Gratitude, Potlucks & Reflection

How is God Leading us?

Thanks to so many people for your cards and gifts in honor of pastor appreciation Sunday. I am blessed to serve this congregation. It was a double blessing to receive such well-wishes and goodness.

Thanks also for the vacation time. Tracy and I were able to re-connect with our moms by taking them on a trip up to the Upper Peninsula and the drive up to Wa Wa in Canada. While the colors were grand, we ended up leaving the week of snow and what felt like the beginning of winter. The week before temps had been in the 60s and 70s. The week after temps were in the 60s and 70s. We still had such meaningful time. Tracy and I especially enjoyed hiking the Nokomis Trail. Our moms will forever remember their time at Tim Horton’s!

Rhythms of sabbath, rest, and detachment are so important for all of our well-being. I try to wind the practice into my day through meditation, night time walks, and spending intentional time with family and friends.

I look forward to our time together as a church through this end of Ordinary Time into Advent and Christmas.

Home Potlucks

I heard great reports out of the church potlucks. Thanks to all who attended! I pray that the potlucks were a way we might all “do church” together, remembering God’s leading, and binding us to one another. That is the literal meaning of religion - “to re-bind.” Just a reminder that as we enter these colder months to receive your vaccine boosters and to get your flu shots. We want everyone safe, healthy, and protected as we enter this season where we nest a little longer, contemplate God’s goodness, and huddle closer for warmth and reflection.

Reflections back from Church Potlucks

Potluck hosted by Sheila Mayne and Carol Conklin

Strengths of Pilgrim Congregational UCC

·     Community: friendly, and it is more than just worship

·     Pastor: great sense of fashion; liked belonging; great sense of humor; all feel like equals; is fitting in.

How would outside describe? 

·     Role play between Pemberley and Amelia; intriguing and welcoming

Future

·     Mr. Mulberry

·     Same people, safe place

·     More kids in Sunday School

·     Always be accepting as a community

·     Doing more things in the community

·     Love Java Joe.

How is God leading us?

·     Be happy and strong community

·     Leading into a path of happiness and joy

·     Girls/women are embraced

·     Enjoy different points of view and respect at the Java Joe worship service.

Your role in Pilgrim’s future?

·     Share with the community the great things at Pilgrim.

·     If the world were more like Pilgrim is on a Sunday, we would be in a better place.

What dream of God do you see becoming possible?

·     To feel included, all in this together—bring more inclusivity on a large scale.

Potluck hosted by Terry and Don Kretchman

Strengths:

·     Caring

·     Non-judgmental

·     Acceptance

·     Very social community

·     Giving (generous!) to the community

How would an outsider describe Pilgrim?

·     Warm

·     Friendly

·     Diverse

·     Senior congregation

Future?

·     Only possible if we continue to have folks walk through the door

·     Need to show universal love to all

Fall Brings Excitement and Action!

“Wow! Power-packed!”

This autumn brings so much life and vitality into the life of our church! The liturgical season of Ordinary Time begins to take on ever-greater meaning as we learn and grow together.

We will share in the home potluck meals. Please sign up for one of the meals as the hosts begin providing dates. This is a great time for us to get to know one another and develop consensus on where we see God leading this blessed church.

We will have some different worship opportunities available to us this autumn. Once a month, on the second Sunday of the month, we will have a service of Compline, of silent meditation and rest at 7:00 p.m. on the Second Sunday of the month. Please bring a pillar candle you are willing to light to begin the service and leave behind for future services. This month we will begin with open, silent meditation on Sunday, September 11. Next month, October 8th, we will share in a guided meditation. These worship services will last between a half-hour and forty minutes.

On Tuesday, October 4th, at 3:30 p.m., we will have a Blessing of the Animals service that will remember the pets/animals that are important to our lives. It is the Feast Day for St. Francis of Assisi! I promise to show up this time! Please make sure your beloved pet/animal is under control so that it does not harm others or cannot be harmed by others.

Finally, we will begin Bible 201, the study of the major Hebrew Scripture stories and learn how they inform our faith and continue to inform our faith. We will begin Thursday, September 15th, at 3:30 p.m. for five Thursdays and then finish on the first Thursday in November, November 3rd.

Wow! Power packed! I also want to call your attention to a great event being hosted by the League of Women Voters at our church. On Friday, September 16, The League of Women Voters will be hosting a Climate Change Town Hall. What other congregation could possibly host such a great community event? Doors open at 5:00 p.m.! Be there or be square.

I will be installed as teacher and pastor of this blessed church on Sunday, September 18th, at 4:00 p.m. It will be a great day as we continue this mutual ministry together.

Telling Our Stories: Blessed be the tie that binds

We have six homes who are going to host for our home potluck dinners! Please look for the sign-ups in the church narthex as those hosts choose dates that work for them. We ask you also to sign-up for a main dish, a salad, a vegetable, or a dessert as we come together and share a little of who we are, learn about others, bless the tie that binds us with one another.

Worship

Sunday, September 4th, 10:30 a.m., Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

A hymn sing with egg casseroles! Good food and good music are going to be part of our worship experience on the first Sunday in September.

Sunday, September 11, 10:30 a.m., Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Chillin’ at Java Joes! We worship in the narthex with some of our favorite beverages! We once again practice Julian of Norwich’s Body Prayer and lectio divina as we discern what it means that those in power do not want to hear the truth.

Sunday, September 11, 7:00 p.m. Meditation Service

Join us for a service of silent meditation and a welcoming of the night. Please bring a pillar candle you are willing to leave at the church as your own so that you may light it and remember what a gift the stillness, the darkness, the quiet is as we move through meditation.

Sunday, September 18, 10:30 a.m., Re-covenanting Sunday

Jeremiah asks for a repentance, a turning around. We approach the High, Holy Days in the Jewish liturgical calendar which remind us of our own mortality and always our opportunity to begin again. In Benedictine spirituality, we are invited to have the heart of a beginner, to always know we can begin again.

Sunday, September 18, 4:00 p.m., Installation Service

The Southwest Association of the Michigan Conference in covenant with Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ installs Rev. Mike Mulberry as teacher and pastor of the church.

Sunday, September 25, 10:30 a.m., Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday School begins with children! Loretta Gibby will once again be leading Sunday School for our children. After the Children’s Sermon, children are invited back to the narthex to continue to learn, play, and work on crafts Loretta has provided.

What is your mission statement? What is our mission statement? How do we continue to walk with God even when the path is hidden or difficult?

Sunday, October 2, 10:30 a.m., World Communion Sunday

Join Christians around the world in this celebration of our common identity as people who learn about the Divine as we share across the table.

Sunday, October 4, 3:30 p.m., Blessing of the Animals, Feast Day for St. Francis of Assisi

Bring your pets or the animals you love to the church for this time when we recognize what a holy and sacred gift they are to our lives and the beautiful relationship we have with them. Please make sure to have your pet/animal in control so they do not harm other pets/animals or won’t be harmed by other pets/animals who might escape the control of another. We want everyone safe and protected. Rev. Mike promises to be there this time!

Bible Study: Beginning Thursday, September 15th, 3:30 p.m., for 4 weeks with two sessions on Thursday, November 3rd and November 10th.

Bible 201: The Hebrew Scripture Stories

Hebrew Scripture (The Old Testament) is far larger than The New Testament and has this incredible stories of humor, apocalypse, song, prayer, and a re-counting of how God has been present for the Jewish people. At the same time, when we study the Bible critically, we have to decide what we will leave behind and what we will take forward with us. This has been the spiritual task throughout the centuries.

Please bring a study Bible with you. Rev. Mike recommends one of two: The New Oxford Annotated Study Bible (New Revised Standard Updated) with Apocrypha or The HarperCollins Study Bible with Apocrypha (New Revised Standard Updated). Having the Apocrypha will be important as we move into Bible 202. We will continue with our critical look at some of the larger stories we find in Scripture.

Please let Rev. Mulberry know if you are interested (mmulberry@gmail.com)

Learn From Ancient History

“What might this young prophet, an author of so much of our tradition, tell us about our current time?”

As another variant of the Co-Vid virus ramps and a monkeypox outbreak is declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization, we have every right to feel overwhelmed. When will this end? Didn’t all of our quarantining, masking, and social distancing work? Will we have to go back to these safety protocols?

It is impossible to know where we go from here. I am confident that Church Council will be actively looking at data and advice from health experts to make the best decisions for our collective health.

I am also confident that amidst such change and frustration, God is actively at work—in ways that we could not have possibly imagined. God’s love is the most creative force in the universe.

In the midst of so much change, it is important for us to ask what we may be learning, how we might reflect God’s love by how we move creatively, and how what it means to be church might be different in this strange time.

