Keystone Discussion

On June 8, starting at around 5:00 p.m., the Keystone Club of Shiloh Church will gather for a sessions that had been planned originally for February. That session was postponed due to inclement weather. The purpose for the session remains, however. What is Keystone? What does it do? What is its purpose within the life of the Church? Answers to these questions lie at the core of the present and future direction of the organization, and will, hopefully, formulate for us a whole new way of approaching the activities of the Keystone Club.

I conduct self-studies with quite a range of church-related organizations, some local but many regional or around the country. A careful self-study begins with statements of identity and purpose. Some organizations find such statements next to impossible to make. Most find them difficult. What is the purpose of this organization? How does what the group does reflect its stated purpose? What might we stop doing that lies in opposition to the purpose? What else might we do in cooperation with the stated purpose? How might organizations amend procedures and behaviors to better reflect the purpose for which the organization exists in the first place?

It is sometimes dangerous to ask. Since I work primarily, though not exclusively, with church groups, the first questions that I find myself asking have to do with the ministry and mission of Christ Jesus. How does the stated purpose reflect the ministry and mission of Christ Jesus? Does Christ's ministry and mission determine what this organization does, or is it outside of Christ's scope of interest? If the core purpose reflects Christ's ministry and mission, what can we improve upon? What can we create? What do we dare to stop doing?

The June 8 conversation with Shiloh's Keystone Club is a conversation that I sincerely hope that every group within the life of Shiloh Church would dare to conduct. What is the organization's core purpose? How does it reflect the mission and ministry of Christ Jesus? What can groups do to better conduct themselves according to the stated core purposes? What could they do to better reflect the stated purpose and core values? What can groups stop doing in opposition to that purpose and those values? Can groups amend actions and behaviors to better reflect the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ?

There is no perfect church group. Nor is there any one ideal way of doing things. It is my sincere belief that church groups function best when they have a guiding stated purpose, directly reflecting the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ, and when those groups continually work at better reflecting the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ.

Keystone invites everyone into their conversation, if not as Keystone participants, then as participants in other church groups who may benefit from the process. We will gather for a pot luck meal at 5:00 and the discussion at 6:00 p.m. Cost is $4.00 per person for the meal. Join us!

Memorial Day Recognition

Shiloh Church honors those whose lives were sacrificed in service to our Country and who died in order to protect the freedoms that we enjoy today. A special recognition will take place this coming Sunday, May 25, during the congregation's 10:25 a.m. worship service. As always, the public is welcome to join us.

The service will once again feature the presentation of service colors, accompanied by the musical theme for each branch of the American military. Those who have served are invited to stand as their service flag is presented and as their service theme is played. Then the flags of America are presented and placed by the Antioch Shrine Legion of Honor. During the presentation, we are hoping to welcome for the first time the Legion's pipers. After the congregation has risen for the presentation of the flags, and after the flags have been placed, we will honor our Country with the singing of The National Anthem.

After the anthem is sung, leaders from the Legion of Honor will place a memorial wreath, honoring those whose lives were sacrificed in the course of their military service. Participants in the service will want to pick up copies of the names of the congregation's relatives and friends who have served in the military, whether past or present. Shiloh honors them for their service.

At he end of the service, the Legion of Honor will retire the colors. We hope then to share the haunting sound of pipers playing Amazing Grace as we exit.

We sincerely hope that everyone puts such a recognition in its proper perspective. Shiloh does not condone war and genuinely hopes that not another life is lost in protection of America's freedoms. We are confident that people share that hope. Lives have been lost, however. The blood of men and women has been shed in faithful service. Our children have been sacrificed.

Shiloh acknowledges the loss and honors the memory of those who have died. Many have died in sincere hope of spreading the blessings that we so often take for granted. Therefore, our recognition is twofold. Firstly, we remember that the lives that we enjoy have come at an extreme cost. Secondly, we pray that the world may so change that not another drop of blood is spilled.

Join us in recognizing our loss and in praying that no one in the future suffers as we have in the past. May our actions today and tomorrow lead to peace and harmony throughout the world.  

From "Cared For" to "Caregiver"

A regular feature of Shiloh's 7:00 p.m. alternative/contemporary worship experience is the opportunity to discuss the evening's message. As part of the service, a member of the worship team, usually Justin Sierschula, leads the discussion.

This past week's message centered on the notion that each of us desires to be considered sheep, who are cared for, tended and protected. We rely upon the shepherd to take care of us, to feed us, to guide us, to protect us from the evils of the world. Sometimes, we get stuck there, demanding that God tend to our personal and family needs, that God fix all the wrongs of the world, that Christ save me, comfort me, be beside me.

At what point do we see ourselves as those who are equipped, empowered, enabled and called to shepherd others? At what point do those who have been so thoroughly cared for become the caregivers, the caretakers, the protectors, guides and inspiration to others? When does Christianity become our vocation instead of our safety net?

Justin asked the question during our discussion. "So which are we? Are we sheep or are we shepherds?" he asked.

Which are we?

A member of the worship team probably expressed what each of us was thinking, but for which we could not find appropriate words. "We are both." he said. "We are sheep to the One but must find ways to shepherd for the One."

I continue to find the response a brilliant statement of the Christian vocation. Because we are the sheep of the One, because we follow Christ, a crucified and risen savior who sacrificed himself for all people, throughout space and time, we are called to shepherd. We are called to care for, protect, help guide and inspire the flock. We can no longer simply be cared for. We must be intimately involved in the process of caring, serving, ministering and providing.

Those who follow Jesus Christ do so most faithfully, it seems to me, when we follow the Good Shepherd in paths of sacrificial service that benefits those around us who are in need. We are called to demonstrate the grace of God in Christ. We are called to live mercy, peace, forgiveness, kindness, generosity and love. The Good Shepherd guides us into such paths of service and ministry. To follow him means to pick up his cross and join in the heavy lifting of universal salvation.

Indeed. We are both sheep and shepherds. We are both cared for and caregivers. We are the faithful community of Jesus Christ. Of course we minister and serve in his name. Join us!

