My Blurred Vision: Life at the Intersection of Theology, Music, Politics, and More

These Doctors are Mad as Hell!

Question: What do you get when you take 6 physicians add 4 wheels and send them on the road?

Although it sounds like a classic joke, this is no laughing matter!  In fact, Dr. Paul Hochfeld, Dr. Eugene Uphoff, Dr. Sam Metz, Dr. Mike Huntington, Dr. Joe Eusterman and Dr. Bob Seward are 6 Oregon physicians who are "Mad as Hell" about the state of health care coverage in the United States.  And they aren't going to take it anymore!

After years serving patients in an office, operating room, or emergency room these six physicians have grown frustrated at seeing health care costs rise while for-profit insurance companies reap enormous profits at the same time that millions of citizens remain uninsured and under-insured.  In the eyes of these 6 physicians there is only one answer to solving our nation's health care crisis and that is to replace our current system with a "single payer" system.

*What is a single payer system? 

“In a Single Payer System, your taxes go toward a government regulated, not-for-profit agency administered by medical personnel. You pay nothing else – not out-of-pocket, not to for-profit insurance companies (unless you really like giving your money away). When you see a physician, or go to the hospital, or buy medications, the physician, hospital, or pharmacy is paid by this agency. This agency is the Single Payer. It sounds simple. It is.”

But these physicians aren't sitting around in their offices lamenting our health care crisis.  Instead, they have officially labeled themselves the "Mad as Hell Doctors" (madashelldoctors.com) and beginning September 8, 2009 they will hit the road from Portland, Oregon on a trek across the United States on a mission to simultaneously educate the nation about Single Payer health care and build momentum for a single payer health care system that will mean no one is excluded from coverage!

Here is their plan:

On September 8, 2009 a group of dedicated Oregon physicians will take the message of Universal Health Care "on the road" in a wrapped and branded Motor Home headed for Washington D.C. Our cross-country mission:  to stop in big cities and whistle stops alike, conducting pre-booked, local and national media appearances for a curious press.  Every move we make along the way will be recorded on camera and then edited and uploaded to the internet that same day. This will allow our Mad As Hell Doctors Tour to leverage the edited video segments on social networking web sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace,  et al. In this way, our effort becomes an unprecedented hybrid of reality television and political activism that offers people the opportunity to follow us, in real time, as our story unfolds. The message will be unmistakable: caravan with us to Washington and help make a public demonstration of support for Single Payer Health Care that will be heard around the world. 

Check out their website to see profiles of the Doctors and read about why they are "Mad As Hell!"

But Health Care is in the news, so why have the Mad as Hell Doctors chosen this time to head out on the road?

The Mad as Hell Doctors’ (MAHD) trumpet this theme: Health Care for People, Not Profit and in order to make this more than a slogan the MAHD crew believes this is the time to make a difference.  They believe the so-called “Public Option” is doomed to failure because it keeps our current framework and still leave at least 15 million Americans without access to health care coverage. 

The Mad As Hell Doctors say:

You CAN handle the Truth!

There's no nice way to say it. The financial cost of health care is killing our citizens, hobbling our economy, crushing small business, and threatening the solvency of our government.  In the meantime, the Health Care Industry is spending almost two million dollars a day lobbying Congress and manipulating public opinion to accept “reform” legislation that leaves a vicious, for-profit system intact. The "public option" is a trap. We need real reform that finds immediate savings, controls costs, and accomplishes the moral imperative of true Universal Access.  A Single Payer plan is the only real path to a Health Care System that is socially, ethically and fiscally responsible. And yet, our elected officials refuse to even discuss the possibility of a Single Payer plan!  If that doesn't make you mad, we recommend checking your pulse.

The "public option" is doomed. 

First: we will still have a dysfunctional health care system designed around insurance companies.  Second: it will be impossible to cover everyone without raising taxes. The Obama administration is already saying it is acceptable to leave out 15 million people. Which 15 million? Will you be one of them? Who gets to decide? Third: in a "post-option" environment you can bet that the health insurance industry will manipulate the rules so that the sickest, most expensive patients will gravitate toward the public plan, which will cause it to fail. When it does, the opponents of real reform will point to the "public option" and scream: "See! Single Payer won't work!"

There is a time for compromise - this isn't one of them. 

