Step Into the Flow

El Comedor - part 3

2011-02-16T15:38:00.000-08:00

Shortly after I arrived at El Comedor, a pretty young woman approached me shyly with a smile. She grasped my hands, and spoke softly but rapidly - searching my face. My Spanish is still pretty limited…I squeezed her hands and nodding my head, smiled back, "Buenos dias, hermana." (good morning, sister). She gave a quick dip of her head and turned to find the bathroom.

10 minutes later she was back, this time talking even more intently, scanning my face. Carol was standing next to me and began to translate, “She’s offering you $2,000 if you’ll take her to Florida. She knows it’s dangerous to cross and she doesn’t want to go with someone who will hurt her. She says you look kind…that she will be safe with you.” Stunned, I slowly shake my head no…her voice grows more urgent, ”then papers, please sell me papers…put me in your pocket and carry me across the border to Florida. I have a brother there, he will pay you. Please…” Her name was Caterina and she talked faster than Carol could translate, so after a bit, Carol gave up and I followed the conversation as best as I could. And then Carol filled me in afterwards.

Caterina had been repatriated that morning. She’d been caught just over the border and sent immediately back. She’d lived four years in Florida with her brother, working in a hotel, had then returned to Michoacan (in southern Mexico) where she married and had 3 children. It wasn’t clear to me what had happened to her husband, but he was no longer in the picture. Carol was clear – no we could not help her get into the U.S. or get her papers. It was illegal for us, and could mean 20 years in jail for us and jail time in the U.S. for her as well. Caterina seemed confused that Florida was as far away as Carol described. Surely it was only a day away.

When Carol and I returned from the bus company Caterina was sitting on the wall outside El Comidor and we talked more. She’d been working in a hotel restaurant and enjoyed that work, but her mother and father had died and she’d ended up living with her sister and brother-in-law. “They do ugly things. It is not good for me to live with them, not good for my children.” She was desperate to get to the U.S. to earn enough money to get her children out of that situation…even though it meant leaving them for now in the care of people “doing ugly things. What choice do I have?”

That’s when her face crumpled and she began to cry. “What will I do?” I asked if I could pray each morning for God to answer that question for her. She said yes and asked for me to pray for strength and for God to help her.

And that’s what I’ll do. Her picture will hang on the bulletin board above my desk where I’ll see it each time I sit down to work. But…it hardly feels enough. On the day after Valetine's day, my heart got shattered. I'm praying it stay's that way.

El Comedor - part 2

2011-02-16T15:33:00.000-08:00

Carol, a member of a UCC church in Tucson, comes to El Comedor every Tuesday with a group of the Green Valley Samaritans that delivers blankets and hygiene kits. She invited me to walk with her around the corner to a bus company. “When people are deported here – they walk back into Mexico with what they’re wearing. No one I’ve seen arrive at El Comedor, lives here in Nogales – they’re all from somewhere else in Mexico. Our work is to help stabilize them and help them get back to their homes. The man we’re going to see has a local bus company. He offers the returning migrants ½ price bus fares and free phone cards, so they can call friends and family to wire the other ½ of the fare.

“It’s not much of a place, you’ll see, but he’s put in showers and created shade, they can get water – it’s all free. He's a good man.” In front of the dirt yard, there’s a sandwich board sign that Carol translates. ‘Migrants you are welcome here. You can take a free shower, rest in the shade, get a drink of water. We'll help you get home.’”

She continues, “I’m stopping by because I’ve found someone who will donate some solar hot water heaters and I need to find out if this fellow can use them and if so, how to get them across the border to him.” The Mexican border guards can be picky about what they let in. Bring clothing and supplies over in plastic bags and they may decide to not let them them in. Bring then in a suitcase and all's well.

We walk into the bus yard. The office is a battered trailer. Next to it is a large shaded pavilion created by stretching blue plastic tarps between poles. Underneath are banks of what looks like greyhound bus seats – probably 50 seats in all – and a quarter of them are filled with men resting and waiting for their turn in the showers.

“We want to help them get home. Providing this kind of support helps. But also, we talk with them about the dangers of illegal crossing and living as a undocumented worker in the U.S. We do our best to discourage them. Most are uniformed about what they face. A good number are picked up and deported after living and working in the U.S. for several years. When they first entered, it was much easier, much safer. The new policies have funneled people deep into the desert and the mountains. They don’t have a good idea of the distances involved or of the dangers.