My hope is that both Co-Vid and monkeypox will be waning by this fall such that we might do what I am calling “reflection dinners” at peoples’ homes. I want us to plan for fun, to learn about one another, to re-weave and darn some of the intimacy we may have lost during Co-Vid. I want us all to begin asking, “What are my hopes for Pilgrim Congregational over the next five years? What would it look like? Taste like? Smell like? Feel like?”

To discern how we might figure out that direction takes many conversations which might spark our hope, spawn creativity, and remind us that God is moving among us. But if we can’t do that, we’ll figure out a way. Because God is moving among us. I see the signs. And we’ll have fun doing it.

Jeremiah Preaching Series

Starting in mid-August, the Hebrew Scripture readings pick up on the book and prophet of Jeremiah. Hebrew Scripture scholar, Richard Elliott Friedman, believes that Jeremiah is responsible for collecting, writing, and organizing much of Hebrew Scripture—probably many of the Psalms.

It makes sense. Jeremiah was a young priest from Anatoth so he would have the literacy, the time, and the position to both engage the tradition and reflect upon it. He also would have had a compelling reason. Literacy was not common in the ancient world. Much of the tradition was carried orally.

So why would someone feel compelled to write down a tradition that was being carried orally? Threat. The Babylonian Empire was descending on Jerusalem early on in Jeremiah’s story. Jeremiah sees a religious and political elite grinding the people down with their excess, their injustice, and their violence. He tried to warn the rulers of the inevitable consequences to their actions.

When the rulers could see Babylonia at their gates, they repented of their injustice and returned to their covenant tradition. When Babylonia backed away, Judah’s ruling and religious elite returned to their evil ways. When I write evil, I mean using debt as leverage to harm and accumulate wealth, working false measurements to cheat the poor, manipulating the justice system to trample the oppressed, and making lying a regular spiritual practice.

Jeremiah rails against his own people, his own nation. He is jailed, thrown down a well, and called unpatriotic.



What might this young prophet, an author of so much of our tradition, tell us about our current time?

Weaving Together the Beloved Community

Happy Pride Month

“… something magical happened.”

At our most recent Community Celebration service, something magical happened. These are rare moments in ministry when years of spiritual work are woven together with a prepared gateway or structure which allows God’s Spirit to whip around the room in powerful ways. The worship service asked for reflection, during Pride Month, on how the LGBTQ+ community has lifted us or provided Divine gifts.

Though these moments are rare and cannot be forced, I think it is important to reflect on the elements that were present so that we continue to open portals for the possibility of God’s Spirit to flit and float among us. And let me say that sometimes that is already happening imperceptibly and unbeknownst to us. Sometimes what feels like a slog can be the most meaningful and powerful work of a faith community.

I would love if you all shared elements you experienced as present on that Wednesday night in June so that we can provide the intention for them in the future.

Here is what I saw and experienced.

People spoke out of their vulnerability and their courage. We had a diverse intersection of voices that spoke of their historical slogs and pain to arrive at this moment. I saw people speaking not necessarily out of present struggles but about historical struggles that brought a bittersweet mixture of honest pain and joy. Each one of those voices spoke with humility, allowing for other voices to join the chorus. While many people spoke, I saw manifestations from family members and congregational members who wanted the person speaking to know that they were loved and we were grateful for their courage.

Music was a gateway. Diane and Lisa provided beautiful and diverse music (pop, country, disco, Latin American folk) that went to God’s love for our diversity and our identity as Beloved Children of God. I heard them waxing up our courage and giving permission for the moment to be transformative.

We had a combination of freedom and self-awareness that led to powerful reflection. Nobody told anyone else they were “wrong,” but all of the people who spoke seemed to be aware they were not alone and that they could speak freely and responsibly. We heard from incredibly diverse experiences reflecting back on something that was both something they were in but recognizing that something bigger was afoot.

Even more so, after the experience was over, people continued to speak about the personal experience of the worship service a powerful and transformative.

I thought the worship service was transformative for our congregation.

But it had been building. Our congregation had been inviting, welcoming, teaching, offering care, celebrating, having fun, and experiencing all of that being returned. Years of love and struggle found their culmination in that moment.

The work continues. And I am so inspired to continue that work in a congregation where God’s Spirit is being made manifest in transformative ways.

Weaving Together Our Beloved Community

“… Remember the joy God intends for us”

I am honored and grateful that you have called me to be your settled pastor at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ. I look forward to our time together serving St. Joseph, southwest Michigan, and God’s good earth.

My hope is that we will do all that with fun and celebration. We can often forget that God intends joy for us. Jesus enjoyed life to the point where one of the accusations made against him was that he was a glutton and a drunkard. I’m not sure that rates with me stealing cookies from the church freezer but Jesus clearly did celebrate community life well. 

One of my favorite artist renderings of Jesus is one I remember seeing for the first time several years ago. His head is tilted back in uproarious laughter—like he just heard Mary of Magdala tell a great joke or he watched one of the disciples slip and fall for the fourth time. Better yet, maybe Jesus is laughing at himself as he fails miserably at trying to press olives.

With so many mainline churches losing money and members, we can get caught in a negative narrative that makes us feel like we are failing. I don’t believe that. If we do believe that, life in the church can seem pretty dour and disappointing. 

Instead, I hope we can make a concerted effort to remember the joy God intends for us—no matter how small we are. Coming out of pandemic (it will happen, won’t it), I want to be intentional about becoming closer to one another and making regular fun and celebration a big part of who we are. To the point where other people in St. Joseph might say, “That church on Glenlord and Washington sure has a lot of fun!” 

A congregation that continues to serve its community and love its neighbors

“This time together has been a unique one for discerning how to live out our faith”

I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy being pastor at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ. Church Council is now tasked to determine whether our relationship will continue. Whatever their decision, I am grateful for this opportunity to serve you all, for the love and care you shared with me, and for the ways you all integrated my ministry with yours.

I have especially enjoyed the gentle ribbing I get from Carol about my freezer cookie-raiding, from Bob and my questionable miracles with prayer, and the many ways you all reminded me not to take myself too seriously. I loved working together to weave together the Beloved Community.

This time together has been a unique one for discerning how to live out our faith. Figuring out how to do communion, baptism, and regular Sunday worship can be a challenge in this pandemic era but also a joy as we figure out how to do the work together.

These past six months I loved seeing the young girls in our church sharing their wisdom during Children’s Sermons and providing leadership in reading from their new Family Story Bibles and during our lectio divina.

We embraced taking ancient practices and making them new again. Lectio divina, examen, Julian of Norwich’s Body Prayer, Encircling Prayer, the Imposition of Ashes, and Breath Prayers were all spiritual forms we practiced through this time.

Ronda Collier and Nicole Gibby humbled me with the great presentation they made on their study with other churches around the book, Me and White Supremacy. They helped us begin the hard work of developing a resource center for antiracism work. In February, Black History Month, we registered significant dates in U.S. history and adapted courageous poetry for responsive readings.

This last Thursday I completed Bible 101 with the hardy souls who were willing to stick with me, ask questions, and understand the Bible in a way that was counter to many of the ways we were taught the Bible. My hope is that this faith formation experience made the Bible more approachable and whets their appetite for further curiosity and study.

Finally, I am proud to serve a congregation that continues to serve its community and love its neighbors. From supplying essentials to migrant farm workers to CROP Walk to boxing food essentials for the indigent to a discretionary fund to provide emergency help for people in distress to supplying water dispensers for Benton Harbor residents, Pilgrim Congregational UCC continues to share God’s love in prolific ways. Even now, to taking the lead in hosting an Afghan family reflects ancient Christian values of hospitality that we are making new.

Again, thanks to Pilgrim Congregational UCC for this opportunity to serve. Whatever Church Council decides, I pray that you will continue in your faithfulness.

Shalom,

Mike

✝

Turn Your Face to Jerusalem

As we walk the hard road of Lent, our faith tradition tells us that a time soon coming will lead to our necessary public statement of faith amidst conflict and upheaval. The rigors of Lent prepare us for what is to come. Jesus turns his faith to Jerusalem, the holy city, where so many of the prophets have been killed in the name of political expediency and religious conviction. Holy Week awaits.

As I have shared, a baptism tradition in the ancient Christian Church was to have the candidates for baptism prepare through rigorous spiritual practice and devotion during Lent. Prayer, politically, was about giving our heart to the things devoted to by the Heart of God. Fasting, politically, was about detaching the will from the direction of a Domination System caught up in war, slavery, and violence. Almsgiving, politically, was about recognizing that the wider system was not as how God intended it and a necessary connection we have to the poor.

Baptism was a difficult decision. It was a definitive cut from the values and things espoused by the wider world. Who wants to be that radical? That devoted? Lent was about proving our mettle for the wilderness that would certainly follow after the baptism.

