NOTE: I am working on a theological reflection for my church council (and others) that I hope will be completed by next Monday's meeting. I am not entirely certain if there was one inspiration for this essay; more likely it was the constellation of our 250th anniversary, the awarding of the sabbatical grant, reading both Sabbath as Resistance and Slow Church (at the same time) and my current series on reclaiming the Sabbath in the 21st century. Whatever the spark, it is clear to me that doing ministry in the same place for 250 years is significant. Here's my first take - and I'll keep working at it over the next few days. Thoughts?
Thoughts on Two Hundred Fifty Years of Ministry in the
Same Place: Sabbaticals,
Labyrinths, Jazz and So Much More at First Church, Pittsfield
Introduction
We are being called by God to
go deeper – and our past is a clue to our future. Perhaps it is the significance
of our doing ministry in the same place for over two hundred and fifty years
that is ripening within me. It could be something more cosmic. Joni Mitchell once wrote, “Maybe it’s the
time of year, or maybe it’s the time of man… but we are star dust – billion
year old carbon – we are golden – and caught up in the devil’s bargain – so
we’ve got to get ourselves back to the Garden.” And it might have something to
do with preparing for my jazz sabbatical. Whatever the inspiration, I am
increasingly drawn to the wisdom of the unknown preacher in the New Testament
book of Hebrews.
As he or she was profoundly
aware, those famous and ordinary “saints” from our collective past have
constructed a foundation for us to build on as we struggle into the future. They
knew that it is was God’s grace that grounded their faith community in hope.
They accepted the sins from their past that cried out for repentance in the
present. And they trusted that God would reveal ever greater blessings upon
their current ministries if they labored towards renewal. From my vantage point in the 21st
century, what was once true in the ancient words, now rings true again:
Since,
therefore, we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay
aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with
perseverance the race that is set before us, looking
to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the
cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the
throne of God… Let mutual love continue. Do
not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have
entertained angels without knowing it. Remember
those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are
being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. Let marriage be held in
honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled… Keep your lives free
from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, ‘I
will never leave you or forsake you.’ So
we can say with confidence: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will
not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?” (Hebrews 12/13)
What can anyone do to me?” (Hebrews 12/13)
In our 250th year
of ministry, we, like our forbearers, continue to wrestle with what being
faithful to Christ means in our context. Sometimes our ancestors grasped the
radical grace of the Lord’s incarnation and called for – and created –
blessings of healing like the first hospice in the region. At other times, they
were so acculturated that they only strengthened segregation and race hatred
rather than weaken its poison within us as the birth of Second Congregational
Church documents. Whether broken or whole, however, our calling among the
churches in Pittsfield has always been unique. As the first congregation in
this community, we became the symbolic embodiment of what Christianity means
for our realm – and this fact continues to hold relevance for us in 2014.
We sit at the geographic center
of our city. We once guided many of the
civic and economic decisions that formed the people, culture, architecture and
soul of this region. And while our prominence and power has been significantly
diminished over the past 50 years, because of our iconic status, we still have
a sacred role to play in Pittsfield’s renewal.
In fact, I would argue that our
own inner spiritual and programmatic revitalization as a faith community is
inextricably linked to our greater good of the whole community. In the most
profound way, it is becoming clear to me that we have been invited by God – and
that great cloud of witnesses who have shaped our past – to embrace the
leadership of a servant. Our work is now
to be grounded in sharing and solidarity for we are being asked to become
partners in reconciliation.
St Paul put it like this in I
Corinthians 13: When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a
child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to
childish ways. Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will
know fully, even as I have been fully known. And
now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love…
And then he clearly identifies how a loving servant leader lives for
the glory of God: patiently. Love
is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own
way; it is not irritable or resentful; it
does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth, it bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
From
my vantage point of serving God in community as the 19th pastor in
250 years of ministry at First Church, these things are becoming clearer: in our childhood, we served the Lord in one
way; now we must serve in another. Once we held power and prestige, now we hold
wisdom and hope. Once we could act independently and without cause for
consultation, but now we must become agents of reconciliation and trust, true
partners with all people of good will in Pittsfield. Now we have put away childish
things (as best we understand them) and seek to serve our city in patient love.
.jpg)
Insights
Already I recognize aspects
of this sacred invitation taking shape and form. Our commitment to become and
Open and Affirming congregation did not seem particularly prophetic or bold
when it was unanimously affirmed by the congregation. But seen through the lens of our symbolic
purpose – the significance of who we have been, where we are located and the
legacy of that great cloud of witnesses from our past – this act of radical
hospitality has reverberated well beyond the walls of our Sanctuary. As one of the directors of the Live Out Loud
Youth Project told me recently, “You have created a safe space for vulnerable
children in this region – and while they may never come to church on Sunday –
they know that they can now trust you and the people of First Church – and that
is a life-saving gift to this community.”
