Jeremiah's Field - Hopeful in spite of reality

The Fallow Field

2007-04-23T20:56:00.000-05:00

Yes, it has indeed been forever since I've posted. It turns out that transitioning into a new church is a heckuva lot more work than one might reasonably imagine. The last time I posted was All Saint's Day and I'm pretty sure that's the last time I worked somewhat reasonable hours.

Older, wiser pastor-types try to tell new pastors, "Whatever you do, don't try and change stuff your first year in a new church. Even if the church says 'We want change,' they don't really mean it." So, like the n00b that I am, I started changing stuff left and right. Major changes were done on the church newsletter and the weekly bulletin/order of worship. One gift that I've always felt I had was that of making good documents. Thankfully, those that have commented have been really, really positive. I'm always somewhat concerned that those who don't like the change, if there are some, are just keeping it under their hats until an opportune time. I think a lot of pastors have a touch of paranoia. Maybe it's because Jesus' own disciples betrayed him. Maybe it's because of the horror stories they hear about "pastor abuse." Maybe it's just because we're human like everyone else. But The Beacon (the new title for our newsletter), and the new bulletin are both great, if I do say so myself. Only problem is now that I've ventured out of MS Word in favor of Publisher, the church secretary knows dang little about how to do almost anything with them. So, in effect, I've about doubled my workload. Smooth move. But, boy, do they look good. Minor changes were made to the liturgy, both on "regular" service of the Word Sundays and Communion Sundays. Little grumbling, mostly positive comments, see above...

As if this weren't enough extra stress, I'm buying a house. S-T-R-E-S-S-F-U-L! Hope and I were going to wait until this summer to start seriously looking. But then I saw this house on the second day it was on the MLS listing. I usually hate the phrase "dream home," but it's really how I feel about the place we're buying. It's a dream home for me. You can go check it out on here. We close in two weeks on May 7th.

In other news, we adopted another degu about six months ago named Missie. She was really old when her other family brought her here after her boyfriend, Speedy, died. She's not doing well at all. We've had her to the vet quite a bit lately which has taken up what little free time Hope and I managed to have together, not to mention a fair chunk o' change. We love her a lot, but it's been emotionally draining.

Hope and I are going to General Synod. We bought our plane tix last week. We're coming in Thursday for the 2030 clergy stuff and leaving on Monday. I reserved a room in the Hilton in January, which was smart, 'cause otherwise we'd be in the hinterlands. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends and making some new ones. Speaking of old friends, Hope and I went to two ecclesiastical councils yesterday for some of our Eden Seminary friends: Eric Fistler and Meredith Anderson. Both handled the examination very well and did Eden proud. I'll try not to wait so long before posting next time. Stay tuned.

50 years BOLD

2006-11-05T19:52:00.000-06:00

Today was a good day. As part of All Saints' Day, Community Protestant Church commissioned its confirmation class and asked God's blessing for their journey. Classes started on Wednesday and I've got to say, I'm excited about our journey. They've had mentor-based classes during the interim and the congregation had a rough time with it. Early reports from the parents indicate that the kids had a great time in our first class and dubbed it "cool."

Which brings me to the point of my post. This week was crazy in many ways and completely full, but it wasn't that busywork kind of full. It was stuffed with the fullness of God and the amazing joy of an entire congregation living as saints. From the death of our church's longest standing member to the birth of a new baby, from our church bazaar and barbeque to our capital campaign presentation, from our adult education night to our confirmation class - everything has reflected a church that desires to be more than a place to spend an hour on Sundays. I'm amazed by the depth and breadth of faith in my congregation. I count myself blessed to be among them.

To cap the week off, Hope and I watched the UCC webcast kicking off our denomination's 50 year anniversary. On the whole, I was impressed. I liked that they had remote links to three churches across the country and some of the YouTube videos. The webcast was thankfully devoid of the endless grandstanding speeches that can result whenever you get a bunch of pastors together. I felt it mostly celebrated what is right with the UCC, but I must admit that I would have liked to have seen a more prominent role for scripture and more talk about Christ, in whom we find our unity. We would do well to remember it's Christ who has brought us this far and Christ who will lead us into the future. It's weeks like this one when I see my church being the LIVING body of Christ that give me hope for the next 50 years.