This year our Holy Week corresponds with the sacred seasons of so many other historic faiths. Passover is around the same time. Ramadan begins. A holy convergence is taking place. A reminder of the holiness of the whole earth is being placed before us. Holi. Vaisakhi. Ramadan. Passover. Holy Week and Easter. Vesak. Naw Ruz. Ridvan.

These religious holidays - which take place between March 17th and May 6th - attract billions of people. The Equinox, Earth Day, and World Water Day, which also occur during this time, engage even more people.

Green Faith (www.greenfaith.org) is referencing this as a sacred season for climate justice. My plan is to participate in one of the street seders corresponding with Passover. This action will spill out into prayer and fasting around a large financial institution to see transformation occur so that the fossil fuel industry, crumbling as it is, no longer receives the large welfare checks from these financial institutions and governments. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the fossil fuel industry receives welfare checks from these large banks and governments to the tune of $11 million dollars a minute! And the IMF has long been considered a very conservative institution.

What will we do in these sacred seasons? How will we be people of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving? How do we devote ourselves to those values which go straight to the Heart of God? How do we show our freedom and balance to fast from that which destroys and makes war? How do we show our connection to those who have been spit out by the system?

Holy Week beckons to us this year. It calls, as it always has, to those who are willing to turn their face to Jerusalem and show the mettle of their faith. May all of us remember our baptism in preparation.

Blessings,

Mike

Congratulations Don Kretchman!

At the Annual Royalton Township Appreciation Dinner in February,

Don Kretchman was honored for his fifty years of service with the Royalton Township Fire Department. A husband, father, grandfather, Chairman at his church, and fiercely loyal friend, Don is incredibly deserving of this recognition and celebration.

“Everyone who meets our dad, Don, feels like they are the most important person in the room. He has the ability to captivate your heart with his quiet, loving energy, and has spent his entire life giving that energy, his time, and his heart to our community.” Trish Gardini, daughter of Don Kretchman, describes her father with love, reverence, and devotion, as she lists his accomplishments and shares a little of his personal history.

Don joined the fire department on September 7, 1971, and held the title of Assistant Chief for many years. Chief Jonatzke at the Royalton Township Fire Department says, “I have worked with Don for 35 years on the fire department, and he still continues to be a mentor to me. He has mentored all of our firefighters, making this the best fire department around. He is the highest quality of firefighter a chief or township could possibly ask for. It is a monumental achievement to spend the last fifty years leaving important family events, day or night, to come to the aid of others.”

Don Kretchman has lived in Royalton Township his entire life. From birth, marrying the love of his life, starting a business, and raising three children, Don is a community servant and pillar of strength and leadership. He and his wife, Terry (Zinkil), owned and operated the Wash Station Car Wash across from Lakeshore High School for many years, and have been longtime supporters of Lakeshore Athletics. All three children attended Lakeshore Schools, and he never missed a concert, game, or event.

This community is overflowing with feel-good stories and praise for Don. “Don would give anyone the shirt off of his back, and though his 6’4” stature is protective and commanding, he has the ability to put anyone at ease,” Trish says. Countless community members reminisce about Don offering comfort during a crisis, holding their hands during the chaos of an extraction after a car accident.

Physically and emotionally demanding, being a firefighter is not an easy task. Combining the desire to help others, dedication to the community, and the time and energy sacrificed for the safety of others, the duty of a firefighter deserves honor and praise. Don has given over 10,000 hours of firefighting, with many more to come. Congratulations to Don on his 50 Years of Service!

By Jocelyne Tuszynski, MOTM contributor

There are angels among us!

Thank you, Don, for your selfless giving.

The Sabbath - A Cathedral in Time

“Sabbath is what we are to sew into our every day, every week, every year for ourselves, for our neighbors, for the water, and for the land. “

In an achieving culture, many of us reflect on what we are going to “do” this year in New Year’s resolutions. Especially in this age of pandemic, being asked to “do” one more thing can feel overwhelming. We live in a culture which equates our worth with our work.

All of creation was lovingly fashioned by God as a reflection, mirror, or image of God. We are the beloved Children of God woven together as the Beloved Community. Whoa! Wait! Put that down. Stop. Deep breath. That’s who you are without ever asking you to “do” anything. Take that in. You are a Beloved Child of God - created that way.

More than any other part of the creation, Sabbath is the centerpiece. Sabbath is referenced as a cathedral in time. Its intent is to be liberative and remind you of the foundational truth of your being. The Children of Israel, held in slavery for centuries, were taught that “work” was the meaning of their lives. Sabbath is the antidote.

Sabbath includes practices and rhythms of rest, play, fun, and celebration. God does not intend Sabbath as a “tack-on.” Like, if you get all your chores done, go out and play in the yard. No. Sabbath is what we are to sew into our every day, every week, every year for ourselves, for our neighbors, for the water, and for the land. Jesus proclaims this when he gets up in front of the synagogue in the gospel of Luke and declares his mission statement with “the year of the Living God’s favor” (the Year of Jubilee). The Year of Jubilee was a re-set of the whole system of life within Judaism and it came out of Sabbath tradition and story.

So, in New Year’s resolution, what are we going to sew into our every day, every week, every year for ourselves to know God’s intent for us? What practices or rhythms of rest, play, joy, and celebration will not “tack-on” but make central? Maybe that means a letting go or fasting of something that is just too much. Maybe it is recognizing that a weekly “bubble bath” is just what the doctor ordered. Or a forest bath will remind you of the wonders God intends for you. Who knew that your weekly card game was part of God’s plan for you?

Resolve to live in God’s cathedral of time. Resolve, plan for, sew into the regular God’s Sabbath. For you are a Beloved Child of God. Then radiate out.

Blessings,

Mike

Just Breathe

“Advent comes and the cultural Christmas is going to try and tell us that we measure up by knocking ourselves out. I hope you are able to hear the voice of God in the background saying, “Slow. Sometimes stop. Just breathe.”

One of the most beautiful songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical, In the Heights, is a song sung by the favored daughter (her name is Nina) of the community who has returned home after a semester at Stanford University. The song reflects the angst and anxiety Nina feels as she returns home thinking that she has failed everyone by not hacking it at Stanford.

I love the song because, in the background, members of the community are singing in Spanish words of love and encouragement—telling her to just “resipira” (breathe). Meanwhile, Nina has this inner dialogue where she thought she was the one who was different, the over-achiever who made it out of the neighborhood. The community clearly loves Nina. Nina interprets that love as a need for her to perform and do better. The one thing that does come through, repeated to her over and over, is “breathe.” Just breathe, Nina.

I think that is a powerful narrative for our day. In the midst of pandemic, we can still hear those narratives which tell us we’re supposed to be better, supposed to be doing more work, supposed to be being more.

I think it is God’s fondest desire that we might hear over and over, “Just breathe.” In all of your glory and wonder as a very small part of creation, “Just breathe.”

Advent comes and the cultural Christmas is going to try and tell us that we measure up by knocking ourselves out. I hope you are able to hear the voice of God in the background saying, “Slow. Sometimes stop. Just breathe.”

We are all daughters and sons, siblings and cousins, who need to be able to sing the song of the community reminding others that “hacking” it is not what life is about. Just breathe. Don’t get caught up in those inner dialogues of worth. There is work to be done, and we need everyone. If we are caught up in narratives of guild or falling short, we feel to hear the voice of God singing along with the community, “Just breathe. Breathe. And take my hand for the work we can do together.”

Shalom,

Mike

Our Beloved Community (Copy)

“What might it mean to know, deep within you, that there are whole peoples who are treated as lesser?”

Every Sunday I hope you hear from me that you are a Beloved Child of God. I thought it was always disempowering and not true to the deeper tradition to name us as “sinners” who were in need of forgiveness. While repentance is an important spiritual practice, I don’t think that’s where we begin. That’s why I have always bent away from the Reformed Tradition practice of Prayer of Repentance, followed by an Assurance of Pardon, and then we sing the Gloria Patri as a way of praising God for pardoning worms like us. I think we begin with the idea that we are made in the image of God, the imago dei. That is found in Genesis 2:27 and in Wisdom Literature in the Apocrypha, Wisdom 2:23 (For God created humankind to be immortal, and made humankind to be an image of God’s own eternity. The righteous, because they are made in the image of God, can rest in the full hope of eternal life.) You can hear in that powerful Scripture from Wisdom a question about what endures or what is of value. Is it wealth, power, or fame? Or is it righteousness, jus<ce, and equity? My prayer is that we all begin worship, from age 2 to 92, with that understanding firmly planted in our consciousness. We are made as Beloved Children of God, as part of God’s Beloved Community, to do justice, righteousness, and equity. The prophecy tradition in the Bible switches out “equity” with “steadfast love.” Creation stories define us. They tell us who we are at our core. They also tell us who everybody else is. That is why I have made going to Benton Harbor at 3:00 p.m. a spiritual practice I hope I can keep. I may miss November 14th to celebrate the installation of Rev. Nevenzel in Baroda but I plan to be there as long as they need me. I want to affirm that the people of Benton Harbor are Beloved Children of God. The amazing thing about such efforts is that God is already there seeking to restore the preciousness of Benton Harbor. What I did was small this past week. But, hopefully, I can be faithful. Hopefully. I am also thinking about that as Thanksgiving approaches. I was reminded time after time by my Native sisters and brothers, sisters and cousins, that Thanksgiving may be a time together with family, but most often it was a remembrance of trauma for Native people. Our faithful daughter, in remembering that Native people are also Beloved Children of God, had us drive to Standing Rock one Thanksgiving. We became Water Protectors. It was wet. It was cold. It was glorious.

