Introduction

The Space Between: A place of conversation to discuss God, life, and all the things in between.

Monday, July 22, 2013

True Ministry

In my brief ministerial career, I have had many pastoral roles. Some of them are functions that people normally associate with clergy work. Specifically, I have been a caregiver, preacher, shepherd, social justice advocate, etc. If I had to estimate, I would say these things take up about 85% of my time. The other 15% consist of random roles that pop up from time to time in the life of a congregation. These situations, however, usually baffle me with their sheer bizarreness. For example, I have been a taxi driver, taking elderly people to various places. Then there were the moments when I had to put on my traders hat during a church garage sale to deal with a person who was trying to get $100 worth of merchandise for .10 cents. And, of course, there were the many times when got up early to help people move; often multiple times in the one year! At one point I did so many (I was the young, youth pastor after all, so I was the first line of defense in the church!) that my back is throbbing at the very thought! It was hectic!

Nevertheless, these random roles pale in comparison to what I am doing this week. For today, I am starting a five-day stint as a puppeteer. Namely, I am "Godwin Merrifeather" the pun making, big-bird wannabe, carnival-calling master of ceremonies from Wellington United Methodist Fellowship's "Fun Fair" Vacation Bible School program.  I am sure all you children's ministry vets out there are laughing at me right now. You are no doubt used to the craziness of a VBS and the many odd things the leaders do. After all, to be an effective VBS leader you have to get down to a kids level, which involve doing some crazy things! I was never one of those people. I was always able to work in the background and watch as my wife or other church members engaged in the madness. But not this year, no, no, no. This year, I am the bird of birds right out there on center stage. Oh boy.

I must say, my opening performance was far from academy award worthy. The voice I chose for Godwin sounds like Don Knotts on acid and I audibly crack when I go too high (I can actually hear my wife making fun of me outside my office right now, which does not help my case). Plus, I operate from behind our small pulpit, which is disguised as a ticket booth for this week. It does not give me much room to operate with, so I end up crouched, using this faux voice and feeling like an idiot afterwards.

However, seeing the kids reactions and hear many excited voices asking "where is Godwin????" as I walk by has caused me to rethink my initial reaction. Acting like a fool has helped them better connect with this Godwin character and the God that Godwin is so excited about. And if God is reaching these wonderful kids with the gospel message through such a silly messenger, who am I to stop it? In fact, I think I need to ham it up even more! In this, I am learning a Kind David-esque lesson. In 2 Samuel 6, King David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant back into Jerusalem after a long absence. It was a celebration to be sure (VBS like maybe???) but David made it more so by beginning to dance. Apparently, he was a big hit and he danced even more wildly, bringing the people with him into a state of passionate worship. However, when he got home, his wife was angry at him for acting so unbecoming as the people's king. His chiding response to her echoes through history and reminds people like me not to let our own assumed roles stand in the way of God's work:

“I celebrate[d] before the Lord. 22 Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes!  --- 2 Samuel 6:21-22 NLT

In other words, David was willing to be even more undignified if meant better connecting with God  and helping others to see the Divine.  This certainly happened in my premiere performance as Godwin. Furthermore, as I think about it, this sort of feeling happens  any time I have experienced a role from the random 15% of my ministry life. Every time I drove someone, moved them, or dealt with them; I experienced God in a new way because I abandoned my comfort zone and embraced God in the moment. During these times, I connected with people without the polite "he-won't-understand-he-is-the-pastor" barrier that usually arises in clergy-lay relationships. Experiencing this is always a brief blast of authentic experience in which God works so powerfully. That experience is available to us all. So what would happen if all of us were "more undignified" for God in the random moments that pop up in our own lives? We love to experience God in such formulaic ways, so what would God teach us if we sought God out in new passionate ways in the moments that are not so familiar? Maybe then we can see that true ministry can occur anywhere and at anytime and that we need to be prepared to engage it.

On that note, I need to go wash up. My palm has been itchy ever since the opening act and I don't want to think about how many little hands have been playing with Godwin since then. . .

Friday, July 12, 2013

A Community of the Broken

I had an interesting experience up at Harvest Farm this morning. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Northern Colorado ministry scene, Harvest Farm a faith based addiction facility in Wellington where the residents work with crops and livestock a part of their treatment.  It is not an easy life. You literally live on a farm, so you are up with the sun to do backbreaking chores and take care of the animals.  On top of that, the residents are battling addiction, so they are constantly fighting multiple battles at once. It is difficult to provide for people going through this, but I must say I was impressed with the facility and its resources for its residents. It is a place of hope and I was honored to be there to support a good friend who is graduating from the program.  He has enough experience for two lives, and I am absolutely amazed about how God is working to transform him. Or as he put it so well "God didn't lead me here to fix my old life. He made me a brand new person." It was riveting!

I also found myself transfixed by the community he was speaking to. Now, when you think of a graduation ceremony, you might assume that we were in an auditorium full of graduates and bunch of well dressed people. That was definitely not the case. Instead, we were in the farm dining hall at 7:45a with 100+ men dressed for work (i.e. overalls, boots and junky work shirts) and finishing a hearty breakfast. The graduation was actually not an official event per se. Rather, it was a simple announcement that my friend had completed the program before he was given time to speak. It was a ceremony with minimal pomp and circumstance, but I don't think I will ever forget the reaction his fellow residents had to his speech. They watched with rapt attention. No one said a word. There were look of envy, happiness and sheer pleasure as the residents watched one of their own reach the storied hallmark. In this, their own stories were clear. They had come from similar backgrounds and were ecstatic about the progress God had in one of their comrades. And I hope that, from the look in their eyes, that they were eager join him someday.

