tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-171965932024-03-13T10:59:29.449-05:00Sky McCrackenPastoral thoughts and musings<br>
Senior Pastor, First Methodist • Downtown Jackson<br>
Jackson, Tennessee USASky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.comBlogger356125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-47712423541553456612023-02-28T15:09:00.000-06:002023-02-28T15:09:16.120-06:00Recent Events Regarding UMC Church Disaffiliations<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">First Methodist Downtown Jackson Friends:</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdz23FUhumHOm87h4Q4UGofRe_eDXiDk3-m3Ef0l-bRDZYUge-0nqbESkRx8CWoZBgbs8mp_N9h8784nqnwrch4_rNmK27nGgMqnh_2Mmh61cSC8NGyFliQ9K19BQjZDUgAs8B5uUFEESQ6lJSW8MWyPDilHIHmbk7_6tx9obXWRCoS7cNiw/s288/FMDJ%20Logo_SQ%20copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="288" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdz23FUhumHOm87h4Q4UGofRe_eDXiDk3-m3Ef0l-bRDZYUge-0nqbESkRx8CWoZBgbs8mp_N9h8784nqnwrch4_rNmK27nGgMqnh_2Mmh61cSC8NGyFliQ9K19BQjZDUgAs8B5uUFEESQ6lJSW8MWyPDilHIHmbk7_6tx9obXWRCoS7cNiw/w200-h200/FMDJ%20Logo_SQ%20copy.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">It has always been my intent to be as transparent as possible regarding local church and denominational matters at our church. I have also always wanted you to have <u>accurate</u>, <u>factual</u> information so you can not only be “in the know,” but also make informed choices about your faith and church membership. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">You have probably heard that at least two of our larger churches in our area, Dyersburg FUMC and Collierville UMC, had votes regarding disaffiliation. They are notably on our minds because former pastors of our church serve at both of those churches. Neither church met the threshold for disaffiliation (which is a vote 2/3’rds or greater of professing members), but the votes were very close.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I know this raises questions. The biggest question: “Why does it take 2/3rd’s? Why not a simple majority?”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">The answer is both simple AND complex. The simple answer is because the provision for disaffiliating from the UMC is done via ¶2553.3 of the <i>Book of Discipline,</i> which is worded: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i>3. <b>Decision Making Process</b> - The church conference shall be conducted in accordance with ¶ 248 and shall be held within one hundred twenty (120) days after the district superintendent calls for the church conference. In addition to the provisions of ¶ 246.8, special attention shall be made to give broad notice to the full professing membership of the local church regarding the time and place of a church conference called for this purpose and to use all means necessary, including electronic communication where possible, to communicate. <u>The decision to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church must be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the professing members of the local church present at the church conference.<o:p></o:p></u></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 0.5in;"><i><u><o:p> </o:p></u></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">The complex answer: This legislation wasn’t crafted by an institutionalist, progressive United Methodist. It was submitted at the 2019 Called General Conference, without amendment, by a traditional, orthodox United Methodist pastor – the Rev. Beth Ann Cook, who wanted to find a gracious exit provision for anyone who felt that they needed to leave the UMC because of the disagreement in theology over human sexuality. She admitted that it wasn’t perfect, but (in her words): “I’ve worked long and hard trying to help us treat one another well in our disagreement. I want all my time and effort and sacrifice to mean something. Passing ¶2553 was us at our best.” I agreed – and as a former General Conference delegate, I voted for it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I say this for two reasons: (1) This wasn’t a move by the “status quo” or institutional UMC folks, and (2) this was the very hard work of a faithful disciple trying to honor everyone in a very divisive atmosphere. I know the Rev. Cook personally, and while we don’t agree on all things, I would never question her heart or her faith. She is a woman after God’s own heart.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">A majority vote might be appropriate for a national election, but rarely good for a local church. As much as we might try for it not to be about winners and losers… it turns into that. Few churches would take a 51%-49% vote as definitive for a building project, so it stands to reason that something as crucial as leaving a denomination or severing a congregation should be a resounding majority and discerning of God’s will.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">We in Jackson have already endured the pain of watching a few churches disaffiliate. Some of those folks have come to our church to find a church home, and that could happen again. Here is what I would hope for us as a church:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->That we welcome anyone into our fellowship with open arms, with no expectations that they “become members.” Some people will just need a safe place to be without strings attached. We should always be a safe place.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->That we attach no stigma or judgment on those who wish to go a separate way. While God would prefer us to live in unity, sometimes the differences are just too great. Separations happen. We also know that in the end, God unites us… even Paul and Barnabas, who were both successful in their ministry despite their differences.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Here is the reality, from my point of view and my experience in the political side of the United Methodist Church: You can certainly find extreme positions on both sides of the church, but they are largely the exception rather than the rule. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->It will be many years (at least 8-12) before any substantive changes could be made to the <i>Book of Discipline</i>, for the simple reason that Africa – very traditionalist in nature - is now the largest voting block (i.e., majority) in the UMC. For changes to be made will take a process of regionalizing the denomination that simply cannot (and will not) happen overnight. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Contrary to what you might have been told, most United Methodists (not all) are in general agreement when it comes to doctrine regarding the Virgin Birth, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Humanity and Divinity of Christ, etc. Are there exceptions? Of course. There always will be. They tend to be the exception, rather than the rule.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->If same-sex marriages and a more generous understanding of marriage <u>was</u> approved one day, how likely would a church get an LGBTQ+ pastor that doesn’t want one? VERY UNLIKELY. Why? Bishops and district superintendents don’t like to set up pastors or congregations to fail. Some churches still aren’t ready for a female senior pastor… and both the UMC and the newly formed GMC are fully supportive of women in ministry. (That’s worth pondering in and of itself)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I remain a United Methodist pastor – unapologetically and enthusiastically – as I believe it is the best expression of faith in Jesus Christ. If I thought otherwise, I would surrender my ordination credentials or retire and get out of the way. I can do no other.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Peace,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Sky+</span></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-46470331528142536462022-03-02T13:13:00.001-06:002022-03-02T13:17:03.841-06:00 Living in a Post-Denominational World<p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhimpBnrFjdZ4F4Oj9Ud-XcjO5A55t_rZJbQuQgZLM50Rl7A_r5djYRhAT0lpTO_A3MBx7GTLvzKCDoWvOSPuSq5oIes-ZUkbYTML5IT6M4pOFbYxyT_6LsV7WMHCGnB3f4cGMkU9NpWRe2PrrLnQwONMzHoBlze_MhUqDWtdqYbqMKV-peDw=s1140" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="1140" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhimpBnrFjdZ4F4Oj9Ud-XcjO5A55t_rZJbQuQgZLM50Rl7A_r5djYRhAT0lpTO_A3MBx7GTLvzKCDoWvOSPuSq5oIes-ZUkbYTML5IT6M4pOFbYxyT_6LsV7WMHCGnB3f4cGMkU9NpWRe2PrrLnQwONMzHoBlze_MhUqDWtdqYbqMKV-peDw=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">You’ve probably heard the word <i>postmodern</i>. While I could give you a definition, it probably wouldn’t do us much good because I believe we are now living in a POST postmodern world. Some call it<span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><i>post-millennialism</i> or</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><i>metamodernism</i>. For sure: we have become much more intensely fragmented and individualistic as a society than ever before. It interests sociologists because they yearn to know more about (1) who we are, and (2) how we arrived here. It confounds political scientists, politicians, and political parties because the delineation of what a “Democrat” and a “Republican” is no longer easily identifiable and has no steady platform (much to the chagrin of party leaders and politicians). And, more to my context, it frustrates church and denominational leaders because denominational labels may or may not accurately describe the adherents within. While there once used to be a few “rebels” in every denominational crowd, you’d have to work awfully hard to stand out now, because we’re all over the place.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Because they are the denominations I know the most about, consider: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->What is your average Southern Baptist, person-in-the-pew’s beliefs and practices? Well, it depends.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->What are your average United Methodist beliefs and practices? Well, it depends.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->What is your average ______________ beliefs and practices? Well… you get the idea.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">That’s just in the United States. Consider a wider worldview: I’ve been to Methodist, Church of Ireland/Anglican, and Catholic churches to worship in Ireland and England. They are very different from their counterparts in other parts of the world (and I should point out that there are significant differences between Irish and English churches in each of those traditions).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">It might be fair to say that we are of SIMILAR mindset where the Body of Christ is concerned. But we find some mighty differences in places far and near. Often, two United Methodist churches in the same town may find themselves at vast variances with each other in beliefs and practices.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">When it comes to denominations, annual conferences, and local churches: how and where will ultimate decisions be made about how a church organizes itself, how it identifies itself, and how it lives out its faith? Like it or not: it <u>won’t</u> be made by clergy, lay leaders, annual or general conferences, synods, or conventions. <b>It will be made by people in the pews.</b> The people who attend from Sunday to Sunday. The people who put themselves and their resources into the church offerings. The people who will vote not by a show of hands or marking a ballot, but by their feet. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">They don’t care what an institution or even a local church votes to do, because we are in a post-postmodern society that values institutions less and local opinion (namely, “me”) more. You don’t like the President, Governor, or member of Congress who is elected, you can simply say, “Not my president,” “I didn’t vote for them,” or “The vote was rigged.” That’s not my conjecture, that’s the present reality.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">We American Christians, particularly we Protestant ones, may have to admit something similarly about Christianity: we are living in a <i>post-denominational</i> time. People have more affinity to the people they know in their Sunday School classes and the small groups that they choose to belong to than their church’s doctrine and beliefs. The words <i>conservative</i> and <i>liberal</i> have started to lose their definition and power as some who claim those words to describe themselves are not the definitions we once had for them. Even the words “traditional,” “orthodox,” and “contemporary,” are not helpful or even accurate. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Institutional, dyed-in-the-wool United Methodists – as well as those who are not – are worrying and strategizing about a schism or split in the church. However, as the world has gotten smaller by improved (and sometimes inaccurate) information, gotten more complicated and political by a pandemic and the Russian/Ukrainian conflict, the impending split means less and less to the most important people in the church: <b>the people in the pew.</b> Their priorities – <b>the people in the pew’s priorities</b> - are <u>not</u> the priorities of the clergy or laity in power. The sooner clergy and laity in power recognize this, the better. Our privilege doth speakest too much.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">My unofficial research in this has happened in the area of the Three B’s: Bible studies, Ballgames, and Bars. Most folks love Jesus, but they are suspicious of church and church institutions. They don’t trust conferences or caucuses. The very folks who are in the midst of church conflict, those who are championing whatever cause, are the <u>very</u> same folks that nominal and skeptical Christians view with suspicion and distrust. Even Jesus warned us to be aware of those who practice their piety in front of others.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">What would <u>I</u> do in the case of United Methodists? I’d suggest starting local and working our way up instead of starting at the top and working our way down. Institutional mistrust, demonizing of individuals in leadership positions, “cancel culture” and “bumper sticker culture" will not cure what ails the local church nor profoundly affect much less change the beliefs and resolve of the person in the pew. Rightly or wrongly, most local churches are affinity-based. They like each other or they wouldn’t gather together. United Methodists might be better off being a looser connection of churches, since that is the reality already. Forcing the square peg into the round hole is something that just doesn’t work in a post- postmodern society. It certainly doesn’t work in a post denominational church. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">What about the infamous “Protocol” for United Methodists? I think we ditch it in favor of a new one: if a church wants to disaffiliate with the denomination, let them go with a blessing. If there are debts to settle, let them be settled. Some local churches will find themselves at an impasse with 50/50, 60/40 votes and will have to struggle through it… like all other things in life. A “split” in the denomination is not going to fix a conflict in a local church. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I know that pride and power won’t allow for a “looser” association of United Methodists, and post- postmodern America is quite anti-institutional at the present. While we may be able to use church and secular law to force actions upon congregations, or may be able to entice folks to leave for another denomination, <u>no one</u> can provoke or prevent the vote taken with church members’ feet. Much to the chagrin of those present United Methodists and future Global Methodists, some people are going to choose “none of the above.” There are more than two doors to choose from. The typical person in the pew sees us acting more like Congress than the Church. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">If history is any indicator, it is much easier to divide the church than to multiply it. Unfortunately in the United States, the division is all taking place amidst subtraction that was already present in Christianity as a whole. The causes may seem just to the fighters, but the math is very bad. If we’re to live in a post denominational church, those who are fighting the hardest for the United Methodist or Global Methodist Church will have the worst time adjusting to the new reality.<o:p></o:p></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-12887560460511762202022-01-10T15:58:00.001-06:002022-01-10T16:09:39.064-06:00Baptismal Vows? Obviously Optional.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSx6q4BgYnMeCprzOWc9G7VfpVjrjIO74nNPCK6j4EwsORsLyMa456DJQVQh87fhy4QCIcn6ItlYBJ1CTbE6H52_h_0gV_96EZ1Iww8DGWZ1rfXe09EsFn1LkJuv3odp1dfx0gllbwgHvyD7nv1H5MrWbPidxl2WqNvlEzBlA2AJYYctX4Ug=s800" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSx6q4BgYnMeCprzOWc9G7VfpVjrjIO74nNPCK6j4EwsORsLyMa456DJQVQh87fhy4QCIcn6ItlYBJ1CTbE6H52_h_0gV_96EZ1Iww8DGWZ1rfXe09EsFn1LkJuv3odp1dfx0gllbwgHvyD7nv1H5MrWbPidxl2WqNvlEzBlA2AJYYctX4Ug=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div>We live in a country now ruled by tribalism. We are not ruled by a republic, we are not ruled by any specific religious belief: we are ruled by tribalism. We are guided by individualism, which runs contrary to the spirit of a republican democracy and is the antithesis of Judeo/Christian core beliefs.<p></p><p>From Founding Father John Dickinson’s 1768 “The Liberty Song.”:</p><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Come, join hand in hand, brave Americans all, <br /></i><i>And rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty's call; <br /></i><i>No tyrannous acts shall suppress your just claim, <br /></i><i>Or stain with dishonour America's name.</i></div><p style="text-align: left;">From the Old Testament:</p><div style="text-align: left;"><i>I will be your God.</i> - Genesis 17:7-8<br /><i>You will be My people.</i> - Exodus 4:22; 6:7<br /><i>I will dwell among you.</i> - Exodus 29:43-46</div><p style="text-align: left;">From the New Testament:</p><p><i>For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.</i> - Romans 12:4-5</p><p><i>So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. </i>- Galatians 3:24-28</p><p>But these words from the Word have been largely ignored. People have and can justify anything if it helps their cause, since Satan can quote scripture too! Racism was (is) defended. Not allowing women to vote was once justified. As I shared in Sunday’s sermon, more recent major strides in acceptance and grace have not come from the brave actions of the Church; they came from secular political expediency and the loyalty of friendship. When did the stigma of divorce become lessened? When Ronald Reagan (a former divorcée) became a candidate for president. When did AIDS research begin to be federally funded? When President Reagan’s good friend Rock Hudson died of AIDS.</p><p>What institution has treated divorcées and AIDS patients like lepers? The Church. When did change happen? When a beloved politician (and those wanting to elect him) had us confront change and acceptance. In these cases change was good. It was past due. It was ethically and morally right. The people who loved Reagan and wanted him to be president had to swallow some pride and prejudice to elect and support him.</p><p>When did my friend's white grandfather begin to soften his views on other races? When his great-grandson brought his African-American fiancé to meet him. </p><p>Well. We're not so big without our Facebook and Twitter page, are we?</p><p>Today, we find ourselves in more factions and tribes than ever before. I don’t know an institution in America free of it. Even those who claim unity under the labels “Democrat,” “Republican,” and in my circles of “United Methodist,” and “WCA/Global Methodist Church” find themselves with warring factions from within. Democrats are not united in their support of Joe Biden anymore than Republicans find unity in being Donald Trump supporters. Many who are leaving the United Methodist Church are not leaving to go to the Global Methodist Church but becoming independent/non-denominational. Why? Many reasons, but the guiding principle is, "I want what <u>I</u> want." </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhd38p7pfGwMKZgr4kFgtoDP9YJ6pB29mkUp_eDhp9BHIGr99GKgMVRLM7eCipf8yaMvYGwS-6GojJLKRDJVvILvwGJh0Ywhld0FFOERgxH5sYdOI68AEXg3dZXtS3wEdNckRGn3TSGMFRuH3IsxGco9cHexNClgzP1pYAIF518QXMksAvW_A=s1280" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhd38p7pfGwMKZgr4kFgtoDP9YJ6pB29mkUp_eDhp9BHIGr99GKgMVRLM7eCipf8yaMvYGwS-6GojJLKRDJVvILvwGJh0Ywhld0FFOERgxH5sYdOI68AEXg3dZXtS3wEdNckRGn3TSGMFRuH3IsxGco9cHexNClgzP1pYAIF518QXMksAvW_A=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div>It's my observation that the Church prefers majoring in the minors as opposed to living out the Great Commandment and Great Commission. We value individualism more than we do unity because unity means that there IS something bigger, more important, more overriding than what “I” think. “WE” is the first word of the U.S. Constitution. The Lord’s Prayer begins, “OUR Father,” (and not "My Father."). If you’re going to be American, and you’re going to be Christian, “I” isn’t the priority. “WE” is the priority. Those aren't <u>my</u> words, but the words of the Constitution and the Scriptures. <p></p><p>In order to embrace “WE” and “OUR,” we have to take a dose of humility. Humility that our limited intellect cannot always grasp all of the wisdom in the world and most certainly cannot grasp much at all of <u>God’s</u> wisdom and truth. Over the years, we’ve realized that epileptics are not possessed by a demon, because someone’s child or grandchild was an epileptic, and helped us to understand that it is a biological anomaly, not an evil spirit. We realized that divorcees are not evil or “fallen people,” because someone’s child or parent was a divorcee, and helped us realize that they were part of a fallen relationship. We are starting to realize that LGBTQ+ folks do not choose who they are, because someone’s child or parent is LGBTQ+, and helped us realize that they didn't choose to be who they are, but that they have always been that way as long as they can remember. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZSbE5heZ8g4eGEKJ85-C7Jzt45kVaU_08ooCkLnJ0UIQx3C_P84MebDc9hwDcLXB3WbJctnz7lMQtG9ZpEAVlvw9UYhH24XyTFXi7mWXTgXt2C6sLzXczHmmQkCO3R4MrJC6GpBExeFGRnVHZVTJgdryEGHTgnn_sSk6dwZPkLHgy24YXJQ=s910" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="669" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZSbE5heZ8g4eGEKJ85-C7Jzt45kVaU_08ooCkLnJ0UIQx3C_P84MebDc9hwDcLXB3WbJctnz7lMQtG9ZpEAVlvw9UYhH24XyTFXi7mWXTgXt2C6sLzXczHmmQkCO3R4MrJC6GpBExeFGRnVHZVTJgdryEGHTgnn_sSk6dwZPkLHgy24YXJQ=w294-h400" width="294" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Self portrait by Sarah McCracken Weekes<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>I’m not an epileptic. I’m not a divorcée. I don’t know what those things are like, but I’ve dealt with people who have or who have children who have, and I have learned to be compassionate - not judgmental - because of their witness to me. I <u>do</u> understand LGBTQ+ folks don’t choose who they are, because I have a child who is such. She can’t explain why she is who she is, but she knows that she can’t “change” it. She also knows who and Whose she is, though the church she grew up in has been slow to say that. (When she chose to get a tattoo, it was the word "Agape," in Greek letters.) The cynic in me suspects those attitudes will probably not change dramatically until we have a president (probably a Republican one) who has a gay child. Then it will be "more acceptable."<p></p><p>Why do we give our politicians more power than church leaders, or more importantly, Jesus? The answer is simple: where our treasure is, that is where we will find our heart. Jesus is much too radical for us who love “I” and “ME” more than “OUR” and “WE.” Until we truly accept that, and accept our baptismal vows as having priority over <u>any</u> other vow, oath, or pledge that we could take, we will render more to Caesar than we will to God.