Ten days: in the middle of them - Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday, and 5 funerals (including one for a close family member). So much good news to share, so many beautiful God moments upon which to reflect.
As soon as I catch my breath, (Sunday and one more funeral to go) I will share some pilgrim moments with you all.
Until then - bloom and blossom. Christ is RISEN. He is risen, INDEED!
PK (+)
Friday, April 29, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
TALES FROM THE TRENCHES: Out of the Mouths of Babes ...
One of the true joys for me in ministry is interacting with the young children in our congregation. Perhaps it is because I am just a child at heart myself and have never quite grown up, but I seem to be a real big hit with the 3-5 year olds. We have several children in that age range and when they are in worship, I never know what to expect. It keeps me flexible and usually fills me with delight.
When one young lady accompanies her parents forward to receive communion, she generally has to tell me something about her attire, expecting the appropriate expression of admiration from me. She is also insistent that she gets to dip her hand in the baptismal font in remembrance of her baptism. She has been giving me 'blessings' for over a year now and recently has begun granting the same privilege to her younger brother.
I have a couple of toddlers who aren't happy (or quiet) unless they can explore the front of the nave and chancel. I have learned that the best thing to do is invite them to take my hand and stand with me while I say prayers, creed, or whatever. It helps parents relax, the kids' have their curiosity satisfied, and who knows. maybe someone will grow up feeling at home leading worship and consider a call to ministry.
However, I am learning something very important from my young congregants; something more than just to be flexible. In spite of occasional appearances to the contrary,they LISTEN during worship. And they do not miss a trick. One Sunday in a sermon I was referring to our human tendency to be a little obstinate and sinful and I referred to us humans as "knuckleheads." From the rear of the nave comes a small voice loudly and very clearly - "Knuckleheads? She said knuckleheads!" No one in the congregation has forgotten that day, nor are they ever going to let me forget it.
This morning however I heard two really great ones. According to his mother, one of my young guys was with his family at a funeral visitation recently. When his mom went to leave him in the toy room and join the family in the viewing room, he was fine with her leaving. Then he said, "Hey, Mom! If God comes down come and get me." No one is quite sure where that came from, but he is obviously getting something out of church. He's expecting God to come down and, by golly, he wants to be ready!
The other one is classic and may change the way I lead worship. I remember the old days when we used to begin the proper preface with the words, "It is indeed mete, right, and salutary ..." I imagine that these days very few people other than church leaders know what mete and salutary even mean. Now in recent years, the language has been changed. It is more accessible and understandable. We begin, "It is indeed right, our duty and our joy ..." Indeed, much more understandable. Why even a 4 year old can understand it. I know this because after worship his grandmother informed me that he was definitely paying attention. He heard those words, nudged grandma and joyfully proclaimed, "Hey Grandma, Pastor Katie did her duty." Yeah ... I don't think that was exactly what the liturgists had in mind. But it is good to know that my young friend thinks that I am ... hmmm... regular! I honestly may have to go back to the "mete, right, and salutary" because I am not sure I can say it the other way with a straight face ever again.!!!
Yeah - be careful what you say in worship, or anywhere else for that matter, because those kids do not miss a thing.
Jesus said to let the little children come, and so I will ... that, too, is a duty and a joy!
Blessings -
PK (+)
When one young lady accompanies her parents forward to receive communion, she generally has to tell me something about her attire, expecting the appropriate expression of admiration from me. She is also insistent that she gets to dip her hand in the baptismal font in remembrance of her baptism. She has been giving me 'blessings' for over a year now and recently has begun granting the same privilege to her younger brother.
I have a couple of toddlers who aren't happy (or quiet) unless they can explore the front of the nave and chancel. I have learned that the best thing to do is invite them to take my hand and stand with me while I say prayers, creed, or whatever. It helps parents relax, the kids' have their curiosity satisfied, and who knows. maybe someone will grow up feeling at home leading worship and consider a call to ministry.
However, I am learning something very important from my young congregants; something more than just to be flexible. In spite of occasional appearances to the contrary,they LISTEN during worship. And they do not miss a trick. One Sunday in a sermon I was referring to our human tendency to be a little obstinate and sinful and I referred to us humans as "knuckleheads." From the rear of the nave comes a small voice loudly and very clearly - "Knuckleheads? She said knuckleheads!" No one in the congregation has forgotten that day, nor are they ever going to let me forget it.
This morning however I heard two really great ones. According to his mother, one of my young guys was with his family at a funeral visitation recently. When his mom went to leave him in the toy room and join the family in the viewing room, he was fine with her leaving. Then he said, "Hey, Mom! If God comes down come and get me." No one is quite sure where that came from, but he is obviously getting something out of church. He's expecting God to come down and, by golly, he wants to be ready!
The other one is classic and may change the way I lead worship. I remember the old days when we used to begin the proper preface with the words, "It is indeed mete, right, and salutary ..." I imagine that these days very few people other than church leaders know what mete and salutary even mean. Now in recent years, the language has been changed. It is more accessible and understandable. We begin, "It is indeed right, our duty and our joy ..." Indeed, much more understandable. Why even a 4 year old can understand it. I know this because after worship his grandmother informed me that he was definitely paying attention. He heard those words, nudged grandma and joyfully proclaimed, "Hey Grandma, Pastor Katie did her duty." Yeah ... I don't think that was exactly what the liturgists had in mind. But it is good to know that my young friend thinks that I am ... hmmm... regular! I honestly may have to go back to the "mete, right, and salutary" because I am not sure I can say it the other way with a straight face ever again.!!!
Yeah - be careful what you say in worship, or anywhere else for that matter, because those kids do not miss a thing.
Jesus said to let the little children come, and so I will ... that, too, is a duty and a joy!
