries, a small African-American congregation that has lost its worship space, to welcome them to use the Shiloh facility. In this way, Shiloh demonstrates its belief that a church facility should and could be a community resource.

 

Shiloh celebrates the presence and the ministry of the Kid's Institute, anticipates a good relationship with Christ Eternal Kingdom Ministries, and looks for other opportunities to use its facility as a resource to its community. The congregation is fortunate indeed to be able to engage in such ministry.

 

See You Sunday!    

Back in the Saddle

It has, thus far, been a very strange July. It began with travelling to Long Beach, California for the 29th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. I was back at Shiloh for a week, then headed off for a week of vacation to Torch lake, in far northern Michigan.

 

The Michigan trip came about in a somewhat interesting manner. Last year, our daughter, Casey, served as president of the Sinclair Community College ASL (American Sign Language) Club. Part of that club's annual deaf community support is a charity auction, which Shiloh hosted. In order to support the deaf community, and to help out our daughter, we attended. Our intention was to bid on and buy something small, in order to lend our support.

 

During the posting of contributed items, we noticed a week's stay at a place called "Torch Lake," donated by another Sinclair ASL club-member family. We knew nothing about Torch Lake, but saw that the estimated value was around $1,500. We intended to bid on the vacation, maybe getting a great deal in the process.

 

To condense the story, I will tell you that Larry and Marilyn Jones, Larry and Janet Ferguson, and Lisa and I shared a week at Torch Lake for $550 (total, not per couple or per person). We appreciate the family that donated our week at "Memaw's Place" on Torch Lake, the Sinclair Community College ASL Club and the support of Shiloh Church, all of whom have made some time away possible.

 

Thanks to the remarkable staff here at Shiloh Church, church life went on pretty much as normal. Jay McMillen did a great job with worship and pastoral issue., Dick Van Tine is slowly returning to a part-time visitation schedule, Sid Manley has kept the facility running. Ashley, Judy, Mark, Martha, Aaron, Ken, John and a host of others, many volunteers, handled the thousands of details that face the congregation each week. Thanks to each of you.

 

I return to the office with a full calendar of upcoming meeting, events, wider church involvement, and some new visioning possibilities. After a week of deep cleansing breathing, it is again time to get down to the business of serving Jesus Christ in this community. I am looking forward to it.

 

See You Sunday!  

General Synod 29

The 29th General Synod meeting of the United Church of Christ was held this past week in Long Beach, California. As a delegate who represented the Ohio Conference, its Southwest Ohio Northern Kentucky Association, and Shiloh Church, I participated in a working committee of the national church setting, voted on a host of resolutions, and engaged in dialogue and worship with more than 4,000 participants. It was a tremendously challenging and energizing week.

 

Shiloh has already heard and read about the Vision Plan of the United Church of Christ, its Core Values, Bold, Inspirational Goals (BIG's), and the strategies through which the United Church of Christ may, in all of its settings, be faithful to this unified vision. What has surprised many here at Shiloh is less about the groundbreaking directions of the Vision Plan than it is just how far Shiloh is ahead of the curve. Already, this congregation has been, and is, actively engaged in ministries and missions that are reflected in the Vision Plan. Shiloh is already well advanced in conservation strategies, extravagant welcome and hospitality, pursuing increased diversity, concentration on outreach ministries and attention to issues of justice and peace.

 

There were fourteen working resolutions that were offered through the UCC Executive Council. I will simply list them here for your information:

1. Calling for the United Church of Christ to repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery, which authorized the genocide of Native People and the theft of Native Lands.

2. On making UCC Church buildings more carbon neutral.

3. Resolution against bullying and discrimination.

4. Opposing mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia.

5. Calling for an all-Church offering supporting the educational expenses of Members in Discernment, preparing for authorized ministry in the United Church of Christ.

6. Urging divestment from fossil fuel companies.

7. Advocating tax reform as Christian stewardship and public duty and advocating for funding to construct quality affordable housing.

8. The Unites Samoan ministries of the United Church of Christ recognized as n historically underrepresented group and a member of the Council for Racial and Ethnic Ministries.

