The issues that have no deadline...

Though the media/headline/political commentary is focused intensely on the debt crisis/debt limit crisis in this country, followers of Christian faith know the challenges run deeper. The issues underneath, behind and above the debt/debt ceiling decisions are deeply spiritual and unaddressed (as far as I can tell) by most of the conversation.
These prime mover issues don't have an August 2 deadline. They are deeper than the Congress can solve because of their spiritual component. In the turmoil of political debate, the door is open for Christians to witness to fundamental teachings of biblical faith. This is our opportunity to love God and our country enough to bear witness to the light of God for the present age--and to apply Christian principles regardless of political affiliation.
At the heart of the debt issue facing our nation are fundamental issues of human greed, the seductive, spiritually treacherous temptations of weath and how we care for the poor and vulnerable. Capitalism adulates wealth and the acquisition of wealth. Some tout the importance of the unfettered, unregulated freedom to make as much money as possible. That's where the crossroads of capitalism and Christianity meet.
A baseline of Christian understanding of human nature is the importance of the accountability of all people and, quite specifically the particular, spiritual temptations of those who are wealthy and powerful. The Judeo-Christian heritage is saturated with teaching about the imperative of those who have resources to care for those less fortunate. When governance presses for unfettered pursuit of wealth and minimizes responsibility to the poor, both of those directions are counter to the consistent teaching of Scripture. These concerns of Scripture applies to Christians no matter what their political affiliation.
There are other Christian principles that also apply to what we are seeing unfold in our nation's political discourse. The first is a the steadfast, resolute, unwavering commitment of Christians to tell the truth. That cannot get lost no matter what the issue. Christians cannot be consistent with Christian faith and trade in misrepresentations, gossip, slander or outright lies. Again, political affiliation does not matter. All stand under God's call to truthfulness in all things.
The other primary theme of Christian teaching that is telling is the way Christians treat one another: loving others the way Christ loved us and treating others the way we want to be treated. The clear teaching of Scripture is that God created the world and Christ died for the sins of the whole world. We are all brothers and sisters. Does anyone think that changes for those who are of a different political party than your preference? Even when people, by their actions become enemies, the consistent teaching/example of Christ is that we should love our enemies. Christians should call all politicians and all leaders to these standards...and we should all live them in our political and personal conversations.
The spiritual sickness of human nature plays out in so many ways. I am praying -- not only that our leaders will find a solution to the debt/debt limit problem in our country. I am praying that Christians everywhere will not let the heat of political rhetoric obscure the underlying issues which remind us we are all in need of God's guidance, redemption and healing grace. Let's keep the spiritual issues before us no matter what legislation passes.

Just can't stop growing...

If Tyler Michael Conforti is not the cutest, most affectionate, smartest 3 year old on the planet, I can't imagine who is.

And today is his last visit to my house as a 3 year old. The next time he comes, he will be 4.

On the drive from his house to my house, this is part of how the conversation went:

Tyler: Grammy, I'm about to be 4!
Grammy: (feigning distress) Oh no!
Tyler: Oh yes I am! And then, after that, I'll be 5!
Grammy: (feigning greater distress) Oh no!
Tyler: Oh yes, I will. And after that, I will be 6!
etc. etc. etc. until he is 10.....

Grammy: Tyler, you are just growing up too fast. (A true statement if I've ever made one...)
Tyler: But, Grammy, I have to keep growing.
Grammy: Can't we stop it?
Tyler: NO! You can't!

Grammy: Couldn't we just put a brick on your head?
Tyler: No, I'd still keep growing...and, besides, that would hurt.
Grammy: You are getting to be such a big boy.

Tyler: That's right, Grammy. Get used to it. Because I'm going to keep growing and growing and growing and growing.

My sweet grandson is a welcome change from the adults I often encounter in my work who aren't growing and proud of it. I'm wishing more people would be excited about growing....

What is Necessary for Beauty

Yes, it's possible to have beautiful flowers in a scalding hot summer.

The key is to keep them watered.

My plants tell me if they are going to withstand the blistering heat, they need to be watered and fed regularly. When I water and feed them regularly, they reward me with burst of blossoms and beauty. When I fail to water them, they wither. That's it. Pure and simple.

We are living in a blistering, scorching culture. Criticism, attacks, and falsehoods that permeate our culture are as depleting -- and devastating to beauty--as the scorching, relentless rays of the July summer. Churches can be the watering/feeding/beautifying source for people. But the heat of the culture makes the survival of beauty more than preachers watering members. While I believe the times press deepened responsibilities for nurture on pastors, the daily depletion requires more than a once-a-week watering. Every Christian has to cling to Christ (as Jesus taught in John 15) every day or dry up. In the adversarial tone of our nation these days, nothing is more important for every Christian than finding the daily water of life and the beauty of God's heart. Sometimes, that means more intentional prayer and devotional time. For some, disengaging with the constantly conentious voices in media will open the door to hearing God's voice. For others, daily Bible reading and reaching out to others in kind deeds and invitation will be ways for God to water the soul.