Game 5 - Detroit 2, St. Louis 4 - Awww YEAH!

2006-10-27T22:36:00.000-05:00

Better luck next year! Woohoo! Yay Cards!
2006 World Series Champions

Game 4 - Detroit 4, St. Louis 5

2006-10-26T23:16:00.000-05:00

That trophy will look good right over there!

Game 3 - Detroit 0, St. Louis 5

2006-10-24T22:51:00.000-05:00

This from the "marginally theological" department. Go Cards!

Game 2 - St. Louis 1, Detroit 3

2006-10-22T22:32:00.000-05:00

THISis the enemy!

Game 1 - St. Louis 7, Detroit 2

2006-10-21T22:26:00.000-05:00

Take that, PoC

I'm no Oskar Schindler apparently...

2006-10-20T16:43:00.000-05:00

From a suggestion by my pal at Philosophy over Coffee

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Never seen it, but sounds close enough. Netflix, here I come...

Vacation recap - part one

2006-09-12T16:52:00.000-05:00

Technically today is my third day as pastor of Community Protestant Church in Mundelein, but it's hard to say when I really started working for the church. Months ago, I suppose. It has been meetings, meetings, meetings and I'll get into some of that later. Now I want to recall some of my trip to Glacier Nat'l Park before it fades too far in my suddenly-overtaxed memory. Day 1 of the trip was Monday, August 21st, which was also my second anniversary. Contrary to conventional practice, I was almore completely packed the day before, which resulted in a lot of anxious pacing around the house Monday morning. We waited around the house, driving each other nuts, until about 1:30 when a friend from Hope's church came to take us to the Glenview, IL train station. There, we waited... again with the waiting! Some silly family got there shortly after we did and we were forced to listen to their witless banter for about an hour.
Then, the train came! On time! Yay!
We hustled down to our car and got on... It was pretty darn full for a Monday afternoon and a lot more kids than I had expected. I hear Amtrak and the first face that comes to mind isn't an 8 year old. We made our way up to Milwaukee, stopped, and more people got on... There was one less passenger on the train shortly after one of the later stops. The conductor cam on the PA and told people NOT TO LEAVE the train's side. She didn't listen. Train pulled away without her. Next train was in 24 hours. Anyway, we had a late dinner reservation in the dining car. As we traveled along the Mississippi near the Wisconsin-Minnesota border, we had a nice anniversary dinner with a lovely couple from the UK who were in the states for a series of Bobby Vee concerts. Seriously. They were Bobby Vee groupies! They left England right after the Thursday arrests that shut down the airport and told us all about the madness that ensued at Heathrow. Wow. We finished our dinner and our conversations and headed back to our coach chairs. A few of the problem children got off the train at Minneapolis/St. Paul, so it was feeling better until folks got on in the middle of the night and seats of people around us needed to be shuffled so couples could sit together. This Amish or Mennonite young lady and her friend/husband got on around 3 in the morning. I took this photo because I wanted to get the bonnet and glasses on the table, but then I felt the rest of the shot had good composition, so here it is. More about the second day and rest of the trip as soon as I can get a few minutes. Remember, I just started a new job! Sorry so long between updates, folks.

On Vacation

2006-08-21T09:06:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks have been a big push to get ready for today: the day Hope and I go on vacation to Glacier National Park. We're taking Amtrak's Empire Builder there and back. I'm pretty excited since I've never really taken the train (other than commuter rail) and it's going somewhere I've never been before. We're gone til the end of the month, so I'm sure I'll be posting some photos and stories shortly after I return. I hope to get "the field" up and running with daily posts around the time I get back. Well, thanks for stopping by and you stay classy cyberspace.