</p><p>Pax,</p><p>Sky+</p><div><br /></div>Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-36779571880960752152021-10-22T13:14:00.004-05:002021-10-25T11:26:02.423-05:00Lies, Damned Lies, and Gossip<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5UzZKrLX0_w/YXL6DloDGaI/AAAAAAAAFy4/19yKNHiA-R04gcmfafzcqEUYkRY-eEmgACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_8117.HEIC" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5UzZKrLX0_w/YXL6DloDGaI/AAAAAAAAFy4/19yKNHiA-R04gcmfafzcqEUYkRY-eEmgACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_8117.HEIC" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The stress came off of me like a snake shedding its skin. I hopped on the connecting flight going from Boston to Dublin. Picked up a rental car and drove to the Dingle peninsula (Aer Lingus no longer flies into Shannon – dang!). I was a bit early to check into the cottage I was staying in so I went to a local pub for my favorite lunch there: a cup of soup (on this day potato and leek) and a slice of brown bread with ample butter. I sat at a table looking out a window at the Atlantic ocean from Tralee Bay. </span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Peaceful. No television blaring with a 24-hr news channel. No phone ringing or full of emails and text messages (and no one else on their phones as I recall). I didn’t have to check a calendar, nor was I running a tourist race to see how many new things I could see. A week of study, prayer, a few contemplative hikes, and occasional visit to a pub with some live music.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A couple of days later I had morning coffee, cooked my own breakfast, sat outside and stared at the Slieve Mish mountains close by, and decided to do my studying outside. It was glorious. After a while I realized it was past lunch time and I decided I wanted another bowl of that soup and some brown bread, so I drove down the road to the same pub. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I walked up to the door and a man was doing some work outside. “Coming for lunch?” he asked. I said that I was. “Well, I can pour you a pint, but you can’t have any lunch. I don’t have a cook today. In fact, more days than not we don’t have a cook for lunch.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To make small talk, I said, “Oh my. We have the same problem in the States. I guess that’s our president’s fault.” He laughed out loud, “Eh! Would that be Trump or Biden?” I told him probably both. He laughed harder. “I guess we could blame the Taoiseach, but I’d rather blame Brexit!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And so, the old maxim, “You can run, but you can’t hide,” proved to be true. My peaceful escape from the American Gripefest didn’t last long – and I even contributed to it. Thankfully it was good natured. I had a pint and we talked about how much sport it is to talk about politics, religion, and to generally B&G. (I had to translate that for him – “bitch and gripe” - and he roared in laughter). Then I drove in search of a pub with food. I passed THREE before I found one with a cook – a good 15 kilometers on a very curvy road. Thank you, South Pole Inn in Anascaul village!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zUVfcHoMqi4/YXL8T4L6RuI/AAAAAAAAFzA/4tSHQo0xuWMUWJM6wkPzotOSLWF7EkOJACLcBGAsYHQ/s543/The_Blame_Game.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="543" height="253" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zUVfcHoMqi4/YXL8T4L6RuI/AAAAAAAAFzA/4tSHQo0xuWMUWJM6wkPzotOSLWF7EkOJACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The_Blame_Game.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Fuel prices, natural gas prices, and power rates are going up… in the U.S., Ireland, Britain – all of Europe. There aren’t enough truck drivers… in the U.S., Ireland, and Britain, as well as Mexico, Russia, and Turkey. You can blame several sources and you might be accurate in your blame – or not. The variables are many. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The need for lament is valid – the Bible is full of lament. My concern is when lament turns to malice. Demonizing. Vilifying. Name-calling. Slander.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Society does it. Politicians and pundits model it for us which seems to give us license for it. It hurts in general, but it really hurts when it strikes close to us. You don’t have to be directly hit by a lightning bolt for it to cause damage to you or your property. Lightning can travel 25 miles in a combination of above ground and below ground. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I was eating lunch one day and someone who knew me asked me, “Sky, aren’t you from Martin (TN)?” I said that I was. “Man, I heard about that Methodist church up there. They have a lesbian pastor. I guess that liberal bishop is gonna try to push his agenda thru up there.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I laughed, because (a) I know the pastor, and was her DS when she was graduating from seminary, and (b) if our bishop is a liberal then I’m a beach blonde with a tan. “Are you being serious?” He said he was, and that he’d heard it from people he knew. “Who?” I asked? Silence. Finally he said, “I guess that’s gossip, isn’t it preacher?” That wasn’t the exact word I was thinking, but I said, “Yes, if it’s not your story to tell, it’s gossip.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is true that some people have left my home church, for various reasons – just as people are coming and going from various churches and denominations, including the church I serve (we have lost some members, we have had as many new people attend or join). I hate to see any church or denomination go through strife, though they are as flawed and imperfect institutions as the people in them in this vastly polarized climate we have created and live in. The church isn’t free from what other institutions seem to need: demonizing and undermining the “other” so that “my side” looks better.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But what I hate, and what I’m fairly sure God hates, are the labels. The pigeonholing. The lies that will be told because it gives weight and credence to the narrative. I occasionally take time during church meetings to do “Mythbusters” – I just go ahead and lay out on the table the latest rumor, rumbling, gossip, or guesstimate that is out there, and let people ask as many questions as they want. Some people don’t like it (the confrontation), some laugh, many shake their heads. We like to B&G. We <u>don’t</u> like being confronted by the actual truth when it conflicts with our opinion or narrative. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Jesus was heavily criticized by others. Endured constant sniping. His words and actions were taken out of context. People misrepresented (i.e., lied) about things that he did or said. Many of these people were religious people who should (and probably did) know better. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lw8zRsBQosI/YXL-48f3xKI/AAAAAAAAFzI/Pao7v0WvQfgvd-eGWYFmB7U1tCn0vdvlQCLcBGAsYHQ/s560/grunwald.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="560" height="208" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lw8zRsBQosI/YXL-48f3xKI/AAAAAAAAFzI/Pao7v0WvQfgvd-eGWYFmB7U1tCn0vdvlQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h208/grunwald.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I grow weary of it all. Of course, it’s nothing new under the sun. But it hurts the most when it comes from the church and those who proclaim Christ crucified and risen. You would think the events of Holy Week and Easter would remind us of (a) the evil we can commit against the most innocent, and (b) the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in which God – not us - has the last word. But we soon forget. And then we defend and deny. And then – we are stuck with ourselves.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thank goodness for Jesus Christ: “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Galatians is one of my favorite Pauline letters. It teaches that the Spirit wants to produce in God’s people love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If our B&G sessions - or even our best critique - cannot be expressed in keeping with the Spirit, perhaps it is better left unsaid. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For certain, God is watching and listening: to our words, our thoughts, our actions. They matter, and we will one day have to give an account for them. <u>He</u> must increase - we must decrease.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p>Sky+</o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></div>Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-65256353256268200952021-02-24T09:29:00.000-06:002021-02-24T09:29:18.203-06:00I’m Getting Older - Lament<p>I’m getting older. </p><p>It’s not just a biological fact, it’s starting to show – inside and out. Those that haven’t seen me in a while say, “Your hair’s all white!” I wear contact lenses sometimes but I still need cheaters to read. My arthritis is getting worse. My bad foot has become a worse foot and I can roll my ankle stepping on a pebble.</p><p>I’m not in my twilight years, but I’m living in a twilight time, a twilight zone. I’m preaching Sunday on Paul and the promise of God that comes not by label, denomination, party affiliation, or rule-following, but only by faith. That the promise rests on grace and not the law, from the one who raised Jesus from the dead. But that’s not what I see. It’s not what I feel. </p><p>I’m getting older.</p><p>I see people who are more worried about who our president is or was than who their neighbor is. They find the latest meme or post that says, “Yes, read this!” when it has nothing in mind but saying me and my kind are right and you are wrong. We put labels on others yet say we love everyone. We ask to be forgiven for our trespasses but want punishment for those who trespass against us. We brag about our baptism or about when we were saved, forgetting that the God who adopted us out of our unworthiness also adopted others, too: our brothers and sisters, related by blood – the blood of Christ. Does God approve of how we treat our blood-kin?</p><p>We’re addicted – alcohol, drugs, work, food. But there are worse addictions. Hate. Gossip. Undermining each other. God sees what we post on social media, hears what we say in our circle of friends, knows our hearts and minds. I’m not sure that we care. We just want to be right. We want others to be wrong. We need labels so we can know the good guys from the bad guys. We’re addicted to being divided. Even the Church seems to need to be divided. We say it’s “their” fault. “They” seem to be the cause of all our troubles. I really think “they” is a way to escape from saying WE. God forbid anything be **my** fault.</p><p>500,000 dead in my country. Some say it’s an exaggeration, even a myth. All I know is that I’ve buried my share of those 500,000: church members, relatives, a close friend or two. That it is even up for debate makes my hair even whiter, my heart more broken, makes my insides hurt as much as my outsides. We’re callous to death. We’re disrespectful to life. Life is precious. Instead of hurting for others, we invoke politics and conspiracy theories to cover up our own sadness and inflict it on others.</p><p>I’m getting older. </p><p>Some days the arthritis and heartache is a lot. But Lord, please don’t take away my – take away OUR - ability to feel. Even when we try to take it away ourselves.</p><p>Sky+</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8AHCfZTRGiI" width="507" youtube-src-id="8AHCfZTRGiI"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-5323313987605345572020-11-02T15:33:00.003-06:002020-11-04T13:43:37.890-06:00Christian: What To Do About Election Day<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rJCNeypa3L0/X6B6tpatvuI/AAAAAAAAFsI/7-0-fYqmx9EC4fIbMhHTETKA5RXP8B5_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/despair.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rJCNeypa3L0/X6B6tpatvuI/AAAAAAAAFsI/7-0-fYqmx9EC4fIbMhHTETKA5RXP8B5_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/despair.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>When I was a sports official and assigned as the “crew chief” for a game, I would always tell my partners this: “After this game, a lot of folks are going to be happy, and a lot of folks are going to be unhappy. There’s nothing we can do about that, and don’t take it personally.” The reality is, there have been many games before, and there will be many games afterwards. There will always be winners and losers.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Same with this election. There have been many elections before this one; there will be many afterwards. Regardless of what we think, this election is <u>not</u> “the most important election ever in the history of the United States.” That’s been said about <i>every</i> election. While this election may be important to you and me, it’s hubris to think that our time in history is any more important than anyone else’s.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">One colleague's words, Don Sensing, former Army soldier/Pentagon staff and now UM minister, saved me a lot of re-reading the Federalist Papers to summarize how many of the Founding Fathers felt about the governing of the new nation and today' predicament:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The present election has inflamed passions throughout the country, including to the violence that the Founders warned us. Neither candidate has made much in the campaigns of their religious convictions. It is just as well. America's Founders trusted neither religion nor its lack as a qualification of a candidate. While we may hope and pray that our national leaders will be guided by the highest ideals of moral and religious convictions, our nation’s founders warned us not to count on it, either for office seekers, office holders or voters. We must seek another source of unity for our nation, not to supplant morality and religion but to complement them. - </i>from the <i>Sensing Online</i> blog: <span style="color: #2b00fe;"><u>"<a href="https://sensingonline.blogspot.com/2020/11/election-and-unity-reflection-on-this.html" target="_blank">Election and Unity - a reflection on this Tuesday</a>."</u></span></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That helps answer the question, "What's a Christian to do?" regarding this election. Going to one’s faith is not a universal guide nor always helpful to how one should vote or who should win this election. Southern Baptist leader Al Mohler, a conservative, has changed his mind from the last election and has found a moral way to support the re-election of our president (<a href="https://albertmohler.com/2020/10/26/christians-conscience-and-the-looming-2020-election" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">you can read what he says here</span></a>). John Piper, Calvinist/Baptist pastor and teacher – also a conservative - states that he cannot in good conscience vote for either candidate and makes a moral case for his decision (<a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/policies-persons-and-paths-to-ruin" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">read his article here</span></a>). More progressive religious leaders like Jim Wallis have painfully articulated the problem that he sees with choosing the Left or the Right in politics when viewed through theological eyes: despite who the president has been, (a) family breakdown is occurring across all class and racial lines, and (b) public education remains a disaster for millions of families. Moreover, for the progressive party-line platform, a consistent ethic of life (Wallis' words) means that if you are against capital punishment on the grounds of it being a premeditated murder, that means you must reconsider the party-line stance on abortion as well. It also means that both "sides" must take poverty more seriously than they do, as poverty encourages a culture of death. (Wallis, from <i>God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It </i>[2005])</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My advice in this election is to exercise your right to vote or not vote, and if you do vote try to vote for the candidates that closely match your personal political platform as possible. If you can’t in good conscience vote for either choice, write one in or leave it blank. The perfect candidate doesn’t exist – and never will.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G35RYKjI6VE/X6BE_PuPWiI/AAAAAAAAFro/NY2zgrbVZ78REFDxWGTIB6iUIBnHWEyiwCLcBGAsYHQ/s669/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-02%2Bat%2B11.30.13%2BAM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="669" height="209" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G35RYKjI6VE/X6BE_PuPWiI/AAAAAAAAFro/NY2zgrbVZ78REFDxWGTIB6iUIBnHWEyiwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h209/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-02%2Bat%2B11.30.13%2BAM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Nevada, 2016 Election</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Interesting statistic: the practice of leaving a ballot choice blank (sometimes called a “protest vote” or “undervote”) has increased in the past two elections. In 2012, around 0.97% of those voting left their presidential vote blank. In 2016, that figure rose to 1.4%. Getting a ballot and not voting for one or more offices is (a) legal, and (b) still exercising your right to vote. In Nevada, you have the option of choosing “None of the above.” In 2016, NOTA received 28,863 votes… which was 2.56% of the vote, and more than the margin of victory which was 27,202 votes. </span><div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Here’s what’s clearly not acceptable or desirable for Christians:</b> if your candidate wins, don’t gloat. If your candidate loses, don’t despair (I'll resist posting scriptural verses about such). The sun will come up tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day. Some days it’s sunny. Some days it rains. Remember that it rains on the just and unjust.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As my friend <a href="http://www.allanbevere.com/2017/01/pray-for-all-in-authority-that-they-may.html" style="color: #954f72;" target="_blank">Allan Bevere wrote a few years ago</a>: if you read Romans 12 <u>AND</u> 13 in context, we pray for our leaders that they might be godly people, and then - pretty much - we pray that they might leave us Christians alone to do our work: to sacrifice, to not allow ourselves to be transformed by the world, and to please God. Let Caesar, the President, and whoever’s Prime Minister be about <i>their</i> work, but know as Christians that love <u>fulfills</u> the law and does no harm to a neighbor. We put on the robe of Jesus the Christ. <u>That’s</u> our task; not to be about a political party’s business, but to be about the Lord’s business.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Good friends, family, and Christians will disagree about politics, and/or find frustration with politics. After the election: don't gloat, don't despair, and don't let this become a deal-breaker where family, friends, and fellow citizens are concerned. Vote with conviction. Win or lose with graciousness - but be sure your convictions and struggles are stronger with the Faith than your patriotism. Where your treasure is, is where you will find your heart.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sky+</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p></div>Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-13488497130967498762020-10-19T15:01:00.000-05:002020-10-19T15:01:16.404-05:00The Biggest Shift for United Methodism<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aZPgyLXcl4A/X43ujQXmzEI/AAAAAAAAFq4/2bd1yMHUvcQHKPY3dkIlKYCgtZd6mrTYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1018/False-Dilemma-1-1024x576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="1018" height="261" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aZPgyLXcl4A/X43ujQXmzEI/AAAAAAAAFq4/2bd1yMHUvcQHKPY3dkIlKYCgtZd6mrTYgCLcBGAsYHQ/w495-h261/False-Dilemma-1-1024x576.jpg" width="495" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The lobbying, posturing, passionate speeches, and theological/doctrinal infighting for the past fifty years in the United Methodist Church regarding sexuality and a few other issues may have all been in vain, and may end for the same reason that World War I ended: a virus.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It’s one of those “I missed that in history class” historical facts, but the 1918 flu pandemic had a major effect on the how and when of the end of World War I. Soldiers were sick. People couldn’t get to work. Major infrastructure collapse was occurring in many countries. Some historians note that the Treaty of Versailles was rushed through: the American delegation was opposed to German reparations, but the delegation (including President Wilson) was mostly disabled by the flu when negotiations were taking place, so some things were done hastily while other things were not done at all. In short: the war was called (as the insurance companies say) on account of “an act of God.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We are seeing a repeat of that in the present. While thankfully less lethal than the 1918 Flu, COVID-19 is changing the landscape of everything… including the United Methodist Church. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I’m not a futurist, but I believe that the present pandemic is speeding up what we already knew to be true about denominational/connectional churches: denominations and communions mean less and less to people, and the local church means more and more. Part of this was the reality that most discipleship and mission has always happened at the local church level. But now we are living into a reality few of us “die hard” United Methodists wanted to acknowledge: for 95% of the people who are called United Methodists and sit in the pews, what goes on in the district, annual conference, General Conference, General Agencies, etc… affects very, very little of their lives. It may mean a lot to the clergy and “professional laity," but when compared to the general membership of the UMC, these are less than a thimbleful of the people called United Methodists. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The effect of district, conference, and General Conference activity on local churches is going to make even less of an impact than it ever has before. World travel, with its quarantines, self-isolation requirements, and country-to-country prohibitions and more-stringent visa requirements, all make having a General Conference very unlikely until a vaccine is available. <b>Given the present American environment regarding increased reticence to even TAKING a vaccine if/when it is developed, how many countries are going to even be open to coming to the U.S., much less having US come visit <u>their</u> countries? I am fairly sure General Conference 2021 will not meet, and I don’t know when in the near future another world-wide gathering can and will take place.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Another reality is finances: we were warned at General Conference 2004 by Sandra Lackore, who was the then-treasurer of the General Conference Finance & Administration: “We have a structure that we can no longer afford.” Where the Episcopal Fund was concerned, every jurisdiction was advised to cut one Episcopal Area. No one did. Few general agencies made changes. Annual Conferences had to begin to cut campus ministry and camping ministries. In the years since, most conferences have decreased the numbers of districts and staff. Unlike the U.S. government, the UMC cannot print money. Our own annual conference has drastically cut its budget. Right now, the power, influence, and opportunities for Christianity are going to come primarily from a local church, not a district, conference, or General Conference.