A Beautiful Day to Be Sure

Okay, it's a blurry picture, but the other one I took was even worse. What a fantastic, wonderful, great and almost dream-come-true day this was! I have been honored and blessed to be a part of the steering team that is planning a summit of selected emerging-interested leadership and young clergy in the UMC to coincide with the Church of the Resurrection Leadership Institute in October. Today, Dr. Douglas Strong, from Wesley Seminary, Paul Ervin, from Foundation for Evangelism, Hal Knight Steve Rankin and I met over lunch and then in Hal's office at Saint Paul to continue planning. Some of us also met with COR staff this morning at the church. The most overwhelming thing for me personally is that I have found others that are as passionate about younger adult ministry, and this branch on the young adult tree as I am. And I am honored that my voice seems to count and contribute. Who would of thunk it even just a year ago! Wow! A very serindipidous thing happened while we were in Hal's office. Doug was leading our meeting around the table (see picture--Hal, Doug, Paul and Steve are in that order in the pic) when all of a sudden he said, "isn't that Lovett's voice?" I already knew that he and Susan Vogel were coteaching their Advanced Skills course for dmins, I think on leadership. But neither Doug nor Lovett had known the other was there---both are on the Wesley faculty. And then Doug Powe, another Saint Paul prof came in, and it was just a really neat time of energy and talk. And man, can we talk...especially me, and Doug S. too of course. Yippee!!! "Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you..." Frank sang at V's, the Italian restaurant we went to today...and I believe.

The Aroma of our Grandmother's Kitchen

Still at Sequoya. Yesterday while I was napping, I missed what sounds to have been another great lecture by Dr. Gonzales. One image that he used, when describing the difficulty that traditional Anglo churches have in accepting/welcoming Hispanic persons as a part of their communities of faith, was this: Remember the aromas of your grandmother's kitchen? For me, it would be the aroma of Christmas candy, divinity, and the like; my children's grandmother's kitchen had the aroma of all sorts of good things: apple pie, barbequed beef brisket, homemade Parker House rolls, and on and on. What would it be like if invading all of those wonderful aromas was a sudden invasion of jalopena peppers and sopapillas frying? Wouldn't that be a little disruptive to what I considered to be the "home" aromas? This is what it can feel like to Anglo churches when Hispanic/Latino persons become part of their worshiping communities. How do we get to the place where even those aromas that seem more like odd odors to us become part of that memory bank of ours that senses "home"? Reminds me of the emergent conversation in connection with where many of our mainline churches are. The "aroma" of the baby boomer big box church was 70s bubblegum contemporary pop praise choruses (really nothing wrong with that, especially the ones with a bosanova beat!); and the slighting of the litugical seasons (too "traditional"). The "aromas" of the emerging churches are many: renditions of "All Creatures of Our God and King" with acoustical guitar, flute and violin in the same service with a 2006 musical setting of "Jesus Savior Pilot Me"; to icons projected on screens; to, as I saw recently, a young, hip musician telling us his own interpretation of what it means to be in "ordinary time." In this tempetuous sea of change in which we find ourselves, would that we all could open our homes and hearts a little wider to the wafting spell of love, respect and willingness to experience the gospel message anew that the Holy Spirit wants to work on us.

Hearing Each Other in our Own Language

Still at Bishops' week, though right now I am at the Barnes and Noble in Fayetteville. This afternoon, we heard Dr. Justo Gonzalez, who spoke to us about how to approach ministry with Hispanic persons in our midst. He spoke about Acts 2, the Pentecost story, (the picture at right is a Coptic icon rendition) and it was great. He reminded us that it was not that when the Holy Spirit came down upon the persons there, that the people miraculously were able to understand Aramaic, and thus could communicate (Aramaic being the language of the community in which all of those many different nationalities had gathered on that day). It was that the persons understood "in their own language." There is a difference. I don't think I need to elaborate.
Hmmm. What does this say to the churches today and younger adults? Maybe that those younger adults don't have to be forced or even requested to speak the same cultural language as their parents and grandparents in order to come to belief? Maybe there is a place for the language of the wireless world and "my spaces" and ipods in the discipling of all of the world, and a place always for respect for other generations who worship and serve in ways that seem foreign to us...hmmm

