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St. Patrick's Legacy

It's St. Patrick's day today. All over the world people will be celebrating with parades, green beer and Chicago will be dying the river green as well. But that's hardly the legacy of Patrick.

Patrick's legacy would be better marked in the church than in the pub. Patrick's legacy could be stated as innovative and creative missionary activity that brought the gospel of Jesus Christ into the towns and villages of Ireland. 

As a young man Patrick was taken as a slave to Ireland after a raiding party attacked the west coast of England or Wales. Patrick then tended sheep on Slemish mountain before he finally escaped and returned home. After returning home he entered the church and became a bishop and sensed God's call to return to Ireland. As he notes in one of the few writings we have from him...

 I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: "The Voice of the Irish". As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: "We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.

So he returned to Ireland, most likely with an entourage of others and began to proclaim Christ to the people. Establishing small communities outside of towns he would build relationships and friendships with the tribal leaders, looking for and developing cultural connection points with the community. He wasn't looking to civilize and change the culture, he was trying to bring Christ into the culture.

Patrick's legacy would be carried forward by Columba who established the Iona community on a major shipping lane of the time and Columbanus would venture into Europe and establish several monastic communities.

Patrick's legacy is not green beer and parades, it is the faithful missionary activity of the church, taking the gospel to those who have not yet heard. This is the legacy I want to celebrate and live out in my life.

A thought on church music

I've been thinking a lot about the songs we sing on a Sunday morning during worship. Most of them come from the Presbyterian Hymnal which was published in 1990 and is now twenty years old. Work on the hymnal began in 1985 and concluded in 1989.

I decided to do a little unscientific research on the hymnal here's what I discovered... I am a lifelong Presbyterian and an ordained Presbyterian minister. I went through the hymnal, 605 pieces of music, to see how many of them I readily recognized. The number I came up with was 112. Now of those 112 some should no longer be sung in worship, Kum ba Yah for example is best left in the past. 

The question I have to ask is do I represent the typical forty-plus year old male in the church? In some ways most definitely, in other ways probably not. Most men my age have had much less exposure to church music that I have had and so would most likely recognize far fewer hymns than I do. 

What has our congregation done with these 605 songs? Fortunately we have had people keep a diligent record of the songs we have used since acquiring the hymnal in 1990. Since 1990 we have sung 260 of the songs three or more times,(three was an arbitrary cut off) although three times in 20 years is hardly enough to instill them in the collective memory. Of the 260 we have sung, 72 of have not been used in the past five years. I wonder how many really form part of the collective memory of the congregation?

I also have a book titled, "The Best Praise and Worship Songs Ever" containing 80 songs. Of the eighty songs listed I would be happy singing over seventy of them.

I can go see U2, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Bruce Cockburn and a host of other artists and sing along with almost every song they play without any music or lyrics to follow. Why's that, because the music moves me and I listen to it frequently. I have thousands of songs on my i-pod, hundreds of which I can sing along to, yet in worship we still see the need to provide music and words each week.

Before anyone thinks I'm bashing classic hymns, here's my top ten list of hymns. As you can see only one of them is a modern song, the rest have proven themselves over time.

My top ten hymns:
1. And Can It Be (not in our hymnal)
2. Be Thou My Vision
3. How Great Thou Art
4. A Mighty Fortress
5. Amazing Grace
6. Christ The Lord Is Risen Today
7. I Sing The Mighty Power of God
8. Praise Ye The Lord, the Almighty
9. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
10. I Live For You (a little known song from Mosaic in LA)

What are your favorites... old and new?

"Pastor, why don't you wear a robe?"

Every once in a while the question as to why I don't wear robes comes up in conversation. The latest suggestion was that I might consider wearing them when we serve communion. What's the big deal about robes?

On a practical level I find them cumbersome, hot and uncomfortable. On a theological level I don't believe that the office of pastor is so significantly different from other gifts in the church to require a different dress code, particularly one that dates back to ancient Rome. 

