Complicated...

Two conversations that took place after worship were... well, complicated - and profound, too. The first had to do with my distinction between "baby Christians" who never mature and change and "grown-up people of faith" who make the spirit and essence of Jesus visible in their lives. "Maybe I'm missing something," one person said to me, "but I don't want to be like St. Paul if that's what it means to be an adult Christian. Jesus, yes, but Paul - who hated the body and music and women - never in a million years."

"Hmmm... sounds like old Paul needs some serious rehabilitating," thought I as the conversation deepened. Too often, the apostle is portrayed as the mature goal of the Christian faith rather than just one disciple trying to teach clearly about living into God's call in Christ. And my friend was right: how many times has Paul has been used to oppose the joys of life - incarnational and sacramental living that is sacred and sensual - in pursuit of a mean-spirited conformity? We have a lot of work to do reclaim the beauty of what a life of grace is really all about - and St. Paul could help if we were able to unlock the wisdom of Paul,so that a caricature of his life doesn't become normative in progressive Christianity.

Next I spoke with someone about the distinctions we are making in our faith community between members and those who sense a calling to work with us but aren't ready - or interested - in a formal relationship with the institution. At our annual meeting today, for example, there was a concern that our formal membership numbers had slipped over the past year. That is true, they have - and our worship participation and people involved in mission has increased.

Go figure: with a strategic and compassionate decision to emphasize participation in worship, prayer and ministry rather than formal membership we have more people engaged than any time in the last three years. Not everybody gets this - especially the spiritual accountants among us - but when my friends said, "I like that you don't emphasize the necessity of formal membership here because now I can respond to God's invitation with a sense of gratitude and commitment rather than obligation or guilt" I knew we were on the right track. "Let's just say," I smiled, "that we've found a winning combination: radical hospital and action born of our experience with God's grace."

It was a good day - a GREAT new cadre of leaders for the next three years of ministry was affirmed at our annual meeting - and worship was alive and full. What's more, after a brief afternoon nap, we had a four and a half hour jazz band practice that was smokin! On to Thursday night when we play Patrick's Pub again in pursuit of our peace-making through music trip to Istanbul in June.