Lunch and Learn Instructions:

To the Lunch and Learn participants:  explore these blogs — or any other blogs you find — consider how they are doing ministry. Don’t necessarily read in order, or decently, or restrict at all.  Go, now, hurry up, click away and don’t freak out, the Holy Spirit has wifi access, I promise.

• CTS Student David Park: Next Gener.Asian Church
• The Christian Century Blog Network, CC Blogs
• My Montreat
• Bruce Reyes-Chow’s Blog, dad, husband, pastor, moderator, geek
• Adam Walker Cleaveland’s blog, Pomomusings
• Fidelia’s Sisters, The Young Women Clergy Project
• Tribal Church
• Tensegrities, a blog by Mary Hess a professor at Luther Seminary

Twitter Presentation to CTS Staff/Faculty

prolegomena

• I’ve only been Twittering for six weeks.
• I enjoy it, I’ve experienced it, I’ve read up on it a bit, but….I wouldn’t want to take a Carlos exam on it.
• Sort of like Montreat: really difficult to explain; you just have to experience it for yourself
• credit and thanks to: http://microblog4gov.pbwiki.com/Webinar Jeffrey Levy, Director of Web Communications, EPA (and example of use of Twitter)

here we go:

Imagine if you could….

• get quick answers to simple questions (like, what new book do you recommend?)
• throw out new ideas to get responses from people whose opinions you trust
• be supported by colleagues and friends around the world (say more….)
• keep up with the buzz
• establish a network of people involved in issues similar to yours, with the ability to check them out beyond a handshake

2. Basics
* (show simple tweet) Online, 140 characters
* (show public stream) Visible to all, in theory, but…
* Mostly, other people aren’t listening
* Create a professional account
*Differences between microblog, FB status, IM other? (this is key. show the difference.)

2b Images
*front porch
*stream/river
*cocktail party
*lifestreaming
*waterhole
*microblogging

3. Focus, or — so, how do you network now?
* (show @xxx tweet) With people you know
* So what?
o Like quick conversation in hall, on elevator
o Tweet as “look at this” / “here’s more” / “whaddya think?”

4. Professional ways to use Twitter (why use it?)
* Networking
o Meeting people in your field
o Who does @aaa follow? I’ll check out @bbb, then.
o Two-way communications
+ issue discussions
* Listening
o Early detection system
o Opinions, feedback from experts
* Broadcasting
o Sharing resources
+ Website, doc, event
+ RSS feed
o Live tweeting (at conferences)
o Public outreach/explanations

5. Following (as in, so how do I do that)
* (show a tweet from @yyy) Who’s this?
* (show @yyy profile) Aha
* (show @yyy stream) Okay, this person’s got stuff to say
(show follow) Now I can see what they say

6. Joining the conversation (Using Twitter)
* Posting
* Retweeting
Direct messages

Getting Started….if time

Additional Info:
–note mobile device/cpu divine
–twitter clients (Tweetdeck, Tweetie, Twitterific, DetroyTwitter)
–Search twitter: search.twitter.com

End with:
Doc Searls, “Screw Popularity. Just Make Yourself Useful”
“”Friends” and “followers” aren’t what matter. If you want substance, you need useful inputs. Not volume. Not style. Not popularity. Those have their places, just not in your face when you’re looking for useful and interesting stuff.”
….about being useful; Twitter as a tool for service

Sometimes — often, I’m afraid — seminarians forget how fortunate they are to be called to the vocation of learning. It happens fairly regularly, I think. All you want to do is serve a congregation as a pastor, so seminary seems like a hurdle to get over rather than three years to enjoy. I’m of a another mindset, however. Whatever follows seminary will be great, but I’m in no hurry to skip the blessings of seminary. With this in mind, here’s A Day in the Life of a Seminarian (basically, my Monday past.)

After going to bed about 1:00 am, I wake around 7:30. Well, “wake” is more suggestive than actual because I hit the snooze for a good thirty minutes before finally getting up and firing up the coffee pot. Off to an 8:45 am men’s prayer group. I could tell you what we talk about, but I’d have to kill you.

Come 10:00 there’s daily chapel led by senior MDiv students. Monday is a service of morning prayer which you’ll probably recognize as Presbyterian, but will also have some more intentional creative elements than your regular three hymns and a prayer. Sometimes it’s great. Sometimes, it’s, well, more experimental.

10:30 = coffee break. Students, faculty, and staff mosey on over to the refectory for the ritual of caffeine, mini bagels (rice krispy treats on a good day), and conversation. A great time to see friends who aren’t in your classes, chat with a prof about non class things, or commiserate about all the work you have to do.

11:00 I’m off to class, in this case, Introduction to Christian Ethics. This day we discuss the place of faith in the public debate of global issues, specifically world hunger. If there is enough food produced every year to feed every person in the world, but if millions die from hunger-related causes each year, how should the Christian respond and is that response unique or different from a Jew or agnostic?