I don't see the point in wearing an academic gown to show off my level of learning for all the congregation to see, if I have something to say that is of God it may have nothing to do with my learning and everything to do with my relationship with Jesus.

It has been suggested that I could wear a gown as it creates an amorphous appearance that draws attention away from the person presiding at communion. Perhaps, but I believe that God uses individuals with their gifts and personality to shape and mold the church. Whoever presides at communion is a real life, flesh and blood person with personality and passion and, for better or worse, I don't think that should be hidden behind a robe.

When I've talked with my female colleagues many of them tell me they wear a robe because our culture has such high fashion expectations for women and, as a result, people are quick to criticize women's fashion sense and are easily distracted by it. Fair enough, but I'm not a woman and a man with a jacket and tie is rarely criticized for his look.

I believe the church is made up of people with different gifts, passions and talents. We come together in a great cacophony and in worship that cacophony finds some harmonies and is turned into a beautiful symphony. But we come together as one and don't differentiate based on dress, education or any other standard of this world. I don't wear robes because I stand as one with the people of God. I may lead worship but I too need to confess my sin, receive pardon, hear God's word read and preached (even if its my own words) and receive the sacrament. I do not stand apart from the congregation, I stand with them for I am one of them. 

Four opinions on one issue... music in worship

Following worship yesterday I was approached by four different people, all of whom wanted to express an opinion on the same part of the worship service. All four had a different thought to share!

Of the four hymns we sang yesterday only one was from the hymnal, two could be considered contemporary and the fourth was Wesley's, "And Can It Be" which I believe should be in the hymnal and I was shocked that only one member of our choir had ever heard of this classic hymn. 

So what did people have to say? The first person told me how much they enjoyed the music in the service and where delighted with the direction we were taking. The second person asked that we get a song leader to lead the newer songs for the congregation. The third person complained about only using one hymn from the hymnal explaining that the hymnal is full of good songs that we could sing. The fourth person didn't like trying to follow the repeats in the printed music for the non-hymnal songs and was delighted when I told them we would start putting lyrics up on our new screen soon. All four people were seniors.

So what is a pastor to do when he gets conflicting suggestions? 
First of all I believe a pastor has to be clear on the mission of the church and continue to share that with the congregation and not be swept along by individuals thoughts and opinions.
Second the pastor needs to listen to these voices to see if there if they represent a broaden current of discontent and then be willing to address it.
Third the pastor has a difficult responsibility in leading worship in such a way as to honor the generations that are present, so that all who come can meet with God. That being said for the sake of the future of the church there is a need to lean toward the younger upcoming generation.

How do you or your church handle things like this?

Adding Electronic Visuals to Worship

For the last few weeks we have been using a projector and screen in worship. For some of you who read this you will be thinking this is no big deal but for others it really is a big deal. Thankfully almost all the comments we have received have been positive. I've heard everything from, "its about time we got a screen," "I've been waiting ten years for this," to "I wasn't sure I liked it at first but I like the way it adds to the service." I even heard that one person thought the screen was a great addition for the hard of hearing as it would allow them to participate through the visuals. Of course the flip side of that was that on Sunday I witnessed the gracious activity of one of our members as they shared the images with a sight-impaired member, it was beautiful to see.

As I placed the screen, a portable 10' screen, in our sanctuary I was acutely aware of Gordon McDonald's great book, Who Stole My Church, and decided to walk carefully into this change. The first people to see it were the choir and  I processed it with them. The first Sunday I used a single image from CIVA to set the tone for worship and showed a short video of World Visions work in Haiti. The following week I added the Scripture text and some visuals for the sermon.

I wrote about the screen in our newsletter...

By the time you receive this newsletter, most of you will have seen the change in our sanctuary, the addition of a screen that will allow us to use more electronic media as part of our worship service.

