All of you know that New Year's Day is January 1st. Many of you know that the Christian calendar begins with the first Sunday of Advent, which this year was November 28. So from November 28 until January 1st we are in-between new years. It makes me think that while we know Jesus wasn't actually born on December 25 that there is not a more appropriate time of the year to celebrate the birth of the Messiah.
The Apostle Paul teaches us that the coming of Jesus marks the birth of a new age. We live between the now and the not-yet. We live in the midst of the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. We see glimpses of a new age, a new community, a new kingdom, while we cope with the realities of the hardship and disappointment that come in this world. It makes sense that the Christian calendar and the standard Gregorian calendar don't line up. Jesus' birth gives us hope that, in Augustine's words, the City of Man will give way to the City of God.
May these final days of 2010 bring us closer to the end of the "now" while the first days of the new Christian year bring us closer to the "not yet." May we live as though a new year, a new age, has already begun!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Kindergarten and the Spirit
August 17th is a day I will always remember. At 12:40 Tracy and I drove Sophia to her first day of Kindergarten. We took a picture at home, walking down the hall of the school, next to a directional sign pointing the way for the “KinderDAWGS” to go, and two more when she was in her classroom. We watched from a distance outside the room while she started to look at her new classmates and listened to her new teacher, Mrs. Smith. Then with a couple of goodbye waves, another minute of watching, and a final wave, we left our daughter and went home.
Going to kindergarten isn’t really that remarkable of a feat. Almost every five or six year old does it. But even knowing that in and of itself this is not an extraordinary accomplishment I still felt like an incredibly proud parent for my daughter to now be in kindergarten. Thinking about it some more, I think the pride comes not so much from seeing her there in the classroom but in seeing her grow from birth until this day. That day was the culmination of five years of growth, change, development, and learning. Tracy and I were not rigorous about having a growth plan for Sophia in the first five years of her life to prepare her for kindergarten, but we were intentional about reading to her when she wanted to be read to and showing her how to do math in everyday situations. We tried to help her know the sound that each letter makes. In short, we wanted her to be ready to take the next step in her development by sending her off to kindergarten. After all, our intellect is always growing isn’t it? Our knowledge is always increasing.
I wonder if what is true for our intellectual development is the same for our spiritual development? I wonder if we read the Bible with our children sometimes when they want to read. I wonder if we help them learn to pray in everyday situations just like we help them learn math. I wonder if help our children become ready for the next step in their spiritual development, whatever that step might be. I also wonder if we prepare ourselves. Do you know what the next step is for your spiritual life? Are you ready to take it?
Going to kindergarten isn’t really that remarkable of a feat. Almost every five or six year old does it. But even knowing that in and of itself this is not an extraordinary accomplishment I still felt like an incredibly proud parent for my daughter to now be in kindergarten. Thinking about it some more, I think the pride comes not so much from seeing her there in the classroom but in seeing her grow from birth until this day. That day was the culmination of five years of growth, change, development, and learning. Tracy and I were not rigorous about having a growth plan for Sophia in the first five years of her life to prepare her for kindergarten, but we were intentional about reading to her when she wanted to be read to and showing her how to do math in everyday situations. We tried to help her know the sound that each letter makes. In short, we wanted her to be ready to take the next step in her development by sending her off to kindergarten. After all, our intellect is always growing isn’t it? Our knowledge is always increasing.
I wonder if what is true for our intellectual development is the same for our spiritual development? I wonder if we read the Bible with our children sometimes when they want to read. I wonder if we help them learn to pray in everyday situations just like we help them learn math. I wonder if help our children become ready for the next step in their spiritual development, whatever that step might be. I also wonder if we prepare ourselves. Do you know what the next step is for your spiritual life? Are you ready to take it?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Guaranteed Appointments
The United Methodist Commission to Study the Ministry is proposing an end to guaranteed appointments to the 2012 General Conference. If you're not familiar with this, the practice of the United Methodist Church for the last several decades has been to guarantee every ordained elder that they will have a church to serve. In theory, this makes some sense. We have always understood that a person's call to ordained ministry is confirmed by the Church. If it appears that the church made a mistake or that a person's call has changed, then the Church could respond by not giving that pastor an appointment. Having said that, there are a number of issues that I hope are seriously considered before the proposal comes to a vote.
1. In conversations that I've been a part of, the guarantee of appointment for bishops has never come up. Bishops are elders. They do not have a separate ordination. But bishops are consecrated as bishops for life. They are guaranteed to be bishop for life. If guaranteed appointments are removed, then we need to seriously consider going to a term episcopacy so that Bishops also do not have a guaranteed appointment. Just as guaranteed appointments for pastors in local churches could cause complacency, so too could a guaranteed appointment for a bishop.
2. The UMC also guarantees that every United Methodist church will have a pastor. As a friend pointed out to me recently, if we aren't going to promise pastors a church why do we promise churches a pastor? There are churches who have effectively ceased being United Methodist in theology and practice. There are many churches that have abandoned the mission of making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Why should we not hold the churches to a higher standard at the same time we hold clergy to a higher standard?
3. One reason that the guaranteed appointment began was as a protection for clergy that churches may not want because of sexism, racism, etc. I suppose the thought is we've moved far enough along now that this protection is no longer necessary. I could be swayed either way on this. I also wonder, though, if there needs to be protection for theology. Clearly the theological diversity within Methodism is a blessing and a curse. I treasure it, but I also understand that it makes conveying who we are and rallying around a common identity much more difficult. Could a particularly conservative bishop choose to appoint a marginally competent conservative pastor at the expense of a slightly more competent liberal pastor (or vice-versa)?
My hunch is that the denomination will move so slowly that the recommendation to eliminate guaranteed appointments won't pass in 2012. It is a topic that deserves deep discussion. I hope these three points will be part of the discussion
1. In conversations that I've been a part of, the guarantee of appointment for bishops has never come up. Bishops are elders. They do not have a separate ordination. But bishops are consecrated as bishops for life. They are guaranteed to be bishop for life. If guaranteed appointments are removed, then we need to seriously consider going to a term episcopacy so that Bishops also do not have a guaranteed appointment. Just as guaranteed appointments for pastors in local churches could cause complacency, so too could a guaranteed appointment for a bishop.
2. The UMC also guarantees that every United Methodist church will have a pastor. As a friend pointed out to me recently, if we aren't going to promise pastors a church why do we promise churches a pastor? There are churches who have effectively ceased being United Methodist in theology and practice. There are many churches that have abandoned the mission of making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Why should we not hold the churches to a higher standard at the same time we hold clergy to a higher standard?
3. One reason that the guaranteed appointment began was as a protection for clergy that churches may not want because of sexism, racism, etc. I suppose the thought is we've moved far enough along now that this protection is no longer necessary. I could be swayed either way on this. I also wonder, though, if there needs to be protection for theology. Clearly the theological diversity within Methodism is a blessing and a curse. I treasure it, but I also understand that it makes conveying who we are and rallying around a common identity much more difficult. Could a particularly conservative bishop choose to appoint a marginally competent conservative pastor at the expense of a slightly more competent liberal pastor (or vice-versa)?
My hunch is that the denomination will move so slowly that the recommendation to eliminate guaranteed appointments won't pass in 2012. It is a topic that deserves deep discussion. I hope these three points will be part of the discussion
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