The Comma

As a new administration takes office for the U.S., I am reminded of how much any administration – indeed anyone with responsibility and authority – needs the help, support and direction of the rest of the community. So I will look with hope to the dawn of another new beginning, and remember that our dreams and direction are given life by our own actions and support.  I will look for ways to be active, involved and vocal about how I believe we as a people are called to be: with each other, and in and with the world.

And I believe the church has an important role, standing with the poor, the marginalized, those without power and without voice.  How we partner with, rather than just speaking for, will be a mark of our commitment to our common humanity.  It’s about imaging, with Jesus, a world of love and justice!

The UCC web site, www.ucc.org will have additional info about the inauguration as the week progresses at http://www.ucc.org/news/obama-inauguration.html

What a time of painful and difficult conversations – over the words of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright from Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, and the firestorm the youtube excerpts of a couple of his sermons. 

And I find myself in an interesting position. As a lay person, I was troubled by some of the words of Rev. Wright.  And I’ve also glimpsed a perspective from pastors, as the colleague of pastors and the partner of a pastor, all of whom take seriously their call to pastoral and also prophetic preaching.

I can sense the pain of seeing a clergy colleague’s lifetime of ministry and service reduced to a couple of minutes of soundbites, taken out of context and without perspective.  I have seen way they each struggle with building a sermon that has depth and moves through a progression of thought, context, biblical interpretation and focus on the human condition.  I know the way they work at crafting the right phrase or example in order to make the complete sermon more whole, and the way they work on a sermon series that builds and is informed through the progression.  And I think I get how painful it can be to have one particular part of a sermon dissected and critiqued, without the context, without a sense of how it ties into the whole and moves us through.  And they see that happening to their clergy colleague and how easy it is to critique and condemn a lifetime of work for a small portion of one sermon. 

I know me how frustrating it would be to not be able to have that context in my work.  Maybe for example, if I were criticized for a large balance in the church’s checking account on the 28th of the month, that I should do better at investing the church’s funds and increasing the rate of return.  It’s easy look at the 28th in a snapshot and critique, not knowing that payroll comes out on the 29th. 

I also know how easy and natural it is for all of us to look at something though only one lens. And worship outside of our own context can easily be outside our comfort zone.  When I was on the national UCC Executive Council, we had a full worship service at the beginning and end of our 5-day meetings.  We also had morning prayers and evening vespers each day during the meeting period.  And that worship reflected wonderfully the diversity of the United Church of Christ. 

I remember one meeting where opening worship was led by the director of the UCC Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns.  Worship had some wonderful gay and gay-affirming imagery, named some of the struggles of GLBT people, and included the hymn from our New Century Hymnal “In the Midst of New Dimensions:”  “We are man and we are woman, all persuasions, old and young, each a gift in your creation, each a love song to be sung” Worship was quite moving and powerful. 

Four days later the closing worship led by the representative of the Calvin Synod.  The Calvin Synod is a very conservative branch from the Hungarian Reformed Church tradition.  It was very different from the opening worship in some ways, with very traditional, even orthodox, imagery and language, named some of the struggles in their story, including those of the Hungarian galley slaves and sung of in the hymn, “Lift Your Head, O Martyrs, Weeping,” also found in our New Century Hymnal.   That worship was also quite moving and powerful. 

I also remember worship led by African American pastors.  Black liberation theology was named affirmed, and celebrated. The God of all creation and Saviour of all was worshipped.  And in ways that were intense powerful, core-of-my-body-and-being moving.  We sang of the need for God’s presence and for release from bondage, and we heard powerful preaching and the call to repentance and a new day and a new way of being.

All those worship services were powerful, faithful, and authentic.  And they were not wrong just because they weren’t all a part of my tradition, childhood Presbyterian.  Indeed that was the gift and grace of those settings: the Holy Spirit was alive and at work in all those settings, and authenticity and honesty were appreciated.  And affirmed.

I believe God calls us to community.  And that implies a commitment to listen, to try to understand, and to be vulnerable and open.  So who am I to transfer my discomfort with a few minutes of youtube of a worship service into an expectation of how it “should be?”  I think such snapshots and soundbites defeat the possibility of dialogue rather than invite it.

In a culture that values one-upmanship, I believe we are called to be counter-cultural. Sermons, the church’s ministry, and our relationships as people of faith – are about the journey.  About staying in touch, listening and discerning, talking and hearing.  I believe God calls us to listen through the pain and agony of each other’s stories, not to turn away. And I believe God understands when that pain is expressed in words and tones hard to hear.  I believe God wants us to bring our whole complete true selves to worship and life, not a sanitized and sterile façade.

That is the church at its most faithful and fullest.  And I am grateful for the ways the United Church of Christ honors, acknowledges and affirms that hope and vision.  Easy? No.  Perfect?  No. Faithful?  Please God, may that be so.  To God be the glory.

After happening on a recent special on ancient cultures and their practice of human sacrifice, I found myself wondering about human sacrifice.  And it hit me in fact perhaps I also participate in human sacrifice myself in as a member of this society.

 Perhaps it’s human sacrifice to initiate an illegal war, causing the deaths and injuries of hundreds and thousands of Iraqis and Americans, sacrificing to the god of unilateralism, greed and arrogance.  And maybe it’s human sacrifice not to adequately fund health care, so that people die of treatable and preventable conditions, sacrificing to the god of lower taxes.  And perhaps it’s human sacrifice to not implement a nationwide transportation infrastructure, sacrificing to the god of individuality and independence on the highways. 