We are a small group of Oregon-Based doctors who care.  We believe there is only one way to control costs, one way to remove profiteering from the system, one way to reclaim the care of our patients, and one way to be sure everyone is covered: we must replace our current pay-or-die system and with a comprehensive, publicly financed, privately delivered, Single Payer system that puts people first.  Our moment to take a stand for Single Payer is NOW. We may not have another opportunity like this in our lifetime. Please support this unprecedented road trip to real health care reform. 

I invite you to join me in following the Mad as Hell Doctors as they travel across the United States. I too believe that a single payer system is our best our only hope to achieve health care justice in this country.  The Mad as Hell Docs have announced that "This Fall, the rubber gloves meet the road."  So watch for the "Mad As Hell Doctors" as they come through your community, follow them on the web, and donate if you can! 

The Power of Music at Camp

It has now been a week since we arrived home after spending a week at N-Sid-Sen for our annual trek to Family Camp.  The experience was a little different this year as I co-directed with my sister-in-law Meridith, and thus it wasn't strictly a week of vacation.  However, I did emerge from the week feeling like I was able to enjoy the time with family and enjoy the experience as a director.  I'm still doing some evaluation work from the week and as I have been doing that I have heard a constant soundtrack of favorite camp songs running through my head.  Now, strictly speaking these aren't necessarily camp songs, but they are songs that I have come to know best as songs accompanied by guitar at Camp N-Sid-Sen on the shores of Lake Coeur d' Alene.  Thanks to John Eisenhauer, Jack Ballard, Duane Nightingale, and others who have provided the musical accompaniment for my memories!

Here is a partial list of the soundtrack that is still running through my head:

Blowin' in the Wind-Bob Dylan

Little Blue Top- Tony Hughes

Here I am Lord--Daniel Schutte

Part of the Family - Jim Manley

One Tin Soldier- Dennis Lambert

Spirit-Jim Manley

This Pretty Planet-Tom Chapin

Pharaoh Pharaoh--Richard Berry

Standing in the Need of Prayer-traditional

Morning Has Broken-Farjeon/Stevens

Lord of the Dance-words by Sydney Carter

Lean on Me-Bill Withers

Rock Me to Sleep-Tom Hunter

Rock Me in Your Arms-unknown

For the church camp addicts out there: What songs are a part of the soundtrack of your camp experiences?

Synod 2009: Day 3

The extremely high waters of the river have receded a bit in Grand Rapids.  The morning program for Sunday at Synod was “Sacred Conversations on Race.”  While I applaud our denomination for taking on this issue my overall impression of this portion of the Synod program was that it was a mixed bag.  I heard several colleagues suggest that their session took an almost embarrassingly simplistic view of the issue while others found compelling conversations not so much in what was presented by the assigned keynote speakers and moderators, but because of the conversations that happened between small groups of people.  I applaud the UCC for delving into this issue  and attempting to take an honest shot at discussing the linger effects of our culture’s inability to talk in depth about race and racial issues, but I am honestly not sure how far this exercise brought us. 

The afternoon worship included sacred dance, wonderful music, and inspired preaching by retiring General Minister and President John Thomas.  Weaving together wisdom from scripture and his experiences as General Minister and President Rev. Thomas wove together the story of Jonah doubts, the gifts of the Ethiopian eunuch, and the promises of the revelation to John.  Inspiring and profound...

After the evening committee session, the 2030 Clergy Network hosted an after-hours event where we honored John Thomas’s work and vision as our General Minister and President over these past 10 years.  Amid 60 or so 2030 clergy and amid the appetizers, conversations, drinks, and laughter we celebrated the ministry of grace, love, and passion that has marked John Thomas’s leadership of the United Church of Christ.  We presented him with a wall-hanging that depicts UCC symbol and thanked him for the both the inspiration and the direct action that he has undertaken on behalf of young clergy. For some of us the event went on into the after-hours of the after-hours, but the wonderful and deep theological conversations simply did not allow the evening to end early.  At some point during the night one of my colleagues, a fellow PSR alum, noted that it was 10 years ago this August that we entered PSR together—a truth I knew, but at the same time find hard to believe. I am so awed by the work that my colleagues—from PSR and around the UCC—are doing, and I am aware of the blessings they bring to the UCC and the inspiration they give me. 