All things considered, it was definitely  a worship service. The elements were all there. God was present, all were in community and the Good Word was preached. Yet, it was unlike any worship experience I have ever had. But why? Was it the setting? No, I have been to church camps before and worshiped in a similar rural atmosphere. Was it the content of the "sermon"? No, I have heard testimonies like his before. Although his was by far one the best. So what was the difference? Why was it so powerful? After a lot of thinking, I think it was the "congregation" that made the difference. But why? What was the difference between them and the people who normally attend a church? Perhaps it was their background; the different family dynamic, or some of their life choices. It could be, especially on a superficial level. But when it comes down to it , is there any difference between them and us? They were broken; just as I am broken; just like everyone on earth is broken. However, I think the signs of their brokenness were more apparent, just below the surface, while we try our best to hide our issues.

 All too often, I think we out in the pews take our forgiveness for granted. We overlook our common brokenness and the commonalities we all share. This is not to say we need to revel in our sinful past, or use it as a club to beat ourselves into a constant state of fear. But what if we remembered that we are always a work in progress and that we should be desperately trying to live into God's kingdom instead of our own? If we walked into church with that in mindset, what would happen? I think we would again find our worship as stimulating as a Harvest Farm graduation and our lives couldn't help but be changed. There is so much we can learn from them, so let's keep an open mind, amen?

Monday, July 1, 2013

It Begins. . .


Today is a big day in the life of First United Methodist Church, Fort Collins. For today, we are officially uniting with Wellington Methodist Fellowship and beginning our new partnership effort! As of now, we are essentially one church that meets in two completely different venues, each with its own identity and characteristics. It is a bond that we hope will allow our congregations to share strengths and move forward into a very exciting future.  My dream is to look back five years from now and see this as the day when Wellington began taking steps towards stability and growth, while First Church reinvigorated itself into an even more dynamic congregation. It is a wonderful vision, but bringing it about will be quite a challenge. However, I am excited at about this opportunity and how God has lead us into it. Together, with God leading us, our united church can  and should change the world!

Thankfully, I have been able to preach on this topic at both campuses within the last two weeks. In my sermon, I shared how we see our churches growing into relationship to bring this wondrous future about. However, I got several questions I was not expecting. Most people have not been in on the intensive conversations that brought this partnership into reality, so they were curious about our motivations. They were also wondering why I have been tagged as the "primary pastoral presence" for Wellington and what that really means.  And, of course, there were many queries about the future.These are great questions, so I thought I would address them here and tell how and why I feel this partnership came to be:

1) How did this Happen?  Back in January, we, the pastoral staff at First Church heard that Wellington Church was looking to drop down to a half time pastor. This was a very difficult decision, as Rev. Susan Warren had done an absolutely fabulous job there. Unfortunately, new church starts operate on a shoestring budget, so it is difficult to maintain the salary package required for a full Methodist Elder. So since it appeared that a change was imminent, the FC clergy put our head to see if we could help our northern neighbors. At the same time, I was feeling nudged by the Spirit. I began feeling that Wellington was a place I could live out my dream of helping a large, existing congregation (Fort Collins) explore new multi-site models of church and methods of worship. So we began exploring the possibility of this multi-site partnership and I am thrilled about how it has all come together. So, starting today, I have the chance to help Wellington do something new with the backing of an awesome church in Fort Collins.

2) What Does this Mean for My Presence at FCFUMC? Since we are technically one church, the pastoral staff at Fort Collins now serves both partner campuses. I, however, will be the primary pastor for Wellington and spend Sundays/half my weekly time up north. The other half will be spent at Fort Collins working with Outreach and Stephen Ministry. This system has a lot of benefits. Most notably, I can easily rotate back for Sunday's at Fort Collins and have another of our capable pastors preach up here. I can also draw on First Church's experienced lay leaders and ministry areas for help.  For those of you use to Methodist jargon, my appointment will remain at First Church and they will continue providing my salary package. Wellington will be able to contribute however, and offset some of the cost. This (in conjunction with some other staff movements) has allowed us to bring on Rev. Linn Zink to cover congregational care. She is an absolutely fabulous addition to our clergy team and from the ideas she is talking about, I think she is going to revolutionize how our church cares for its members.

3) What is the Future Going to Bring? As I said in my sermon yesterday, we don't know! However, we think that the two most likely outcomes are that Wellington grows and 1) becomes an independent congregation again or 2) it becomes a permanent campus of First Church. Either path is honorable and has amazing prospects. So we just need to wait and see what future God calls us to experience!

I hope this answers some questions for you all. But if it didn't, or if you have other concerns, do not hesitate to ask! The clergy team is seeking to keep this process as transparent as possible and we would love you input. And we welcome you  to come check out what we are doing in Wellington! That is the great thing about being one church with multiple expressions, there is always something different to experience! I look forward to walking the journey with each and every one of you. And may God reside inside us as our Strength, beside us as our Companion and ahead of us as our Trailblazer, leading us to an awesome future.