“Some of the women and men I talk with are determined to try and get into the US – that’s the only future my family has, they say. I don’t know the answer. We have to have secure borders, but we also need ways to allow people to immigrate into our country – that’s our history…and our future. What we have now isn’t working."

El Comedor - part 1

2011-02-16T10:10:00.000-08:00

Cross the border from Nogales, AZ to Nogales, Mexico and one of the first buildings you come to is El Comedor, a Kino Border Initiative center providing food, clothing, blankets, hygiene kits and first-aid to people who've been deported from the US. Men and women come with only the clothes on their back, many of them are injured from having tried to walk the desert. Some of the most common routes are from the border to just south of Tucson - that's 90 miles.

I spent Tuesday morning, at El Comedor with a group of volunteers from Green Valley Samaritans - an ecumenical group that provides humanitarian aid. (The Samaritans partner with ranchers, the county, and the park system to place barrels of water in the desert They clean up the camps they find, where migrants have changed into their one set of clean clothing and then left everything else behind - so they will blend in better as they leave the desert. They help injured migrants they come across. )

Last year there were 253 confirmed deaths in the desert sector from the border north toTucson. That's just the persons that were found in this rugged terrain...and just the ones in this sector. Many are young women. Many are children. Last year, volunteers found a child nestled in mother’s lap, under a bush, both dead. Estimates are that 5 times those counted in the Tucson sector died. In just this past year…after the border was "closed." For the Samaritans, the issue is, "people are dying in our back yards. It's inhumane and unchristian to not provide aid." Border control appreciates their work - they don't want people dying in the desert either.

Back to main story...El Comedor started in 2006 when 8 area families simply began serving breakfast one day a month. That moved to twice a month, then others started joining in - the sisters, the jesuits, Kino - now it's twice a day, every day of the year. I was there with a group of pastors from our conference who'd come to Arizona to learn about immigration and border issues, issues that directly affects Washington State and particularly my district.

Aldo, a young man doing his required year of community service as he heads toward becoming a Jesuit, met with us to talk about the ministry at El Comedor. The structure is built into a dirt hillside – dirt walls on the back and one side – open steel grating and tarp enclose the other two, corregated steel roof on top. The 16 x 20 room is filled with rows of picnic tables. At 9am and 4pm a simple meal is served by the volunteers– they go through ton of tortilla a month. After the meal, the tables are cleared and re-filled, this time with clothing, blankets and hygiene kits. Repatriated migrants are allowed back in, the newest repatriated first, to pick up one item from each area. A small health clinic is across the street. Foot injuries are common. Not knowing what lies ahead and having been told it's only a short walk, it's common for women to wear shoes they'd wear to church.

Many if not most who choose to walk across the border north into the US, are not prepared for the journey they face, particularly if they’ve come from the more verdant or tropical parts of Mexico or Central America. They are told by the “coyotes” they’ve hired (I was told the going rate is $1500 - $7000/person) that freedom and hope lie “just over the hill…an easy path!” They are totally unprepared for the heat of the day, for the below freezing temperatures at night, for the sand, for the lack of water. It’s five days if all goes well. Much longer if they stray off the very hard to follow paths.

Harry, one of the Green Valley Samaritans, gave us a nutshell briefing on the illegal economy of this border area. “Guns and money south into Mexico. Drugs and human trafficking north into the U.S.” Aldo adds, “we have a saying in Mexico – the poor are not criminals and the criminals are not poor. You can really see that here. There’s a lot of money to be made in this area if you’re doing criminal things (drugs, guns, money, human trafficking) – so those aren’t the people we get here at El Comidor… they generally aren’t the people who get caught, they know better.” El Comidor and other border area ministries end up working with men, women and children who are economic refugees. They’ve left home because there’s no way to support themselves or their families. They come to work. To stay is to die.

Aldo says that undocumented workers were the first in the U.S to know that a recession was coming. They were the first to get laid off from their low-paying jobs. "They'll also be the first to know that things are getting better." Grateful to work for less than minimum wage , they'll be the first for companies to re-hire.

