-A group of college students from all over the state of Mississippi at The Journey, a retreat for college age students
-the granddaughter of church members from my first appointment out of seminary
- my nieces, Emily and Kelly who with my daughter, Laura, were able to share the weekend together
-a young woman whose family and ours had shared life in significant ways when I was pastor of St. Matthew’s but whom I had not seen in many years.
-a young woman whose parents were charter members of Getwell Road United Methodist Church and whose wedding I performed
-two young adults from Philadelphia, First whom I had known when I was their pastor.
- A preacher’s son, who with Laura, had grown up knowing each other through Conference Youth events and had served on the staff of SIFAT together for the last two years.
-Adults with whom I had shared ministry during the years in which I was pastor at St. Matthew’s UMC in Madison, MS.
-Bob and Anne McElroy who give of their time and energy twice a year to make sure young adults are having connecting experiences with Christ.
My heart was warmed Sunday afternoon, sitting in a familiar place surrounded by familiar friends, listening to the stories of how God had moved among these students in a mighty way.
Would that the Church pay attention to the places where God is at work and give great blessing.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Kingdom Has Come Near
The kingdom of God is like many things, Jesus says: a farmer sowing seed, a man hunting treasure, a woman kneading dough, fishermen casting a net, a man forgiven a debt, a wedding guest who forgot his jacket, virgins waiting for a bridegroom, a landowner being generous.
It’s also like a wedding celebration in rural Alabama, at a place called SIFAT.
Gathered on that cloud covered day were friends and family of Laura Elizabeth McAlilly and Nathan Watson Paulk. Thirty yards away a creek rushed by, swollen from the rain which had fallen during the night. Two guitarists played “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”.
Following the wedding vows, the ministers, a father and a son, led the congregation in The Great Thanksgiving. “The Lord Be with you.” “And also with you,” the congregation spontaneously chanted.
After the words of institution, one of the ministers prayed:
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,
and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we may be for the world the body of Christ,
redeemed by his blood.
By the same Spirit bless Laura and Nate,
that their love for each other
may reflect the love of Christ for us
and grow from strength to strength
as they faithfully serve you in the world.
Defend them from every enemy.
Lead them into all peace.
Let their love for each other
be a seal upon their hearts,
a mantle about their shoulders,
and a crown upon their heads.
Bless them
in their work and in their companionship;
in their sleeping and in their waking;
in their joys and in their sorrows;
in their lives and in their deaths.
Finally, by your grace,
bring them and all of us to that table
where your saints feast for ever in your heavenly home.
Through your Son Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church,
all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father now and forever.
Amen.
As those who were invited to serve the elements came forward, a hush fell over the worshipping congregation. Five persons made their way to the chancel.
From Africa, India, and Thailand, all participating in the ten week Practicum at SIFAT. It was as if the kingdom of heaven had come near, right there on that hillside.
A few Mississippians and a few Alabamians were there.
A bride.
A groom.
Some bread and some wine.
The clouds parted; the sunshine beamed through the trees.
And the kingdom of God had come near.
It’s also like a wedding celebration in rural Alabama, at a place called SIFAT.
Gathered on that cloud covered day were friends and family of Laura Elizabeth McAlilly and Nathan Watson Paulk. Thirty yards away a creek rushed by, swollen from the rain which had fallen during the night. Two guitarists played “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”.
Following the wedding vows, the ministers, a father and a son, led the congregation in The Great Thanksgiving. “The Lord Be with you.” “And also with you,” the congregation spontaneously chanted.
After the words of institution, one of the ministers prayed:
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,
and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we may be for the world the body of Christ,
redeemed by his blood.
By the same Spirit bless Laura and Nate,
that their love for each other
may reflect the love of Christ for us
and grow from strength to strength
as they faithfully serve you in the world.
Defend them from every enemy.
Lead them into all peace.
Let their love for each other
be a seal upon their hearts,
a mantle about their shoulders,
and a crown upon their heads.
Bless them
in their work and in their companionship;
in their sleeping and in their waking;
in their joys and in their sorrows;
in their lives and in their deaths.
Finally, by your grace,
bring them and all of us to that table
where your saints feast for ever in your heavenly home.
Through your Son Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church,
all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father now and forever.
Amen.
As those who were invited to serve the elements came forward, a hush fell over the worshipping congregation. Five persons made their way to the chancel.
From Africa, India, and Thailand, all participating in the ten week Practicum at SIFAT. It was as if the kingdom of heaven had come near, right there on that hillside.
A few Mississippians and a few Alabamians were there.
A bride.
A groom.
