New York- Community to the Max

The last several days of sabbatical were spent in Manhattan, Philadelphia and Brooklyn helping Josh move. It was a great time to be with Josh, see New York City and to learn about community to the max. We started with a visit to my niece, Sarah. We experienced the wonderful ethnically diverse community of Astoria, Queens. Here were are eating in a Greek restaurant. Luckily I love Greek food. On Friday, while Josh was working, I spent the day in Manhattan. I saw the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Times Square, the United Nations Building and Broadway. But the most amazing thing I saw was the throng of people. Even on a day when it was raining, there were people everywhere, from every nation, speaking every langauge, gawking at the tall building and Times Square just like I was. Times Square was like being inside a video game. Every building had a sign with moveable images. After lunch I just sat in the middle of Times Square and soaked in the atmosphere. As busy as the city was, Josh and I discovered that being a calm presence in the midst of the chaos was our best strategy for finding and sharing a sense of peace. When we were renting a u-haul, negociating an apartment lease, trying to wind our way through the Lincoln Tunnel, we found that responding with patience and calm was the best strategy. It's a good strategy in the busyness of Manhattan, New York and it is a good strategy for Wichita. Kansas, As I was driving back to Wichita at the end of the sabbatical, I was listening to Ekhart Tolle's book "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose". In it he talks about being a non-anxious presence in response to life situations. He talked about living in the present as opposed to always worrying about the future as a way to become spiritually alert and alive. It was a good reminder as I headed back to work after my sabbatical not to get caught up worrying about all the things I have to do, but instead to focus on the present, enjoy getting back in touch with people and to listen to the still small voice of God. As I pulled into my driveway, I was listening to Michael Card's song "Know You in the Now". I was a good way to end a wonderful sabbatical,

A Story of Faith in Astoria

I got into New York, Laguardia Airport to see the welcoming face of Joshua greet me. When all is said and done, I am a midwestern boy and very intimidated by the big city. New York is like a foreign country to me so I was glad to have my guide, Joshua to show me the way and to have my nieces apartment in Astoria, Queens to stay at while we were getting Josh moved into his apartment in Brooklyn. They were both gracious hosts.As they both headed off to work, Sarah wondered what Uncle Rob would do. Josh assured her that I would find something. She told me where the Starbucks was, so after they left I headed out on my own to explore Astoria. Along the way I saw the Astoria Presbyterian Church which was obviously abandon. I am always saddened when I see an abandon church in the heart of the city because it seems like such a rich mission field. I took a picture and was heartened to see that they had moved to a new location on Broadway about ten blocks away. I was intrigued so I abandoned the Starbucks quest and set off in search of the hopefully reborn Presbyterian Church at a new location. I found the church at 2335 Broadway in what used to be an old doctors office. The door was unlocked. The sanctuary was right off the lobby. I noticed the PCUSA blue hymnal so I was hopeful that it was a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation. As I approached the last office on the left, I heard the voice of the pastor, Dr. Don Olinger who waved me in.
After I introduced myself as a fellow Presbyerian pastor, he started to share the story of Astoria Presbyterian's journey from being an old established Presbyerian Church with too much building to heat and care for to seeing itself as a mission outpost in a growing and changing part of Queens, Astoria. There is an article on the PCUSA website, http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09363.htm that tells the story better than I can. Don is legally blind and yet he and his congregation have an incredible vision for ministry in Astoria. The location they are currently at is temporary. The land that the old church is on is going to be developed into affordable housing for senior citizens and the church will inhabit a part of that building as worship space and offices. In forty years the land will revert back to the church's ownership. The ministry is being transformed as the congregation is attentive to the need for ministry in the area and the gifts they have to offer. They are truly living our Buechners definition of calling: "When the worlds great need and your great desire meet." Their worship is blended and their congregation includes folks from at least six different national origins. Their current worship space is adaptable and yet the order of worship was definitely Presbyterian and Reformed. The art on each side of the front of the sanctuary depicts the season of the church year (on the left) and the season of Christ's life (on the right). They share their current worship space with a Thai congregation. They are doing some inovative things with their Sunday School using computers and music.
So you never know where God might take you when you go for a walk in Astoria. You might meet a brother in faith that you didn't yet know. You might be moved from sadness to inspiration as you hear what the Holy Spirit is doing in this little church in Astoria. You might have an opportunity to pray for a sister congregation that is stepping out in faith. You might discover a story of faith in Astoria.

