Advocacy

As is my habit, I'm posting my article for the newsletter (I have the front about twice a year). Here is March's article (and watch for promised related blog postings!):

It has certainly been a whirlwind few months for Chris and me! On November 18, we welcomed our first child, Anna Marie, into the world. Since then, our lives have been a flurry of diapers, nursing sessions, sleep, waking up at all hours, and as time has passed, watching Anna grow and learn. Chris and I have also grown and continue to learn—and continue to reflect on what kind of parents we want to be for Anna. After all—we cannot so much form her as we can form ourselves and hopefully by our example help form her.

As I have reflected on my own childhood, one of the things I am reminded of is the way that social issues—and indeed even political topics—was a normal part of our family’s conversations. By fourth grade I was reading and listening to the sermons of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and I was hearing about local campaigns involving church members. All of this played a role in my own involvement in politics—both student government and local (Baltimore City) politics. I help lead my high school and the city student governments as well as serving on the city school board as a student member. My life was saturated with public service. And then junior year, it all started to change. My call to politics began turning into a call into ministry.

Since then, I have so focused on my religious education and ministry preparation that what once was a near obsession for me has become less even than a hobby. I suppose that as I began my ministry, I was quite aware that my job (as I see it at least) is first and foremost to help lead people more deeply into discipleship and community. And I have seen too many examples of pastors who have apparently decided that they are only truly following Jesus if they take a stand on a political or social issue that instantly draws fire. I do not personally see my job as making people angry just for the sport of it.

BUT—I do believe that as a Christian, which is a more powerful identity for me even than ministry, I and all of us are called to speak to those issues which affect people’s lives. As United Methodists, we follow in the long tradition of John Wesley—and of Jesus—in our commitment to speak for the least, the last and the lost. Wherever there are people whose voices are not being heard, and who are suffering, we are called to speak up.

On February 17^th, I had the opportunity to gather with other United Methodists in our state to learn about and advocate for issues on this session’s agenda in Annapolis. The event was organized by our conference United Methodist Women and Calvary’s own Beth Reilly (who works as our annual conference’s advocacy coordinator). We learned about the three legislative advocacy focuses this session for United Methodists: immigration, human trafficking and the alcohol tax/health care. All of these issues are within the main focuses of United Methodist concern all the way back to John Wesley!

After learning more about these issues, and the bills on this session’s agenda related to them, we set out in small groups to visit senators. My group, comprised of several Calvary members and a couple other Frederick area UM clergy, visited Frederick’s Senator Ron Young as well as the office of a senator from Baltimore County. We had been charged with advocacy on the immigration issue—specifically a bill (SB 167/HB 470) which would broaden the eligibility for in-state college tuition to include students who attended Maryland schools and have paid taxes in the state.

It was, I have to admit, nice to be back in Annapolis speaking for issues that affect the lives of God’s children. Indeed, I know that Calvary is blessed to have many people who are very involved in local, state and even national politics. I also know that our congregation is made up of people of all politics parties and varieties—and no matter what our political stances we are all seeking to serve God in all we do. I hope that you will join me in a renewed focus on how we as followers of Christ can come together and advocate for the least, the last and the lost.

This focus will take many different forms in the coming year. You may have opportunity to learn about issues of focus for the United Methodist Church, write letters or make calls in support of those issues, encourage others to do the same, pray for these important social justice issues, or even take part in a discussion about the issues or even particular pieces of legislation. All of this is indeed part of our faithfulness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

My days of political campaigns may have ended in high school, but my interest in social issues must never end. It was good to be reminded of this at the legislative day in Annapolis. And as much as I do hope you will join me in speaking to these issues, my hope most of all is that Chris and I can help Anna understand the importance of doing so. I pray that she never shirks from the opportunity to speak for the least, the last and the lost. Such is our task as followers of Jesus Christ, who did just that.

Grace and Peace.