What does it mean to peacefully pray in a wide circle, with barricades in front of you and surveillance drones circling overhead? How easily I was affirmed as belonging to a wider community of Elders and Saints that day! How easily I was affirmed as belonging as a Beloved Child of Creator as I gripped the hand of my daughter on one side and a stranger on the other to pray together. We should also listen to the creation stories of other peoples to critique and learn both the power of our own story and its limits. The Potawatomi creation story has the land and food brought forth for humankind only by animals (namely, a muskrat) diving into the water to provide soil and roots. Thus, humankind flourishes as a result of animal sisters and brothers, siblings and cousins who are a part of our Beloved Community.

What might it mean to know, every day, that you are a Beloved Child of God? What might it mean to know, deep within you, that there are whole peoples who are treated as lesser? What might it mean to know, as we consider the limits of our own creation story, that the Beloved Community is far larger than we ever imagined?

Autumn Remembrance

“We are to remember by giving thanks not only for the blessings the good earth yields by God's kind and gentle hands but also gather around us the memories and community of saints that will enfold and protect us.”

With the changing of the seasons, also comes a sense of melancholy. Earth in this hemisphere slows. Certain animals turn to hibernate. Much of green life turns to amber, bittersweet, and scarlet. We are reminded that all things perish and that we, ourselves, are mortal. The harvest begins and ends - preparing for the cold of winter.

We are to remember by giving thanks not only for the blessings the good earth yields by God's kind and gentle hands but also gather around us the memories and community of saints that will enfold and protect us. In worship we will be studying the enigmatic story of Job and how Job's friends left him to affirm what they believed to be God and God's morality.

The first Sunday of November we will celebrate All Saints Sunday by remembering those we have lost in this earthly life over the last two years but remain with us as a circle to propel and protect us. As a new pastor to this church, if there is someone you would like to remember who was closely tied to this church, please communicate the date of birth and date of death of the loved one so that I might use it on Sunday, November 7th. If you have an electronicphoto you would like to share, please pass that along as well.

Resiliency

Resiliency is about not only bouncing back but also about hardiness, sustainability, and the ability to grow and develop under trying circumstances.

One of the topics I regularly tune into around organizational theory is resiliency. Resiliency is about not only bouncing back but also about hardiness, sustainability, and the ability to grow and develop under trying circumstances. In the conflict resolution work that I do, I often have to remind churches that conflict is normal and natural and a sign of normal growth and development.

One organizational theorist I regularly read says that healthy organizations are diverse on their outer edges, allowing for people to plug in at different places. Healthy organizations are also uniform and cogent at their core. People know what the deep values are of the organization, can repeat those values, and there is a certain logic surrounding those values and how they are acted upon.

Almost all churches I work with want to grow numerically. But leaders often put a ceiling on that growth by insisting that all that goes on at the church is known and controlled by them. They bristle fearing that the intimacy they have at the church will be disrupted by work or a ministry or an offering is not something they can control. Anxiety and fear build until the energy is expelled and the crisis averted.

In mid-September I will be working with a church that was ready to take off and excited about the new ministries and direction. That is, until all of that energy and excitement meant that the church was really going to change. So my job will be to go in and help them to observe themselves, hold up a mirror to ask them what their true values are and where they really want to go.

We have a number of offerings, changes, and possibilities coming this fall. I want to make sure that nobody believes they have to attend to all of them or be a part of every single thing for the church to be healthy. When a church can know that they are doing God’s work over here, with my participation, and God’s work is also being done over there, without my participation, the congregation has a chance to flourish.

As you look over the many offerings for this fall, I hope you will revel at all the different possibilities found at our church without the anxiety and fear that something might be amiss. I do object meditation on the regular to manage my own fear and anxiety that the world is going to heck in a handbasket unless I do this or this or this. On the contrary, Sabbath teaches that when I rest and release, give up my need for control, God is often spotted working outside of me. And my faith returns.

Worship

On the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, between Sturgeon Moon and Corn Moon (Sunday, September 5th), we will celebrate worship in the narthex. In keeping with the recent history of our church, this will be a more informal service. The sermon will come from you! That’s right, I said it.

I want us to think about the proverbs, stories, or parables that have held meaning for our lives. Deep wisdom can often be found by holding two opposing things together. So we may have found that one proverb holds wisdom for us in a given moment in time. I will share mine. I’ll look forward to having you share yours. In that way, we will teach other and continue to weave together a cord that cannot be quickly broken.

Weaving Together Our Beloved Community

Make it stand out

“On the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, between Sturgeon Moon and Corn Moon (Sunday, September 5th), we will celebrate worship in the narthex. In keeping with the recent history of our church, this will be a more informal service. The sermon will come from you! That’s right, I said it.”

You can imagine, as a baseball fan, how I believe some of the greatest wisdom can be found on the baseball diamond. Yogi Berra was famous for proverbs that, at first, seemed nonsensical, but with a deeper look actually had a deeper wisdom. Proverbs like “It ain’t over until it's over” can be about our own agency in giving up or pushing forward. “Never answer an anonymous letter” can be about not giving your time or energy who people who refuse to be accountable. Ok, some were nonsensical. But a good proverb is usually about seeing something on second glance. Simplicity unfolds into something broader and longer.

At the end of the summer and on into autumn, the Revised Common Lectionary turns to stories of Wisdom Literature and Responses to Ethnocentrism in its Hebrew Scripture readings. Wisdom Literature is the oldest text we have in our Bibles - filled with proverbs and parables, maxims, and the natural order of the universe. Wisdom Literature values “a fear of the Lord.” Too often that has been coupled with a God of hellfire and judgment. But “fear of the Lord” had much more to do with offering a counter and challenge to rulers, wealthy, and the powerful who believed themselves unaccountable and unanswerable to anything outside themselves. Jesus regularly used consciousness-raising wisdom and parable to help people form community and understand the world they lived in.

On the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, between Sturgeon Moon and Corn Moon (Sunday, September 5th), we will celebrate worship in the narthex. In keeping with the recent history of our church, this will be a more informal service. The sermon will come from you! That’s right, I said it.

I want us to think about the proverbs, stories, or parables that have held meaning for our lives. Deep wisdom can often be found by holding two opposing things together. So we may have found that one proverb holds wisdom for us in a given moment in time.

Two of my favorite Scripture passages are from the Wisdom Literature tradition. One is a parable from Hebrew Scripture and the other is a consciousness-raising saying from Jesus in the New Testament. I will share mine. I’ll look forward to having you share yours. In that way, we will teach other and continue to weave together a cord that cannot be quickly broken.

Examples of Wisdom Literature in Scripture:

Hebrew Scripture books like: Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Esther, Job, Jonah

Ecclesiastes 3: “For everything there is a season. A time for every activity under heaven.”

Proverbs 8:11: “For wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you desire may not compare with her.”

Gospel of Thomas 42: “Be a passerby.”

Luke 4:24: “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.”

Questions from Rev. Mishra-Marzetti

• What are we bringing our attention and love to? Allowing in that circle of care? What has the pandemic revealed to us?

• What does inclusivity look like here?

• Who is not a part of our community but living nearby?

• Why are some people a part of other communities and not our community?

• How can we expand who we are today to live more deeply into open-heartedness, and love and care?

• How can we build sustained, ongoing relationships across difference?

• How do we begin with other like-minded communities or

groups or people that are committed to the same kinds

of transformation and growth and embodiment of spiritual

goodness, good-heartedness that we ourselves are?

• How do we honor the multiplicity of experience without trying to change the other person?

• How do we honor ourselves across difference stepping into true authenticity, integrity, and inclusiveness?

The Socratic Board

The first question on the Socratic Board will always be a question of imagination beginning with “I wonder. . . . “ The second question will always be about your experience. What great wisdom does your life teach you? The final question will be our “shazam” question. It asks what action is necessary going forward.

Faith and Democracy

In following the Revised Common Lectionary, we have been reading Scriptures from I and 2 Samuel which share the juxtaposition of God’s values and the reach of authoritarian power. Scripture has democratic values and the command for those in power to be judged by how they treat the most vulnerable.