Over the years, even the centuries, the use of technology has been an important part of the growth and development of the church. If you visit some of the old Presbyterian churches in Scotland or Ireland you will see pulpits that stand high above the congregation. This innovation in design was to allow the voice of the preacher to carry throughout the sanctuary in a time before the microphone. Today we take the technology of the a microphone for granted and don't even notice its there unless the volume is far to high or we get feedback from it.

Indeed there are many technological tools that we use in worship and have done so for so many years that we don't even notice them. Take the church bulletin, it is a fairly new addition to the worship service. Until local churches were in a position to purchase duplicating machines that could run a weekly bulletin churches thrived without them.

An older technology that has become indispensable is the printing press. Indeed the invention of the printing press has been said to be the most important tool in the spread of the Protestant reformation. Can you even imagine what worship in the church must have been like for most of its history without any printed material? Yet for most of the history of the church God's people worshiped without any printed material.

What I'm getting at is that everything in the church was, at some point, an innovation, I could write about the introduction of the organ to churches, the development of a separate pulpit and lectern from a single table, the introduction of electric lights. All of which were loved by some and not so much by others.

Today we live in a highly technological, visual time and if we are serious about reaching out to a younger generation and helping them find a place in God's family then we need to adapt to the world in which we live. This was an important insight of the reformation as the reformers sought to bring the gospel to people, not in Latin, but in their native language. Image is now part of the native language of people today, we live in a visual culture. This is the reality of the world in which we must minister if we are to pass the faith on to future generations, which is something I most certainly believe we are called to do.

How do you manage change in you church or organization?

A thought from Brian McLaren on Denominations

In this short video Brian McLaren states clearly the challenge denominations face.

Are we focused on the product or on the business of being on mission in the world of TODAY? You can read more of Brian's thoughts here.

Marcus Borg: 'The Heart of Christianity' some thoughts

A couple of months ago I was asked if I had read any of Marcus Borg's books. I had read "The Meaning of Jesus" which is a back and forth between NT Wright and Borg but had never read any of Borg's 'solo' works. So when a friend and colleague put a copy of "The Heart of Christianity" in my hand I was delighted to read it. Now I've been asked to write about what I thought of it. Let me be clear, there is no way I can fully engage all of Borg's thoughts here, it would take a book to respond but I do want to focus on a couple of things he says that I believe are of critical importance for the church.

First of all I want to be clear that I hear in Borg a deep concern for the future of Christianity and it is out of this concern that he writes. As Borg states, the classical theological historical, "image of Jesus no longer works for millions of people, both within and outside the church. For these millions, its literalism and exclusivity are not only unpersuasive, but a barrier to being a Christian. 
There are, of course, also millions of Christians who still see Jesus this way. But for people who can't accept the older image, the historical-metaphorical approach to Jesus and Christian origins provides a way to take Jesus seriously."

This presents the question as to whether Borg, in his attempt to remove barriers, has in fact removed some of the central elements of what it means to be Christian. Has Borg become a heretic?

Relief Agencies Need Cash Not Goods

When a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti is brought to our attention we often think, "Oh wow, I have to do something." But let's make sure the something we do is the right thing.

Cash is best donation after disaster, aid groups say
Earthquake-devastated Haitians need donations of cash -- not clothes, food, medicine, or other relief supplies, as well intended as they might be, aid groups said Thursday.

Such "in-kind" donations can at best take up valuable space in cargo shipments and waste aid workers' time in sorting through the items, charities said. At worst, the food or medicine could be unusable or even dangerous.

"Sending donated goods oversees is an appealing idea because it makes you feel like you're really helping while at the same time recycling things that are no longer of any use to you," writes former aid worker Saundra Schimmelpfennig in her blog about the impact of aid. "Unfortunately inappropriate donations can do more harm than good and it often costs more to ship used goods than to buy new goods locally." read more

Yes we might like the idea of providing hands on opportunities to make a difference but let's make sure we are getting as much bang for our buck as we can and that we're not making life more difficult for the aid agencies. Right now World Vision can multiply a gift for Haiti Relief and Long Term Support by three, the same is true for several of their other giving options for Haiti and other projects.