9. To recognize the need for compassionate care and healing to our veterans.

10. Opposing actions that seek to undermine the status of women in society.

11. Restructuring of Conference Boundaries.

12. Call to respond to drug-related violence in Honduras that results from the illegal drug market in the United States.

13. Supporting compassionate and comprehensive immigration reform and protection of the human rights of immigrants.

14. Developing ecumenical relationship between the United Church of Christ and the United Church of Canada. 

 

I served on the committee that prepared the resolution that opposes mountaintop coal mining in Appalachia. It was a surprisingly complex issue that involved everything from employment possibilities to impact on local economies to arsenic and cadmium in the drinking water of those who live nearby mountaintop coal mining. After considerable editing and meaningful conversation, the resolution was forwarded to the plenary for action. Unfortunately, I flew back to Dayton before the vote on this particular resolution, arriving in time for my wife's 50th birthday party.

 

Readers of The Shiloh Insider will see much more information from the 29th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. I hope that you will be moved to celebrate being part of the United Church of Christ and proud that Shiloh Church is already living out the shared vision.

 

 

 

 

Synod

Carl is attending the General Synod meeting and will post new issues of The Shiloh Insider after his return from Long Beach, CA.

Old Friends

The Robinson family has remained in touch with a few friends that we had made in communities where we had lived before coming to Dayton in 2000. One such family is Brian and Linda Perry, who live in Evansville, IN. Linda and Brian were part of a small group of parents whose children were competing gymnasts through a gym in Evansville. There were four couples who hung pretty closely together: The Perry family, the Cartwrights. the Currents, and us, the Robinsons.

 

The Perry's daughter, Meghan, competed on team with Casey for around four years. Meghan gave up on Gymnastics around the age of 12. Casey remained a competing gymnast through high school. Meghan had taken up golf through high school and now in college. She plays for the Ball State University Women's Golf Team and is a very accomplished golfer.

 

Meghan is playing this week in the Western Women's Amateur Golf Tournament, played at the Dayton Country Club. Linda, her mother, came with her. On Monday, Casey and I walked with Meghan, as she played the course to a 77, six over par. She shot a 75 in the second round of stroke play qualifying. Of the 144 competitors, Meghan finished in a tie for 50th, qualifying for the match play quarter finals.

 

Meghan plays today and, if she wins her match, tomorrow. The finals will take place on Friday and Saturday. We plan to walk with Meghan and Linda as often this week as we are able.

 

While this may seem an unusual topic for The Shiloh Insider,  I think that it is sometimes important to realize that religious issues have direct impact on how we have and how we will live our everyday lives. In fact, maybe that is the exact point of religious discussion...to try and figure out how faith and practice impact everyday life.

 

We treasure the Perry family and the friendships that we have established through life and ministry. I wish all of you the kind of joy that we have known this week in seeing them again. Good luck, Meghan!

Association Blog

For a long time now, I have felt that the Associations of the United Church of Christ could best serve their local churches by attempting three very important tasks: 1. Provide direct assistance for the Search and Call process; 2. Form a matrix of networks throughout local churches and ministries to enhance strengths and overcome some challenges that the local churches face; and 3. Provide a public witness to basic United Church of Christ theology and practice.

 

The Associations have long been engaged in the first of these tasks. The Search and Call process comprises the majority of communication and experience with Associations in local UCC congregations and ministries. The second task, that of forming networks between and among local churches, is the aim of the current strategic planning within the Southwest Ohio Northern Kentucky Association (SONKA). Instead of the Association being expert in every category of ministry and mission, is it not more faithful to UCC covenant to assist ministries and churches to assist one another? If congregation A struggles with finances, for instance, could we not link them with congregation C, which has a very successful stewardship theology? The local setting can benefit greatly from sharing strengths and challenges with other portions of the local setting, building relationship and formulating covenant.

 

It is the third task that has been traditionally missing, in my judgment. Would it not be beneficial to local UCC congregations and ministries to provide public statements that both distinguish the United Church of Christ from other denominations and encourage understanding of alternative forms of Christian witness? Not argumentative, but informative, information about the core stances of the United Church of Christ may invite some interest and generate some excitement. It would certainly give rise to some passionate discussion.

