vocation – Page 3 – Salvaged Faith

An Interview with RevGals

Posted on May 21, 20091 Comment

These questions were posted this week as a part of the Monday Meet-N-Greet. I know – I’m late. Oh well!

1. Where do you blog? Here! and at http://www.kenoticwords.blogspot.com/

2. What are your favorite non-revgal blog pal blogs? United Methodeviations, Bread & Honey

3. What gives you joy? Being on a porch with good friends and family talking about life. Baptizing a child. Singing a favorite hymn. Sleeping next to my husband.

4. What is your favorite sound? My cats purring.

5. What do you hope to hear once you enter the pearly gates? This is a really hard question. In part because I don’t know that the pearly gates is that great of a metaphor for what awaits us. For me, this question is about what would I want to be able to hear that I can’t already hear/know here on earth… I can already hear God saying that I am loved… so I guess I would want to be able to hear all of the intangible things that we can’t understand about one another. I would like to be able to hear a smile.

6. You have up to 15 words, what would you put on your tombstone? She lived her whole life with her whole self and loved everyone she met.

7. Write the first sentence of your own great American novel. Today I planted the very first seed…

8. What color do you prefer your pen? Black

9. What magazines do you subscribe too? None at the moment. But I sometimes buy “Everday Food” and used to get “Utne Reader”

10. What is something you want to achieve in this decade? I want to have a child in this decade (if we are thinking 2000-2010)… and the time is quickly slipping away.

11. Why are you cool? Because I like to wear heels with my jeans, I listen to space rock (Incubus), watch the Daily Show, study the perichoretic nature of God, and because I’m probably the youngest pastor in a 50 mile radius (if not wider) of where I live.

12. What is one of your favorite memories? having my husband wipe away the tears of joy from my eyes with my grandma’s handkerchief during our wedding ceremony.

13. Anything else you’ve always wanted to be asked? What is a metaphor/image for your ministry? Despite being an itinerant United Methodist pastor… my deepest metaphor for ministry is that of a gardener or farmer – putting deep roots into the ground and tending the spot that you are given – taking care of the land and the soil and freely giving the fruits of the labor away to those who need them the most.

marriage: job of the state or of the church

Posted on April 28, 20093 Comments

I found this conversation over on the Methoblog today.

TheoPoetic Musings: Same-Sex Marriage And Separation Of Church And State

I wasn’t aware of the Puritan view of marriage as strictly a civil marriage…

“Massachusettes history reminds us that what we commonly call marriage today was initially, and quite deliberately, constructed as a form of civil union. Although marriage was a fundamental aspect of these highly religious people’s lives and the foundational element of their social order, its reputation was separate from the church. The Puritan founders understood marriage as a social institution that needed adjustment according to changing circumstances, and they left the state to do this important work.”

I also know of a few couples in my life who have been religiously married but not legally married.

The question is asked in the discussion TheoPoetic linked to whether clergy should be part of legally-binding contracts. The point is made that in baptisms and funerals and communion there are no other state functions being performed… so why weddings?

I want to keep thinking about this. I’m intrigued by the notion of having civil marriages and then any tradition can have whatever kind of ceremony/blessing it wants. But in many ways, I kind of feel like that’s what we did when we got married anyway. We had all sorts of things we did to prepare for our wedding ceremony, and then had all of these paperwork things to do for the state. The piece that is the kicker- the state function performed is a signature on a document.

As I pondered this, I remembered a call I recieved a few weeks ago from a woman needing her father’s baptismal record. The courthouse seemed to have lost his birth certificate and they needed official documentation in order to have the correct name on a death certificate correction (my prayers go out to that family and their paperwork battle in their time of grief!). An acceptable official documentation for that state was our church’s baptismal record! In many places in Europe, it is the church who held the birth and death records – you can’t find them all in a local civic authority, because it was the church who was recording these things.

I also am thinking about why it is that clergy are able to sign that piece of paper. It is because we are licensed by an approved body (the church). Or rather, it is because the state recognizes the license I already have. I could get licensed by the state to perform weddings, as a friend of mine did, but I already have a license. No need. Also – the only real “official” thing clergy does as far as the state is concerned is sign the piece of paper. The state has no idea what the ceremony was like and has absolutely no say in what occurs. All they care about is that there are signatures on the form when it comes back. Really – the county recorder is the one who holds all of the civic power. They give out the licenses and require all of the paperwork. Clergy is little more than a witness to the fact that the marriage took place (as far as our official role as the state is concerned). As for other strange people who are licensed to marry: captains of ships… why? who knows (well, I’m sure someone knows and I’m sure a google search will give me the reason, but I’m tired and should be working on the church newsletter).