I'm starting to understand that migration is driven by economies. And, that migration is a world issue - I've so much to learn.

the AND

2011-01-10T14:22:00.000-08:00

Did you know...

in 2009 in answer to survey question "are you spiritual or religious?" :

30% spiritual
48% spiritual and religious
9% religious
9% neither

In 1999 only 10 years earlier, this is how people responded:

30% spiritual
6% spiritual and religious
54% religious
9% neither

Did you catch that???? We went from 54% of the population who identified themselves primarily as religious (identifying primarily with the organization or institution, where spiritual meant identifying primarily with experience) to 9%.

What's going on? That group is aging and dying, said Diana Butler Bass (who writes on the intersection of religion, church, culture, political life) They may still be in our churches, but they are growing fewer every day.

I spent the day with Diana and a group of faith-based coaches, consultants, spiritual directors and denominational leaders from 5 denominations in Balitmore at a 3 day networking/learning/resource sharing event.

The group that's growing? The percentage of people who say they are spiritual AND religious.

Now, that's not to say that those two happen in the same place for most people. Often spiritual happens in the Thursday morning yoga class or the Tuesday evening meditation circle and the religious part happens in the once-every-couple-of-months church service a person attends. Religious is their church part. Spiritual is their circle of support or their art journal group or their woodworking or..... Often things that have no connection with the church they're affiliated with.

"Show us the AND!" is what folks in our churches are saying. "Give us a structured way to experience the transcendent and a way to talk about it with each other." Historically, that's what renewal movements have always been about, whether it was the Franciscans or the Methodists, or today the emergent church and neo-monastic movements (among others)

When Diana speaks to groups she's been running an exercise where the group lists words they associate with religious and with spiritual. She has them make lists, take off the loaded, judgement laden words, and then note the words that are on both lists. After running this exercise with lots of groups from lots of faith traditions here are some of the words she finds on both lists: community, justice, liturgy, singing, worship, theology.

That, she says, is our to-do list.

Now....what is our stop doing list?

2010-07-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

That's my hand. The henna has totally faded away, now. But that's what it looked like a couple of Friday nights ago at a Mehndi/Karaoke pre-wedding party in Seattle.

The daughter of friends in Washington (who are Christian) fell in love with the son of Indian immigrants who live in New Jersey (Hindu) and this party was the first event of a weekend of wedding not only the couple but the families together. Across three days everybody ate. Everybody danced. A good percentage of everybody sang. And by Sunday noon, everybody felt like family and it was hard to say goodbye.

I co-officiated the ceremony on Saturday with a Hindu priest and we went back and forth between the two traditions. The meaning behind our various rituals were remarkably similar. Though he and I represented very different faith traditions, the rituals our traditions use for marking a union are far more reflective of our cultures than our faiths.

A US Christian ceremony is heavily word-based - the officiant talks, the couple speaks vows, friends often bring readings. I think of it as head or thinking based. The action-oriented rituals are simple ones - walking down the aisle by a parent, exchanging of rings, and the kiss at the end...and a unity candle when it's used.

The Hindu rituals (and the priest used a VERY pared down version of the ceremony), had verbal components, but were all active and sensory based- sight, sound, taste, touch, scent. Garlands are exchanged to declare intent. Food is shared with the couple by the parents, denoting their support of the union. The couple makes their vows by taking seven steps forward together - with each step symbolizing a vow.

It was quite a wedding. When was the last time you got to see the groom ride up on a bejeweled horse?

Teilhard de Chardin

2010-07-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.

We are all, quite naturally,

impatient in everything to reach the end

without delay.

We should like to skip

the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being

on the way to something unknown,

something new, and yet it is the law of all progress

that is made by passing through

some stages of instability—

and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.

Your ideas mature gradually—

let them grow, let them shape themselves,

without undue haste.

Don’t try to force them on,

as though you could be today what time

(that is to say, grace and circumstances

acting on your own good will)

will make you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit

gradually forming within you will be.

Give our Lord the benefit of believing

that his hand is leading you and accept the

anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense

and incomplete.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin,

Patient Trust in Ourselves and in the Slow Work of God

Women's work

2010-06-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

It's a bit past the event...umm...like a month. But, I finally got around to uploading pictures from my camera last night and came across these - taken at Prosser UMC's Spring Fling. The United Methodist Women invited me to come talk with them about women in ministry and I got to share one of my favorite stories with them.

A great-great uncle of mine, James Thoburn had gone to India in the 1860's as a missionary. Frustrated with his lack of ability to connect with women because of the cultural norms of the area, he fired off a letter to his sister. Oh, if she could only come and join him in the work!

