Checking out the latest religion news on www.pewforum.org, I came across this article. I must say that I find I rather often find myself defending the Roman Catholic Church (really, Protestants, we need to stop freaking out about silly things)...but many issues that bother people are indeed quite serious. Still today I think many people's uncertainty about mental illness has archaic roots in some idea that it's a sin, that suicide is an unforgivable sin, etc. I know this is still the case because I still run into families planning a funeral for someone who has committed suicide that are so grateful a pastor is willing to do the funeral. I've known this is the RCC's position for a while, but perhaps it doesn't hurt to share.
Catholic bishops promote a compassionate view of suicide -Times Online
Shared via AddThis
For some other resources, check out:
http://gbgm-umc.org/DISC/mentillb.stm
http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=5066287&content_id={0E911B8C-E939-4F2E-B8B6-C6644ABC71FB}¬oc=1
http://archives.umc.org/theme.asp?ptid=1&mid=2413&tid=43&rec=&search=
In interesting blog (I haven't read all of this, but it looks ok, but if there's something crazy it in, sorry!): http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/the-christian-and-mental-illness
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Birthday Reflections
I suppose it's quite customary to reflect on the past year for one's birthday. But boy, I've been reflecting for, well, months! It's really quite incredible to think of how much my life has changed in the past year. I no longer anticipate "quiet" years though (if I ever did). There's always something--and I don't at all mean that in a bad way. It's exciting, knowing that there just so much coming that we cannot imagine. Scary, yes. But also exciting.
This is my last year in my twenties. I guess that's pretty momentous. But God willing, I'll also have my last year in the thirties, forties, etc.
Life is not so much, I think, about marking milestones as it is living with joyful expectancy. Milestones are important, don't get me wrong. But I hope I am never so consumed with one day, one year, that I fail to give thanks not just for what God has done, but for what I know God WILL do.
This is my last year in my twenties. I guess that's pretty momentous. But God willing, I'll also have my last year in the thirties, forties, etc.
Life is not so much, I think, about marking milestones as it is living with joyful expectancy. Milestones are important, don't get me wrong. But I hope I am never so consumed with one day, one year, that I fail to give thanks not just for what God has done, but for what I know God WILL do.
Friday, July 10, 2009
July 10, 2009
Here is the devotional quote from the Upper Room this morning:
ALL CHANGE INVOLVES leaving behind something known in order to move toward the new and unknown. It means releasing the way things were in order to embrace the way things are and the way things will be. … Understanding our past is important, but our lives are meant to be lived in the present and into the future.
- Leigh Harrison
Birthed in Prayer: Pregnancy as a Spiritual Journey
As I sit here finishing the first whole week at my new appointment here at Calvary, I am definitely aware of this. And beyond that, just thinking of all the changes in my life in the past year! Getting married. Setting up home together. Getting a new appointment. Change is not only about leaving behind, it's also a lot of work!
My sermon this Sunday takes as its Scripture Luke 9:57-62 where Jesus has three interactions with would-be disciples. The tension in the story is whether they can leave behind the old, even family, and move forward totally committed as Jesus' disciple.
Christians as individuals but also as a community (and in each local church) face the same challenge. We hold onto the past out of fear, and our fear cripples our growth. And that which does not grow dies.
This is a constant question I ask of myself and those around me in ministry (whether directly or indirectly)...are our lives, actions and decisions motivated by faithfully following Jesus, or anxiously holding on to the past? Sadly, often we find ourselves holding into the past, and in doing so, we are not able to embrace all that God is doing and calling us to.
May today be a day of some letting go and moving forward for all of us.
ALL CHANGE INVOLVES leaving behind something known in order to move toward the new and unknown. It means releasing the way things were in order to embrace the way things are and the way things will be. … Understanding our past is important, but our lives are meant to be lived in the present and into the future.
