OpenSource Pastor

Dead Sea Scrolls

Yesterday I went to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the NC Museum of Natural Science.  Doug and I were first relieved that we were able to walk right in. Crowds have been quite large on the weekends, and even steady on weekday mornings. If you go I suggest weekday afternoons. You'll enjoy the time.

The exhibit is fabulous. You really get a sense of ancient Mediterranean life. Moreover, you get a feel for the world where the Dead Sea Scrolls lived. Not having traveled to the Middle East, I was drawn by the pictures and video in the context of an arid desert that set high above the sea of salt.

The exhibit presented the Dead Sea Scrolls as living artifacts of a people who lived longed along. The Essenes lived in a fortified community in the area of Qumran. Their community reminded me of the descriptions of monastic life in the ancient world and the early Christian communities.  Based on what I saw yesterday I would accept their community being a family community - men, women, children, grandparents - who came to Qumran as a sect of people seeking refuge in the light of those who wanted to shine light into the darkness. 

Moving through the exhibit we worked ourselves from community context to community work to the heart and soul of community life.  The Dead Sea Scrolls were the holy words of YHWH that provided the guidance of life.  They were ancient words even for them that were the rule of life.  Just there very act of preserving the Scrolls showed me their desire to keep the Word of the Scrolls safe and avaiable for them and future generations. They surely did not know their work would inspire generations two mellenia later? 

While scholars decipher the message and teachings of the Scrolls I'll hold to the inspiration discovered in the practice of this religious community. The Dead Sea Scrolls preservation of the Ancient Words that live in the Spirit of God, the Word of Life.

Congregational Accountability

Jay Voorhee's The Pastor's Study has a great article concerning congregational accountability in this age of calling for clergy effectiveness. Here's an excerpt:

Yes, the pastor is the appointed leader of the congregation, and as such represents the congregation to the general church. Yes, there is a sense in which the accountability of the pastor is a form of congregational accountability. However, as any pastor will tell you, there is a limit to what he or she can do in a congregation that is dysfunctional, hard headed, and simply isn’t particularly concerned with being anything beyond what they already are. Ministry for the transformation of the world requires a partnership between pastor and congregation, and there are situations all through our communion in which congregations aren’t willing to be active participants in that partnership. “What?” Us be in ministry,” they say. “Isn’t that what we pay the pastor for?”

The first guest comment is mine and I post it here for your reading:

Mutual accountability, how novel! I'm amazed at the call for greater clergy effectiveness and the heightened evaluation measuring that effectiveness. But what about the effectiveness of our laity? divdivIf I recall Wesley was BIG on the quarterly examination of the whole band. I would love to see a rekindling of such accountability with preparation. For instance, our conference is pushing the Academy for Leadership Excellence. It primary focus in its infancy has been training pastors for effective leadership. What if in the expansion of the program we began training the laity as well moving in the near future (next quadrennium) to requiring all lay leadership in key church positions (start with the council and committee chairs) to have gone through a minimal amount of training. That way pastors and laity are receiving like training for like leading.

Len Sweet Video

This week I had the humble privilege to work on the media team at the Annual Conference of the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. Among one of the many tasks was to provide media support for Dr. Leonard Sweet and his presentation during the Laity program on Friday night. I encourage all to watch this presentation below or click here to view the website.

Parker's Grove Homecoming

Thanks to the people of Parker's Grove United Methodist Church in Linden, NC, for the invitation to preach at their 2008 Homecoming Celebration. Parker’s Grove Homecoming Sermon

Franklinton UMC - 1st Sunday after Easter

Thanks to Rev. Judi New for the invitation to proclaim the word.Franklinton UMC Sermon 

Many Questions, ONE Answer

Life is an interesting journey.  Along that journey I’ve found that my education and practical background comes back to haunt me.  I’m not talking about my higher education - that causes too much rivalry talk. No I am thinking about high school and specifically the echoing sounds of Ms Craig, “Why? How? Prove it.” Ms Craig was a lady who stood tall at 4 foot nine. She no more could fill a door than a pine tree. Nearing 60 she still thought it good to run every day after classes. Ms Craig stood tall in the classroom. She held court in the halls of Geometry presenting obvious squares and circles for proof.  (hold up a circle) What’s this? She would ask. A circle the class would respond. Prove it. (hold up a square) What’s this? She would ask. Prove it. 

Geometry is about mathematical logic.  While we commonly accept at face value that a circle is circle, a square a square, a triangle a triangle, Ms Craig taught us to question our presumptions and take our given data to prove our theories. 

That is the education and practical background that haunts me today.  I investigate and research everything.  My success in Ms Craig’s geometry class led to my engineering education where research tested theories that became designs that became reality. As a design engineer, I was taught to dream, and dream big; then, make that dream become real.  All along asking the questions Why? How? - Why does this work? Why does this not work? How can we fix it? 

That also got me thinking about faith. Why? How? Jesus, who? Resurrection - is that logical?  Let me run that through the simulator.  I was raised in the church.  Still, the more I learned the more questions I began to ask.  Not so much out loud, quietly and internally primarily.  

Frederick Buechner affirmed this questioning faith, “Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don't have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.”  The questions, doubts, and skepticism can be a good thing as long as we search the well of truth.  There are many questions, just ONE answer. It sounds oversimplified, but Jesus is the answer, he is the way, the truth, and the life. We have many questions, He is the answer. We have doubts, He is the peace that passes all understanding. We are skeptic, He is living proof.  We seek a way to live, He walked the walked.  We wonder how we can afford the future, He called us to rely upon the Father.  We seek help for our relationships, He showed us the perfect way to love. Many questions, ONE answer. 

 

This week I'll seek to affirm this seeking faithand affirm the challenge to the future. I'm preaching at Franklinton UMC in Franklinton at the invitation of my friend Rev. Judi New.  