 Yet another long but great day at Synod!

Synod 2009: Day 2 - River City Saturday

River City Saturday featured workshops and keynote addresses by dozens of theologians, artists, and commentators.  Our day started with an address from Eugene Robinson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist from the Washington Post.  I also heard Barbara Brown Taylor, Jim Wallace, and Ray Suarez.  Barbara Brown Taylor was by far the highlight of the speakers in my mind as she spoke poetically and profoundly about how and why the church must be engaging with our youngest generations.

Another highlight of the day was the picnic in the park sponsored by the 2030 Clergy Network. We had probably 60 people gathered together for lunch on the lawn near the Gerald R. Ford Museum. This was simply a fellowship event, but it was wonderful to have 2030 clergy and their families, seminarians, and 2030 allies and alums gathered for fellowship and networking. 

For dinner I hopped into a gathering of 2030 folks who are interested in the emergent church conversation.  Nine of us were joined by PSR President Bill McKinney for dinner and conversation that centered on our desires for the church and our thoughts about how to implement some emergent identity into our own settings for ministry.  There was much rich conversation and although I would not even begin to classify the discussion as “settled” it did again focus me on my wrestling match with traditional model of “being” the church.

Our last program piece for the day was a celebration service honoring the ministry of the Rev. John Thomas, who is serving his last Synod as our General Minister and President.  Many wonderful words and sentiments were expressed toward and about Rev. Thomas, but what was most profound about the night was his grace-filled and honest appraisal of the successes and failures of the UCC during his tenure.  His words indicating his struggle with the demands of the job and the toll they took on his family were undoubtedly difficult to utter, but exuded the trust and love he has for his family and for the United Church of Christ too. 

Finally, one of the highlights of the day came in the late hours of the night and the wee hours of the morning as 2030 clergy gathered for after-hours conversation at one of the hotels. After talking with several colleagues about their difficult and hurtful ordination processes I found myself both thankful for the blessings of my own experience with the ordination process and frustrated by the roadblocks that are too often put in the way of brilliant and highly capable young clergy.  Some of the stories that I heard tonight demand a more standardized process that would no longer leave prospective clergy at the mercy of arbitrary rulings by Conference or Association committees.  Overall, our late night conversations yield more proof that for the next 30 years I will be serving with amazing colleagues! 

Synod 2009: Day 1

General Synod officially started this today with registration, opening plenary, the introduction of honored guests and officials, and opening worship.  I actually started the day rather late and hit the Synod just after lunch.  After arriving at

DeVos Place I spent time hanging out at the 2030 Clergy Network booth with NPT folks and met a bunch of 2030 colleagues who wandered by in the exhibition hall.

The opening plenary session took place mid-afternoon and it was a pretty typical opening business session—complete with rules, introduction of the Synod officials, and a series of reports.  The highlight of the plenary was, in my mind anyway, the procession of placards representing all the churches that have been recently born into the UCC.  The procession was good news amid difficult financial reports and forecasts!

After dinner at a local hot dog joint with 2030 colleagues (Yay for vegi dogs!) I hit the 2030 booth again before the evening’s opening worship.  Opening worship started with a plenary session that included the official introduction of the Rev. Geoffrey Black, who is the candidate for General Minister and President of the UCC.  Rev. Black’s address was further evidence of his suitability for the position and included a wonderfully gracious shout-out to the 2030 Clergy Network!

After shifting from business session into worship mode we were treated to an opening worship that featured incredible music, beautiful dance and the inspiring and overwhelming preaching of the Rev. Otis Moss III from Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ.   All the featured musicians and dancers also joined us from Trinity—thus putting the Synod in touch with the UCC’s largest church.  Rev. Moss’s sermon focused on the first 8 verses of the book of Revelation and into that text he pasted a critique of the ways we use punctuation to limit and define God.  It was a brilliant take on the UCC’s “Never place a period where God has placed a comma” campaign and including powerful social analysis, incredible and driving cadence, and a renewed call to the United Church of Christ to refuse to limit the power of God’s love, stewardship, compassion, and call.  Moss called out the “empire” that endorses torture, that engages in unjust warfare, that does not protect its children…and he did so in a way that his critique was clearly pulled from the notion that all of these are failures because human beings and governments have acted in a way that limits the potential of God.  Moss was the perfect pastoral and prophetic voice to kick-off Synod…