- Leigh Harrison
Birthed in Prayer: Pregnancy as a Spiritual Journey
As I sit here finishing the first whole week at my new appointment here at Calvary, I am definitely aware of this. And beyond that, just thinking of all the changes in my life in the past year! Getting married. Setting up home together. Getting a new appointment. Change is not only about leaving behind, it's also a lot of work!
My sermon this Sunday takes as its Scripture Luke 9:57-62 where Jesus has three interactions with would-be disciples. The tension in the story is whether they can leave behind the old, even family, and move forward totally committed as Jesus' disciple.
Christians as individuals but also as a community (and in each local church) face the same challenge. We hold onto the past out of fear, and our fear cripples our growth. And that which does not grow dies.
This is a constant question I ask of myself and those around me in ministry (whether directly or indirectly)...are our lives, actions and decisions motivated by faithfully following Jesus, or anxiously holding on to the past? Sadly, often we find ourselves holding into the past, and in doing so, we are not able to embrace all that God is doing and calling us to.
May today be a day of some letting go and moving forward for all of us.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
July 9, 2009
So take a look at this pretty cool prayer that was the devotional reading this morning on www.upperroom.org/daily:
GOD, no offense,
but most of us are like Paul,
never having met you face-to-face.
Instead, we have hints, followed by guesses,
from when someone became Christ to us —
when we least deserved and expected it.
You have an incredible collection of disguises.
Amen.
- W. Paul Jones
An Eclectic Almanac for the Faithful
How true this is! I'm always aware that Jesus speaks in the Gospels about the kingdom of God in simile and metaphor (parables), using "like" and "as". Such incredible things cannot be understood by us directly. But how often I forget that our experience of Jesus, and how much more the Godhead, is in metaphor and disguise now. That wasn't the case for the disciples. Perhaps that is our challenge. We not only have to find examples for what God's kingdom is and is to be, but also for Jesus himself. Maybe that's part of where that craze of "WWJD" came from.
But indeed like the prayer says, I have experienced Jesus so often in the lives and love of others. I think that's part of the reason why Christians are called to live in community. To say we worship a God who loves us but to be without loving relationships is to miss something not just about our neighbor but also about God.
I also have to admit I like the line in the prayer, "God, no offense, but..." If you rewrote most of the Psalms into modern language, I suspect they'd start that way! Of course they'd end with something like, "But of course, God loves me..."
Off to look for God's disguises today.
GOD, no offense,
but most of us are like Paul,
never having met you face-to-face.
Instead, we have hints, followed by guesses,
from when someone became Christ to us —
when we least deserved and expected it.
You have an incredible collection of disguises.
Amen.
- W. Paul Jones
An Eclectic Almanac for the Faithful
How true this is! I'm always aware that Jesus speaks in the Gospels about the kingdom of God in simile and metaphor (parables), using "like" and "as". Such incredible things cannot be understood by us directly. But how often I forget that our experience of Jesus, and how much more the Godhead, is in metaphor and disguise now. That wasn't the case for the disciples. Perhaps that is our challenge. We not only have to find examples for what God's kingdom is and is to be, but also for Jesus himself. Maybe that's part of where that craze of "WWJD" came from.
But indeed like the prayer says, I have experienced Jesus so often in the lives and love of others. I think that's part of the reason why Christians are called to live in community. To say we worship a God who loves us but to be without loving relationships is to miss something not just about our neighbor but also about God.
I also have to admit I like the line in the prayer, "God, no offense, but..." If you rewrote most of the Psalms into modern language, I suspect they'd start that way! Of course they'd end with something like, "But of course, God loves me..."
Off to look for God's disguises today.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Music
So I've been thinking a lot this week about the power and place of music in our lives. No, this isn't only about Michael Jackson's death (though you really can't watch TV without being reminded of the importance of music in the lives of so many people). It's also because my sermon this Sunday takes as its inspiration (loosely) a Civil War song entitled, The Vacant Chair.
Music tells a lot about a place and time. And the music that is dearest to us speaks about something very essential to who we are.
For example, I chose as one of the hymns for this Sunday a song from The Faith We Sing called The Summons. The words of this mean a lot to me personally about my call--both to ministry and discipleship. It also has an important place in the modern UM church.