Wonder: I wonder what local faith communities should do to support democracy?

Experience: What has been your greatest corporate experience of democracy?

Shazam/Action: My faith calls me to support democracy and oppose authoritarianism. What will I do to regularly support democracy and oppose authoritarianism throughout this year?

Wisdom and Responses to Ethnocentrism

Wonder: I wonder what proverb, maxim, aphorism, or parable would change the world if it were read and its message followed?

Experience: What consciousness-raising wisdom or parable have you used to grow or get through a tough time?

Shazam/Action: How do we use the wisdom of our faith tradition to unseat the ethnocentrism/racism in our day?

The 33rd General Synod of the United Church of Christ

Worship Services

The worship services for the 33rd General Synod of the United Church of Christ are available online! I found them to be meaningful and powerful with an incredible diversity of liturgy and music. I especially loved the music in the Opening Worship and the powerful preaching of Rev. Michelle Higgins in the Mid-Week Worship.

You can find them here:

Opening Worship: https://www.generalsynod.org/worship-services-july-11/

Mid-Week Worship: https://www.generalsynod.org/worship-services-july-14/

Closing Worship: https://www.generalsynod.org/worship-services-july-18/

*****

Climate Change and Migration:

What it means for southwest Michigan, northwest Indiana,

and crafting a faithful response

Wednesday, September 15, 2021,

Pilgrim Congregational UCC, St. Joseph

6:30-7:30 p.m. Presentation;

7:30-8:30 p.m. Legislative Training

The Interfaith Action Southwest Michigan Peace & Justice and Collaborative and the Mennonite Central Committee present “Climate Change and Migration: What it means for southwest Michigan and northwest Indiana and crafting a faithful response.” As climate disruption continues to intensify, climate migrants and refugees will become more commonplace seeking refuge from rising temperatures, drought, famine, fire, and natural disaster. The Great Lakes area could very well become an anticipated geographical refuge with its proximity to water and temperate climate.

How are people of faith called to respond to the resulting climate refugees? How do we seek justice and live out our faith stories with political movements charged with xenophobia and hatred?

Participants registering for the event will have the opportunity to meet virtually with the offices of their members of Congress to advocate on behalf of positive climate and migration policy. Training for these optional lobby visits will immediately follow the event. Please fill out the online form found here https://rb.gy/yivqxr to register.

Presenters: (see https://rb.gy/lhme3s for more complete descriptions)

Kayly Ober is the Senior Advocate and Program Manager for the Climate Displacement Program at Refugees International. She also currently serves as a steering group member of the Climate, Migration, and Displacement Platform; a global network of practitioners and advocates with a common concern for climate justice and the human rights of migrants and displaced people.

Keith Schneider is a New York Times writer, and senior editor and chief correspondent for Circle of Blue, the Traverse City-based network of journalists and scientists reporting on global trends affecting water, energy, and food.

Katerina Parsons Katerina (Kate) Parsons is a legislative associate for international affairs with Mennonite Central Committee. After living and working in Tegucigalpa, Honduras for four years, Kate is now based in Washington D.C., where she advocates on U.S. foreign policy including the root causes of migration from Central America and U.S. foreign assistance addressing climate change.

Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ is at the corner of Glenlord Road and Washington (1200 W. Glenlord Road) in St. Joseph, Michigan. Details for remote Zoom availability will be offered closer to the event.

Weaving Together the Beloved Community

“What does inclusivity look like here?”

This past week, (Sunday, June 27), we celebrated Open and Affirming Sunday by hearing the great questions offered by Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti, a pastor in Ann Arbor, Michigan. If you were not able to hear his presentation, you can go to this youtube page to view and listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFftWxIUuB8

What I have found in over 30 years of ordained ministry is that deep faith tends to have more questions than it has answers. I know the most immature parts of my faith tend to be the places where I have little curiosity while thinking I have all the answers. Questions call to me a journey deeper into the heart of God.

Rev. Mishra-Marzetti was trying to help us get on that journey by taking baby steps. He asked us to do what we can, right where we are. I think he offered excellent questions for us to begin the journey and then augment from there:

What are we bringing our attention and love to? Allowing in that circle of care? What has the pandemic revealed to us?

What does inclusivity look like here?

Who is not a part of our community but living nearby?

Why are some people a part of other communities and not our community?

How can we expand who we are today to live more deeply into open-heartedness, and love and care?

How can we build sustained, ongoing relationships across difference?

How do we begin with other like-minded communities or groups or people that are committed to the same kinds of transformation and growth and embodiment of spiritual goodness, good-heartedness that we ourselves are?

How do we honor the multiplicity of experience without trying to change the other person?

How do we honor ourselves across difference stepping into true authenticity, integrity, and inclusiveness?

I think if we began our mission work by answering these discernment questions, and kept these questions ever before us, we would continue to journey deeper into the heart of God.

In July will appear a Socratic Board. One of my remote mentors in faith is

Dr. Cornel West. Dr. West regularly shares the need for a Socratic faith that asks the most questions to challenge assumptions and liberate us all into God’s goodness and life.

The first question on the Socratic Board will always be a question of imagination beginning with “I wonder. . . . “ The second question will always be about your experience. What great wisdom does your life teach you? The final question will be our “shazam” question. It asks what action is necessary going forward.

Look for the Socratic Board and please participate as we learn from each other!

Shalom,

Mike

Traveling the Road Together

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

I am excited to begin our work together as Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ! I am grateful to all the leaders, saints, and apostles who have brought you to this time in your spiritual lives. You have called me to be your designated pastor. In the United Church of Christ, “designated” references a time where we discern whether we want our time to be an interim time in working toward another settled pastor or whether we continue the relationship through toward a long-term journey that will lead to our mutual growth and health. I find life and Divine in either one of these paths.

Regardless of the path, I hope you all will experience me who loves you, creates healthy boundaries for us all to experience a space of goodness and vitality, and deeply desires our growth and well-being as a community of faith. I love to be part of a team that is gets things done and is more than the sum of our parts. When I am a part of a community like that, my faith in a God who is on the move, actively working, and teaches me of a love that is ever-expanding.

That sounds so overly romantic about church, right? But I have experienced that groove. It is what keeps me in the church. Like you, I will probably get frustrated with what it means to be “church” and wonder why I continue in the institution that can be so hard and difficult. I am reminded, though, that God delights in a community willing to do the hard work and can be found walking with us through our wilderness.

Please pray for me. I see prayer as a form of solidarity, and I lose hope when I think I’m the only one walking in the wilderness. I will be praying for you. God is on the road. I cannot wait to join hands with you to step out on that road and begin to see where that road will take us.

Our National Meeting:

General Synod of the United Church of Christ,

July 11-18, 2021

I think one of the best things our national church continues to do well is national meetings. Events like General Synod and National Youth Event have been powerful for every congregational member who has participated in these events. I have been honored to present a resolution I wrote to the General Synod and see that process and to be part of an ongoing display and engage with other participants.

I hate to admit this, but it has also been the place where I have renewed my pen supply as I pilfer all the promotional pens found at the hundreds of displays in the event hall. (Tracy and I have way too many of the post-it notes wallets offered by a UCC organization. Yes, our life should have more meaning.)

In the past, the sole road-blocks for these events have been the time, travel, and the expense. This year the entire General Synod will be an online, virtual event! And the cost for visitors is only $100! This is a great time for us as individuals, and for us, as a local church, to participate in the best the United Church of Christ has to offer. I will also be leading out a workshop on the relationship between food, farm, and the church as part of my work with the UCC Council on Climate Justice.

Registration for the event, July 11-18, just opened this past week!

You can register as a visitor by going here:

https://www.generalsynod.org/. If you need help financially or with registering electronically, please contact me (mmulberry@gmail.com). I don’t want anyone left out who wants to be a part of this event.

I will also be asking the United Church of Christ if we might register as a church to watch some of the General Synod together! Please

consider it. We have many people who do fantastic work in the wider church. I also find that the connections we make with the wider church end up coming back to the local church in profound ways. I want us to expand and deepen our hearts through events just like this!

Final Words of Wisdom and Love

Greetings!

It seems hard to believe, but this is my last edition of The Dave Rave. I would therefore like to close out with the top three things that I hope you will keep in mind from our time together and then add a few personal words of farewell.

In the third spot is the fact that there is no particular correlation between the reign of God and any political party. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and other lesser political organizations get some things right and other things wrong. They always have and always will. It’s also worth noting that no party in any time or place has ever gotten everything right, though numerous ones have gotten everything wrong. Psalm 146:3 is therefore spot on when it says, “Put not your trust in princes, nor the son of man, in whom there is no help.” (The phrase, son of man, here is just another way of saying human being and has no connection to the title, Son of Man, which is often used of Jesus.)

