This week, I’m off to Worcester, Massachusetts, where the New England Synod Assembly will elect my successor. Over three days, the people gathered from 159 congregations will listen, discuss, and vote to choose the fourth bishop of this ELCA Lutheran Church regional body in New England.
After two terms totaling 12 years in this office, I’m handing off the reigns and plan to retire. But I will not retire from writing, teaching, traveling, and resurrecting my avocation in photography (more on that next week). It’s been a challenging and rewarding time. I’ve learned a ton and am grateful.
I had doubts about continuing with these “Notebooks,” but then I received the following email. That sealed the deal; I plan to continue writing.
If you can’t read the email, here it is in a text form:
Hello - Today I'm taking my brave pills and responding to your thoughtful, meaningful, helpful posts :-). A friend shared one with me two years or so ago and I have read every one since with growing delight. I like the way you process God! So I thank you. I have not "joined" for a very good reason - I am not long for this earth - I will be 102 in a few weeks :-) - and being a child of the Depression, I am carefully minding what little I have left. Yes, I know that God multiplies and He has blessed me enormously, but this I just cannot do. I trust you will understand, forgive and bless. With all of His grace I can muster, E.O.
In one of my moments of imposter syndrome, I opened that email and realized the value of writing for people who value doubt and wonder while pursuing some kind of faith. Needless to say, I sent her a copy of my book as a gift.
Table Talk Cards
Today, the Ordinary Mystery Table Talk cards arrived. They are awesome.
"Table Talk Cards" are a unique companion to my book, "Ordinary Mysteries: Faith, Doubt & Meaning." This deck of 36 cards is designed to spark meaningful conversations and encourage personal reflection, making it the perfect tool for book clubs, discussion groups, or individual journaling. Each card features a different prompt that delves into the themes explored in the book, inviting users to share their experiences, beliefs, and aspirations.
Whether you’ve read the book or not, these cards can be a resource for your depth, learning, and wonder. If you’d like more info, you can watch this video I created to describe them in more detail.
The cards can be ordered from my online store. If you are coming to the Assembly, you can pick up a set and save the shipping costs. Oh, and through June 9 all proceeds from these cards and the books will support the hospitals, schools, and people of the ELCJHL.
Podcast Interview
I was a recent guest on the Podcast hosted by Geoff Sinabaldo and Joe McGarry called “Two Bald Pastors.” In the conversation we discuss a wide range of topics including Carl Jung, the current state of the church as well as my newest book. Have a listen.
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The Hope of the World
For 12 years, I’ve been attending anniversary celebrations for our congregations. What I thought might be a drudgery defied expectations and became a very pleasant task. This past Sunday, I delivered my final anniversary sermon for the 150th celebration at Zion Lutheran Church in Portland, CT. Below is that message. Yes, you might notice a similarity if you were at another anniversary. I’ve modified this message over the years and customized for local settings. You’ll also note that the language might read a bit cryptic. That’s because I’ve found that the written word and the oral word often take different forms. You just can’t read a manuscript to a room full of people. The sentences must be shorter. The tone of voice and inflection matter greatly. Below are essentially my notes edited only slightly for this newsletter.
We are in the season of Pentecost, occasionally called Ordinary time, but this is no ordinary time. We are in extraordinary times. And I’m not referring to the times of these days of world events, trials and tribulations, and Celtic Basketball energy.
I’m referring to God’s time, for we live in the time of the reign of God…though we often wonder where God is, and when God will show up. He seems an enigmatic mystery, and she is often found hiding in the corners and crevices of life.
The time of Pentecost is upon us. The Holy Spirit has come, you recall the story from 2 weeks ago, and she is prancing and dancing in our world and in our church.
The Holy Spirit is here today. Did you not notice?
Pentecost has been called the church's birthday, and Luke, the author of that two-part Netflix series called Luke-Acts, parallels the Birth of Christ at the beginning of his Gospel with the Birth of the Church at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. It’s as if Luke wants us to know that the Holy Spirit similarly conceives Jesus Christ himself and the community of Jesus Christ.
A reminder that the Holy Spirit is God’s way of being present and active among us in the same way that God was in Jesus.
On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is breathed upon the friends of Jesus. Like the spirit of ruach in the first human, and like the spirit was breathed into the corpse of the crucified rabbi from Galilee, now the Holy Spirit is breathed upon the remnant followers of Jesus. The breath is so hot it brings even the frozen chosen to life - like a wildfire spreading.
And out of this gale force wind of power and prayer, the community of Jesus is birthed upon the world, and charged with a ministry to the least, the lost and the left behind.
Today, we call that community of Jesus, “the church.” We tend to think of it as a building, an institution, or a denomination. But at its core, the local church is a local expression of the community of Jesus. And despite all its flaws, foibles, and failings, I still believe the Local Church is the Hope of the World.
· The Local Church is the Hope of the World,
· The local Synagogue is the Hope of the World and
· The Local Temple or Mosque is the Hope of the World.
· Indeed, you, the people of Zion Lutheran in Portland, CT .
· You are the hope of Portland, of Connecticut and of the world.
