That time of year

Christmas, with the end of the tax year on its heels, is prime season for appeals from charities and agencies seeking contributions for those "less fortunate."  That phrase has always grated on my sense of fairness, with its labeling of people based on life's circumstances and implied judgement that some folks are less blessed. After a visit yesterday to Villa Maria, I realized how easily "less fortunate" is translated into "less valuable." 

As Christians we affirm our belief that every human being is a child of God, that each person is to be valued and respected simply by virtue of being created by God, yet in so many ways we tell people that they don't matter. Sister Helen is determined that every one who enters the doors of Villa Maria will be treated with the utmost respect and care. The women who call Villa Maria their home for a few days or weeks or months are there because they have no home of their own and few resources.  Few have had experiences of being valued and loved rather than used and abused. 

But the message transmitted in every detail of the building decoration and furnishings says that important people live here. Interior decorators chose colors. A garland of flowers is painted above each room's doorway. Every room is named for a woman declared a saint. 

As Sister Helen conducts a tour and tells stories about who donated what and how she searched and bargained for just the right furnishings, she makes clear she was not about to accept just any donation. This was not going to be a place for the cast offs of others. She was not going to accept just whatever anyone wanted to give away. The residents were not going to be given the message one more time that they had to be satisfied with what is old, used, damaged, discarded. Instead, Sister Helen insists that each woman deserves to live in surroundings that are beautiful as well as clean and safe. The goal of Villa Maria is to help each woman recognize and value the beauty and worth that they carry within, in order to make their way in a world that is too often ugly and unloving.

Villa Maria is a challenge to our use of language to judge and devalue and divide. 

Sowing Seeds of Peace

On the first Sunday of October, UPC received the PCUSA Peacemaking special offering for the first time - to the tune of almost $2000. Throughout the month the emphasis will be on Peacemaking - God's Shalom. Collages from an intergenerational event are hung around the building and each one provides an image of peace. In worship, we're also making our prayers for peace visible. Folks in the congregation wrote their prayers for places, people, and situations in need of God's peace on hand-shaped pieces of paper. During the offering, they brought them forward to hang on trees. What a moving experience to watch so many people add their prayers to the trees. The next three weeks we'll be adding more hands/leaves so that our trees will "blossom."

Fountain of Light

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
--from Psalm 36

A fountain of light provides a visual reminder of God's presence during a service for wholeness and healing. God is indeed the source of light and love, and through Christ brings peace and healing. We pray that the Spirit will be at work in our lives and in our world to heal all that is broken.

Vacation Bible School

So what do you get when you add together one church, 50+ young children (5 years - 5th grade) and a passle of volunteers (teens to way beyond teens) and stir in catchy songs with motions, snacks, crafts, and Bible stories? What we have is one full week of relatively organized exhuberance otherwise known as Vacation Bible School. Friday will be the final day of this year's edition. Parents and family have been invited to a closing program and hot dog lunch to follow.
Yes, VBS takes an enormous amount of planning and volunteer recruitment - thanks, Jinny - lots of purchasing supplies - thanks, Susan - and lot of patience, hugs, caring, coraling, and above all commitment to children - thanks, Volunteers! As I've heard Jinny say almost every day, this group of participants in Vacation Bible School seem especially "energetic." And only a small percentage of this group have an association with University Pres.
So why do we do it? Why doe we spend the time, money and energy required to conduct five days of Vacation Bible School? How about because so many children are not associated with the church? Because every child needs to know that church is a safe and caring place to be, that there are adults who care for them enough to want them to know that God cares for them too. And because this is a ministry to families, trying in all kinds of ways to provide and care for their children, and parents who need to know that they have resources and support beyond their families.
I still recall memories of my Bible School experiences as a child. Even as a parent and pastor, VBS has always been a highpoint to the summer. May these children and volunteers take good memories and an experience of God's love from this week.

For more VBS photos, see my Flickr site postings: http://www.flickr.com/photos/threeseas/

Assumptions

Several moves ago, I finally figured out what makes this experience so exhausting.
Consider how many things we do every day, every week which have become so habitual that they no longer require much in the way of concious thought. Moving to a different house, different community, different state, different job requires expending a great deal of energy making decisions about everyday life which had been lodged in the section of the brain used for "automatic pilot." Everything from where to reach for a glass in the kitchen to which way to turn to drive to the grocery to what night to put out the garbage - oops, I forgot again this week! - requires repetition in order to become second nature. The disadvantage is that it takes extra time and energy to develop all these habits. The advantage is that the change in external circumstances is an opportunity to make other changes in life and activities.

Habits and assumptions are part of our everyday life - a necessity even. Change challenges assumptions we didn't even realize we were making. As the new kid at church I'm still making all kinds of discoveries about what happens when and how because it hasn't occurred to others that I haven't made a particular assumption or formed a specific habit. No, I didn't know that the dignity offering envelopes are placed in the baskets during communion at the 9:30 service and during the passing of the peace at 11. Oh, that's why I was confused about how that offering was received.