This much I know: beauty can blossom in the most intense heat. But not without regular watering. It's true for flowers and it is true for people.

Preachers! People! Please pay attention!

Please, please, please, please, please pay attention to what you say -- especially when leading worship.
Honestly, if one more preacher prays, "God, we ask you to come be with us for worship", I am going to SCREAM. Out loud.
I understanding that asking God to be present is a common practice. Misguided, but common. When that is done in a United Methodist setting, I really do feel fingernails on the chalkboard.
Why would we ask God to BE present when we Wesleyans have such deep convictions about prevenient grace -- the grace that goes before us? God gets to church (and everywhere else) befor the the first person arrives. God goes ahead of us in all things.
We don't have to ask for God's presence. In reality, we couldn't keep God out if we tried. The psalmist writes eloquently "Where shall I go to flee from your spirit? ....If I make my bed in hell, you are there." So what makes us think that God might not show up at church if we didn't beg him to come?
Please, please, please, please, please! Especially when leading worship, it's important to choose words that match our beliefs! Stop asking for God to show up. Start paying attention and asking people to open their hearts to the God who is graciously and pervasively present. That is one of our most important beliefs.
I don't want to make a scene at worship. But "Lord, keep your hand around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth" is not going to be a prayer adequate for me if I keep hearing preachers pray for God to be present. God beat you there! Pay attention, folks!

A new beginning

July 1. First official day of the new conference year. A chance to everyone to turn to Christ in new ways. How I wish people in the pews understood what an impact people have on their pastors!
I spent last weekend attending retirement celebrations. In each case, decades later, these fruitful ministers were giving tribute to the life-changing difference that lay people in their first churches had in shaping them as ministers. Sunday morning at Broad Street UMC was a beautiful picture. Don Shuman had the chance to conclude seven years of ministry at Broad Street along with people present from every church he has served across 40 years. Don talked about each of the churches and asked the people present to stand as he told about their ministry years. He especially lifted up the love and kindness of the first congregation he served. He told how their love and Christian example had shaped his ministry for every other church he had served since. He closed his farewell time with three hopes for Broad Street.
For the second piece of counsel, Don asked Rev. Jennifer Bingham, the new associate pastor at Broad Street, to join him at the pulpit. (Because Jennifer graduated from Duke Divinity School last December, she was available to start on staff here before the usual move date). When Jennifer stood beside him, Don put his arm around her and said to the Broad Street congregation: "This is Jennifer's first appointment. I am asking you to love her well. If you want to bless me, then do this: love Jennifer as much as my first congregation loved me because, I assure you, the way you treat her now will impact her ministry for years to come."
Everything in me wanted to stand up and start clapping. But Don had one more point to make and all attention was rightly riveted on Don. So I sat still. But his words could not be more true if they were in red letters in the Bible. The way a congregation loves (or doesn't love) the pastor makes a difference that affects every future congregation the pastor serves across time. First appointments are especially formative. But the impact at every stage makes a mark.
I celebrate the situations where pastors were sent off this week by receptive, appreciative congregations. These pastors know they have been enriched because people gave their gifts a chance, people improved on their suggestions, people forgave their mistakes. They will be better pastors in their new appointments because their congregations have been responsive and respectful, loving and supportive.
I have a heavy heart about other situations. Pastors have been wounded and that not only hurts the pastors, it leaves pain in the congregation. The pastor has been the target of unrelenting criticism. The pastor was blamed for the church's finances, the church's lack of growth, the church's lack of children, etc. etc. etc. I struggle. Does anyone really think that new people (or current members) want to attend a church with an atmosphere of constant criticism? Is there any effective way to communicate to people that tearing down the pastor tears down the church?
July 1 is the first day of the new conference year. May it be a year where Christlike love is the characteristic of all our congregations.

Still thankful after all these years...