Some bread and some wine.
The clouds parted; the sunshine beamed through the trees.
And the kingdom of God had come near.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Words Matter
In just a few days, our family will gather with the Paulk family on a hillside in North Alabama, at a place called SIFAT(Servants in Faith and Technology: www.sifat.org), a camp whose mission and focus is teaching global missions. Our daughter, Laura and her fiancée, Nate, will stand together and exchange those big, important words. Words like for “better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish.” Since 1979, I have been standing, facing others, inviting them into the covenant of Christian marriage.
October 10, I will invite Laura and Nate into a new life together.
To stand before my second born child and invite her and Nate to stake their lives on the covenant of Christian marriage brings a new, significantly deeper meaning to the service of Christian marriage. It’s not that I haven’t given thought to those words before. I have. Every time a young couple comes into my life asking me to be a part of blessing their marriage, I wonder how it will be for them. I am mindful of how little we really know of another person when we exchange those words. I’m mindful of the other four people who will live in that household with a couple, albeit unconscious. Parents, who have shaped, loved, taught and sometimes without intention, even wounded. Every time, I’m mindful of family traditions and that this couple will form their own while negotiating time spent with family. I’m hoping each of them has a heavy dose of forgiveness and a deep understanding of compromise.
Next Saturday, I will ask Nathan Paulk to repeat after me: “I, Nate, take you Laura, to be my wife.” I’ll ask Laura to do likewise, “I, Laura, take you Nate, to be my husband." I keep trying to imagine it; so far, I’ve been unsuccessful without a bit of a lump in my throat. Maybe I’ll keep saying the words this week until the lump disappears.
The Paulk’s and the McAlilly’s. A new family. A new journey. Around us will be gathered the people we love. That love will be made real by big words. And words matter.
October 10, I will invite Laura and Nate into a new life together.
To stand before my second born child and invite her and Nate to stake their lives on the covenant of Christian marriage brings a new, significantly deeper meaning to the service of Christian marriage. It’s not that I haven’t given thought to those words before. I have. Every time a young couple comes into my life asking me to be a part of blessing their marriage, I wonder how it will be for them. I am mindful of how little we really know of another person when we exchange those words. I’m mindful of the other four people who will live in that household with a couple, albeit unconscious. Parents, who have shaped, loved, taught and sometimes without intention, even wounded. Every time, I’m mindful of family traditions and that this couple will form their own while negotiating time spent with family. I’m hoping each of them has a heavy dose of forgiveness and a deep understanding of compromise.
Next Saturday, I will ask Nathan Paulk to repeat after me: “I, Nate, take you Laura, to be my wife.” I’ll ask Laura to do likewise, “I, Laura, take you Nate, to be my husband." I keep trying to imagine it; so far, I’ve been unsuccessful without a bit of a lump in my throat. Maybe I’ll keep saying the words this week until the lump disappears.
The Paulk’s and the McAlilly’s. A new family. A new journey. Around us will be gathered the people we love. That love will be made real by big words. And words matter.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Prayer and Good Works
I have been reading Church History in recent days. In the days after the collapse of the Roman Empire. Between 480 and 550 there lived an early Church Father known as Benedict of Nursia. Benedict was distraught by Rome’s collapse, fled to the Italian countryside around the year 500. There with his sister Scholastica, gathered two communities of people, “who were themselves looking for a more meaningful way of life” than was offered by the remnants of Christianity.
He envisioned the spiritual life as “Twelve Steps of Humility” shaping the heart for “holy obedience” whereby external chaos would give way to an internally ordered soul. Compassion was balanced with discipline.
It was a communal life of prayer and good works.
When the Methoidst movement was gaining momentum in England, there was a deep sense that folks were looking for a more meaningful way of life. It was also rooted in prayer.
He envisioned the spiritual life as “Twelve Steps of Humility” shaping the heart for “holy obedience” whereby external chaos would give way to an internally ordered soul. Compassion was balanced with discipline.
It was a communal life of prayer and good works.
When the Methoidst movement was gaining momentum in England, there was a deep sense that folks were looking for a more meaningful way of life. It was also rooted in prayer.
These days, when an average pastor is asked to name the three most important tasks of ministry, prayer rarely makes the list. Preaching, Pastoral Care,and Adminstration are often the top three.
In the days to come, I believe the center piece of the United Methodist movement is prayer.
Prayer rooted in scripture.
Prayer centered in Christ.
Prayer that moves out in the world, serving in love.
Let's build some bridges across the church that we might prayerfully reach beyond ourselves with compassion and good.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Hair Cut Witnessing
I had not expected the conversation to turn in that direction.