Along with that fact is my observation that much of the true power in our nation lies in the hands of the folks that control media and social media outlets. Always remember that the way they make money is by ginning up animosity and outrage. They are therefore the very antithesis of what Jesus was and is about. Put simply, if you want to improve your spiritual and mental health, stop watching cable news and Twitter. Watch the BBC, Al Jazeera, PBS, or one of the normal newscasts instead and take the time to read from conservative, liberal, and centrist publications. And if you find yourself seeing your political opponents as the embodiment of evil, step away from the news and have a little talk with Jesus. Remember that our true struggle is “not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,” as we read in Ephesians 6:12.

There is a very practical dimension to this counsel. Pilgrim is made up of people from several different political backgrounds and stances who worship and work together remarkably well. To allow partisan outrage to destroy that unity would be a great tragedy. Remember, Jesus is our ultimate authority, not the President, not the cable news networks, and not the assortment of folks you’ll find on social media platforms.

Second place goes to a realization of what a great and capable group of people you are. From founding members to people who are just starting to join us, there is a remarkable depth of love, compassion, thought, and service. Take some time to look at all the good you have done for each other and the broader community - supporting the grieving, feeding the hungry, raising awareness of issues like hunger, water, immigration, violence against women, and the threat of identity theft, providing school supplies and disaster relief - the list goes on and on.

In addition to all these tangible things, I have been delighted and privileged to experience a general ambiance of faith, hope, love, and joy. This is a delightful church to be a part of, whether the activity is worship, a service project, a meal, or even a Council meeting. And it’s not just me; so many people have told me how welcomed they felt when they first started coming here. One person even started coming here because she was so impressed by the way our people cared for Fred Gibby during one of his hospital stays. As I have said many times, this is a great church.

At number one in this month’s countdown is the reality and importance of maintaining the three crucial beliefs/truths of Christianity - God as a personal being, the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Take away any of these and you are left with my, “Coffee I can get at Starbuck’s” scenario. People can find friendships, causes, food, and activities in any number of places today, whether in person or in cyberspace. What they cannot find is a God who actually knows, loves, and cares for them, a solid hope in the face of death, and the guidance and wonder working power of this love and hope working in, on, and around them on a moment by moment basis.

With these three convictions in play, human life cannot be reduced to bio-electrical currents interacting with their surrounding environment. Human life has meaning and purpose. It is not predetermined by physics. We can make actual choices that shape our lives and the lives of those around us. We have real, not pseudo, freedom. Whereas atheists regularly jettison their allegedly scientific view of the world every time they argue that society should be some other way than it actually is (as though people made real choices and that those choices mattered), Christians can consistently work for a better world, knowing that good and evil are rooted in the will of a personal God rather than in whatever a particular society deems acceptable.

The more honest atheists (e.g., Nietzsche and Camus) admit this.

I think the reason so many don’t is that they don’t have the courage to face the implications of their presuppositions and/or don’t want to recognize that the ideals we hold are based in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Again, the key value in ancient Greece and Rome was valor, not love. As Nietzsche rightly observed, when you get rid of God all you ultimately have is the quest for power. In contrast, Christ taught and demonstrated the value of giving away one’s own power for the benefit of others. As he said in Mark 8:34-36:

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?”

The whole sensibility and rationale for a life of self giving service is rooted in a personal God who raised Jesus (and will raise us) from the dead and who maintains constant contact with us through the Holy Spirit. Take that rationale away and you simply have an empty husk of an idea which is objectively no better than any other way of life, be it that of western democracy, Islamic theocracy, or Spartan monarchy.

To boil it all down, don’t lose sight of the importance of your faith in Christ. It’s what makes a church a church. And with this faith, you can and will see all sorts of tremendously good things happen to and through you, for God loves you and will never leave you or give up on you.

And now for the personal farewell. You have all made my five, almost six, years here a true delight. I so appreciate the many ways you have supported Anita and me. I have always known that your love is genuine. There is no greater gift that a congregation can give its pastor than that. Thank you and God bless you all.

Love,

Dave

You Only Live Once?

The Resurrection Changes Everything

“Because Jesus rose from the dead, he gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we could experience in our own lives right now some of the same power that raised Jesus 2000 years ago. ”

The resurrection of Jesus Christ was essentially the eternal breaking into the temporal. Our world of space-time was interrupted by a different dimension of existence - one that incorporates our world of height, width, depth and time while transcending it. (Think of a three dimensional object like a sphere passing through a two dimensional plane. The cube includes the plane’s two dimensions while adding a third.) The resurrection, however, is not an exercise in geometry and physics. It is an exercise in living life to the fullest.

In John 10:10, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” The various things that are stolen from us - goodness, health, justice, and life itself - are, or one day will be, restored to us and enhanced through the resurrection. There are two ways to think about this.

The first is perspective. When viewed from the perspective of materialism (the belief that this world is all there is), life becomes one giant series of getting your hopes up only to have them dashed. The vibrancy of youth slowly drains away or is cut short by some unforeseen accident or illness. Our relationships change in unhelpful or even destructive ways or they simply vanish or are taken from us. Livelihoods and retirement plans are eaten up or rendered inadequate. Even our accomplishments lose some of their luster and will eventually be forgotten as one generation succeeds another. In other words, the reality of sin and death eventually takes its toll.

This is a reality that many would just as soon ignore completely. Alternatively, some insist that this situation means that life must be lived and any mention of God is just useless pie in the sky. And since you only live once, you have to grab all the gusto you can and make everything perfect now - even if you have to crush your opponents in the process.

What both of these approaches miss is the fact that sin and death are unavoidable and therefore no matter how well or poorly you live your life you still wind up going extinct. Another factor that the “you only live once” crowd tend to overlook is the reality of crushing poverty, disability, or other circumstances that make it impossible to obtain justice in this life, much less live well. In other words, “you only live once” works very well if you’re in good shape and have access to resources. Take those conditions away and the slogan leaves much to be desired.

The resurrection changes all that. It means that we can see things from the perspective of eternity in which justice, love, health, and life prevail. No sickness, no broken relationship, no deprivation is ever final. As St. Paul wrote, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

This in turn gives eternal significance to our lives. Who we are, what we think, say, and do, how we treat others matters, not just for the present but for ever. Seeking to help others, to make society more just and more civil, and to improve ourselves in the process are not just nice things to do if you should so choose. They are eminently sensible activities because our good works do indeed follow us - literally. On top of that, the resurrection means that nobody, no matter how powerful they think they are now, is going to get away with unrepentant evil and injustice. Every wrong will be put right.

The second way to think about the reality of the resurrection follows from the first. The resurrection is not just about perspective, it’s about power. Because Jesus rose from the dead, he gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we could experience in our own lives right now some of the same power that raised Jesus 2000 years ago. While the fullness of the resurrection lies in the future, we still have access to some aspects of resurrection in the present.

Whenever we see healing, wholeness, and the growth of good relationships, both personal and societal, we are witnessing the

in-breaking of God’s Kingdom or Reign. Anytime we are moved to act in faith, hope, and love we are experiencing the power of Jesus’ resurrection today. Sometimes these events are small scale and/or hidden. Other times they are grand and obvious. But whatever the level or visibility of a particular “resurrection event”, life becomes fuller and better and more abundant than it was before.

This is at least part of what Jesus meant when he said that he had come to give abundant life. He wanted us to understand that, regardless of our circumstances, our lives can be lived with a joy and a hope that is not going to disappoint us. Not even death can squelch our hope because death doesn’t get the last word. Jesus gets the last word, and that word is life - life in abundance with unlimited joy and love. Life in the presence of a loving Father or Mother (take your pick or choose both if you like) who will never abandon us and who does and always will seek and work for our good.

In other words, eternal life is about both the duration and quality of life. Jesus’ resurrection gives us an eternal perspective from which to see all the events of our lives and also gives us the power to live in the present with the power of his presence. How great is that?

So this Easter, take some time to reflect upon your life from the perspective of Jesus’ resurrection. Realize that all that has been or is painful in your life will be washed away or reshaped so that it becomes a source of strength for you - a source you can use to bless and benefit others. Also realize that all the good and wonderful events of your life will indeed follow you, that there are some things that you actually can take with you - and will.

And as you reflect and realize, pray. Pray that you will be able to see more and more of Jesus’ resurrection power at work in your own life and in the life of the world around you. And as you pray, act. Act in ways that bring others to see for themselves that Jesus has indeed risen and desires to raise them up too. Help them to see that their lives have meaning and that their circumstances do not determine their destiny, much less their identity. Sin and death have themselves been dealt a fatal blow in the resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, as

St. Paul again so famously put it, “ And now these three remain:

faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

The reason love remains, and not death, is because Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed.