Baptized in the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit

On Sunday I had the privilege of witnessing my grandson, Evans' baptism into a community in which he is loved and cared for and nurtured in faith. It was wonderful on my sabbatical where I have studied and reflected and written on the Trinity to hear those words "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" and to know that the love that is lived out in the Trinity is indeed reflected in the faith community where my son and daughter-in-law worship and live out their faith.
I saw that love lived out in the tearful sharing of the pastor as she spoke the words of baptism. I saw that unconditional love reflected as the pastor put her hand in the water of the baptismal font to pronounce a blessing on the water and Ethan followed suit and it was ok. I saw the love lived out as people came up to Megan and Stuart and the whole family and shared how much they enjoyed and loved the family.
Of course it was a bitter sweet moment for the congregation because even as they were baptizing and celebrating Evan's welcome into the body of Christ, they were also aware that Stuart and Megan had received orders to be transfered to Germany in the fall. So as the congregation was welcoming the newest member of Christ's family, they were also starting to say goodbye to this family who had grown up in their midst. The pastor and educator (in the children's message) both helped us realize that even as this local congregation was speaking vows to nurture and raise this child in a Christian community, that they were in fact speaking and vowing on behalf of the whole Christian community, even as far away as Germany.
As I have been studying and reflecting on the Trinity this summer, I have been struck by the love that is within the Trinity- love of the Father for the Son and the Son for the Father through the Holy Spirit. Dan Migliore, who spoke at Covenant last fall, made the same point when he said, "We are called to reflect God's life in communion, called to become a real if always fragmentary and incomplete witness to and participant in the life of the Triune God, who is Love". I think I witnessed that fragmentary and incomplete, yet wonderful reflection of the God's triune love last Sunday.

Koinonia at Community Presbyterian Church

"I have to admit before God and everyone that I am pridefully Presbyterian." I heard Marge Carpenter use those words once and I must echo the sentiment in my own life. I love ecumenical dialogue and even interfaith dialogue. I love being in conversation with other denominations and other faiths and I believe that we can indeed learn from each other. I believe that it is only when we get all the Christian denominations together that we are fully representative of the whole body of Christ alive and at work in the work. And yet I do all this from the perspective of a Presbyterian pastor who finds the Presbyterian Church USA, Reformed Theology and Worship as the place that my soul is at rest and in communion with the triune God. So after a week living and growing with the Catholic community at Little Portion Monastery and a weekend retreat with Michael Card and the Evangelical Community at the Retreat Center, I called my friends Dennis and Phyllis Winzenried to see if I could come and worship with them last Sunday. When I pulled up to their house at Forsythe and saw this big PCUSA symbol at their front door, I knew that I was home.
The view fron Dennis and Phyllis's porch is a wonderful reminder each morning and evening of the wonder of God's creation. It is beautiful. It was my first time to be in the Branson area and I now know what everyone is talking about with the natural beauty of the wooded hills and vast lakes. And the warm welcome I receieved was the embodiment of Presbyterian hospitality at its best. It is nice to be part of an extended denominational family so that where ever we go we have family in the area. This coming Sunday, as my grandson Evan is baptised, we will be welcoming extended family to Little Rock, and yet Stuart and Megan and their family already have some extended family here in the community of their church, Westover Hills Presbyterian. It is good to be part of an extended faith family.
Sunday morning I went to Community Presbyterian Church in Forsythe with Dennis. Dennis has pastored there for 7 years and the congregation and pastor are obviously confortable with each other. I had the opportunity to sit in on a video theology study called "Questions of Faith". The topic for the week was "What's Being Good Good For?" In it we heard from writers and religious leaders who challenged us to think deeply about the question of goodness. If we believe in God's grace revealed in Jesus Christ and don't think that we can earn our salvation by good work, then what's the use of being good? If we acknowledge that sin is pervasive and "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are therefore justified by God's grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ"(Romans 3:23,24), where does goodness come in? If even Jesus says "Why do you call me good, no one is good but the Father" then what hope do we have? And yet through the discussion, we discovered that we are called by Jesus to "be perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect". And we are challenged by the prophet Micah "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8) Perhaps, just perhaps, the opportunity to do good is not our way to be rewarded but in fact is a part of our reward. I had heard the week before from the pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Harrison, Chip Andrus, that "eternal life starts NOW." And I believe in my own heart and my own life that to walk with the triune God right here and right now in the person of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit is the greatest comfort and joy we can have in life and in death. It is good!
Of course my favorite part of the santuary at Community Presbyterian Church was the picture of the "laughing Jesus" that was prominently displayed on the communion table. I wondered if the congregation would reflect that joy in their worship and their community. It was indeed a joy to listen to the offering of prayer concerns at Community Presbyterian. There was a sense that you were sitting in around an extended family dinner table catching up with the events of the week. There was laughter, concern, care and an overwhelming sense of joy as this community engaged with God and with each other in worship. It was like being home at Covenant Presbyterian Church. As I walked out of worship, I truly felt like I had been in the midst of a community of faith that took seriously (but not somberly) the words of the Shorter Catechism "What is the chief end of humanity?...to glorify God and enjoy God forever." Amen

