May 2006
To help members to live their faith, you need to provide a way for them to reflect on the specific circumstances of each of their daily places
– what do they discern God doing there and how they might join in.
All else fails to connect and only exhorts.
This month
STORIES
• A Bishop finds member mission can advance what he has been doing all along
• The members’ missions continue to shape her sermons
• A member uses his process skills
• A priest’s work in Kashmir
RESOURCES
• Rene Girard on the Gospels’ sense of the depth of evil
• “Re-Centering Congregational Life Around Members' Daily Missions”
FOR MEDITATION
• Phrasing the Gospel for today’s world
STORIES
A Bishop finds member mission can advance what he has been doing all along
Bishop, how does that member mission stuff look to you? (The Rt. Rev. David Ashdown, Bishop of Keewatin in Canada had been sent WTMATM, a draft of the Workbook, and some sample newsletters. Keewatin is a rural diocese in the very western end of the province of Ontario and near the Lake of the Woods.)
“It’s the kind of ‘stuff’ I worked on when I was in the parish. I was in rural parishes and I used to talk to farmers saying their first obligation of ministry was not reading lessons in church; it was caring for the land. In fact, God created the ministry of farming before he created the ministry of pastoring. As in the story of Naboth’s vineyard, land is an inheritance and Jezebel’s sin was that she saw land as a commodity.
“We were in the midst of a real crisis at the time. Farms were being foreclosed and the banks were saying, ‘Look land is just a commodity to be bought and sold.’ A lot of the farmers, or their parents and grandparents, had homesteaded there. They were losing their inheritance. I talked with them about ministry and caring for the land under very difficult circumstances. Their temptation was to ‘mine’ the land. If you didn’t mine it, you couldn’t save it. But in mining it, you were destroying it. I spent most of my ministry at that time sitting with farmers talking about how they could be faithful to their ministry to the land – including such things as making sure there was a little space for the song sparrow to nest – and still meet their obligations.
“At the time, we worked with the local theological college by offering a rural exposure weekend for the students. They would visit farms and reflect on what they saw. On one farm, they were doing embryo transplants on that weekend. In particular, the parish council wanted the students to see this process and to reflect on it theologically. They went out there and when they got back and people came in for the group session, the first question was ‘Did you get there?’ ‘Yes’ and then ‘What did you think of it?’ ‘Well it was very interesting but you know on the way out we saw an old farm house that would make a wonderful retreat center so that’s what we talked about.’ The parish council cancelled the program from then on. ‘We didn’t need someone to talk about starting a retreat center. We needed somebody who would help us to deal with our ministry on a day to day basis. How did our use of embryo transplants fit in with the Gospel?’
“We are involved in a program called ‘A New Approach to Ministry.’ I’ve been sharing some of the member mission stuff with some of the folks in the southern part of the diocese. To me the biggest problem we have now – and across the church – is that we do not have the fire in the belly. We have either the Eeyore [the old donkey from A. A. Milne’s Pooh stories] complex – ‘It doesn’t matter anyway’ – that we will just carry on until we die. Or, if there is any fire in the belly, it’s the negative fire of the things we are against and that negative fire eventually consumes you.
“The other thing I have long used in talking with other people about the church is that the model for the church is salt, not Noah’s ark. The view that starts with the ark is that the world is evil and you have to rescue people and bring them to the church. That starts at the Fall. I say we have to start at the Creation and salt. We sprinkle salt on things to bring out the best in them and to heal and to cleanse. Salt, when it is spread around, is a very good thing. When it is concentrated, it makes you gag.
“I’ve been teaching a Bible study during Lent in a small church as part of my Lenten discipline. We started with five people on Ash Wednesday and we are up to fourteen last week. We talked about the baptismal promises and about pride and disobedience as the root of sin. And of humility and obedience being the root of righteousness. We talked about evil as the absence of good. Just as darkness is the absence of light and that we are to change the world. We can’t do that, if we retreat into the church to get away from the darkness. It just gets darker. We have to take a light out there to get rid of the darkness. People have been reacting well to that.
“Last week, we talked about seeking and serving Christ in all persons and loving our neighbors as ourselves. We talked of scripture as text and context. We talked of Jesus’ teaching about divorce – how in the Mosaic law you got a certificate of divorce. That was the text but you have to see the context. When the Pharisees challenged Jesus with ‘You are going against scripture,’ Jesus said, ‘Yes, Moses gave you that because of the hardness of your hearts; it was so from the beginning. That was not God’s purpose. God’s purpose was greater than that and now I’m telling you in our context it’s to be interpreted this way.’ The participants in my group said, ‘Yeah, so what’s the context of where we are in today’s world?’
“Tonight, we do the promises of to seek justice and respect the dignity of every human being. It’s part of what I call ‘Christian now.’ We look at the theological principles you have outlined [in the Workbook draft] adding some of my own stuff, of course. Then folks will individually and in groups work out their own kind of mission plan for the six areas. And they will conclude by saying that now that Lent is concluding and we are moving into new life, how are we going to continue to support each other as we go out to this ministry.
