J. Philip Cox-Johnson

jphilip
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/52988603@N00/.

Now, here is somebody I've not talked about much...Philip Cox-Johnson, known to some of you as Mr. Gospel Colors www.gospelcolors.com ---known to us as "former husband" (we agreed a long time ago we would never be "ex") and "dad". We were married for 14 years, and have been divorced for eight; the huge amount of all of that time, we have not only acted like we care deeply for one another, but, gosh darn it, we actually have. We creatively consistantly have co-parented, and I think rather well, indeed. Last year had its rough patches, let me tell you what (but not here, not now). However, since around the first of November, Philip has come back to us...actually he never left, but we now have a kinder, gentler JPC-J than has been around for some time. And I love it. Really. I really love it.

Philip acted as the one-man transformation of my own knowledge and appreciation for the beauty of liturgy, the significance of symbol, radical incarnational worship, and musical literacy since the time I met him lo, those many years ago, at Scarritt Graduate School--he had a free ride for his masters degree in choral conducting because of a vocal scholarship (he is still a tenor, you know). I was working on my second masters, this time in Christian ed. Philip's sensitivity to the narrative of scripture (which began in the Free Will Baptist Church, even more lo, those many years ago), his artistic "eye" and "ear," and a whole lot of hard work, have allowed him to be an artist who makes a living at his art--and employs I think four persons now, not including our daughter who has begun to work for him as well. We live about 4 minutes a part, and if they have to, and Caleb does it willingly often, the kids can walk back and forth. (Can't anyone around here say "learner's permit"???)

If it weren't for Philip, I am not sure I would be so into the "ancient-future" thing---and know the truth of it. If it weren't for Philip, I wouldn't have as many gray hairs beneath the auburn locks. If it weren't for Philip, I wouldn't have Cana and Caleb; if it weren't for Philip, my blood pressure would not have peaked several times over the last year, in particular. If it weren't for Philip, I would have missed terribly his sweet and true tenor voice at my father's funeral in 1995, and my mother's funeral in 2000.

And because of Philip, we all (all four of us) are going to really make hay tomorrow and get this apartment organized, Cana's room moved, my messiness turned into something Martha Stewart would admire, and there will be no more cat hair anywhere. We can always hope.

Blogging quickly on Christmas Eve

Even though there are still presents to wrap and a house to straighten, I must say that after attending FOUR different worship services in FOUR different churches today, I can't help but blog a bit. The quality of this entry leaves something to be desired...but thought timeliness was important.

The morning saw me at Faith UMC in Grain Valley (but barely---you can see the Blue Springs city limits sign, I think, from their church.) The church held its first worship service in the new building and is that building beautiful. David Hackett, former school superintendent and now local pastor in the same area, has a spirit about him that is so thoroughly mature and spirit filled and he is giving marvelous leadership. Wow. I took no pictures---my batteries were still dead and I forgot my phone. Most memorable: Dave praying...and his line about how he arose at dawn this a.m., and turned toward the eastern sky to see if this was the day Jesus was coming to take us home...but he saw a beautiful sky, streaked with color and he praised God for the coming day.

At 3 pm, I attended worship at Platte Woods---the first of five services Christmas Eve services, while still having their regular schedule for the weekend, too. Megan Sly, one of our younger clergy and associate pastor there, led the service, which was shaped for children and families. Most memorable: The children's liturgical dance choir, seen below, moving to Hark the Herald Angels Sing. It was lovely.

Then it was off to the 5 pm at First: Kearney, which is the church that has most successfully gone from a small town down town church, to a church that had the vision to see that the area north of KC would be growing and they were courageous enough, with help from the conference , to build a beautiful new building. The building is below, though of course, that says little about the service itself. Fred Leist (father of Landon...see above) preached a very good sermon. Most memorable: the friendliness of the congregation, and the gentle sweetness of Spirit that I always sense there. One of the best things about smaller churches that are healthy is that gentle sweetness--and somehow this church, which had over 350 in worship this a.m., has been able to hold on to that.

Then, it was off to Jacob's Well...by the time I got there at 6:45 for the 7 oclock service, I could tell it was going to be a crowded service, from the numbers of cars outside. Greeted warmly with a brotherly hug from Mike King; then the same during the passing of the peace from Tim Keel; a sermon that was so heart- and mind-provoking, around Bethlehem meaning "house of bread"; the wilderness experience of the Hebrews, and the manna that lasted only a day, inviting them to rely on God day to day; the living bread; and then celebration of the sacrament (below is a pic of the altar after the service was over...) and lots of carol singing---there was a trumpet and a mandolin to supplement the regular keyboard, drums, bass and guitars. Most memorable: the very apparent occurance that many of the regular 20 something attenders had brought their parents with them....sort of a twist on the other services I was a part of today.

Jacob's Well is the place where I don't feel so much responsibility FOR, since it is not UMC---but I still feel responsibility TO.