I sense the same type of
solidarity in our partnership with both Habitat for Humanity and BEAT
(Berkshire Environmental Action Team.) We have joined their mission as equals
in the struggle for justice and compassion just as Christ became an equal in
the flesh with us (John 1.) Working together as mission partners, they set the
agenda – and we strive to trust the Spirit. Clearly those on the ground
know better than we what the real pain in the streets is all about. So, as
partners in reconciliation, we join and learn and act in cooperation.
But the calling into our
ministry of servant partnership is not limited to external mission: it has
implications and value for our stewardship of our Sanctuary, the way we invite
the wider community into our space, the way we make decisions together and the
way we raise resources for ministry. As the authors of Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus
write: “ours is a call for intentionality, an awareness of our mutual
interdependence with all people and all creation, and an attentiveness to the
world around us and the work God is doing in our very own neighborhoods...
(Where we wrestle with) issues of justice, manageable scale, diversity,
seasonality (relating to both the liturgical calendar and the life and death of
individual faith communities), pleasure, beauty, risk, place, time, common
space and shared traditions.” (C. Christopher Smith and
John Pattison, p. 16)
In 2014, I see seven (a
profoundly biblical number) key commitments currently taking shape at First
Church – and they are all born of our shared vision for servant leadership. I should note that living into the vision of
servant leadership is one of the ways we allow ourselves to be molded into the
image of our God. Theologians both ancient and contemporary have struggled to
name some of the Lord’s characteristics; and without being exhaustive, they
have all agreed that:
·
First, God is patient. “It is no accident that the first characteristic of
love that Paul mentions in I Corinthians 13 is patience… (Indeed) the biblical
story is often framed through the lens of the patience of God.” (Slow Church,
p. 24) It could be in the parables of Jesus where God’s presence is likened to
yeast slowly rising in a loaf of bread (Mt. 13) or in a careful reading of
Christ’s genealogy that links Jesus to Abraham and/or Adam, the steadfast love of
the Lord endures forever. “The history of the church is marked by many of the
same characteristics as the history of Israel: lots of human rebellion,
scattered pockets of human faithfulness and all the while God’s deep and
unwavering patience.” (p. 25)
·
Second, God seeks collaboration and partnership with
the faithful. We are intimately involved in acts of
reconciliation – healing and hope are not the by-products of automatons – but
rather a sacred dance in which grace embraces human reality and leads us
towards integrity, repentance, renewal and joy. It is hard work – and the holy
story is filled with God’s frustration. But over and over God extends
forgiveness and a fresh start to those who are humbled. “God is thus revealed
as omnipotent precisely in the fact that God stakes everything on the
intelligence, free will and trust of human beings… God attains the goal desired
because in this world joy in God’s story is stronger than all inertia and
greed, so that this joy continually seized people and gathers them together as
the people of God.” (p. 27) Small wonder “process theologians” speak of human
beings, both individual and together, as being “lured into faithfulness by the
patient presence of God’s joy.”
·
And third, God gives birth to shalom. Sometimes
this means peace, but in a way that is greater than the absence of violence.
God’s shalom has to do with right relationships between people. Walter
Brueggemann speaks of God’s shalom as “finding out what belongs to another and
returning it.” Sometimes this is land, other times it is dignity, often it is
hope and almost universally it involves forgiveness. God’s character inspires reconciliation
between individuals and the Lord, between insiders and outsiders, between
friends and enemies.
When we began our journey
towards renewal seven years ago, we trusted by faith that God wasn’t finished
with us as a community. We didn’t know what that meant because it was
unknowable before starting the journey; we simply trusted that God had been
faithful to our great cloud of witnesses before and would continue being
faithful. Patiently and carefully,
listening to one another and sharing prayer, tears and laughter, we began to
discern a path into both renewal and reconciliation.
Interestingly, while a great
deal of our work began within the walls of our church, the greater good was
always a part of the picture. Our
mission statement makes that clear: “In
com-munity with God and each other, we gather to worship, to reflect on our
Christian faith, to do justice and to share compassion.” There was balance in
this new direction. It was grounded in tradition, but was not solely focused on
saving the institution. And so we worked at revitalizing both our worship and
our outward missions. We found creative and playful ways to care for the wider community that simultaneously attracted new artists and friends into our experiment while celebrating the beauty of God’s love in action. We emphasized gratitude
rather than obligation or judgment. We took theology seriously – and prayed
with a fear and trembling. And slowly, patiently and quietly a new/old way of being First Church started to take shape. It honors that great cloud of witnesses while charting new ground as leaders learn more about living with a servant's heart.
(What follows - and is still to be written - will address seven key commitments that are becoming flesh within and among us as we more deeply embrace the charism of servant leadership.)
No comments:
Post a Comment