TERSANCTUS: May 2008

Two Reflections:

Perhaps I am going to break blogging protocol, but I'd like to briefly discuss 2 things that came up this week. Please feel free to comment on any or all of them.

1) The first is an observation. This week we had a men's ministry fish fry. We had about 15 men, give or take a few, who came. Some attend here regularly, some do not. Here is my point. In both of the churches I served in as some kind of pastor there have been strong men's ministry groups. We have been camping, fishing, to retreats, played sports and lots of dinners. In both churches were the groups very well attended. However, in both churches Women's Minsitry has struggled. In both churches there were multiple poorly attended groups and none could really gain momentum and get off the ground.

So in both churches that had gender ministries, the men were far more successful than the women. However, when it comes to worship attendance, the women are far more active than the men. Is your experience similar? Do you have any thoughts or ideas that might explain this?

2) The second is a letter to the editor I read in "The Living Church" (a weekly publication of the Anglo-Catholic Church). It said:

"Indeed, Orthodox churches could make more effort to welcome visitors. We rarely have "greeters." However, the Orthodox Church is growing. My own Anthiochian archdiocese has about four times as many churches as it had 40 years ago - mostly converts. Last week I visited the new Orthodox monastery in Kenosha, WI, which with 19 young nuns is full nearly to capacity... Perhaps evangelistic techinques aren't the chief cause of church growth?"

I have also heard, though I can't cite it, that the Orthodox church is the fastest growing church in the US. Can any of you confirm this? I know google tells you the JW is the fastest growing, but I don't count them among the orthodox Christian churches.

What else, besides evangelistic techniques might contribute to the Orthodox Church's growth? What can we learn from them?

This is for you my friend.

As we continue to talk, I continue to pray for you - I continue to weep with you.

May the Lord be your strength and your peace.

ef

Building Boxes

Most of you know me - most quite well. I love things packed neatly in boxes. I despise clutter. Things should fit neatly in their own little boxes. Most of all my theological musings. I try to fit everything into a nice box. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel safe. Here are a few of the boxes I have built, that reflect several different ongoing conversations in which I find myself.

1) Baptism is essential. It was commanded by Christ that making disciples involves baptism. It is commanded also in scripture that we must repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins. So, if you ask me if baptism is necessary, I would unequivocally say yes. One can no more be a Christian while neglecting baptism, than she can while neglecting one of the 10 Commandments.

2) Worship is defined by the Proclaimation of the Word and Celebration of the Sacrament - Word and Table. Christian worship by nature and by definition must include both aspects.

3) Marriage is absolute and is forever. Even in the cases where divorce appears to be a scriptural possibility, remarriage never is as long as you both shall live.

4) Seminary should be a requirement for ordination. And ordination should happen before one becomes a senior pastor. I would not go to a doctor who has not been to med school, and I would not seek out a lawyer who has not been to law school. No one should be ordained who has not been to seminary and no one who is not ordained should be a senior pastor.

Now, these are just some of the boxes I have made in my mind by my theology. Before anyone gets upset at me, here is my struggle. The boxes work great in my mind. The world, however, cannot be boxed and neither can God! So how do I make sense of all this. What do I do with people who are devout believers, but who are not baptized? Are they Christian? What about the many Nazarene churches who do not have a weekly eucharist? Do they not truly worship? And in both cases what about the Christian faith traditions that do not believe in any sacraments? What about my friends who are remarried? Or my many friends who are good pastors but have never been to college let alone seminary?

The problem with boxes is that they have an inside and an outside, and they always leave more on the outside than they contain on the inside. But I love boxes. And I love the ones not in my boxes. But I can't have it both ways.

Christianity cannot be reduced to personal belief - the kind that says "whatever you believe is ok for you." But neither can we go around taping ourselves in, and everyone else out. Maybe that's why my friend Joe quit reading theology. He says the world needs more poets and less theologians. Theologians, he says, build boxes. Poets, he says tears them up.

To box or not to box. That is the question.