Goodness knows I know the power of hymns for people...that's why people get so excited or upset when you do or don't play their favorite hymns. Christmas and Easter especially!
But we all have lots of other songs that still speak to us powerfully, or which mark a particular period in our lives. This whole line of thought got me nostalgic, so I thought I'd flip through my iTunes and remember a few of my favs...
-"The Call" by Anointed...a fav. when I first heard my call to ministry and pursued candidacy
-"I Have a Dream" by Bebe Winans: downloaded when I was taking a preaching class at Duke as an example of the musical tones of African American preaching
-"I Tried" by Bone Thugs N Harmony: What can I say? I was a fan of Crossroads...this takes me back to high school
-"So Much for Pretending" by Bryan White: my theme song for pretty much every crush I sad in college
-"One Day Closer to You" by Carolyn Dawn Johnson: the song that kept me going after all those crushes
-"Baby Got Book" by Dan Smith: still one of the funniest songs ever. Dan Randall showed some of us this video one evening in seminary. I've even had a group of camp kids play this in the weekly talent show :-)
-This is an album: "This is Who I Am" by Heather Headley: this is pretty much half of what I listened to my entire second year at Duke. No particular reason really. Just good music.
-"Where Are You Christmas" by Faith Hill: came out about the time my parents split up
-"Can't Give Up Now" by Mary Mary: since college, this has been one of those songs that really encourages me
-another album: "Home for Christmas" by NSync. The Semester I was in Greece, as December was coming, this was the only Christmas album I could find by a group I recognized. I listened to it a lot. And for reasons I have never been able to explain, it is my one tried and true cure to writer's block. Weird, I know.
-"I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden. I don't remember why, but we listened to a lot of Savage Garden when we were in Greece.
So that's some for now...what about you? What songs mark moments in your life?
Music tells a lot about a place and time. And the music that is dearest to us speaks about something very essential to who we are.
For example, I chose as one of the hymns for this Sunday a song from The Faith We Sing called The Summons. The words of this mean a lot to me personally about my call--both to ministry and discipleship. It also has an important place in the modern UM church.
Goodness knows I know the power of hymns for people...that's why people get so excited or upset when you do or don't play their favorite hymns. Christmas and Easter especially!
But we all have lots of other songs that still speak to us powerfully, or which mark a particular period in our lives. This whole line of thought got me nostalgic, so I thought I'd flip through my iTunes and remember a few of my favs...
-"The Call" by Anointed...a fav. when I first heard my call to ministry and pursued candidacy
-"I Have a Dream" by Bebe Winans: downloaded when I was taking a preaching class at Duke as an example of the musical tones of African American preaching
-"I Tried" by Bone Thugs N Harmony: What can I say? I was a fan of Crossroads...this takes me back to high school
-"So Much for Pretending" by Bryan White: my theme song for pretty much every crush I sad in college
-"One Day Closer to You" by Carolyn Dawn Johnson: the song that kept me going after all those crushes
-"Baby Got Book" by Dan Smith: still one of the funniest songs ever. Dan Randall showed some of us this video one evening in seminary. I've even had a group of camp kids play this in the weekly talent show :-)
-This is an album: "This is Who I Am" by Heather Headley: this is pretty much half of what I listened to my entire second year at Duke. No particular reason really. Just good music.
-"Where Are You Christmas" by Faith Hill: came out about the time my parents split up
-"Can't Give Up Now" by Mary Mary: since college, this has been one of those songs that really encourages me
-another album: "Home for Christmas" by NSync. The Semester I was in Greece, as December was coming, this was the only Christmas album I could find by a group I recognized. I listened to it a lot. And for reasons I have never been able to explain, it is my one tried and true cure to writer's block. Weird, I know.
-"I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden. I don't remember why, but we listened to a lot of Savage Garden when we were in Greece.
So that's some for now...what about you? What songs mark moments in your life?