12:30 Lunch. Back to the refectory, perhaps, for some not so healthy food but holy conversation on Harry Potter banquet-looking tables.

1:30 Back to class: Creation, New Creation, and Ecology where we discuss a chapter of a book on how the commodification of time affects worship, church life, and service in general. This class of twelve students is team taught by an old testament and new testament professor. The old testament prof, having written a book on Ecclesiastes, invites us to whip out our bibles and reflect on the sage’s understanding of time. The new testament prof mentions Jesus or Paul or something.

3:00-6:30 Break. Or in this case, time to get some exercise in. A trip to the library is always in order. Then brewing more coffee before class.

6:30-9:30 It’s “suicide day” in pastoral care. After a lecture we break up into small groups and role-play how to talk someone out of suicide, moving methodically through the steps we’ve just learned. Back with the entire group, we discuss warning signs and theological implications.

9:30 onward Reading. Writing. Facebooking. Recovering. Sleep.

It’s really quite a great life, I’d say. But I do wonder what might follow once all my classes are completed. Then again, I’ve got some studying to do.

What’s Cov Net?

Covenant Network is the largest PC(USA) affinity group working for the deletion of what in Presbyterian lingo is called “Amendment B,” and in real world speak is a few sentences in our constitution added in the late 90s that, in practice, bar gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender members from being ordained to the office of elder or minister.  Cov Net was formed for the sole purpose of deleting this amendment.  They still have work to do.

Conference Overview

This year’s conference theme was, “Covenant: God is Faithful Still” and we were warmly hosted by the gracious congregation of Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis.  I was really impressed with the congregation’s organization and with the spirit with which they welcomed us.

The three day event included six worship services — who said Presbyterians don’t like our worship? — and featured three plenary presentations.  William Stacey Johnson of Princeton Seminary delivered two addresses, “I will be your God–But how?” and “You will be my people’–But when and where?”  Johnson, in his usual entertaining way, delved deeply into an explication of God’s covenant with us.  I can’t do justice to his presentation in this space, but I will say that it both emphasized to extent to which our world is a place of injustice — ”becoming used to injustice may be hazardous to our spiritual health,” he said — and the confession that God is going to fix it.  Johnson’s view of God is of a compassionate, emotional, heart-broken God, God who is less the unmoved mover and more the caring, self-giving, hands-dirtying God whom we glimpse in Calvin who writes, “God is known where humanity is cared for.”

Walter Brueggemann delivered the second address, “Summoned to a Dialogic Life” which nicely shook hands with Johnson’s work.  Based on the covenant of Abraham and Moses, Brueggemann said, we see not an unmoving God of certitude, but a God in covenant, not a God concerned with intellectual certitude but with God with-us-ness (well, something like that.)

Preachers Diane Givens Moffett, Barbara Lunblad, Eily Marlow, and John Wilkinson proclaimed the word with wisdom and joy.

Workshops

The organizers offered many workshops including conversations with Walter Brueggemann, William Stacy Johnson, Barbara Lundblad; justice messages that work, from the Human Rights Campaign; changes in the PC(USA) legal landscape; building community across differences; study and discernment processes; best practices in congregational leadership, mission, education, worship, and music; what the Bible says (and doesn’t say) about homosexuality; what determines sexual orientation; what our young people wish we knew.

I really enjoyed my workshops.  One was my first foray into polarity management.  In the other I heard the story of how a diverse Michigan congregation journeyed together through the discernment process on Amendment B and same-sex unions in the sanctuary.

New This Year: Youth Track

I am of two minds regarding the first time youth track of the conference.  On the one hand, I was thrilled to see 30+ youth and young adults from late high school to college to seminarians and pastors have the option of attending workshops and social events designed with younger folks in mind.  Cov Net, as an organization, is aware of the need to include young people in greater numbers than in past forms of the network (and, by the way, did a good job of having young adults lead worship and preach).  I was heartened by the young adult caucus presentation on Saturday morning — and thrilled that the leadership gave the young adult caucus report 30 minutes of floor time.

On the other hand, I’m always aware of the danger of grouping folks by ages.  Though I didn’t feel too too much of it in this case, I always get a bit suspicious when youth are assumed to speak with a unified voice, or are given a “special status” that can too easily become a marginalized one.  It’s the old danger of Youth Sunday — as if that is the only sunday in the year when youth are noticed and welcomed into leadership.

Curiously Quiet?

Overall, the conference was very well run and certainly successful, but I do wonder about a certain lack of, shall I say, “spunk.”  Vigor.  Energy.  I didn’t get the feeling the group was really pumped about the possibility of deleting Amendment B (or replacing it, really) 18 months from now.  They seemed cautiously optimistic, perhaps, but with an emphasis on the “cautious.”