Are There Not Other Issues?

For the first time since he was a child actor, I find myself agreeing, at least on the surface of the issue, with Kirk Cameron. Over the weekend, Mr. Cameron, now a Christian conservative advocate, expressed disappointment with churches that focus mainly on issues of same-gender relationships. He explained that the attention of the church might be better spent on issues that genuinely support relationships, that lift up good and healthy relationships, and that shift the focus away from judgment of a segment of the relationship spectrum to providing for resources and support that is universal.

I admittedly softened the language here. Mr. Cameron actually stated that the church should be more concerned with issues of divorce and perversion than with same-gender relationships. He believes that those who practice poor relationship damage the faith. The church should attend to them.

While I agree that hyperbole around same-gender relationships has reached its crescendo, and that there are more pressing relationship issues in which the church might better involve itself, I also do not wish to condemn persons who are divorced or who practice poor relationship behaviors. Mr. Cameron fails to take into account the fact that each of us is a product of our upbringing, our social environment and the choices that we have made.

The church might better expend its energy and place its focus on supporting good relationships in and through religious institutions. This is more universal than issues of same-gender marriage or the astronomical divorce rate. I would argue, in fact, that the religious right rails against both of these from a stance of poor relationship.

The church can work at building relationships that include mutual and universal respect. It can work at creating and providing resources that build the honor, respect and integrity of all persons, even those who differ in form and practice from us. I argue that such resource and attention would both lower divorce rates and allow us to embrace same-gender relationships. Such attention and focus would allow the church to regain its position as a positive source of communal life. It may reclaim its position as an important and relevant component of post-modern culture.

While I agree in essence with Mr. Cameron's position, I cannot agree that we should use criticism or judgment as a tool for "fixing" destructive behavior. All that accomplishes is alienation and rejection. The church must instead become again a force for positive regard for all persons. It must spend its time and attention on uplifting, building, shaping new and mutually loving relationships. One cannot reject, criticize and reject when one is practicing the love of Christ. So, while you are on the right track, Mr. Cameron, you fall back into models of Christian behavior and belief that no longer work.\

Shiloh is a place where we work for justice and equality for all people. This congregation seeks to be a resource for positive relationship formation. And, of course, everyone is welcome here.

"Living the Benediction"

I was especially inspired by a component of this past weekend's spring meeting of the Southwest Ohio Northern Kentucky Association. Of course, it helped that Shiloh's own Jay McMillen serves as Association chair of the team that developed this particular part of spring meeting. The Church Development Team, that group which Jay chairs, offered a panel discussion entitled "Living the Benediction."

"Living the Benediction" was a presentation of new revitalizing initiatives from three of SONKA's congregation. Philippus UCC in Cincinnati, shared its new ministry of facility utilization that opens the congregation as a resource in its troubled community. Truth and Destiny shared its new ministry to transgender persons and communities, providing a safe and loving environment for shared ministry, service and support. First UCC, Cincinnati, shared its ministry of housing homeless families through a weekend once per month.

Each story was remarkable. One was told from the perspective of what was, for all intents and purposes, a dying congregation. Another was told by a new congregation. The third demonstrated a focus that had begun in the congregation somewhere around fifteen years earlier. In each case, the congregations have been enlivened and re-energized. Their niche ministries have breathed new life into their church and communities.

While I found each of the stories meaningful and exciting, what I most appreciated about the presentation was the basic notion of "Living the Benediction." What does it mean for our congregations to live the benediction? By the way, what is a benediction?

In good liturgical design, there are five essential parts of worship:
                    We Gather (But we gather in the old life of community and family and vocation)
                    We Die to the Old Life (We give up the old ways, emptying ourselves)
                    We Receive New Life (The void in us is filled with God's Word)
                    We Accept the New Life (We embrace God's Word as course for new life)
                    We Go Out and Serve in the New Life (We complete God's praise in ministry and service)

Part of that final act of liturgical worship is the "Benediction." In Shiloh's liturgical design, we call it "The Blessing." It is the promise that, as we go forth in ministry and service, God's spirit goes with us, strengthening us and guiding us in paths of faithful service.It is the notion that the congregation goes out to intentionally live out God's Word, God's will, forming God's reign and claiming God's realm.

To live out the benediction means to intentionally act to embody God's Word and will in acts and words that reflect that new life. Congregations like Philippus, First UCC and Truth and Destiny have surely embraced the new life and found ways to live the benediction. What an inspirational approach to telling the good news of what is taking place throughout SONKA! Thanks to the Association's Church Development Team and a great big way to go to our own Jay McMillen!

Now, how is Shiloh "Living the Benediction?" How might this congregation do more to intentionally embrace the new life of Christ?


  

Easter Hangover

I have an Easter hangover. Unlike the other, unpleasant kind of day-after payback that we suffer for over-indulging, this hangover is distinctly joyous.

This past week was, of course, Holy Week. It ended with a service of Tenebrae, where Jesus lay, dead in the tomb, and the new week started with the startling good news of his Resurrection. Life conquers death. The heavenly virtues of kindness, generosity, forgiveness, grace and mercy are demonstrated to be more powerful that those of human, physical, material contrivance.

The crowd Sunday was tremendous, both large and energetic. There was an infectious vibrancy in the air. The Spirit was surely moving at Shiloh Church. I suppose that any person who attended service here felt exactly that of which I write. It was electric.

I write on the Monday after Easter, sitting in my relatively quiet office, feeling both the sense of excitement from yesterday and the need to return to the mundane tasks of the church after Easter. Worship must be written, Bible studies need to be planned, staff needs to be organized, this coming Sunday's three message need  to be built, phones need to be answered and multiple questions need to be addressed.

There remains something in the air, however. There is a vibration, just out of reach of the senses. Even in the course of the mundane, weekly effort of church work, the spirit continues to enliven the multiple settings of ministry and mission. It moves. It infuses. It flows.

