Toolbox For Faith

I carry my iPhone with me everywhere. I use it to check email, read the news, keep up with my daily tasks, keep my contact list, send texts and occasionally make phone calls. I’ve had my phone for about eight months now, so I am still fairly new to the smart-phone world, but I can already see how it is changing the way that I communicate and undertake ministry. In a previous time, I checked email occasionally while I was in the office. These days, I check email constantly and exchange messages with people in the congregation throughout the day. In a previous time, I would stay around the office waiting for people to call. These days, I have a growing number of church folks who send me texts to ask quick questions or update me with messages like, “Mom’s out of surgery.” In a previous time, I went back to my office to access ministry resources. These days, I have used my phone to look up hospital information for a family and to find directions to make a visit. In just eight months, my iPhone has become a tool I depend on to accomplish ministry on a daily basis.

As I think about these changes in myself and the way that I do ministry, I have started to wonder if congregations are adapting quickly enough to changes in communication. For example, should the church have a cell phone so we can send and receive text messages from the church to our youth? As people become accustomed to receiving a constant flow of information, what does it look like for a congregation to shift from a large monthly newsletter to a system which provides ministry news in small digestible bits through multiple streams? As everyone transitions away from having one home phone number to having their own personal phone number that they carry with them constantly, how will we respect the privacy of staff and congregants? In general, I guess it all boils down to this - how will we adapt to the possibilities these new communication tools provide and the expectations that they create?

Each time that I read the story of Mary and Martha like we did in worship last Sunday, I think of my friend Reilly Hammond, a wise Baptist minister. I was at his church one day when he introduced me to a woman who was rearranging the narthex. He told me her name and then said, “She is our church’s designated Martha” which made the woman and me laugh.

When we walked away, Reilly said that every church needs a “designated Martha” so everything would run smoothly. He only wished that Jesus would have had one nice thing to say about Martha rather than merely praising Mary. He noted that scripture does not say what happened after the meal but Reilly was sure that Jesus praised Martha enthusiastically.

The point of the story of Mary and Martha is that we need to realize what is lasting and what is not lasting. God’s word is lasting which is what Mary chose and what we need to choose. We need to concentrate on what is lasting and realize that the most important thing is not rearranging the narthex.

I often say that life is a “both…and” world and not an “either…or” world. I feel that effective Christians can be both Mary and Martha–people male and female, young and old–who first listen, prioritize their actions to concentrate of what is lasting and then do. And when nothing important is happening, we can rearrange the narthex.

Every congregation has a pattern to its life and ministry. At St. Michael for example, we do not schedule much for the two weeks after Virginia Tech graduates, because everyone takes a little break once the students leave. When I arrived at St. Michael, that end of the school year break continued throughout the summer. All of our ministries went into hibernation. Sunday School went away. The Senior Adult group stopped meeting. The Choir took a break. We offered worship and Vacation Bible School, but that was about it. Most everyone was still around. People didn’t really seem burned out to me when summer rolled around, but still our ministry virtually came to a halt.

Over the years, we have slowly increased our ministry during the summer months without much resistance and recently, I think I discovered part of the reason why. While talking to one of my long-time members, I learned that our “hibernation period” probably started because there was no air conditioning at church. It was too hot in the building, so nobody did anything until the weather started to cool off. The interesting thing is that even though air conditioning was added years ago, the pattern was so ingrained that nothing changed.

Sometimes we do things in the church for very intentional reasons, like not scheduling meetings during the two weeks after graduation, but sometimes we are simply repeating a pattern that may no longer be helpful or necessary, like going into hibernation for the summer. Each congregation’s pattern of life will be different, but discovering your pattern and understanding your pattern can be a tremendous asset for leaders as they plan for the life and ministry of a congregation.

I learn lessons good and bad when I worship at another church which my wife and I did last Sunday on vacation. This was our experience.