Perhaps this is just a Presbyterian family trait, aided by the rocky economy.  Perhaps the progressive movement is very concerned with what a “win” on B will do to the unity of the PC(USA).  Perhaps they were just tired after campaigning for Obama.  Or, perhaps, they need a jolt of enthusiasm from the Greek, “enthous” for “possessed by God, inspired.”

For funsies: conference coverage around the internets:

• Shuck and Jive gives his take here.
• Presbyterian News Service story.
• Presbyterian Outlook story.
• Witherspoon Society here.
• any other bloggers out there? let me know

I just posted my first monthly column over at Presbyterian Bloggers.  You should really read it there, but for folks who use RSS, I post it here.  Comment here, there, and everywhere.    

—————–

This is my first post in a new monthly column on Presbyterian Bloggers creatively entitled, “Seminary Reflections.” It’s about, um, well, reflections from a Presbyterian seminarian.

By way of introduction: I’m a senior Master of Divinity student at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. Last year I served as a full-time Assistant Minister at a congregation in the Church of Scotland during which time I started my blog, A Wee Blether. I’ve really enjoyed my time at Columbia and am a big advocate of the school (not to say we’re perfect). That said, my posts will be more broadly focused on PC(USA) seminary in general rather than specifically oriented to life at Columbia.

My first reflection has to do with seminary curriculum and the practical life of a pastor. For a few years now, I’ve helped gather support during Columbia’s annual Fall Phonathon. This task involves calling alumni and friends of the seminary to ask for pledges to the Annual Fund. When speaking to a CTS grad currently serving as a pastor, one of my favorite questions to break the ice is, “I’m about to sign up for courses for spring semester and have room for some electives. Now that you’re in the parish, looking back, what sorts of classes do you wish you would have taken more of?”

Curiously, I get a wide variety of far-from-consistent answers. There was the pastor who told me he really wishes he would have taken more Bible courses. He said that several folks in his congregation just know their Bible better than he, so he wished, for their sake and his, that he would have taken more Bible electives.

Then there was the pastor who told me I should take every Christian Ed course I could. “That’s what you use immediately when you get out,” she said. “Even if you know everything in the world about something, if you don’t know how to teach it it’s no use.”

Several folks I spoke with said they wished they had taken more classes from a particular beloved professor. Others, now serving a church in a context they had not anticipated, wish they would have taken a course particular to inner-city ministry, or rural ministry, or older adult ministry.

Though I’m not participating in this year’s Phonathon, I have the usual class choice dilemma, this year even more so as it’s my last semester.

Should I take, “Theology, Ethics, and Sexuality” or “Death, Dying, and Bereavement”? “Paul Tillich on Sin and Salvation” or “Literature for Christian Children”? “Wisdom Literature” or “Hispanic and Latino Culture and Theologies”? There’s the ultra practical “Leading Christian Worship” or “Greek Reading” or “Exploring the Missional Church”?

What a quandary! Thank goodness, I’m under no illusion that one’s pastoral education stops when one graduates. In fact, I think only then does it truly begin. But it’s an interesting thought experiment, current pastors considering what they would like to study more of at the moment.

If you’re a pastor out there (or other interested folk), what would you choose?

Depending when I get it, I may put up video later.

Genesis 6:5-22

The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created–people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.

These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth. Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its heigh thirty cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.

But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and yours sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

Of the birds according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, of every animal, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.” Noah did this; he did all that God had commanded him.

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Adam J. Copeland
September 30, 2008
Columbia Theological Seminary Chapel

Flood

[Refrain]
God said, For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. (But…)

A second flood is coming. Just like the last, caused by human sin.. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body made up of the world’s top scientists, reports the harrowing data. Around the world, snow cover is diminishing. Temperatures are increasing. And ocean levels are slowly and dangerously rising.

The IPCC, known for its accurate though conservative evaluations, estimates that average global temperatures will rise between 1 and 6 degrees centigrade (up to ten degrees Fahrenheit) in the next 90 years.

Models project extinctions of more than 50% of the earth’s species. As snow cover and ice caps melt, sea levels will rise, best estimated between 3 and 20 feet this century. Sea level rises affect the world’s poorest, as 50% of the earth’s population lives near rivers and oceans. Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries, is projected to lose 20% of its land if sea levels rise just 3 feet, displacing millions.

Islands will disappear. Animals, plants, and humans beings, will die. A second flood is coming.

God said, For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. (But…)

On my yearlong internship last year in the Church of Scotland, I conducted many funerals–my supervisor leads up to 100 a year. In the Scottish church, conducting funerals is a primary role of a pastor.

The Church of Scotland Book of Worship includes this introduction to the funeral service:

Death is always a mystery.
Whenever it comes, it is never the end, but is always a beginning.
We know this because Jesus went down into the darkness of death,
and came back from it like the sun in full strength.

The death and resurrection of Jesus led to the glory of the morning.
We follow him through the door of death into a life of perfection and peace, the life of God godself.

That same Scottish book of worship includes prayers for the environment. “Guide those who have power to care for or destroy the environment” it reads. For Christians, death is never the last word, but did the authors consider writing a funeral liturgy for the earth?