Today, the feeling is palpable. It is overt, obvious. Hopefully, the vibrancy of that Easter spirit continues to move in and through even the mundane work to which we are called. Maybe it can show in the smallest of acts, in the humblest ministries, in the most hidden missions, and shine with a light so bright that it overcomes the darkness that sometimes settles around us.

Do you feel it? Is it moving in and through you as well? I sincerely hope that your Easter hangover is as pleasing and powerful as mine is today, and I hope that it shows in every word that your speak and in every act that you take. Let the world see that life has overcome death, even in us.

What is Worship?

I was asked on Sunday a very interesting question. It arose in the midst of Shiloh's April Church Council meeting ( for those not steeped in UCC-speak, a Council is a congregation's governing board, usually meeting monthly to conduct the business of the church). A few members of the congregation posted the question through representatives to Shiloh's Council.

The question is this: "What is worship?"

While I was asked only second-handedly, I want to take this week's post to The Shiloh Insider to attempt an answer. What is worship? It occurs to me that worship, like ministry, evangelism and stewardship, is an intentional act of the praise of God.

Worship is the intentional praise of God. It is a verb. It is an act. It is work. More concretely, worship is the intentional praise of God that requires the gathered community to work, act and do. We can draw this type of worship, using an image from the theater:

In passive forms of worship, the characters of the theater of worship look like this:
                               The Pastor is the actor. She or he does worship.
                               God is the director, who sets what is to be done and how.
                               The congregation is the audience to and recipient of worship.

In an active form of worship, the characters of the theater of worship look like this:
                               The Pastor is the director, ensuring opportunities for praise in the how and what.
                               The congregation is the cast of actors, doing the work of worship.
                               God is audience to and recipient of worship.

Worship is intentional, active praise of God.

That definition leaves us wanting, however. How do we praise God? Are there not as many approaches to corporate acts of praise as there are persons in the community? Is praise objective or subjective? Is it an established set of rituals, behaviors and practices, or is the process of praise more intuitive, inductive, creative?

Shiloh attempts to address three distinct styles of the intentional praise of God in its worship life. One of our services meets the needs of those persons and times when persons might prefer a more quiet, uncomplicated opportunity for reflection around and application of God's Word. Another of Shiloh's worship opportunities offers a more traditional weekly experience of the Crucifixion and Resurrection from liturgical structure, seeing that some persons engage in acts of praise within the context of tried and true formulas of relative orthodoxy. Another of Shiloh's services offers an opportunity to praise God in overt, often loud and messy, celebration of God's love and grace.

Shiloh offers three varying weekly opportunities for intentional acts of praise in worship. The 8:30 service offers acts of praise that are introspective, quiet and uncomplicated (which is not to say "easy"). The 10:25 service offers a liturgical experience of Crucifixion and Resurrection, though less formally so than in decades past, for those who prefer a sense of order and orthodoxy. The 7:00 p.m. service is celebratory and is for those who desire praise to be boisterous, fun, uplifting and energizing.

Each worship type offers the opportunity for persons to engage in the work of praise, though the form of that work and praise differs. Each is worship. Each is praise. Each is faithful. Therefore, worship does not always take the same form or meet the same needs, it is not always a set formula of beliefs, statements, behaviors or responses. While expectations of persons may sometimes fall into such solid formulations, worship includes all of these, and more.

Worship is an intentional act of praise, in which Shiloh engages faithfully. I hope that you will join us regularly, or perhaps for the first time this Easter Sunday!  

A Kind Word

I ran a completely unscientific and unexpected experiment this morning that demonstrates the fact that we do not say kind things to people nearly often enough.

First, let me be clear about the intent here. The attempt at making someone's day just a bit better did not begin as an experiment of any kind. Sometime during sleep last night, I decided to message a group of my Facebook friends to let them know that I appreciate them. The selections were completely random. Whoever was on within a designated time received a message from me. To women, the message read, "Want you to know that you are beautiful, inside and out." To the men, it read, "You are a good persons and I am glad to know you."

Fifty such messages were posted, as private messages, in Facebook Messenger.

I received forty-seven responses. The majority of those return messages wondered what had spurred such a comment. Was I sick or dying? Had something happened? What did I know and what is going on? I should admit, I suppose, that it is a fairly rare occurrence for me to make such comment without context or without invitation of some kind. After all, doing so may be considered, at least in my 20-something daughter's parlance, as "creepy."

You are beautiful, inside and out.

You are a good person and I am glad to know you.

Forty-seven discussions followed. Some of these people I have had no discussion with in at least several weeks. Some have not heard from me in a year or so. I do not remember ever having had a discussion with one of those to whom I sent a message.

The universal comment was more than simply "thanks." It was, "I really needed that today (or right now)." Every single person from whom I heard in return said that the brief comment had made a difference in how they will approach their day and how they might be willing to say kind things to others.

It took exactly three minutes to send out fifty Messenger messages. It has taken two hours to field the responses and engage in conversations. I am confident that taking that time will ripple through the vast communities of those to whom I addressed the initial message.

I think that I will try this again tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe saying nice things to people can affect attitudes and moods to the point where others will take up the cause of saying kind things to one another. Maybe we have been working too hard at bringing God's kingdom. Maybe all it takes is a kind word.

Join me?

A Light in the Darkness

It seems sometimes that everything is closing in around us, like everything is falling apart, like there is simply no hope for things to improve.

Shiloh has been under a cloud for the first several months of 2014. The weather has been awful. It has kept many away, both from worship and from activities in the life of the church. When people do not come, everything in the life of the congregation suffers, from morale to money.

As always, Shiloh has been a very busy place, where we work tirelessly to "Live the Word by Serving the World." The February concentration on Black History Month was meaningful and energizing, as was the celebration on March 2-3. Bible @ Boston's has been going strongly enough, especially through that celebration and into Lent. Weekly Bible studies are sparsely attended but very meaningful for those who have been attending. The dedication concert for Shiloh's organ console was well attended and a tremendous success, despite the fact that the antiphonal, which worked just that morning, ceased to function.