Much to his dismay, she wrote back and said, "I’m on my way! " It took her 3 years to do it, but she convinced the Methodist Board of Missions to commission her as a deaconess and send her to India as one of two women missionaries who would focus on education and health care for women. (check out the recent article in UMWs Response) Upon arriving, Isabella promptly started what became in short order the first college for girls in Asia.

Now, this ran counter to a widely-held premise in that region that women were unteachable. Not only was educating women a waste of time, but it threatened to upset a social order based on the superiority and domnance of males. But, Isabella persevered, and the school is still going strong today, providing undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education for women.

Though mortified at first that a woman would claim this kind of calling, her brother developed a new understanding of how God works..... and wrote in his book, My Missionary Apprenticeship:

"It seldom happens that the church is wise to know her day of visitation. When God would have her move forward and take up some new enterprise, it usually happens that God has to beckon often and long before he is obeyed. In 1859, Dr Durbin told me that he was astonished and perplexed by the general wish to engage in missionary work found among the young women of the Church. “If I wanted fifty young ladies,” he said, “I could find them in a week; but when I want five young men, I must search for them for a year or more.” It did not occur to him, it did not occur to any body, that the presence of a conviction so strong and general was an indication of the will of God."

Hmmmm.

Stop. Breathe. Look around.

2010-06-03T12:00:00.001-07:00

Everything matters.
You are not alone.
You are more than you know
The awful thing is not the final word.
Today is all we have.

Today is enough.
We need each other.
St. Benedict's Way of Love

If it was my home...

2010-06-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

Whoa. I'm stunned. I've hardly got words.

Like everybody else I've been following the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. But the scale of the event has been hard to visualize. IfItWasMyHome.com takes the size of the spill and superimposes it on a map of where you live.

My stomach hurts. I think I need to just sit here in some silence for a bit.

Transition Workshop

2010-06-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

The conference's annual transition workshop for clergy is next week. For the last many years Gail Grossman has facilitated this event where pastors get their heads around leaving one church well and starting strong in the next...all without much time in-between. In addition to managing the practical nuts and bolts of the change, there is the much trickier work of relationships to think about. Gail does a great job.

This year, the workshop has been lengthened. In addition to the content Gail brings, the bishop and us district superintendents get to be present. Learning alongside the clergy will better prepare us to support them and the congregation. In addition, there will be time for the superintendents to talk with his or her pastors about the specifics of the church and community to which they'll be moving. Together they can begin thinking through that pastor's "assignment."

Now, a critical part that will need to follow, is finding a way to bring the staff parish relations committee at the local church into this conversation. You can imagine the mess (and the bind that the pastor is is) when the Superintendent thinks their assignment is one thing...and the local church thinks it's something quite different.

The workshop is being held much later this year than in previous years - the whole appointment process was slow. I'm helping with the section on leaving well. Given that the pastors have less than a month left, that section will be different than in the past. I'd love to hear your comments about what you think are the MUSTS about leaving well. (Thank you to all you who sent comments via email on the post about guaranteed appointments. Interesting that people had opinions...but no one wanted to post them publicly)

But wait! There's more! Transition workshops for laity (people in churches who are getting a new pastor) are scheduled in each of the districts. Vancouver's was yesterday. Seven Rivers tomorrow. Inland District's is Saturday the 12th. Tacoma's and Seattle's are Sunday the 13th. Call your district office for more information.

From Functional to Visionary

2010-06-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

A functional congregation may look and feel like a healthy church. The bills are getting paid, programs run efficiently, and the members are satisfied. That may make for a functional institution, but it doesn't guarantee a healthy church.

In my consulting work, when I assess congregational vitality I look for three marks of health.

Relationships among people than embody the "kindom" of God; relationships that are honoring, forgiving, loving, caring, mutual, and generative
Spiritual Formation as an essential for everyone, rather than an activity pursued by a few
A deep, pervasive concern for the temporal and spiritual well-being of people beyond the doors of the church - a concern that manifests in action.

I've been in any number of churches across the country whose numbers looked good, but having lost their understanding of and commitment to their fundamental purpose, ( making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, for those UM churches)

were actually in decline - the numbers just didn't show it...yet.