 

I am pleased to say that, thanks to the excellent leadership of Interim Minister, Kathryn Anadein, SONKA is currently formulating a blog team of five or so writers who would have the challenge of sharing the basic theology, stances and applications of both to the general public, to our local ministries and congregations. While the blog posts might be intended to communicate information, I imagine that they can also be quite provocative for local settings of the UCC.

 

I am happy to lend my writings to the effort. Stay tuned for more information.

 

See You Sunday!  

Staff as Team

A friend and colleague called. He was having a problem with his church staff and was wondering if I might have any advice.

 

I asked him to explain the situation.

 

Two members of this church staff have been constantly at odds with one another, while another member feels excluded and isolated. One is a director of Christian Education and Childhood Ministries. Another is the Business Manager. The third is the Organist and Choir Director. My colleague, the Senior Pastor, is male. Each of the others is female.

 

The Business Manager, a person in her 50's, is constantly aggressive to and critical of the C.E. person, who is in her 20's. True, the C.E. person has made, and continues to make, a series of mistakes that have invited the criticism of the Business Manager. The music person is making arbitrary decisions about the weekly worship services that directly affect what others are able to do within the services, but not communicating those decisions.

 

The mess has come to a head, and the church's Personnel Committee has gotten involved. The tension between the Business Manager and the C.E. Director is obvious, as is the "exclusion" of the Music Director. The situation has begun to create tension in the wider congregation.

 

I should add that the Senior Pastor, my friend, has been in the position for less than a year. Each of the other staff members preceded him.

 

After a fairly lengthy discussion, in which I asked an array of questions, we determined that there is no weekly staff meeting, that each member of the staff feels that she is responsible only for the issues that arise under each one's employment responsibilities, and that they are in competition for attention, recognition and budgeting.

 

My recommendations were both practical and theological. First, we need to get members of the staff to recognize and support the ministries of others on the staff. Isolation results in division. When we share ministry with others, we have a stake in what they are doing. This staff is isolated. Worse, it is so focused on each task description that they are competing. Competition within a staff destroys the unity. It turns persons against others. It makes them critical and judgmental.

 

So, a weekly staff meeting, where each member of the staff shares what is being done and thought about under each area of focus, is absolutely vital. Members of the staff must feel an investment in what every other member is doing. Sharing the responsibility, and sharing the workload, lightens the onus on any one staff member. A team approach, with a unified purpose and vision, works best for the sake of the congregation.

 

The Senior Pastor likely needs to meet with the staff as a whole, laying out clear expectations and calling each member of the staff to accountability for shaping and maintaining staff unity. The Senior Pastor needs to help staff members assist one another in the course of shared ministries, instead of allowing staff members to compete against one another. Each staff member takes a place in the boat, and the boat sinks if each staff member fails to work as part of the team.

 

The climate needs to change there. Shiloh is fortunate indeed to have a staff that understands that none of our ministries exist in isolation to any other. The Shiloh staff is a team, sharing a common vision and working toward a single goal, that functions in a mutually supportive atmosphere that values each ministry. Shiloh's staff is a remarkable collection of diverse gifts, talents, energies and passions. I hope that readers of The Shiloh Insider understand how fortunate the congregation is to be served by such a gifted and unified set of ministers.

 

See You Sunday!

Association Summit

Readers of The Shiloh Insider will recall that there has been some tension in the relationship between the Ohio Conference and its five Associations. The ground of the tension is certainly important for the local churches of the Ohio Conference.

 

You may remember that a proposal of the Conference Board of Directors was to take control of staffing configurations and OCWM giving that had previously been under the control of each of the five Associations. The move would "save" over $500,000 per year, and is sold as being more responsible stewardship.

 

Instead of arguing the points of the proposal, let me just say that four out of the five Associations have officially rejected the Conference Board's proposal as the course that each Associations finds most favorable for Ohio UCC churches. In order to air the concerns of the Associations, and in order to begin the work of drafting an alternative joint proposal, a summit meeting of leadership from each of the five Ohio Associations was held this past weekend.

 

The discussion was initiated by the Southwest Ohio Northern Kentucky Association. The summit meeting took place on Saturday, May 25,  in Mansfield. We were hosted by St. John's UCC. The hospitality, the food, and the kindness of the staff and volunteers was much appreciated.

