Thursday, August 26, 2010, 12:17 PM
Yes, I am back from sabbatical. On the eleventh day back, I am feeling reconnected, at least with the work and activities of ministry. I am starting to reconnect with local churches and with each of you.
The sabbatical was everything I hoped it would be: an opportunity for learning at a relaxed pace, for rest, for renewal, a chance to reconnect with family and friends, and an opportunity for a pilgrimage of sorts that helped me to reflect on my life up to this point and where it might go from here. During the next few months, I will be sharing, in various ways, some of the things I discovered during this time that might help shape the ministry we share with one another. For now, let me begin with one observation.
A number of people, family members, friends, and colleagues have pointed out to me how “relaxed” and “rested” I looked during and since the sabbatical. I shouldn’t be too surprised by this, since that’s what a sabbatical is for, after all. But these comments helped me realize how “unrested” and “unrelaxed” I often am during the day-to-day activities of ministry. I have also discovered that I can be tired even when I don’t feel that way, and vice-versa.
All of this has deepened my commitment to advocate for importance of weekly Sabbath time, annual vacations, and periodic sabbatical, for myself and for others. While this is fairly obvious, it is easy for any of us to lose sight of the obvious. I’m happy to discuss with you or the leadership of your church issues related to Sabbath, rest, renewal, and sabbatical.
As I reenter our shared context of ministry, I plan to be intentional about checking in with each of you. This may take some time. But please do not hesitate to check-in with me by phone or email. I look forward to catching up and to discovering together how we can move forward in the ministry we share together.
May God bless you and your church during this time of new beginnings.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 4:18 PM
I have recently been rereading Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield", a book I first read 40 years ago. It is the story of a young man in Victorian England who rises from humble beginnings to achieve some measure of success as an adult. Along the way, he encounters many interesting characters, some good and some not so good. When David's wife dies at an early age, on a day when grief threatens to overwhelm him, he receives a letter from his closest friend, Agnes Wickfield. David describes the letter with the following words:
"She [Agnes] gave me no advice; she urged no duty on me; she only told me, in her own fervent manner, what her trust in me was. She knew (she said) how such a nature as mine would turn affliction to good. She knew how trial and emotion would exalt and strengthen it. She was sure that in my every purpose I should gain a firmer and a higher tendency, through the grief I had undergone…As the endurance of my childish days had done its part to make me better than I was, so greater calamities would nerve me on, to be yet better than I was; and so, as they had taught me, would I teach others."
I certainly hope that all of us, at one time or another, have received words of encouragement when we most needed to hear them. A note (paper or electronic) from a friend, a phone call from a colleague, a hallway conversation in the midst of a meeting, a word of support from a family member of spouse. These communications can be hope giving and life giving and can help us through difficult times.
I also hope that all of us, many times, have sent words of comfort, support, and encouragement to those we know who may be facing challenges. Sometimes we neglect to do this because we are busy or because we are unaware. This can be one of the most important aspects of ministry, even when it goes relatively unnoticed by others. It is at the heart of the pastoral care that God calls us to provide.
Acts 4: 36-37 tells the story of Joseph, a Levite, who offers a gift so that the early church can continue its ministry. For this, the apostles call him Barnabas, Son of Encouragement. Whether we offer words, acts, or material things, our gifts can encourage others to hold on and move forward through challenging circumstances and painful times. We can all be the daughters and sons of encouragement.
May God continue to bless your ministry in the places where you serve and encourage.
Saturday, February 27, 2010, 4:38 PM
By now, most of you have learned that our Conference Minister, Davida Foy Crabtree, will retire in May. In the next few months, there will be many opportunities for us to honor Davida's ministry and to thank her for the important role she has played in the life of the Connecticut Conference. I encourage you to attend the event on May 2 in Hartford and to send a note of appreciation.
With Davida's retirement, the Connecticut Conference enters the most significant period of transition we have experienced in the last 15 years. Times of transition are stressful but they can also be fruitful if we approach them in the right way. The interim time will provide us with an opportunity to reflect on our common ministry, on who we are and who God is calling us to become.
Associations, local churches, lay leaders, and pastors will experience this time of transition in different ways, as will your Conference Staff. I encourage all of you to keep the staff in mind as we go through this time of transition:
Pray for your Conference Staff and for the common ministry of the Connecticut Conference. As a Pastor, knowing that others are praying for me is a tremendous source of strength.
Don't think we're too busy to talk to. While such thoughts are well-intentioned, they hinder our ability to minister effectively. So, please, please, please let us know what is happening in your church and in your life.
Be patient with us. We intend to carry on the ministry entrusted to our care and to be responsive to you as best as we are able. But times of transition are inherently stressful. Taking time to ask us "how we are doing" is a wonderful way to care.
Finally, thank you for your support of the Connecticut Conference and especially of my ministry with you during the last 5 years. I am truly blessed by your appreciation, your care, your challenge and your support.
May we continue to look to God and to one another for wisdom and strength.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 8:23 PM
Michael Himes, a theology professor who advises students at Boston College, suggests that, when we are facing vocational questions, we should ask ourselves three questions:
- What gives us joy?
- What are we good at?
- Do other people need us to do it?