Thank you, sweet Jesus, for each and every one of these worshiping communties today. And God bless them, every one.

Landon

Landon
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/52988603@N00/.

Tonight I went with Fred and Linda Leist and some Kearney folks first out to dinner and then to the Uptown Theater where Landon Leist, son of the above mentioned Fred and Linda, was playing with a new band to him, Brother Bagman. Sorry about the picture quality---mydig camera's battery ran out and I took this on my phone. Man, can that boy (he's actually 22) play the electric guitar---he is really something. I mean it. It was really rockin' stuff, which had been immediately preceded by Delvis, the Elvis impersonator. As I listened to Landon, and listened to Fred occasionally make a comment, and as I listened to the lyrics as best I could hear them over the very loud music (yes, okay, I am over fifty) I heard words that seemed not dark and dreary, but somewhat hopeful really. With some redeeming value (I realize "redeeming value" is a judgement-laden phrase.) But to tell you the truth, it was the fun of it, the joy and pride that these parents have, the really great music, the support from the other Kearney folks to Fred and Linda ..."he is really good.." (and just being there was the greatest support, of course) that may have been the most redeeming thing of all. I would like to sit down and talk a bit with Landon, and also to get my Caleb hooked up with him. There are several PK rock players around, and it sure would be fun to get them all together sometime....

Charles, JW, and a soap box

wesley-hymnal-600
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Last night I went to the 5:30 service at Jacob's Well. When I was leaving, I had this spirit-felt sense that I was so glad I had been there. The word that came to mind for it was "sweet," yet I know how hackneyed and sacchriney that sounds. Not "Precious Moments" sweet (gag me with a spoon...I have a vendetta against all things "precious moments"); not even Thomas Kinkeade "sweet"; and not even "There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit in this Place" sweet. Just lovely, and sort of beautifully innocent (but not naive)---wow, am I ever having a hard time describing it. Peaceful, beautiful, those come close but not quite. At any rate, I was so touched by the music last night. Rachel sang an old hymn, the title of which I have seen all my life, but the hymn itself I don't believe I've sung, "In The Secret of His Presence." She even gave me the copy she used to sing from, with guitar chords and all. And, there were two, count them two, Charles Wesley texts that were sung last night..."Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." I was in a conference meeting recently where I believe we were brainstorming ideas for next annual conference...I suggested we might want to do something pertaining to Charles Wesley, since this is the three hundreth anniversary of his birth...the only reaction I got were snickers (I don't mean the candy bar) and somebody saying "now that really excites me..." (sarcasm, by the way) To which I did at least reply, "It is still beautiful poetry." However, no one heard me, I don't think. Charles wrote these hymns as expressions of his own faith, but also to put to verse the theology of the Wesleyan revival. When you sing his hymns, you are singing the Wesleyan understanding of grace, and hope, and freedom, and deliverance, and salvation. Last night was not the first night I have been present when these hymns are sung at Jacob's Well. Sometimes they are put to a 21st century tune; sometimes set to the common tune, but with a different feel. And when I hear these hymns sung at Jacob's Well, I am so totally delighted, and also so eager to more thoroughly lead our denomination into the emergent song that is happening across Christ's church. We as United Methodists, if we could just become aware and celebrative about it, have been already singing the songs that resonate and articulate the praise and faith that many in this conversation find meaningful. And yet we have become so bogged down, so "stuck" in the minutia of the church that we can no longer hear the beauty, the profoundness, the relevance and, yes, the sweetness of what those in our younger genernations are singing back to us with different tunes. I am so eager to lead the workshop in January at the Congress on Evangelism "Standing on Mr. Wesley's Grave: Following our Founder into the Emergent Conversation." I need to be careful that I am standing on his grave, though and not on my own soap box, though, praise God, I think they often are the same these days.

This morning with the Lewis Center D.S. Cohort...

