teaching – Salvaged Faith

Out of the Mouths of Babes – or – What I learned from VBS

Posted on June 26, 2012Leave a comment

We all know that kids say the darndest things… but they also speak deep truths and absolutely astound me with their questions. They are unafraid to wonder, not shy with their uncertainties, and will ask until they get a satisfactory answer.

Although I have been a pastor for five years, I have not spent very much time at all teaching little ones. My church has some dedicated Sunday School teachers and I have been blessed by their work. I do make the time and effort to lead the children’s sermon each week – in part because it is important for the little ones to know me and for me to spend some time talking on their level. But two-five minutes a week is nothing compared to the opportunities I had last week to teach students at Vacation Bible School.

Our community Presbyterian, Catholic and United Methodist churches sponsor a community wide VBS each year. The program was up and running long before I showed up and it is absolutely wonderful. Working together, we can do so much more than we could apart. And this year we had 65 students ages three through fifth grade. For the past two years, I participated as a shepherd for the 3 and 4 year olds. I moved them from station to station (crafts, music, snack, lesson, games), watched over potty breaks, wiped away tears, had little ones sitting on my lap and we played LOTS of “duck, duck, goose.” It was fascinating to watch them think, to get to know each of them better, and to love on them.

But for each of those years, I didn’t have to teach. I didn’t have to answer questions. I was hands and feet and eyes and ears and didn’t have to say a whole lot. Which was kind of nice.

This year, I was recruited to lead the lesson time for all of the students. In 20 minute blocks, students came to me in my basement forest campground and we told stories around my “campfire.”

Let me tell you, 20 minutes is NOT enough time to tell a story. Especially with the questions and insights these kids have.

Our very first lesson: Jesus calming the wind and the waves. I have my script in hand courtesy of the prepared and purchased VBS kit and launch into the story about how Jesus, God’s Son, had fallen asleep on the boat. A hand shoots up among from amongs the first and second grade class.

“But, I thought Jesus was God…”

I get my bearings… “Yes, Jesus is God.”

“But you said Jesus was God’s Son.”

“Yes, I did. And Yes, he is.”

“But…”

“I know… It’s confusing. I’m confused, too!”

These kids don’t miss a beat. And they are asking the exact same question their parents and grandparents are often afraid to ask. Questions that simply can’t be answered in twenty minutes when we need to tell a story, pray, memorize a bible verse, and hit home the point of the theme for the night.

“How do we pray?”

“How does God answer my prayers… will God talk to me? How long will it take? Do I just wait until I hear him?”

“What is the Holy Spirit?”

“How did Jesus die?” (as I’m holding up the empty wooden cross… try explaining capital punishment to a three year old in thirty seconds!)

“If Jesus is God, then did God die on the cross, too?”

“If Jesus forgives me, why do I still have to sit in time-out?”

“Are angels real?”

Those kids kept me on my toes! They wracked my brain, theologically speaking. Especially one little girl who had lots and lots of questions about prayer. We talk a lot about praying to God and praying to Jesus, and she had just reached this stage in her development where saying a wrote prayer wasn’t enough. She wanted to know how prayer worked – how it could change her life – how it could really and truly make her feel better when she was scared. We talked about how prayer is a conversation, how we can close our eyes and clasp our hands to pray or stand outside and shout to the skies. But then she wanted to know about how God answers… what does God do to make us feel better? Does he talk to us? Does he fix things? Does he send people? I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and thank her for all of her amazing questions and sit and talk with her for hours…

I learned from Vacation Bible School that we have some amazing little kids in our community.

I learned that the simplest questions are the hardest.

I learned that I felt very uncomfortable trying to use substitutionary atonement (the predominant theology of the materials) to explain why Jesus died for us to the little ones and did much better with the “Christ as King” metaphors… although it took me two classes to get to that point.

I learned that with a few sheets and some plants and ceramic animals, a basement can transform from a lake to a field to a desert… and that the kids will go right along with you.

I learned that telling stories is a lot of work and exhausting for my body and my voice.

I learned that there have got to be better ways of teaching prayer to kids than having them close their eyes and clasp their hands and repeat after us.

I learned that I have a lot to learn about teaching children.

I learned that dried allium makes excellent tumbleweeds and a card table with some pillows and a blanket makes a very convincing bear/lion cave.

I learned that kids would much rather be sheep and lions and camels than kids.

I learned that the allure of a “bear cave” or an open tent flap is just too much for some little ones to take 😉

I learned that even at four and five, we have a hard time admitting that we are sometimes bad and make mistakes and get into trouble.

I learned to be grateful for all of those people, everywhere, but especially in Marengo last week, who teach our little ones.

Who is God?

Posted on January 9, 2011Leave a comment

I realized today how theologically illiterate my congregation is.

That may seem like a slam, or a critique, but it is a simple reality.

And it is a reality that is not their fault.

As we began our discussion of Max Ludado’s Outlive Your Life we focused for a bit on a very simple question: If someone who didn’t know much about the Bible and was not a Christian asked you to describe what God is like, what would be your answer?