An amazing gift

2006-08-08T14:03:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you receive a gift that makes your jaw drop. This was one of those times for me. On Sunday, I went to my wife Hope's church as I've been doing since we moved here a year ago. After the worship service, I was approached by this lady that I've come to admire for her relentless commitment to the work of the church (shown through her dedication to jobs few people are willing to do). She slipped me a gift bag and dropped a note into it. When I got home, I was curious to see what it could be and I was excited because Sunday was my 32nd birthday. Standard gift protocol required that I read the card before opening the present. I'm glad that I did. It read:

Dear Alex, Congratulations to you on your ordination. I wanted to do something special for your new beginning. I made you a stole made out of my great grandma's obi (sash belt). This obi is more than 100 years old. I have been wearing this obi when I play koto (the 13 string Japanese musical instrument). I know my great grandma will be glad to see someone appreciating her obi. May God bless you on your ministy. Love, Eiko F.

I pulled the gift out of the bag and unwrapped the tissue to find this thing of amazing beauty given with stunning generosity. A lot of things race through your mind when you receive something that is so precious, from "wow, awesome!" to "whoa, I don't deserve anything like this." I was reminded then that to be Christians, we first need to learn to receive gifts of which we're not worthy that are lavished upon us out of no other motivation other than love. It is this way that I receive this gift. For it and in the spirit it was given, I'm truly thankful to be part of something that brings out the best in people.

Ordination! Photos continued

2006-07-27T17:56:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't want their name up on a marquee?

Ordination! More photos

2006-07-27T17:54:00.000-05:00

Getting alb-ed (a gift from Riviera UCC) by longtime friend Margaret Ann Eisenmenger and Alicia.

Ordained!

2006-07-27T13:43:00.000-05:00

That's me on the left and my pastor, The Rev. Alicia Rapp of Riviera UCC in Palm Bay, Florida. It's been a 9 year road to this point. I went back to college without knowing where the road ahead would lead, only that God was leading me in a new direction. I considered a career in law pretty seriously for a while, but dismissed it when I thought about the needs of the world (more specifically, the needs of the world's marginalized). Now, as I prepare to begin my call in September, it's important for me to remember the reasons I answered this call in the first place. It wasn't because I loooove meetings and feeling important and getting a pretty decent salary, and, truth be told, I do love those things. But I could have those things elsewhere. I'm a pastor because I'm compelled by the person and message of Jesus Christ that God is love and that we're invited to be changed by this encounter, and, by doing so, participate in God's ongoing renewal in the world. It began to dawn on me that this was the most important thing and the cause to which I wish to dedicate my life. I'm blessed to have gifts for ministry and to have them officially recognized in my ordination. I pray that I will live a life that glorifies God in both truth and action and, by so doing, help lead others to a mature, loving faith in God.

The trip itself was reminiscent of the hard road to ordination: two hour delays BOTH to and from Florida, real-life frustration in the form of stressful family gatherings and forgetting a liturgy book I wanted to bring (that contained a communion liturgy I wanted to use), along with some moments of incredible beauty (like driving up South Tropical Trail and Rockledge Dr. on our way out of town). The service was nice and a lot of friends came, even a few who don't go to church much. I asked my pastor to preach, and she did a great job. She preached on John 11: Jesus raising Lazarus. She preached about a "ministry of hesitation," on the pastor not making an idol of her/his self and by practicing a ministry of hesitation (the opposite being a ministry of frenzied running from brush fire to brush fire), one makes room for God to work. It was a good message for me to hear, and I imagine for everyone else in attendance. CPC (the church I'm called to serve) sent a nice letter to be read (what Alicia's reading in the photo) along with the flowers on the altar. It was also good to see Eden alum and recent ordinand Scott Elliott, who is serving my home church as Assistant Pastor. I gotta run, but I'll post some more photos here shortly.