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
First Sunday and Religulous
So this past Sunday was my first at Calvary. My mom was over, having been with us in DC for the fourth, and asked me that morning if I was nervous. I said of course I was! I think that any pastor who isn't nervous their first Sunday at a new church probably doesn't take it seriously enough.
But God is good, the people at Calvary are wonderful, and I had a really great time. We had our two services, 8:30 and 11:00 a.m., and it was nice to be able to be part of the service but not have to preach since I was still getting the hang of things. I'll preach this Sunday, so in addition to continuing getting settled in, that's my main task this week. You know, it's a big deal, your first sermon!
I got to meet many people, and hopefully made a good start on remembering names. There are definitely a lot of names to remember! But with some hard work and focus, hopefully it won't take too long. I think one of the tricks to learning names is to never pretend to know a name you don't. Because once you've done that, it gets harder and harder to admit you don't know their name.
I got to visit with the Specials class, a great ministry to adults with developmental disabilities. Sunday School is after the first service, and since Chris had to leave to get back to camp, I brought them in one of our wedding pics to show them him too. What a great group of people and volunteers!
Continuing tradition (Calvary's tradition!) the air conditioning wasn't working for the early service. It apparently was an easy fix and was working by the second service, but it brought back memories for everyone of Ken's first service, when the electricity was out! I just told people it must have been the Holy Spirit heating up the place! :-)
Among the many people I got to meet and talk to, I got to catch up with a number of people even more in depth at a cookout Ken and Sandy had at their house for staff and some church leaders Sunday afternoon. It was great to have a casual setting to catch up with folks! I'm looking forward to working with all these great Calvary folks!
Yesterday was my day off...I must admit it felt weird taking a day off so soon after starting, but one of the things I've learned already in ministry is that time off rarely presents itself, and if you don't take regular time off, it catches up with you. Usually at the worst times. So it was nice to have some down time, and Chris even took some of the evening off. We got some ice cream (there really isn't much better than the Key Lime Pie ice cream at Bruester's) and we picked up the DVD of Religulous at Blockbusters.
That documentary is Bill Maher's look at religion. He's a self-professed atheist (well, maybe agnostic, etc...basically he likes doubt and distrusts certainty). I found the film really interesting He makes a lot of interesting points...some I agreed with, others I didn't personally, but which certainly speak to the views of many people whose experience with religion, not to mention Christianity, has been less about God and more about people's weaknesses and self-centeredness.
One aspect of Christianity that really gets me fired up is the whole prosperity Gospel stuff, so I must admit I was pretty pleased when he kind of tore into one pastor whose lizard-skin shoes seemed hardly to testify to the servanthood and emphasis on the poor that Jesus proclaimed.
After the movie, Chris and I both agreed it would be a great basis for a study, but you'd definitely have to not have people who are easily offended in the study. That's, honestly, how Maher got the movie together--too many people are so dang confident about their beliefs until you start questioning them, then they get defensive and downright nasty. But you know what? We shouldn't be bothered by questions. Or angered by people who don't agree with us. After all, sometimes they ask good questions we've never thought of before! And I suspect that for many Christians, Religulous asks a lot of new questions!
But God is good, the people at Calvary are wonderful, and I had a really great time. We had our two services, 8:30 and 11:00 a.m., and it was nice to be able to be part of the service but not have to preach since I was still getting the hang of things. I'll preach this Sunday, so in addition to continuing getting settled in, that's my main task this week. You know, it's a big deal, your first sermon!
I got to meet many people, and hopefully made a good start on remembering names. There are definitely a lot of names to remember! But with some hard work and focus, hopefully it won't take too long. I think one of the tricks to learning names is to never pretend to know a name you don't. Because once you've done that, it gets harder and harder to admit you don't know their name.
I got to visit with the Specials class, a great ministry to adults with developmental disabilities. Sunday School is after the first service, and since Chris had to leave to get back to camp, I brought them in one of our wedding pics to show them him too. What a great group of people and volunteers!
