Back to school (sort of)

I am taking an online course at coursera.org  . This site is the leader in free online courses from major educational institutions. I am not getting credit, but what is credit anyway?

I am taking Modern and Contemporary American Poetry from the University of Pennsylvania. Wow! Professor Al Filreis has gathered a great team who are making things happen. Over 30,000 people from all over the world are participating in the course.

I am loving it. I am looking forward to taking other courses. Take a look at the offerings and stretch yourself. You just might learn something.

Inspiration from the Congregation

I am delighted to see the Faith Voices section of St. James, Knoxville, TN . We are updating the website, and I must say that the blog posts from various parishioners are my favorite. Check it out.

"You DO believe in God!"

At vestry meeting the discussion turned to whether or not we should allow nominations from the floor for vestry members as we are using a different selection process than voting by ballots. I had to let it be known that I understood her concerns and found nominations from the floor to be rather annoying no matter the selection method. I also feel that we should allow for nominations from the floor. We just have to trust.
After the meeting she comes up to me and says “You really do believe in God.” To which I replied “Well, I guess I do.” She says, “Some people were wondering.”
I was glad that my faith was revealed by my willingness to let the chosen process go without having to control it. I was also glad that many people understand that at some point we just have to trust.
My heart is also warmed to think that some of my parishioners might actually wonder if I believe in God. (Was she just being silly?) I think there was truth in her humor, and that maybe I have been real enough with some folks for them to see that I am not always 100% on the belief meter.
I do believe, or trust, or desire God- I feel less certain about how God works in the world, but I am holding out for a loving God that comes on a lot like the Jesus revealed in the Gospels. (Yes, I do trust that Jesus is indeed God!)
Thanks to Barbara for the reminder that I do believe, on a day when I wasn’t so sure. Of all things, I get that word from a discussion about our desire to control things. My heart and mind were stuck in that territory most of the day.
I definitely believe in God.

The Need to Know

Looking toward preaching on Sunday I re-read Mark 4:26-34, and I realized that I had missed something before. Jesus tells this story of what the kingdom of God is like: 

"As if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how."

That was the part I missed. The gardener scatters and then goes on doing what they do. They sleep, they rise and mysteriously the seed sprouts. In our modern age we have a greater sense of how this all happens. Even so, there is some mystery to it all. We don't have control. God calls us to scatter the seed and then live our lives. The kingdom will sprout without our having the details. The Holy Spirit is not a project manager. 

So it goes that a parable I have heard all my life rings new like a weed sprouting a day after I sprayed my beautiful garden. I don't know how, but it has sprouted and wrapped around my present need. So I will sleep and rise night and day trusting that the Spirit is moving us and we don't have to know how. 

Episcopal Church Housekeeping

(From the June 2012 Newsletter of St. James Episcopal Church, Knoxville, TN)



Despite my best intentions I often allow clutter to overtake my car and study. After a short time a stack of mail, books to read, and assorted cups and soda cans crowd any available space. Social scientists have actually studied the impact of clutter on our lives and suggest that a messy space affects our physical and emotional health. The health of institutions can also suffer from the clutter of their systems and ways of relating. The Episcopal Church has been challenged to look our clutter and to do something about it.



The General Convention of the Episcopal Church will gather July 5-12 for its triennial meeting. Many of you are aware that human sexuality will once again be a big topic at convention, and will be the one that the press is most likely to cover. The convention will consider a resolution to approve a rite for the blessing of same-gender relationships. This rite will be for ‘trial use,’ meaning that bishops will direct the usage of such rites in each diocese and there will be some mechanism of reporting on how the rite is used. All indications are that this resolution will pass the convention. This will also call on the community of St. James to consider how this will influence our life together. In a way, it is a kind of housekeeping. For some time St. James has been a community that welcomes and affirms gay and lesbian members. Some of those in committed relationships have asked for a blessing of their relationship. I am allowed to pray with those folks but we are not performing blessings in the church itself. As I have met with these couples I have been frustrated that we can’t name those relationships within the context of the larger community. To allow for a rite of blessing is a matter of housekeeping. We would be putting the naming and blessing of God present in relationship in its proper place rather than keeping it in the clutter off to the side.



Many dioceses have sent resolutions to General Convention which call for a reorganization of the Episcopal Church structures. These resolutions are in response to the realization that a great deal of our expense at the national level has gone to administrative costs rather than mission. Our structures have become cluttered with commissions that could stand to spend time and money better in order to pursue mission. This reorganization is not a new thing. We have been in a process of understanding how our national structure can help support mission at other levels. I am sure that this discussion will dominate the conversation at convention, and continue to be part of discussions around the Episcopal Church.



What does that have to do with us? Well, we are the Episcopal Church and we have some housekeeping to do. As a parish we are literally attending to some needs of our physical plant so that we can fix some problems and prevent bigger issues. As a community we tend to our own ministries, and we do need to look at how practice those ministries. Is the ministry serving a real need? Is it easy for people to join in the work of the ministry? We do have new folks joining us and our attendance is on the rise. At the same time our budget is smaller. We have cut expenses, and our giving is lower than in previous years. There are many great ideas for ministry in word and deed, but there is a low commitment to leading those things (“I can help, but I don’t want to be in charge.” is a statement heard in many organizations in our culture.) While such things might be sobering, it is also an opportunity to consider different ways of doing things. Much like on the national level, we have an opportunity to creatively shape programs that are nimble, and varied. I am reminded of the early disciples who moved from place to place spreading the Good News whatever way they could.



I also believe that we have an opportunity to take inventory on an individual level. How are we living our lives? Are we shaping our lives so that we are witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ? What is distracting us from connecting with others? What clutters up our lives and keeps us from trusting that the Spirit will give us what we need to be faithful witnesses? In the financial uncertainly that is sweeping the globe we also must ask how we live with money. Do we truly need all this stuff? Are we living with our money in a way that glorifies God? (I am preaching to myself here, and it hurts!)



I hope that this call to housekeeping can stir up some conversation. May our discussions be holy and faithful. May our actions be fruitful. I truly hope that no one issue will distract us from the call to serve others in God’s name. We do need to speak of and wrestle with important issues, but those must be addressed in the context of our life in Christ. Join in the tending of the house (literal, spiritual, and otherwise) that God has given us. God saw fit to set up house in human skin and wants to live in yours.



Peace,




John Mark

Psalm Writing, Poetry, and the Soul

Last night at my parish we had Ray McGinnis lead a workshop on Psalm writing and journaling. I was reminded of how powerful poetry can be in stirring the soul. In one exercise, Ray had us take a list of phrases and use them to write a personal psalm. Some people used several of the phrases, some started with one and took off from there, and others ran with a theme inspired from the words shared. People who thought they couldn't write much were turning words that revealed a depth of soul and you could feel it in the room. After many people shared what they had written, one woman commented that she felt as though she had been to worship. Indeed, there was a sense of the Holy as people shared words that revealed their own searching and finding.
Look through the Psalms and find those phrases that might shape a personal psalm.

Suggestions include:

I waited patiently

You go before me

Bones grow weak

I cry aloud to God

Over the waters

Myself a sanctuary

Ancient doors

Like a bird to the mountains

Look at me and answer

Like the feet of a deer

In the morning

. . . and you can find your own. Let the familiar phrases shape in you a response to God. Let the power of images and words awake the soul.

Peace,

John Mark

Pastors should be blogging

Dang! I am at this conference where I am being told that I should be blogging more! Here is this blog that I have been ignoring! I will be changing this. Now that I have shared this with a couple of people, I might have to keep it up.