Subterrranean post-modern blues...

What a mix of experiences: this morning I spoke to a colleague's class on the impact of slave music on American culture. I played some spirituals, talked about West African rhythms and song structure and took them on a wild ride - with CDs - from emancipation to jazz and the birth of rock and roll. They were young kids from the Berkshires but I got them singing gospel and the blues and it was lots of fun... blessings abound.

Later in the day I spent three hours with some dear church leaders trying to evaluate our collective work over the past year. Let me tell you that one of the hardest things I have ever experienced in my 27 years of ministry involves that moment when you are working with a committed group of church leaders and they realize that the abstract ideas of change and renewal have to become FLESH.

We had a beautiful, complicated and boldly honest talk tonight (and we'll have another 3 hour talk after Thanksgiving) with a group of lay leaders from my church. They are wonderful and insightful people - deeply committed to God, a liberating and progressive Christian faith and rebuilding our struggling congregation - AND... when it comes to making changes in this dear New England town it is HARD. And I am talking painfully hard... not that it isn't wanted or needed - worship that is eclectic and truly diverse, sermons that are more dialogical than lecture, wrestling with the shadow side of ourselves and the Bible - but as the birth of Jesus makes clear: when the word becomes flesh it is always MESSY. Two examples are notable:

+ How do you make a Victorian sanctuary look welcoming to those not steeped in church culture? We won't even talk about how to bring jazz, rock, country and folk into a faith community that has only known German chorales for a long, long time. How do you make a big, demanding and even ominous space feel inviting - especially to people who are already suspicious of church? That's one of our challenges: someone told me, "God, you are serious about making this place accessible, aren't you?" More than serious - I am committed to accessibility on every level I can imagine - but that means change in the flesh rather than as an intellectual abstract... and that's always messy.

+ How do you create enough momentum towards inclusivity to truly welcome the forgotten and cast away folk AND maintain a place at the table for the old "in" crowd? Its tough for both groups but those of privilege have to be trained to practice radical hospitality or else all this work with worship - joy and fun and depth and new sounds and spiritual wisdom - becomes bullshit. If there really isn't a radical welcome in the spirit of Jesus, those who have been turned away will smell it a mile away... and we won't make it.

I think we will. I love my new church - this new community is committed to becoming a place of hope and light in the 21st century darkness - but it is still really hard for them. This work feels like Cat Power's version of "Satisfaction," all full of promise and longing but still... not there yet. Pray for us...