Finally, the evening ended with search and eventual success for an after-hours gathering for 2030 folks.  After being invited by some young adults to the young adult gathering those of us who felt like we had (unfortunately) moved beyond the young adult age range instead found another place to gather.  The invitation and obvious youth of the young adult crowd was more than enough of a reminder that I can’t even come close to claiming the young adult label…

And after this posts it is (past) time to crash as the River City Saturday portion of Synod starts in just over 6 hours…

Thoughts from General Synod: A Wrap of the Pre-Synod 2030 Event

I (finally) arrived in Grand Rapids shortly after midnight on Wednesday night-Thursday morning, got settled in my room and attempted to sleep—but even after a full day of travel, I still couldn’t manage to shake “west-coast time.”  Once 1:15 am hit I figured I might as well make the most of being up, so off to the hotel gym I headed.  After nearly an hour of exercise I finally fell off to sleep sometime around 3 am.

Morning came quickly and I was off to the 2030 Clergy Network Pre-Synod event at Park United Church of Christ in Grand Rapids.  At Park UCC the 2030 National Planning Team (NPT) met quickly before the event and put the finishing touches on a few pieces.  Rob Leverage, Matthew Westfox, Amy Sens and I put together the pieces for the opening worship after a colleague was unable to join us.  Our simple opening worship featured wonderful hymn singing (Guide My Feet and Called as Partners), reading from John 15 (Vine and Branches), and during a sharing portion that I called on my 2030 colleagues to be bold enough to first lift up what we—as the 2030 branches of the church—bring as gifts to ministry, to one another, and to our church.  After hearing wonderful, serious, funny, honest, and hopeful affirmations of the profound talent, pastoral presence, and blessings that were in the room I next asked my colleagues to be bold enough to also name those things that they need from our God  and from our Christ that is the vine that grounds us.  Once again I heard profound words—of hope, of concern for the church, of concern for individual ministries—and thus our words that lifted up our gifts and those things that we need from and with our God became or prayers as we began our gathering. 

Our event next shifted to a coffee hour—that ALWAYS comes after worship right?  The coffee hour time allowed us to informally reconnect with old friends and meet colleagues that were new to us.  We followed our coffee hour time with a time for regional meetings that allowed us to network with those who are closest to us—at least on the map.  This was yet another time when I longed to live in a less spread out region as our regional gathering included folks from Northern and Southern California, Seattle, from Corvallis, Oregon—not an easy group to gather for coffee or lunch! Nonetheless we had a spirited discussion about the things that were feeding us in our ministry settings and those things that we are “working on or figuring out.”

Lunch followed and although it was originally set to be a self-selecting interest group gathering for “solo pastors, associates, clergy with children, etc.”  Instead, we had a surprise guest—the Rev. Geoffrey Black, the candidate for UCC General Minister and President.  We were thrilled to have him join us and he spoke eloquently and honestly about his excitement and his concern about this particular time in the United Church of Christ’s history.  I was especially interested in his words about the need of the UCC to move beyond our history of being a “head” church and more fully embrace our capacity to be both a head AND heart church.  Rev. Black invited US—the 2030 Clergy Network—to be focused on that work.  After lunch and more discussion with Rev. Black we gathered around Rev. Black for a “laying on of hands” and a blessing of him as he headed into this important Synod Gathering.  The Rev. Matthew Mardis-LeCroy offered the blessing while the rest of us gathered around and prayed for our church and for Rev. Black. I was so thankful that Matt thought to offer that blessing...very powerful moment.

Our after lunch sessions included break out sessions focused on getting involved in 2030 advocacy with the Pension Boards, getting 2030 clergy involved with conference leadership and Church and Ministry boards, and getting 2030 clergy involved in Wider Church work. 

Finally, we closed our gathering with worship that included communion, hymns (including a spirited version of “You Have Come to the Lakeshore,”) a reading of Acts 2:1-7, a recognition of “retiring” 2030 leadership, and a commissioning of the current NPT members.  Following clean-up and dinner with about 15 2030 colleagues I actually hit the hotel room early after beginning to pay for the late night/early morning.  A great way to kick-off the Synod experience for 2009! 