As I think about my role in the marriage of two people, it is to bless them and to speak to the role of God in their relationship. And something that is very important to me is meeting with the couple and counseling them prior to the marriage. All of these are things that are purely religious in nature. They have nothing to do with the state. My “state” function takes all of a second and more than feeling like an agent of the government, I feel honored that the couple chose me to unite them, rather than the justice of the peace… because it means that I get the opportunity to be a part of their lives and bring God into their marriage as well.

no words…

Posted on April 23, 2009Leave a comment

New York Region
New Riverside Pastor’s Compensation Splits Congregation
By PAUL VITELLO
Published: April 23, 2009
Parishioners have filed a lawsuit to stop the installation of the Rev. Dr. Brad R. Braxton, who they say will receive more than $600,000 a year and will shift the church’s mission.

He’s a former preaching professor of mine from Vanderbilt. And I really have no words to say except that I often feel very guilty about my ~$50,000 total compensation package – especially when so many people are looking for work.

knock-knock

Posted on April 23, 2009Leave a comment

I have posted on here many times that home visitation is not my strength. And if I’m to be honest with myself, even though it is the number one priority of my PPR, it’s not as high as it should be when I sit down and schedule myself for the week.

And reason #1 – I’m a huge introvert. We’ve been there and talked about this before.

These past two weeks, two very active people in the congregation fell (at different times) and have required surgery. And one of these people in particular is the woman who does SO much behind the scenes that no one even thinks about, until she wasn’t there. My own grandma (Babi) was also having her knee replaced.

My own ability to visit them was compromised by the fact that I was at School for Ministry and then came home with the crud… but I discovered/remembered some amazing things about my congregation and my ministry in the meantime.

1) Yes, the PPR puts visitation as my number one priority, but they also have it as the main priority of the congregation.

2) The people in my church know how to look after one another. They have made countless visits and delivered countless meals without being asked and simply because that’s what they do.

3) At SFM, some colleagues helped me remember that my calling/vocation gives me permission that no one else has to “intrude” on people’s lives – that if the congregation has made that a priority, they are in many ways inviting me to know things others don’t know and to see them in vulnerable situations.

4) sitting for 2 hours in a waiting room with someone – even if you have nothing to say – is rewarding ministry.

5) I have never lived in a community or family where people stopped by to visit if you were sick. Living in the country, we weren’t that neighborly – at least as kids. There were regularly scheduled Sunday evening visits to my great grandparent’s house, and we always came and went from Babi’s, but I never learned the art of “dropping in”

6) I was blessed to sit with my Babi for well over four hours in the hospital. I didn’t want to leave in part because it was good to catch up and spend that time with her, but also because I didn’t want to leave her there alone.

7) I really don’t want to leave my church family “alone” either. It is part of my calling to drop in and help them to know that they aren’t alone – that we are thinking about them and that God loves them.

8) everytime… and i have to keep reminding myself of this… everytime I “drop in” I am blessed.

death and taxes

Posted on April 13, 20091 Comment

Benjamin Franklin once said that nothing is certain in this world but death and taxes.

Well… yesterday proves that one of those things is just as in question as everything else. Christ is Risen – Christ is Risen Indeed! And that means that even the forces of death have been defeated.

Taxes on the other hand… well, I got home from Easter dinner and realized that I pretty much had 36 hours to get mine done. I leave tomorrow morning for our conference School for Ministry (all about the emerging church… yay!) – but that means that I have to get them done BEFORE I leave.

And let me tell you… clergy taxes are the worst thing on the face of the planet.

It doesn’t help that there are things called housing exclusions and housing allowances and parsonage allowances and that the GCFA site, which tries to help with all of this says: “The housing allowance is sometimes called a “parsonage allowance” for clergy who are provided with a parsonage and a “rental allowance” for clergy who rent their home.” And then goes on to use the generic “housing allowance” – or is it the specific “housing allowance” for the rest of the form. I just need to know if my exclusion has already been taken out or not… or if I have to add it on! ahhhhh.

I figured things out on paper last night and got all the information and numbers I need. Tonight, I’ll head over to my parent’s and use their handy super Turbo Tax small business edition and hopefully I’ll have to pay less than what my paper numbers showed me.

Some things for new clergy people to learn from this:

1) put any receipt you have from any work-meal/supplies purchase in a box.

2) put any reciept you have from any home purchase (furniture, cleaning supplies, paper towels) in a box.

3) put any reciept you have from any medical related expense… in a box.

4) put all of your utility bills… in a box

5) keep a travel log of where you went, miles, general reason for going… might as well keep it in your car, and not in a box

6) sit down with your treasurer and try to wade through all of the craziness that is the housing exclusion (or allowance, or whatever it is you have) – make sure you are all on the same page.