 

As Church meetings go, the summit meeting of the Ohio Association leadership contained a wealth of "Whereas" but absolutely no "Therefore." There was consensus on many issues. Most agreed, for instance, that the process of making and communicating this proposal was extremely poor. The methodology failed to include conversation with Associations and local churches. It was a top-down, hub-and-spoke process. It was divisive and exclusionary. It was arrogant and authoritative.

 

Most also agreed that a centralization of control of staffing and OCWM dollars seemed contrary to the basic polity of the United Church of Christ, where the primary unit of ministry and mission rests with the local setting. Most thought that the proposal was isolating to congregations and authorized ministries and ministers. Local support would have to be sought from a centralized Conference instead of a more regional Association.

 

There was additional consensus, though it must be said that one of the Associations, Central Southeast, seemed more supportive of the proposal than did the other represented Associations.

 

Another summit meeting of Association leadership is scheduled for Thursday, April 20, at which time, we might hope, the summit is led to configure some "Therefore." What concrete proposal might the Associations recommend to remain faithful to God's calling and, at the same time, be more responsible with OCWM dollars? Can we reduce redundancy and come out of a process of structural renewal that better serves the church in the local setting?

 

Stay tuned for more information.  

Bible @ Boston's

Shiloh's Bible @ Boston's program continues to be a curious oddity for many of our church partners and local community members. How can a church do bible study in a bar? Isn't there a disconnect between the two audiences? Does doing so not demean the sacredness of the Bible?

 

Accessibility is the issue, I think, and application is its aim. Let me explain...

 

So many in the communities around the church feel unequipped to engage the Bible. (So, by the way, do many within the church community.) They find the dense language and the difficult phraseology difficult to understand. They think the the repetitiveness of scripture too tedious to manage. They have not been informed about the cultural and historical factors that lead authors to write in distinct periods of matters that simply do not apply, or that apply differently, today. They think that the Bible is irrelevant to everyday life.

 

The opposite mindset is true as well. Some people in the community are convinced about what they have been told that the Bible says. (Again, so have many in the Church.) They are so convinced of what they have been told that the Bible says that political and cultural positions are shaped around those beliefs, even when those beliefs fail to genuinely reflect the intent of scripture. 

 

Bible @ Boston's utilizes a distinct form of scriptural study. In order to make scripture accessible, both to those within and those around our church communities, Shiloh's program adopts an approach known as Historical/Critical Methodology. In Historical/Critical Methodology, we acknowledge that every author writes from a particular context, to a particular community (or audience), for a particular purpose. If one can comprehend the intent of the author, and the circumstances of the community to whom that author writes, then one can more easily imagine the intended meaning of the text. The intended meaning of the text can then be applied - or not - to the contemporary setting.

 

Historical/Critical Method:  

   1. Define authorship: Who wrote, when, from where and why?

   2. To what community is this author writing? What is the historical and cultural setting?

   3. Derive the meaning of the text from the context of the audience and the intent of the author.

   4. Make contemporary application of the intended purpose.

 

The methodology is fairly sophisticated. It can seem pedantic or academic. It can feel as though it is out of reach for persons in the pews, let alone those who have not sat in pews for decades, if ever.

 

Shiloh is committed to the idea that Bible study makes the Word of God accessible and applicable. It is true, of course, that the Historical/Critical Method increases the pressure on people to actually work at the process of serious scriptural study. It requires us to use the native intelligence and inquisitiveness that God gives us in discerning in scripture what may or may not be God's Word. The end product certainly enhances one's understanding of God's Word, scripture, and any difference that may exist between the two. It renders the Bible directly applicable.

 

The current curriculum runs through the next seven weeks. It is an examination of the systematic theology of the distinct streams that flow through New Testament literature. Come and join us, every Wednesday evening, 6:00-7:00 p.m. at Boston's Bistro and Pub, located at the corner of North Main Street (48) and Westbroook Rd. (Dogleg) in Harrison Township. Shiloh engages in serious Biblical study in a secular setting. Maybe we can learn to take our faith more boldly into our secular lives. 

 

What is the Goal?