Here in my car... I feel safest of all

2006-07-15T10:25:00.000-05:00

So, I've been away for a few days. I'd like to say I've been doing something to further the Kingdom of God, but really I've been pretty consumed with shopping for a new car. My wife, Hope, has been kind enough to share her car with me since the tragic end of my '94 Honda del Sol last September. Since we live next door to the church she serves, this arrangement has worked out pretty well. When I start my new job in September, it will require us to buy another vehicle. Now I've had a LOT of cars for someone who is 31 years old (fourteen), so I'm no stranger to "the dance."

However, I've never had to take a congregation's perception into account while purchasing a car, especially a new car. Part of this is kind of fun in a rite-of-passage kind of way: "You know you're a pastor when you buy an incredibly modest, practical car." Those of you who know me will know that this is rarely my first inclination. Part of me wants to rebel and buy something that would raise eyebrows... a 20 year old Porsche 911 or an S class Mercedes or something equally unwise, flashy, and mechanic-prone. But, for once in my life, I'm not going to do that. Been there, done that, had a Porsche on jackstands in my parents' garage for four years (hi mom!), and I think I just might be growing up.

So, I've been shopping for practical. At first I was actually excited about the prospect of getting a minivan. I've never seen them as uncool, of course I also bought a school bus once (a story for another time). I love to sit up high like that and have room for more than four people and be able to drag stuff home from Ikea. But the mileage they get is killing the joy of considering one. It's not just an economic consideration, it's environmental as well. Knowing that I'd be commuting alone most of the time in a vehicle that gets between 18-24 miles per gallon just doesn't seem to be a good use of resources. Hope suggested to me that we get another small car and get something like a minivan when we replace her car since we don't really need the extra room just yet. She's pretty smart like that. So, I went out and looked. And looked. And looked some more. I drove a Civic Hybrid and I have to say I'm pretty underwhelmed with the car for $25k. It doesn't drive as well as a Prius (also ungodly expensive now with any added features), and the back seats don't fold down. You're limited to the trunk itself, which makes it worse for carrying anything more than groceries. I also looked at the Honda Fit, but it's way too small in the back seat to carry adult passengers comfortably (I assume I will occaisionally need to transport church folk to meetings, etc.). I considered the standard-issue pastor's car, the Camry, but it gets ho-hum mileage, is expensive, and hasn't had great reviews so far for the 2007 model especially with low speed shifting. Anyway, to attempt to shorten this story, I think I'm going to place an order for the new for 2007 Nissan Versa. It's amazingly quiet, roomy, and advanced for the money. It gets 30-36 mpg. If we order one soon optioned as I'd like it, we should maybe get it in September (I hope).

Now that I have this about decided, I just need to get to work on my ordination service for next Sunday... That seems to be coming up awfully fast :)

Comments welcome

2006-07-07T15:24:00.000-05:00

I received a request to open up comments to anyone, so I did.

Fourth of July

2006-07-05T11:32:00.000-05:00

It was great to hear the Declaration of Independence on NPR yesterday morning. With all of the debate about how the "founding fathers" would view stem cell research, removal of artificial life support, gay rights, etc. (they, of course, happen to agree with me on all of these issues) , it was refreshing to hear those wise and courageous words that testify to true liberty and eschew totalitarianism in all its forms. The United States was and is an experiment in liberty and it seems that there are a lot of people of divergent ideologies that would like to make choices for us. I find the Bible to be similar in many ways, there are always plenty of people who would love to help us interpret it, but one might want to start by ACTUALLY READING what it says! More than proof texts, more than the New Testament, but the rich treasure that is this collection of experiences of the living, gracious God.

I took this photo myself at the Winnetka, IL fireworks last night. The "fireworks" mode on my Canon PowerShot SD550 looks pretty nice, huh? I wouldn't recommend the camera, tho. WAY too susceptible to blurry pictures. The new ones have image stabilization. Sigh.