Hesed- A Portrait of God

While I was tending the garden at Little Portions Monastery, I heard a voice from above. I expected that the voice might say, "Robert...Robert" but instead the voice said "What was your name again?" No, it wasn't God but John Michael Talbot showing Christian singer/songwriter Michael Card around the construction of the new monastery. Once John Michael had been prompted to recall my name, he told me I should go to the retreat that Michael Card was leading at the Little Portion Retreat Center on the other side of the mountain. Michael Card and John Michael Talbot had met several years ago and recorded an album "Brother to Brother". Since that time, Michael Card has been doing retreats at the Little Portion Retreat center. I heard that there was good food. Friday was fast day at the Monastery. And I had heard a voice from above. So I went to the retreat.
The topic was "Hesed- A Portrait of God" and it was a combination of Michael Cards singing and teaching. I was hooked on the first night and stayed at the retreat till Saturday afternoon. Michael Card's premise is the Hebrew word that is used to describe God throughout the Old Testament, 'Hesed', testifies to the same gracious God revealed in Jesus Christ in the New Testament. 'Hesed' literally means "Steadfast love". It is that unmerited, undeserved, un-earnable love that we call grace. It is "hesed" that allows God to continue to be in relationship with us through the covenant even when we continually break the covenant. It is "hesed" that allows Jacob to return and be reconciled with his brother Esau. It is 'hesed' that the psalmist is speaking of when he says "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love (hesed), according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgression." (Psalm 51:1) Michael Card defined 'hesed' as "when the person from whom I have the right to expect nothing gives me everything.
Michael Card then took the idea of 'hesed' in the Old Testament and traced it through to the New Testament in the Gospel of Luke. The Greek word 'eleos' which is most often translated as 'mercy' is the most frequent translation for the Hebrew word 'hesed'. 'Charis' which means 'grace' is also a Greek rendering of the Hebrew word 'hesed'. So the stories about the Good Samaritan and the Loving Father/Prodigal Son are really stories of God's 'hesed', undeserved yet steadfast love. Michael Card then argued that it is not only a word that describes God's action with regard to us but also describes the very person of God.
It got me thinking that if 'hesed' describes the very person of God as Father and Son, then it must also be an accurate way to describe God the Holy Spirit. To the Corinthins, Paul writes, "Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are a variety of services, but the same Lord; and there are a variety of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." (1 Cor. 12:4-7) Indeed the triune God who shows steadfast love (hesed) to us in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, is in God's very person the embodiment of that love.