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">All of this sounds tragic… until you look at things objectively and realize: the local church is moving ahead. We still have church every Sunday, whether in-person or online. We are financially in the black. During the pandemic, we’ve actually had people JOIN the church. We’re moving forward in this crazy season, seizing new opportunities and ministries.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our present conflict may end with a whimper instead of a bang.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">While I still believe Methodists are a connectional church and a connectional people, our “connection” is different in this pandemic season. And, being more local than ever before, we will look more at our local context in how we do ministry and mission. Just as there is truth in the phrase, “All politics is local,” there is also truth in the phrase, “all ministry is local.” To be sure, the world IS our parish, but it starts in our local church and branches out. Disciples are made in local churches, not districts or conferences. We can do MORE as a larger body, but we START in a local church. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>What I think this means for the future is this: If I was a person in the pew, I would base more of my understanding, witness, discipleship, and sense of belonging in a local church rather than any annual conference or general conference. We live in a world with more options, opinions, and permutations than ever before, and no two local churches are alike. If we are “waiting to see” what our annual conference or the General Conference is going to do where doctrine and matters of sexuality are concerned, we may be in for a long wait: none of us know how long we will be affected by the pandemic, and all of the issues that confront us as a denomination are not going to be solved by a mass ZOOM conference call in the Spring. <u>I am fairly certain that our denomination will not be in a place to meet and make such decisions in the next four years.</u> </b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">God can use anything – even a pandemic – to speak a word to His people. His word in this season may be one that we don’t want to hear, but nonetheless can’t argue with: wait. For sure, this season is (re)teaching us:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• God has sovereign control over things. Our control is at best an illusion.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. We are not our own.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• We are utterly dependent on God – and God will not be rushed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• The psalmists and prophets made it clear: sometimes, God slows us down to patience and silence so that we might listen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• We wait for our salvation – it doesn’t come on our demand.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” – Isaiah 40:31<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some will say, "We've waited too long." Unfortunately, God may be reminding us, "You don't know what a long time is."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Pax,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sky+</span></p>Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-77708914636428282162020-09-08T11:07:00.000-05:002020-09-08T11:07:29.062-05:00Time for a Hard Reset Regarding Ordination<p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qhVHYv5XETM/X1erKDBJC1I/AAAAAAAAFpg/V5YDhOF9BZMTs-QGfQcq3wGXRginxN7hgCLcBGAsYHQ/s307/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="307" height="258" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qhVHYv5XETM/X1erKDBJC1I/AAAAAAAAFpg/V5YDhOF9BZMTs-QGfQcq3wGXRginxN7hgCLcBGAsYHQ/w481-h258/images.jpg" width="481" /></a></span></div><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />What I write is nothing new for the 3-4 folks who read what I write. But today it’s been ramped up a notch as being a class and justice issue. <o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">United Methodist’s theology of ordination and practice of credentialing - quite frankly – sucks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I’m not talking about conference or district boards of ministry. I’m not talking about seminaries. I’m talking about our polity, which lacking a THEOLOGY of ordination, is all we have to go by as United Methodists. It’s not biblical, it’s not historical, and the only tradition it follows is one that we’ve largely made up in the 20<sup>th</sup>century.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A quick history/theology lesson about ordination: until very recently, the Western notion that ordination is something you EARNED is simply heresy. Ordination is a charism, that is, a gift from God to the Church, given by the Holy Spirit to the community of faith. In a Wesleyan ethos, ordination is neither an ontological nor functional change to the one ordained, but a pneumatological empowering of an individual. It may be for life, or it may be for a season. But to be sure, it is not EARNED or DESERVED by academic attainment or by hoop-jumping a checklist from church law. Ordination is bestowed by the community of faith.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Before we made academia the final arbiter of learning, the apprentice-in-action model served Christianity. Not seen as diametrically opposed to the academy, the apprentice model often paralleled the academy, or made use of the local academy for preparing clergy for parish work. It also served the professions of law and medicine as well. Even today, there are states in the U.S. (California, Vermont, Washington, and Virginia) where a law degree (or even a bachelor degree) is not required to take the bar exam; one can undergo a four-year apprenticeship with an approved attorney.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">So the fact that “it’s always been this way” is fiction, not fact. The Rev. Homer Johns, my pastor during my elementary school years, came to our church after being a district superintendent for six years. He lead the start of the first thrift store in our city. He served on the Board of Ministry in retirement, and my toughest doctrine question came from Homer, who grilled me at length about infant baptism and baptismal regeneration. Homer didn’t have an M.Div. He had gone to course of study.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">As late as the 1950’s, this was a model that the former Methodist Church used. It wasn’t until the 1956 Book of Discipline that a bachelor of divinity degree (now called a master of divinity) became the standard for someone to be admitted “on trial” and later ordained as a traveling elder. As Randy Maddox of Duke elaborated at a mid-quadrennial training for Boards of Ministry in 2014: “This growing professionalization was linked to escalated class status, and fit prudential realities of majority of Methodist congregations at the time.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The unintended consequences of such are beginning to be realized in this liminal time for American Christianity. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>We’ve created a “class/caste” system of clergy in United Methodism. There are 26 different classifications for clergy in United Methodism. Scripture gives us two (deacon and bishop/presbyter) or three (if you separate bishop and presbyter). We UM’s “license” people to serve the sacraments, but only let those “vote” at annual conference who have been ordained (think about that one for a minute – better yet, try to explain it to someone NOT United Methodist). Clergy membership and ordination are <i>technically</i> separate, but it reality they are not. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Even when factoring in inflation and average household incomes, a seminary education costs an individual 2.5 times more than it did 30 years ago. The only way someone can reach the minimal standard for being ordained today is (1) be independently wealthy, (2) have affluent parents or a rich uncle/aunt, or (3) be in debt for 20+ years. If you’re second career or older, you have even more obstacles in front of you. This is reprehensible behavior for the Church, and I won’t even go into the class implications of such a policy and polity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>We have an elitist-within-an-elitist mentality when it comes to education. A master of divinity degree isn’t enough (even from an ATS accredited school); it has to be from a United Methodist Senate APPROVED seminary. If you don’t have one of those, you will be getting ANOTHER master of divinity degree.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Unlike our AME, CME, and AME Zion friends, we did not retain the “local elder” category for clergy. We now call them “licensed local pastors.” There is absolutely no theological basis for this. It’s purely bureaucratic. Ordination has become way too closely tied to itinerancy and not the mission of the Church: to make disciples of Jesus Christ to transform the world. Transforming our method of credentialing clergy would be a good start. Ordination doesn’t (and shouldn’t) equal insurance and benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This liminal season (literally, “threshold season”) is going to require us to be more adaptive than any we have faced in the last 100 years. Church attendance and practices are not going to return “to normal” anytime soon, and our requirements for ordination are going to assure us of few clergy for the next generation. I will quote Dr. Maddox again: In most of our settings, it is not economically or culturally prudential to rely on or require leadership in ministry that carries the expenses involved in Master’s-level education. That doesn’t mean we ditch the academy. It DOES mean we rethink how we educate, apprentice, and disciple present and future pastors. This means, at the very least:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><ol start="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We broaden the range of persons that we ordain for ministry. <o:p></o:p></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We adapt greater flexibility in educational expectations for ordination. Context matters! <o:p></o:p></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We separate ordination from conference membership.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We have a greater openness to bi-vocational, second career, and other models of clergy leadership. <o:p></o:p></span></span></li></ol><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Conference boards of ministry need much more latitude in making these decisions on a case-by-case basis, instead of a national standard that assumes one-size-fits-all, which it clearly doesn’t.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">And… we better hurry. We are going to quickly find (1) we have a church polity we can no longer afford, and (2) standards for clergy which may find us in a place with no future clergy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Few of us like change. But I suspect none of us will want the pain that’s coming when we have to endure the consequences of staying the same.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></p>Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-41742988871595883932020-06-08T20:24:00.000-05:002020-06-10T06:59:31.483-05:00Lamentation<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kYqryPpmVmk/Xt7kmQvQ5EI/AAAAAAAAFmI/IYFI8mY4IwUDd9rKcmbK0PwEkN3ee5QeQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/lament.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="450" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kYqryPpmVmk/Xt7kmQvQ5EI/AAAAAAAAFmI/IYFI8mY4IwUDd9rKcmbK0PwEkN3ee5QeQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/lament.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Every generation has its crisis(es) moment(s). Throughout history, people have lamented that “it’s never been as bad as this.” I found an article that a Robert Wilson wrote in his column, “From Bob's Cluttered Desk,” that reminded me that, at times, it’s actually been worse. Consider these very Amero-centric crises (with a few of my own thrown in):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· Our country was partially founded upon the near-genocide of one race and the enslavement of another.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was actually a coup, in that it developed documents and systems that completely threw out an existing but failing government structure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· In 1804, a sitting Vice-President of the United States shot and killed the nation's first Treasury Secretary. (To put that in modern day terms: it would be as if Vice-President Mike Pence shot Bush-era Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· More than 1,264,000 Americans have died fighting wars. The Civil War (1861-65) accounts for over 620,000 of those lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· The Depression.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· Measles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· Smallpox.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· Polio.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· Two World Wars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· Vietnam.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· JFK's assassination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· MLK's assassination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· Bobby Kennedy's assassination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· 9/11.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It does not diminish the pain we are going through now:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· Church and societal polarization over sexuality<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· The Pandemic of COVID-19<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· Watching a trusted police officer put his knee on a man’s neck until he died<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· Political and ideological tribalism being placed above kinship and friendship<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">When people hurt, their emotions become involved. When our emotions become involved, we lash out: sometimes with righteous indignation, other times with angst and fear. We lament. Before you say that’s a foreign concept for us Jews or Christians, consider:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Psalm 137</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> when we remembered Zion.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>There on the poplars<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> we hung our harps,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>for there our captors asked us for songs,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> our tormentors demanded songs of joy;<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>How can we sing the songs of the Lord<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> while in a foreign land?<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>If I forget you, Jerusalem,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> may my right hand forget its skill.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> if I do not remember you,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>if I do not consider Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> my highest joy.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> on the day Jerusalem fell.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>“Tear it down,” they cried,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> “tear it down to its foundations!”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> happy is the one who repays you<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> according to what you have done to us.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>Happy is the one who seizes your infants<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i> and dashes them against the rocks.</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Now, your grandmother may have said, “Don’t be wishing hateful things on others,” but the psalmist certainly didn’t have any trouble doing it: he prayed revenge on the Babylonians, that someone might take their babies and kill them all. The psalmist wasn’t just pissed off, the psalmist was morally outraged: Jerusalem had been destroyed. They had been exiled. They lamented. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Moral outrage isn’t new; abolitionist Frederick Douglas even wrote a speech based on Psalm 137 entitled, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" making the point that it was similar to asking the Jews “to sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land,” thus humiliating them and adding insult to injury. He lamented.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We are living in difficult times. But we have been here before. The only thing unique about it is that it’s happening to <i>us</i>, in <i>our</i> time. We lament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My denomination was set to split at General Conference 2020, except that it didn’t because the COVID-19 pandemic came upon the world. So our angst was delayed. The pandemic meant that we could not (safely) be about our business as usual, we could not (safely) worship, so we have been forced to be creative… yet feel stifled… about how we live, work, and worship. So more angst piled upon angst delayed. Worse, during all of this we as a nation witnessed a terrible act of aggression and racism, causing more (and justified) angst. It’s even difficult to know how to react or demonstrate, as ethical questions we have never been faced with now confront us: is it ok to risk endangering the lives of others during a pandemic to demonstrate against racism? What an unholy and difficult decision for some.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Our angst keeps on piling up. After a while it is easy to pray, think, and say anything about each other, whether we know the truth or not, whether it is righteous or not. We’ll say it on social media. We’ll text or email others. We’ll say in front of some and behind the backs of others. That’s how we lament. It’s not right, but we all do it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">A year ago, I honestly thought that the local church I serve was going to be split along the lines of our denominational struggle with sexuality. I wondered how to pastor a very diverse, non-homogenous church through that struggle, knowing that I was sent here to pastor all of the church and not just some of it. That struggle was soon yesterday's news as we began a new struggle about how many worship services to have and what one – or two – services should look like where music and style are concerned. That struggle became moot when the pandemic forced us to worship online, and now our future struggle will be - at least for several months or years - how MANY worship services will it take for all of us to (safely) worship in place? Since I’m not a doctor, I have to trust those who are for guidance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Frustration. Angst. Lament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Now the struggle has shifted to “where are we in the midst of this terrible time in our country and where are our pastors?” Over the weekend, the struggles have been:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· <b>Is our church organizing a march?</b> (The answer was/is no, but several in our church invited others to join them in previously planned marches and demonstrations – which is ok). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· <b>Why can people gather to demonstrate but we can’t worship together?</b> (Doing either in a pandemic is risky behavior. We’re supposed to stand up for the oppressed. We’re also supposed to protect each other’s health. I don’t know a good answer to this one.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· <b>Why aren’t our pastors at demonstrations?</b> (They’ve been at some, but not all.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· <b>Why <u>are</u> our pastors at demonstrations?</b> (They haven’t been to all of them, but they went to stand with those who are hurting and wanting justice for all.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· <b>Why do we have any racial demonstrations at all, we are all one in Christ?</b> (Good point, I wish we could actually act as one in Christ).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">· <b>By the way, what are we doing about the homeless and needy? Are we turning people away?</b> (The answer is no). <b>Are we enabling poor behavior and making it hard by not cooperating with our other Downtown agencies?</b> (The answer is also, no. We work closely with other agencies and have each other’s backs).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">These are real issues. They are real painful issues. As Eddie and I talk about these things we realize that it is difficult to balance the scriptures that tell us <i>“do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others,” </i>with <i>“What good is it if someone says they have faith but do not have works?” </i>All of us wrestle with what is the right thing to do. Being a Downtown church is messy. Being the body of Christ amidst those from diverse backgrounds is messier, still. We lament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Politics and taking political sides will not fix this. It is good to know what you believe, but Jesus was clear that Caesar is not our Master. God does not make cookie-cutter disciples and Christians, as our differences from each other are our gifts to each other. For every Peter there is a Paul. For every Martha there is a Mary. We need to celebrate that, not lament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Determining the number of worship services will not fix this. A vaccine will not fix this. Splitting a denomination will not fix this. A new president or re-election of a president will not fix this. The only thing that can “fix” what ails us is the grace, peace, and love of Jesus Christ. We are still not practicing this as well as we could – hence our angst. Our only healing will come by practicing the faith.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">To be clear: racism is wrong. It always has been. It always will be. God will not condone us mistreating, much less killing, a child of God made in God’s image. Our history in the United States, even in the Church, even in the Methodist Church – is tainted with the stain of racism. Have I done racist things? Yes - sometimes aware, sometimes unaware. Do I consider myself a racist today? No. Is that good enough? No. I have to move beyond just not being a racist; I have to become an anti-racist. Christ demands no less than that. We are neither male or female, we are neither black or white, but we are one in Christ Jesus. The Scriptures are clear. Long before the Pledge of Allegiance, our faith <u>demands </u>that we live with liberty and justice <u>for all.</u> It is past time that we live out both our baptismal vows and our Pledge of Allegiance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Striving to be that, anything else we fuss or complain about ought to pale by comparison. If someone wants to march, pray for them as they make a public witness. If someone chooses not to march, assume not the worst but the best - that they may be praying and acting in secret as our Father rewards in secret. If we are doing neither, may God have mercy on our souls for our inaction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Brothers and sisters: life is short. Be swift to love, and make haste to be kind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Sky+</span></div>
Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-36793278524986970602020-05-21T10:10:00.001-05:002020-05-21T10:14:22.538-05:00When… and How… to Resume Church Services<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c9B6GFDdq4o/XsaXoe4nN2I/AAAAAAAAFk0/klYKsLBC4s0GxtJHbkjPpB3OwUB-A1jgACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/mask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="750" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c9B6GFDdq4o/XsaXoe4nN2I/AAAAAAAAFk0/klYKsLBC4s0GxtJHbkjPpB3OwUB-A1jgACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/mask.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A worshiper at Westminster Cathedral. (ANSA)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Note: This is a transcript of a video recorded yesterday on our church website.</i><b><br /></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hello, my name is Sky McCracken, and I am the senior pastor of First Methodist Downtown Jackson. I know that the question of when and how to resume church services is on your minds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Before making major decisions about our church, I like to surround myself with others around me. Bishop Bill McAlilly often says, “The wisdom in <u>us</u> (the collective us) is greater than the wisdom in any one of us.” So when making a determination about when to return to in-person worship, I think it’s important to surround myself with people with medical training, epidemiology, cleaning and mitigating methods, and people who think logistically. I don’t have any training or expertise in any of those matters. My bachelor degree was in psychology and criminal justice. My graduate studies ended with a master of divinity degree. Neither of those areas of study qualify me to make a major decision in the midst of a pandemic without first consulting those who ARE qualified. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our church has had two groups working on this issue: a “When” group made up of medical professionals, former company managers, teachers, and an attorney; and a “How” group including a wide assortment of backgrounds from medical to professional cleaning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can’t begin to tell you how blessed our church is with persons of various and diverse gifts who are helping us with this decision. Your safety, and our doing no harm, is our guiding principle in our decision-making process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is also helpful for you to know who and what I am <b><u>not</u></b> consulting:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b><u>Political leaders</u></b><b>.</b> I have respect for our president, our governor, and our city and county mayors. They are doing their jobs as I would expect them to. However, they do not and cannot speak for the Church, nor can our government “order” a church to close, open, or meet. They can certainly <i>urge </i>and <i>suggest</i>how to do these things, and they have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b><u>Peer Pressure</u></b>. “But so-and-so church is going to meet. Why can’t we?” Or “Why can Walmart be open but we can’t have church services?” Most of us can remember our parents’ response when we asked such questions as a child. Our contexts vary in various ways. There is no one-answer-fits-all answer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know there is also the frustration of not being able to worship in our usual manner. A seminary classmate of mine at one of our larger UM Churches sent me a text this morning:</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Feedback is coming in from churches who have reopened with massive COVID guidelines in place. Pews have been pulled. Greetings are gone. Social distancing. No singing. Masks. Many people HATE it. They are saying, ‘This isn't the church I remember.’ This supports my conviction that we delay live worship until most restrictions are lifted.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">All of these are things make these decisions all the more difficult. Those are valid feelings and frustrations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For certain, we will not be driven by fear or guilt. Nor will we question how other sister churches arrive at the decision they make for opening or not opening for in-person worship. We will take all of the information we know, apply it to our local setting, and pray that we make an informed decision that is good for body and soul. This is not a competition. We are going to do the best that we can, and be as faithful as we can.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I share all of this with you because I know the CDC just released (today) this study: <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6920e2.htm#suggestedcitation" style="text-decoration: underline;">High COVID-19 Attack Rate Among Attendees at Events at a Church — Arkansas, March 2020.</a> That will be an important resource in our decision on WHEN and HOW to open for in-person worship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So I’m saying all this to you just so you’ll know how our decision making process is going, and how we will make our decision: carefully, thoroughly, and with prayer. While several of us will pray and discern when that time will be, I know that as the senior pastor and administrative officer of our local church, I will assume the responsibility of our actions. So I covet your prayers as we continue to wrestle with the obstacles in our path, and how we might convert those obstacles to opportunities as we serve our risen Lord. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">May God bless you and keep you, and may God hold you in the palm of His hand.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/420846106" width="640"></iframe><br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/420846106">Reopening Update 5-20-2020</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user22592435">First Methodist Downtown Jackson</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-10823016099388302272020-03-04T15:56:00.002-06:002020-03-04T16:34:05.295-06:00Those Pesky People In the Pews, or, Facts Are Inconvenient Things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kRuhF1XyvpU/XmAi_unEJwI/AAAAAAAAFX0/fu5qN2nmsycTNAObBawlvvbo-3mtqmc4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Pew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="1300" height="182" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kRuhF1XyvpU/XmAi_unEJwI/AAAAAAAAFX0/fu5qN2nmsycTNAObBawlvvbo-3mtqmc4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Pew.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">This blog builds upon a former blog, “The Problem of Labels, Assumptions, and the Economy of the Whole,” which can be found <a href="https://revdsky.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-problem-of-labels-assumptions-and.html" target="_blank">by clicking here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">As a former United Methodist General Conference delegate and politician (now retired by choice), it has been interesting to watch what has happened post GC2019 and the present attempts to reach a better end to GC2020. Some new plans have come to fruition (though some of them are similar to older plans using different names and nuance). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">A new delineation in labels and “sides” is attempting to make this a binary issue so that we can have things neat and binary for the sake of arguments. It is, after all, the American way: people are trying to frame the UMC into the two sides of “traditional” and “centrist/progressive.” Such is getting traction among those who will be in the ring of General Conference 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">There’s one flaw in this: such only defines a very, very small percentage of United Methodists. Nearly all these frenzied discussions are among clergy or laity holding significant leadership positions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">What about the 10+ million people who sit in pews across the world? Are we so sure that they fit into this neatly-assigned polarity of “traditional” and “centrist/progressive?” My hunch is, there is a huge disconnect between (a) delegates, leadership of interest groups, and clergy, and (b) the people in the pews. The fact is, there isn’t any <u>factual</u> information supporting such a binary reality in the pews at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">My somewhat-informed observations reveal at least this much:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">There are always extremes, but most UM Christians believe Jesus is the Christ, and believe in a historical and literal crucifixion and resurrection… even those who embrace the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ folks. This confounds the traditionalists… and the progressives.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Most of American United Methodists live in “red” states, as do most Americans. That is something traditionalists usually celebrate… until they dig a little deeper and realize that partisan politics and church politics don’t always jibe… especially in areas of sexuality. Extreme progressives sometimes to fail to acknowledge that most UMC’s are located in red states and areas.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Traditionalists have divorcees among their ranks – which represents a conundrum to those using strict interpretations of the New Testament on traditional marriage and who is eligible for church leadership. Also, other than on LGBTQ+ issues, many folks would be considered “traditionalist” in belief and practice. Some progressives have not reconciled LGBTQ+ full inclusion with their faith. These folks are often ostracized by their “constituencies,” but they are more numerous than either “side” likes to admit.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">There are LGBTQ+ folks that vote Republican. They also hold to traditional church doctrines and traditions. That drives traditionalists and progressives alike absolutely nuts. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">One layperson came to me concerned about “voting” as a congregation: “If we begin a list of bullet points that we are going to start voting upon, we’re not going to have much of a congregation left.” I agreed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">I wonder how our traditional and centrist-progressive camps at General Conference, along with our special interest groups, are going to deal with the larger majority of United Methodists who don’t find themselves represented by either camp?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The “middle” is bigger, wider, and deeper than most think. If a new narrative doesn't replace the present one that has us in our present gridlock, we are doomed to make the same mistakes.. which will lead to continued split after split after split, and continued decline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The opposite of faith isn’t doubt; the opposite of faith is <u>certainty</u>. Our American way of aligning by partisanship and a false sense of certainty isn’t going to help us that much in a Christian faith that has at its heart a mystery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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To be clear: yes, Christians should be concerned and involved <u>IN</u> the world. The trick – and our call – is not to be <u>OF </u>the world. The πολιτικό σώμα, the <i>body politic</i>, is certainly a part of our lives. But the partisan politics of America have taken a decisive turn away from the Christian ideals of ethics and morals in how we live our lives in Christian witness. </div>
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From the book <i>God’s Politics</i>, p. 76:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Most simply put, the two traditional options in America (Democrat and Republican, liberal and conservative) have failed to capture the imagination, commitment, and trust of a clear majority of people in this country. Neither has found ways to solve our deepest and most entrenched social problems. Record prosperity hasn’t cured child poverty. Family breakdown is occurring across all class and racial lines. Public education remains a disaster for millions of families. Millions more still don’t have health insurance or can’t find affordable housing. The environment suffers from unresolved debates, while our popular culture become more and more polluted by violent and sex-saturated ‘entertainment.’ In local communities, people are more and more isolated, busy, and disconnected… The political Right and Left continue at war with each other, but the truth is that these false ideological choices themselves have run their course and become dysfunctional.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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I would add that both parties give lip service to the increasing national debt and unfunded liabilities… and yet both get bigger and bigger every election. Not very fair to our children, and far from a conservative financial practice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The moral dilemma many voters had in 2016 was one that resulted in the largest undervote for president in recorded history: a record 1.7 million people in 33 states and D.C. cast a ballot without voting in the presidential race (which is legal, by the way) – nearly 1 million more than in 2012. In other words, 1 out of 50 folks left the “choose one” on the presidential ballot <b><u>blank</u></b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“False equivalency” is the new buzzword people use when folks like me point out the dysfunction of a system that many of us feel passionate about. But there's no getting around the fact that, morally and ethically, people had good reasons not to support either candidate from a strictly moral/ethical standpoint: </div>
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<li><span face="" style="font-family: helvetica;">People were upset that Hillary Clinton stood by her man, and in so doing put a stamp of approval of silencing his abuse of women “for a greater good.” </span></li>
<li><span face="" style="font-family: helvetica;">Likewise, American Evangelicals put their stamp of approval on Donald Trump, a thrice-married man caught on tape saying some very unflattering things about women, and who publicly stated once regarding repentance and asking God for forgiveness: “I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there… I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't."</span></li></ul>
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Neither of these folks would have survived such in days past. In fact, past presidential candidates dropped out of elections for things <i>far</i> less problematic than what we are willing to "overlook" today.</div>
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All people have feet of clay, and all fall short of the glory of God - myself included. In this season, I think it only faithful to act this way: support your candidate and/or party for their political ideology and philosophy. But please leave God and faith out of it, because there’s no way to bring God into this current season of politics - other than asking for forgiveness and mercy. In a Christian ethic and morality, the ends do not justify the means. In the political world, we seem to be comfortable with such. That may indeed be the practical solution to being a citizen in the present political climate. I’m even finding some peace with it, but please: let’s just leave God out of it. </div>
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President Trump may be right when it comes to politics: “I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't.” And before we beat up on our present president, know how many presidents – religious or not – have found themselves in similar situations when it came to war, political strategies, and how to win elections. Again – that may be what gets the job done in the political world. And again, my plea is simply: just don’t bring God into the picture. Certainly, don’t ask for the Almighty’s stamp of approval, or tout any candidate as “ordained by God.” That’s the classical definition of blasphemy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m not advocating people divorce themselves of politics, but I am advocating that those who claim to be practicing Christians give it less press (and certainly less vitriol and passion) than we presently are giving it. It has become idolatrous. Ask yourself how people know you best by your public witness – social media, casual conversations, bumper stickers – and then examine such through your baptismal vows: is this how I want to be known in how I am a member of Christ’s holy church and serve as one of Christ’s representatives in the world? Is this how I best witness to the world with my prayers, presence, gifts, and service?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m an admitted political cynic: I’ve been a Republican, and I’ve been a Democrat. Now I am neither – as I cannot place either party into a Christian framework and live in either with integrity, and even using the logic of the “lesser of two evils,” I still find that doing such is still choosing evil. I envy those who can find a way to do so. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Bryan Roberts, a former church planter and now a freelance writer, helped me put my difficult feelings on the matter into words: “Political discourse is the Las Vegas of Christianity—the environment in which our sin is excused. Hate is winked at, fear is perpetuated and strife is applauded. Go wild, Christ-follower. Your words have no consequences here. Jesus doesn’t live in Vegas.” He continues: “I balk when pastors tell me the Church should engage in the political process. Why would we do that? The political process is dirty and broken and far from Jesus. Paranoia and vitriol are hardly attractive accessories for the bride of Christ.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Roberts suggests that Christians be involved, but that we talk about politics in a way that models the teachings of Jesus rather than mocks them. That I could live with. But I can’t abide the way it’s presently configured. My own denomination is beginning to mirror the US’s political environment, because our culture seems to thrive on competition, paranoia, and vitriol. That’s what happens when you move from being IN the world to being OF the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Roberts’ seven things to remember about politics might do us some good: as a nation, and as a denomination:</div>
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<ol>
<li><span face="" style="font-family: helvetica;">Both political parties go to church.</span></li>
<li><span face="" style="font-family: helvetica;">Political talk radio and cable “news” only want ratings.</span></li>
<li><span face="" style="font-family: helvetica;">Those who argue over politics don’t love their country more than others.</span></li>
<li><span face="" style="font-family: helvetica;">Thinking your party’s platform is unflawed is a mistake.</span></li>
<li><span face="" style="font-family: helvetica;">Scripture tells us to pray for our governing leaders and to respect those in authority. This doesn’t mean praying the President will be impeached; it doesn’t mean praying your candidate will win and the other lose, and it doesn't mean approving of bad behavior. </span></li>
<li><span face="" style="font-family: helvetica;">Don’t be paranoid. The country is not going to be destroyed if your candidate loses. Democrats and Republicans have been presidents for a long, long time.</span></li>
<li><span face="" style="font-family: helvetica;">Stop saying, “This is the most important election in the history of our nation.” It’s not. Every generation thinks it’s living in the most important moment in history. We’re not, our parents were not and our children probably won’t be.</span></li></ol>
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In Jesus’ time, Caesar Tiberius was the emperor. He was also a murderer, abused many sexually and mentally, enslaved Jesus’ people, and claimed to be a god. When some asked Jesus about supporting the emperor by paying taxes (and thus trying to trap him), he told his detractors: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” They didn’t respond by saying, “Told you so!” or “Now we know the answer to that question!” They were amazed and couldn’t respond at all… and left on their way. In short: Jesus didn’t play their game nor dignified their questions with an answer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Neither should we. Let’s be in the world, but not of the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-9992265274489973282019-10-22T14:30:00.001-05:002019-10-24T07:07:13.754-05:00It's About Jesus, Or It's Nothing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lH_X3J36KD8/Xa9X8hkAr0I/AAAAAAAAFOY/Oucs3QRDnS4c1JfdpD0t9-F6oBOSCSGBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lH_X3J36KD8/Xa9X8hkAr0I/AAAAAAAAFOY/Oucs3QRDnS4c1JfdpD0t9-F6oBOSCSGBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/images.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The latest Pew Research Center report on the decline of Christianity in the U.S. came out last week, noting that the decline is continuing at a rapid pace. A good article on the report <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/christianity-decline-americans-religion-unaffiliated-pew-study-1466035" target="_blank">can be found here</a>, and the report itself <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2019/10/Trends-in-Religious-Identity-and-Attendance-FOR-WEB.pdf" target="_blank">can be found here</a>. As with all surveys, there are always flaws in methodology, but Pew does a better job than most on admitting such and how they perform their interviews, publish their sample sizes, etc.<br />
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Here's some of the things that the survey reveals about the United States:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>trends toward increased church disaffiliation continue</li>
<li>church attendance is in decline</li>
<li>"religiously unaffiliated" is most pronounced among young adults</li>
<li>both Democrat and Republican church numbers are swelling in decline</li>
<li>the U.S. population is increasing, but numbers of Christians are decreasing in absolute numbers (in other words, we aren't even maintaining our own)</li>
<li>the largest decrease of Protestants is in the South</li>
</ul>
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What does the report reveal? I think it implies that we are beyond being a post-Christian culture, and are instead what Southern Baptist Russell Moore calls "pre-Christian." Before you argue too much, consider how many generations have now been unchurched. Now, more than any time in recent history, there are lots and lots of folks who haven't been introduced to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason, I would assume NOTHING regarding religious background, basic Christian beliefs, or past experiences when (1) a first-time visitor comes to church, or (2) if I were to invite someone to come to church.<br />
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We are now missionaries. (Hint: We always <u>were</u> - but most of us in the U.S. Church have never seen ourselves this way!)<br />
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In short: this could be a time "ripe for the pickin's" where evangelism, sharing the Gospel, and making disciples is concerned. It could also be a time where we could royally screw up the opportunity - basically, by remaining ourselves. The definition of <i>insanity: doing the same thing, yet expecting different results.</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Shirt/swag purchased from the <br />podcast <a href="https://crackersandgrapejuice.com/" target="_blank">Crackers and Grape Juice</a>.</span></td></tr>
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Here's what Christian churches, members, disciples, and pastors/priests/ministers will have to be willing to consider, ponder, and do:<br />
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<ul>
<li>All the fighting and infighting by and within denominations, autonomous churches that split and split and split, etcetera - has got to stop. We've created a culture of distrust of anything institutional or organized. No one wants to join another special interest group. Fellow Christians are not against us; they are for us, and we are diminishing in number.</li>