Blessings!

To Grow or Not to Grow?

“... think in terms of ushering people into the presence of God. You can have the best performance in town, but if people aren’t touched by the Holy Spirit, you might just as well be a theater or coffee house.”

Greetings!

As I prepare to retire, the toughest item to find a home for is my clerical garb. Robes and stoles just aren’t used any more, though when I started in ministry 35 years ago they were standard garb for a Protestant minister. This little predicament of mine is symbolic of a larger issue that has helped turn mainline Protestantism into sideline Protestantism - mainly the drastic change in worship that has taken place over the last three or four decades. Finding a way to deal with this change will be a vital key in Pilgrim navigating the future.

The first question to ask is, “Do we want Pilgrim to continue for generations to come or are we content with allowing it to dwindle until remaining open is no longer an option?” If the answer is the latter, then no changes are necessary. Simply keep doing what you’ve been doing until you can’t do it anymore. Just when that time will come is, of course, difficult to say. It will depend on finances, age, mobility, and the availability of organists and choir directors when Perry and Shane decide to retire or move on.

If, however, the desire is to help Pilgrim continue in ministry for decades to come, then certain changes will be necessary. The only questions are “What?” and “How?” I will look at those two questions in a moment but first I want to provide some background and context so that you can have a better understanding of what is involved.

In the mid to late 1960s, a group of young people turned from drugs to Jesus and began to express their conversion in songs that used simple lyrics set to various forms of rock music. Initially it was more like stuff by the Mamas and the Papas but it didn’t take long to move into territory associated with the Rolling Stones. By the end of the decade there were a few recordings being made, though the production quality was terrible (and I’m being kind).

During the next decade, the availability of this music increased and began to proliferate on college campuses in such groups as Campus Crusade for Christ, an evangelical parachurch organization. This meant that more and more people born in the baby boom era were coming to faith and/or expressing that faith in music that was guitar based and not infrequently involved percussion as well. When, however, those students returned home, they found the churches they had grown up in still using the hymns and rituals from centuries past. This led a few of them to start loosely knit fellowships where their new music combined with informal sharing and Bible study to form the beginnings of what would become contemporary worship. I should add that a dose of Pentecostalism was pretty common in that mix.

In the 1980s, with people now in their 20s and 30s, these fellowships became churches. At the same time, the mainline churches were growing older and still using traditional hymns and worship. Eventually the generation gap began to produce more and more contemporary worship churches and fewer and fewer traditional worship churches. By the time the 1990s hit, the balance between the two hit a tipping point. Today, what were once known as the “Worship Wars” are over. The vast majority of growing, vital, and younger churches take contemporary music as a given. Traditional music, choirs, and robes and stoles are a dying breed in the world of Protestantism. Even many mainline Protestant churches have gone to offering (or trying to offer) contemporary services.

This means that any church seeking to reach a younger crowd with a traditional service is fighting an uphill battle. There are a few exceptions of course, but they are the proverbial exception that proves the rule. So what are older, traditional churches that still want to reach a younger generation (i.e., anyone who is not yet on Medicare) to do?

I think there are three basic options. One is to offer two services - one for the older folks and one for the younger. Eventually, the traditional service will die out, but until then it provides an opportunity for people who just don’t like contemporary worship to maintain their traditions, while allowing the younger portion of the congregation to grow. I have known a number of churches that followed this path. Some succeeded, some didn’t. It depends a lot on how willing the older folks are to increasingly find themselves as a minority in the church they once ran. It also depends on finding people who know how to do contemporary worship. (I can assure you that contemporary worship is much more difficult to plan and execute than traditional worship.)

Option two is to try and blend elements of both traditional and contemporary worship. I have known churches that have done very well with this, although one of the best eventually became another “contemporary worship only” congregation. It is also the least recommended approach by church growth experts. Nevertheless, Pioneer Memorial Church in Berrien Springs does very well with it. (Of course, a college campus does give you an awful lot of talent to work with that most local congregations can’t begin to match.) I would add that some contemporary churches have added some elements of traditional worship. Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, is an excellent example.

Option three is to tweak a traditional service so as to be more appealing to a younger crowd. I know of churches that have done this successfully. Redeemer Presbyterian in NYC and LaGrave Avenue CRC in Grand Rapids are good examples. I also think options two and three might be on a continuum. The Pillar Church in Holland has worship that strikes me as being halfway between a blended service and a tweaked traditional one.

Clearly none of these options guarantees success or failure. It all depends on who’s doing it, how they’re doing it, and for whom they’re doing it. What works in one situation won’t necessarily work in another. NYC, GR, and Holland are not St. Joseph.

I think the best option for Pilgrim is to look at options two and three. I don’t see us having the resources to do option one very well and I seriously doubt there would be enough buy in from the majority of our members. With that in mind, let me make a few suggestions

First, talk with some of the younger newcomers. I’m afraid we’ve lost some contact due to the virus, but I think they will still come back once things return to some semblance of normalcy. Some of you have younger relatives that visit often enough to be familiar with Pilgrim worship. Find out what these people enjoy about our current style and what would make them feel more engaged.

Second, take some time to watch other churches that are somewhere on this spectrum. Most of the ones I’ve mentioned can be found online and two of them - The Pillar Church and LaGrave Avenue are within easy driving distance. If you visit and see something you think might work here, call the church and ask to speak with someone who works with worship. Don’t try to copy these churches; just see what you might learn from them.

Third, take an inventory of what resources you have to work with. Right now, you have a phenomenal organist and a really good choir. Without wishing to single out anybody, I’d add that there are at least a few people who play different instruments very well. Don’t overlook the fact that you are in a building with acoustics that are very favorable to most kinds of softer music. (This would include guitars, violins, cellos, flutes, electric or stand up bass, and light percussion such as a snare drum or cajon.) It seems like more could be done with the musical side of worship, though it would take some work.

Fourth, don’t ignore the power of visuals. I think the most important thing that I’ve seen in terms of worship resources during my time here is the TV. That, a computer, a good internet connection, and some people that know how to use them open up a whole world of opportunities and resources. Regardless of the various tastes among younger people, screens are second nature to all of them. For that matter, I think exploring ways to engage people via their smart phones would be a very worthwhile endeavor. Besides, as our Zoom worship has demonstrated, you can have people participating from Florida (Linda), South Carolina (Ronda), and elsewhere.

In conjunction with screens, I think our sanctuary might lend itself to the display of other visuals such as paintings, sculpture, and multi-media.

Fifth, we have some people who are good public readers. Marsan was one of the best, but there are a number of other people that I really enjoy listening to. How might this skill be incorporated into a worship service in ways other than reading a Bible passage?

Sixth, use silence creatively. Giving time for quiet reflection (often with a visual focus point) can be very powerful. Again, our sanctuary is quite conducive to reverent silence. It’s beautiful without being gaudy.

Seventh, be aware of the flow and pace of the service. Dead space between a hymn and a reading, for example, is like dead air on a radio station - you lose your audience. Make sure the various parts of the service are put together in an intentional manner and that any silence in the service is deliberate. Don’t wait 30 seconds while a reader or musician gets into place. If you want to see how transitions are used effectively, watch some TV shows, movies, or even ads, including those on the radio.

Eighth, and most importantly of all, think in terms of ushering people into the presence of God. You can have the best performance in town, but if people aren’t touched by the Holy Spirit, you might just as well be a theater or coffee house. One of the things I have done before every in-person worship since I’ve been here is to go through the sanctuary sometime during the preceding week and pray. I pray for the service in general, for the sermon, for the choir, for Perry, for communion, and for the people in every pew. I even pray that people will sense God’s presence when they walk through the sanctuary doors. (And that the emergency exit doors will never have to be used but will work properly if they are.) I believe that a good deal of our growth is a result of that prayer. What might happen if a whole group of Pilgrims took turns doing that each week?

The overall message here is that it is possible to make some meaningful changes that are acceptable to older and more traditional members while making worship more attractive to younger newcomers. It will, however, take some serious buy in and work by a significant number of Pilgrims to make it all happen. Leaving it to the new pastor and the worship committee will only decrease the effectiveness of the project and increase the frustration of those involved. That said, putting in the effort to provide a high quality, imaginative worship celebration that allows people to connect with Jesus can’t help but bring great blessing to everyone.

Blessings!

Wholeness Through Connection

“Think of a good church as a network of various relationships instead of a potpourri of programs. Fundamentally, you don’t have classes, community service projects, or even worship services. You have people who need to connect with God and other people in order to find wholeness (shalom in Hebrew). The more people become properly related to each other (zedek in Hebrew, most often translated as righteousness), the more whole they become, and the more visible Christ becomes in that church.”

Greetings!