Remembering My Father-in Law: A Real Renaissance Man

This is the eightieth birthday of my father-in-law. Jack Sharp who died several years ago but not before making an indelible mark on my life and the lives of my sons (his grandsons). I remember Jack as a brother in the faith journey that we are all on. He and I were both interested in the Men's Movement in the eighties and early nineties as men searched for a new way to understand and celebrate masculinity. As the father of three sons (and now three grandsons) I am always exploring ways to discover how to live fully and faithfully as a man and how to help my sons in their journey as well. How does one encourage young men to not only embrace sports but also intellectual pursuits, music, spiritual fulfillment, social outreach, relational integrity, personal health and emotional wellbeing?
Jack and I attended several men's conferences together and read everything we could from Jungian books like Robert Bly's "Iron John" and Sam Keene's "Fire in the Belly" to the more Christian focused books, Patrick Arnold's "Wildmen, Warriors and Kings" and Moore and Gillette's "King, Warrior, Magician and Lover". These books challenged us to see and claim the depth and breadth of what it is be fully a man in this world and to embrace the physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual dimensions of manhood. With Jack, I have tried then to live out this model for and with my sons and grandsons. I would say that Jack as a Husband to Almira, Father, Grandfather, Air Force Colonel, Counselor, Athlete, Recorder player, Writer and Faithful Seeker was truly a Renaissance Man. My hope is that my sons, grandsons and I can walk in these footsteps as we remember Jack. As we were growing up (yes, dad's actually grow up with their children) we enjoyed Knights and Kings and Jesters and Scribes. We even developed a men's club where we would dream and plan trips. But my real hope was that these games would allow us to embrace the many dimensions of being a man in the world and not just the singular dimension portrayed in the media. As our sons grew to be men we (so far) have a medieval family with one son a warrior (Air Force), one a churchman (Youth Minister) and one a business person (music industry). But within each one there is a wonderful spiritual, emotional, physical and intellectual depth and diversity that they share with their grandfather.
Finally, I want to thank Jack for blessing my marriage to his daughter, Joan, twenty-five years ago. She has been and is my soul mate and she encourages me everyday to be the man God created and called me to be. I see so much of my father-in-law in his Renaissance daughter Joan. During my sabbatical with Joan this summer, I have tried to nurture the physical (golf, tennis and hiking), emotional (spending time with family at the graduation of Josh and Miles and the birth of Evan), intellectual (reading, writing and learning at the pastor's school) and spiritual side (devotions and worship and retreats). Joan has been both partner and coach through this time. I miss Jack on the eightieth anniversary of his birth but I am thankful for the journeys we took together and the legacy we share in Stuart, Adam, Joshua, Ashton, Ethan and Evan.

Presbymergent

The Emerging Church is a part of the ecclesial landscape now and if you believe Phyllis Tickle, it is part of a major movement within the culture as well. Dan Kimball is one of the faces of the emerging church. In "The Emerging Church" he wrote "worship is not just singing"; "guard the content of what we sing"; "times of silence are a way for people to worship"; "communion is beautifully designed for experiential participation"; "reciting creeds is a valuable way to involve people". If you are thinking that the emerging church is simply embracing the things that the traditional church is already doing you are partially right. Even Kimball raises the issue, "The new cutting edge or simply back to basics". It depends where you are in the ecclesial landscape. Compared to the contemporary worship/seeker sensitive churches which previously stripped their sanctuaries of religious symbols and traditional language to be more accessible to unchurched people, it is a return to basics. Kimball calls this "vintage Christianity". If you are tuning in from a more traditional venue, it is still not business as usual. The emerging churches are experiential, community focussed, mission driven, integration of action and beliefs. They are not business as usual but they are integrating the ancient and the modern in a unique way.
I had a chance to experience emerging worship in the Presbyterian tradition last Sunday (August 9) at First Presbyterian Church in Harrison, Arkansas. The music was a blend of contemporary, taize and hymns played on instruments ranging from guitar and drums to saxaphone and penny whistle. The congregations was seated in four quadrants facing the communion table in the middle with the band on a stage but not in the center of worship. Communion is celebrated each week and the baptismal font is also front and center and filled with water weekly during the prayer of confession. The order of service was classic Presbyterian but each part was ceative, passionate and participatory. You could see the pastor's enthusiasm rise as he approached the communion service. You could feel the congregation's connection with the pastor as he preached with passion and joy and humor. The congregation even completed the pastor's phrase when he said: "Don't come to church...BE THE CHURCH." And the fascinating demographic was that the congregation in this emerging worship service at 8:30 in the morning included about half over 60 years, one quarter baby boomers (many in the band) and one quarter under 30 with many children in worship for the whole 70 minutes. You can check out the website at www.fpcharrison.org. And if you were surfing the web last week on the www.pcusa.org website did you notice that our church, Covenant Presbyterian Church was featured. You can also check out the Presbyterian expression of the emerging church at www.presbymergent.org.