Sunday, June 28, 2009

Follow me...

General Synod blog at....http://wiatgs27.blogspot.com/

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Soul music

Ken Medema
In a number of ways we are spoken to, called. Sometimes it is an earthquake, a fire, a whirlwind. Sometimes it is a 14 y.o. girl who asks us to dance. Sometimes it is our own heart saying ‘yes’.
Sometimes it is a Ken getting us to stand up and dance and wave our arms around and laugh together.
God’s voice is not always prophetic. Sometimes it is laugh-inducing and loud. Sometimes it is a gentle, reassuring story of the eternity of us and of love and the gift of a dragon fly. Sometimes it is our own stories.
One of the things Ken teaches is how to listen. He hears music in our words. What do we hear from one another? From ourselves?

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Through the wilderness...

David Moyer accepted the call to Conference minister at probably the most interesting* time in the Conference’s history. His presentation this morning was but a glimpse of what he is dealing with. What he needs to hear from us, as do each and all of our leadership dealing with the necessity of restructuring, is:
1) Thank you. Very much.
2) You are not alone. Not at all.
And if applicable:
3) You can retire in 3 years or when the Dow hits 10,000 which ever comes first.
Humor aside, we are fortunate to have David.
So, in addition to ‘thank you’ what words do you have for David today?

*As in the Oriental curse “May you live in interesting times.”

Jean Feraca

It is a gift when someone within our congregation or circle of friends shares part of the their journey of faith and awareness. It is even more so when someone brings the insights and especially the excitement of spiritual growth. Jean taught us of the differences between the old and new understandings of the cosmos, illuminated with quotes from poetic and enlightened authors, illustrated with pictures from the Hubble telescope. And that would be enough. But the greatest gift was the reporting from her own life.
Would Jean claim to be spoken to by ‘the still-speaking God’? Probably not. She’s too humble about her religious history to make such a claim. (Perhaps in that in a lesson for many of us.) But her words bore witness to being led in spirit by Spirit to greater intimacy with our Creator.
We couldn’t have asked for more.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Incoming...

There are, if we wish, lots of reasons to worry about the future of the church, the UCC and the Wisconsin Conference in particular. There are reasons for despair and the wringing of hands (as opposed, I suppose, to the ringing of hand bells) and living in fear more than faith. But the quality and extent of life experiences, education, dedication and commitment present in the pastors new to our Conference is not a reason to for such anxiety. The era of college-seminary-church as the most traveled path is over, and we are blessed.
And slowly some of us who have toiled long in the vineyard and know with sinful certainty exactly how the Spirit calls people into ministry are…well, ‘resistive’ might be the most charitable term. May we be liberated.

On a personal note, I would like to say that earlier in my ministry I knew Todd Smith Lippert as a sprout. He didn’t seem as weird as a child…but then his dad… One of the delights of my life is seeing young people like Todd whom I knew in Iowa, like A.J. Smith whom I knew (also as a sprout) in Saukville, finding joy and meaning in the life of the church. I can’t believe I’m this old…

Ken Medema

Blown away.
I have no words.
Do you?

Keynote

When I was a student it was rare, indeed if it ever happened, that a college professor’s lecture raised my consciousness or drew me nearer to my Creator.
Thanks, Karl.

What did you think?

Opening worship and plenary

I am always glad for new ways of seeing and hearing. OK, not always glad but always needful. And grateful that we can find new ways to gather and worship.
And grateful to see what a grumpy, old, stick-in-the-mud I am. Still.
Sometimes in our personal lives it is our own discomfort that is the prophetic voice.

An item of business which has seldom been of more than marginal interest to me has been the finances of the Conference. This year’s graph showing local church expenses relative to OCWM giving was simply an indictment. Sometimes the prophetic voice in our corporate life is visual.

What's or Who's speaking to you today?

Don't mind me. Just testing to see if/how I can upload images w/ a picture of our chancel area on Pentecost.
OK, off to take pics of peeps! Duck!

A few thoughts about restructuring...

It's happening at the national level, Conference level, Association level and for many, at the local church level.
It's not just us.
It's a good thing.
When the house burns down you get to sit down with the architect and design the new one.
We're all about resurrection.
So where do you think the doors and windows should be in your room of the mansion (Metaphorically speak, of course)?

It begins and continues...

Ensconced in a nice leather chair (and assuming the bovine that bit the dust for my comfort had lost the will to live) I'll begin to blog in earnest...(Maybe 'Earnest was the...never mind.)
The drive over was pleasant and uneventful. I pull through the gates, roll down my window in preparation for visiting with the gatehouse person and...begora! The gatehouse is gone. I notice though that my beloved 10 y.o. Honda is sounding a bit louder than usual. And within 10 seconds of this realization I notice that the car is now really, really loud because the center pipe (Just turn to the person next to you and ask, "Do you know what a center pipe is?) has fallen off. I'm sure there's a wire coat hanger here somewhere... Anyway, if you see a little silver car that sounds like a huge truck, c'est moi!

But the day has quickly improved with meeting mentee/facebook friend Daniel, saying 'hi' to people who look vaguely familiar (Hey, the '60s were hard on me and my 60s don't appear to be any easier.) and visiting with people I've known for some time. The stated purpose of the Annual Conference Meeting is not to reconnect with old friends and make new ones but for a goodly number of us, it is.

We'll get the intended work done, no doubt; worship heartily; listen attentively (Hey, God saw that eyeroll!); and, because of or inspite of us, God's realm will be more fully realized within, among and beyond.

So...how was your arrival?