<li>We've got to get on our game regarding hospitality. Christians were once known for their hospitality: welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked. </li>
<li>Quit the blame game. "Today's culture" isn't causing a decline in Christianity. Homosexuality isn't causing it. Liberals aren't causing it. Conservatives aren't causing it. <i>Christians</i> are to blame for not spreading the Gospel. It's that clear, and it's that easy. It's a hard pill to swallow.</li>
<li>Folks on the Left and Right, make peace with each other, and with the Middle. Before you say, "The middle of the road is where dead animals end up," remember that they initially got hit by someone from the left or right side of the road... those that didn't end up thrown into or left in a ditch, that is.</li>
<li>More and more young people don't trust politics or our government. Don't give them reason to distrust the church by sounding the same as our media outlets or your favorite political candidate on social media, casual conversations, etc. Do an audit of your personal social media, daily conversations, and bank accounts: how much of a Christian witness is coming through? <b>Who would be more apt to ask you to follow them: Jesus, or your favorite political candidate?</b></li>
<li>With fewer folks and diminishing resources, what is the best use of our money re: buildings, staffing, missional outreach, and program? All those will need hard discernment and reconsideration. We won't always like the answers.</li>
<li>Don't major in the minors. </li>
</ul>
It's all going to boil down to change. <b><u>Deep</u> change</b>. HARD change. What's clear is this: whatever we did for the past 50-100 years ultimately didn't work. Even the stuff that we Christians love so very much, but might not have that much to do with the Gospel.<br />
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Bill McAlilly, my bishop, preached in our town a couple of nights ago, and reminded us that on the Day of Pentecost the Church started with five thousand-some families. Two centuries later, there were five <u>million</u> followers.<br />
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It <i>can</i> be done, if we remember <b>Thy will</b> - not my will - <b>be done.</b><br />
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Pax,<br />
Sky+<br />
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<br />Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-40957700307959760092019-09-23T19:50:00.001-05:002019-09-23T19:50:23.886-05:00Some Social Media Guides<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Eqa41_C4Qo/XYlmcrYMyxI/AAAAAAAAFJ8/ayFDhXgwK1I85x26bLseJfo4DjcYUhB_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/social-media-mobile-icons-snapchat-facebook-instagram-ss-800x450-3-800x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Eqa41_C4Qo/XYlmcrYMyxI/AAAAAAAAFJ8/ayFDhXgwK1I85x26bLseJfo4DjcYUhB_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/social-media-mobile-icons-snapchat-facebook-instagram-ss-800x450-3-800x450.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some social media guidelines:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Don't believe everything you read on the Internet just because there's a picture next to a quote. Vet and verify. Progressives and conservatives alike post "fake news" and misattributed quotes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Be wary of article titles and bylines. They often say one thing, yet the article says another. Media needs money to operate (news is a business). Misleading titles and bylines can be clickbait. Our media is owned by a handful of folks. Rupert Murdoch owns both Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. Both of these news sources often clash on opinions and reporting. Yet money is getting made on the conflict of news and "truth" - by the same person. It's like owning both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">No political party has a monopoly on the truth, and both parties issue war cries and make promises they can't keep. They always have. No one is going to take away anyone's guns, and Mexico will not pay for the wall to be built.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Religious interest groups and caucuses see their rivals as extremists and make the most noise. Yet few Americans subscribe to extremism.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Labels are rarely helpful - or even accurate. Just more rhetoric. This applies to politics, and to Christianity.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many of the Founding Fathers warned about the evils of a two-party system. John Adams: "There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution." The two-party system reflects human nature, but it does not reflect the wishes of the Founding Fathers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The words of Jesus are clear - choose which Kingdom you give your allegiance to: Caesar, or Christ. To quote my friend Eddie Bromley, "If the Democratic or Republican plank has become your Gospel, why do you still need the church?"</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></li>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Give me Jesus<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Give me Jesus<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can have all this world<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>But give me Jesus.</i> - Spiritual, author unknown<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sky+</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-21575163185003774032019-08-28T15:52:00.001-05:002019-08-28T16:21:15.833-05:00The UMC: Single-Issue Driven, Bad at Math, and War Weary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WGQc5MmK7Kk/XWbifIj95kI/AAAAAAAAFHI/znaIyxTlqNkh3mlLowUlnarVfHi6ZWlTgCLcBGAs/s1600/Britten-War-Requiem-1140x760.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="1140" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WGQc5MmK7Kk/XWbifIj95kI/AAAAAAAAFHI/znaIyxTlqNkh3mlLowUlnarVfHi6ZWlTgCLcBGAs/s400/Britten-War-Requiem-1140x760.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
My beloved denomination is getting ready to wage war again for General Conference 2020. Submission for proposed legislation is due on September 18th. I'm not a delegate and I am not submitting any legislation. I've decided to become a conscientious objector in this season. I was a soldier long enough in a war that is going nowhere.<br />
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It's starting to feel a little bit like Vietnam: the public was all behind the war when President Johnson sent troops in. Then the country became horribly divided. President Nixon withdrew troops eight years later, but the division remained. Three million people died - half of them civilians. Soldiers came home and were vilified: some who opposed the war thought way too many innocent civilians died and accused them of being butchers, while some who supported the war viewed them as "losers" for not being successful. We were horrible to Vietnam veterans. Shame on us.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QVfUH6ckuDY/XWbngR3KwfI/AAAAAAAAFH0/qIugbgLuCrwmDp9F-H6jDZawECJVgbBmwCLcBGAs/s1600/vietnam-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1024" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QVfUH6ckuDY/XWbngR3KwfI/AAAAAAAAFH0/qIugbgLuCrwmDp9F-H6jDZawECJVgbBmwCLcBGAs/s400/vietnam-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
These things took their toll on those veterans: many later suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and high rates of divorce, suicide, and addictions. And even though a war was fought and finished, a country remained divided. <br />
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In my opinion, our denomination is headed toward the same ending of the Vietnam war: nothing will be accomplished, everyone will be upset and blame the "other", and many will bear scars that will forever remind them of the war... a war among those who claim Jesus as Lord and Savior and the Prince of Peace, who will find themselves once again divided. How many denominations will Christianity be up to by then?<br />
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Besides breaking the first General Rule (do no harm), we are fighting the wrong war. While we piss and moan about sexuality, the denomination is hemorrhaging in every way measurable. The United Methodist Church has not had a net gain in membership since its creation in 1968. To be sure, Christianity is not ALL about numbers. But at the rate we're going, things are going to be unsustainable pretty quickly. The Kingdom will certainly go on, but is it really necessary to self-inflict all this damage upon ourselves and the legacy that some left for us to thrive instead of squander? Over, of all things, sexuality?<br />
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We Americans have learned some of this behavior from our government. Our two parties are at war with each other over lots of things. Each believes passionately in their being "right" and being "superior." There are hundreds of issues to debate upon. Yet the one thing both parties continue to platform upon doing something about is the national debt. It makes for great debate. And yet, when they get elected (anyone, regardless of their party) - nothing gets done about it. Other issues get raised, fought over, and social media-ed to death. And the debt gets bigger, bigger, and bigger. Andrew Jackson was the last president to have a debt-free government. That was 1835.<br />
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Today, the U.S. national debt is $22.5 <u>trillion</u>. That doesn't count our UNFUNDED debt and interest, which then shoots that figure to $74 trillion. The unfunded liabilities on Medicare and Social Security, along with veteran and federal employee benefits, are $125.5 trillion.<br />
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How much is a trillion? Think about this:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tjh5KgvRfUg/XWbjbNldGsI/AAAAAAAAFHQ/TEVSqsE6qIkw90Sb48TqT8_yVca3JGXyACLcBGAs/s1600/one-hundred-dollars-ten-thousand-dollars-one-million-dollars-100-20164214.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="499" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tjh5KgvRfUg/XWbjbNldGsI/AAAAAAAAFHQ/TEVSqsE6qIkw90Sb48TqT8_yVca3JGXyACLcBGAs/s400/one-hundred-dollars-ten-thousand-dollars-one-million-dollars-100-20164214.png" width="367" /></a></div>
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<ul>
<li>1 million seconds = 11.5 days.</li>
<li>1 billion seconds = 31.7 years.</li>
<li>1 trillion seconds = 31,710 years.</li>
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Convert seconds to dollars, and you soon see the problem. This is not sustainable. The math is bad.<br />
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Have you heard any real urgency about this from our politicians? Maybe it's just me... but this would seem to be a major priority above all other issues. An individual's share of the national debt is $225,000, $876,000 per family. (All of these are always inexact figures, and extrapolate from several sources, but their accuracy is close to being in the ballpark)<br />
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The math is bad where the United Methodist Church is concerned, too: U.S. membership fell from more than 11 million in 1968 to less than 7 million in 2016. The biggest reason: people died. The theory that it's because of "liberal" or "progressive" issues isn't holding much water these days, because the Southern Baptist Church is also in decline: The largest Protestant denomination in the United States declined in membership to 14.8 million in 2018, which is the first time it has been below 15 million since 1989, and the lowest it has been since 1987. Southwestern Baptist Seminary's president, Adam Greenway, simply stated: “Facts are our friends, even when the facts themselves are unfriendly." This is not sustainable. The math is bad.<br />
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Just a hunch: I don't think the decline of the Southern Baptist Church can be blamed on its liberal/progressive stances!<br />
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While the Southern Baptist decline is not yet at the rate of the UMC's, neither denomination can sustain that kind of decline for long. Christianity <b>in general</b> is in decline. Signs of that decline are undeniable. The main culprits behind church decline? Internal divisions, an identity crisis, and lower birthrates. And because doing something about those would require a huge shift in our thoughts, words, and deeds... we need to blame something else. Blame is always a convenient excuse to keep from dealing with reality.<br />
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Here are some things that have split/re-split communions, denominations, and local churches:<br />
<ul>
<li>Argument over the appropriate length of a pastor/priest’s hair or beard (in the case of a male)</li>
<li>Argument over a pastor/priest's manner of dress (in cases both male and female)</li>
<li>Using real wine vs. grape juice in Holy Communion</li>
<li>Ordination of women</li>
<li>Slavery, racial segregation</li>
<li>Modes of baptism, including whether to baptize infants or not</li>
<li>Sexuality: celibacy, marriage, clergy being married, interracial marriage, same-gender marriage</li>
</ul>
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One of these splits is very personal for me. As noted on the "<a href="http://www.umc.org/resources/timeline-methodism-in-black-and-white" target="_blank">Timeline: Methodism in Black and White</a>":</div>
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<i>1866 - A group of black Methodists within the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, petition the General Conference for their orderly dismissal from that church.</i></div>
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<i>1870 - Those former members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, found the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in Jackson, Tenn.</i></div>
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That happened in the basement of the church where I am typing this. Mother Liberty CME is a seven-minute walk away, where an old family friend, Dr. Carmichael Crutchfield, is pastor. So close... and yet so far. What a stupid divide.</div>
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Presbyterian cleric Henry van Dyke once referred to his own denomination as “God’s Silly People,” for a couple of reasons: (1) “Presbyterians have a propensity to quarrel amongst themselves and divide their forces on minor issues.” (2) “Presbyterians have an almost incredible indifference to the real significance of their own history.” I think you could substitute "Methodist" for Presbyterian and the quotes would still hold. I tremble about what God thinks of our silliness.<br />
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As our church has immersed itself in a study of the prophet Nehemiah and how we are to see our community as our congregation, I have been haunted by the words of Joe Daniel (a former district superintendent and <a href="https://www.abingdonpress.com/product/9781426781933/" target="_blank">whose book we are now studying</a>): "[T]oo many leaders have become classist and have not come face-to-face with the full picture of why our current situations are the way they are. And as a result, our leadership is often single-issue driven and oblivious to the welfare of all. We don't need leaders like this." (<i>Walking with Nehemiah</i>, pp. 31-32)<br />
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The good news is this: some congregations, thankfully, haven't been paying that much attention to the war. They go to a local church somewhat matches their theology and politics, learn to live with the differences within, and allow themselves to be slowly changed into who God wants them to be. They don't give in to stupid divides. They boldly face the present and the future, unafraid. They know that unity is at best an agreement upon general direction, not the pipe dream that everyone believes and discerns God's will with 100% accuracy. For us, that ought to be that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.<br />
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We're nowhere near where God wants us to be. But we will not get there fighting wars over the <br />
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If you want to argue from "the truth is the truth" position, be reminded of the fact that we are, at best, foolish in our discernment of God's wisdom and truth next to <u>God's</u> wisdom and truth. And if you want to argue from a justice position, be reminded that a just war must have a reasonable chance of success and that innocent people must not be harmed.<br />
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Find a way to end the war, General Conference 2020. Peacefully. Declare us a loose fellowship like the Anglican Church, or a consortium of somewhat like-minded people that agree on the majors and disagree on some minors. Just don't be surprised when some refuse to vote or take sides, or others respond, "Whatever. We're going on ahead."<br />
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In fifty years, what will our children say? And what will God say?<br />
<br />Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-54243657722125512342019-08-19T14:05:00.001-05:002019-08-19T14:07:49.859-05:00Put Not Your Trust in Credentials<div style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); margin-bottom: 6px;">
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I recently saw a title for a book review, "Put Not Your Trust in Credentials." It makes me think of one of the most insidious prejudices among United Methodists pastors (that I am convinced one day we will have to answer for): those who went to seminary, and those who didn't.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Some say we clergy should compare ourselves to doctors, lawyers, and other professionals where education is concerned. Yet John Wesley had a strong resistance to the class consequences of “professionalization” – such as medicine and the law. At best, he embraced the tension of academically educated clergy while lamenting it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As Randy Maddox from Duke Divinity has noted: "In the 1956 Discipline of the Methodist Church (¶332 and following) the default “standard” for ordination shifted from course of study (with college and or seminary as alternatives) to making a Divinity degree the standard for admission on trial and eventual ordination as a Traveling elder, with the course of study now a restricted alternative. This growing professionalization was linked to escalated class status, and fit prudential realities of majority of Methodist congregations at the time." He also points out that our closest pan-Methodist partners (AME, AMEZ, etc.) all retain local elders and wonders why we ever ditched such.<o:p></o:p></div>
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To further paraphrase Maddox: Our cultural and financial realities, as well as the decline in American Christianity, has got to push us to broaden the range of persons that we ordain for ministry, and mandates that we:</div>
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<li>have greater flexibility in educational expectations for ordination;</li>
<li>separate ordination from conference membership (not just for practical reasons, but theological and ecclesial reasons)</li>
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We cannot - morally, ethically, or practically - ask young people to sacrifice 10 years of their life and go into debt they cannot recover for a profession that requires the education of a lawyer or a physician, but is nowhere near as lucrative (nor should be). At the same time, there are other ways to educate and form clergy beyond the traditional "American way" of higher education. We make it even harder for second career folks to answer the call of God, who are usually relegated to the "local pastor route" - which we elders, as well as our denomination, have treated and regarded such as second-class citizenry.<br />
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We can do better.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-4663610362716987842019-06-12T08:47:00.001-05:002019-06-16T06:30:33.365-05:00The Problem of Labels, Assumptions, and the Economy of the Whole <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Last week I changed my Facebook cover photo to display the phrase, “When you label me, you negate me,” (a quote attributed to Kierkegaard, which can be vaguely supported). Like all grand sweeping generalizations, it can be problematic. As one friend of mine pointed out, who basically agreed, yet also pointed out: “I can also say that there are times of grappling with identity that labels can be very helpful. Christian, gay, Irish, engineer... these are all words that help ground who I am.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So while labels <u>can</u> be helpful, they can also be problematic in that they are often more diversionary than descriptive. I fear that in this day and age, especially in the American Church, they are diversionary and divisive. We have learned this well from American politics. Monkey see, monkey do; sad, but often true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">From those of us in the United Methodist sphere of Christianity, we have increased the tension in the air to a more-than-palpable state. We now have ever-changing labels of how someone, some church, some conference, or some slate of delegates are labeled. “WCA” or “UMCNext” seem to be the latest labels, and the election of lay and clergy delegates to General Conference are seeing the respective camps getting ready for battle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the midst this, some have proclaimed (thru proclamation and rhetoric) the death of centrists or those who reside in the middle ground. I have noticed, however, that such was proclaimed without consulting those who find their grounding in the middle. While what follows is an unscientific observation, I believe it to be an accurate one: the UMC is not a neatly divided denomination into theological and ideological extremes. We more resemble the facets on a cut gemstone than anything else: the facets are not all the same size, and some are cut at different angles than others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So when we look at who is elected to General Conference, it is quite possible that General Conference does not reflect the faceted nature of the denomination, just small (but vocal) parts of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The latest complete figures show that there are 12,600,000-some lay members in the UMC in the world (around 45% from Africa, Asia, and Europe). There are 54,400-some clergy members in the world. Yet, there are an equal number of clergy and lay delegates to General Conference: 850. 425 will be clergy, and 425 will be laity. Some note that seems to be a huge disparity in representation. Mathematically at least, it is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Before we beat up on clergy too much, consider who the pool of laity are who attend annual conference as delegates. They must have flexibility of lifestyle to be able to attend an annual conference, where plenary sessions are always held during daytime hours, and often meet during the week rather than the weekend. How many of our laity are able to attend such? And if they are able to come to Annual Conference, could they offer themselves to election to General Conference, take the time off from their jobs to study and pray over all of the proposed legislation, attend listening and planning sessions, and then take the two weeks off from work to attend the following May? (I won’t add the out of pocket costs to travel, lodge, eat, clean clothes, because I can tell you: your per diem won’t cover it)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So a valid question is: do those elected to General Conference truly represent the whole of our denomination, or just a few privileged facets of it? To be sure, those who go to General Conference have a huge responsibility delegated to them, and I pray for them every day. The question is: are such folks representative of the totality our denomination?