The staff has been decimated by illness and injury. One member of the staff has had knee replacement surgery and is not yet back to the office. Another faces triple bypass surgery later this week, and faces at least eight weeks off of work. A third has just been hospitalized with pneumonia. A fourth has been affected by flu-like symptoms, and has missed some activities. A fifth staff member is on vacation this week, while the rest of us are walking and driving very carefully. We simply can't afford another staff member off work and maintain anything like the level of activity to which Shiloh has become accustomed.

It has felt recently as though, like Milne's Eeyore, a dark cloud has settled over us. We do excellent ministry, but it seems more and more difficult to accomplish the things that we had, in the past, taken for granted.

Perhaps it is appropriate at this point in the season of Lent to feel the oppression of the surrounding darkness. Maybe it is right for us to feel a sense of dark depression, to recognize the impending doom of both Jesus' Crucifixion and our own faithful response. It may be the case that we are unable to genuinely experience the light of Resurrection without first passing through the darkness of death.

As we heard during Shiloh's Black History Month celebration, maybe these are times that we can but "watch and pray," waiting for the light of new life to break into the gathering gloom. Pray for Ken and Sid and Martha and Aaron. Pray for one another, as we take this journey together.

Watch and pray!  

The Power of Gethsemane

In preparation for Shiloh's Bible @ Boston's series, I am comparing the Gospel Crucifixion narratives, beginning with the Passover meal and Jesus' establishment of a new religious ritual. Several events occur during that fateful meal that portend the danger that is to come for Jesus and his followers. After the meal, the troupe heads out together for the Garden of Gethsemane. It is what happens there that speaks loudest to me this Lenten season of Jesus' profound faith and willingness to pursue God's will, at all costs.

After the meal, the disciples sing a hymn with Jesus and go out to the Mount of Olives, to a garden there, as was Jesus' custom, according to Luke's account. At Gethsemane, Jesus asks his disciples to wait and to watch. He takes with him Peter and James and John, and they depart from the others. Jesus encourages his closest disciples to pray, "that they might not enter into temptation." Jesus removes himself a short distance and prays.

He prays something like this: Father, if it is possible, I pray that you remove this cup from me. Let this hour pass. Yet, let not just what I will to be done. But let what you will be done.

Years ago, I read a great, insightful novel about the plight that Jesus, and we, face. It was entitled "The Last Temptation of Christ," by Nikos Kazantzakis. In the final moments of the narrative, Jesus hangs, in agony, on the Cross. He whispers the pathos of the moment, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" In the moment that follows, Kazantzakis writes Jesus envisioning a life that might have been, a life that could have been, a life of human contentment and practical pleasures. At the same time, Jesus realizes that his act of sacrifice is not being accomplished for himself, but for the benefit of every person who has, does and will live. It is about them. It is not about Jesus. In the next instant, Jesus sees the wonderful value of his ministry and gives voice to his acceptance of that mission by stating, "It is finished." Jesus breathes his last and dies.

No one, it seems to me, desires suffering and death. If a person exhibits any form of sanity, his or her first impulse is to remain alive and well. In his Gethsemane prayer, Jesus articulates for faithful people throughout time the mantra of sacrificial ministry. "Please, Lord, do not ask me to do this. It's very painful. Yet, if it be your will, then I will do as you ask."

Can we feel the depth of Jesus' struggle? Do we simply write off his suffering as being somehow covered up in his divinity? Do we ignore the pain and the emptiness of Jesus' calling because we call him The Son of Man?

It is sad, I think, that we do. For, if we were to feel Jesus' struggle, we might much better be able to understand our calling. See now, the point of Lent is not just Jesus. It is not just about his journey to the sacrifice of the Cross. It is also about ours. It is about human tendency to turn away from the sacrifice, to a life of human need and desire, to human benefits and practical applications, to longevity and selfishness. Lent encompasses each and every calling, highlighting for each the cost of discipleship and apostleship.

Lent is a spiritual discipline, to pray in order that we not enter into the temptation that lies between "Why have you forsaken me" and "It is finished." Three times there in the garden, Jesus returns to his disciples, only to find them sleeping. "Could you not remain awake for even one hour?" he asks them. "Nevertheless, rise, my betrayer is at hand." He says. "So the Son of Man is placed into the hands of sinners."

We weep for the arrested Jesus because we feel our own faithfulness being tested. The disciples, we are told, scattered, like sheep whose shepherd is struck. They would not enter into Jesus' suffering and death. They remained safe and secure, though frightened. We stand, with them, on the periphery of Jesus' sacrificial ministry. We stand, isolated from our own.

Lord, even if it costs us everything, do your will in us and through us.

See you at Bible @ Boston's, each Wednesday in Lent, 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Boston's Bistro and Pub.  

Money in the Church

One might suspect that the chief issues of division in the modern Christian Church are equal marriage rights, ordination or acceptance of homosexuals, social service ministries, or a lack thereof, abortion, contraception, lyrics in popular music, or the evolution/creation debate. While each may have its claim on the spotlight, I firmly hold that it is none of these. I think that there are two, twin issues that divide the present Church of Jesus Christ. They are: Money and its use and  control.

Money divides us into haves and have-nots. It divides us by gender, by social strata, by economic power, by position and advantage, by age, by those who belong and those who remain on the outside, forever looking in. In the Church, money, and control over it, is a destructive and divisive matter of justice, equality and faithful stewardship.

Most congregations struggle with money these days. The great majority of those communities of faith claim that, since aggregate contributions have declined in direct proportion to the decades-long decline in membership and participation, dollars have become rarer and less available for the funding of ministries. As dollars have diminished, so have church staffs, church ministries, functional judicatories, support of denominations, benevolences, hands-on ministries and missions, and impact on communities and neighborhoods. Congregations have tended to close in on themselves financially, saving whatever money might me available for the inevitable "rainy day."

Ministry in and through congregations has diminished with the decreasing availability of dollars. Dollars have become rarer, in direct proportion to the decline in population. Money, and control of its use in congregations, has become a powerful means of division, argument, conflict and narrow-mindedness. Most churches have been affected. Some have fallen apart because of the tension. Many have argued over conflicting points of view.