While Himes conceived of these questions primarily in terms of individual discernment, they can just as easily be asked by a local church. Many churches struggle with questions of mission, ministry, and identity. Who are we? Who is God calling us to become? What is God calling us to do? What if a church began asking itself these same three questions?
"What gives us joy?" Every church engages in multiple activities. Some clearly bring joy, whether they require great effort or are relatively easy. Others do not bring joy, and some of these require great effort. Joy is much more than feeling good or happy or content with ourselves. It is the sense of peace, calm, and strength that ultimately comes from God's presence in our lives and our aligning our activity with God's purpose for us. Some activities call forth joy and others do not. Even activities that are painful to do can produce joy in the end. If something consistently does not call forth joy, we need to honestly and seriously reflect on whether it is something God is calling us to do. What if the members of a local church began asking this question about the various things they do as a church? Would they have the wisdom and courage to let go of some things that did not bring or call forth joy? Would they have the courage to try some new things that may or may not be joyful?
"What are we good at?" People have multiple and sometimes conflicting expectations of a church. It is impossible to meet everyone's expectations. Can a local church focus on its strengths and nurture them? Can a local church let go of unrealistic expectations that aren't really from God? A church does not have to limit itself to what it is already doing. It may very discover it is good at a lot of things that it hasn't tried yet. The only way to find out is to try them. But a church also needs to be willing to graciously let go of unrealistic expectations and of things that it may have done well in the past but is no longer able to do now.
"Do other people need us to do it?" What does God need the church to do, not only for its members but also for the world? The church today has become too focused on itself. As important as our community life is, it can't become our only or even our primary focus. From the day of Pentecost, the church has been called to open its doors and to live God's good news in the world. We need to claim this calling anew.
Himes stresses that vocational discernment for individuals does not take place in a vacuum. We need other people to discern with us, especially about the second and third questions. The same is true of our local churches. Churches need other churches to discern with them who they are and who God is calling them to become. This was the basis of our early associations and conferences. How can churches help each other to claim their joy, assess their strengths, and do God's work in the world?
It’s hard to ask these questions and can be even harder answer them honestly. But not asking them at all can, in the end, be even worse. If we don't ask them, we may experience joy less and less often. We may lose the ability to distinguish our strengths from our weaknesses. We may become useless to others and even to ourselves.
Jesus didn't avoid the hard questions. Neither should we.
Sunday, January 24, 2010, 11:14 PM
Last Monday night I watched the film "A Ripple of Hope" on public television. The film is the story of a speech given by Robert F. Kennedy on April 4, 1968, the evening that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. Kennedy had been scheduled to speak at a political rally in a predominantly African-American neighborhood in Indianapolis. When he arrived at the rally, he realized that many of the people in the crowd had not heard about Dr. King's death and that he would have to break the news to them.
Abandoning his prepared remarks, Kennedy spoke for just 6 minutes. He expressed compassion for all who were suffering and spoke of his own struggle with grief in the face of violence. He encouraged everyone to look beyond the tragedy and violence of that day and beyond the rage they were feeling to virtues of "understanding, compassion, and love."
You can read the entire text of the speech at: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/rfk.htm
In the middle of the speech, Kennedy quoted from the ancient Greek poet Aeschylus: "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."
I first heard about this speech when I was studying Greek in college in 1975. Our teacher, Bill O'Grady, told us that, in 1968, he had listened to this speech on the radio and was moved that Kennedy, at moment of despair and fear, had found inspiration in the words of an ancient poet. Our class was then invited to translate and discuss the passage.
Bill O'Grady (who was the greatest of many great teachers I have been honored to learn from) once told a student that he "thought it was possible that the beauty and wisdom of certain old stories might have the power to sustain us through all the sorrow and dismal failure of ordinary human life."
Words can have an amazing influence over time. Long ago, a poet writes of human resilience in the face of suffering. These words are preserved and translated over countless generations. Eventually they speak to a man mourning the violent death of his brother. That man then quotes them at a time of crisis to attempt to move a crowd and a nation away from rage and violence toward justice, compassion, and love. A teacher, hearing this speech, remembers the event and tells the story to help his class understand how great writing can comfort and inspire, us. A student in the class (me) is reminded of this story because someone else (totally unconnected) created a film to memorialize the event and share it with the world. And now I share this story with you.
Something similar yet far greater happens when the church interprets scripture. Long ago, people, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote of their experiences of the living God. These words were preserved, translated, taught, learned, and lived over countless generations. Each generation hears the words of scripture anew, in light of its own experiences, just as each is blessed with the insights and memories of previous generations. The Holy Spirit is present in each generation, with each believer and community of believers, helping us to read, understand and interpret Scripture. The Spirit empowers us to live the Gospel message and, in the words of Psalm 79, to "tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done."
The process by which Scripture has been preserved through the years and discovered anew by each generation demonstrates the power of God's Word through the presence of the Holy Spirit to transform the lives of those who hear and respond. Regardless of our role in the church, we all have the responsibility to learn from God's word and from one another. We all have the responsibility to teach, comfort, and inspire our peers and future generations. And we have the responsibility to live as God calls us to live.
Our words and our deeds may or may not be remembered by future generations. But they will sometimes be known, sometimes be acknowledged, and sometimes be remembered by those whom we encounter. And they will always be known and remembered by the One who speaks and acts through us.