As we walked up to the building, we discovered that this Lutheran church had entrances to the sanctuary on both sides of the building along with doors to the lower level. Of course, we initially chose the wrong door. Inside each door were directions but not outside. A man inside the wrong door told us which door to choose.

We climbed the steps to the sanctuary where we were met by two women. We had to wait about a minute as the women were talking to someone else when we arrived. Since we were standing by a table with bulletins, we took one. The first woman finally greeted us with a “Good morning” and then she said to the other woman who was holding a stack of bulletins, “They already have bulletins.” The two women began to discuss whether the second woman should get the rest of the bulletins so that people would not pick them up before they were given a bulletin. I offered to put mine back so that she could give me one but she laughed and said to keep it. The service did not have an exchange of peace so that was all that was said to me until after the service.

As I opened the bulletin, I noticed that the order for worship took up a little over half of the inside page. The outline did not list everything and contained no worship directions or help which told me that the bulletin was not designed for anyone who was not familiar with the practices at that church. I almost goofed when I started to stand for the hymn of the day but thankfully glanced around before standing to see everyone else sitting.

As the pastor started the announcements, he began by recognizing a man and woman and welcomed them back. People in front looked to the right so I did, too, but I had no idea whom he was talking about nor why. I also noticed that the pastor never welcomed guests which told me that they were not expecting any non-members. We were never asked to sign anything to indicate who we were so there was no way they could follow up on our visit.

The sermon started weak but finished with a strong to-the-point story. Shortly after starting, the pastor talked about how he felt guilty when he did not live up to the standard of the story of the Good Samaritan as if the point of the story was to establish guilt rather than motivating helpful actions. Guilt only creates more guilt and nothing happens except feeling guilty. Thank goodness, the pastor finished with a great illustration which everyone could take with them. That was the best part of the service. The story was so good I am planning on using it the first opportunity I have.

A soloist with an excellent voice sang “In Remembrance of Me” while the offering was collected. I love the song and it is so meaningful when sung before, during or after Holy Communion. As I heard the words, “In remembrance of me, eat this bread,” I kept thinking this would have been much more appropriate on a Sunday when the congregation celebrated Holy Communion which they were not doing this Sunday.

The service concluded with the congregation singing a closing song which was not listed in the bulletin and which I had never heard before—something that I thought was almost impossible after a lifetime of years in worship. The postlude was joyous and wonderful which made me wonder why the organist had not played with such enthusiasm and power during the service.

On the way out as we waited in line to speak to the pastor, only one person—a grey haired woman–spoke to me. She said, “Good Morning” to which I responded “Good morning, I hope you have a wonderful day” as she kept walking past. People all around were talking to each other but not to us. The pastor was very friendly and welcoming but no one else spoke to me after worship.

I left feeling that the church had a core group who knew each other and were probably very happy with the church but the experience taught me that they are not interested in welcoming new people. If I had moved to that community and was looking for a church home, I would have found another church to attend next Sunday.

This summer I am writing Lectionary focused Sunday School material for a class of kids who range in age from kindergarten to fifth grade. In searching around online, I found a couple of interesting websites that have helpful resources and tools.

Here are a few helpful sites if you are interested.
Sermons4Kids.com

Lesson Plans that Work (from ECUSA)

Make your own Word Search

You can also look at the “With Children” section which is at the end of the links provided weekly by Textweek

Our Vacation Bible School happened at night last week which meant that we included a program for adults. I wish that I had come up with the design we used with our adults because it is so good but the credit goes to Eda Morelli, a former member from Aiken, SC.