The Local Church, the contemporary expression of the Pentecost community of Jesus, is the Hope of the world because the community of Jesus carries out a three-part harmony of ministry in and to the world.
Part One - The Ministry of Healing
The gospel writers often tell of the ministry of healing by telling sotries of healing.
Stories of Healing of the Blind, the Lepers, and the Lost.
Among the many ministries of the local church is the ministry of healing. This takes various forms in varying contexts.
In one of our congregations, it’s the central ministry of grief groups. Meeting regularly in people’s homes or in the church parlor room, men and women gather to bear one another's burden over losing loved ones. An 80-year-old man grieves the loss of his wife of 55 years, sits next to the mother of an 18-year-old who died from an overdose, next to the town police officer who has witnessed too many deaths from gun violence or suicides. They hold each other, cry with each other, and even laugh with each other when appropriate. It is a healing ministry.
In another congregation, the 12 different Aa recovery groups meet in the church building throughout the week. Annually, the congregation hosts a recovery Sunday, where all are welcome to hear the healing message of God’s unconditional grace. As one man said after attending the worship, “If I had heard this message as a young person, I might never have started using.”
The local church is the hope of the world because it provides a ministry of healing through these kinds of ministries, along with a food pantry and community meals. The local church is the hope of the world because we support the ministries of charity and justice in our town and around the world.
Part Two - The Ministry of Renewal
But the local church cannot exhaust itself like a hamster on a spinning wheel. The needs are constant and continuous. If the local church is to be the hope of the world, it must also find ways to renew. That means making, not finding, but making the time for sabbath. For rest and recovery, for prayer, meditation, worship and the re-creating nurture. For some of us, that means going away to a private meditative place; for others, that means dancing and singing at the top of our lungs at a Taylor Swift or U2 concert.
The Ministry of Renewal can sometimes be overlooked or ignored. There are many reasons for this, but we neglect the Sabbath at our peril.
God gave us this commandment, like the other 9, not out of some exercise in parental OCD for control, but rather to deliver us out of bondage.
No working on the Sabbath; keep it holy just as God, your God, commanded you. Work six days, doing everything you have to do, but the seventh day is a Sabbath, a Rest Day—no work: not you, your son, your daughter, your iPhone, your ox, your puppy dog, and not even your mother in law visiting from out of town. …. Don’t ever forget Egypt and God, your God, got you out of there in a powerful show of strength. That’s why God, your God, commands you to observe a day of Sabbath rest. (Hazelwood Revised Version)
Jesus himself was a practitioner of the Sabbath. He took time to go away to a quiet place and rest, recover, and recreate. Ironic, isn’t it, that the Messiah himself seems to be the only one without a messiah complex?
No one said to Jesus, “Hey, dude, give it a rest. What are you trying to do? Save the world.”
Anyone here knows that your job, be it as a parent, grandparent, student, plumber, attorney, or pastor, is destined for an ugly moment, a crash and burn – if you press on too hard, for too long, without a pause.
A God pause.
The local church can be the hope of the world when we model this for all to see. Claim sabbath time, for the sake of yourself, your family, your church, and mostly, for our world.
Part Three - The Ministry to the Neighborhood
The Local Church is the Hope of the World when it moves from inside to outside. Our calling is to join Jesus in the neighborhood.
This Extraordinary time, this time of the Sundays of Pentecost are filled with stories of Jesus living in the real world, the daily grind world. The stories of his ministry are filled with outdoor events in wild places. The ministry of the community of Jesus is not an indoor event. It is not concealed in air-conditioned places with our inside voices. Like much of the Bible, this ministry occurs outside and in the neighborhood.
One of our congregations in Maine has a good chunk of land behind its building and parking lot. They are working with the local municipalities and a non-profit to start a tiny house community of affordable housing for low-income and no-income people. They discovered this opportunity of proclaiming the message in the neighboring towns.
Another congregation has partnered with a local elementary school. They asked, “How can we help?” The answer came in the form of adopting the first-grade class and providing backpacks and teaching supplies; this led to the church using Thrivent grants to purchase supplies for teachers. The pastor told me that after nearly two years of this work, an occasional family from the school shows up on Sunday morning, sometimes seeking baptism for their children because “we want our children to be shaped in a foundational ethic of service to others…you seem to know how to do that.”
The local church is the hope of the world because we embody Jesus the Christ walking the shores of Galilee and the streets of Jerusalem. Only today, it’s the local shores of Long Island Sound, and instead of names like Capernaum and Tiberias, it’s Portland, Middletown, and Cromwell.
For 150 years you have been the hope for this community.
No, you have not been perfect all that time. You have stumbled. But who cares? No one is expecting perfection. What people are hoping for is that you will be a place of healing, renewal, and neighborliness.
People are hoping That you will be the Community of Jesus people are longing for.
So enough already…
The Womb is empty, the Tomb is Empty and the world needs the community of Jesus.
let’s go.
Let’s get on with the work of being the hope of the world, one small community at a time.
Congratulations and perhaps it might be worth noting your “handing off the reigns” vs “reins”. Blessings on your transition.