Festival of Homiletics Reflections: Grace Imathiu, Sweet Honey in the Rock

The last preacher at the Festival of Homiletics was Rev. Grace Imathiu, who, in my opinion, was the best preacher with the most moving message of the entire event. She didn't get a standing ovation, like many of the other preachers, and I'm not sure why, except that perhaps she had too many people in tears to be ready to stand up. Or maybe we were more moved by the content of her sermon, as opposed to being moved by the persona of the preacher, which is as it should be, right? Anyway, I can count on my hands the number of times I've been moved to tears by preaching, and this was one of them. (The other that immediately comes to mind is a time in seminary when a woman preached as part a chapel service sponsored by the Drew Hispanic Caucus - I can't remember her name. But I still remember exactly the image she was conveying and when I remember, it still makes me tear up. That is powerful preaching.)

Imathiu preached on Ezekiel 37:1-4, the passage about the Valley of the Dry Bones. I didn't take as many notes as with other preachers, but I remember more! Imathiu is a storyteller, and she immediately draws you in. She began with an African tale that she said was unrelated to her sermon - just a story she wanted to tell. Of course, by the end, the story tied right in after all. The story was about a monster whose name you could never speak. Eventually the monster swallows up everyone and everything except one child, who seeks to kill the monster. He finds many other animals, but never the monster. Finally, when he finds the monster, and kills it, everyone and everything is set free again. (That's missing a lot of details, but it is the gist.)

Imathiu asked, "How does a priest function when they are stripped of traditions, robes, when being a priest is more than just keeping the status quo?" talking about Ezekil. "A priest in exile is a priest without safety of liturgy, office, family, class. That priest is Ezekiel. Whenever there is a crisis in the life of a priest, there is the opportunity for God to break in and the priest to be transformed into a prophet. A prophet is one who is able to see life with the eyes of God, who can see further than the horizon right through to life eternal, one who puts on God’s eyes."

“Prophet school.” – for us that is a difficult appointment, an unsupportive family, etc.

"Can these bones live?" God asks. Ezekiel's response: I have no hopes for these bones. God asks us. We ask God. God says “Prophesy to these bones.” Ezekiel/We are armed only with words.

She old us the story about Helen Keller learning from Anne Sullivan - the breakthrough moment in her learning when Sullivan ran water from the pump over Helen's hand while fingerspelling w-a-t-e-r onto her palm. Suddenly, everything in the world had a name, and there was a world for her. Helen immediately exhausted Ann, asking for names for everything. Without language in her first six years, she could not order her experience.

Imathiu connected this to say it is like writing b-a-p-t-i-s-m over and over again until someone gets it. And getting, they ask relentless questions: What is this? What is this? Bread. Cup of salvation. Brother. Sister.

That’s what prophetic preaching is, she said. Being like Anne Sullivan to Helen Keller.

One day, the monster is brought down, and the world is let loose. Martin Luther King – it seemed he was preaching to a dead-end, but he made an opening.

"Do we speak words aloud? Or are we afraid of being swallowed up?" she concluded.

Ah, this summary doesn't do justice to this awesome preaching experience.

***

I also wanted to mention that on Wednesday at the Festival, we got to hear Sweet Honey in the Rock. I'd never heard them before - missed them when they came to OWU. They were fabulous - the music, the styles, the range, the content of the songs. Spectacular. Standout: Ysaye Barnwell. Actually, others too, had particularly excellent solos, but Barnwell's awesome range was so noticeable. I feel like I should write more about them, but the best thing I can say is: buy their music, or better yet, go here them live!

Campus Ministry

I'm on our conference's Board of Higher Education and Ministry, and this past weekend we led some workshops at a conference workshop day on being in ministry with college students. Tom Wolfe, who is the dean of the chapel at Syracuse University, put together a powerpoint presentation for our workshop. Here's some of what he shared:

Emerging trends in college students -
• Mainstreaming of pagan and naturalistic religions
• Mainline Protestantism is in decline (we all know this one, right?)
• Evangelical/Fundamentalism is on the increase (This includes “non-denominational” Christian churches).
• Greater interfaith awareness
• "In academia, it is more acceptable to discuss Judaism and Islam inside of the classroom. These traditions are generally viewed as adding to the cultural diversity of the academic environment. The topic of Christianity tends to evoke the fear that there will be an imposition of faith in the classroom."

Citing research from Cherry, DeBerg, Porterfield (bibliography below), Tom shared:
• Students defined themselves as “spiritual” instead of “religious”
• Largest attendance in campus ministry is at parachurch groups (ex: Campus Crusade for Christ, Navigators, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship)
• There is a growing skepticism of denominational expressions of faith. “I don’t want to follow a tradition, I want to have a relationship with God (or whatever).”
• Worship attendance which was once an expression of civic responsibility is now being expressed in forms of volunteerism. (I found this to be very true at Ohio Wesleyan, where the Community Service Learning office is a central and popular part of campus)
• As universities become more international (both in receiving and sending students) they become more interfaith.
• Students are less “churched,” “synagogued,” and “mosqued” than previous generations. Without deep roots in one tradition, their spirituality becomes eclectic.
• Students of color tend to define themselves as “religious” as opposed to “spiritual.” (Huh.)