7) every time you get paid for a funeral, wedding, speaking engagement – write it down and put it in your handy dandy little box.

8) every time your church gives you a gift of money, like through a love offering or Christmas gift – write it down and put it in your handy dandy little box.

9) I’m sure this list will keep growing as I realize what other things I learned, and or things I forgot this year are pointed out to me.

afraid.

Posted on April 12, 20091 Comment

Three women made their way to a lonely tomb just after sunrise. The sky still had that rosy pink hue – but instead of feeling warm and comforted, they were reminded of the bloodshed only days earlier.

Never again would they look at a cross the same way again. Before, it had been a symbol of punishment, a tool used by the Romans to keep the people in line. Now, it was where their teacher had been martyred. It stood for all of his truth and goodness and they would forever remember him upon that cross.

They were journeying back to the place where they had laid his body. They were going to mourn but also to honor and glorify his broken body. They were going to say goodbye.

A million thoughts raced through the minds of those three women. Chief among them – what’s next? Would they, could they, return to their old lives? With Jesus dead, there wasn’t really any among the group of disciples who seemed ready to continue sharing his message. No, it all ended on the cross. All of their hopes and dreams, all of the promises of the Kingdom of God ended on the cross. It was finished.

They brought with them the spices and oils they would need, but as the three women neared the tomb, they began to wonder what on earth they were doing. Were the Romans who crucified their Teacher watching them? What about the Jewish leaders? And if they made it there safely, how were they going to roll back the stone covering the entrance on their own?

Despite their doubts and fears, they kept moving forward, step by step, clutching one another’s hands, until they came to place where he had been laid.

The stone… That big huge obstacle they thought they would have to overcome. It was gone. And a young man sat on the cold hard slab just inside the tomb. What was he doing there? And where on earth was the body of Jesus?

The man looked at them and the women instinctively flinched. He had a strange aura about him and was dressed in dazzling white. They were absolutely speechless.

Don’t be afraid – he whispered to them…. You’re looking for Jesus of Nazareth, but he’s not here! He has been raised, just like he promised. Go – tell the disciples and Peter that he will meet you in Galilee. He’s waiting for you!

The hearts of the women literally stopped beating for a few moments. They had come to honor a dead body and they were met by a mystery. He has been raised?! He’s… waiting for us? Was it a trap? Was it true? Could it possibly be?

It was all so completely overwhelming. They felt like they were standing in the presence of the holy – like Moses before the burning bush – like Elijah standing on the side of the mountain and hearing God’s voice in the silence… and yet nothing made sense. Nothing that was happening fit with their understanding of the world! If the massive stone could be rolled away without any human effort, if Jesus really was raised from the dead, what other assumptions and truths that they had known would be proved false? If the very power of death had been overcome, what was next? What else was going to change?

The world was turned upside down for these three women by this radically holy encounter. Terror and amazement seized them and they turn and fled from the tomb. Was it unworthiness? Was it the weight of the message that they were called to proclaim? Was it fear and awe that come from being face to face with God’s power? The world may never know. But Mary Magdelene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome said nothing to anyone… for they were afraid.

a simple prayer for pastors

Posted on April 8, 20091 Comment

gracious god.

help us to speak your truth.

help us know that while judgment is reserved only for you, that sometimes you call prophets to share your concern for the world and for your children.

bless us with courage.

bless us with grace for the times we have failed to proclaim boldly your words of liberation and bless us with the ability to be ready the next time you call us to speak.

amen.

sigh of relief

Posted on March 10, 2009Leave a comment

Today was my BoOM continuance examination. In 2007 I was commissioned as a probationary (now provisional) elder and so last year and this year, I meet with my examination team to be continued in the process. THIS DECEMBER I will submit my papers for ordination.

I wasn’t too worried about the whole process, and really, was more looking forward to being in Des Moines for the day and getting out of town AND getting to spend some time with two blessed, smart, amazing women in ministry.

I headed out at 9am – had my examination (which went fine!) and then got to go shopping. I used a gift card we had from Pottery Barn (thanks Anna!) and sampled the tea at Teavana. I got my oil in the car changed! I dropped off resources at the Iowa Religoius Media Services office. I had a white chocolate mocha at Starbucks. I found an amazing jade green top at Banana Republic.

And then I headed BACK to the interview sight to meet Anna and Paula for dinner. We thought it was pretty amazing that we all got scheduled on the same day and spent a lot of time praying for and sharing with one another before today. And then we had some AMAZING Thai food and FANTASTIC conversation at a great place in Des Moines called Cool Basil. Yum.

The only downside of the whole day was the heavy rain the whole way home. Rain + poor car lights + stupid steering column = a LONG drive home.