Sunday's texts provided an interesting opportunity for me to verbalize an element of the Emergent Church movement that I have often mentally and emotionally considered, but had never before said. That element is the different goal/aim of the Emergent Church, when compared to the traditional, institutional model of the modern age.

 

It seems to me to be quite clear that the Christian faith began in its infancy to be something entirely different from the bulk of its historical identity. That is, the ethic of Jesus - and maybe even Paul -differs significantly from the institutional developments that take place in the Church within the next several hundred years. The theology changes. The practices develop. Orthodoxy replaces the ethic of Jesus. Institutional adherence displaces spiritual energy. Within several hundred years of Jesus, the burgeoning institution that bears his name became an organization with a completely different goal, aim and outcome.

 

The aim of Jesus' ethic was a radically fair and just way of life that embraces every person, bringing peace and joy to every life. The aim of Jesus' ministry is a universally shared ethic of self-sacrifice and mutual concern that results in care for every person. Paul picked up Jesus' theological ball with the suggestion that Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection might serve as archetype for those who would follow Jesus. The aim and goal of the faith was establishment of God's kingdom on earth. In Paul's age, the urgency of establishing a cultural order that served every crease and crevice of Creation overshadowed the selfishness and myopia of traditional Judaism.

 

Soon, though, a whole new theological component replaced the ethic of Jesus and Paul. Instead of the energy for establishing a new cultural order, the faith's goal and aim soon changed to providing its adherents a means of eternal reward. Hope of Heaven displaced an ethic and urgency for peace and justice. As the institutional Christian Church developed, it offered a clear path to eternity in paradise. This hope was other-worldly, after-life, beyond death. The more it became the aim and goal of the Christian faith, the less the Church embodied the ethic of Jesus and Paul. 

 

The cultural changes that began sometime in the late 1960's have highlighted the core hypocrisy of the Christian Church. While the faith began with an ethic of servanthood, equality and radical unity, it quickly became self-serving, ritualistic, divisive and reflective of social order and status. The new culture will not be deceived by the righteous words and dire warnings of eternal damnation. It knows better. Christian faith is only Christian faith insofar as its adherents follow its base ethic in Jesus and Paul.

 

The Emergent Church therefore has as its goal and aim an ethic for human life that reflects the ministry of Jesus Christ and Paul. It offers a rejection of the divisive and exclusionary claims of a theology of Heaven or Hell.

 

So, I have come to see the Emergent Church movement as a further step in the Church's spiritual evolution. It is a re-awakening of the ethic that drove the faith in its infancy. It is recovery of the most ancient attitudes of the faith, those that rested with Jesus and Paul...and maybe others. While the Emergent Church movement calls the contemporary Church to retool, undoing a great deal that the institutions holds sacred, this step forward in the spiritual evolution of the Church is necessary to its relevancy and meaningfulness, as much as it is to its survival.

 

Can we give up a theological aim and goal of eternity in Heaven?  

Authenticity

Members and friends of Shiloh Church have been discussing the character and nature of the Emergent Church throughout the month of April at the church's Bible @ Boston's series. The conversations have been important for shaping Shiloh's next steps into a somewhat hazy future. Those who came have talked about worship, structure and organization, authority (Biblical and otherwise) and definitions of that movement.

 

Following the final series' discussion, a person approached me and said what I believe to be at the core of the Emergent Church movement. She said, as nearly as I can recall, "It seems like the Emergent Church is an authentic witness to the ministry of Jesus Christ, without all the trappings." What she meant, I think, is that the Emergent movement allows the Church of Jesus Christ to move from traditional arrangements around practice of the faith to direct application in the community. The Emergent Church, at least at this point in its spiritual development, is less concerned with buildings, decorations, pageantry, appearances and positions of authority than it is with an authentic Christ-centered life-style.

 

While the traditions of the institutional configurations of the Church deal primarily with private practices that take place within the walls of any given congregation, the Emergent Church movement pushes the witness through the walls to the community. It is a public act of faith, a public witness. The Emergent Church cares less about what songs we sing as part of our corporate worship as what help we as persons provide in and to our communities. The Emergent Church cares less about how we practice Sacrament as how Sacrament leads to mission and ministry in the public arena.