What is the poor Church to do?

One cannot deny the patterns of the past fifty years. If those patterns continue, congregations will continue to shrink. Fewer and fewer people will be coming and participating. Fewer and fewer dollars will be available to fund the mission and ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church will become more and more irrelevant to and within culture.

As is nearly always the case, however, it is precisely where the greatest challenge is found that the Church finds the greatest potential and promise for change. If the Church of Jesus Christ is to stem the tide of social irrelevance, if it is to reverse the trend of shrinking dollars, diminishing membership and participation, disappearing ministries and missions, then it has got to begin by changing its mind about the use and control of money.

Money will not guarantee continuation of the Church of Jesus Christ. Endowments will not promise longevity. They may simply delay the inevitable. Unless, that is, if congregations invest dollars differently. Until a time when churches see the  funds entrusted to them as God's call to expanded ministries and missions, until churches use whatever dollars may be available for community and neighborhood ministries and missions, until churches risk, become vulnerable, dare to lay out their last cents, the tide of decline will continue to roll.

When churches learn the challenging lessons of excellence in stewardship, when they unlearn the worldly tendency of fear and worry, then the Church begins to invest in God's calling, in God's ministry, in God's ongoing mission.

Money, then, is both the church's greatest challenge today and its most promising potential. If the church is to work its way through decline and disappearance, then it is going to have to invest its dollars in a different way of being the Church of Jesus Christ. If organizational longevity and continuation remain the goal of the use and control of congregational monies, churches will continue to decline and disappear. The risk is amazingly difficult in congregations. The call to faithful stewardship is challenging. Upon that risky call, however, rests the very future of the Church of Jesus Christ.      

Spiritual Evolution

I stand by the notion that cultural evolution spawns spiritual, if not necessarily religious, evolution. Readers will discern immediately that I am identifying a disconnect between a spiritual evolution and that which takes place in the religious institutions of a given epoch. Events like the Great Schism and the Great Reformation take place in an atmosphere of significant cultural upheaval, and give rise to amazing spiritual changes. These spiritual changes eventually lead to religious transformation.

The crucial point here may well be that I consider the seismic advances of culture to be evolutionary. More concretely put, I believe that the Church of Jesus Christ finds itself today in the midst of just such a seismic culture shift, characterized, as usual, in new forms of communication, new definitions of personhood, and new paths of religious faithfulness. The cultural shift is already well advanced, having begun at some point in the mid- to late-1960's. The spiritual shift, that which might define the communal ethos or communally shared values, is also well advanced. It is characterized by acceptance of diversity, importance of persons over systems, demands for equality and justice, and invites institutions that create, maintain and protect these virtues.

The Church has, throughout the process of religious evolution, dragged its feet. More honestly phrased, some factions within the Church have sought to pull culture back from the precipice of evolutionary change to a perceived "safer" time, a mythical idyllic age, when people knew their proper place in society and Church and would never dare push for personal or individual rights that are foundational to systemic life. Some religious institutions have simply wanted people to "get back into line," each in his or her "proper place." This tendency is easier for us to perceive in the lives of others, especially the right wing, Taliban-like movements in the Middle East and beyond. But the hesitance can be perceived in our own religious institutions.

Let me go a step further.

I find cultural, spiritual and religious evolution to be a good thing. As steeped as I am in the way that the church used to be, I am even more excited about the possibilities of what the Church of Jesus Christ might become. If we are able to move from control mechanism and ritually based piety, perhaps the Church can be an instrument for peace and reconciliation, for individual and group rights, for personal development and inspirational spiritual calling. I think that this is the work to which Christ calls us.

I am thankful for a culture that has led us here. I am grateful for a new spiritual environment, which requires different systemic and institutional responses. And I am hopeful that the Church of Jesus Christ will stop the attempt at pulling people back into ignorance and begin to function as Christ is now calling it to work.

Shiloh is a place where we continually work at religious and spiritual evolution, community and social relevancy, personal transformation and individual empowerment and calling. I hope that you are excited as I am about the future of this congregation and the evolving Church of Jesus Christ.  

Service to Others

I was developing a slide show presentation, which was to be used as part of Shiloh's Black History Month celebration, when I ran across a quotation from one of my favorite civil rights activists and scholars, Cornell West. He is quoted as saying, "The benchmark of greatness is finding love and joy in serving others."

Among others pictured in the slide show presentation were Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, Shirley Chisholm, Frederick Douglas, Andrew Young, Thurgood Marshall, Condoleezza Rice, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King, Jr, Coretta Scott King, and Barack Obama. It occurs to me that all one may need to know to verify the truth of Cornell West's words are the stories of those mentioned here. In every case, greatness has been determined by the love and joy that each found in service to others, even if that service was at great expense.

I happen to wholeheartedly believe that West's words are lived out in the heroes of every culture, whenever men and women stand in defense of those who are, as Bob Jones put it in his message at Shiloh this past week, "the sheep and the lambs." Whenever human beings, of whatever ethnicity, stand in defense of the victimized, the oppressed, the helpless and the hopeless, love and joy springs from such service. Even if that service renders one a "radical," leading to recrimination, of whatever kind, that person, and the entire human community, experiences love and joy.

So I say to those who are depressed, fatigued, put-upon, tired (and tired of it), find the love and joy of life in serving others.

It is a grand irony, I suppose, to discover that the best elixir for one's sorrows, real or imagined, is not serving one's self, not locating some new self-help strategy, not the next diet fad or the newest nutritional supplement. One best serves one's self by reaching out still further in service to others. Perhaps the magic of selflessness lies in forgetting one's sorrows in the exercise of removing sorrow from the lives of those around us. Perhaps we lift ourselves as enter into the sacrifice and cost of lifting others. Maybe it's as simply as feeling a deep sense of personal satisfaction in doing what we all know to be, a priori, right and good.