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My hunch is, no. It looks good on paper, and sounds good to those of us who grew up in democratic processes, but the reality is that we have an elite class of people who go to General Conference, and I admit to having been one of them (I chose not to offer myself for election this year) – very similar to who and how we elect house and senate members to Congress. Those clergy who are elected have the benefit of an advanced education (ordained elders only) and those laity elected have the luxury and privilege of a flexible schedule and sufficient funds. Many, many United Methodists will never be given an opportunity to share their life experiences, faith, and make such binding decisions for their denomination, either at their own annual conferences or at General Conference.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So when someone makes the claim that there are no centrists or “people in the middle,” I would accuse them of an extremely myopic view of their denomination. While the current issue at hand is sexuality and identity, there are hosts of other issues that could rise to similar ire given the right circumstances. The WCA makes the Nicene Creed a central part of their belief statement, yet I could quickly find 100 conservative, rural churches that would take issue with several parts of the Nicene Creed, including “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins,” believing in a “catholic church,” and that little phrase “who proceeds from the Father and the Son” that ended up splitting Christianity over a thousand years ago. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Historically and theologically, it makes very little sense for Methodists to try to be “super orthodox” and homogenous for this simple reason: we started out as an illegitimate child. Our own founder never converted to become a Methodist himself, and without any authority Wesley ordained its first pastors. He also “licensed” women to preach (scandalous!). Wesley intended to start a movement that was directed 180° from the Anglican Church of its day. Today, we find that we’ve made a full 360° and in many ways are right back where we started.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The “draw” for many Methodists has been that while there is a foundational framework to build upon, there is also the allowance of the Spirit to blow a fresh wind through us that brings us both the ancient faith as well as the gift of growth and expansion of our minds, hearts, and faith to do a new thing, moving us to use new wineskins for the new wine being gifted to us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As I attended the last annual conference, I was overcome with sadness – and it’s quite possible I’m suffering from some PTSD from the last three General Conferences. It is a borrowed phrase, but I believe it to be true: I do my best to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other, as I know it stretches me to places I need to be. But during these last three to four years, the bucket of grief is way, way heavy as I watch dear friends at odds with each other, sometimes in less-than-loving ways. I fight being angry at those organizations and leaders that seem to have fueled the fire and manipulated us into such divisions that make us emulate our American politics and give such a poor witness to the world about discipleship and the Church. Our trust of each other is at an all-time low. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I would beg us not to be defined by labels, theological bent, or ideologies. We are not called to make others in our own image, but to reflect the image of God. I know that when I was ordained, I was not called or asked to transform the congregations I was appointed to into <u>my </u>image. I was called to meet them where they are at, pastor and shepherd them, teach, and embrace their gifts that God gave them. There are many facets to those in our congregations, and they do not neatly fit into one mold – nor should they. As children of God, they reflect the diversity of the gifts that they have been given. That should be embraced, not forsaken. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our throw-away society has made it too easy to make relationships casual, which makes it easy to say, “I’m done with so-and-so.” One person at General Conference said that “some divorces are good.” I can’t agree with that. There's nothing good </span>about<span style="font-family: inherit;"> divorce. It's painful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Instead of shaking hands and saying goodbye, we should be embracing and saying, “See you tomorrow.” We are all blood-kin, by the blood of Jesus Christ. It may be our differences from each other are our gifts to each other. Our congregations are not as monolithic as we think: if we allow ourselves to continue this binary thinking, we will dismiss a LOT of United Methodists. We often forget that for many, Methodism is the meeting place for many who cannot abide the extremes of Roman Catholic and Fundamentalist dogma.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The extremes may realize that they made a huge mistake in dismissing the middle. Despite what some may say, there is a LOT of middle left. They may not say much, but my hunch </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">is that they aren't going anywhere, either. We are not the “either/or” people some would like us to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sky+</span></div>
Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-54554103431358893392019-05-31T13:45:00.002-05:002019-05-31T13:45:28.591-05:00One Sentence Can Split a Church, If You Let ItI said the above words in a sermon several Sundays ago, referring to a sentence in the Nicene Creed. I guess I should have gone into more detail, as several folks have called/texted/emailed me, "Well... what sentence were you talking about?"<br />
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We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,</div>
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<b><i>who proceeds from the Father and the Son...</i></b></div>
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Basically (and this is VERY basic; you can read books, dissertations, catechisms, and the like if you want to know more), it can be illustrated thus:</div>
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That one sentence split the largest part of Christianity in half. The timeline of it all:</div>
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<i>321 - Nicene Creed affirmed by the Council of Nicea without the Filioque Clause</i><br />
<i>382 - Creed was expanded by the Council of Constantinople without the Filioque Clause being added</i><br />
<i>451 - Creed was confirmed by the Council of Chalcedon without the Filioque.</i><br />
<i>589 - Filioque Clause was added to the Creed by the Council of Toledo (not an ecumenical council)</i><br />
<i>680 - The Filioque Clause was added to the Creed by the Council of Hatfield (not an ecumenical </i><br />
<i> council)</i><br />
<i>1014 - The Filioque Clause is added to the Creed in Rome on the coronation of Henry II (German) as </i><br />
<i> Holy Roman Emperor.</i><br />
<i>1054 - BOOM! The Great Schism of the West and East</i><br />
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Now, is this important? From a theological point, yes. And you can find scriptures to back both the Eastern stand and the Western stand. But is it a deal breaker? If we get it right or get it wrong, will it really make that much difference? I liked what <a href="https://billmuehlenberg.com/2019/01/06/on-the-filioque-clause/" target="_blank">commentator Bill Muhlenburg</a> said:<br />
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<i>[M]any Christians may find all this going over their heads, and/or see it as all rather unnecessary. The truth is, theology matters, and sometimes the complex truths of God and about God need to be hammered out as best we can. And at times disagreements will arise.</i><br />
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<i>The matters here are very significant indeed, yet nonetheless one can differ on these matters, or even choose to concentrate on other matters. <u>Thus one’s salvation is not directly impacted on which way we run with this issue.</u></i><br />
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In addition, I would add these as not directly impacting one's salvation (and these are more particular to United Methodists Christians), but can certainly run to the level of schism in some people's minds:<br />
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<li>Believing the "right" Theory of Atonement (<a href="http://unitedmethodistreporter.com/2015/07/21/wesley-bros-atonement-theories-of-relativity/" target="_blank">there is no official Methodist stance</a>)</li>
<li>Real Presence at the Eucharist (the official United Methodist stance is <a href="http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/do-united-methodists-believe-the-communion-elements" target="_blank">yes, there is</a>)</li>
<li>Rebaptism (the official United Methodist stance is, <a href="http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/may-i-be-baptized-again" target="_blank">no, we should not</a>)</li>
<li>Women being ordained. </li>
<li>Ordaining licensed local pastors (the official UM stance is that we don't, <a href="https://www.umnews.org/en/news/the-local-elder-option" target="_blank">but we used to</a>)</li>
<li>Divorce. The New Testament certainly seems against it, especially if you hold a church office. But we <a href="http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/the-nurturing-community#divorce" target="_blank">United Methodists fully accept divorced people into the life and any role of the Church</a>. We UM pastors often marry Catholic, Baptist, and Church of Christ folks who can't get married in their own church. </li>
<li>Being gay and fully accepting gay people.</li>
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1. <b>Theories of Atonement</b> are just that: theories. Atonement theories can be derived from scripture, but you won't find any one of them explicitly outlined. My hunch is that Atonement is a mixture of all these things, and a mystery.</div>
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2. <b>Real Presence</b>. I'm not a Thomist or an Aristotelian, so explaining <i>transubstantiation</i> to someone else is difficult when I have my own problems grasping these schools of thoughts to begin with. I've always leaned with the Eastern church and Anglican Church that did not accept the notion of "transubstantiation" or the notions of "substance" or "accidents." These are the wrong schools of thoughts to deal with a mystery of faith like the sacraments.</div>
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3. <b>Rebaptism. </b>It doesn't make much sense (especially if we believe God (and not us) is the act-or in baptism). I'd never do it for the same reason I'd never get recircumcised - <u>it's already been done</u>. But if someone does, I don't think they're going to hell for it. </div>
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4. <b>Women Being Ordained. </b>There are good biblical arguments for and against it. For whatever reason, some of the churches that Paul addressed had women who were out of line about something. At the same time, Paul refers to Phoebe in Romans 16 as a deac<u>on</u>/<span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">διάκονος</span></span>; not a female "helper" but as one holding an office of leadership and service. So while Paul wanted some women to be silent in some places, he evidently wanted others to speak, teach, and serve (add Junia and Priscilla to the list). If we took Paul literally when he initially spoke to the Galatians, none of us have any business preaching the gospel, because we're all stupid and foolish.</div>
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5. <b>Ordaining Licensed Local Pastors</b>. I've written about this one aplenty. It's ecclesial malpractice to put someone in a congregation with the authority of the ordained office without the benefit of ordination. All ordination in United Methodism is a charism, a gift from the Church that can only be exercised under authority. Clericalism in United Methodism needs to take a hike. I treasure my master of divinity degree and am thankful for my education. But it is clearly nothing more than a tool in my belt, and certainly not required by either scripture or Early Church decree (and if it gets anymore expensive, our clergy will only come from the upper class or from those with rich uncles and aunts).</div>
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6. <b>Divorce</b>. I hate that it happens. And contrary to what some say, I don't think there's ever any such thing as a "good" divorce. I also don't believe God intended us to do harm to each other, particularly harm to body and soul. I don't know an annual conference in United Methodism that doesn't have divorced clergy within their ranks, progressive and conservative alike. Some of them divorced more than once. When did it become "okay?"</div>
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7. <b>Being Gay.</b> I've been a pastor and counselor (more accurately a <i>listener</i>) since I was 21 years old. I've heard parents (a) apologize for, (b) weep over, and/or (c) brag about their gay children. I've listened to gay folks who have begged God to replace their orientation with that of being heterosexual. I've counseled gay folks who are angry at God: "Why am I this way? If it's wrong, then why did God make me this way?" Worse: "I tried to be married to my wife/husband. I really, really tried. But they knew even better than I did that it simply wasn't going to work. No matter how hard I try, I can't fake being straight." Clearly, it's not a choice.<br />
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All of these things - as well as so many more I haven't listed - can split a church, if we let it. The question to me is: why do we let it?<br />
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Maybe it's just the "cool" thing to do these days. We gotta keep up with our politicians, you know. Never pass up a chance to be in, or start up, a good schism.<br />
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We'll see how God and history look at us in twenty or so years. I hope with grace and forgiveness that we do not deserve.</div>
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Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-59796727095419149032019-01-03T16:47:00.001-06:002019-01-03T16:47:55.902-06:00Logistics of General Conference 2019 - Making Sure It Works<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1GQtOX8C3jY/XC6OXyOl_hI/AAAAAAAAEEQ/Cf7SWmErEgoEmrz8xlw5eTM2hQDarppCACLcBGAs/s1600/gomez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1GQtOX8C3jY/XC6OXyOl_hI/AAAAAAAAEEQ/Cf7SWmErEgoEmrz8xlw5eTM2hQDarppCACLcBGAs/s400/gomez.jpg" width="400" /></a>Much has been said, written, and continues to be debated regarding the called session of General Conference 2019, The Way Forward, and the <strike>three</strike> <strike>four</strike> several Plans being advocated. I won't add to the many opinions, theological treatises, and scientific theories regarding sexuality, Natural Law, and modern psychology. Everyone has an opinion, and we'll continue to hear about them <i>ad infinitum</i>.<br />
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Unless you're Gomez Addams, train wrecks are not fun to watch. Some fear a train wreck is in the making at the called General Conference of the United Methodist Church next month. I hope for the best, and pray that some of the nitty gritty things are being fleshed out, so that the main purpose can be accomplished.<br />
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I'm only a fair scholar, a mediocre theologian, and a somewhat-capable church pastor. But one thing I think I'm fairly good at is strategy and logistics, probably instilled upon me at an early age by a few bosses I had in secular life. One of the sage pieces of advice in life given to me was by one of these bosses who had also been my high school principal: "Sky, at the end of the day, all the theories, convictions, and expert opinions don't mean $@&% if it doesn't work. *issing matches [turf wars and power grabs] will insure it won't work." I can't remember what the conversation was about, but the reason I remember his words so well is because he looked me in the eye and grabbed my shoulder when he said it. He taught me a lot about team work, and taught me a lot about life.<br />
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With that being said, here are some logistical issues, ponderings, and hopes:<br />
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<ul>
<li>How, exactly, will General Conference work regarding organization, and the handling of legislation re: the Plans and ninety-nine filed petitions? </li>
<li>Will the "Committee of 864" organize the petitions into a logical grouping and create omnibus bills that can be voted upon, then perfected in the plenary of General Conference? Or will each petition be voted upon separately? If I remember correctly, ALL of the petitions have to be voted upon - someway, somehow, before we adjourn at the end of the day on Feb. 26th. </li>
<li>Whomever we elect as chair of the committee will need our continuing prayers... and a great grasp of presiding and Robert's Rules of Order</li>
</ul>
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And related to that... what about hiring a registered or professional parliamentarian as a consultant to our chairperson and presiding bishops? We ask our committee chairs and bishops to do an awful lot, and given how (I am guessing) parliamentary procedure could be used as a strategic tool of leverage... and a weapon... it might be good to head off knotty messes before they happen. Plus, we elect bishops for their leadership and spiritual abilities - not their acumen at Robert's Rules of Order.</div>
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I'm no expert on parliamentary practices, but I took a college class on it (mainly because the records office called and told me I was 3 hours short on an elective). I thought it would be an easy class. It was anything but easy. Not only did we have tests, we had to participate in mock proceedings, and everyone had to be the chair once. I still have one of the tests. Among the questions asked (they were all essay questions):</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In what ways are main, subsidiary, incidental, and privileged motions alike? In what ways do they differ? </blockquote>
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Are there conditions which permit a member to interrupt another member that has been assigned the floor and has commenced speaking? If so, list the conditions and explain. </blockquote>
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Why can't the motion "to lay on the table" be reconsidered and why does it yield to privileged questions? </blockquote>
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Suppose you were acting as presiding officer and a main motion was made and seconded and was followed by a motion objecting to the consideration of the question. The latter motion was not seconded. State fully the procedure that you would follow, and how your procedure would be varied if (a) no second was offered, or (b) if the question was put and a majority objected to the consideration of the question. </blockquote>
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Motions to reconsider and to rescind both offer the group an opportunity to reverse former action. Explain the ways in which these motions differ. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If you were the presiding officer, how would you attempt to stop a small minority that was trying to interfere with the orderly transaction of business?</blockquote>
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I made a "B" in Dr. Kiesling's class, and I was happy to have it. I never thought I'd need it... until I was a district superintendent. I got to preside over a potentially contentious church conference regarding a piece of property and the handling of a large foundation bequest. The congregation was made up of both town folks and a lot of large-operation farmers who had all participated in parliamentary procedure in their high school FFA clubs (and some were ready to play "stump the chump" with the chairperson - me). I was never more thankful for Dr. Kiesling's class, and I survived the day. <u>If I'd been smart</u>, I would have brought a parliamentarian with me as a consultant. What could it have hurt? The important thing wasn't me or being seen that I could or couldn't handle it; the important thing was <u>getting it right</u>. I had a little training, and a little luck. I could have prepared better.</div>
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We'll need all of the help we can get for this General Conference, as it will be like none other. In addition to our theological arguments and opinions, we'll need folks with expertise in presiding and in Robert's Rules. All of this will be rendered academic if things don't work.</div>
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Here's to hoping the logistics work. As my Irish friends would say (lifting a glass): Sláinte!</div>
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Sky+</div>
Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-23354442838164419552018-12-07T06:30:00.000-06:002018-12-07T06:30:23.871-06:00America At Its Best<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I will have to confess that I am usually a political cynic at heart. I was relieved when I moved back to Tennessee after 18 years and didn’t have to choose a political affiliation, where election primaries are open, since being a “non-affiliated” voter in Kentucky usually meant I didn’t get to vote in many election primaries. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://revdsky.blogspot.com/2017/02/politics-faith-and-vacuum_2.html" target="_blank">You can click here</a> to read </span>more of my ramblings about my wrestling match with American and church politics, <span style="font-family: inherit;">but the short version is that I’ve never thought that we had to compromise our faith, morals, or ethics to offer Christ to others. The hard questions might be:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Are we willing to give up labels that are stumbling blocks to those who are already stumbling?</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Are we willing to jump into the middle of the fray rather than take a side in it?</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My beef with American politics is that we tend to pick a side, and too often it rubs off on our faith and discipleship. - hence my cynicism.</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gH2voFkeVyE/XAnqQb6zx_I/AAAAAAAAEDU/r7CWi_q8bz8QvaAgAIqm2Lmlq-8x8N4XgCLcBGAs/s1600/George.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="986" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gH2voFkeVyE/XAnqQb6zx_I/AAAAAAAAEDU/r7CWi_q8bz8QvaAgAIqm2Lmlq-8x8N4XgCLcBGAs/s400/George.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I also have to confess, that at least for this week, my political cynicism was briefly put aside. I rarely watch anything on television live, relying on the news or a YouTube video to catch up on newsworthy events in the world or sports. Yesterday, I watched a few clips of President Bush’s funeral. I always liked President Bush, and I remember my parents both liked him (even though they didn’t vote for him). My mom really liked Barbara Bush. He made tough decisions, including one that probably cost him his presidency. The bottom line was that he loved his country, and he felt called to serve it. Serve it he did - with distinction. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My admiration for him was that he seemed to “get” that life is about balance. He loved his country and fought for it… yet he wrote many, many letters to his family while in service, because his family was important to him. His service to the country not only included military and legislative service, but he also took on directing the CIA for a year after it had been rocked by scandal and poor morale, and helped get President-elect Carter properly briefed for his presidency. He put service above self… but never above family and faith. He was a life-long Episcopalian (which was reflected in his funeral service), but also had an appreciation for the “freer” side of the faith, as a little Michael W. Smith got thrown into the service for good measure. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">His balance was also reflected in his humor - he never took himself too seriously, and could put himself into a joke as well as anyone (even parodying himself on Saturday Night Live, telling Dana Carvey that his impression was nothing like him. In fact, Bush said, “It’s bad. It’s baaaad.”). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was so pleased to hear so many people testify to President Bush’s legacy, and so uplifted to see, amidst all the civil religion pageantry on display, that at the heart of it all was a full-on, smells-and-bells worship service that honored God and celebrated President Bush’s life. Everything about it was at the heart of what being Christian is like and should be. And with respect and kindness, I hope those of other faiths or of no faith felt that, for a couple of hours, the United States was at its best.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It has always galled me that governments, the military, and the police, fire, and EMS services usually “do” funerals better than churches do. There is so much to celebrate when we celebrate someone’s life, beyond just a few memories about the deceased.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I think I was most moved by former Senator Alan Simpson’s testimony about his friend George Bush, who put honor and friendship above appearance and politics, helping to support and lift up Sen. Simpson at a tough time in his political career. I also read in the Washington Post where a couple of years ago Sen. Simpson was in Texas having treatments for his cancer, and President Bush insisted on taking him out to a construction site where a new, magnificent sanctuary was being built at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, where the Bushes were members. Simpson told him, “This really is something.” Bush’s deadpan response: “I think they built that waiting for me to croak.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Senator Simpson said two things in his witness that are sage worthy: </span></div>
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Humor is the universal solvent against the abrasive elements of life.”</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Hatred corrodes the container it’s carried in.”</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Those two things will preach. Anytime. Anywhere. At any church. Or anywhere else, for that matter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the midst of that worship service, I forgot who the Democrats and the Republicans were. We were Americans who were mourning and celebrating the life of one of our leaders, veterans, and family men. We were, for a couple of hours, at our best. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I had to dig to find this picture, but it was the last time I felt this same way about our country: at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center/Library in 2013. George W. was not a perfect president anymore than his dad was, and I will leave it to historians and scholars to debate that all out. But in this picture I see everything that the United States ought to be about. I see everything that people of faith should be about. I remember what is important: people. I remember what matters: Goodness. Honor. Respect. Service.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course the feeling won’t last. We will soon be back to partisan bickering and political oneupmanship. I will quickly become a political cynic again. And I know that on some days, I feel the very same way about the institutional church and its politics, and I find myself ashamed about my attitude and role. Wednesday gave me a glimpse of what is important and what can be lifted up - if we choose to do so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have recently begun my mornings and ended my days with an old Celtic prayer, talking to God as He is. May we all find the peace that is within us, and the peace that we can CHOOSE to live out:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I awake in the name of the Father who made me.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I arise in the name of the Son who died to save me.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I rise to greet the dawn in the name of the Spirit who fills me with life.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I lay me down in the love of my Father.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I surrender my body to rest in the love of my Savior.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I trust my life in sleep to the Spirit who fills me with life.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">May it be so.</span></div>
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Sky+</span></div>
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Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-82115613157231127042018-07-05T15:59:00.001-05:002018-07-05T16:07:15.070-05:00Passion, Position, and Possible<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Three things to make clear at the beginning:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u>Passion is good</u></b>. We should have a burning passion for God and God's people.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u>Position</u></b>. Knowing what we believe and proclaim is faithful.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u>Possible</u></b>. With God all things are possible. </span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One word that needs to go along with all of the above: <b><u>Intractable.</u></b></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">in·trac·ta·ble [ˌinˈtraktəb(ə)l]<br /><i>adjective</i> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">• hard to control or deal with.<br />"intractable economic problems"<br /><i>synonyms:</i> unmanageable, uncontrollable, difficult, awkward, troublesome, demanding, burdensome: "intractable problems" </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">• (of a person) difficult; stubborn.<br /><i>synonyms:</i> stubborn, obstinate, obdurate, inflexible, headstrong, willful, unbending, unyielding, uncompromising, unaccommodating, uncooperative, difficult, awkward, perverse, contrary, pigheaded, stiff-necked: "an intractable man"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We often say that "two out of three ain't bad." That holds true for many things, but when it comes to living as a community, <b><u>passion</u></b> and <b><u>position</u></b> without some concept of what is <b><u>possible</u></b> today, leads to <b><u>intractability</u></b>. While some folks call that "unacceptable compromise," "selling out," or "justice denied," I would argue that it is part of evolution: we cannot be what we can and should become if we do not make a means for us to get there. We are not a homogeneous society.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I once thought that church politics was above government/state politics; that was horribly naive on my part. In some ways, it is much worse - when someone doesn't get their way in government/state politics they protest with campaign signs, stickers, t-shirts, and Facebook posts... but very few people threaten to leave their country over it. In the Church, however, not only will be threaten to leave - we will and do, or even start our own church.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I've always been a fan of Martin Luther, who (may have) said at the Imperial Diet of Worms, "Here I stand - I can do no other." However, we sometimes forget what he (may also have) said as he left: "I am finished!" In the short run: he took a stand against the injustices of Catholicism of his time. In the long run: we've had schism upon schism upon schism. The numbers of Christian rites, communions, and denominations is impossible to tally, but it is safe to say that it is over a thousand, and that number is getting bigger instead of smaller. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Should we be willing to take a stand? Yes. But the extreme of "me" above "us" leads us to the priesthood of <i>each</i> believer, instead of the priesthood of <i>all</i> believers. It cannot have been Luther's intent for the church to devolve into such. (A great article about this, "<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/whatgodwantsforyourlife/2018/06/methodists-the-politics-of-leverage-and-the-future-of-protestantism/" target="_blank">Methodists, The Politics of Leverage and the Future of Protestantism</a>," can be found <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/whatgodwantsforyourlife/2018/06/methodists-the-politics-of-leverage-and-the-future-of-protestantism/" target="_blank">here</a>.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My hunch is that, within my lifetime, we will see U.S. politics become a multi-party system. Already, we see inklings of what England went through at the end of the 19th century, as there were disputes within the two major parties. I see this in my own United Methodist Church as well: presently, there aren't two neatly-defined sides: we're more like "facets," and no facet has a totally monolithic constituency. As we head to a called 2019 General Conference, I presently see <b><u>passion</u></b> and <b><u>position</u></b>. I don't see much that is <b><u>possible</u></b>. I see a <i>lot</i> of <b><u>intractability</u>.</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5-6E5zPfoF4/Wz6DmjEG0uI/AAAAAAAABeA/ttXf_KJXeZwDgTDR8Y8vxZaNNZz5zisVwCEwYBhgL/s1600/sunday-service-for-methodists-in-north-america.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="402" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5-6E5zPfoF4/Wz6DmjEG0uI/AAAAAAAABeA/ttXf_KJXeZwDgTDR8Y8vxZaNNZz5zisVwCEwYBhgL/s400/sunday-service-for-methodists-in-north-america.jpg" width="235" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">United Methodists have never been as monolithic as we'd like others to think we are: John Wesley and George Whitefield's correspondence confirmed that early in Methodism's history. In 1784 Wesley sent the first Methodists the <i>Sunday Service for Methodists in North America</i>, which was supposed to be the liturgy used in this new denomination. It fell into disuse quickly, and didn't help that brother Charles Wesley strongly disapproved of it, thinking John had taken great liberty to give this new movement a Reader's Digest condensed version of the <i>Book of Common Prayer:</i></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Why change it then for your Edition, </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Deprav'd by many a bold omission?</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> We never will renounce our creed,</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Because of Three but One you need,</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> No longer the Nicene approve,</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The Athanasian Mound remove,</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> And out of your New book have thrown </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> God One in Three, & Three in One.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We are far from the only tradition that has an "orthodoxy" set up but still finds a wide interpretation and practices present:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">How many Roman Catholics uphold their official teaching on birth control (and how many Protestants remember that it was forbidden until 1939 when the Episcopal Church changed its stance on such)? </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">How many United Methodists embrace the official stance of the UMC on the Real Presence at the Lord's Supper/Holy Communion (</span><i style="font-family: inherit;">real presence</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> not to be confused with </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">transubstantiation</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">), which says, "Christ’s presence in the sacrament is a promise to the church and is not dependent upon recognition of this presence by individual members of the congregation." </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">"One baptism for the remission of sins." Ever pastored or been a DS to a rural UMC in the middle of John Calvin country? Surely you don't know anyone who got "rebaptized" in the Jordan River on their last trip to the Holy Land! And related to the Nicene Creed... </span></li>
<li><u style="font-family: inherit;">Which</u><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Nicene Creed? Will you have yours with or without filioque? That led to the Big Split of 1054, you know. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Could it be that we are selectively intolerant about some things?</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The dichotomy </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">of </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">priesthood of </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">each</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> believer and the priesthood of </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">all</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> believers is what United Methodists are going to have to wrestle with. It is also going to mean that some embrace of the art of the possible has to be in the mix if we want to move from imperfection towards perfection. We will also have to remember that, as much as we seem to want to make contextualization and culture as irrelevant to the Gospel truth, the fact is all of us use both every day. As Sam Chen said in a recent issue of </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Christianity Today</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> (June 2018): " 'Just stick to the Gospel,' we say. But if we under-adapt (culture & context), we are giving them legalism instead of the gospel. The opposite of syncretism isn't the pure gospel. The opposite of syncretism is legalism." And we will always find ourselves in the struggle of over adapting or under adapting context and culture in presenting the Gospel.</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you use an English biblical translation instead of Aramaic and Greek, you have embraced local culture and context.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you've ever used a movie or piece of literature in teaching or preaching, you have used cultural hermeneutics.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My hunch is that at General Conference 2019, we United Methodists will wrestle with, try to amend, perfect, and then vote down every "plan" of going forward as a denomination where human sexuality is concerned. We have so designed our polity and structure that we have now legislated ourselves into <b style="text-decoration: underline;">intractability</b> and designed it to operate from a position of distrust. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In my opinion, our approach is all wrong. "We" versus "they" cannot create an <b><u>us</u></b>. Everyone is going to have to swallow some pride and move toward with what's possible, so we can reach perfection. None of us, regardless of the label we've chosen for ourselves, have "arrived." We see through a glass, darkly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A few years ago, Orthodox and Evangelical Christians in Turkey realized that their greatest obstacle to the Gospel wasn't the secularized world or culture - it was their fighting with each other. <a href="https://themediaproject.org/news/2018/4/7/in-time-for-orthodox-easter-a-turkish-declaration-of-christian-unity" target="_blank">So a little book was written: <i>Christianity: Fundamental Teachings</i></a>. Instead of stating the beliefs they DON'T have in common, they approached it from what they DO have in common. Who endorsed this book?</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Armenian Patriarchate</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Catholic Bishops Conference of Turkey</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Associate of Protestant Churches</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sahak Mashalia, an Armenian Orthodox bishop who was a central writer of the book, said, “Our common wish is that this book may be like a stone thrown into a lake, and its waves reach out to the most remote parts of Christendom.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">That's a better use of stones, at least to me, for <b><u>us</u></b>. All of us. Along with passion and position, what is <b><u>possible</u></b> for us to better be the <u>Body</u> of Christ... instead of bodies?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pax,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sky+</span></div>
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Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-27603063182970054532018-06-28T11:15:00.000-05:002018-06-28T11:15:24.214-05:00REPOST: Politics, Faith, and Vacuum<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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(Note: this is an article I wrote in February of 2017. As the sermon this week is about hope, I think this article is just as apropos today as it was last year. We have a plenteous mission field in which to immerse ourselves.)</div>
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I have had the glorious gift of retreat for the past week
and a half. Six days on an island/key with two old and wonderful friends, and (so far) three days at a Trappist
monastery. I have purposefully surrounded myself with creation, friendship,
religious icons, solitude and silence, and prayer offices. I have purposefully
avoided the news and social media banter. Time and distance has allowed for
thought and reflection, and I’ve come to believe that the Church, and more
specifically the United Methodist Church, is missing – and has been missing –
some grand opportunities.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ll preface this by saying I was raised and am a social and
political oddity. My father was a lone Democrat in a family of Republicans, yet
wouldn’t avoid the draft for the Korean War even at the insistence of my grandfather,
who had lost a son in World War II. My mother was a social liberal as well,
growing up a coal miner’s daughter and whose mother’s only sources of income
were social security and the Black Lung Benefits Act. Both of my parents grew up in
poverty, and while social liberals they were fiscally conservative - yet very
generous with their own money in their community and in helping aging parents.
My father became a college professor. My brother and I are well educated as well;
my brother has four degrees and I have two. We grew up in a small southern
college town that hosted students of many different nationalities. Our
neighbors were Cuban refugees, and their youngest son and my brother became
best friends (in fact, my brother’s Spanish became nearly as good as his
English). He, like my father, went into academics and is a college professor and
research scientist in immunology. You could probably call both of us “educated
rednecks” – my brother has a farm where he regularly hunts and fishes. I gave
up both early in life and became a motorcyclist and shade tree mechanic instead, at least where hobbies are concerned.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Unlike my Midwestern parents, my brother and I became
products of Southern culture. We hunted,
fished, and hauled hay in the summer. At the same time, we also played baseball,
tennis, and golf. At home we were surrounded with books, intellectual
conversations, and political discussions, yet we also went out in the evenings
and ran around with friends whose parents were white-collar and blue-collar, upper-middle class and lower-middle class, and (because of the
university) of every color and nationality: white, black, Cuban, Indian,
Korean, Arabian, Lebanese - and we all did things that were wholesome as well as
the things that can often land young people in trouble. We both went to the
same college where our father taught, and met and became friends with even more
diverse folks: Japanese, Venezuelan, Iranian, African, and Russian. We were
both active at the Wesley Foundation. It was a unique childhood and education. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As I reflect on where I’ve been, and where I am now, I see a
lot of angst and fear. Not just in the rural area in which I serve as a
district superintendent/shepherd of a few counties in far Western Kentucky, but
across the world. So much anger and division around politics – and not just
here in the U.S., but also in the United Kingdom, where the Brexit campaign has
caused great chasms amidst its citizenry. This spring France will have an
election that has the potential to be as divisive as our own U.S. election. And
immigration woes are not unique to the U.S., as the U.K., Germany, and Sweden
are struggling with how to handle refugees. Some of it is logistics, for others
it involves cultural biases, and for still others, fear. There are no easy answers.
It becomes more complicated when you try to live in the tension of logistical
and political realities versus a Christian faith that embraces the Beatitudes and
Great Commandment not as suggestions, but as a way of life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The temptation is great to pick a “side” in all this – and
in the U.S. we tend to think and align ourselves in polar terms, using an either/or logic. Picking either
side would make my life easier, and either side would probably win me more
friends. But there is a reality that, as one who is both Christian and a pastor, I can’t escape: on any given Sunday, either in the United Methodist
Church or most other churches, the folks in the pews are usually split 60/40 on
political alignment, one way or the other (at least, according to a study
quoted in a recent issue of <i>Christian
Century</i>). There are of course exceptions, but it’s fair to say that
God-fearing and believing people are Democrats and Republicans alike, and both
attend our churches. My own denomination finds itself in the same ideological
camps beyond Democrat or Republican: are you Good News/Confessing Movement/WCA or are you RMN/MFSA? Preaching partisan politics or alignment, at
least to me, just seems pointless and possibly violates the vow to do no harm. But more
importantly, it’s just plain ineffective - and I believe - theologically and
biblically unsound. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As my friend <a href="http://www.allanbevere.com/2017/01/pray-for-all-in-authority-that-they-may.html" target="_blank">Allan Bevere wrote a few weeks ago</a>, if you read
Romans 12 <u>AND</u> 13 in context, we pray for our leaders that they might be
godly people, and then - pretty much - pray that they might leave us Christians
alone to do our work: sacrifice, don’t allow ourselves to be transformed by the
world, please God. Let Caesar, the President, and the Prime Minister be about
their work, but know as Christians that love <u>fulfills</u> the law and does no harm to a
neighbor. We put on the robe of Jesus the Christ. <u>That’s</u> our task; not to be about a
political party’s business, but to be about the Lord’s business. <o:p></o:p></div>
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That may mean that we willingly and sacrificially place
ourselves in the middle of the fray; in that
messy middle isn’t a fence, but a cross, and a cross we are commanded to bear.