There are organizations like Church World Services who encourage you to make care kits to their specifications and they will get them to the people who need them. If you feel this is what you need to do then go for it, it really does make a difference and for some people the value of hands on work is what they need. (Personally I'd rather send my money knowing that an organization can get far more for the same amount I spend on the care kit supplies but I don't say that to put down the work of CWS).

If you haven't responded to this great need in our world today, please do.

"Kill Thy Enemy" - Gunsights made to "biblical standards!"

Every once in a while a news story comes along that just leaves me shaking my head, this is one of them. A top gunsight manufacturer, Trijico, is inscribing its sights with raised biblical references.

As the BBC report states, "The markings include "2COR4:6" and "JN8:12", relating to verses in the books of II Corinthians and John. Trijicon, the US-based manufacturer, was founded by a devout Christian, and says it runs to "Biblical standards"."

As the company states on its website, "We believe that America is great when its people are good. This goodness has been based on biblical standards throughout our history and we will strive to follow those morals."Someone needs to give these folks a brief theology lesson beginning with, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and that no one is good except God. America could be great if its people were good but its people are not good, we, like all people, are sinners standing in the need of grace.

So what are the inscriptions? The BBC reports...

The inscriptions are subtle and appear in raised lettering at the end of the stock number.

John 8:12 reads: "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

The nod to part of the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians, found on the company's Reflex sight, references the text: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

I don't know about you but I don't think this was what Jesus and Paul had in mind for their words. Perhaps we could suggest some other texts for them, "love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you." "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty give him something to drink."

There is nothing more frightening to me than nationalism tied up with religion. I should know, I grew up in Northern Ireland.

Image from Boing Boing
 

Church, Cruising and Royal Caribbean

So Royal Caribbean has taking some some hits for allowing its cruise ships to continue to dock in Haiti after the earthquake has claimed so many lives. I even read that one passenger was sickened by the ship stopping there because, "tens of thousands of dead people are being piled up on the streets, with the survivors stunned and looking for food and water."

I found this an interesting comment because so many of the people of Haiti were looking for food and water before the earthquake. Indeed many of the islands that these cruise ships stop at suffer from a great deal of poverty, perhaps none greater than Haiti. If your cruise ship stops in Jamaica at Ocho Rios, try going a few blocks inland from the resort and you'll also have your illusion shattered.

If your idyllic cruise is ruined because the illusion that everything is OK with this world is stripped away and the reality of suffering people in this world is made known to you then I say that's a good thing and before you drop several thousand on your next cruise perhaps you should take a closer look at your charitable giving. (Way too long a sentence!) If you want to go on a cruise go, but don't close your eyes to the world or live in a fantasy land while you are there, be aware of the issues in every port you stop.

Now that I've started I might as well keep going...

One of our local Christian radio stations is sponsoring a cruise. You can find a link to it right underneath the link to help the people of Haiti!Perhaps its just me but I don't see how the church of Jesus Christ can justify going on cruises together where, as the brochure says you will, "enjoy your well-appointed
stateroom, the elegant restaurants, swim in the two pools, and of course be pampered in the spa
and salon. There’s even a complete fitness center to stay in shape after all the fabulous food we’ll
encounter." Sounds like several of the seven deadly sins are being justified here.

Of course they add "I think you’ll agree with us that the best part will be the opportunities throughout the cruise for praise and worship with (Don Moen, Robin Mark, and Lenny LeBlanc!)." But Micah says we are to, "act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with your God."  Or as Isaiah reminds us, "Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

Let me be clear, I'm not a killjoy and I don't think every vacation is bad. Indeed I thoroughly enjoy vacations. I think it is wonderful when Christians with additional resources left after contributing faithfully to their local church can afford to go on educational trips to Israel or follow Paul's journey. I think its wonderful when we can go on short term mission trips to see and gain an appreciation of poverty firsthand. But let me be clear, giving to the local church must come first for the follower of Jesus.