The room went silent.

They all stared at me… or their navels… for a few seconds.

And then someone confessed it was a really hard question.

As a religion student, as a seminary student, as someone who has prepared intensely for ordination examinations… it was an easy question to answer for me. I had taken some time to think about it. I’ve wrestled with what I want to say. And depending on who I am talking to, I can talk about what God is like in a variety of ways. I talk about incarnation… about God taking flesh. I talk about love. I talk about grace and mercy. I talk about a God who blesses us with a way, a path, a rule of community to follow.

I don’t have to sit and think for thirty minutes about what I might say. It’s right there.

But it is because I have taken the time, already, to think about the answer.

That room full of people had not.

Throughout their religious life, they had learned to read the bible. They have found comfort in the words of scripture and strength for tribulations. Devotional texts inspire them for daily living. Sermons have given them morsels to chew on. Some of them may have memorized catechisms… although many probably don’t remember them. They have been given some very excellent tools for theological reflection… but they have not been taught how to use them FOR theological reflection.

There was a critical step missing.

In the realm of reading we might call it comprehension or application. You move past the ability to read the words on the page and learn how to apply them, how to expand upon them, how to use them in different contexts.

My congregation has learned to read and study and listen… but they have not yet learned a theological language.

I’m not talking about big and fancy words. As our book points out – Peter and John spoke very effectively about their faith while at the same time coming across as “unschooled, ordinary men.” (Acts 4:13) We don’t have to have an storehouse of knowledge… we just need to know how to apply and consolidate and process all it is that we have been learning.

Theology at its root is simply words about God. How do I teach my congregation to speak in words about God? How can I teach them to answer a simple question like, “who is God?”

I don’t want to give them “answers.” I think that our movement away from memorized catechisms and wrote learning can empower us to think for ourselves, to develop the skills necessary to learn even more complex things.

But how do you begin to teach critical theological thinking? How do you begin to encourage congregation members to draw conclusions, to speak out loud words from their hearts about God?

My first step is to simply have this conversation. To point out that this is tough work, but that as Christians, we are called to be able to articulate what we believe. We need to do the work.

My second step is to stop providing answers all the time. I was asked point blank how I would answer by someone in the course of our discussion. At that point, I realized any answer by myself would limit their ability to begin down this path of wrestling.

But I also turn to you, blogging world. What has helped your congregations to develop this kind of language? Do we simply have to wait for the Holy Spirit to show up when we open our mouths? Can it be taught? Where do you begin?

entering the fray: Psalm 109

Posted on December 1, 2009Leave a comment

For those of you who might have missed it, there has been a wave of t-shirts, bumper stickers and other such things that say “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8”

On first glance, you think – oh, that’s nice. Of course we should pray for our leaders. And then you read the actual verse:

May his days be few; may another seize his position.

Then you read another line or so…

May his children be orphans, and his wife a widow.

Uhh… it kind of makes you uncomfortable, doesn’t it?

For the last 10 weeks, I have been leading a Sunday school discussion of the Psalms. We are using the “Invitation to the Psalms” study put out by Abingdon Press. For the most part, I would say that my class was very unsure as to what to think of those Psalms when we started. Sure – its some of the most beautiful poetry in our tradition, it holds amazing lines and words of comfort. But the Psalms also include things like wishing that babies heads would be dashed against stones.

When I heard about this whole Psalm 109:8 thing, I took it to my class. The week before we had talked about “Love and Wrath” – including some of those very difficult verses that call for vengeance. When I brought up the whole topic, I started with the slogan – and they immediately looked up the verse themselves and were shocked and horrified (just as they were when we talked about those poor babies).

Here is the dilemma. One of the things that we talked about in this class is that every emotion and feeling is okay before God. We have to let it out – we have to speak the truth about how we are feeling. We find terrible and awful things in the Psalms because these are real human emotions. It is a valid human reaction to be angry and vindictive. In that sense, those who are wanting to use this verse are completely in the right.

On the other hand – the movement of these very same Psalms take those feelings to God and then leave them there. The Psalms are acts of worship, not propaganda. They are the desperate cries of those who are suffering and in exile and bondage and fear for their lives. And in the end, they trust in God, not themselves to execute that justice. What I hear in this new slogan is a rallying cry for human action, not an outpouring of raw human energy before God. And that, I cannot ignore.

One final point. This whole thing revolves around a single verse. I don’t like to pick and choose verses to suit my needs – that’s one of the reasons I follow the Revised Common Lectionary for my preaching. But in the scriptures, there are instances where single verses are used to help recall things that have been said and done in the past. One prime example is Jesus on the cross calling out the first line of Psalm 22

My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

Many believe that by saying this particular verse, he wasn’t merely expressing forsakenness, he was also pointing us back to the entirety of the Psalm, a Psalm that may begin in desolation, but ends in an understanding of having been rescued.