Not in a martyr, “look at me” sort of way, but in a servant, sacrificial way.
And it’s not to avoid being political, but in fact to <b>EMBRACE</b> a politic: the
many, many folks for whom the Church may be <i>saying</i>
it is doing something for, but when it comes to <i>doing</i>, has done damned little. I would add that I have to indict
myself as well. The Church has not filled a vacuum – it has created one.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The very same people who are in “backlash” politically have
seen (a) the government fail them, and (b) the Church fail them. Why or how that’s
occurred, or even if their reasons are “right” or “wrong,” matters little.
People are hurting. In the area I live in, I’ve watched factories and
industries dry up in the 50+ years I have been alive. Hopelessness turns people
to drugs and addictions. Nones and Dones either found the Church wanting, or
(worse) shooting their wounded. Secondary and tertiary doctrinal matters have
become idols while the primary Gospel message of love, grace, and hope has been
lost. That’s less my observation, and
more the observation of the growing number of people who love God and Jesus
Christ, but have come to the conclusion that the Church sucks. Some of those
same people have concluded that government sucks, too. I grew up with these
folks, lived with these folks, and now seek to shepherd and pastor these folks.
Many of them no longer attend a church, or have never attended to begin with – and in their minds, for good reason. You can learn a lot by occasionally hanging out with people outside of the Church. Jesus did some - most - of his best work there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Charles R. Morris, a columnist for <i>Commonweal</i>, wrote a great article in the January 6<sup>th</sup> issue, “Backlash:
Trump’s Rise Is Part of a Pattern.” It discusses the historical and present
political sways endemic to our world. One takeaway is this: things are
<u>very</u> broken – both in government and in the Church – and those who have been
ignored and hurting for a long time are now responding. In response to a perceived void, the void is being filled - for better or worse. One fact is undeniable: nature abhors a
vacuum.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This <i>could</i> be an opportunity for the United Methodist Church - as well as any other church or communion - to shine. Instead of continuing the
mostly insular argument about who’s theologically and ideologically correct, we
<i>could</i> decide to make disciples and
let God sort it all out. In short: progressive folks? Go make disciples who are
progressively minded and need a place of hope and refuge. Conservative folks?
Go make disciples who are conservatively minded and need a place of hope and
refuge. Pastors? Go shepherd wherever you’re sent and love your people, even if
some of them have politics you don’t like. Let your call and your love outweigh
your opinions (wow, that even sounds Wesleyan!). Build bridges across the gaps. Outdo others in showing love and
compassion (wow, that even sounds biblical!). And everyone: realize that as a Church, we are a minority that more
and more people have less and less respect for, and even less inclination to be
a part of. We are called to minister to the least, the last, and the lost – of
which the number continues to grow. Our world needs hope. Our Church <u>used</u>
to be in the hope business. Jesus still is.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There is no shortage of people who need saved from despair,
pain, and hopelessness. They are rural and urban alike. But we DO have a shortage of professed Christians who are willing to ditch their own politics and partisan theology and go tell people that they are
children that God loved and cherished since the day that they were born. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The reality is that there aren’t just two sides. This world
and the people in it represent a multifaceted reality that needs hope, love,
grace, and peace. We don’t have to compromise our faith, morals, or ethics to
offer Christ to others. The question is: what are we willing to give up that is
a stumbling block to those who are already stumbling? Are we willing to jump
into the fray rather than take a side in it?<o:p></o:p></div>
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“They will know we are Christians…”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pax,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sky+<o:p></o:p></div>
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Abbey of Gethsemini<o:p></o:p></div>
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Season after the Epiphany, February 2017<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-70740409709484368752018-06-12T11:17:00.000-05:002018-06-12T11:23:29.699-05:00New Staff Roles - Being Church In a Rapidly-Changing WorldBeloved Jackson First UMC folks:<br />
<br />
The Lord be with you.<br />
<br />
I am sure the staffing changes at the church are filtering down to Sunday school classes, coffee shops, golf foursomes, and other groups across the church. With that, I am sure that there are questions about who will be doing what, why is this happening, and what does this mean? Here are some (beginning) answers:<br />
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<b><u>1. Who will be doing what?</u></b> It's a great question. The quick answer is: we're working on it! Our next few staff meetings, along with working with the staff-parish relations committee, are to address this questions. One of the things that we're sure of as we've worked and prayed for months about this: the Spirit is nudging us to move from being a staff-driven church to a Christ-driven church.<br />
<br />
<b><u>2. Why is this happening?</u></b> We are encountering the same realities that many Christian churches are: a diminishing congregation, a more secular country, and a culture that is less friendly to the institutional church. Sundays and Wednesdays are no longer "sacred space" and school, athletic, and community events are regularly scheduled during times previously protected for church activities. We have buried a lot of saints in the past several years, and even in years we have broken "even" in the number of deaths and new members, our new members are often not able to contribute to the church financially at the level of those who passed away. From 2004-2016, our membership and worship attendance has looked like this:<br />
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During all of this time, our budget has basically remained about the same. As you can tell, we have been asking fewer people to give more... and they have. We are a remarkable, generous, and faithful church! Those who are on our Finance and Staff-Parish Relations Committees cannot in good conscience ask you to do more, and we need to be the best stewards we can where money, resources, and staffing are concerned. In January, I began to share with our staff and key leadership about these realities, and it has been something all of us have been committed to pray about. While this may seem abrupt, this has not been a hasty decision or one made from panic; we wanted to address this <u>before</u> it became a problem.<br />
<br />
<u style="font-weight: bold;">3. What does this mean?</u> I have been blessed to know many of your previous pastors and the work ethic of this church - and it is clear that "working hard enough" has never been the problem. We <b><u>are</u> </b>living, however, in a season where the church has to move from a membership-model to a discipleship-model of ministry, where we can make disciples... who in turn, can make disciples. We live in a world of wireless communications, online banking, and virtual relationships - which means we have to work harder than ever at establishing personal relationships. We are also a church that has members of varying ages and cultural backgrounds who have different experiences of worship, communications, small group activities, and church programming.<br />
<br />
This just doesn't mean our staff will have to assume new roles because they are smaller in number; all of us as a congregation will have to assume new roles. The lines between what we became used to staff doing and what we do as church members will sometimes blur. We are all responsible for each other. All of us are now ministers, not just some of us. This is nothing new; this is what the Apostle Paul told us about being a community of faith:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>For as in one body we have many members, and not all of the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us... </i>(from Romans 12:4-6, 1 Cor. 12:4-31)</blockquote>
<b><u>Culture Shock</u>.</b> This is what we are going to encounter - all of us - culture shock! If you've ever traveled outside of our country, you know what this is like: people do familiar things differently than we're used to... but they get done. Even if they speak English, it sounds different and some words have different meaning... but they communicate as effectively as we do. We start to feel odd and out of place... yet we find people who love and embrace us anyway. These next few years will be the same for us. And yet... can you imagine the first twelve disciples being asked by Jesus to "let the dead bury the dead" and "follow me, and I will teach you how to fish for people," and what they must have thought at first?!?<br />
<br />
<u style="font-weight: bold;">Reality Has Occurred</u>. I have seen the United Methodist Church as a layperson, a preacher serving a 3-point charge, a senior pastor, a district superintendent, and as a present General Conference delegate; in short, I have seen it from the basement to the pew to the pulpit to 30,000 feet above it, and have witnessed incredible changes and shifts in 50-plus years. The history of Christianity shows similar changes and shifts in its 2000 years.<br />
<br />
<b><u>What We Have Isn't Bad</u>!</b> There is still a place for the traditional and sacred. There is still a need for our stories to be told, our legacies to be continued, our fellowship to grow stronger. Our music and youth programs are strong and continue to grow stronger. Our link with Methodist history is something God has used and continues to redeem. God honors and will honor these things. Alongside those things, God also refreshes and renews us:<br />
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<i>I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?<br />I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.</i> - Isaiah 43:19</blockquote>
<b style="text-decoration: underline;">God's Not Done with Us.</b> In fact... God may just be getting started. We already have a great history, a wonderful building, and an awesome location to do ministry in Jackson, Tennessee. It need not, and can not, be confined to our building. We have learned a lot in these 192 years as a church, and still have much to learn. And while no one knows the future "or the day or the hour," this much we do know: God is with us. Let us not be afraid!<br />
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Pax,<br />
Sky+<br />
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<br />Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-62697685715037779082018-04-12T14:36:00.001-05:002018-04-12T23:23:45.441-05:00Inventing/Re-Inventing/ReRe-Inventing Orthodoxy: It's Like Deja Vu All Over AgainMy beloved United Methodist Church finds itself at a "place" that many other Christian movements, denominations, etc., have found itself at sometime or another (or even before): where shall we draw the line? To be sure, Methodists are no strangers to this; we've split, come together, and merged before.<br />
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So has Christianity. Many, many times. As shown below, splitting off to form another church/communion/denomination/movement is nothing new. It seems like every time there was an ecumenical council, the church split. And split. And split. And then there was the Big Split of 1054. And then another REALLY Big Split of 1517 (Protestant Reformation). And then in 1532 (beginnings of the Anglican Communion). And so on. And so forth.</div>
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The church that I presently serve is an awesome, awesome church. It made the decision years ago to remain downtown rather than move to the suburbs, because we believe there is much to be done here. Our church also has much history to it: we were the host (and sponsor) of a new denomination starting - the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. That came about from a question asked during the 1866 General Conference of the M.E. Church, South: "What shall be done to promote the religious interests of our colored members?" Four years later (December 16, 1870), forty-one former slave members met in the basement of the church I serve to start the CME Church. UMC and CME folks have told me that this is something to be proud of - and I am thankful for the generosity shown by our church members so many years ago. A state historical plaque in front of our church commemorates this piece of history. </div>
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While there are things to celebrate about that, there are also terrible things to mourn. In the background of that plaque is our beautiful church building, with a painful reminder carved in stone below the pediment:</div>
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I see it every day. It is a painful reminder of our past - and a ever-present catalyst to get things right.</div>
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In the midst of our conflicts and talks of division in our denomination, some have said, "We are better together." Others have asked, "Are we really better together?" I think the real question, given time and history, is, "<u>Are</u> we any better than before?" And I don't mean the last fifty years.</div>
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Mandeanism. Gnosticism. Manicheanism. Arianism. The Filioque. Subtle and profound differences in theology and ecclesiology. Secular governance vs. theocracy. Clergy celibacy. Liturgical practices. Owning slaves. Birth control. Divorce. Female clergy. We Christians have evolved (or perhaps devolved) into what we are now by schism. In all of these issues across two millennia, all "sides" have argued that their positions are the correct, faithful, true, and "only" way. Each side (and there are always more than two) will argue that to do or change anything about that (whatever "that" is) is a compromise that people cannot in good conscience make. Sincerity and conviction are present on all of these sides.</div>
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In the midst of this I believe that one word needs to be stricken from our Protestant vocabulary: orthodox. I once applied it to myself as an "Orthodox Wesleyan," but I now realize that any Protestant using the word "orthodox" is - at best - using a bastardized definition of the term. Orthodox as compared to what? Catholics? Coptics? Eastern Orthodox? Early Reformed? Lutheran?</div>
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And when it comes to the current "hot topic," sexuality, what exactly is orthodox? The apostle Paul thought that the End was near, and shared with the church at Corinth that it's probably best "for a man not to touch a woman," but conceded that marriage might be better for some people. The Eastern Church allowed their clergy to marry, while the Western Church didn't... until the Reformation, in which Protestants (at first reluctantly) permitted clergy to marry. Later, in Protestant circles, singleness was viewed with suspicion (regardless of whether you were clergy or laity). Having children was encouraged ("be fruitful and multiply"), and in Protestant and Catholic circles alike birth control was neither discussed nor upheld by doctrine or precept, seen as in contradiction with Natural Law and the procreative purpose of marriage and sexuality. </div>
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It wasn't until 1930 when the Anglican Communion decided (after much debate) to adopt a statement on birth control, that <u>any</u> Protestant entity had ever considered to remove procreation as the main component of marriage and sexuality: the statement read that birth control was permissible "when there is a clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood and when there is a morally sound reason for avoiding complete abstinence." After that, laws were (slowly) changed that had previously prohibited <u>any</u> type of contraceptive education or the sales of <u>any</u> contraceptives. Seventy years later, in 2004, Al Mohler of the Southern Baptist Convention stated that, "Evangelical couples may, at times, choose to use contraceptives in order to plan their families and enjoy the pleasures of the marital bed." Whoa!</div>
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That is a far cry from the sexual ethic that prevailed for a long time in Protestantism, and still prevails in Catholicism: marriage, and the gift of sexuality, was created for procreation. I could go into a similar discussion about divorce, too: how did we evolve to the point where divorce became permissible? How many divorces can you get until it's wrong? </div>
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To me, the question is less about the Church getting it right about just homosexuality, and more about having a faithful ethic of marriage and sexuality, period. What's orthodox? Who's right? Did Protestants leave the Catholic Church to suit themselves, or to be faithful? Did we change from marriage and sexuality being about procreation to "enjoy the pleasures of the marital bed" to suit ourselves, or to be faithful? Did we go from disallowing divorce to allowing divorce because of tragic situations to suit ourselves, or to be faithful? I think those are questions we'd rather not delve into... or we might find that our present arguments regarding sexuality might not hold water.</div>
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I have no easy answer to the latest challenge of the Church regarding sexuality. Quite frankly I'd rather get up and fight for the cause of discipleship and the lack of it we seem to have across our denomination. But this issue is not going to go away. For some folks, this has become a "Here I stand, I can do no other" moment... in which I find some irony. Martin Luther gave us the model to challenge orthodoxy and dogma. As one learned colleague of mine said, "Luther was right on some things... and he was wrong on some things." Depending on who you ask, anyway.</div>
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What I do know is that the scriptural and theological reasons we once gave before regarding sexuality and God's creation (i.e., being single being preferable, and being married for procreative purposes) seem to no longer apply. I think it will take us a long, long time to get all of this "right." I find little comfort in knowing that it took over 300 years for the church to formulate the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds, and less comfort in knowing that even they led to schisms great and small.</div>
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I do wish we could be more patient and tolerant of each other. It seems the height of hubris to think that we as a United Methodist Church can get this right within 50 years. I am sure that people were convinced they were right 173 years ago, when in May of 1845 annual conferences throughout the South sent delegates to Louisville, Kentucky, where they formed the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Some folks were so convinced that they even carved those words in stone...</div>
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Are we really any better than we were 150 years ago? 200 years? 500 years? 1000 years? I am thankful that God is patient with us, because we are certainly not a patient people.</div>
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Pax,</div>
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Sky+</div>
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Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17196593.post-6577822043441626072018-01-15T09:38:00.000-06:002018-01-15T09:38:44.533-06:00Why I'm Cynical About Politics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today is MLK, Jr. Day. This quote (which is often misquoted) is the most poignant of his quotes: <b>"In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."</b> (from "The Trumpet of Conscience," Steeler Lecture, Nov. 1967).<br />
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My own experience with secular politics has not been good - and I find such continually at odds with the Christian faith. If politics is truly the art of the possible, I find our present state of politics getting an "F" where such is concerned. We are not living in a time of statesmen and stateswomen; we are living in a time of tribalism and intractability. Today's policy-makers are not concerned about the totality of the people they serve; they are concerned about winning over 50.1% of them and making lobbyists happy. It's an "us versus they" mentality. This is not acceptable.<br />
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Many are upset about our president's language regarding friends around the world. Whether he ever said it or not we'll never be sure. If he said it, it's reprehensible. Lord knows I can be as earthy with my language as anyone, but I don't use it in the pulpit and I certainly wouldn't label whole nations with such. And of course all presidents use profanity... but there are some places where some things simply shouldn't be said. The late Tony Randall probably says it as well as anyone in this game show clip:<br />
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I don't know that we'll ever know what our president said last Friday. But here is what I do know: our senators, representatives, and anyone else present in that room point to the most prevalent problem: they don't have our country's best interest in mind. Just themselves or their party.<br />
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If indeed our president said what he said, why didn't our "country's best" meet afterwards and say, hey, we've got a problem here, and we've got to work together to address it? And why do we have a couple of senators from each side of the aisle who agree that one thing happened, but two other senators who (at first) said, "I don't recall," but now say, "It didn't happen?" And a cabinet member this morning who, after being pushed by a Fox News reporter, finally said, "I understand the question, it was an impassioned conversation, I don't recall that particular phrase being used. That's all I can say about that."<br />
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Really?!? It only happened last Friday...<br />
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And if our president <i>didn't</i> say it, then shame on those fabricating that he did. Again... how will we ever know what was said? Who do we trust? Who <i>can</i> we trust?<br />
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To be sure, a lot of words are being said, but the silence of what's not being said is palpable. The complicity of silence from our friends who are supposed to have our best interests at heart is not being forgotten.<br />
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Leaders need to lead: not kibbutz, lie, waffle, say "I have no recollection of that," or play partisan politics. Until you do, the number of cynics will increase and our great country will continue to suffer.<br />
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In short, senators and representatives: some of us simply do not trust you - you being the collective YOU. You're going to have to work together to get some trust back.<br />
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<br />Sky McCrackenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971591289953416023noreply@blogger.com0