Continuing tradition (Calvary's tradition!) the air conditioning wasn't working for the early service. It apparently was an easy fix and was working by the second service, but it brought back memories for everyone of Ken's first service, when the electricity was out! I just told people it must have been the Holy Spirit heating up the place! :-)
Among the many people I got to meet and talk to, I got to catch up with a number of people even more in depth at a cookout Ken and Sandy had at their house for staff and some church leaders Sunday afternoon. It was great to have a casual setting to catch up with folks! I'm looking forward to working with all these great Calvary folks!
Yesterday was my day off...I must admit it felt weird taking a day off so soon after starting, but one of the things I've learned already in ministry is that time off rarely presents itself, and if you don't take regular time off, it catches up with you. Usually at the worst times. So it was nice to have some down time, and Chris even took some of the evening off. We got some ice cream (there really isn't much better than the Key Lime Pie ice cream at Bruester's) and we picked up the DVD of Religulous at Blockbusters.
That documentary is Bill Maher's look at religion. He's a self-professed atheist (well, maybe agnostic, etc...basically he likes doubt and distrusts certainty). I found the film really interesting He makes a lot of interesting points...some I agreed with, others I didn't personally, but which certainly speak to the views of many people whose experience with religion, not to mention Christianity, has been less about God and more about people's weaknesses and self-centeredness.
One aspect of Christianity that really gets me fired up is the whole prosperity Gospel stuff, so I must admit I was pretty pleased when he kind of tore into one pastor whose lizard-skin shoes seemed hardly to testify to the servanthood and emphasis on the poor that Jesus proclaimed.
After the movie, Chris and I both agreed it would be a great basis for a study, but you'd definitely have to not have people who are easily offended in the study. That's, honestly, how Maher got the movie together--too many people are so dang confident about their beliefs until you start questioning them, then they get defensive and downright nasty. But you know what? We shouldn't be bothered by questions. Or angered by people who don't agree with us. After all, sometimes they ask good questions we've never thought of before! And I suspect that for many Christians, Religulous asks a lot of new questions!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Day 1
So here it is...the day my time at Calvary UMC begins!
Chris and I set out about 7 am this morning, to grab some breakfast, drop the car off for an oil change, then head into downtown Frederick, with out SUV loaded with books and "office decor". We got to Calvary a little after 8 am an spent the morning moving furniture--including dismantling the huge old metal desk that was in the associate's office, replacing it with a small wooden table that's just perfect for my laptop. Basically, the office went from a large desk, a computer desk, two 2-drawer file cabinets, 4 bookcases, 2 chairs and a desk chair (and it's a nice size office but not that big...to 2 bookcases, a desk chair, 2 file cabinets, 2 chairs and a small wooden table. All I need now is a little rug, and I've got an office and a cozy little seating area.
Thanks to Chris, in addition to moving all the furniture (which I would NEVER have been able to do myself anyway) we got all the books and stuff unpacked, which has been really nice--to not have to start working with boxes piled. I know they say a pastor shouldn't spend all their time at first setting up their office, but I just don't work well in chaos. By mid-morning we were done, and I met with Ken, showed Chris around the church, and Chris and I got lunch then he picked up the car from the shop and headed back.
I spent my afternoon calling some church leaders (over two dozen!), trying to figure out my printer (got it figured out!), going over some intro info, and just generally trying to settle in. Tonight the youth are gathering for a service night, so I figured I'd pop in to say hello, then will head home and be back in tomorrow morning.
LOL...as I'm typing this, the phone rang. I have no idea if my phone rings with all calls or just ones to me, so I had this moment of panic thinking "Wait. Where am I? How should I answer?!" But don't worry...I got it figured out!
Already I've also been juggling some ministry needs, and I know as I settle in, more will pop up. It's nice, honestly though, to finally be able to "plan ahead" again...I'm a planner by nature, which made the past couple of month particularly difficult as I couldn't really do much for Jefferson. Now at Calvary, I've already got schedules through the end of the year, and I'm looking at sermons for the coming months.