Pretty busy for being technically unemployed

2006-07-02T09:48:00.000-05:00

It has been a busy week for a pastor-elect (what do we call the time between candidating Sunday and start date? I'll take suggestions...). I was asked to help produce the Joint Youth Ministry's mission trip video. They went to Pine Ridge, SD and worked with Re-Member Native American Outreach Progam building bunk beds, rehabbing a church, goofing around, etc. It looked like a great opportunity to do mission work in a worthwhile place while also learning more about the Lakota culture. I'd like to post their video (and my work on it), but vith privacy concerns being what they are, it probably won't happen. Maybe for the next trip we can get some permission to use photos from parents and kids... something to think about.

Another issue I'm wrestling with is how involved to be during this time. I've decided to limit my participation in church life to Christian Ed and Joint Youth Ministry planning because of the realities of the program year (September start). Meanwhile, life goes on for the church and they're considering changes to a mission statement, vision statement, and constitution (yikes!) with all of them approaching final drafts. The obvious question (for Protestants in general) how do we encourage both lay leadership AND pastoral leadership. I anticipate that this will be a question that will be around for a while, but I'm going to have to deal with it practically and soon.

Hamas agrees to recognize Israel!

2006-06-27T08:36:00.000-05:00

Good news today, folks. The ruling Hamas party of Palestine agreed to recognize the state of Israel. This is a major step for a party that held as its foundation the destruction of Israel! Now that Hamas has made this concession (which, of course, doesn't go as far as Israel would like), major sanctions SHOULD be lifted (emphasis mine).

However, all is not well. The Palestinians egregiously abducted an Israeli soldier during an equally condemnable border attack on Sunday. It will be difficult to move forward in the region while poorly conceived and thoughtless provocation is the order of the day. Let's pray that both Israel and Palestine make the most of this agreement and are able to pull back from the brink.

The most mentally stimulating time waster

2006-06-26T21:10:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't love to play flash-based games on the internet when you've got somthing more important to do? I stumbled on this apparently British site loaded with some really unique games and my weekend was shot in a "flash."

My favorite is Blueprint; a game where you have to make a ball hit the target using only gravity, inertia, and whatever specific tools they deign to provide you with. I haven't finished all the puzzles yet (I'm about halfway up the difficulty scale) and some are quite challenging. Try a few of the easy ones and you'll get sucked in. Definitely NOT recommended when there is serious work to be done! Also try archery simulator Eagle Eye, and Excitebike simulator on steroids TG Motocross.

Episcopal Church and PCUSA: Not quite ready to get off the fence

2006-06-23T08:49:00.000-05:00

The past week has seen some interesting developments with our ecumenical partners: The Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA). Each has just wrapped up its general convention where, once again, both wrestled with the issue of gay clergy and, once again, both sent mixed signals in what I believe are good faith attempts to preserve unity in their respective denominations. Both faced vocal minorities threatening gloom and doom, saying that promotion of gays and lesbians as clergy would hurt relationships with church partners in more "traditional" cultures like those in Asia and Africa. Just last week the Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Puerto Rico (United Evangelical Church of Puerto Rico) voted to disaffiliate with the UCC primarily over GLBT issues. Pitting those who care about justice for homosexuals against those who emphasize wider church issues such as church unity and ethnic diversity is a pretty effective strategy for reactionaries to "divide-and-conquer" the more-diverse-by-definition moderate to progressive people in the church.

The reactionary wing of the Episcopal Church came to the General Convention in Columbus, Ohio demanding an apology for appointing Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as a bishop, or threatened to break away. You never hear about the moderate to progressive contingents of the church threatening to break away if their interests aren't upheld. Although, sometimes individuals will make personal decisions to leave a denomination that he or she doesn't perceive to be doing enough for gay rights, poverty, or some other issue that he or she believes is a call of the gospel. These tend to be personal decisions, not organized exoduses that threaten to cut the baby in half. The Episcopal Church first rejected any notion of an apology, then relented and said it would use "restraint" when considering "whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church." This "restraint," in my view, is tantamount to an admission of homosexuality as sin if it is only applied to issues of sexual orientation or it is applied for that reason alone. If that's what Episcopalians believe, then the repentence that the reactionaries were asking for is appropriate (and I obviously don't think it is).

