Rethinking Smartphones in the Sanctuary

For the past few years, I've become increasingly convinced of the value of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and so many others.  These kinds of sites are, without a doubt, the way in which youth and young adults communicate.  That said, I've also been very clear that there are times and places where using FB etc. are not really appropriate... times of worship, for example.

However... however... I saw this the other day on - well, okay - I saw it on Facebook!  But it got my attention.  Even more, it has made me rethink my almost-instinctive desire to want to ban smart phones from the sanctuary.  Here's how one congregation is addressing this question.  On the welcome screen when people enter the sanctuary, this was showing:

Now, if you're not sure what any of that means, don't worry; you're in good company.  However, ask your children or grandchildren or youth around your church and ask them to "translate."

This seems to me to be an incredibly good and effective way to help communicate the Good News that is in each and every one of our worshiping congregations, letting the broader (and younger) community know that you're open and people are there with you in worship.  That makes a lot of sense to me... and it has changed my mind about how I might react next time I see someone on their smartphone or tablet in worship or at a church meeting.  True, they might be playing solitaire or angry birds, but they might just be letting their friends and family know what's going on. What do you think?  How is your congregation using Social Media sites?

Blessings and peace,
Steve

Learning a New Rhythm

For a little over 36 years I have served the Church as pastor of congregations.  To be sure, over those years I also have done other things:  Fire Department chaplain, college instructor in philosophy, Stated Clerk, and many community activities where I've lived.  However, the thing that has been consistent in my vocation has been serving as a pastor.  I have loved doing that... at least most of the time! :-)  What I know is that when you are a pastor, your primary focus is on preparing to lead folks in the worship of God on Sunday mornings.  Other things come and go - weddings, funerals, pastoral visits, crises, leaky roofs, boiler problems, etc., etc. - but that Sunday morning thing comes around every week... week in and week out.  And at least for me, that has led to a definite rhythm of my weeks.  I know each day where I'd like to be in terms of finishing the worship liturgy, writing my sermon, selecting hymns, and putting the bulletin together.  That rhythm affected and defined my work schedule, my devotional life, my time for study and meditation, and time for writing.

Now, however, for the first time, I am serving in a larger Council of the Church - as the Stated Clerk/Communicator for the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse - and things are different.  I absolutely love my new position!  Yet it is a change for me... not just a geographical change (I've never lived in the Northeast before), and not just a change in presbyteries and synods, but a change in how I structure my weeks.  As a result, I'm having to adjust to "Learning a New Rhythm."  No longer does the press of an approaching Sunday drive me to my books, to writing, to prayer, to reflection, to wrestling with biblical texts.  Yet what I am doing is so clearly ministry, and is a ministry I am enjoying to the fullest.  It's just that there's this different rhythm to my life and my work now.

Change is good... even for someone my age! :-)   And what change can do is to be that impetus to find our ways through life when we are "Learning a New Rhythm."  It's not a bad thing at all.  It's just, well, "different."  And so I'm adjusting to find my way into a new normal, a new routine, a new rhythm for praying, meditating, Bible reading, study, writing, and being in ministry with others.

Cardinal time - and I'm not talking baseball here

The cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church are in conclave, and I have all sorts of mixed feelings about them.

There is a part of me that is drawn to the mystery and majesty of this occasion.  The setting alone induces awe, and their task is nothing short of daunting.

There is a part of me that prays for the Holy Spirit to guide them.  A part of that, I confess, is that it would be nice to see that the Church of Jesus Christ - at least at one time and in one place - emerge united.  The confession part of that for me, of course, is that my own religious tradition is not a paragon of unity!

There is a part of me that prays for the Holy Spirit to guide them because the job of the Bishop of Rome is so powerfully symbolic to the entire world, and that person needs to be a strong, compassionate, wise, competent, faithful person of genuine spirituality and impeccable integrity.

There is a part of me that, honestly, is disgusted by the whole thing.  A bunch of old men are sitting together to pick out one of their old-men-number to oversee a Church that continues to invest its power in mostly old men.  Lord, deliver us from such an outdated - and, I believe, unbiblical - model of leadership for Christ's Church!

There is a part of me that fears that those men will fail to choose someone who will handle the abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church any differently than the ways in which these cases already have been handled - or, perhaps more accurately, not been handled.  The new Bishop of Rome needs to ensure that things like this are dealt with appropriately, compassionately, justly, openly, and expeditiously.

The cardinals continue in conclave.  Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Restaurant Tip as Christian Witness?

Okay, so this apparently has been around the news for a while, but I missed it.  It's about this pastor in St. Louis who was at an Applebee's in a party of 10.  When she got her bill, she noticed that, as per restaurant policy for large groups, an automatic tip of 18% was added to her bill.  And what did this pastor write on her bill?  "I give God 10%.  Why do you get 18%?"  And then she signs it "Pastor (Name)."

Really?  That's how we give witness to the world as pastors?  I'm ashamed and embarrassed.  I can't speak for the Almighty, but I can imagine Jesus might be a bit embarrassed as well.