I do question a Christian radio station that decides to host a luxury cruise.

Led Zeppelin and Queen go to the Minnesota Orchestra

Question: What do you get when you cross Led Zeppelin, Queen and the Minnesota Orchestra?
Answer: An amazing musical experience coming to the Target Center on February 4th.

I'm probably not going to go to this show but I love the idea of a full orchestra taking on the classic rock anthems of these two seminal bands.

I wonder if the primary audience will be those who love Zeppelin and Queen or those who love orchestral music? Not that you can't love both. Indeed many people do enjoy both types of music. I am glad that they have chosen a stadium rather than Orchestra Hall for the show, I don't think these rock giants should be played there.

I have to say that I think this will be one phenomenal show as musical styles are melded and blended, scores are adapted to fit the range of a full orchestra and the amazing talent of song writers and musicians can be appreciated by many. I only wish we could pull off this sort of melding in the church, perhaps then we would be able to create some truly wonderful intergenerational services.

You see I love the church of Jesus Christ, but I fear for her. I fear that too many members of the body want to keep things the way they have always been and then she will end up irrelevant in the world. I fear that too many want everything to be new but thereby cut-off the rich history and tradition of worship and worse yet neglect the needs of an entire generation that seeks to faithfully worship Jesus.

May we find creative ways to be body of Christ, from birth to death, in the world today.

Pat Robertson, Haiti and You!

OK, no surprise Pat Robertson sees the earthquake as God's judgment on Haiti. Did anyone expect him to say anything else? Surely not, he also said, "right now, we're helping the suffering people and suffering is unimaginable." In that he is correct.

So what are we going to do? Lambast an old man who in giving ultimate sovereignty to God perhaps draws what some might consider crazy and inappropriate conclusions. Or agree with him that right now we are to help suffering people. I only hope that every critic of Pat Robertson (and I'm no fan) steps up to the plate and gives some time or money to help those in greatest need right now in Haiti.

If you speak up against Pat Robertson and don't do anything for those in need then you are only declaring your own self righteousness and are no better or perhaps even worse than those you would condemn.

Which is worse, saying what Pat Robertson said and then doing something to help or condemning Pat Robertson and doing nothing?

Here's the clip from the show...

Should the local church cancel worship for the General Assembly?

This summer the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will be meeting in Minneapolis. At this point in the proceedings we have a lot of people working hard to make sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible.

One of the events of the General Assembly will be a large worship gathering on Sunday morning, July 4th. It is the hope of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area that local congregations will cancel worship that morning and join in the large celebration at the Minneapolis Convention Center along with all the commissioners coming in from all over the United States.

As I was thinking about this today I have come to question the wisdom of this.

On a practical level many of our members are of an age where it would be difficult for them to get to the convention center and make the walk into the hall for worship, what would they do that morning if we canceled worship in the local church?

On theological level I think it would make more sense for the the General Assembly to encourage the delegates to get out and visit the local churches and worship with them. It would provide the delegates with the opportunity to see what God is doing in the local community. The local congregations could host the delegates for the morning and give them an opportunity to greet the local congregation on behalf of the broader church and their own local congregation.

Our worshiping congregations are supposed to be the heart and soul of the mission of the church, so why on earth would we suspend that mission for a week? Perhaps we have lost direction and now think that the local church is to serve General Assembly rather than the other way around.

I am all for a citywide get together for worship while General Assembly is here. I just think it should be at a time other than Sunday morning, perhaps Saturday or Sunday evening. While I know nothing can be changed for 2010 perhaps GA should think long and hard about the way it can support the local church when it's in town and what its decisions say about their ecclesiology.