Yes, it's another picture of people sitting around a table talking (and dreaming and imagining and laughing). This is my "first year d.s. cohort group" that was brought together last December by the Lewis Center for Church Leadership (yes that is Lovett Weems down at the end) with the help of Miss Lilly (aka Lilly Foundation grant) at Wesley Seminary, to help identify what practices help and what practices hinder development of superintendents in the first year. We really like each other. A few persons I already knew--Gail Ford Smith I know (run, girl, run.) Liz Lopez across the table from Gail, I heard preach at the Clergywomen's Consultation in 1976 in Dallas, which of course would have been the 20th year anniversary of full clergy rights for women. Kay Scarborough (I know that's not the right spelling) who did a great devotion today, knows French AND Finances and I again said we would try to meet someplace to visit (She serves in Kansas East) Wow. Three fifths of the 50 years we celebrate this year have been lived by us since that 1976 consultation. It is very hard to describe what we talked about at the d.s. cohort meeting today. There were 10 of us I think, all from different conferences. Today, we dissed our ds training two years ago and brainstormed new ideas for the Junaluska event, the "finishing school" event the first summer of one's dsship. We all came in the year of the "experiment"---and didn't feel like we got what we needed. We also decided to come back together next December to check in and to work through issues that the Lewis Center will help identify as significant ones for dss. I had a momentary feeling like I do in cabinet sometimes, of a real disconnect with what others around the table were talking about---but then, someone today would say something that would make me know that maybe I'm just coming at it all a bit differently.
I just think that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, about our structure, our practices, the patterning of keeping doing what we have experienced, needs to focus around getting our folks ready for/willing to/eager to be open to change. And it is so hard to get perspective when you are in it (that is, in the midst of an institution that too often seems to value most persons who will maintain the structure). Many of our younger clergy and others are both culturally literate (and I mean culture NOW, not the way it was in the 1950s) AND who are deeply commited to the Wesleyan spirit.
I am just too tired tonight to make any pithy comments or wise cracks. Maybe tomorrow the better articulation will come. I am home. And will be until I go to Myrtle Beach for the Congress on Evangelism. And BTW, Taylor from our General Board of Discipleship called to tell me about an event in October that is being sponsored by the GBOD on the emerging church. Hope we can all get to know what the other hand is doing and come together as denominationally interested.

D.S. cohort etc.

I am yet again in Washington DC. Why, you might ask? This is the third and last time that a group of 12 who were 1st year d.s.s last year have been gathered over the last 13 months through the Lewis Center for Church Leadership (at Wesley Seminary, Lovett Weems, director) and a Lilly grant to help the Center study what practices can help make the first year of a d.s. more effective. We begin tomorrow morning and go to noon Friday, and, unlike the other two times we've met, we have not been sent an agenda, subject matter, pre-meeting assignments, or anything else like that. Five of us got together for dinner tonight and talked and talked honestly, and laughed, and nearly cried, too. For some reason, I ended up giving my charge conference devotion (the 7 minute abridged version)--I still did the the painting thing (Christ at Heart's door); the three questions (tv, last Friday, and the churchy one); and the Wesley-not-wanting-to-preach-in-the-field-but-did-what-it-took-and-we-should-too big finish...those who have heard it and read this will understand. Liz Lopez, Kay Scarborough, Gail Ford Smith, and John, whose last name I know but can't come up with at the moment, listened and were affirming, as good friends are. All say I seem to be lots more energetic and full of life. And we all watched together on the restaurant TV the CNN report on the Bakker boy who is Punk and proud and Christian. He really sounds like he's got his head on straight if you ask me...The pic here is of a lapel pin similar to the one I wear when I am d.s.ing--except mine is round. Do you know that Cokesbury sells 140 different lapel pin types??? I am looking forward to whatever we are going to do together here, and I am SO blessed by being a part of these people...and thanks Kevin Shelton, for affirming my blog-writing. Maybe more tomorrow from the nation's capitol...

Say, It's My Birthday!

I will admit it. I am a hopeless Tim Keel and Jacob's Well fan. So there. And so, with charge conference season almost done, and with it being my birthday (52, she says proudly) I went to JW this a.m. with Caleb. And am I ever glad I did. Something was wrong with my clock (really), and so I did not make it to the first service of the a.m., but I did the second. Oh my. Music. People. A video that both Caleb and I really thought was amazing...REALLY amazing...you'd have to see it, and I am not sure if it's on line or not. I couldn't find it on the church site (www.jacobswellchurch.org), but you can find there Tim's sermon today, in the sermon audio section --on wilderness, preparation, Advent, the voice crying in the desert, wilderness. Oh, Tim, I have missed your preaching this fall while I have been out and about. The line near the end that you shared, that Messiah makes the wilderness a garden reminds me of Charles Wesley's Easter hymn text, about how, with Easter, Christ hath truly opened paradise--and another hymn writer (Nicolaus Hermann) says it in another way:

The glorious gates of paradise
The angel guards no more;
This day again those gates unfold.
With praise our God adore,
With praise our God adore!

With the incarnation, God takes away the angel guard at the gate of the Garden, and says to us "you may enter in again"--forgiveness is coming and Jesus is its name.

I have lived in my own wilderness off and on over the years---divorce, grief, depression, loneliness, vocational displacement (also known as the superintendency :-)) ---not unlike most of humanity, and still, I know that, as Tim shared this morning, it is in the wilderness where we most poignately meet our Lord. It is where God can shape us most, and where our hearts are prepared so that we can proclaim the continual coming of the Lord. What a good birthday gift, to be reminded of the redemptive healing that comes from facing ourselves in those wilderness times, and that God enables us to emerge from them with an integrity and self-awareness, and most importantly, deeper faith than we could have had otherwise.

And I am a Tim Keel fan, and proud of it.