Going back to zero

I am still at Mount Sequoya, (please excuse my outburst of yesterday!)and today was a special training event for dss and directors of connectional ministries, led by Gil Rendle (he's in the picture on the left). It was a great event, as we thought about our changing roles, the purpose of charge conferences and many other things. One of the morning learnings and "aha"s for me was when Dr. Rendle talked about how we, as leaders, need to be able to help pastors and churches to "go back to zero", that is, we need to help folks get back beyond/before their assumptions were formed, to a place/space where they have "gone back to zero", everything is on the table and negotiable, so that we really can lead for fundamental change. He used as an example the emerging church, which he says, "goes back to zero." I got what he meant, I think. I thought he meant that we who are trying to be in this emergent conversation are trying to help folks to see that what are norms or expectations in many of our churches, really are manifestations of a particular culture and generation. Many of the emergent leaders are calling our mainline churches in to accountability about all of this. I need to think some more about this. It was good to talk as a cabinet this afternoon about important things, and I look forward to tomorrow.

On the mountain and doing well, but mad

Okay, so it's a boring graphic, but what can you say? I am at, yes, you guessed it, Mount Sequoyah in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the South Central jurisdiction conference center (all the bishs and the cabs are meeting here for the traditional "Bishops' Week" activities) and it's probably not the classiest campground you've ever been to, but I guess it has its own charm...and now there is wireless (near the office and cafeteria buildings). We just had a picnic and listened to a bluegrass group; not too many of the folks from Missouri are here yet...just David and Mary Norbury and Kendall. I did see Bishop Sherer from afar, and Bishop Fritz and Etta Mae Mutti....he mentioned "the article" and told me he enjoyed it..I now have a claim to faim other than being the former spouse of the now-famous originator of Gospel Colors studios! On the drive down, I thought quite a bit about how I am doing, how things are going, what I need to do to be of the most help, how to take care of myself better, how not to have to please everybody at the same time, and to tell you the truth, I am now entering into an angry period, which at least is a break from my sad period...that was a joke. Actually, thank you to those who have asked, and I am doing well...just a little mad...but still doing well. If I figure out how to channel this into some kind of gift for God, I will let you all know.

Appreciation

I first encountered James and Marie Powell when Marie registered for "Focus '85", a national children's worker conference held in Nashville, Tennessee. I was working part time as Barbara Garcia's assistant at the General Board of Discipleship while Philip finished his masters in church music. Barbara had chief responsibilities for planning the conference---I was registrar. Marie was Conference Children's Coordinator at that time, and after I became minister of education at Kirkwood, I became part of that committee. Marie and I have ended up at many national Christian Educators gatherings together, as well as many other conference events. In 1990, I think, while I was pregnant with Caleb, Philip and I (and Caleb in vitro) were passengers in the Powells' car going, I think to that wonderful thing in Ft. Worth where we were introduced to the "Vital COngregations" emphasis from the Council of Bishops. I think it was called "The Gathering." One image I remember most from that conference is that during one of the spirited worship services, several of the bishops formed a conga line and danced...somehow, I don't quite see Bishop Schnase in a conga line, but, hey, who knows???
ANYWAY, through the years, here are some ways my/my family's life as intersected and been enriched by James and Marie:
---James was one of Philip's first Gospel Colors customers, and supported him early and often
---I (and I think Philip too) were guests in their home several times while James was pastor at Webster Groves, just out of generosity to us
---James and Marie are Caleb's godparents, and sort of adopted Cana too. We have a picture of James and Caleb at annual conference when Cabie was about 6, sitting on James' knee at one of those narrow, crammed-in tables at the Expo center
---We bought their old Puma popup camper (or bartered for it with Gospel Colors stoles!) back in, oh, about 1993--seems longer ago than that
---James was my district superintendent during my last couple of years while I was at Community UMC in Columbia, and I still recall the phone call we had in late July or early August of 2000, when James gently influenced me to say yes to the move to Broadway, and I will always be grateful
---They, along with their daughter Joy and her son Cade, came over in December of 2004 to my fiftieth birthday party at Broadway, to help me celebrate
---Oh, many others, many others.