The Monkey and The Fish

Dave Gibbons uses this parable as the title for his book, "The Monkey and the Fish," and that's where I first came across it.

I shared it with our leadership team last night and solicited their responses as to the ways in which we, as a church, act like the monkey, and what we could do if we really wanted to help the fish. If you haven't read the parable before here it is...

A typhoon stranded a monkey on an island.
In a protected place on the shore, while waiting for the raging waters to recede, he spotted a fish swimming against the current. It seemed to the monkey that the fish was struggling and needed assistance.

Being of kind heart, the monkey resolved to help the fish. A tree leaned precariously over the spot where the fish seemed to be struggling. At considerable risk to himself, the monkey moved far out on a limb, reached down, and snatched the fish from the waters. Scurrying back to the safety of his shelter, he carefully laid the fish on dry ground. For a few moments, the fish showed excitement but soon settled into a peaceful rest.

I wonder how many fish the church has allowed to settle "into a peaceful rest" because we tried to force them to adapt to our environment only to find they couldn't breath the air we had there?

A Christmas Prayer

Today, O God,
the soles of your feet
have touched the earth.
Today,
the back street, the forgotten place
have been lit up with significance.
Today,
the households of the earth
welcome the King of heaven.
For you have come among us,
you are one of us.
So may our songs rise to surround your throne
as our knees bend to salute your cradle.
Amen.

Church of Scotland, Common Order

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays - a pastor's rant

Once again I've been subjected to the annual battle over "merry Christmas" vs "happy holidays." I've received emails, petitions, I've been asked in person on and on it goes and I'm a little tired of it!

First of all its not Christmas yet, if you're a Christian who celebrates the birth of Christ on December 25th then its advent, not Christmas. The Christmas season doesn't technically begin until, well, Christmas and then we celebrate for twelve days.

I fully expect someone to say that they're not part of a liturgical tradition and so for them it's Christmas. Sorry, its not. If you are celebrating Christ's birth on December 25th then you are following the liturgical tradition of the church (we all know Jesus wasn't born on that date) and that's that.

So perhaps you should wish people a happy advent, which is a period of holy days (holidays) in which case it would surely be appropriate to wish them "happy holidays." Then again, if you waited until Christmas to wish people a "merry Christmas" you could, since Christmas is a 12 day festival, wish people "happy holi(y)days." too.

Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season, but he's also the reason for every season if you're a Christian, after all doesn't John tell us that, "through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." So Jesus is the reason for winter, spring, summer and autumn! 

In our pluralistic culture there are numerous holy days this time of year, some are Christian, some are Jewish, some are Muslim and some are secular. Yes, there are secular holy days too.

If you want to impose Christian sharia on the nation then I suggest you go find some uninhabited island and start your own colony. If you want to be salt and light in the world for Jesus then stay, and rather than complain and campaign, make a difference, live out your faith every day. Reclaim Christmas in your own life. Spend less on yourself and give more. Spend more time in prayer and the scriptures. Give more time to family devotions. Give some of your time to volunteer with the homeless.

May God bless the holy days that lie ahead and a merry Christmas to you.

A Christmas Thought with the help of NT Wright

In speaking of the angels appearance to the shepherds and the shepherds testimony of what happened, bishop NT Wright reminds us that...

"The birth of this little boy is the beginning of a confrontation between the kingdom of God - in all its apparent weakness, insignificance and vulnerability - and the kingdoms of this world... When you see the manger on a card, or in a church, don't stop at the crib. See what it's pointing to. It is pointing the explosive truth that the baby lying there is already being spoken of as the true king of the world."

At which throne will you bow and worship this Christmas? Jesus, Consumerism, Patriotism or some other? Perhaps you are a pluralist and like to bow to more than one... should you?

