Pastor's Corner

Time for Change

2009-02-23T15:25:00.001-08:00

Last week our Presbytery met to approve or refuse ratification of motions made last summer by our General Assembly. One of the motions was to return the full right of ordination to the governing bodies, which would allow Presbyteries to decide whether or not to ordain gay and lesbian ministers and allow local churches to decide whether or not to ordain gay and lesbian elders. The following was my presentation to Presbytery in support of ratifying the motion.

Having grown up as a small boy in Atlanta, I remember seeing the separate water fountains and bathrooms in stores, and I remember a city strictly segregated into white and black neighborhoods; even the children knew the boundaries and their intent. I also remember hearing in church biblical justifications for the separation of the races, with our white Jesus ever assuring us of our own superiority, and hearing the frequently aired argument that to allow the barriers to come down would result in the Africanization (an admitted euphemism) of our culture, the loss of our values and all moral restraint.

As my peers and I grew into teenagers, these views became increasingly intolerable to our hearing, but to our elders, they were just the way things were, the proper God-given order. In the same church, I remember hearing how women were unfit for leadership in ministry, supported with the same type of scriptural justifications, and so, we were denied the many gifts and graces of women who were called to serve and lead.

So, when I think of my gay and lesbian friends, our neighbors and fellow travelers, it breaks my heart to think of how much they have suffered and how the church continues to shut them out, many of whom, I believe, have a genuine and deep sense of calling and clearly the God given gifts to fulfill it. Yet even more so, my heart breaks for the church, for all that we have lost by excluding their service and leadership and for the way that our refusal to see them in their legitimate humanity continues to frustrate our desire to build mature spiritual community.

I believe that our children and grandchildren will judge us on this issue. I believe it is time for change. And I believe that this motion, returning us to our historical principals of Reformed polity by allowing each governing body to discern its own course in ordination, is our best opportunity to begin bringing the change that is needed.

Our Presbytery voted 23 to 11 not to ratify the motion.

Peace,

Pat

Spirituality Or/And Religion

2009-02-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

Here in Telluride, as in many other communities across our country, we often hear the refrain, “I’m not very religious, but I am spiritual.” Some Christians bristle at the statement, assuming it to be an accusation against Faith and Church, which it sometimes is. However, the refrain can be heard more and more from within the church as well, not as accusation but as self-examination and a desire for more depth to our spiritual lives as we continue to sojourn with the Church.

As my friend Nancy Wiens writes:

So, those who self-identify as burned out liberal Protestants and Catholics vigorously enacting a social gospel, find centering in spiritual practices a sustainable and effective way to ground their actions in the guidance of the Spirit. Similarly, those for whom literal readings of scripture have been their sole guide, find the Spirit’s movement within the desires of their hearts a strikingly different source of knowing God’s will. (Ph.D dissertation, 2007)

As a pastor of a congregation that emphasizes spirituality, I have found that reclaiming Christianity as a richly spiritual tradition and path can be transformative of Faith and Church in life-giving ways.

So, please tell me about your own experiences: Spiritual but not religious? Religious and spiritual? Spiritual but not church? Christian and spiritual? Church but unsure about spiritual?

Some resources for the discussion:

David Tacey, The Spirituality Revolution: The Emergence of Contemporary Spirituality.

Robert Wuthnow, After Heaven: Spirituality in America Since the 1950s.

Peace,

Pat

Welcome to Telluride

2008-12-03T14:54:00.001-08:00

My weekly comments will soon begin. But first I will be on a vision quest in early January in the desert at Anza Borrego State Park in California. Any vision quest veterans out there?