This morning's article from the Alban Institute does a great job of summing up what happens in congregational renewal and the shift from being a functional congregation to being what the authors call a visionary congregation, where people have "an integrated sense of sacred community." The authors (Aron, Cohen, Hoffman & Kelman) write from having researched synagogues - but it's all very applicable to a Christian church, and it's well worth your time.

A Labyrinth Garden

2010-05-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

I love walking a labyrinth and I love vegetable gardening - both are ways I ground and center myself. Either one is a good antidote to a stressful day. Who knew I could have both at the same time?

Take a gander at this beauty under construction at Cornelius United Methodist Church in Cornelius, Oregon. This photo is courtesy of Mira Conklin's blog, Historias de Transformacion, where more photos await you.

And, and, and!.... they've started The Supper, where English-speakers and Spanish-speakers gather to eat together and intentionally reflect on where they see God showing up in their lives and in the world.

No Guarantees...?

2010-05-21T18:28:00.001-07:00

Come general conference in 2012, the guaranteed appointment system (guaranteed employment for ordained United Methodist clergy till age 72)- may be a thing of the past. This is going to be a very hot topic over the next few years. This article lays out some of the pros and cons. I lean towards the elimination of guaranteed appointments, but, I'm sure not ready to cast a vote yet.

Commission takes aim at clergy job guarantees

connecting with young adults

2010-05-17T12:45:00.001-07:00

That's the question I get asked most these days, "how do we connect with young adults?" Here's an article from the Alban Institute that lays out some of the issues one church found itself needing to deal with. Take a gander and tell me what you think.

Thy kindom come...

2010-05-14T12:03:00.001-07:00

Finding fairly traded coffee, chocolate, tea and snacks in a small town can be pretty tough. Goldendale UMC solved the problem by creating a tiny "store" in a small, unused room off the main hall. The Lord's Prayer stands by the door. "This room is one way we can live out that prayer we all say aloud together each week," commented a member. "Yes, it's more expensive...but if we aren't willing to put our money in the direction of our prayers, then how much do we really want what we're praying for?"

Embrace Life

2010-05-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's a PSA for seatbelts. But a metaphor for so much more.

Channels

2010-05-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Have you read the latest edition of Channels? It's the monthly publication of the Office of Connectional Ministries and it's chock full of what's being going on around the conference. Bishop Hagiya's article on this year's appointment process clearly articulates the challenges and gives you a glimpse into what we wrestle with at that table.

For those of you who part of creating newsletters, mailings, brochures, bulletin boards, and such for your church...while you're reading Channels for the content, be sure to notice the design...the use of white space, and of color, and of font style. Does the look match the content? Together, what do they say about the annual conference - what it is and what & who it cares about? Jesse Love, our print and publications manager, does a great job of thinking through all those things.

Got Preschool?

2010-02-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

A question for those of you whose congregations have a preschool associated with them. What are some of the ways your congregation has been successful in connecting with and supporting the parents and families? Connell UMC maintains a prayer request box that's at the door to the classroom. Another congregation knits prayer shawls for pregnant moms. What do you do that works?

The Bible in a Year

2009-12-31T12:35:00.001-08:00

Wow. It's been more than a month. Way more. I would have guessed 3 weeks, tops. That's how time goes for me...fast and fleeting. I set out towards a goal with great intention, but if there's no structure to help keep me focused, before long I'm captured by and following next important (or merely bright and shiny) thing.

My intent this year is to dig into the bible the way Julie Powell dug into Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The whole shebang in one year. And I know that if I'm to be successful, I need a good structure. For me that means 3 things.

Declare it out loud
Have a structure that adds it to my day
Do it with others

So today, as one year fades and the next is on the edge of popping open, I invite you to join me in a structured reading of the bible that will have us going through the whole thing in one year. Craig Miller of the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship has put together a form to help us. You'll find it on the web at http://bibleyear.ning.com/. It lists the scriptures for each day and gives a place to comment and see what others are saying about the readings.

There are six readings for each week. The seventh day has no reading. You can use that day to reflect on the week's readings or catch up if you need to. The reading schedule is based on Eugene Peterson's The Daily Message: Through the Bible in One Year.

So here goes!

Simple Church

2009-11-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

At a meeting I attended on Saturday, they passed out copies of a book called Simple Church.

"A simple church is a congregation designed around a straight-forward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth."

I really like the wording. It boils down into simplest terms what I think is the fundamental purpose of any type of faith community.