One of the worst assumptions we can make as a church is that everyone in worship "knows" how to worship - especially the way "we" do. Every congregation gets into the habit of doing things without really thinking about what they're doing or why. Stand here, sit here, respond with this, sing that. But to really welcome the stranger, to help our children learn, and assist everyone to participate in worship, we should always assume that there are people in worship who have never been in this church - or perhaps any church. In fact, this applies to the entire life and ministry of the church. Just because we know where the fellowship hall is and that we'll find coffee and goodies there after worship doesn't mean the person sitting next to me has any idea.

In the sermon last week, I told the story of my neighbors in Pittsburgh, Edla and Fred Heinz. We were new to the community, purchasing our first home, and parents of a 3 yr old. From the day we moved in, they were there offering to help. Shortly after we arrived, Edla invited me to a women's group at the Presbyterian Church, and continued to invite me to Bible studies, special events, and worship. She would ask me to go WITH her, making sure I knew childcare was available. Whever we encountered anyone else, she always made a point to ask: "Cathy do you know Susan? Susan, do you know Cathy?"

Edla and Fred were the embodiment of hospitality and "lifestyle evangelism." Instead of assuming that others already knew what was happening or when or where or with whom, they assumed that their duty as church members was to assist others in being full participants, to help each individual they encountered to feel welcomed and at ease. They loved Pleasant Hills Community Church as their church home and wanted to share that love with others. Because of Edla and Fred, I felt at home in the church too. And that's how first I became a Presbyterian.

Change? Change?&*#$@!?# Change!

Today I was thanked for something I didn't do.
'I just love the new look to the newsletter," she gushed as she greeted me outside the sanctuary. "I'm sure we have you to thank for that. I'm so glad you made the changes."
That's when I had to explain that this was a change that had been in the works for months, thanks to the Church Growth Task Force that had recommended the purchase of new publishing software. Difficulties in arranging an initial training session for Susan had delayed implementation. In fact, you will continue to see changes as Susan experiments with various features and learns how to incorporate them into making the newsletter informative and attractive.
So no, I am not the source of every change at church.

Presbytery membership

As a Minister of Word and Sacrament, I am not the member of a congregation. Instead, ministers have their membership in a particular presbytery. Each presbytery determines its own membership, and moving from one to another is not simply a matter of a letter of transfer as happens with members going from one church to another.
The process begins with the Committee on Ministry of presbytery and an examination based on a written statement of faith and biography/faith journey submitted to the committee. The minister is asked questions about theology, Presbyterian government, sacraments, experiences in ministry and such. If the Committee on Ministry approves, the final step is to be received by the Presbytery. Prior to that, the minister can actually "move on to the field" and begin work. However, until the formal reception at a meeting of presbytery, the pastor cannot moderate meetings of session or the congregation.
Last Friday, the Presbytery of Tres Rios met and I was presented for membership. No one asked any questions - whew! - and the note was in the affirmative, so now it's official. I am a member of the presbytery, with voice and vote, and I managed to do both during the rest of the meeting.

So what is an interim pastor?

So what is the difference between an interim pastor and an installed pastor?
I've been asked this question often in the month since I began ministry here at UPC, most recently at a gathering of residents at Monte Vista. I begin my answer by noting that as far as what a pastor does on a regular basis, folks generally will
notice no difference - which is the point of having an interim pastor: to provide the consistency in preaching and worship leadership, pastoral care, nurture, administration, and all the customary work of being a parish pastor. Of course, no two pastors - or people - are exactly alike in the experience, training, style, personality, etc which they bring to ministry - primarily because each pastor is a different person, so of course you will notice some differences in the way I do things.

The major difference between the two positions is the official relationship with the congregation and the process for establishing and ending the relationship. I believe all pastors serve as interims, in effect, when one takes the long view of the life of a congregation, whether one is the pastor for a year or two or twenty years. The expectation for an installed pastor is that they have been called by God through the work of the Pastor Nominating Committee, the vote of the congregation, and the concurrence of the presbytery, to serve for an indefinate period of time. The nature of the relationship takes time to establish and an extended time - research says at least 3-5 years - to become effective.
An interim is recommended by a search committee of session, hired by a vote of session, with approval of the presbytery, and serves on a contract basis. In this case, the contract is for one year or until a new pastor is called by the congregation. The Book of Order and the contract clearly state that the interim pastor will not seek and cannot be considered for the installed position.

In addition to the role of everyday pastor, the interim also plays the role of outside consultant. I'm here to ask questions that begin with why and how and even why not? As an interim I'm to assist the congregation make the transition, to come to terms with the past, celebrate strengths, and envision a new future.

Practically speaking this means I must live and work as a transient. I can't think long-term but must approach my ministry - and life - in the here and now. So there is always a tension between the need to learn all I can about UPC and its life and ministry and people and the knowledge that my time here will be relatively brief and temporary. This is a time to be the hare and not the tortoise! There is both freedom and sadness in knowing that there probably won't be a "next Pentecost Sunday" or more than one Christmas here. There's always a temptation to look too far down the road and begin to feel anxious about what might be next or where. But it's also a good reminder that each of us who are followers of Christ have to ask every morning, "Lord, what would you have me do today?"