As it has been with other appeasements to bullies in the past, now we begin to revisit challenges to hard-won battles we thought were long over, like the standing of women in the church. The reactionaries of the Episcopal Church expressed their unhappiness with the selection of the first woman to lead the communion, hinting that it's because she's a woman. What's next? Segregation? Slavery? Both have been upheld using the Bible in the past...

The PCUSA has different church polity than the Episcopals, and their recent General Assembly action allowed a bypass of the church's standing ban on "self-avowed practicing" homosexuals. The decision to ordain gays and lesbians is left up to local or regional calling body. It's still fence-sitting, but a kind that seems to me, somehow, more appropriate assuming that local bodies consider the gifts for ministry of the candidates before them and don't just make blanket declarations. The big problem here is if a gay man or lesbian woman is perceiving a call to ministry and he or she lives in a locality that is unwilling to prayerfully consider that call (it happens quite a bit, I understand). I did like what one PCUSA woman had to say:

"I am against homosexual ordination," said former moderator Marj Carpenter, her voice breaking. But she said she nevertheless supported the proposal. "I'm willing to compromise if it will get us back to being the church. I love this church, but please, let us get on."

Like her, I wish we could move on to more pressing issues of ministry like health care, world hunger, and poverty instead of bickering about who's worthy of serving in Christ's name.

Viola Hetlage 1911-2006

2006-06-21T14:24:00.000-05:00

I just got a call yesterday from Eden Theological Seminary (my alma mater) that my friend and benefactor, Mrs. Viola Hetlage, passed away in late May. At first, I was angry that I hadn't heard sooner, but the person who called me had just found out herself. What I was really feeling was a deep sadness that Mrs. Hetlage had passed away before I was able to share news of my new call with her.

I first met Mrs. Hetlage when I was a student at Elmhurst College. I was a recipient of a scholarship there named in honor of her husband, Herman. They asked us to write letters thanking our sponsors, which I did. Mrs. Hetlage, 92 years old at the time, was the only person to respond to my letter. She and her husband were farmers in Wright City, Missouri without children of their own. They both were active in their home church, Immanuel UCC in Wright City, which was also home to the theological legends: Reinhold and H. Richard Niebuhr. I thought it was nice to hear from her and sent a brief note to her thanking her for her response, but thought little more of it at the time.

The next year, I enrolled at Eden Seminary and in October we students were presented with names and addresses of people to thank for scholarship support and again I got Mrs. Hetlage's name and address! I was like "Hey, I know this lady! How cool!" She lived about two and a half hours from the Seminary in Columbia, MO, so I told her that I'd like to stop by and meet her sometime. I was able to visit her about three times over my 4 years in seminary, but, sadly, this is the only picture I have of her.

She was a sweet lady, not given to sentimentality, but appreciative of letters from the many students she helped over the years. She didn't have children of her own, but she had a big family through the body of Christ. She will forever be my standard of loving stewardship to the church and the institutions that serve to support it. The earth could use more people like Viola Hetlage, so it is fitting that we mourn her passing. But I rejoice that she is in the new home God has promised her without the pains of a 95 year-old body. She will be missed, but not forgotten.

Welcome to the field!

2006-06-20T20:40:00.000-05:00

This blog was created as a way to comment and journal about ministry, current events, and, well, things that interest me and might interest someone else. The occasion marking the genesis of this blog is my call two days ago to serve as the settled pastor of Community Protestant Church in Mundelein, Illinois. CPC is part of the United Church of Christ. The blog's title comes from the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah's purchase of the field at Anatoth (Jer 32:1-15) at a time when it was about to be overtaken by the Babylonians and anyone would have been foolish to buy property! Jeremiah knew that God's promises outlast our temporary historical circumstances, no matter how great or awful things seem at the time being. This is one of my favorite scripture passages and I'm glad I could name the blog after it. Stay tuned and check out the UCC blog ring (thanks, Philosophy Over Coffee!)!