P.S. I hope to add some pictures from the 2030 event after I collect some from colleagues...

Coming Soon: Updates from General Synod

I will be headed to Grand Rapids THIS Wednesday June 24, for the United Church of Christ's General Synod and the 2030 Clergy Network's pre-Synod event.  Watch this space for updated postings from Grand Rapids!

Last Sunday's Sermon: Have We Not Heard? (Isaiah 40:21-31 and Psalm 147:1-11, 20c)

My sermon from Sunday February 8, which draws upon my experiences at the Earl Lectures and has me thinking about the shape, form, and vision of worship and the church.

Have we not heard?

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts together be acceptable to you O God, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

As most of you know I spent the last week of January in Berkeley attending the Earl Lectures, Pacific School of Religion’s annual lecture and continuing education event.  The theme—Behold, A New Thing: Emerging Expressions of Faithfulness—provided me with much to think about concerning the future of the church and my own understandings and expectations of worship.  While the Earl Lectures were at the center of my thought process when I started forming this sermon I am thankful that our scripture lessons have assisted my theological wondering about the God and the future of the church.

Our lesson from Isaiah comes from the section where the prophet prepares the Hebrew people for their return to Jerusalem. The Hebrew people have been in exile for a couple of generations—their grandparents had been conquered and removed from their homeland, and they and their parents had never really known their homeland—living only under the oppressive rule of the Babylonians.  And now Isaiah has the unenviable task of convincing them that they should return to Jerusalem where God has something new and better in store for them. This chapter of Isaiah features a series of questions that are used to illuminate God’s unending presence in the midst of the Hebrew people’s lack of faith, insecurity, and fear.  But these questions—“Have you not heard?”  “Have you not known?” And, “To whom will you compare me?” are not the insulting questions that they seem to be at first glance.  Instead, they are questions meant to provoke both the memory and the imagination of the Hebrew people—so that they can remember the power of God that has been forgotten in the difficult days of the exile AND so that they can imagine anew what God might have in store for them.  These questions allow this interaction to become a testament to the long and continuing relationship that has existed between the Hebrew people and their God—and offer the Hebrew people hope for the next leg of their journey.

The words of the 147th Psalm are likewise words that are a testament to the enduring relationship between God and God’s people.  This psalm is among the 5 closing psalms found in the book of psalms, and like the other psalms of this section it opens and closes with Hallelujah (Praise the Lord!) and between its choruses of praise its lyrics announce the greatness of God.  In this song the psalmist invites the Hebrew people to sing praises—because God has built up Jerusalem and gathered the outcasts, because God is both powerful AND understanding, because God cares for the lowly and defeats those who are wicked, and because God gives all that is and is steadfast in offering love.  Praise the Lord, says the psalmist—because of all that God has done and continues to do…

Both of these readings offered reasons for the Hebrew people to follow God.  As contemporary people hearing these words, they ring no less true.  However, after my experience in Berkeley I am left to wonder if the church as we know it isn’t in need of some provoking and prodding—perhaps we need a prophet to shake us up—to plead with us to re-imagine what we are and what we should be.  Perhaps the church is in need of a new reformation—of a movement that will take the church from the place where we speak of it as “ours”—filled with our songs, our pews, our styles, our structure, and our teaching methodologies—to instead become a place where the church becomes THE place where the needs of the world are met, where the needs of the individual are cared for, where the weirdness, the raggedy-edges, the explorations of the next generations will be welcome and invited—and will eventually become commonplace expressions of God’s gifts.

But we, all of us, get stuck—in the “I need it my way” religious tradition—and that is dangerous—and if you look at the data it has been especially dangerous to the health of mainline denominations like the United Church of Christ.  How stuck can we get?  I would like to show a video clip that will illustrate my point—let me be clear—it is an exaggeration—but it is informative of how we too often want church our way.  (For the sermon I used just the first two scenes.)

“Have it your way” faith isn’t pretty, is it?  We know it isn’t the faith we are called to have—yet it is sometimes our default setting.  One of the messages I heard loud and clear from EVERY speaker and preacher at the Earl Lectures was that if the mainline church is going to survive and be relevant in the future we are going to have to change our default setting—away from idea that the mainline traditions have a corner on THE way to do church. 