Designed Around: Programs, ministries, and meetings revolve around one thing - moving people through the stages of spiritual growth. In United Methodist language we'd say, "making disciples for the transformation of the world." But understood from a Weslyan perspective, that's exactly what "moving people through the stages of spiritual growth" is.

Everything that is done is done for a reason. There is a clear aim. Everything - from announcements in worship, to pastoral care, to how leaders respond to everyday crises - serves that aim.

A Straight-forward & Strategic Process: There is a fundamental process in place for helping people grow spiritually. That process is simple and understandable - by everybody. The parts all fit together to lead people to an intended end result

That moves people through stages of Spiritual Growth: It's understood that people will be at various places in their spiritual journey. Growth in their relationship with God, others, and self is expected and fostered.

This means that there is, in the congregation, an agreed upon desired end result, and agreement about the basic stages of spiritual growth that lead to that end.

Now THERE'S a question for your congregation. What's the desired end result you want from people's involvement with your church? What are the basic stages of spiritual growth that have to be lived through before that end result can be reached?

A vote for hope

2009-11-08T11:39:00.000-08:00

I've finished my first two weeks of church conferences. Six congregations. Each different in both in location and personality. Each utterly compelling.

I generally start off the gathering by asking those present something along the lines of "So why, when there are so many other things you could be doing instead, why do you come to church...and what, if any, difference does that make in your life?"

There's usually silence...then someone begins and the stories start to flow....

Stories of finding hope....of finding family.....of finding purpose...

...of wanting stability....and a new beginning...

Stories of people who welcome questions...and don't judge answers....

who listen for the mystery underneath it all...

...and give themselves to making things better.

"There are Sunday mornings when I don't feel at all like coming to church. But then, when I open the newspaper and see the hopelessness that fills the world, I change my mind and head on over. On those days, coming to church is a vote for hope."

2009-11-02T11:32:00.000-08:00

An experience and a conversation share space in my mind this morning.

The experience

I spent a chunk of yesterday worshipping and then eating with the small and hispanic Mabton congregation. There were 8 adults - half of them looked to be in the early to mid-20's - and about as many children. Unrelated to the adults, the children came from the neighborhood around the church and many (if not all) had been part of the "vacation bible school" held this past summer. 5 volunteers from the Tumwater United Methodist Church were there as well, having come for the weekend to work on the roof of one of the classrooms.

Worship was long by anglo standards, but in that setting seemed just right. We sang -- a lot. And prayed -- a lot. Near the end, we shared communion. But really, the whole thing felt like a time of communion -- of being "with" ourselves and each other and God. There was no sleeping through this service and no rote anything. What would happen next in the service? Only the pastor, Ruben Escalera, knew. And I think he only knew as we went along and he sensed what was needed next.

Our singing was really loud and as off-key as I've ever heard a group of people sing. And Ruben encouraged us to give it even more. "The angels in heaven may have beautiful voices, but they do not have what we have! - our experiences on earth that make us so grateful!" Or, our flesh and blood bodies, which Ruben encouraged us to use by clapping or stamping or moving as we sang. "Worship should use all of us and all of our senses!" We sang in Spanish and I followed as best I could. I struggled at first to get the meaning of each phrase I was singing. Finally I let go of figuring it all out and simply invested the unfamiliar words with my own gratitudes.

During our times of prayer, prayers of gratitude dominated: for the beauty of the day, for work in a time of high unemployment, for family and friends, that the gas in the car's gas tank lasted till pay day, for a life that was changing for the better. Prayers of concern were pleas for spiritual shifts:, a more Christ-like attitude, a clearer sense of God's path, strength to avoid temptation, more trust and less worry, more people following the precepts of Christ.

We both participated in and listened to a sermon on Mark 9. "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief." He left us thinking...what do we each believe? How much do we believe it? 70%? 80%? 90%? What's the impact of our unbelief on our lives and lives of others?

That's when I remembered the conversation.

The conversation

I was talking a couple weeks back with Dan (my partner in CourageousSpace Coaching and Consulting). He was relating an experience he'd had with a group of people from a congregation that had brought him in to talk about congregational renewal. He asked the group, "On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 low and 10 high, how much do you really believe that God has an intent or vision for your congregation's future?"

A majority of the people answered "2" or "3".

"Lord we believe; help our unbelief"

Do justice, Love Kindness...