James has been assistant to the bishop for three years (maybe more) and today there was a retirement party at the Conference Center in Columbia, where I happened to be because of a meeting I was attending there. During my first year on the cabinet, (and this is true for the other newbies as well) James answered procedure questions; for me, he came over to one congregation where I anticipated some conflict in a difficult meeting, and sat, and even told the bishop, I believe, that I was doing a good job with this. Last Saturday, we were in a meeting together, and at the end, James, bless his heart, asked me to tell him what "emergent" is...I get a lot of that, and seem to mumble and I don't think I do a very good job describing it--postmodernity, cultural shifts, ancient/future faith, and iconography are still not widely used words or concepts at least for UMC ministers, and I want to find a better way to interpret these. On Saturday, though, unlike many clergy with whom I speak about such things, James really listened, as he always has, and I again was thankful for those who have gone ahead of me, who have mentored me, who have loved me into being who I am, unfinished as I am. Thank you Grandpa Jim and Marie, for who you are, and for all the people you have listened to and cared for, especially the Cox-Johnsons who have needed it at times so much.

A new landscape

I have not written for the past couple of weeks, not because I've had nothing to write about/from the emergent perspective, but because I've been so busy "doing" it that I haven't been able to blog it! The landscape is changing--literally today, when Paul Norman of Norman Landcraft (and a member of the PPRC at Weston) came with his crew and put new beautiful landscaping in front of the parsonage. I asked the guys if I could put their picture on my blog, and I would use them as a metaphor---they looked at me a little weirdly and then said "yes." So here it goes:
--The landscape is changing in our Annual Conference. Actually, it would be my belief that a rolling earthquake (if there is such a thing) is happening. Tomorrow is Pathways again, and I will be anxious to hear how folks estimate the impact of what we are doing, in rethinking mission and purpose of the conference, and much more, on the life of the conference
--The landscape is changing in my life in some seemingly small but wonderful ways. It is the summer, and I am on my "summer schedule"--not in the office much, still accessible by phone or email, but reading, reading, reading, and spending time with kiddos. I have really enjoyed, over the years, going to quiet coffee shops (mostly Starbucks, I will admit), putting the earphones on (used to be with a cd player, now with my ipod), and reading theology. Ah, my, that is the life.
--The landscape is changing (here the metaphor slips a bit) around emergent/emerging and the UMC. Wow. Here are just a few things happening: an UMC/emergent summit of invited pastors/others who are reading, thinking, listening about the conversation will meet during Church of the Resurrection's leadership institute this October-Brian McLaren is going to be there, I am one of ten or so people planning this--I have been asked to lead a workshop at our denomination's Congress on Evangelism in January on emergent and Wesleyan thought and practice; I have agreed to lead a workshop for the Wesley Studies Conference at Saint Paul in November on emergent and Wesleyan theology (I think that's what I'm doing)--I have been asked by Wesley Seminary to offer a part of the leadership for a meeting in December for episcopal leaders and other conference leaders in seven conferences in the eastern US on emergent and revitalization of churches (I think that is what it is). AND, even more important in some ways, saint paul emergent had a very good experience at annual conference (some folks brought a table display) AND Mike King emailed me to see if I wanted to help plan next school year's KC emergent cohort meetings/experiences. Also, I have asked to offer a presentation on emergent to our Missouri cabinet in late summer or early fall. They will be guinea pigs. No wonder I have a need to read this summer! Well, as I said to Hal Knight after a first phone call to plan the October meeting, in my estimation, because of all of this interest and my finally finding colleagues and an outlet for my interest, "Jesus must be coming soon"...it may be a sign of the end times. And as I told the emergent saint paul group a couple of months ago, if I should die anytime soon, make sure somebody stands up at the funeral and says two things: "She tried to be the best mother she could, and, she loved the emergent conversation."