Rev. Sarah Schlieckert

For more information about the issues and bills mentioned in this article, visit Pastor Sarah’s blog at http://divinepassive.blogspot.com

Sermon Prep: Money

Interested in how I go about working on sermons? This week I'm turning to John Wesley to get the juices flowing about this Sunday's topic, what difference being a Christian makes for how we handle money. If you're interested, here are a couple of his money-related sermons:


Sermon 50: The Use of Money

Sermon 87: The Danger of Riches

UMCRM, Last Day

So I wasn't really looking forward to today. For a few reasons. Anna's been pretty good this entire time (knock on wood), other than her nighttime sleep being a bit off-kilter, and I had a thought in the back of my mind that it could change at any moment! Plus, at any rate, the only way we've made it work is that basically, she's either nursing, playing on a blanket on the floor, or napping in the Moby--and that can wear on your back after a couple days! Mostly, though, I was really bummed that the two workshops I was really wanting to attend on finances were canceled because the speaker couldn't make it here because of the snow storm hitting the midwest. I almost backed out of workshops all together.

But I'm so glad I didn't! The morning was good. Bishop Weaver is a great preacher, and I've enjoyed hearing him all week. The other speaker wasn't nearly that good--her talk to me seemed like something I could have put together with little time to prepare, and it wasn't as cohesive as I would have personally preferred. Like she had lots of little favorite bits she wanted to share, and plugged them together without really culling them and focusing what she wanted to say.

In the end, Chris and I decided to attend workshops together today, which at any rate I figured would be helpful with Anna, since it would give me someone to hold her to take a bit of a break at least while she wasn't sleeping or nursing! (The trick was always to anticipate what she'd need next, and by doing so, keep any fussing to a bare minimum.)

In the morning we attended a workshop with Bishops Weaver and Swanson speaking about the importance of CRM. Now, I'm not sure exactly why they'd offer such a seminar, kind of like preaching to the choir, isn't it? Bishop Swanson spoke mostly, since he'd only just arrived and Bishop Weaver has been speaking in various settings all week. But what I thought was best pointed out for folks attending (and what he'd also said in the workshop yesterday) was Bishop Weaver responding to a question about getting more bishops as interested in CRM as these two are. He made three points:

1. Everyone has their own gifts, and the same is true of bishops
2. Bishops no longer (if they ever did) can guaruntee the success of a thing--people simply don't follow the bishop's lead like that, and so it's more important to get broader buy-in
3. There are some bishops you just wouldn't want out at the camps (which doesn't mean, however, he said, that they can't be a good supporter of it)

It always seems like people think the bishop's vocal support is the panacea to a host of problems. Now I certainly think such support can make a world of difference, but too often it serves as a cover for issues (like failing to build broad support in the conference) that not only CRM, but any ministry, faces.

For the two afternoon workshops, Chris and I actually attended a two-part session on project management. Wow. Very helpful. Totally. I've had a Harvard Business Review subscription for maybe a year now, but am still catching up on some basic things like this. I cannot tell you how much this workshop rocked me world--in a good way. I've been wanting to take this opportunity, getting back into things after leave, to really think about HOW I do things, how I approach tasks, to work smarter and be more effective. I really think this approach will help me. I won't go into detail now. Maybe once I've had a chance to let things sink in more, I can summarize it better, but right now, it's all making my head swim! Of course, this stuff isn't new to lots of people in the business world, but I'm anxious to see how I can use it (in a helpful way, not a crazy bureaucratic way) to be more efficient and effective in my work.

So, all in all, it's been a really good conference. And that's saying something coming from me, because I get frustrated and bored easily at these sorts of things.

I've been reminded this week of how wonderful these sorts of opportunities are--time to get away and think about HOW we do our minsitry, which is often not possible (or as possible) in the heat of actually doing it. I know that I've had really turning point moments at conferences, and I know this one will also really give me a boost in ministry. There's always some reservations about taking the time to go to these (and let's be honest, some are a waste of time), but the set-apart time can be very refreshing. And add actually really learning new things on top of it? It feels much better going back to my day job after a week away when I can feel very confident that this week away will make me a much better pastor. Of course, the challenge always is processing all this great stuff into something I can use (that takes some time!).

So I'm excited to get back, and see how this plays out. It was good timing for me as I re-evaluate HOW I work, and I hope it proves to be as helpful as I think it will.

UMCRM Conference, Second Full Day

So today was a much shorter conference day, because they gave us the afternoon off. I briefly toyed with the idea of tagging along with Chris and the other Manidokan folks, but having Anna with me, either nursing or in the Moby wrap ALL day takes it's toll...on my back if nothing else. It was also a good chance to catch up, when I could, on work e-mails, etc.