One of the most moving speakers I heard in Berkeley was Dr. Gerardo Marti, a sociologist and religious & cultural critic. (He is also a blogger which gave him generational credibility!)  Dr. Marti brought both the opening and closing addresses at the Earl Lectures, and in his closing address he wondered about how Christianity must change if it is to remain relevant to future generations.  He spoke profoundly about how what is being called the “emergent church” has evolved because the generations that followed the baby boom have sought new ways to do church when they have felt stifled or ignored by both mainstream Protestantism and evangelical Christianity.  They (or in terms of generations I should say “we”) have sought models of church that do things differently—they create “project teams” to do worship and pastoral care, they create structures that are decentralized and fluid, their lay leadership and even their membership often completely turns over every few years due to career changes and geographical movement among members.  As I understand it, the Emergent Church has at its core not a particular structure or rigid doctrine, but a sense of community AND a sense that from the community called church comes the passion and energy for providing real hope and change in the world, and all of this comes from a community committed to living out the gospel of Jesus Christ and celebrating the wonders of God’s gifts.

Marti spoke in depth of Mosaic, an Emergent church in LA where their structure dictates that “The church is not here to serve us (and neither are our pastors), together we are the church and we are here to serve the our world.”  This model is radical—in that it takes ones faith and immediately requires that that faith be put to work in the world.  Marti noted that this church is radical because it assumes that the church that they are creating is not for them, but for the world and for those in the next generations—even for the generations that haven’t been born.  And when he said that I wondered…Am I doing that?  Are we doing that?  Are we building a church that is comfortable for us, a place that has worship that we like and programs that we like—a place that is home for us, but is closed to new things or new visions for our faith.  Or are we legitimately thinking about and creating a community that nurtures not just those of us who worship here every week, but the ones who come through the door and want to worship, pray, do outreach, learn, and teach in new ways?  This is a beautiful, blessed, and holy community, but are we open to the change that might walk through our door next Sunday, next year, or might be fermenting their faithful dreams for the church in the CE wing this very day?  Are we open to the change (or changes) that might be necessary if we are to meet the needs of the generations that are in their 30s, 20s, and below? 

One might ask, “Do we have to change?”  I don’t think there is a clear answer, but I want to share one view—one that exemplified what I heard in Berkeley. Phyllis Tickle, a lay Eucharistic minister in the Episcopal church and a senior fellow of Cathedral College at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. —in her book “The Great Emergence” she argues that reformations have happened in the Christian church roughly every 500 years and she notes that we are thus due for the next one—one which she calls the “Great Emergence.”  Tickle recounts that the Reformation (or the Great Reformation as she believes it should be called) had its climax in Luther’s nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenburg church on October 31, 1517.  She recounts that roughly 500 years earlier was the Great Schism of 1054—assigned this date not because it can be encapsulated in 1054, but because that is when the fracture of the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic can be seen as “official.” Roughly 500 years earlier takes us to the 6^th Century and the papal reign of Gregory the I or Gregory the Great—who is known for bringing the church ecclesiastical and political coherence after the disastrous aftermath of the Council Chalcedon—when doctrinal rules were codified and set even as steep disagreements remained.  Gregory the Great let the church toward the monasticism that would protect, preserve, and characterize it for the next 500 years.  All of these reformations pale in their effects to the reformation that happened with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the beginning of the Christian church in the first century.  Each of these reformations—or re-formations of the church happened at roughly 500 year intervals and Tickle is among many who suggest that we are on the precipice of another Christian reformation—she believes that the Emergent church is the model that is being birthed in our current re-formation. I am honestly not sure if she is right, but I agree with her that something is happening and I likewise agree with her belief that mainline Christianity much embrace reformation and not get bogged down in “have it my way religion” or we risk quickly becoming irrelevant and even possible death…

But I won’t leave you there—because amid the calls for change that I heard in Berkeley, amid the dramatic expressions of worship, amid the technology running rampant--there was also an acknowledgment that the outward-looking basis that has formed the Emergent church is founded upon the social gospel that rose out of and galvanized the mainline church for much of the 20^th Century.  Just as the Hebrew people were being told by the Prophet that their God has not forgotten them—that their God has always been there—that with God they will soar—so too should the mainline church recognize the steadfast nature of God’s love and the breadth and depth of God’s ability to reveal new things in our lives.  I suspect that the Hebrew people felt like their exile was a death sentence—but God remained with them.  I suspect that every reformation felt like the death of the church…if we are on the leading edge of the next reformation of the church it will be hard and there will be growing pains, but haven’t you heard, don’t you know—God will remain, God will be steadfast—through it all, no matter what shape our worship or our structure takes. Our only job then is to be patient and loving with each other as we are re-formed by God and as we re-form each other in community.  This is not an easy task, but it is an important one, and our lessons today show us that we have models for how to do it.  So...with open minds and open hearts...let our re-formation begin!