So, let’s just take a quick glance at the entirety of Psalm 109. Ironically, those who have chosen this verse are working against their own intentions. It is a Psalm of David, that begins with him pleading with God because wicked mouths are speaking lies about him. And then there is the quotation of some of the lies and horrible things those persecutors are saying… which includes 109:8. David’s response: let what they curse be their own reward. Let them curse me. You, God, will bless me.

I’ll let that stand on its own…

my very first confirmation class

Posted on June 2, 2009Leave a comment

Sunday morning our church witnessed seven young people profess their faith. They did so in song and in words and in jokes, in standing up before all of the church and their families. They were terrific.

Teaching confirmation has been a really exciting and a very strange experience. There is SO much that I want to share with them and yet I think I realized how much I have to learn about being a teacher – especially with young people. I was always someone who just took information in and wanted to learn more and more and more. It’s hard to remember that not everyone functions that way =)

My theology of teaching is to lead by example. I asked questions that “you’re not supposed to ask.” I made it okay to doubt things that I had said. I wanted to peak their interest by showing how excited I was about certain things. We used our cirriculum, but probably not as well as we could have. We used our mentors, but definately not as well as we should have. Both of those are pieces that I need to include better next time… because leading by example also means that it’s not just me doing the leading. I got to have a lot of personal time with the kids, but I really wish that we had the kids meet one on one with a single mentor throughout the entire process. I was trying to lure people to do it with the promise they only had to commit to one Sunday a month – and I think that all of us would have benefited from more regular contact.

Other than that, it was exciting to see the young people up there. It was exciting to help them share pieces of their story with others and to take leadership during worship. It was exciting to see the church supporting them the way that they did.

Friday Five

Posted on August 15, 20083 Comments

For this Friday’s Five, share with us five transformations that the coming fall will bring your way.

Bonus: Give us your favorite activity that is made possible by the arrival of fall.

I’m really gearing up for fall at the church – our big kick off is a week from Sunday! It doesn’t seem possible that students are heading back to school already and that fall is almost here – especially when August is usually so hot. We are actually in store for a very early fall according to some accounts – a frost is expected by mid-september, which will wreak havoc on the already late crops here in the midwest. lots of prayers needed here!

As for the five biggest transformations of this fall:

#1 – We are getting another kitty! We love Turbo so much that we think he needs a friend. There are kittens at the local vet and we are going on tuesday to pick one of the gold ones up. He will be about 6 weeks old then and is getting his vaccinations on Monday. I can’t wait to have another addition to our family!

#2 – I will be teaching confirmation this fall and spring at my church. They normally do confirmation for 5th/6th graders, but there are a number who were missed a couple years ago, so we have about 9 kids spread out from 5th – 9th grade. I’m looking forward to working with them!!! and i’m going to be trying out the claim the name resource… but i can’t decide if i want to do it just for the fall or for the whole year. we are doing confirmation during sunday school time – which means that they will be there for church for sure, but if we do the whole year long program, i won’t be involved in any other sunday school stuff all year long. This is my FIRST time doing confirmation… eek!

#3 – My biggest personal goal for this fall is to transform my body. I really need to exercise more and need to build some kind of routine. And I think transformation really is the right word for it, because I need to change inside and out. I’ve done it before, so I know that it is possible… but it will definately take more willpower than I’m currently exhibiting.

#4 – My biggest transformation around the church will be in my personal visitation ministry. While I may seem to others like an extremely outgoing person, I am so anxious about visiting people. I talk myself out of it most of the time. I have been fairly consistent about visiting people in the hospital (when i know they are there) and in the nursing home (I do a service there monthly and spend time after visiting) and somewhat with people who are homebound – but I really need to get out and start making the rounds with the whole church. Especially those people who are members but I have never seen or met in the almost eight months I’ve been there. I know it will make a huge difference, but I can’t work up the guts to do it. I’m pretty sure once I do it, I’ll wonder what the big deal is, but its a step that terrifies me about ministry.

#5 – One thing I have tried fairly hard to do since I have been in this church is to change up the order of worship with every new season. We had one liturgy for the season after epiphany, another for lent, another for after easter, and now we are in another for the season after pentecost. I’m starting a new sermon series with our fall kick-off, and think it’s a good time to change up the liturgy again. that way we don’t get too tied to any one way to worship and it helps the church to be a bit more flexible. I’m excited to think about new possibilities and ways to incorporate prayers, hymns, etc., into the service. For example: in this season after ephiphany, we have sung our prayer for illumination as “Spirit of the Living God” – but during Epiphany we sang “Thy Word.” Other times, it is a spoken prayer. One of my big changes this fall is to add a mission/stewardship moment before the offering each week and to invite people from the congregation to share about an way our offerings and our pledges this fall help to support the ministry of the worldwide/local church.

Bonus: I’m actually pretty excited for high school and college football to start back up! I’m a big fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes and so I can’t wait to catch a few games (we often had the SEC games when we lived in Nashville) – either on tv or in real life… and my family has tailgated in Iowa City at the games, so we might go join them a few times. It will also be neat to see what the spirit is around this small town with their local high school for football games. I’m looking forward to getting more involved with the students in their school activities and showing up a bit more.