Meaning-Making and the Future of the Church

Doug Pagitt has recently commented on how to be the modern Church. His ideas are nothing new, but they are a good reminder. Check it out:

People aren't busier than they were in the 1930's. This is a common myth. There's just more competition for their time. The reality is that what churches are doing is less interesting than other things. So we need to ask: How can the church become a meaning-making system, not just a volunteer-organizing system? People don't care about the old categories of paying dues and volunteering, or the distinction between clergy and laity. What people want is to live their life in a way that makes meaning in the world. Things within a church are only meaningful to the church itself. The church is functioning as a solution to a past period and answering none of the problems for our current time. In a traditional church system, all of the important stuff is reserved for clergy. All people should be doing it! The entire community should have to do what the pastor is doing. Most pastors stay pastors because they get to do the good stuff.

There is another systemic problem in mainline churches—infatuation with crisis management. There is so much time is spent putting in place rules and responses to crises that people get addicted to crises, and you are constantly managing people. From a family systems perspective, every Sunday many churches are reinforcing a bad system on one another. At Solomon's Porch, we decided that fighting and being angry is not something we're going to do anymore and that people were not going to be rewarded in that system.

Ultimately, people aren't afraid of change. They are afraid of loss. The church must deal with things as a loss issue rather than a change issue.

For some of our thoughts on the future of the Church, check out Extreme Makeover UCC Edition and the Organic Church Manifesto.

To Make Gentle, A Bruised World

Peggy Way, the author of Created By God, wrote this excellent prayerful poem about spiritual leadership:

Our God,
We are simply asked,
As if it were easy,
To make gentle a whole bruised world,
To tame its savageness;
And how can we tame savageness
Without stepping into the den of the lion?

To be compassionate of all,
Even those people who do not collapse
Into what we want them to be,
To be compassionate of all,
Including ourselves
And, even sometimes, God, our families.

And then in the time left over
From this tremendous calling,
At the junctures of history,
Bringing words of grace and dignity
And hope
And holding on to the vision
In the midst of history;

To repeat the ancient tale
Rooted in it
As the source that defines us
As a people
In our places
With the perspective
To repeat that ancient tale

And go the way of God's foolish ones,
Your foolish ones,
Fools for Christ
And not just damned fools,
Fools with a message
To offer to the people
Who come by seeking after us.

Speak to them of truth,
Speak to them of justice,
Speak to them of care,
Speak to them of meaning in history
And not only to speak to them in words
But to touch them and show them the way.
Amen.

Standing Up for Obama's Theology

Bob Molsberry wrote a thoughtful letter to the editor in the Columbus Dispatch about Rick Santorum's negative comments about Barack Obama's theology. Check it out:

A lot of outlandish things are said on the campaign trail, but Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum went too far on Saturday in Columbus calling President Barack Obama’s theology “phony” and “unbiblical.”

I know something about President Obama’s theology. I’m a leader in the United Church of Christ, the denomination in which Mr. Obama and his family were members for several years. I often resonate with the president’s rhetoric and initiatives, because they often reflect the underlying theology that my venerable denomination professes. Not always, but often. To a certain extent, when Senator Santorum casually dismisses Obama’s theology, he dismisses mine, too. I take that seriously.

“Unbiblical,” Mr. Santorum? On the contrary. According to the prophetic witness, through a thousand years of Old Testament history, nations and rulers were judged on the basis of how well they established justice for the marginalized, compassion for the poor, and healing for the sick. Jesus placed himself squarely within this prophetic tradition when he claimed as his role in Luke’s gospel “to bring good news to the poor.” Since when are such values – often espoused by President Obama – not rock-solid biblical values?

“Phony?” Really, Senator? For nearly 400 years of American religious history, the liberal protestant Christian tradition has struggled to live out this ethic by building institutions of health care and education, abolishing slavery, championing suffrage for women and fair labor laws, and working tirelessly on behalf of civil rights. The American landscape would be vastly different today if it hadn’t been for the faithful witness of these Christian servants. In what ways is the Obama administration deviating from this proud American theological project?

Senator Santorum spoke Saturday of America as “a city on a hill.” How ironic that these words from Matthew’s gospel were first uttered on American soil in 1630 by the Puritan leader, John Winthrop, in describing the Pilgrims’ grand experiment. The United Church of Christ, President Obama’s former church, is the direct descendent of the Pilgrims’ Congregationalist faith.

In my local congregation, members often disagree on issues of faith, but I have never heard members dismiss one another by accusing each other of being “phony” or “unbiblical.” Our distinct congregations don’t always agree. But we refrain from branding those we disagree with as “phony.” In the ecumenical community, the varied Christian faith expressions don’t always see eye to eye. Yet we struggle to stay at the table together, resisting any urge to write off our brothers and sisters in the faith as “unbiblical.”

Senator Santorum has no exclusive claim to the Truth. He is hardly qualified to dismiss the theology of President Obama, or that of any other sincere Christian – no matter how divergent their views might be from his own – as “phony” or “unbiblical.” Millions upon millions of authentic Christian believers hold to exactly the sort of biblically-based, justice-oriented faith that the president professes.

I think we deserve an apology. Or at least an explanation.

Hymns, Then and Now

Christopher Stewart created this picture, which brings up an interesting point about worship songs:

Adjusting To New Worship Format:

Autism Is Coming to Voice

Autism is a relatively new disorder, which parents and experts alike are still learning about. Check out this powerful video of Carly Fleischmann, a young woman with autism who is educating everyone. Plus you can follow her blog or tweets. Carly is a smart kid with a bright future. Hopefully her voice is heard by many.

Official Endorsement

We have decided to officially endorse a candidate for president of the USA. After careful consideration, we decided it was important to support the guy who is "making a better tommorrow, tommorrow." Please join us and vote for faux-candidate, Stephen Colbert. Click here to find out more.

Gotta love good satire!