2009-10-26T10:02:00.001-07:00

What a great weekend...though I need a weekend to recover from it! I spent it at Lazy F Camp and Retreat Center (located just outside of Ellensburg, WA) with 20 youth from the district (and about 6 other adults)to reflect on the topic, "Change Your World - Now"

This was the first district youth retreat in a number of years, and the timing of it kept many away because of sports, band, and other kinds of school commitments. And, the flu too, took a toll. But those who came?? Oh. My. Goodness!!

I knew it was going to be a different kind of weekend right from the start. You know that awkward registration time when people are arriving and don't know each other yet or feel comfortable? The youth had a lovely way of welcoming people as they arrived, pulling them into a game or conversation. It wasn't anything planned. There was no script that said, "go up and talk to new people when they walk in the door." It was their natural instinct.

Marieke (on the camp staff) supervised one of the three work groups on Saturday that tackled projects that needed doing around camp. "They worked really hard, and they had this great way of making it all really fun, too...they're really full of life and joy"

Ryan (also on the camp staff) was blown away. He opened Saturday evening's dance with a hoe-down and square-dancing. (you'd have to know Ryan to know that this would totally goofy fun) After he left, the youth took it to brand new realms - square dancing to hip-hop music.

They really seem to get that church is about being a community of practice, where we develop certain "muscles" within ourselves, practice them with one another, and find support as we try to use those muscles in how we live our lives and interact with all people and situations.

For those of you who have been reading Bishop Schnase's book, "Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations" - that's exactly what he's getting at. Radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith-development, risk-taking mission and service, extravagant generosity.

The retreat approached it all from a totally different angle...but in the end that's what the retreat was about and what the youth embodied. Being in the midst of that kind of community is energizing and inspiring...and to this 51 year old introvert also a tad bit exhausting.

But it's Monday morning, and I had a long nap yesterday and a good night's sleep and I'm missing those kids.

Ancient words for today's people

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Everything matters.
You are not alone.
You are more than you know
The awful thing is not the final word.
Today is all we have. Today is enough.
We need each other.
St. Benedict's Way of Love

I love this rephrasing of St. Benedict's Rule. It feels like the lifeline that the Christ's message is supposed to be. So many live the hopelessness of the opposite of these thoughts; that's why there's church. So there's a place where people can hear and learn to live this message.

(One of the pastor's in the district has this painted on (his/her) office wall. Any guesses who?)

In the beginning...

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...was the first post. And here it is.

This is a blog as I work with the Seven Rivers District of the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church (try saying that 6 times fast). We're a geographically and theologically diverse bunch of Christians located in the center of Washington State. The district is bordered by Canada to the north, Oregon to the south, and the Cascade range to the west. Our eastern border ranges from Walla Walla and Dayton in the south end to Grand Coulee in the north.

We have the unique distinction of having 2, count 'em, 2 district superintendents. Steve Schroeder and I (Mary Huycke) job share the position. As far as we've heard we're the only district in the US that has two people sharing the work. Steve and I each work 1/2 time in this role and 1/2 time in another role -- Steve as the pastor in Twisp, me as a church consultant and ministry coach with CourageousSpace. I liken our work as superintendents to being the round connector piece in a tinker-toy set, (OK, that's dating me). In the ds role, we help connect local congregations and clergy connect to one another, to other congregations, and to the ministry done jointly by larger groupings and agenices within the United Methodist Church.

Communication is basic to how we connect. Hence this blog. It's one way we can share what's going on as our congregations explore what it means to be a faithful, fruitful Christian community in their own particular setting at this particular time in history. That's always the key question for a church, but more than ever, churches are intentionally addressing it.

According to the General Conference of the United Methodist Church, the goal and work of each local congregation is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
This fall each of our congregations will be receiving a self-assessment tool from the Annual Conference (via Steve and me) to help them assess how they're doing in that work. What's working...and what may need some shifting.

The questions are designed to help a congregation look at themselves through 3 lenses 1) Who are we and who is our neighbor? 2) What's our definition of a Christian disciple, how do we think they're "made", what are we doing to do that, and how successful in it are we? 3) To what extent is our work impacting the lives of people beyond our doors; to what extent do we as a church walk alongside the community in direct ministry to community needs?

Much of what we'll be sharing in this blog are what these conversations stir up and what's it's like to be engaged in this work. That's what the title of blog refers to. God is deep at work in our communities. Our call is to listen and then step into the flow.