I learned this morning about the death of Rev. Horwood P. Myers and I remember the way that he brought life to me.
My family moved to North Carolina in September of 1984. I left my beloved first appointment in a cross-racial setting and, since the move for my husband was a September 1 opportunity, spent the year waiting and wondering if I would get a chance to serve a church. In May of 1985, my daughter's 3rd grade teacher asked the class to write the answer to this question: "If you could get your mommy anything in the world this year for Mother's Day, what would you get her?" Mary Allen wrote: "I would give my mommy a church. My mommy needs a church. My mommy wants to be a church lady." Her elementary-lined paper with her careful printing still hangs in my office.
And, oh, how I did want to serve a church! After working through 10 years of vehement opposition in Mississippi and meeting requirements of 3 different Disciplines, I was a newly ordained elder with no church in a new and very big Annual Conference where I didn't know anyone.
At appointment-making time, I had conversation with the Waynesville District Superintendent, Bob Ralls, who was very encouraging to me. He said he had a church that was being served by a retired supply but they had been asking for a younger preacher, said they wanted to grow and he would see if that might be an opening.
Bob went to meet with the PPR Committee of the Bethel-Piney Grove Charge and he described me to them. Well, maybe not comprehensively...because at the conclusion of his presentation, they said, "That's great. He sounds like just what we have been praying for!"
Then Bob had to break the rest of the story. "Well," he said, "it's not a 'he'. It's a female pastor." Dead silence. Bob pushed them gently: "You said this is just what you have been praying for." They agreed to think about it.
In the meantime, Bob went off to cabinet meetings where the first round of appointments were made. And the members of the Bethel-Piney Grove PPRC held the best kept secret (and maybe the only secret) in the cove just outside of Waynesville. They apparently did not tell a soul. After a couple of weeks--most notably, after all the other appointments were made, the PPRC called Bob and said they were just not ready for a woman. They would like for their current retired supply pastor, Horwood Myers, to come back for another year.
Things like that still happen occasionally in the church, I am sorry to say. But, oh how the atmosphere has changed! In 1985, that kind of negativity from the church was the end of opportunity for women. Women in ministry was, at best, a new idea. For most churches and cabinets, it was not a welcome idea. (Which is the most positive way to say it). Cabinets had reputations, especially at that time of WNC's history, for discouraging and disregarding women. And my conference membership was in North Mississippi. Any appointment I received in this conference would have been sheer grace. So for that opportunity to shut down was devastating.
I was crushed. Discouraged. Frustrated beyond words. And then Horwood Myers told the people at Bethel/Piney Grove that if they were refusing me because I was a woman, he wouldn't return either. Horwood didn't know me personally. The stand he took was on principle and it was a stand that he could easily have side-stepped. He liked serving Bethel-Piney Grove and they liked him. And, had he been willing to overlook their gender prejudice, I don't know if or when I would have had a church to serve in Western North Carolina.
Armed with Horwood's position, Bob Ralls went back to meet with the Bethel-Piney Grove PPRC. This time, he took reinforcements: "the old gray fox", Glenn Lackey--a neighbor of mine at Lake Junaluska who had a special love for these churches. They agreed to give me a chance. One Sunday and they would see.
That wasn't exactly a stirring affirmation or a wide open door, but that was the beginning of 5 amazing years of ministry at Bethel-Piney Grove...years that they and I still remember as exciting days of growth and joy. Things had changed dramatically when the next move came up. When moving time came, 5 years later at my request, they loaded up a caravan of pick-up trucks to move me and my daughters to Spruce Pine and, as they said, to tell those people at my new appointment that they had better take care of me or they would come back and get me in a heartbeat. God did a wonderful work in their hearts and in mine during those years. And the principles of Horwood Myers made it possible.
I'm sure there are hundreds of other stories to honor Horwood Myers for his ministry because people who live by their principles leave a lasting and extensive legacy. I often thanked Horwood in life but I could never thank him enough. He opened a door for me that made all the difference. His stand made my ministry in this conference possible. I thank God for him.

Oh my! What joy!

My robe is ready. My new stole (custom-made by my sister-in-law) is ready. My Daddy (who will be 90 in November) has his red stole and robe ready. My heart hardly knows how to take in the joy of standing with my daughter as she is ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church.

The idea of "women preachers" is pretty clear in the birth of the church (thus the design of my stole for Saturday morning): "When the Holy Spirit comes....your daughters shall prophesy..."(Acts 2:18). But for centuries, people in the church have steadfastly refused women the prophesying role. Some churches still adamantly refuse to welcome women into ordained ministry. And, although Susanna Wesley, the mother of John Wesley, was quite a preacher herself, it has only been in my lifetime that women in the United Methodist tradition have been fully recognized as elders.

So the chance for a mother to share in her daughter's ordination is a new and rare gift, indeed...much less for us to be third and fourth generation United Methodist pastors. I thank God for the changes that I have had a chance to witness in my lifetime. And, as I stand with my daughter at her ordination, I pray for a truly Holy Spirit church -- where gifts are freed and celebrated, where understanding crosses differences of all kinds and where disciples are known for their holy boldness.