 

I therefore agree with the woman's assessment. The Emergent Church movement, at the current level of spiritual development, seeks a more authentic public witness of Jesus Christ, not as much in words as acts. It is precisely this level of authenticity that resonates with community needs and public demand on the Church of Jesus Christ. A lack of such authenticity is, I think, the primary reason that we have created such a large population within the church alumni association. It certainly makes up the bulk of public claims of church hypocrisy.

 

In short, I firmly believe that the Emergent Church movement is a next step in the spiritual evolution of the Church of Jesus Christ. It is a step away from traditional trappings of the faith and embrace of genuine public work that defines the faith. While the movement steps on toes of traditional religious practice, I can imagine that it might revitalize the Church universal, calling it beyond itself to the community to which it is sent.

 

What do you think?  

 

 

Exploring the Emergent Church...in a Bar

On the Wednesdays in April, members and friends of Shiloh Church, along with some community guests, have been engaging in discussions around the issues of the Emerging Church Movement. On the first Wednesday, we discussed the nature and character of the Emergent Church Movement, how it is shaping a relevant response to the cultural transition that we have experienced since the late 1960's. On the second Wednesday, we talked about worship configurations that might be meaningful to persons of the digital, post-modern world. Last week, we discussed structure and organization of an entirely new church model. The conversations have been interesting and meaningful.

 

This week, we wrap up our conversation around the Emergent Church movement with a look at Biblical and Ecclesial authority in the Emergent Church. What will the cultural changes mean for Biblical studies, for professional Pastors, for Judicatories, for Denominationalism? How might the church shape itself to return to a point of cultural relevancy and social import?

 

The bottom line of this week's discussion will rest on the notion that the developing culture rejects all institutional authority. Politicians, preachers, teachers and elders are no longer granted authority on the basis of position or experience. Denominations and Judicatories are not held in high regard. Elected officials are, simply by virtue of being part of a corrupt system, particularly distrusted. Teachers and elders are believed solely on the basis of the utility, reasonable status and both internal and external cooperation with what persons have come to know.

 

The Emergent Church Movement recognizes that persons of the developing culture refuse to park their intellect and knowledge at the front door of its religious institutions. If religion counters what we know of the world, if it denies scientific and practical knowledge, then religion is not to be believed. If it fails to improve the quality of personal and communal life, then it has no purpose and no meaning. It is seen as manipulative and coercive, "the opiate of the peoples."

 

Come and join us for this most meaningful conversation. We meet at Boston's Bistro and Pub, located at the corner of North Main and Westbrook Road in north Dayton/Harrison Township. We meet from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. in the Dog House.

 

Remember, too, that the new curriculum for Bible @ Boston's begins on May 8. We will utilize the material that I taught at The University of Dayton's Life Long Learning Institute's Class, "You Believe...What?" We will examine the theological diversity of the New Testament as a means of understanding contemporary theological diversity. Plan now to be with us each Wednesday.

 

See You Then!    

Boston

There are no adequate words to express appropriate outrage, fear and sorrow that result from the attack on yesterday's Boston Marathon. Many of us have friends who have run in it, were running in it, or were scheduled to run in that race. It is difficult for us to imagine what it must have been like to be so victimized.

 

There is no word yet on responsibility for the bombing.

 

A friend and colleague asked this morning, "Why is there so much hate?" I can answer that question. There is so much hate because there is so little love. Human beings can put an end to hatred by practicing acceptance, tolerance and love. This process entails more than simply believing in acceptance, tolerance and love. We must, as persons, organizations, churches and nations embody love in direct and intentional acts of kindness, generosity, mercy and forgiveness.

 

Why is there so much violence? Because there is so little peace. Somewhere, at some point, the culture in which we live turned a corner around which resides a tremendous lack of respect, a deeply abiding selfishness, and a disregard for the wellbeing of others. Peace is impossible if it is not derived from an authentic desire for the wellbeing of others.

 

If there is any calling in the tragedy of Boston, April 15, 2013, it is to exercise a sense of urgency in changing the world. The methodology for achieving that new world is the direct action of men, women and children to embody love, acceptance, tolerance, peace, grace and forgiveness. It is an intentional turn from the divisive vitriol of the political and economic realm. It is stemming the tide of selfishness, greed, disregard, intolerance, bigotry, and isolationism.  