God said, For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. (But…)

For decades, scientists have written and reported, spoken and screamed about these changes to God’s creation. And we pollute more. We consume more. We drive and we fly and we spend and we burn and we buy and we contribute to destruction of the planet entrusted to our care.

Our inaction to change, acts to exacerbate the problem. The United States, purportedly a majority Christian nation, lives to such extremes that if each person on earth consumed as we do, we would need eight planets to survive.

God said, For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. (But…)

In a Lutheran worship service at the baptism, water is slowly poured into the font. They pray over the water:

Blessed are you, O God, maker and ruler of all things. Your voice thundered over the waters at creation. You water the mountains and send springs into the valleys to refresh and satisfy all living things.

Through the waters of the flood you carried those in the ark to safety. Through the sea you led your people Israel from slavery to freedom. In the wilderness you nourished them with water from the rock, and you brought them across the river Jordan to the promised land.

By the baptism of his death and resurrection, your Son Jesus has carried us to safety and freedom. The floods shall not overwhelm us, and the deep shall not swallow us up, for Christ has brought us over to the land of promise.

God said, For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. (But…)

If each person lived as Americans do, we would need eight planets to survive. But is mere survival our chief end? Is survival an idol? Scientists tell us, no matter what we might do to combat climate change, our world will not last forever. The sun will not burn eternally. If science is our sole guide, we can be certain, the earth, one day, will no longer support life.

In a time of ecological crisis, what is our call, as baptized children of the covenant? As thinking, and doing, and grieving, and praying, and hoping people, what is our faithful response to creation’s crisis? What, if any, natural resources do we Christians have have left?

God said, For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. BUT I WILL ESTABLISH A COVENANT WITH YOU.

But I will establish a covenant with you.
A covenant of dying and rising. A covenant of washing away in a flood of grace. A covenant not based on our ability to save ourselves, but on God’s climate of constant care. Not a conditional covenant, a covenant that continues even in today’s crisis. But I will establish a covenant with you.

Baptized Christians already know how to die. To die, for in our baptism we died to sin, and were raised to walk in newness of life.

In this font we were baptized into Christ’s death, and now live with the knowledge of his resurrection.

With this water we have been buried with him by baptism into death, and from those flooded depths, raised to walk in newness of life.

Dead but alive.
Dirty but washed.
Enslaved but freed. Forgiven.

For Christians, death is vital. The funeral liturgy puts in plainly: our baptism is complete in death. For we Christians hear death, and think resurrection.

God said, For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. BUT I WILL ESTABLISH A COVENANT WITH YOU.

It’s difficult to know what to call it whether in Scotland or the U.S. We can simply call it a “funeral,” but that’s not very descriptive. Or maybe, “a service for the thanksgiving of life,” but there’s nothing particularly Christian about that. Simply “memorial service” sounds good, but then again we build memorials, not attend them.

As one writer puts it, “The central doctrine of the Christian faith is the resurrection.” So perhaps a funeral is best described as “A Service of Witness to the Resurrection.”

A Christian funeral–a service of witness to Christ’s resurrection. In other words, even in our grief, the church gathers as an Easter people. We grieve, but not as those who have no hope for we are covenant people, and in life and in death we belong to God.

[refrain]
God said, For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. BUT I WILL ESTABLISH A COVENANT WITH YOU.
The Lord saved Noah and his family. The Lord gave instructions to Noah and, what’s more, a promise. The Lord established a covenant.

Today’s text, though, does not yet take us to the rainbow. Noah can’t yet see what we see. Today we leave Noah and his family preparing the ark, readying supplies, thanking God for their safety but trusting only in the covenant that will be established.

BUT I WILL ESTABLISH A COVENANT WITH YOU.

In our flood preparations, as the earth’s climate changes, we, like Noah, cannot see the ending. We don’t know which of the dire predictions will come to pass. We’re not sure what governments will do to clean up their act. We’re just making the preparations, anticipating, waiting, for the flood to surely come.

Except… in one respect we’re not like Noah waiting for the flood. Noah hoped the water would not kill him, but we have already died in that water, and been risen again with Christ. Noah longed for the covenant; we were baptized into it.

So we have natural resources untapped in Noah’s day. Baptismal hope: life-giving, soul-sustaining, God-centering hope that should flood our every deed.

Hope that though the climate change predictions are dire and daunting, in our baptism God seals our safety.

Hope that though the earth fades and fumes, in our baptism God seals our call to treat it well.

Hope that though loved ones die and funerals take place, in our baptism God seals all as Christ’s own forever.

Hope that though another flood is coming, in our baptism God seals the first flood of Christ’s love.

Hope that though we are in the not yet, a new creation is coming. Christ’s final resurrection. When creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Marantha. Come. Lord, Come.  

Amen.