Blessings -
PK (+)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
First Love
God and I go way back. No pun intended. Some of my earliest memories of childhood are sneaking out to the swing set, swinging all by myself and telling God ‘stories’ about my day, my family, whatever was in my heart. I would swing and sing my heart out - quite literally. Later, in early elementary school years, I was always writing ‘love poems’ to God. As a child, God was such real part of my life that it was almost like we were best friends.
As I grew up, I was taught a great deal about God. Important stuff, but very intellectual stuff. I also learned how to be a good church person. Sometimes, I found that there could be a disconnect between the institution of the church and who I believed this God to be. It was an ongoing frustration for me.
When I left for seminary almost 9 years ago, a friend cautioned me not to let 'them' "suck the joy" out of me. They were referring to that child-like faith that could cause me to dance in the Spirit during worship, which was part of my grown-up version of swinging and singing my heart out. Periodically, in the past 5 years of ministry, that friend has bemoaned the fact that my joy in the Lord seems to be missing.
Recently, my friend Amy and I were sharing our childhood expeiences of faith. She noted that while I was singing and writing love poems to Jesus, she was playing church - lining up her dolls and stuffed animals and singing the liturgy to them. We have had numerous conversations about the difference between loving God and playing church.
As many of the mainline Christian denominations are wrestling with what it means to be the church - the body of Christ - in the 21st century, I think that part of the issue can be found in my friend Amy & my conversations about our childhood faith. I think that perhaps the institutions of the church have become so comfortable through the first three-quarters of the 20th century, that they became complacent and in a sense lost their first love. Energy and resources are funneled into ways of maintaining the status quo, or reclaiming the good old days. Unfortunately, I think we have become very good at playing church when what people really need is an authentic encounter with the risen Lord.
As leaders in the church, we MUST stop looking for the newest fad, program, or initiative that will 'fix' our declining congregations. There is no program, or fad, or twelve-step process that will re-vitalize our congregations or denominations. Only the Holy Spirit is able to do that. The Holy Spirit can spark faith and reveal to us and a hurting world the real presence of Jesus Christ. In order to do that, we must find our way again. We must discover our first love - Jesus Christ and the Word of grace and life that can be found only there. It will not be the same as playing church has been for the past century. On the other hand, it may be a movement of the Spirit so authentically centered in the cross of Christ that we once again have something to share with the world that actually inspires and transforms.
God and I have had our wrestling matches over the years. I am stubborn and impatient. There were times when I felt the absence of the God of my childhood – the ever-present God with whom I shared my whole heart and being. What I have realized is that each wrestling match has only served – eventually – to draw me deeper and deeper in love with God. In fact, I find with each passing day that my deepening faith is bringing me back to the God of my childhood, who neither changed nor moved, but only waited patiently and lovingly for me to fall in love over and over again.
Perhaps, if the institutions of the church can rediscover their first love, they can find their way again. Because the church - the body of Christ - will not be confined or hindered by human institutions who have gotten lost along the way "playing church."
May we all continue to be found by the One who brings life out of death, and find ourselves remembering our first love.
Blessings -
PK
As I grew up, I was taught a great deal about God. Important stuff, but very intellectual stuff. I also learned how to be a good church person. Sometimes, I found that there could be a disconnect between the institution of the church and who I believed this God to be. It was an ongoing frustration for me.
When I left for seminary almost 9 years ago, a friend cautioned me not to let 'them' "suck the joy" out of me. They were referring to that child-like faith that could cause me to dance in the Spirit during worship, which was part of my grown-up version of swinging and singing my heart out. Periodically, in the past 5 years of ministry, that friend has bemoaned the fact that my joy in the Lord seems to be missing.
Recently, my friend Amy and I were sharing our childhood expeiences of faith. She noted that while I was singing and writing love poems to Jesus, she was playing church - lining up her dolls and stuffed animals and singing the liturgy to them. We have had numerous conversations about the difference between loving God and playing church.
As many of the mainline Christian denominations are wrestling with what it means to be the church - the body of Christ - in the 21st century, I think that part of the issue can be found in my friend Amy & my conversations about our childhood faith. I think that perhaps the institutions of the church have become so comfortable through the first three-quarters of the 20th century, that they became complacent and in a sense lost their first love. Energy and resources are funneled into ways of maintaining the status quo, or reclaiming the good old days. Unfortunately, I think we have become very good at playing church when what people really need is an authentic encounter with the risen Lord.
As leaders in the church, we MUST stop looking for the newest fad, program, or initiative that will 'fix' our declining congregations. There is no program, or fad, or twelve-step process that will re-vitalize our congregations or denominations. Only the Holy Spirit is able to do that. The Holy Spirit can spark faith and reveal to us and a hurting world the real presence of Jesus Christ. In order to do that, we must find our way again. We must discover our first love - Jesus Christ and the Word of grace and life that can be found only there. It will not be the same as playing church has been for the past century. On the other hand, it may be a movement of the Spirit so authentically centered in the cross of Christ that we once again have something to share with the world that actually inspires and transforms.
God and I have had our wrestling matches over the years. I am stubborn and impatient. There were times when I felt the absence of the God of my childhood – the ever-present God with whom I shared my whole heart and being. What I have realized is that each wrestling match has only served – eventually – to draw me deeper and deeper in love with God. In fact, I find with each passing day that my deepening faith is bringing me back to the God of my childhood, who neither changed nor moved, but only waited patiently and lovingly for me to fall in love over and over again.
Perhaps, if the institutions of the church can rediscover their first love, they can find their way again. Because the church - the body of Christ - will not be confined or hindered by human institutions who have gotten lost along the way "playing church."
May we all continue to be found by the One who brings life out of death, and find ourselves remembering our first love.
Blessings -
PK
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)