I want to thank all those who took part in Shiloh's celebration of Black History Month. I learned again the core lessons of life and faith. Whether those lessons came from the books I read throughout the month - and they did - or if they came through the personal effort of those who dedicated their time, energy and talent to making our celebration a tremendous success - and it has - I genuinely treasure the simple fact that we are all in this life together. We all find benefit in the witness of those who go out of their way to serve.

"The benchmark of greatness is finding love and joy in serving others." Shiloh is doing great ministry! Thanks for all your efforts.

 

Where is the Hypocrisy?

For several decades, I have stood as a conscious observer of the decline of what used to called the Mainline Church. I read all the books. I listened to all the complaints. I watched the conservative backlash to the culture's evolution, as some tried, in vain, to pull the culture back into the church's past. I have seen the fear of middle judicatory and denominational leaders, as they have wrestled with the real impact of fewer people and greatly diminishing financial support. I have talked with those who have been dissatisfied with churches, those who have become part of the ever-expanding church alumni association. I have listened to the Gen-Xers and their generational successors, and I have agreed with them, by and large, about the Church's hypocrisy.

For years, I had been told that the reason for the decline in churches in America - we lost more than 50% of our membership between the years of 1968 and 2010 - was that the culture had become painfully aware of a disconnect in the Church between what the Church was intended to be and what it had become.

The Church, I was repeatedly told, was intended to be a place that reflected the ministry and mission of its founder, Jesus Christ. It was to be a source of hope for the poor and disengaged, the rejected and the forlorn. It was to be succor for the suffering and aid for the struggling. Its ministry was to be directed to "the least of these." The Church was to be a place of sacrificial service, where ministers, evangelists and apostles are trained to go out, in humility, to reach out to those in need. It was to associate with the lepers of its age, the disenfranchised, the oppressed, the disheartened, the hopeless and the helpless.

I agreed with this assessment. The Church of Jesus Christ is called to engage with Christ in his work with all people, starting with the most needful.

The culture has called it hypocrisy that the Church had become a place of arrogant orthodoxy and rejection, limiting its services to those who are "right and good." The culture has called the Church an outmoded and irrelevant institution of religious selective blindness, one that refuses to see advances in science and cultural diversity. The Church was seen as an institution that stands over and against practical and social advances, against equality, justice and peace.

Again, I agreed with those who were quick to point out the Church's hypocrisy. It was not as intended. Through the ages, it had become a self-serving means to eternal salvation, a religious totem through which adherents had much to gain if they would just follow the rules and regulations. The Church of Jesus Christ had diminished, and was diminishing, because it had fled far from its intended purpose and value.

I used to agree with the mass of practical agnostics, who called the Church to accountability for the disconnect between its intended purpose and its reality.

I no longer agree with the charge of hypocrisy. Here is why. I serve a congregation, and know of others, whose entire ministry and mission is focused on meeting the needs of those who struggle and suffer. Many of our congregations are faithful to the intended purpose to which the church alumni association has called us and from which the functional agnostics have fled. I can claim with absolute certainty that there are congregations, like Shiloh Church, which are doing precisely that to which God has called them and for which God has empowered and equipped them.

The hypocrisy of the Church of Jesus Christ has diminished as we have narrowed the gap between intended purpose and practical reality. We are doing that to which we are called!

The hypocrisy now rests with those who have called the Church to make the changes necessary to narrowing the gap, but refuse to be a part of the service that makes the difference. The church alumni association and the practical agnostics can now take a fresh look at the congregations of which I am aware. They will see a new Church of Jesus Christ. The problem is that they refuse to look. They continue to stand apart and criticize. The hypocrisy is now theirs.  

Discriminatory Laws and Bigotry

I am embroiled in what many may consider to be the most dangerous and most interesting of online discussions. Actually, to be fair, I stuck my nose into a conversation between two boyhood friends, one of whom is active in the establishment and maintenance of universal civil rights and the other an elected official.
The arena is Indiana State politics. The topic is equal marriage rights for same-gender couples.

In the Indiana House, two recent bills have sparked considerable controversy. The first was a potential law that defined marriage exclusively, as being between one man and one woman. This supposed "Biblical Model" was supported by a minority of congressional representatives and failed. The second bill was an attempt to legalize an inclusive definition of marriage, one that codifies the marriage of same-gender couples. That bill also lacked majority support. It failed.

My political friend and my civil rights friend were on different sides of both the aisle and the fence. They promoted opposing views. (It is not perhaps incidental that one is gay and the other straight.) Frankly, I saw only one side of the argument being promoted through my social media account. My "friends" tended to discuss the issue from a single perspective.

Unfortunately, in the course of the discussion, those who opposed the inclusive definition of marriage, who voted for the initial bill and against the latter, were called "bigots." One of my old friends asked the other if all who oppose same-gender marriage rights are bigots. Is the word "bigot" a fair descriptor of all who stand for the traditional definition of marriage?

Again unfortunately, the answer was "yes." All who oppose an inclusive definition of marriage are practicing the same king of bigotry that America has seen in racial and gender civil rights movements. Opposition to equal rights for any segment of the society is bigotry. According to my office copy of Webster's Third New International Dictionary, bigotry is: "...obstinate and unreasoning attachment to one's own belief and opinions with intolerance of beliefs opposed to them or the behavior or beliefs ensuing from such a condition."

Is it bigotry to cling to traditional, exclusive definitions of marriage and marriage rights? Perhaps. But my issue here, and the reason that I stuck my nose into the discussion, is that it is not particularly helpful to call persons with opposing views any name, especially a pejorative one, like "bigot." I suggested, instead, that we might learn to understand the tendency to cling to discriminatory laws as discriminatory practice. We can all agree, I think, that discrimination against any segment of the culture is wrong and that laws that promote such discrimination should be changed. If we learn to free ourselves from the need to call names, I firmly believe that we can achieve, to a higher degree, change and progress. We can evolve, culturally and spiritually.

Interesting, though, isn't it that much of this discussion has taken place in the context of celebration of black history? There are some interesting parallels to be drawn, I think. Someday, maybe, we will learn.  