[the last line, by the way, is a quote from a sung prayer for illumination occurring before the scripture was read]

It’s been a year, but school starts back for me this week.  Joan Gray preaches for our Opening Convocation Service Thursday, and I’m busy today and Wednesday with orientation.  Though I loved my time in full-time parish ministry last year, I’m also eager to begin again the holy conversations that occur in the classroom.

One of the reasons I came to Columbia Seminary was the practical nature of their curriculum–we’re known as a seminary with a high standard of academic excellence which actually prepares pastors for ministry in the church.  All the book learning in the world is no good if you can’t run a session meeting or plan a worship service or think you’re above cleaning the toilets. Though Columbia has its quirks and nothing really can totally prepare you for parish ministry, I’d say my expectations have been more than met.

So I’m really looking forward to my classes, and to reclaiming the pace of academic life. Greatly enriched by my yearlong experiences in Scotland and anticipating a future pastoral call, I have high hopes that this academic year will strike a solid balance between the church and the academy.

Here’s my classes:

Introduction to Pastoral Care, Professor Pamela Cooper-White
Introduces the basics of pastoral care ministry, provides experience in pastoral visitation, and examines issues most clergy face. Supervised clinical practice facilitates theological reflection, personal growth, and pastoral identity.

Rebuilding Our House: Community and Theology in the Post-Exile, Professor Christine Yoder
Explores the socio-historical and theological world of 539 to 331 BCE; emphasizes the redefinition of community, the role of the temple, idolatry and purity, and the threat of “foreign” women, and considers how the post-exile may inform understandings of the contemporary church and the practice of ministry. 

Christian Ethics, Professor Mark Douglas
Studies the biblical, theological, and philosophical foundations of Christian ethics.

New Creation and Ecology: Practicing in the Garden, Professors Stan Saunders & Bill Brown
Explores dimensions of the ecological crises facing the present generation; presents theological, scriptural, and anthropological resources for shaping sustainable ecological behavior; examines traditional Christian practices pertaining to community, the Body, and the world; and offers resources and models for working with congregations and young people on environmental issues.

I’m looking forward to each and every course, and would have really enjoyed a number of others as well.  I’m not sure how I’ll cope with a very heavy load early in the week and no class Thursday or Friday, but I’ll approach gaining the discipline to make that schedule work as a learning experience itself.

Off to make some room on bookshelves…

When this post goes live, my class will be graduating without me. Well, technically, I suppose at that moment they cease to become “my class.”

As they walk across the stage, get their handy diplomas and fancy hoods, I’ll be sitting in the congregation, only a little more than 2/3 of the way towards my degree. My internship in Scotland added a year to my studies. So as many of my “classmates” head off to their first calls, I’ll be heading back to the states for another year of courses.

This week in Decatur has affirmed, in many ways, my decision to serve as an intern in Scotland. I feel called to be a solo pastor, and without this year of full-time – pretty intense – practical experience, I’d be even less prepared for the rigors and riches of solo ministry than I’ll be in a years’ time. In fact, of a quick mental search of those graduates my age, I can’t think of many at all who have accepted a solo call. So the year of parish experience was a really good idea; for it I’m very grateful.

I’m eager to return to campus and begin classes, with a year’s experience under my belt, and a head full of new questions.

But I don’t expect next year to be easy. I’ll be joining a new class with already-established patterns and personalities. I’ll miss my friends. I’ll have new neighbors. And the whole year will be one of anticipating another move come graduation.

So today is bittersweet for me. A foretaste of my feast to come, but it’s a feast for which I’m not yet hungry. No hurry. All in good time.

Today, though: Congratulations to the CTS Class of 2008!

for audio, click above

Ayr: St. Columba Church
Pentecost
Acts 2:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

To the Glory of God

I have a friend who finds the signs and plaques of the presbyterian church problematic. At my presbyterian seminary in Atlanta, there’s a beautiful quadrangle with a lush field in the center. Paths run between the four buildings–administration, classrooms, library, and refectory–but not over the central grassy area students just call “the quad.” And at the edge of the quad, a brass plaque reads, “The Oldenberg Quadrangle, dedicated to the glory of God in gratitude for the service of Douglas Oldenberg, President of Columbia Theological Seminary, 1987-2000.”

And if you’re standing above the plaque and look around, you’ll see many wooden benches lining the paths. On each bench is another plaque bearing the name of a generous donor to the work of the seminary and at the top of each plaque, above the name and the date, they all say, “To the glory of God.”

To this friend of mine, these plaques seem a bit showy, maybe over the top, and he questions the authenticity of the words, “To the glory of God.” He thinks writing “To the glory of God” toots one’s own horn rather than God’s.

I don’t know, maybe I’m just too presbyterian, or not cynical enough, but most of me wants to believe folk really are giving To the Glory of God. We at St. Columba know this well, look on the plaques below the stained glass windows when you leave. Or choir, look at the two plaques on the organ. At the top of each, in bold script, you’ll read, “To the glory of God.”