At our morning session, Leonard Sweet gave a great talk using the creation account and tying it to Revelation. He talked about the importance of reading the Bible like and apple not an orange (take it whole, not layer by layer). And explained that by doing that, you catch things like the fact the God's first command in the Bible is to eat freely, and the last command is to drink freely. He also had a great bit about the importance of keeping your soil moist, and Chris got a kick out of LS saying that camp and retreat centers are moisturizers.

Bishop Peter Weaver also spoke talking more about Esther, the text for the conference. Anna was a bit fussy and nursed during his talk, so I didn't catch it as well.

We only had one workshop, and I went to one on the four areas of focus for the UMC. Again, Anna fussed a bit, so I missed some, but I got to hear about the four area: leadership, new faith communities, poverty, diseases of poverty. We didn't end up having a ton of time to talk about each, but folks shared some ideas of what their sites are doing.

So, a good day, but short. It's a mixed blessing, because a shorter day is easier with Anna, but I gain less. And at any rate, I'm missing the evening worship sessions because of Anna's bedtime. I'd feel bad if it was a presentation, but worship? I'll live.

If I had the booklet I could look up what I'm doing for workshops tomorrow, but Chris is off at worship with it, so it will be a fun surprise. :-)

UMCRM Conference, First Full Day

So this week, Anna and I are joining Chris at the United Methodist Camp and Retreat Ministries Conference. CRM folks gather every two years--the last gathering was in CA and Chris and I took advantage of having to go to CA to visit San Francisco and Napa. This year, it's being held at Lake Junaluska, or as I like to call it, the Methodist Mecca of the South. Boy, is it different to attend this with a 10 1/2 week old! But, Anna has been a trooper and thus far I've been able to attend everything, including three workshops today.

The first workshop I attended, Chris also attended. It was on dashboards and score cards, and though it was a very simple overview of those, I am embarrassed to say I've never really heard about them before. The presenter started by using Jean-Luc Picard as an example for what dashboards and score cards are getting at--a status update. She asked what he does on the show when he walks onto the bridge. Well, he asks "Number One" for the status. She explained that he's not asking about everything that's happening on the ship, just the key functions. I thought this was a really good way to explain how we set that indicators to track. I think it's really easy to list a ton of things we want to track, and kind of miss the forest for the trees. Of course that's not to say other functions (other than key indicators) are not important, just that as long as you have good key indicators, those are good ways to get a general picture of how things are going.

I also liked the graphic representations that score cards can take--my favorite which I think is really easy, is to use something like a traffic light (green, yellow and red). I also liked her explanation that the "score" should not be set by committee, but by a well-informed leader, and used as a starting point for discussion for the group. I thought this was a good point, since otherwise, you'd likely spend so much time debating the proper "score" (at least with only three options it shouldn't be too off). Instead, it's better to actually work on improving those things that need it.

The second workshop I attended was on camp couples. I actually had planned to attend a different one, but I had to nurse Anna in between lunch and that workshop, and just didn't feel like booking it to the other building. I"m really glad I want to the camp couples one, though, because I got some good advice for raising kids at camp. One couple had some great ideas, including the wife (the husband is the director) comes to staff training to give a presentation on family rules--which include that their house is private, that camps rules should be enforced on their children as well, and that since their three young kids join mom and dad for dinner, dad (the camp director) is off limits to staff for the first 20 minutes of each meal so they can be together as family. I thought there were lots of good ideas in those and others shared.

Finally, I attended a workshop on doing annual donor dinners. One of the areas I really wish I'd learned more about in seminary is finances--we did some, and I learned a lot in my internships, but it's an important area of ministry that doesn't come as naturally to me as it does some people (I don't think it comes very naturally to most pastors--God bless the elect few it does). I learned a lot of really interesting stuff in the workshop, and I'm looking forward to the other financially-oriented workshops I'm signed up for this week. I'm really hoping to focus my continuing ed. time on financial stuff for a bit now...try to get a bit more comfortable and educated about it all.

So, we'll see how the rest of the week goes. I had to miss Leonard Sweet's presentation tonight because of Anna's bedtime, so I'm looking forward to hearing him tomorrow. Chris just texted and said he was really good tonight.

At any rate, it's always nice to keep learning more and growing more, as a pastor and as a person.