The Allegory of the Evolution/Creation Caves

The famous philosopher, Plato, may have argued, in The Republic, that the natural state of humankind is located, as it were, deep within the darkness of a cave, facing the rear wall, where there is scant information with which to deal and where life is simple to control. In such a state, the human experience is reduced to dim reflections that barely glow off the back wall of the cave. Humanity begins to notice, however, that those reflections are not likely things in themselves, but incomplete echoes of another things that exists elsewhere.

Curiosity leads humans to turn away from the incomplete information that is refracted from the back wall of the cave toward more complete information about the world. In that moment, the world becomes exponentially more complex. While the information is more complete, so is the complexity of  managing new ways of thinking and believing. As humans feed their need for more and better information, the world becomes increasingly difficult to manage and control. Simplicity is lost. Control can no longer be claimed or maintained.

I thought of Plato's Allegory of the Cave last week, as I watched the "debate" between Bill Nye, The Science Guy, and the founder of the "Creation Museum." Unfortunately, neither side participated in the debate in order to find any common ground for discussion. Each side wanted only to prove the other wrong, to demonstrate their own side's correctness. They each rejected the premises under which the other side presented and thought through their argument. The discussion disintegrated into "because the Bible says..." verses "Scientific knowledge teaches that..."

Both sides of the discussion were stuck with their own assumptions about how to arrive at the truth of the universe. The creationist argued theologically. The scientist argued theoretical process. Neither was truly able to demonstrate a single thing to the other side because both exercised under preconceived notions of limited understanding.

If we are ever to achieve a balance between the spiritual and spacial worlds in which we live, I suggest that the conversation must begin with a search for commonality. We can see the differences easily enough. They are reflected off the back wall of the experiential cave to which we have grown comfortable. Until we turn together in an effort to link the spacial and the spiritual, the theological and the theoretical, information about the world in which we live will be sacrificed at the altar of control and simplicity.

While modern Physics may be finding ways to shine brighter light into the depths of our chosen caves, it is still up to us whether or not we turn and learn, coping with the complexity of Higgs boson particles or with something as simple as defining life as both spacial and spiritual. Until that conversation begins, I am afraid that we are likely to remain either "Creationists" or "Evolutionists," but never fully becoming spiritual rationalists.

Let the conversation begin!  

Black History Month

Shiloh Church is celebrating Black History month.

The congregation is engaging the opportunity in three distinct ways. Firstly, since the Gospel readings for the month of February come from Matthew's Sermon on the Mount, we are utilizing Jesus' message of social and cultural impact (particularly how it calls us to diverge from traditional, ritualized, ortho-doxological practices in order to focus on practical, public applications of the message of Christ) to relate to the contributions of black Americans. This past Sunday, Shiloh combined the Beatitudes with the images of Rosa Parks as a way to help us understand how we might be the "blessing" to those who hunger, thirst, or mourn by changing the ways things work. Direct action changes the world. Direct application of the message of Christ to the ways that we live can forever alter human history.

Secondly, the congregation's Bible @ Boston's program will resume each Wednesday. We will gather at Boston's Bistro and Pub, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., to remember and celebrate the many contributions of our brothers and sisters to the fabric of American culture. Each session is free and open to the public. Come early for the best seats in the house! The list pf speakers and topics are listed here:

February 5: Karen Brame: An Overview of Black Histo
February 12: Idotha "Bootsie" Neal: Wright Brothers/Paul Laurence Dunbar Project and Walk of Fame
February 19: Terrence Grimes: Celebrating Black American Music
February 26: Margaret Peters: African-Americans who have helped establish Dayton's history.

Thirdly, on the first weekend in March, Shiloh will offer to the public a series of displays that highlight contributions of Black Americans to corporate American identity and culture. The displays will be open on Sunday, March 2, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The 10:25 worship service will feature special ethnic music, dance performance, and speaker Rev. Robert Jones. The service will be followed by a special carry-in ethnic meal. Recipes can be located on the circular table that is located in the Information Gallery. Sign-ups are available on the Green Table, located in the Narthex/Lobby. The meal will conclude with a discussion of the book, "Remember As You Pass Me By," written by L. King Perez, who will be in attendance and who will take part in the conversation. You may obtain a copy of the book from Marilyn Jones or from Amazon.

Another feature of Shiloh's program will take place on Monday, March 3. Children from several local school districts will travel to Shiloh to tour the exhibits, have lunch, and offer a program in the sanctuary. The planning group anticipates up to 300 children, who will offer songs, dances, readings and even artwork, to commemorate the event.

If you want to help with any of these activities, see Carl Robinson, Terry Ogletree, or sign up on the sheets that are available on the Green Table. You may also call the Church Office for more information. I hope to see you all there!


  

Failed Opportunity

Every moment is rife with opportunity to express God's grace. I have said it a thousand times. God has granted us the empowerment of God's Spirit in order to allow us the possibility of acting and speaking from God's will. Sometimes, however, imagining God's grace is difficult.

There are occasions that invite defensiveness, protectionism, even fear. These uncomfortable situations often force us into previously uncharted territory, taking us beyond zones of comfort and seemingly light years from the familiar. The hairs on the napes of our necks stand at attention. Muscles tighten. Stress heightens. Sweat begins to trickle. Heart rates increase and we begin to pull away.

I get it. I was forced into one of those uncomfortable situations yesterday. I will not bore you with the details, but I was made to feel incredibly uncomfortable and was, on the rarest of occasions, at a complete loss for words. I found myself taking a defensive posture. I blamed it on the person who invited me in to the discomfort. "Why would anyone do that to another person?" I asked myself. "What was to be gained by being so confronted?"

The better questions may well have been, "How can I act and speak graciously in this incident? How can I express God's will?"

But I did not. I simply remained silent.

I understand just how difficult it can be to express God's grace in uncomfortable situations. I get that it is nearly impossible to rest myself in the power of God's Spirit in real life occasions.