I’m not certain where the phrase originated, but it echoes the famous first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, adopted by the Scottish General Assembly in 1647. “What is our chief end?” the first question asks, “To give glory to God, and enjoy God forever.”

Now Peter, in the book of Acts, was around long before Columbia Seminary existed, years before the church in Scotland, but Peter, in today’s reading, lives and breathes the mantra “To the glory of God.”

Picture the very strange scene. The apostles were all hanging out in Jerusalem, flummoxed, trying to develop a marketing strategy for God who allows God’s own son to be crucified, and suddenly, from heaven comes a sound like the rush of wind and they were filled with Holy Spirit and started speaking in tongues.

Now if I were Peter at this point, I think I’d be pretty angry at God. As if worshiping a crucified savior weren’t enough, now they’re supposed to go around speaking foreign languages sounding like they’re crazy!

But God knew what God was doing, because the Jews from all over Jerusalem began to take notice. Now Jerusalem was a center of commerce, so folks from all over the world were in town, and when they heard the apostles speaking in tongues, they all understood each other in their native language.

The crowd tries to explain away this strange work of Holy Spirit, figuring all the apostles must be drunk. Which, if we’re being honest, sounds like a pretty logical conclusion.

But Peter stands up and sets the record straight. As he speaks to the crowds, he does not try to explain away the oddities, he does not apologize, he does not say, “let me think about this, and I’ll get back to you.” He stands up and yells, “This was spoken to the prophet Joel” and he goes on to quote scripture off the top of his head. Then Peter quotes the psalms of King David.

Peter says this miracle of interpretation of tongues was all about God. He ends his preaching with the climax, Therefore, let the the whole world know that God has made Jesus both Lord and Messiah.

If I witnessed a ragtag cultish group of strangers start spouting-off in foreign languages, I’m pretty sure my first response would be to hightail it out of there, not to quote the Bible. But when the apostles were speaking in strange tongues, Peter immediately looks to scripture and explains how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together to the glory of God.

Peter lived out that first response in the Westminster catechism: to glorify God and enjoy God forever.

We’re called to live life through this same lens of glory to God. It’s a lens that doesn’t always lead to comfortable situations, nor to easy ones, but it’s the holy path.

For my Church History class in seminary, we wrote a weekly report on a historical text, the first paragraph of which, always stated through what lens one read the history text. So you’d read an ancient theologian through the lens of doctrine; or an early nun through the lens of gender. Similarly, when we live our lives, always seeking to peer through the lens of giving glory to God, we follow the gospel in its truest sense.

Hear me clearly now, always seeking to give glory to God is not a way of looking at the world that explains that all occurrences in the world are God’s direct doing, or God’s will. It doesn’t saying everything gives glory to God. Not God, but the Burmese government and military dictators stand the blame for not alerting its people of the cyclone heading its way, for not mobilizing relief workers, and for the hubris of not accepting foreign disaster relief.

Sometimes giving glory to God is crying with your neighbor in grief, or shouting your troubles at the Lord in prayer, or putting your hands to work in the wake of natural disaster.

A life giving glory to God is not somehow simple or straightforward, it’s just faithful.

In fact, if you view your life through the lens of giving glory to God, people will call you crazy. The crowd thought Peter and the apostles were drunk; they sneered and said, ‘They must be filled with new wine.’” And, indeed, giving glory to God in all things might get folks thinking you’re under the influence. Funny thing is, Peter and the apostles in Acts are under the influence, they’re under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and that leads to some amazing experiences.

Our reading this morning stopped at verse 21, but we really cut Peter off in mid-sermon. If we keep reading, we find that Peter continues preaching, quoting scripture, explaining the world through the lens of God’s glory, and at the end of his sermon the crowd was baffled, taken aback, or as one translation puts it, “cut to the heart.”

They believed, and wanted to know what to do, so Peter instructed the apostles to baptize them. And on that morning about 3,000 were baptized. That’s why we celebrate Pentecost as the birthday of the church.

But they newly baptized didn’t stop there, they didn’t go back to their normal lives with the same lens for living they held before. Acts tells us that an awe came upon them, and all who believed held all things in common, sold their goods and possessions, and distributed the proceeds to the needy. This is crazy stuff.

It’s almost like they were drunk, making what seemed like irrational decisions–selling their possessions and giving the proceeds away. Funny thing that giving glory to God. If you do it, truly do it, people will call you crazy.

One of these crazies told his story on American radio a few weeks ago. Each week on Story Corps, an everyday citizen tells a life story, and it’s broadcast on National Public Radio.

The Story Corps interview I’m remembering is of a New Yorker commuting home from work on the subway.

[much of the wording that follows comes from Thomas at Everyday Liturgy, "Give Your Coat Also."]