And I think we have opportunities to honor life and the best in us as well:  when we offer nurture and help to Katrina survivors and Teen Feed clients. When we open hearts and are transformed by new people, new ideas, new possibilities – in the church and in our nation.  When we are led by hope not fear.  When we are informed by knowing that we are borrowing this earth from our children.  And when we love and are loved. 

I guess there are a variety of ways we sacrifice and a variety of ways we honor life.  I hope I can find ways to sacrifice in meaningful ways in order to change the human sacrifices we demand in this society.  And this time of lent, death and resurrection reminds me that there is hope.

Good news of Don Mackenzie

Don went home from the hospital on Wednesday December 12, a week after his intestinal surgery.  While he is mostly in bed and will be for a while, nevertheless his healing is continuing.  He is planning to return to work some time in February. 

Don is now on the healing path from what was a very precarious medical situation in early November.  It appears now that in addition to the significant flare-up of Crohn’s disease, he also probably had a burst appendix.  Together those created a very critical situation for Don and for a period of time there was some question about his prognosis for recovery. 

It is good to now be on this side of that crisis.  Don is hopeful that the surgery to remove the damaged section of intestine may bring about fuller health and energy for him.  It is very possible that this issue has been causing him problems for an extended period of time.

So Don – and we – are very hopeful that he recovery will be full and complete and his return back among us will be joyful and life-giving to us all.  In the mean time, thank you for prayers, for cards, for continuing to support the ministry of this church, and for the ways that together we live into the Advent waiting and the anticipation of rebirth of Light, Life and Love among us. 

Blessings to you.

David Anderson, Peter Ilgenfritz, Catherine Foote   
And thanks to Judy Mackenzie for her help with this information

Info from MedicineNet.com:

 Crohn’s disease: A chronic inflammatory disease, primarily involving the small and large intestine, but which can affect other parts of the digestive system as well. It is named for Burrill Crohn, the American gastroenterologist who first described the disease in 1932. Crohn disease is usually diagnosed in persons in their teens or twenties, but can come to the fore at any point in life. It can be a chronic, recurrent condition or can cause minimal symptoms with or even without medical treatment. 

In mild forms, Crohn disease causes small scattered shallow crater- like areas (erosions) called aphthous ulcers in the inner surface of the bowel. In more serious cases, deeper and larger ulcers can develop, causing scarring and stiffness and possibly narrowing of the bowel, sometimes leading to obstruction. Deep ulcers can puncture holes in the bowel wall, leading to infection in the abdominal cavity (peritonitis) and in adjacent organs.

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MedicineNet does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information. 

It was 13 years ago this week that the congregation voted to call Don to this church: on Dec. 4, 1994. So again we celebrate that covenant that has God in the center and surrounding it, as we give thanks for the ministry of the congregation, for Don’s ministry here, and for God’s gifts of healing and presence with us all of our days.

Don Mackenzie is through his surgery this week for an intestinal blockage. Although the surgery was more complex than hoped, and the recovery will likely be a little longer than he – and we – expected, the good news is that he is now healing. Don, Judy, Mary and Alice have continued to feel blessed and upheld by our prayers. May God’s healing presence continue to be felt by Don, and by all who need hope and healing in this season.He will have a period of healing and recovery following that, and hopes to return in February.  Please honor the request from Don and Judy and the doctors for no visits or phone calls. And please know that your prayers and cards are deeply appreciated! We will keep you updated on the website and in the prayers during Sunday morning worship.

Dear Friends,

Please continue to hold Don Mackenzie in prayer.  He is going to have laproscopic surgery next week.  That will mean a week or so in the hospital and then home.  While he is not looking forward to the surgery, he does have reason to hope this will help him feel better than he’s felt for a long time.  He is aiming for return to work in early February. He is not up for visitors or calls, but does treasure cards and is grateful for those and for our prayers. 

We will stay in touch together and let you know how he’s doing.   Blessings and thanks to each of you for your support and prayers. 

Catherine, Peter, David

We continue to hold Don in prayer. He is home and healing, with much healing ahead. Please honor the request from Don and Judy and the doctors for no visits or phone calls. And please know that your prayers and cards are deeply appreciated! To give Don the space he needs to heal, we are assuming that he will not be back until January. We will keep you updated on the web site and in the prayers during Sunday morning worship.

We have looked at Don’s responsibilities to be sure they are attended to: Here are some specifics:

· Personnel: Peter will fill in.

· Mission and outreach: Catherine Foote will connect with the boards and ministry.

· Ecumenical work: Marty Curry and Don Mallett. David Anderson and Greg Turner as resource if necessary.

· Parish care. Catherine Foote is the lead for parish care support.

Our task and role as the leadership staff is to assure you that this team is leading by

· Continuing to move forward on our goals and direction

· Staying on top of issues and concerns,

· Keeping you informed and updated.

We will prioritize what will get done. The impact may be not on the goals themselves but on how we are able to implement them. We will continue to focus on:

· Worship

· Parish care

· Moving on the vision – and into our next steps of the process of making that shape our life and priorities together.

· Moving on staffing positions as recommended in the Long Term Staffing Report and affirmed at the church council.

· Supporting and affirming a strong, successful stewardship drive that we can celebrate.

And we as this faithful and loving congregation will move ahead, sure in the comfort of God’s presence with us, and knowing that what we do and how we live and love are our gifts back to God for our many blessings.

Catherine Foote, Peter Ilgenfritz, and David Anderson