The need for "Peace-Poets"

"Peacemaker" A word that has been used in many ways over the years. For some a 'peacemaker' is a handgun made by Colt. For others it is the active military seeking to bring peace to troubled regions of the world. Then there are the Christian Peacemaker Teams who work in non-violent ways to bring peace to a troubled world.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." In this statement from Matthew's gospel the Greek word for 'peacemaker' is a composite word. The first part of the word being 'peace' and is used to signify, peace with God, peace with one another and peace with self. In Hebrew the closest equivalent is the word, 'shalom.'

The second word, 'maker,' is taken from the Greek word that at its root refers to creative action. In the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) this word is used to refer to God's action in the creation of the world. It is also a word that can be translated as 'poet.' It is a word that captures artistic imagination and creativity.

Einstein said, "imagination is more important that knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."

Perhaps in this season when we speak of the Prince of Peace, we could use a little creative imagination in how we think of peace in our world. We could be "peace-poets" who dream, write, draw and work to imagine and create a more peaceful world.

Do They Know It's Christmas

Well, its been a lot of years since it was written but the need is still there. There are plenty of hungry people in the world this time of year, and I'm not one of them. "So tonight thank God it's them instead of you!" Bono said this may have been the hardest line he has ever had to sing because there is an element of honesty to it.

How is God stirring your heart this advent to think about those who won't be sitting down with family to a sumptuous feast, who don't even know if they'll be eating at all?

It's been my favorite Christmas song for almost 25 years now.

Some Thoughts on a Worship Service

I just returned from our community's "ecumenical" thanksgiving service. It was an interesting experience for me. The service ran smoothly, the combined choir sang beautifully, the officiants all looked very official in their white robes (with the exception of the Presbyterian who wore a black robe). It was a thoroughly traditional service, although the prayer of confession and assurance of pardon were missing.

I spent the service sitting in the pews with the congregation, not coming within 100 feet of a microphone. Following the service several members of our congregation mentioned that they had hoped I would be participating in the service. I assured them that I was a participant, I just wasn't wearing robes and standing up front.

As I looked around the congregation I realized that at 41 I was one of the youngest people there and I began to ask myself why? I wondered if it was people's busy schedules that kept them away and then realized that we all set priorities and make to those things we deem important, so this was clearly not important to the 40 and younger crowd. But why would this not be an important event to my age group and younger?

I think the answer can be found in the emphasis on diversity that is placed on the younger generations. We don't see the disunity that requires a service of this kind. We don't care if you are Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Evangelical Free, CMA, Roman Catholic, Anglican, UCC or whatever other label you attach. Indeed every worship service is in some way "ecumenical" as people from different walks of life come together to worship God under one roof.

I think my generation and younger are much less interested in the formal "ecumenism" of a worship service like this than they are in the ongoing relationships among people. It is no big deal for me or my children to be involved with more than one faith community at a time.

As I sat in my pew I was also struck by the groups that were missing, we had Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, UCC and ELCA. But we didn't have any Evangelical Free, CMA, Baptist, Pentecostal or Independent congregations represented. Why was that? Were they not invited to the table, were they not interested in sitting at the table (actually we never did gather round the table because our ecumenism can not extend to sharing communion, but that's another issue).

I mentioned that the service was thoroughly traditional, I wonder what it might have been like if we had invited the folks from Eaglebrook, the local mega-church, to lead the singing with their guitars and drums? Would this be acceptable to those in attendance if it drew a greater part of our community to worship together?

Growing up in Northern Ireland I've attended all sorts of ecumenical gatherings. The most powerful being the one at the Kings Hall following the Enniskillen bombing, were several thousand young people gathered for cross community worship to state that we are one in Christ. If the purpose of the service this evening was to offer a traditional worship for those who would like to celebrate Thanksgiving in this way then it was a success, absolutely fantastic. However if there is another purpose for it then I don't think I understood what it was and I don't think it was achieved.

Personally, I enjoyed it for what it was and it was great to see several members of our congregation participating in this community event.