Long story short, every day the man would leave the subway to eat at his favorite diner. A couple of months ago the man got off the train and had a knife pointed at him by a young man, who demanded his money. The man calmly gave the boy his wallet, then as the boy was leaving called out to him, “Wait up!” The assailant turned around and the man offered him his jacket as well. Shocked, the boy asked why and the man said, “if you need money so badly, I figured you might need my jacket as well.” The two struck up a conversation, and then the man suggested to the boy that he should join him at his favorite diner, so they walked out of the subway and went to grab a bite to eat. After the meal was over, the young man shared his astonishment at the whole ordeal, to which the man replied, “you have to pay for this meal, because you took my wallet—I’m broke!” The would-be robber paid for the meal and gave the wallet back.

Once outside the diner, the man took a $20 out of his wallet and offered it to the young man, not as a gift, but as a purchase. “I know you need money,” said the man, “so I want to buy your knife from you.” So the young man handed his knife over and took the money.

Crazy! You know the man was probably drunk and just wasn’t thinking straight. Or…this man with the soft heart just put to action, the old phrase, To the glory of God.

We will all give glory to God in our own particular ways. We can’t all fly to Burma, we can’t all have the gall to offer an assailant our jacket as well. But we could give to Christian Aid, and we all can, in our own ways, live to the glory of God.

As Paul explains to the Corinthians, “Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are a variety of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.”

May you find your spiritual gifts. May you discern your way to serve God, even if folks think it’s crazy. And however it may be for you, may it all be to God’s glory, now and forever. Amen.

Due to the generosity of a Columbia Seminary Student Coordinating Council scholarship, last weekend I attended a conference near Edinburgh, Scotland (the scholarship covered my expenses from Ayr, Scotland, not Decatur, GA:) )

As part of my application for the scholarship, I suggested the best way to share my experience with the Columbia community–seeing as I’m still in Scotland–is through the magic of the interwebs, specifically this blog. So here’s my reflections and report. (To you CTS readers out there, please feel free to ask questions in the comments section, or to email me. I’ll do my best to respond quickly either in the comments or through a post, as I realize an in-person presentation on campus would have left ample time for questions.)

Setting the context:

Seven years ago, some good folks in the Church of Scotland brainstormed a vision for a meaningful church movement, one that moved away from a dependency on church buildings–many of which in Scotland are aging and expensive to maintain–and towards a different attitude regarding church. That movement became Church Without Walls.

After some changes in leadership and initial teething problems, the Church Without Walls has taken on several forms, one of which is an annual National Gathering. This year, the gathering was held at the Royal Highland Center near Edinburgh–yes, the place that hosts the largest annual cattle show hosted around 5,000 Presbyterians. (I have to say, we smelled better.)

As a denomination, the Church of Scotland is struggling in terms of membership, leadership, and vision, so I was quite drawn to a conference emphasizing a fresher more agile approach to church. Before attending, various pastors and members shared a wide range of comments regarding Church Without Walls–some said it was too conservative, some said too happy-clappy, some said it didn’t fit the church as a whole, others raved. So I was eager to attend the National Gathering, worship and learn, and discern for myself what the movement is about. Overall, it was disappointing weekend, but there were moments of insight and vitality.

Worship:

Leading worship in an enormous barn is pretty difficult. I attended three worship services, each with a slightly different flavor. Screens and visual projections were used in a variety of ways. Curiously, worship lacked a good flow. For Saturday’s services, songs for gathering morphed into songs for worship, a speaker was introduced, one bible reading was shared–almost as an afterthought–and then closing songs were sung before people left.

Interestingly, not much about the services would key a worshiper into the fact that it was a Church of Scotland conference. For me, the highlight of worship occurred as the first corporate act of the conference (if you don’t count gathering). The congregation sang Psalm 100 a cappella, slowly, and rousingly. When the convener invited us to sing, I thought it was going to be a disaster–5,000 people singing a cappella in a barn? But the result was the highlight of the conference. It’s just a shame it occurred in the first five minutes.

No font. No table. No Bible. No Lord’s Supper celebrated. The organizers seemed interested in fancy fluff like powerpoint slide backgrounds, but would have done well to order a pulpit more substantial than a wobbly music stand. Speakers had little connection with the conference’s theme, and no connection to each other. Judging from the circumstances, organizers seemed content with booking big names rather than thinking through meaningful worship as a whole.

For the first two services, music was led by praise bands (sorry, their names aren’t clear in the program). The first band, did very well leading a variety of songs and hymns, playing at appropriate volume levels, generally enabling God’s people to sing. The second band favored obliteration rather than invitation. Music at the third service was led by John Bell and a few other Iona Worship Group-minded people. In minutes we were singing in three part harmony and our attention was drawn to God rather than to the personality of the leader.