“I think that, by talking about this sort of stuff in my last parish, our congregation went from six on Sunday to sixty in six years in a community of 250 people. It puts the fire back in the belly. So I like a lot of the stuff that’s here. The church being ‘sidelined’ is absolutely true. And, I liked that you don’t run away from needing to talk about the name of Jesus. We have tended to fall down on one side or the other. On one hand, we are afraid to identify ourselves as Christians. As we partner with others, we are embarrassed to say who we are and that’s wrong. On the other hand we can divorce ourselves from the world. In a parish, we were getting a new carpet. One asked ‘What kind of a Christian is he?’ Another said, ‘I don’t care what kind of a Christian he is. What kind of a carpet layer is he?” I like you saying we can enter into partnerships with others. We cannot divorce ourselves from the world.
“There’s good stuff in this member mission material. The clergy I’ve shared it with have perked up with ‘Yes!’ And so that’s become part of our ‘New Approach.’ We have a fall gathering around ‘A New Approach to Ministry,’ could you be part of that event?”
Contact: The Rt. Rev. David Ashdown, Diocese of Keewatin, 915 Ottowa Street, PO Box 567, Keewatin, ON P0X 1C0, Canada; 807-547-3353; keewatinbishop@gokenora.com
The members’ missions continue to shape her sermons
Ruth Tomlinson, rector of Trinity Church, in Norfolk, NE, about 125 miles from Omaha preaches to Sunday congregations averaging 70 - 80. Last winter, she began to draw part of her sermon preparation from the eight people in her midweek Bible study. That still works. Now, they discuss the Sunday Bible readings a month in advance. She asks what grabs their attention in a passage and how does it connect with daily life. Their insights become part of her sermons. She will try the youth director and some of the youth next. With members spread across fifty miles, she will request their input individually. One person who likes to participate in this process is learning to give the homily at midweek communion services in the local rest home. She gave the homily on the Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday just past.
Contact: The Rev. Ruth Tomlinson, Trinity Church, 11 S. 9th Street, Norfolk NE 68701; 402-371-3080; rmtomlinson@yahoo.com.
A member uses his process skills
Andrew Hersh-Tudor, Library Director and Chief Information Officer at Clinton Community College, Plattsburgh, NY,
uses his set of professional and life skills to serve as the “process person” – the pastor’s term for him – for Trinity Church in Plattsburgh.
For example, he has guided the church through a “revisioning” process (AL176 from the Alban Institute) and will soon guide the members’ sense of future directions as they search for a new pastor. [For his picture, go to www.membermissionpress.org > Newsletters > Member Mission News #38.]
How do you see God at work in what you do for Trinity?
“Processes like these have the church ask fundamental questions about its purpose. If you don’t, you will do what you have always done. The church will get out of touch with its members and their work in the world. God is seeing that the church must be an evolving, dynamic institution. We are seeking to trust God to provide the care we need.”
How do you see God helping you in what you do for Trinity?
“I’ve been given a unique set of skills and experiences. I seem to have the tact necessary to get people to face difficult questions comfortably. I can coordinate the work of the leaders. God brings the people forward to do it. For example, in our “revisioning” process, we were surprised at how many came forward to host meetings in their homes.”
Contact: Andrew Hersh-Tudor, 301 Margaret Street, Plattsburgh, NY 12901; 518-570-9794; hersaj@clintoncc.suny.edu
A priest’s work in Kashmir
[I met C. M. Khanna at a conference in the early 1990s. He was just beginning his work in Kashmir.]
Dear Member Mission,
Greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus. This is to acknowledge that I have been reading the mails sent by you since more than a year. Many time I thought to share my story but somehow I could not do that.
I am a church minister of Church of North India erstwhile known as Church of England (Anglican). My ministry is focused in Kashmir during the last 18 years. I on the worldly level found that I was doing good and comfortable but recently from May, 2005, I was having great upheavelment in my ministry. The church which I am handling in Srinagar is 110 year old but it seems it is barren as there is no growth both physically and spiritually. Even it seems that I was also under the oppressive forces which was effecting both on my family level as well as on ecclesiastical level.
Alarmed by these strange phenomenal happenings and the time came when I was about to commit suicide. Praise be to God that the lord favoured me and brought me closer to some intercessors and as a result the things start changing.
First of all, a revival came into my personal prayer and devotional life. I have never found so closeness of the Lord throughout my 35 years of my life as I am now experiencing. The power of prayer averted the attack of the enemy and, as a result, my church, All Saints' Church, Srinagar start experiencing a revival. The first time in the history of this church, the faithful women came together and organised a prayer and intercessory group. Believers in the church getting more conscious of the holy spirit.
My spiritual mentor, Storm Harvey encouraged me in my ministry and Revd. Brian Cox supported me in my spiritual growth. I as a result start using my gift in the form of reconciliation with International Centre for Religion and Diplomacy and became the Senior Associate (Honorary) to ICRD.