 

Let us weep for the mission field...

 Thanks to Brother T for the following blurb from Christian Post. The "Lost" generation of the United Methodist Church is the Gen-X and Gen-Y bracket. I am a part of that, and completely understand the needs of young adults to look elsewhere for faith communities. There are times that I consider if I was not a pastor, would I stay?  Our congregations are aging, and the Millenials are heading off to college. Will they stay with the UM heritage or find their way to more applicable settings? I fear we have LOST a generation.

Lovett Weems shares my peril for young adults along with a call for reaching a greater diversity:
"There is no future for The United Methodist Church in the United States unless we can reach more people, younger people and more diverse people," said the Rev. Lovett Weems, a researcher and professor of church leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, according to the United Methodist News Service.

 Let us weep for this mission field and carry Jesus to their hearts.

Changing the Way We Change

Has the culture so greatly evolved beyond the culture of the church? Itineracy, one of Methodism's greatest traditions, was an innovative deployment system in its early years. Today, it still works; yet, has many complicating factors. I've jokingly called intineracy's appointment process the church's version of baseball's free agency and winter meetings: who's a free agent? who's got a trade?  The United Methodist Reporter shares greater insight: 
The itineracy was created for missional deployment to serve the territory; it has evolved into a system of either career advancement or guaranteed employment. Either track patronizes the clergy. 
Read the Entire Article 

Seeing Clearly

Seeing Clearly
John 9

The last couple weeks I have been dealing with an eye problem.  My left eye has an acute astigmatism brought on by a local infection or trauma to my eye.  Not exactly sure how it happened.  When I went to see my optometrist I was thinking I was simply going blurry in one eye. Maybe I would need to have my prescription adjusted. Lo and behold the infection had caused this astigmatism causing a blistery like roughness along with some headaches. 
Those of us who wear glasses and contacts can attest that impaired vision can give us headaches. With my acute problem over the last couple weeks I feel like I have dual vision. My right is still strong and with my glasses or contacts can see quite clearly. My infected eye -- well it pretty bad. During the exam I was not able to clearly see the top line of large characters on the eye chart. Doc said I was suddenly 20/60 with my glasses on! I told him it was more like 20/6000. 20/20 in the right eye and 20/60 in the left eye. Seeing clearly from the right side, and seeing poorly on the other. 

This week’s Gospel text got me thinking about how we all suffer with our spiritual eyes. How clearly do we see Jesus in our midst? How clearly do we see God at work in our lives?  Jesus, the great optometrist of faithful sight, met a man born blind. His disciples inquired about the man’s blindness thinking it was a consequence of his parent’s sin, as was the acceptable reason for such congenial infirmities in the day. Jesus would have none of that. “This is not the fault of his parents. This was done that God could be revealed in this man’s life. This was done that this man’s first sight would be God, the light of the world.” 

While blindness effects a segment of our population today, impairments of the eyes are more widespread.  The technological revolution while creating great new gadgets for work and learning has yet to produce a visual device that eliminates strain on the eyes. TVs and computer screens are a leading cause of eye strain, and we use them in some capacity daily. They also place a strain on our faith eyes.... TVs draw us into a false reality where the stories of life are played out in fictional dramas and sit-coms. Computers give access to the Internet where a world of information - good, not-so-good, and flat out wrong - is their to shape our thoughts and hearts.  This media saturation strains our faithful eyes from focusing in the One who provides the greatest vision. 

The latter verses of the Jesus story in John 9 speak of spiritual blindness. Jesus in conversation with the worldly Pharisees, the Big Deals of the 1st century, said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." Moreover, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” The Pharisees were focused on God through the lens of the law. They looked at faithful living with lenses that focused narrowly on the law before them. They were so focused that they forgot the bigger picture of living for God.  

Where are our eyes focused? The reality before us presents a vast picture with numerous focal points.  Spend an evening watching TV specifically the commercials. What is Madison Avenue trying to tell you. Try this smooth new Cadillac. Live comfortably. Live in style. Read multiple news sources around the politics of the election. Vote for me as the next president and our our nation will be secure, little Johnny can be safe on the soccer field. Vote for me and we will reduce your tax burden that you can spend more on yourselves. 

Then spend a few hours focused on the Cross. We begin to see a different picture. We begin to see a sacrificial love so pure that promises hope, joy, love, and peace - just to name a few. We see a purity that can only know in the heart of the Creator. We humbly bow at the power of God knowing instead of snapping us he embraced us. When we allow Jesus the great optometrist, to gracefully adjust our focus we begin seeing clearly.

The great heartache in the world is trying to focus on two separate worlds. One eye focused on my life with Jesus. One eye focused on the world. Only one promises joy today and forevermore. Only one can truly give you clear sight. 

Lord, heal our blindness. Let us see you more clearly that  we can rest in your embrace. Amen.

Are We Sure?

As the appointment season is on our midst as United Methodists we are faced with many questions. One of those always is the integrity of the appointment system. Appointments are made by gifts and graces hoping to match church and pastor. So what does the following report from Amy Forbus in the United Methodist Reporter tell us:
 NOT a valid reason to reject a pastor!So, in the normal course of checking out the Methoblogosphere this morning, I came upon what a clergywoman blogger called, "Another Heartbreak."  I call it something far worse than that.You see, one of her fellow clergywomen received a phone call from a District Superintendent who was preparing to welcome her into a church in his district. But instead of telling her the move is official, he called "to tell her that the church has asked the Cabinet & Bishop for a reconsideration. Their reason: She's 'too fat.'"Come on!  I mean, come ON!If you're going to use "too fat" as your excuse, you've just eliminated at least half of United Methodist clergy from serving your congregation.  Get. a. grip.