Oh, one more thing…perhaps we should start and end every day with a Hallelujah or two!

Thanks be to God.  And the people of God said “Amen.”

More from Berkeley: On "The Ordinary Radicals" and the (new) Social Gospel

Last week at the Earl Lectures in Berkeley I had the privilege to view a screening of "The Ordinary Radicals," a film by Jamie Moffett that profiles the "Jesus for President" book tour by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw.  This documentary takes a look at the ministry that Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw have undertaken as they seek to engage evangelical Christians and guide their faithful passion away toward ministries of compassion and care for those that Jesus would describe as "the least of these."   When I sat down to watch the film I wasn't sure what to expect because I knew very little about the Shane Claiborne or Chris Haw, although I had actually picked up their Jesus for President book at one point but decided against buying it.  So I wondered what "The Ordinary Radicals" would offer, with just a bit of skepticism I must confess.

Before I go further in my reflection, here is a trailer for the film:

The Ordinary Radicals - Trailer

My skepticism was eliminated quickly as I began to watch the film in part because of the earnest approach to ministry and the gospel that Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw represent in their tour in support of their book "Jesus for President."  Their approach is remarkably simple, yet surprising to hear from those that I would place in the evangelical Christian category, namely that the ministry and life of Jesus Christ calls us not toward a specific candidate or specific political ideology, but instead toward a life of compassionate service.  The faith and tradition they espouse is one that I resonate deeply with because they are pretty clear that their faith is not driven by concern for their own salvation, but instead with the servant work that God has called them to do through Jesus.  Concern for the salvation of the individual is not primary to their actions, instead their actions are meant to embody the actions of Jesus Christ in contemporary society.  This is emblematic of how I understand my own faith and is consistent with Walter Rauschenbusch's Social Gospel movement, a staple of my own faith formation.  Rauchenbusch's Social gospel movement sought to put Christian faith in action, not for the benefit of the individual, but for the benefit of society at large, by engaging Christians to solve the social problems of the day.  Writing in his book Christianity and the Social Crisis Rauschenbusch wondered:

Will the twentieth century mark for the future historian the real adolescence of humanity, the great emancipation from barbarism and from the paralysis of injustice, and the beginning of a progress in the intellectual, social, and moral life of mankind to which all past history has no parallel?

It will depend almost wholly on the moral forces which the Christian nations can bring to the fighting line against wrong, and the fighting energy of those moral forces will again depend on the degree to which they are inspired by religious faith and enthusiasm. 

Although critics of Rauschenbusch's social gospel movement remain, the social gospel is still relevant and alive today (as evidenced in The Ordinary Radicals), and it has been a jumping off point for liberation, feminist, and eco-theology.  Additionally, the social gospel movement lives in the ways that progressive and evangelical Christians alike are hearing the call to live their faith beyond the self-interested interpretation that "true" Christian faith is primarily about the salvation of the individual.  Christianity as I understand it and Christianity as "The Ordinary Radicals" portrays tells us that salvation is about much more than the soul of one person; it is about a holistic view of the individual and it is here where Christians can make a true difference.  How, you ask?  By feeding people, by offering the same radically inclusive invitations that Jesus offered, by caring for the earth so that the body of Christ born in future generations will actually have a place to live on our Eden, by recognizing that myopic, belligerent, and ego-driven Christianity--even under the guise of trying to "save" someone, is not faithful, but mean, and by making sure that everyone has access to good schools, health care, and adequate housing.  Moffett's film shows Claiborne and Haw bringing their version of the social gospel to what might seem to be unlikely venues: evangelical churches.  And their reaction is the same as mine; let's get to work!