Last month I wrote about the need to keep Jesus and his actual (as opposed to symbolic) resurrection at the center of a congregation’s life. When other things, even and especially good things, take center stage, the church ceases to be a church and becomes a cut-rate provider of things that can be gotten elsewhere. In this month’s virtual sermon for people who don’t necessarily do virtual, I want to look at the need for an intentional method of keeping people connected and involved with God, each other, and the community. This includes helping first time guests become fully involved participants in the life of the congregation.

Let’s start with those basic connections. The essence of being a Christian is to live with a healthy relationship to God and other people. As Jesus put it, we are to love God with our whole being and love our neighbors as ourselves. Christianity is thus more relational than moral or ethical. More accurately, Christianity is interested in morals and ethics to the extent that those things improve relationships. Being moral just for the sake of morality or wanting to be thought a “good” person does not cut it. What’s more, Christianity’s emphasis on grace and forgiveness does not always play well with folks who are sticklers for ethical behavior. Grace and forgiveness are, however, excellent values when it comes to relationships.

So, how do we best develop our relationships with God and other people? By making a conscious effort; by being aware of God and other people and by being aware of how we treat them. If I take others (God or people) for granted or casually, my relationships with them will always be pretty shallow. Consider the difference between a business luncheon and a dinner with a good friend. In the former, there is little interest in the other person’s background except as it relates to the business at hand. In the latter, there is a sharing of not only information, but feelings, family life, opinions and convictions, joys, challenges, heartaches, fears, and opportunities. The intent is to show and receive love, not to close a contract.

The same dynamic holds true for our relationship with God. If prayer is just a perfunctory activity or a wish list, if God is just another “business transaction” then our faith, such as it is, isn’t going to do anybody much good. If, however, we take the time to share all those things I mentioned in the previous paragraph with God, and take the time to listen to what God might want to share, then our relationship with God will deepen and shape our lives and the lives of those around us.

Of course, no relationship with other humans starts out by sharing the depths of our heart. It takes time to build the kind of trust necessary for such levels of intimacy. Not only is it not safe to share everything with someone you just met, but it’s also extremely uncomfortable for the other individual. Relationships are a process. They start on the surface and gradually build. It’s also the case that you can’t have really deep relationships with a whole bunch of people. Our social networks might be quite broad, but the number of in-depth relationships we will have is of necessity going to be much smaller. There simply isn’t the time to get to really know a lot of people really well.

So how does all of this relate to church? Glad you asked.

Think of a good church as a network of various relationships instead of a potpourri of programs. Fundamentally, you don’t have classes, community service projects, or even worship services. You have people who need to connect with God and other people in order to find wholeness (shalom in Hebrew). The more people become properly related to each other (zedek in Hebrew, most often translated as righteousness), the more whole they become, and the more visible Christ becomes in that church.

Now think of that relational network as comprising a variety of kinds and depths of relationships. Some will be on little more than a “Hi, how’re you doing?” level while others will involve a powerful sense of kinship, the kind of bonds that will support you through thick and thin. Even those relationships, however, started with a “Hi, how’re you doing?” or even a more basic, “ Hi! I’m Dave. What’s your name?” In other words, there will be all sorts of relationships developing in a healthy congregation, but everyone will have the opportunity and be encouraged to find at least one or two of those powerful connections.

To achieve this goal requires intentionality. Just inviting people for coffee after church is a place to start but unless that invitation is part of a larger and intentional plan, it will never develop the kind of relational network that the body of Christ is supposed to be. So what does such a network look like and how is it developed? While each congregation is different, there are some common principles.

First, the different needs and interests of people have to be taken into account. Some people like to discuss ideas, some enjoy the opportunity to share what’s going on in their lives (at various levels), and others are all about joining in some sort of activity. A researcher at the U of M found that guys (of all ages) tend to develop relationships in the context of activity far more than girls and women, who seem to be quite comfortable just sitting down and chatting. The more and varied opportunities for interaction a congregation can provide, the better.

Life situations also matter. A single 25-year-old mom is going to be looking for different connections than a retired couple with several grandchildren. Do not, however, think that these individuals are automatically disqualified from connecting with each other. It might well be the case that all of them have much to give and gain from getting to know each other. Still, being aware of where people are in their respective journeys is a very good thing.

Second, keep in mind the different level of connections people are looking for and need. There have to be entry level opportunities where people can meet others for the first time, have some fun, share a story or two, and just get to know each other. These groups can be quite large, though breaking up into groups of three or four for a while is a smart thing to do. There also have to be a few groups where people can share some of the things that are on their hearts and feel safe and comfortable doing so. Support groups are a common example, but they are not the only ones. I know of many churches who offer discipleship groups that feature some remarkable levels of sharing and commitment to each other. A key characteristic of such groups is that they are not very large and maintain high levels of trust and confidentiality.

Third, keep in mind the absolute necessity of keeping Christ at the center of all these groups. Our relationships with other people need to be in the context of our relationship with Jesus. We aren’t just being nice to people, we are helping them experience the love of God which is the deepest need of every person. This, in turn, leads to principle four.

Any group should have three components which will vary in terms of time and centrality from group to group. The components are prayer, sharing, and activity. A prayer group will obviously center on prayer, but it should also have time for some sharing and some sort of activity as well (sending cards to people you prayed for, for example). A men’s cookout or a book discussion will be activity centered, but again some time for sharing and a brief prayer time are essential to maintain balance. The idea here is that people are given a chance to intentionally integrate the different dimensions of a healthy spirituality in the context of their everyday lives.

A special word needs to be said about community and service. Jesus never limits the “others” in our lives to our congregation or even circle of friends. Anybody in need constitutes a neighbor to Jesus. This is why any healthy congregation is not only developing internal relationships, it’s fostering external ones as well. Note too that serving others in the community is a great way to develop both internal and external relationships. The folks who have been serving food this past year have gotten to know each other a little better as well as meeting new people.

I might add that many people are attracted to a church that has a healthy ministry to the surrounding community and world. One of the more effective methods of evangelism employed by Anita’s church is asking some of their neighbors and friends to join in one of the church’s plethora of service projects. Even if they don’t join, they come away with a very positive view of the church, which is not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, church members are told not to try and pressure anyone into joining, yet, interestingly enough, the simple combination of relationship and service leads a lot of people start asking questions and eventually being baptized.

The last key that binds all the others together is intentionality. These things don’t just happen. A church has to sit down, evaluate its particular setting, and then plan and implement a way to provide and encourage the development of these various relationships. This will always be a trial and error process, but if it isn’t tried, the network of relationships isn’t going to happen.

I will close by drawing your attention to some of Pilgrim’s dynamics that will perhaps underscore what I’ve written and provide a starting point for further development.

Relationships are already a big part of Pilgrim. It is the level of friendship and support that many people have found that has drawn long time members and newcomers alike into the life of the church. In other words, there is no need to convince people of the importance of relationships. We also have a very good Membership Team so there is already some intentional activity in terms of improving our relationships.

The basic direction that needs to be taken (from my perspective) is one of developing a comprehensive relational ministry that helps everyone who joins us for worship (or other activities) make some immediate initial relationships to the degree that they are comfortable. We want to welcome people, not smother them. (And let me once again emphasize the importance of getting their contact information if they are willing to give it.)

We have attracted quite a number of new people in the last five years. We have a friendly group of people and a good worship service which have gotten us a good number of return visits. Where things have become a mixed bag is in terms of incorporation into the life of Pilgrim. I would point out that the ones who are now members (in the 2021 sense of the term), that is, those who are participating regularly, are the people who were able to connect with the more established members of the church. I would also point out that the choir (a small group that combines the activity of singing with prayer and sharing) is probably the most effective gateway into those connections.

But there are also a good number of people who have not been incorporated into Pilgrim. They come occasionally but they have few connections beyond a “Hi. How’re you doing?” A good number of them are on the younger side which means they are vital for Pilgrim continuing on for another generation, if that is what Pilgrim wants to do. To connect them will require some intentional effort. They don’t need a friendly church to do this. They need friends—people who will invite them to dinner, check in on them, etc. While I have tried to do some of this, it really needs to come from the congregation, not the pastor.

These are also the people who would probably be most interested in invitations to service projects. If you’re looking for a prototype here, consider Ronda Collier. Her interest in social justice and service in the context of Christian faith is a major reason for her now being a major part of Pilgrim’s current outreach efforts. The more Pilgrim can offer genuine Christian spirituality combined with service and justice activities, the more people like Ronda will be attracted to this congregation.

If you have any thoughts about any of this, please give me a call. Better yet, start thinking and talking with each other as to how to best take something you’re already good at (loving God and people) and expanding that to reach and enfold more newcomers and part-time attenders. Just think what a growing and vital congregation Pilgrim could be if 80% of first-time attenders became active members. It can happen, but it will take faith and intentional effort. By God’s grace, you can do this.

Blessings!

Dave