Is it beyond reasonable expectation, then, for us to represent God's grace in the real world? Would we not be better served by simply accepting our flawed selves, flawed actions and flawed speech?

I hardly think so. On the contrary, it is when we have been placed in a difficult situation and failed to act or speak with God's grace that we learn what better to do the time such a situation should arise. Reflection on real-life shortcomings better prepares us for subsequent real-life opportunity.

Bring on the heightened pulse, the tendency to want to turn and go, the fear and regret of failed opportunity. They teach us. They teach me. Perhaps, next time, I can better represent God's grace.

A Crisis of Call

The recent ordination of Adam Wirrig reminded me of a conversation that a group of clergy, and other church leaders, had at this past year's General Synod meeting, held in Long Beach, California. It began as a casual gathering that followed the day's planned agenda.

The question was this: What is the greatest challenge that United Church of Christ congregations face as we seek to make transition from a traditional to a progressive church model?

Before tracing the course of the conversation, and before sharing possible outcomes, let me first write a few lines about the basic assumption. The question itself assumes that local UCC congregations will have to make transition from traditional to progressive church models. It implies that each level of the denomination, inclusive of the local church, will have to retool. If any level should fail to do so, it is likely to disappear. This includes local congregations. Historians among us can now discern in the cultural patterns around and within the Church universal the kind of seismic shift that we have learned to expect every 500 or so years. It is inevitable. It is evolutionary. Despite the best efforts of those in the right wing religious movements around the world and throughout religious traditions, it will not be stopped. The world has changed, is changing, and will change yet. In order for religious traditions to remain relevant to our culture, they will have to change as well.

Each of us involved in the conversation shared the basic assumption, to one degree or another. So, we asked, what are the major challenges that the church faces as we make such transition? Love of traditional behaviors and beliefs was mentioned. Fear of the unknown was a contender for the greatest challenge, as were lack of participants, lack of dollars and a general malaise that seems to have closed over our congregations over the course of the past several decades. We are feeling defeated, as if we are doing something wrongly. The Church is no longer popular. It is no longer at the core of cultural and societal consideration. Fewer and fewer take part. Less and less financial power underlies our messages and supports out crumbling facilities.

Where did we go wrong? What mistakes led to this crisis? Whom can we blame?

One person, who sat rather on the periphery of the conversation, had not said a word. When she finally spoke, however, she seemed to sum up the crisis of the religious world. "Maybe," she said, "There is a crisis of call in our congregations that keeps us from doing anything about the situation. Maybe we should work on helping people understand their empowerment and their call to service and ministry."

Silence ensued, each of us lost in thought as we considered the simple brilliance of what she had said. Maybe there is a crisis of calling that keeps the Church from engaging in the mission and ministry to which it is called. Maybe we need to work on the core issues of empowerment, call and vocation. Brilliant!

As we wrote Adam's ordination service, then, the main effort was to create a service that invited every person in attendance to feel a sense of his or her own calling.Ordination was about Adam that day, but calling and ministry belongs to each of us every day. So, at the end of the service, when the Discovery Team sang "Go Light Your World," the candle of call and ministry was passed to each of us, to all of us. Adam led the way into the world, but we each went forth, bearing our own light.

Undoing the crisis of call in our congregations is perhaps the most powerful means by which we might make transition to the church that will become. Maybe this is the spiritual evolution to which our culture is bringing us. If so, thanks be to God.

Ordination of Adam Wirrig

Shiloh gathered yesterday with representatives of the Southwest Ohio Northern Kentucky Association, as well as representatives from United Theological Seminary, to ordain Shiloh member and friend, Adam Wirrig. The 3:00 p.m. service included Kathryn Anadein, SONKA Designated Association Minister, Ruth Hopkins, from the Members-in-Discernment Team of Association Church and Ministry, Daria Schaffnit, friend and colleague, who provided the ordination address, Brice Thomas, who represented the seminary, Shiloh's own Discovery Team, which provided the energy and, if I may say so, the most poignant moment within the ceremony. I served as local church representative and liturgist for the Eucharist. Aaron Sheaffer played organ on the Processional and Recessional.

Shiloh's appreciation goes out to all who attended. Your presence made the gathering that much more special, both for Shiloh and for Adam. Thanks to those who served as ushers: Ila Ward, Karen Kanaga, Tom and Doris Murph. Thanks to our greeters: Jay and Dawn McMillen, Linda and Amy DeCamp, and Randy Zuercher. Special appreciation goes out to Shiloh's Worship Committee, who took care of set up and elements for the Eucharist, and to Shiloh's Women's Board, who provided for the Omega Hall reception that followed the service.Additional special appreciation goes out to John Rabius, Shiloh's Director of Media Ministries, and his crew, who worked hard to make everything function properly. Everyone performed perfectly. Thanks to each of you!

There were two highlights of the service. The first came with the address, provided by Daria Schaffnit. The image of old wine and new wineskins fit the occasion ideally. (It was also a charge for Shiloh folk to see the old lectern back on the chancel, just for this event) The second highlight came at the tail end of the service, when the Discovery Team sang "Go Light Your World," during which Adam Wirrig was handed the Christ Candle, as he prepared for the Recessional. It was a very emotional moment.

In case any are wondering, ordination in the United Church of Christ consists of a four-way call. A local church sponsors a candidate, who is recommended to an Association Member-in-Discernment Team, which, together with the local church and the candidate, discern that God is calling the candidate to a ministerial position in the church. Then, after proper education and training, the candidate completes the cycle, by accepting the call of a church or calling body. In this case, United Theological Seminary provided the call. Adam has accepted the position of Adjunct Professor of Church History, as he awaits completion of his Ph.D. from Aberdeen, in Scotland.

It was a joyous and celebratory event. Congratulations to Reverend Adam Wirrig on achieving this ministry milestone, to Shiloh Church for hosting such a fabulous event, to the Association for it's fine work in preparing and providing the opportunity for Adam, and to United Theological Seminary, for completing the loop. Each body will be well served by Adam Wirrig.

Way to go, Shiloh!