Beyond Claiborne and Haw's new spin on the social gospel the film also offers inspiration to those of us who are wrestling with where faith and ecology meet.  On the Jesus for President tour the bus was powered by french-fry oil, and aside from creating a few hungry drivers in the wake of their exhaust, they showed that such a thing was possible and even rather fun!  I appreciated that the film highlighted this part of their tour effort because there were clearly easier options, but while standard gas was easy they made a decision based on ecological stewardship.  Every time we see people take a stand for the earth that God has given to us it becomes easier for the next person.  I suspect that Claiborne and Haw have no idea how many people will try alt-fuel because of their example, but there will be more than a few!

Finally, one of the things that called to me about this film was its reminder that in being the hands and feet of Christ in the world our differences are mitigated.  The "Jesus for President" tour took place during the lead-up to our November election and although I celebrate the results of the election I deeply appreciate that the film calls us as Christians to be about more than one party or one candidate and instead to be about Jesus.  It is as simple and as hard as that. 

If it hasn't been obvious by my comments so far, let me just say, GO SEE THIS FILM! 

Earl Lectures 2009: Day 3 (Go...and Behold a New Thing in YOUR Congregation)

Day 3 of the Earl Lectures has come to a close and I am now sitting in the Oakland Airport rather high on the energy generated from this morning's closing remarks offered by Dr. Gerardo Marti, by the energized and energizing closing worship led by Bruce Reyes-Chow and folks Mission Bay Community Church, and finally by another meal among friends at an informal gathering of 2030 UCC clergy and friends.  This year, I believe, will be a transformational moment for the Earl Lectures and because of the content it will go down as a pivotal moment in the current (or coming) reformation for the church as we know it.  Interestingly, this week's importance isn't so much because of what we heard, but instead HOW we were able to hear it.  Kudos to PSR for being on the edge, still and again!

First,  Dr. Gerardo Marti's closing remarks focused on the theme of "Creating a Change-Friendly Culture."  His remarks did a great job of providing context for the multiple views of the emergent church that we had been exposed to during the 2009 Earl Lectures.  His insight as a sociologist is something that I needed because I felt a bit as though I was still flailing around concerning how to capture the essence of this church movement to impact the way I think about church and hopefully to impact that way that we think about church in Corvallis.  Marti offered his thoughts on organizational structure and his passion for the church was embedded in everything he said.  I am planning to post more complete thoughts on the Earl Lectures over the weekend, but Marti's analysis of the change was particularly interesting to me.  He noted that "Change is an edge activity that trickles to the core of an organization and that that activity makes it possible to actually change the core of an organism or organization--and thus the whole body is changed." This it seems is was Jesus taught and what the church has preached for generations, but in our denominational lives we tend to protect the denomination and our own safe structures by becoming complacent and ignoring (or fighting against) change agents and change movements.  Marti noted that changing the church requires that the church (and its leaders--clergy included) stop believing that the church is alive merely to serve us.  Instead, the church should recognize that it is ultimately only of use if it is there to serve the world.  Blunt words, but mainliners like myself need to hear blunt talk like this because sometimes I think our committee work and our liturgical calendars get in the way of the radical servanthood model and call of Jesus.  Marti was bringing us back...FOCUS!

The morning worship led by Bruce Reyes-Chow and the folks from MBCC was exactly the type of spirit filled and energized worship that we needed as we prepared to leave Holy Hill in Berkeley.  Musical calls for justice and mercy, beautiful prayers, and people twitttering during worship to add their voice to the worship as a litany of scrolling comments provided the groundwork for Reyes-Chow to invoke the spirit of a powerful renewal of the church.  Making it clear that the generational shifts, new understandings of authority, and vast technological resources make this a perfect time for the next reformation of the church Reyes-Chow invited us to offer our hopes and fears for the future of the church and then...without letting us remain on the precipice...he invited, urged, and called us to be the ones who will take the people of God to the places they need to go.  Considering that he serves as the Moderator of the PCUSA he was remarkably clear that what God is calling us to do may not actually serve our denominations as we know them...but it will serve God's people and he called us to be clear about who we follow and to be brave in our steps.  I am still humming and clapping and am eager to get back to Corvallis and get brave about what we might do and be together as Christians in Corvallis.  What new thing is emerging...and how am I (AND WE) going to make it happen? 

More later, time to get ready for the flight...links and pictures to be added later.