She had been cutting my hair for about three months.
I knew she was a recovering Baptist.
She knew I was a United Methodist Minister.
She doesn’t believe in women ministers.
Or building programs.
Or once saved always saved.
She does believe in the power of Christ and the teachings of Jesus.
I’d invited her to attend a United Methodist Church near her home.
She said she’d think about it.
She never did.
I asked why she didn’t come.
She said she was busy.
I asked, “do you have a holy longing?”
She said she didn’t.
I asked, “do you ever wrestle with doubt?”
She said, “I do.”
As she finished my hair cut, she said,
“You know, my husband grew up Jehovah’s Witness.
His family didn’t speak to him for ten years when we joined the
Baptist Church.
Will you pray for my husband ,Mark. I’d go back if he’d go with me.
But he has trouble with it all.
"Ok."
“I’ll pray,” I said.
I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again.
Today was her last day to cut hair. She was retiring.
So I’m left to my prayers.
I am wondering how many thousands of others like her are cutting hair or
Checking at Wal-Mart or changing the oil at Jiffy Lube.
She said she missed singing in the choir and serving.
“I was a worker,” she said.
“Thanks for the haircut,” I said.,
I’ll pray for Mark.
And I walked out the door.
Was it enough?
She had been cutting my hair for about three months.
I knew she was a recovering Baptist.
She knew I was a United Methodist Minister.
She doesn’t believe in women ministers.
Or building programs.
Or once saved always saved.
She does believe in the power of Christ and the teachings of Jesus.
I’d invited her to attend a United Methodist Church near her home.
She said she’d think about it.
She never did.
I asked why she didn’t come.
She said she was busy.
I asked, “do you have a holy longing?”
She said she didn’t.
I asked, “do you ever wrestle with doubt?”
She said, “I do.”
As she finished my hair cut, she said,
“You know, my husband grew up Jehovah’s Witness.
His family didn’t speak to him for ten years when we joined the
Baptist Church.
Will you pray for my husband ,Mark. I’d go back if he’d go with me.
But he has trouble with it all.
"Ok."
“I’ll pray,” I said.
I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again.
Today was her last day to cut hair. She was retiring.
So I’m left to my prayers.
I am wondering how many thousands of others like her are cutting hair or
Checking at Wal-Mart or changing the oil at Jiffy Lube.
She said she missed singing in the choir and serving.
“I was a worker,” she said.
“Thanks for the haircut,” I said.,
I’ll pray for Mark.
And I walked out the door.
Was it enough?
Monday, September 28, 2009
The Good Life
St. Augustine said in a sermon: "You all say 'the times are troubled, the times are hard, the times are wretched.' Live the good lives and you will change the times by living good lives. You will change the times and then you will have nothing to grumble about."
The Sermons of Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century
Ed. John E. Rotelle, OSF
Sermons 111.9.74, New York 1991
The Sermons of Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century
Ed. John E. Rotelle, OSF
Sermons 111.9.74, New York 1991
Friday, September 25, 2009
An Open Invitation to the People of the United Methodist Church
If you believe that Jesus Christ is the center of our Faith and that all of life flows from life in him…
If you believe that what unites us in Jesus Christ is greater than any difference that may separate us…
If you believe that we as Christ-followers need to recapture the gift of Christian Conversation…
If you believe that the Holy Scripture is best understood in light of the life, teaching death and resurrection of Jesus…
If you believe that we are better together than we are apart…that our strength is in unity not in schism…
If you believe that resurrection is stronger than death, that hope is greater than fear…
If you are tired of the endless arguing about who is in and who is out, who’s acceptable and who’s not…
If you would like to have a conversation about what’s right with the United Methodist Church…
I invite you to a conversation about the matters of our hearts and the desires of our faith…
I invite you to a conversation where we discover those places of vitality and strength…
If you believe that what unites us in Jesus Christ is greater than any difference that may separate us…
If you believe that we as Christ-followers need to recapture the gift of Christian Conversation…
If you believe that the Holy Scripture is best understood in light of the life, teaching death and resurrection of Jesus…
If you believe that we are better together than we are apart…that our strength is in unity not in schism…
If you believe that resurrection is stronger than death, that hope is greater than fear…
If you are tired of the endless arguing about who is in and who is out, who’s acceptable and who’s not…
If you would like to have a conversation about what’s right with the United Methodist Church…
I invite you to a conversation about the matters of our hearts and the desires of our faith…
I invite you to a conversation where we discover those places of vitality and strength…
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