 

If we fail, we can anticipate more Bostons, another Oklahoma City, another Atlanta, another London, until we reach the point of destroying ourselves for the sake of political positioning. If we fail to do that to which we are called, the world suffers.

 

If, however, we can embody the ethic of Jesus Christ, that which lies as a common core of all of the world's religions, then we can indeed usher in a new age. We can live in love. We can live in peace. We can live in God's kingdom on earth.

 

It is time. Boston is clear evidence.  

A Body in John

Shiloh tends to structure its worship around the texts that are suggested by the Revised Common Lectionary. That Lectionary recommends four texts (an Old testament text, a Psalm, and Epistle and the Gospel reading) for each Sunday of the Liturgical Church Year, in a three-year cycle. That three-year cycles is shaped according to the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). Instead of locating some fancy theological title for each of those three years, we refer to the years as "Year A," following Matthew, "Year B," following Mark and "Year C," using Luke's Gospel. There is not yet a "Year D," shaping itself around the Gospel According to John. Therefore, readings from John tend to be interspersed throughout the three-year pattern.

So it is with the weeks of Easter, 2013. While we are in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary, reading from the Gospel According to Luke, we are reading in these weeks from the Gospel According to John. Last week, we read of doubting Thomas, who was challenged to believe without having seen the resurrected Lord. Thomas' practicality and/or cynicism renders him unable to believe without having seen for himself the hands and side of the bodily resurrected Jesus. Jesus appears again. Thomas sees and believes. But, as the Gospel story makes clear, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."

This week, we read about Jesus' third post-resurrection visit with his disciples. They are fishing, but catching nothing. The disciples/apostles come ashore in the morning and find Jesus there. He knows that their expedition has been fruitless. He instructs them to cast their nets one last time. The resulting catch is so large that the nets can barely hold it without breaking. The disciples/apostles drag the catch ashore and find Jesus making breakfast for them. He cooks some of the fish from the vast catch and shares a meal with his followers.

I find the themes of John's resurrection narrative interesting. Why would a text that is based on demonstrating Jesus as a spiritual reality that has become incarnate, a physical reality, so adamant about drawing the resurrection of Jesus as a physical event? Why was "Doubting Thomas" invited to touch Jesus' hands and side? Why does Jesus eat bread and fish with his followers? Why is Jesus' resurrection in John a physical reality instead of a spiritual one?

The answer may be as simple as claiming that John's author was interested in answering the gnostic charges of docetism. Docetism was the early church heresy of believing that Jesus was something of a phantasm, never actually a human being but always a spiritual instead of a physical reality. John's fascination with the post-resurrection physicality of Jesus may be a response to the early second century skepticism that surrounds Jesus' resurrection. John may be attempting to add something to the post-resurrection experience of Jesus' followers that he finds lacking in the synoptics. 

Whatever the case, serious students of the Revised Common Lectionary have to wonder at this Easter series of readings. What are we to do with them? Are we simply to "believe without having seen?" Are we to see Jesus around the open-air meal of fish and bread? Does he come while we are fishing? 

Let the curiosity bring you to worship in these very interesting weeks of Easter. Resurrection is clearly the theme, but is new life a physical or spiritual reality? Are we transformed at Easter? Is that transformation physical or spiritual, or both? Come and experience for yourselves the continuing Easter celebration at Shiloh Church.

See you Sunday! 

April @ Shiloh

One would think that, since Easter took place on the last day of March, April might be a slower month around Shiloh Church. One might anticipate some down time. While that may be the case with some churches, it is certainly not the case at Shiloh.

 

Some physical changes are taking place this month. Many of you have noticed the removal of the huge sign that had been located in the circle drive yard. It has not been stolen and sold for scrap. Instead, that sign has been removed, and given to another local church, in order to make room for two other changes in Shiloh's signage. On the point, a new programmable electronic sign is scheduled to be installed at some time this month. In order to accommodate that new sign, it is necessary that we remove the banner system that we had been using for communicating to our neighbors and the community upcoming public events. That 20' banner system will now be placed in the circle drive yard, in place of the old sign. This change allows Shiloh Church a great deal more flexibility in its communication with the neighborhood and a sign that something is happening here. Remember, too, that a volunteer painting day will take place on April 20.

