Category: DOC Thoughts
Just… stop… talking.
Here is a portion of a post from a colleague in ministry that is worth a few minutes of your time as voting begins for some and draws near for others of us.
Just… stop… talking.
Peace Babe – October 26, 2012I understand that many different professionals have to come together in order to make policy surrounding issues such as abortion, rape, birth control, medical care for my uterus, etc. but you can also make sure you understand this clearly, and focus on YOUR profession, leaving those other professionals to do their jobs. I have never been pregnant, I have never been in the situation of needing to make a decision about an abortion, nor have I ever been raped. But I am a woman, I am a theologian, and I am a minister. Those three things alone make me qualified to tell you to STOP TALKING AND LISTEN.
I am not advocating that you have agree with my personal decisions, nor compromise your own personal beliefs. However, leave the job of professionals up to those professionals. Use them as guides and help along the way but actually LISTEN to them as you work together, doing YOUR job, not the job of others.
The Meaning of Revival
As I was reading and working on the Gospel of Mark 10:17-31 for Sacred Steps: Children’s Sermon Journal, I ran across a sermon by Bishop Will Willimon on the text. A story in his sermon caught my attention.
Today’s gospel reminds us that there are good, understandable, reasonable reasons for notfollowing Jesus. Jesus is too often presented by us, from the best of motives, as the solution to all our problems, the way to fix everything that’s wrong in our lives. But this story reminds us that Jesus is sometimes the beginning of problems we would never have had if we had not been met by Jesus!
The story is told that Clarence Jordan, that great Southern, social prophet, visited an integrated church in the Deep South. Jordan was surprised to find a relatively large church so thoroughly integrated, not only black and white but also rich and poor; and this was in the early sixties, too. Jordan asked the old country preacher, “How did you get the church this way?”
“What way?” the preacher asked. Jordan went on to explain his surprise at finding a church so integrated, and in the South, too.
The preacher said, “Well, when our preacher left our small church, I went to the deacons and said, ‘I’ll be the preacher.’ The first Sunday as preacher, I opened the book and read, ‘As many of you as has been baptized into Jesus has put on Jesus and there is no longer any Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, males or females, because you all is one in Jesus.’
Then I closed the book and I said, ‘If you are one with Jesus, you are one with all kind of folks. And if you ain’t, well, you ain’t.'”
Jordan asked what happened after that. “Well,” the preacher said, “the deacons took me into the back room and they told me they didn’t want to hear that kind of preaching no more.” Jordan asked what he did then. “I fired them deacons,” the preacher roared. “Then what happened?” asked Jordan.
“Well,” said the old hillbilly preacher, “I preached that church down to four. Not long after that, it started growing. And it grew. And I found out that revival sometimes don’t mean bringin’ people in but gettin’ people out that don’t dare to love Jesus.” (As told in Hauerwas and Willimon, Where Resident Aliens Live, Nashville: Abingdon, 1996, p. 103). Click here to read the entire sermon.
What does revival mean? I’ve been asked to preach at exactly one revival. During that sermon I spoke about the meaning of revival and if we, as a denomination, needed it. For a few years now, since before our current GMP was elected, I’ve thought we were living through the third reformation of our denomination. Some want a revival and I think reformation is needed if we are to remain a relevant voice of the good news of God. We see it happening. The rewrite of the Order of Ministry, within our denomination, that allows for ordination without a Master’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education, is what I call revival. There is honor in serving as a commissioned / licensed minister. There is a great need for persons who want to serve in one Region and one, typically small and in a rural setting, congregation. But, relaxing the Order of Ministry to provide an alternative track to ordination that does not include accredited higher education is “revival” thinking within the church. It’s trading structure for charisma. It’s blending in rather than standing out. The Regions that are ceasing to discriminate against LGBT persons in considering them for ordination are involved in reformation. Now blur the lines. What will Regions do with an LGBT person that wants to take the alternative track to ordination though they do not meet the requirements as outlined in the Order of Ministry. The fact is that many Regions are already engaged in a similar situation with persons that could and should attend seminary and complete an MDiv degree. Turning away from an educated clergy in a time of exponential change and diversity is revival thinking. What we need is reformation thinking and leadership. Revival may lift the spirit, but reformation changes the system. We need some system thinking, some overt reformation in our denomination and in our society.