Chris and I are just so excited to be at Calvary. It's much easier know that Jefferson/Doubs is in good hands. Still, it's strange to remind myself that now I'm HERE. Calvary is now "our church" not "their church." But I'll get the hang of it. Heck, I thought getting used to a new last name was a hard adjustment, but now, not even a year into married life, it's so natural.
My only disappointment today was that I missed the donkeys at our house. Really! While Chris was down here at Calvary, he called camp to check in and other than hearing that things were going well, he was told they had a story to tell him about donkeys at our house, and that they meant literally. I had to wait till later in the afternoon to find out that apparently this morning Natalie had been past our house and saw donkeys. No one believed her at first when she came over to camp to tell them. Seems one of our neighbor's donkeys had indeed gotten out and had wandered to our house. I can only imagine how much out dogs must have been freaking out! At any rate, the donkeys were restored to their rightful owner. I hear there are pictures! I'll try to post them if I can get a hold of them!
That's all for now...perhaps I'll work on my sermon...or start combing the pages of the photo directory...
Chris and I set out about 7 am this morning, to grab some breakfast, drop the car off for an oil change, then head into downtown Frederick, with out SUV loaded with books and "office decor". We got to Calvary a little after 8 am an spent the morning moving furniture--including dismantling the huge old metal desk that was in the associate's office, replacing it with a small wooden table that's just perfect for my laptop. Basically, the office went from a large desk, a computer desk, two 2-drawer file cabinets, 4 bookcases, 2 chairs and a desk chair (and it's a nice size office but not that big...to 2 bookcases, a desk chair, 2 file cabinets, 2 chairs and a small wooden table. All I need now is a little rug, and I've got an office and a cozy little seating area.
Thanks to Chris, in addition to moving all the furniture (which I would NEVER have been able to do myself anyway) we got all the books and stuff unpacked, which has been really nice--to not have to start working with boxes piled. I know they say a pastor shouldn't spend all their time at first setting up their office, but I just don't work well in chaos. By mid-morning we were done, and I met with Ken, showed Chris around the church, and Chris and I got lunch then he picked up the car from the shop and headed back.
I spent my afternoon calling some church leaders (over two dozen!), trying to figure out my printer (got it figured out!), going over some intro info, and just generally trying to settle in. Tonight the youth are gathering for a service night, so I figured I'd pop in to say hello, then will head home and be back in tomorrow morning.
LOL...as I'm typing this, the phone rang. I have no idea if my phone rings with all calls or just ones to me, so I had this moment of panic thinking "Wait. Where am I? How should I answer?!" But don't worry...I got it figured out!
Already I've also been juggling some ministry needs, and I know as I settle in, more will pop up. It's nice, honestly though, to finally be able to "plan ahead" again...I'm a planner by nature, which made the past couple of month particularly difficult as I couldn't really do much for Jefferson. Now at Calvary, I've already got schedules through the end of the year, and I'm looking at sermons for the coming months.
Chris and I are just so excited to be at Calvary. It's much easier know that Jefferson/Doubs is in good hands. Still, it's strange to remind myself that now I'm HERE. Calvary is now "our church" not "their church." But I'll get the hang of it. Heck, I thought getting used to a new last name was a hard adjustment, but now, not even a year into married life, it's so natural.
My only disappointment today was that I missed the donkeys at our house. Really! While Chris was down here at Calvary, he called camp to check in and other than hearing that things were going well, he was told they had a story to tell him about donkeys at our house, and that they meant literally. I had to wait till later in the afternoon to find out that apparently this morning Natalie had been past our house and saw donkeys. No one believed her at first when she came over to camp to tell them. Seems one of our neighbor's donkeys had indeed gotten out and had wandered to our house. I can only imagine how much out dogs must have been freaking out! At any rate, the donkeys were restored to their rightful owner. I hear there are pictures! I'll try to post them if I can get a hold of them!
That's all for now...perhaps I'll work on my sermon...or start combing the pages of the photo directory...
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