Our school lasted from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. For the first hour, I led a Bible Study for the adults. The second hour was a delightful change of pace. On Sunday night, one of our members led a session on how we make decisions in our day to day life and the guidelines we use in choosing that decision. On Monday night, another member who has a passion for quilting told us about her hobby and specifically about a quilt she is making that has squares symbolic of 30 different Psalms. Our Tuesday session featured two lawyers talking about a variety of different issues in a gathering entitled “When you really need to call a lawyer!” Another member who is in charge of working in exercise, disease prevention and nutrition with over 4,000 employees of a local hospital gave very helpful tips on exercise and nutrition on Wednesday. Our final night’s theme was “Thrills from the grills with the Mills.” The father and son team of Edward and Michael Mills are fantastic cooks who led a session on gourmet items that can be grilled. Our only mistake was scheduling the nutrition session before we tasted the “thrills from the grills.”

Our attendance was excellent and the participants were excited about the experience. Eda’s idea is one that you might wish to try.

I just finished reading, “Switch” by Chip and Dan Heath and I recommend it highly to anyone who is interested in change. They offer excellent insights into why change can be hard and helpful guidance for how you can help bring about change in your own life or in an organization you are leading. Here’s a small glimpse of their ideas.

They offer a “three-part framework . . . that can guide you in any situation where you need to change behavior: Direct the Rider[rational self]. What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity. So provide crystal clear direction. Motivate the Elephant[emotional self]. What looks like laziness is often exhaustion. . . . It’s critical that you engage people’s emotional side - get their Elephants on the path and cooperative. Shape the Path. What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. We call the situation (including the surrounding environment) the ‘Path.’ When you shape the Path, you make change more likely, no matter what’s happening with the Rider and Elephant.”(Switch, pg. 17-18) You can find more information about the book and free downloadable resources on the Switch page of heathbrothers.com.

“Thanks for the advice,” the person said as she left my office shortly before the start of our Vacation Bible School. “That was really helpful.” The remark caught me off guard because I thought that we were having a good discussion looking at possible options. I had not thought that I was distributing advice.

The next day I read an interview with David Freedman who wrote Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us - and How to Know When Not to Trust Them when I came across his definition of good and bad advice which brought me back to the evening before. He said that bad advice tends to be simplistic, definite, universal and certain. Good advice, he feels, tends to be less certain.

I really appreciated what he said. Many people want a black and white world which explains why bad advice resonates with so many people who want simple, certain answers. Others see the world as a rainbow of colors which explains why good advice tends to be less certain. Good advice acknowledges that there are many roads to reach a destination, not just one way.

After reading all of Freedman’s comments, I started thinking that looking at possible options might be the best advice we can give or receive. And then I realized that sounded very simplistic, definite, universal and certain which made it bad advice. Oops! All I am certain about now is that I would appreciate it if you didn’t ask me for advice.

I am working on a Comparative Religion Sunday School class this summer and I just came across a really interesting website called, religionfacts.com. There seems to be a little bit of everything on the site including information about every imaginable faith, but the section I found most helpful contains charts. There are comparison charts, like the Christianity vs Jehovah’s Witness that I found, but also charts listing things like the early church fathers. Obviously I can’t vouch for all the information, but at least the Lutheran stuff seems fairly accurate.

At the end of second Corinthians, Paul writes

“And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure.”
2 Corinthians 13:11 from The Message

Paul’s words echoed in my mind as I read a copy of an email sent to dozens of members in another congregation complaining that their church is growing smaller and less friendly due to the pastor. The email bothered me greatly because the writer blasted everything and then pushed a button on a computer spreading their discontent to everyone in their address book, making sure that those people knew the writer was unhappy. What made it even more unfair was that the writer had not bothered to talk this over with the pastor and did not know what was happening in the congregation.

The writer did entirely the opposite of what Paul says, “Keep things in good repair… Think in harmony. Be agreeable.” Instead of creating harmony, many Christians act as un-Christians creating dysfunction, hurt, anger, and stress within the church. They want their own way and refuse to look at other options. To be faithful, we must align our lives with Christ’s teachings and Paul’s advice. We need to work together to solve problems within congregations, not fire off angry, destructive emails.

We in the church are called to be examples of Christ in words and actions. We are to act in love and even email in love. More of us need to read and reread Paul’s words.