Pastor as Physicians' Assistant

There is a wonderful Facebook page by a group known as Radio Free Babylon.  I'm not sure who they are or where in the world they got their name, but they do an almost-daily cartoon - always just four panels long - entitled "Coffee with Jesus."  It's a dialogue that different individuals have with Jesus.  I thought today's was particular insightful, especially for those of us who are pastors... but feel free to see yourself in this as well!

Pastor:  "Back to back appointments today, Jesus.  There are so many hurt and lonely people out there."

Jesus:  "Sure are, so let's go be a friend to the lonely and heal some hurts."

Pastor:  "This is serious business, Jesus!  It weighs on me!  I feel so... responsible."

Jesus:  "Just think of yourself as the one taking their vital signs before the physician steps into the room."


Being a pastor is serious work, and it sometimes feels heavy... very heavy.  But it's important for me to keep perspective of who I am and of Who is doing the real work in people's lives.

It reminds me of an interview I read years ago about the now-late Brazilian Archbishop Dom Helder Camara.  He had become fairly well known as a strong advocate for helping the poor and seeing the Church as Christ's instrument to bring relief to the suffering and good news to those in need.  He had been invited to travel to London to receive some prestigious award.  The interviewer asked him how he felt about this honor.  He replied that he always viewed himself as having a simple calling:  being a donkey for Jesus.  The interviewer was confused and surprised by this response - understandably so!  Dom Helder continued:  "On Palm Sunday, the donkey was the one who brought Jesus to the people.  I just want to be Jesus' donkey."

Again... an important and helpful perspective on who I am and what it is I'm truly called to do and be.

God's response to our greatest needs?

This was shared with me by a person who attends the weekly Bible Study I lead at our local, high-rise retirement home.  I thought it was worth passing along...

If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator.

If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist.

If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist.

If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.

But our greatest need was forgiveness,
So God sent us a Savior.


This rings true for me.  How about you?

Weddings or Funerals? Confessions of a pastor...

I remember the surprised looks on the faces of the Pastor Nominating Committee during an interview a couple of churches ago.  We were having our penultimate interview, trying to decide if God was really leading us all to journey together as pastor and congregation for at least a while.  The interview was scheduled for Saturday morning, but I had had to ask them to reschedule it because someone had died and I was officiating at the funeral that morning.  So I met them that afternoon.

When I walked into the room at their church, we greeted each other and then sat down.  One of them asked how the funeral went, and, for whatever reason, I remember saying, "It was good.  This might sound strange, but I'd rather do a funeral any day than most weddings."  Then came the surprised looks.  After such an outburst of pastoral honesty, I realized I needed to explain my statement!  (And, by the way, I've talked with lots and lots of pastors about this very issue, and most all of them share my sentiment).  I explained what I'll try to share here.

I don't find funerals "fun," although there often is appropriate chuckling as memories are shared.  Neither do I find weddings somber, soul-less events.  What I told that search committee, and what I still find to be true more of the time, is this... In funerals, the focus clearly is on God.  To be sure, there is grief to be shared and memories to recall, but, at least in my religious tradition, the focus on the service is how our trust and belief in the Resurrected Jesus informs how we view death, dying, and grieving.  The focus is clear.  In weddings, the focus is on... what...?

• How the dresses turned out.
• Who's standing next to whom without the order of standees somehow resulting in someone feeling that they've been slighted.
• If the divorced parents are going to be able to behave themselves and play nicely during the wedding and the reception.
• If crazy Uncle Larry is going to refrain from making his usual crude comments about something or someone.
• If cousin Sue is going to put aside her years'-long fight with the MOTB (Mother of the Bride) and show up, or if she's going to boycott the wedding and/or reception.

To say that the focus is on things other than God and our faith is, well, an understatement of incredible proportions.

Then there's the issue of the cost of weddings.  In my part of the country, the average cost of a wedding is about $25,000.  That's the average cost!  And it's a lot higher in other parts of the country.  To me this is, quite plainly, insane!  Do you want to have a wedding, or do you want to use that money to pay for 15% of a pretty decent house?  Seems like a no-brainer to me... but what do I know?

Now, I don't hate weddings.  Well, not many of them anyhow.  But I've tried for the 36 years of my ordained ministry to help couples be relieved of the sometimes unbearable social pressures that have become inseparably bound up in weddings, so that they can actually enjoy the event, and so that their wedding can be what it's supposed to be when it's held in a church:  a service of the worship of God.  This is the one area in which I most consistently have not succeeded in my pastoral ministry.

Maybe I'll be surprised yet before I retire.  Maybe someday a couple will come to me and say, "You know, our parents gave us $25,000 for our wedding, but we decided we'd buy a house instead.  We'd like a wonderful, simple wedding ceremony that allows us to express our undying love for each other within the context of God's never-ending love which sustains and nurtures us.  We'd like our family and friends to be there.  We'd like some coffee and tea and a nice sheet cake in the Fellowship Hall afterwards.  Then we'd like to go away for a few days for our honeymoon, and then return to move into our nice, new home."  Do you think I'll ever be surprised like that?

Nope.  Me either.  But I can still dream, can't I?