My vision for Kashmir is to see the move of the holy spirit among Kashmiris and to nurture M.B.B. (Muslim Background Believers). I am finding that the Lord want to use me for greater work in the valley of Kashmir in a unique way. Therefore, I am seeking prayer support to fulfil the mandate of the Lord. I also request to those who are reading me to pray for my family needs especially for my son who is studying in the field of computer at Chandigarh. His constant demand of finance for the fees and living expenses are putting me on my knees and asking the Lord that such hurdles may not obstruct my determination to work for the Lord.
Our diocese is financially weak and even my bishop share with me to find some sources of my ministry support which will help the diocese in fulfilling its call. Hence, dear member, please pray for my ministry in the Kashmir and if you need further information then you may contact me for joint venture for the Lord.
Thank you. Revd. C.M. Khanna cm_khanna@yahoo.co.in
RESOURCES
Rene Girard on the Gospels’ sense of the depth of evil: Rene Girard offers unique insights into the Gospels. He writes of what -- for me for one -- is a kind of “breakthrough” in understanding evil. All of human life is caught up in patterns that distort and kill. For Girard, the New Testament -- with Jesus as its center in his struggles with Satan -- is unique in this assessment of the depth of evil. The disciples do not “get it.” They do not see their own immersion in evil and repent of it until after the crucifixion. Jesus appears when they forsake the patterns of the world for the new ways Jesus brings.
Girard's work can have special appeal for clergy and lay leaders seeking to teach, to implement, or to learn about member mission. Our daily missions center around what we can do to make life more loving and more just in each of our daily mission fields. We know the power of evil that constantly works to make life unloving and unjust. And we know the power of God which alone overcomes evil. God shares with us that power to cope with evil. We will not overcome evil but we can cope with it and see it “bound.”
Girard attempts to relate religion, culture, and violence. In brief, he sees each of us as feeling empty and selecting a hero-type to follow. We imitate that person's desires -- a process he calls “mimesis.” This leads to many having the same desires and, thereby, coming into conflict and becoming violent. As the pressures of conflict increase, we vent our violence on a scapegoat who is alleged to be the cause of our conflicts and, thereby, return to some measure of peace and sense of blessing. This sense of a supernatural peace that flows from scapegoating leads people to identify the scapegoat him/herself with the “sacred.”
So there is a linkage between violence and the sacred. Every sacred thing (that is, everything less than God which is identified as sacred – every idol, in other words) is seen to demand victims to be sacrificed and to justify violence. Note that the word “sacrifice” means, literally, to “make holy.” The people, as well as the scapegoat, are made holy by the scapegoat. The Bible, culminating in Jesus, upends this pattern. Jesus attacks the sacred violence of the Jerusalem Temple and its agents. In his death, this scapegoat is not guilty but innocent and the sacred we now know through him brings, in truth, a whole new life into being.
A whole website sets forth his theories and books about them. Of special use is its series of sermons -- and often the research underlying them -- based on the Gospel for each Sunday of the three year lectionary. Teachers of all ages -- not just preachers -- who use the Sunday Gospel will find these sermons stimulating. Go to http://girardianlectionary.net.
For more on Girard, see: Discovering Girard, Michael Kirwan, Cowley, 2005 -- a reliable and clear introduction. The Scapegoat, Rene Girard, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986 and I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, Rene Girard, Orbis, 2001 are two of Girard's basic writings. For a readable – and full – summary of Girard on the Christian faith, see John W. B. Hill's presentation at www.catechumenate.org/docs/Making_Disciples.pdf. While you will probably want and need to go beyond Girard, time spent exploring his work adds some rich dimensions to Christian faith and life.
“Re-Centering Congregational Life Around Members' Daily Missions” – In Congregations of Spring 2006, I challenged the Alban Institute to begin to work on the primary purpose of congregations as supporting their members in their daily living as Christians. The article was a response to Alban’s inquiry in November 2005 of a number of us as to what direction they might take in “better understanding connections between vocation and active participation in congregational life.” I replied beginning with members having not one but six vocations – one in each of their daily mission fields and when one is completed a new one arises. Congregations decided to include it in their Spring 2006 issue. The editor condensed Basic Tools 3A from the website to illustrate discerning and phrasing a mission. For the text of both, go to http://www.alban.org/ShowArticle.asp?ID=327. – A.W.S.
FOR MEDITATION
Phrasing the Gospel for today’s world:
-- Through Jesus Christ, God overcomes evil, sin, and death and works to bring the whole creation to fulfillment in the Holy Spirit.
-- We participate in God's mission as we ask for God's help to love all and to seek justice for all and to talk with all of what God is doing in Jesus Christ.
-- We join the mission through baptism and find the guidance and the power to live it with Jesus’ people at Jesus’ table.
This wording draws on the Christus victor understanding of Jesus; “... the reign of God is near... (Mark 1:14); “...But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the reign of God has come upon you...(Luke8:20); and “As the Father has sent me, I send you...Receive the Holy Spirit...(John 20:21-22).] Try your own. What will lead your choice of words?
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