 

A significant amount of mission takes place in April. On the 13th and 27th, Shiloh will be part of the national Rebuilding Together program. Our designated home is in Shiloh's extended neighborhood and requires that we hold two work days. For more information, contact members of the Mission and Social Concerns Committee. Shiloh is also collecting hygiene products throughout the month to help support the mission of the St. Vincent shelter. Both mission efforts will serve persons in our community, even as Shiloh continues planning for a June trip to the east coast, for Sandy relief efforts. You can still sign up for that trip by talking with Sue Cox.

 

Educational ministries step up in April. Since we completed our two-year chronological walk through the books of the Bible at Bible @ Boston's in February, the program has been on a short hiatus. A new eight-week curriculum, based on my class at University of Dayton, called "You Believe...What?" will start on Wednesday, may 8. In April, we will gather at Boston's each Wednesday to discuss planned topics. (You can see the topics for weekly discussion on Shiloh's website: www.shiloh.org. The information is in the online connection, within the Pastor's article. Shiloh will continue to hold its regular Tuesday Bible studies, at 7:00 p.m., and its regular Thursday Bible study at 10:00 a.m. There is an informational meeting on Monday, April 15, 7:00 p.m., for those who may be interested in attending another installment of the Shiloh Confirmation program. Confirmation at Shiloh is open to anyone over the eighth grade level and adults.Come and learn about the program.

 

Regular Sunday worship is still provided at 8:30, 10:25, and 7:00 p.m. each Sunday. The 8:30 service is for those who prefer a quiet time of reflection, prayer and meditation around the themes of the weekly texts. The 10:25 service is for those who prefer a slightly more traditional liturgical form of worship, while Shiloh's 7:00 p.m. service is for those who prefer a more praise-oriented, contemporary style. Come and be with us. Whatever form of worship you prefer, Shiloh's aim is to provide an authentic and meaningful worship experience.

 

See You Sunday!

Divine Plan

I have always found it personally irritating and professionally troubling that persons in the church seem to be so enamored with the notion that all things happen as a part of God's divine plan for each of us. Facebook is filled with daily posts that decry the troubling aspects of life as some passing occurrence, as "God's will." If we believe in and trust God, the posts seem to suggest, then we will tolerate the turmoil and chaos of life as part of that plan. If bad things happen...God's plan. If good things happen...God's plan. People of faith have only to live out their lives as part of God's plan.

 

Now, I have read Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Faith. I find the concepts challenging and internally cohesive, yet flawed by the notion of a personal God, like a human. This deity "decides" who is cursed and blessed, who is fated for eternal salvation and who is doomed. The Reformed Church movement still holds to some of these basic notions, but I find the idea of a God who arbitrarily decides the fate of human salvation troubling at best.

 

Firstly, believing that salvation is fated limits the possibility of God's Holy Spirit being at work in each and every one of us. Secondly, the concept allows persons who are fortunate to believe that their advantages are of divine origin. The corollary, of course, is that those who are unfortunate also find themselves suffering at God's will. It is God's will, therefore, that some suffer while others take advantage. In the system that upholds a divine plan as the course of human events, the fortunate should be fortunate, by divine will,  and the unfortunate should be left unfortunate. Human beings should morally do nothing about the situation because "it is God's will." Moreover, human beings can do nothing about configurations of what might be construed as God's will because God is more powerful than humans.

 

I am aware that most who simply post Facebook phrases and pictures do not tend to think through the extended theological ramifications of a "divine plan." I am just concerned that it seems to large a part of our cultural and theological mantra. The mantra can be especially troubling when it is meant as comfort. I have heard it twice recently. The first occasion was the death of a person that I know in the community. A person passed at the visitation that preceded the memorial service. A well-intentioned person said, "I know it's hard, name-of-person, but it is all part of God's plan. You will see your husband again." The other was an on-line discussion of social equality. The person with whom I was discussing the need for social justice had just called me a "socialist," and added, "Did you ever think that the way things are is part of God's plan?"

 

Ummmm, no, I certainly have not. Nor will I. Ever.

 

So, what do you think? Is there a "divine plan," and does it mean that human will is negligible at best and meaningless in reality?