The preachers’ sermons were unconnected to each other, and several were strangely lacking in a clear focus on scripture. It wasn’t clear to me whether they were “preaching” as in the proclamation of the word in corporate worship, or “presenting” as in giving an entertaining trade talk on the topic of the presenter’s choice. I was especially looking forward to hearing John Sentamu, Archbishop of York and recently in the news for cutting up his clerical collar in solidarity with Zimbabweans and in protest of Mugabe. Sentamu spoke well on the meaning of the ascension and the distinction between evangelism and mission. But by the time he left the stage following an impromptu altar call, rude commanding of the music leaders, and self-promoting drumming, I questioned his approach.

Perhaps the most telling part of worship was the invitation to the offering during which Albert Bogle, the chair of the conference planning group asked folks to dig deeply into their pockets and hearts, “Because I blew the budget.” He explained he had spent so much on making this conference happen this year that they had run out of any reserves, and lacked any resources to arrange a conference next year. While this invitation may have been effective, I found it off-putting and arrogant. After already paying my registration fee (many thanks to SCC), I was not for a minute going to give money to a man admitting poor stewardship and making a joke out of it. He never refer to the Planning Group or any sort of communal financial oversight, repeatedly saying “I blew the budget” without any remorse. Furthermore, not even one of the five offerings collected was given to any causes beyond the Church Without Walls organization – rather ironic, I must say.

I don’t mean to come across as negative, but my experience of worship at the national gathering was negative, so I feel I should report accurately. I would have found services that seemed more connected to each other, recognized the Word as that which we gathered around, noted the centrality of the sacraments, and gloried in the diversity that a gathering of such size brought about to be more faithful and inspiring.

Seminars:

Between worship services, a conferee could attend seminars. At each time slot, one of four seminars was offered. I found the fact that only four choices were offered rather interesting, as a conference seeking 10,000 registrants in the PC(USA) would probably offer dozens of seminars. The Scottish organizers knew what they were doing, however, as the average attendance at mine was about 150-200. I’m at a loss to explain this denominational difference, but it may be due to the PC(USA)’s emphasis in all-age Christian Education.

21st Century Discipleship was led by Elvis Elahie, moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad. Elahie spoke of the difficulties being Christian in a very religiously diverse Trinidad. He presented the theological positions of exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism and spoke in favor of a more plurarlistic-minded approach to ministry. Only through partnership with those of other religions, Elahie said, could Trinidadians tackle the culture of crime and violence in their society.

World Without Walls was led by Albert Bogle. Unfortunately, he had prepared a powerpoint presentation but was unable to give it as it was scheduled in a venue not suitable for powerpoint (rather embarrassing for the conference director). Bogle continued off the cuff, however, and explored how he had happened on the idea for World Without Walls, which provides for partnerships between Scottish churches and those in developing countries. It’s a pretty cool project, taking the traditional idea of church partnerships and adding technology to enhance the relationship. The seminar lacked much substance, but I appreciate the aims of the project.

Looking Good, Being Bad from Aidrian and Bridget Plass was not what I expected. They presented a hodgepodge of jokes, banter, and poems written on church, God, and the Bible.

The Dawkins Delusion, led by Oxford Professor Alister McGrath, was a dissection and refutation of Richard Dawkins’ book “The God Delusion.” It was beautiful. With simple powerpoint, McGrath presented difficult philosophical ideas smoothly and well. His basic point was that Dawkins has turned atheism into a religion itself. Though Dawkins tries to back up his ideas with science, they are ultimately questions science can’t answer. After hearing McGrath, I would highly recommend his book “The Dawkins Delusion.”

The Tented Village:

The Tented Village was a big feature of this event, asking congregations to buy a tent and through it to tell the story of the congregation. I’d say it worked pretty well. There were hundreds of tents and most of them were fairly creative. Church members would hand out baked good, or fliers, or sing songs, or show videos, and a number of other ways to invite conversation. The tented village certainly led to a feeling of connection and invited conversation. Visually, it was a cool way of seeing hundreds of Church of Scotland churches represented in one place. Theologically, it reminded us of God leading God’s people out of exile, and of the importance not to become too dependent on one church building.

Random observations:

• One way to know you’re attending a Scottish conference is when it’s lunch break, everyone goes to the field and whips out a picnic. It’s a good thing, too, because the only food to purchase was from trucks like you’d find at the fair – but much less good. Needless to say, I brought a picnic for day two.
• Clear signs are important.
• I can’t remember the last American conference I attended without name tags. The Scots proved it’s possible to be friendly, churchy, and name tag free.
• I appreciated the multiple recycling bins for collecting plastic bottles.
• If you go to the gathering next year, don’t pay any attention to the directions the person at the info desk gives you for the bus stop. Following her directions, I had to climb a barbed-wire fence and jump a stone wall. She was right, though, on the other side of the wall I found the bus stop!

In conclusion, I found the conference illuminating and interesting, but far from inspiring. Attending such a gathering helped me further understand the Church of Scotland, and broadened my perspective of ministry in Scotland. The conference raised more questions than answers about the future of the Scottish church, but they are questions I am glad now to consider. I am grateful to SCC for the scholarship, and thank the scholarship committee for their award.