Citing research from Wolfe, (bibiography below) Tom shared:
• Indifference to religion by the academy may be changing as a practical matter
• Widespread fascination with spirituality in the general culture has increased awareness of and interest in, religious studies courses
• Weekly there are stories in higher education periodicals about colleges and universities struggling with issues of inclusiveness, religious freedom, and academic freedom
• Watch-dog groups are emerging to assure rights for religious freedom because of their perceived bias that the academy favors other groups.
• “Spirituality” is becoming more and more the domain of student affairs as schools look to meet the needs of students in a more holistic way, focusing on education of the student in a more well-rounded way than simply through academics

***
What was your campus ministry experience like? My experience was a huge part of my overall college experience. The university chaplain, Rev. Jon Powers, was also my academic advisor, and from the first days of orientation he had me involved in planning worship services, and it was definitely key to my making friendship and making connections that served me well as I began the process of ordination. (I started my candidacy with a mentor from Ohio, who was then the pastor of the church I attended in college.) It was easy for me to get involved though because I was already a church-going person, already involved in the denomination to a high degree, already attending and loving Annual Conference sessions, etc.

I think a strong campus ministry can also be a place where students who haven't grown up at church can also become connected, find God, deepen faith, but I bet these students are less likely to key into a specific denominational connection. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my gut instinct. How about you? Where you involved in campus ministry? Had you been involved in a church before college? What did you like about it, or dislike? Did your local church stay connected with you while you were at school? Did you attend a local church while in college?

Bibliography Info:
• Cherry, C., DeBerg, B. A., & Porterfield, A. (2001). Religion on campus: What religion means to today’s undergraduates. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press
• Wolfe, A. (2002). "Faith and diversity in American religion." The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 8, 2002, B7-B10.

Reflections: Ecumenical Advocacy Days, Part 1

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been in DC this weekend at the Ecumenical Advocacy Days. Advocacy Days"is a movement of the ecumenical Christian community, and its recognized partners and allies, grounded in biblical witness and our shared traditions of justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Our goal, through worship, theological reflection and opportunities for learning and witness, is to strengthen our Christian voice and to mobilize for advocacy on a wide variety of U.S. domestic and international policy issues." (from the website.) This year the theme was "... and How are the Children?", so all of our work looked at how critical issues for people of faith and people of politics impact children. Attendees get to choose a 'track' to focus on for the weekend, and I chose the Eco-Justice track, as environmental justice is a particular passion of mine.

After an unintentionally scenic last half-hour of the drive into DC, with almost driving through the Pentagon's parking lot, and repeatedly ending up in Ladybird Johnson Memorial Grove, my colleague and I finally made it to the hotel in time for opening worship. Worship began with some excellent music - Jazz musicians Rick Whitehead (jazz guitarist), Lou Hinds (bassist), and Sanelma Sutton (pianist) were great, contemplative, and energizing. They also accompanied us on jazzy versions of traditional hymns. We the congregation weren't so good at keeping up, but it was fun!

The preacher at opening worship was Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, who is the "Stated Clerk" of the General Assembly PCUSA. I had no idea other denominations had weirder titles than we United Methodists do. He said his job is to interpret their constitution, promote unity, and preserve records. Eesh- quite a task! Kirkpatrick talked about concern with churches that are "unconcerned and unengaged," concern with policies that threaten to make poverty permanent. He spoke about children's health insurance, global warming, peace and sustainability, and authentic human development as priorities for our Advocacy Days. I didn't take many notes, but I thought he was a good preacher and started us in the right direction.

Next day: tracks begin. Our first speaker was Dr. Larry Rasmussen, professor of social ethics at Columbia Theological. He referred to a comic strip which contained the phrase "insurmountable opportunities," and talked about that as the place we are in for eco-justice. He gave a great theological framework for where we are and where we want to be. He talked about how God has been made separate from nature, emphasizing transcendence over immanence, about how humanity has been separated from nature, emphasizing humans in God's image, but not the rest of creation. He talked about redemption being 'wrested' from creation, with creation left as just a backdrop, and churches reflecting rather than correction pervasive dualistic thinking and theology.

Instead, we want to be (said Rasmussen) an "earth-honoring faith." He talked about radical incarnation, bodiliness, all creation, humans as adam from adamah - 'earthlings', asceticism - voluntary simplicity, sacramentalism - the standing miracle of life, mysticism - "we can touch with our hearts the living heart of the world," prophetic liberative religious tradition, and that we are "all born to belonging. All that exists coexists."

Rev. Janet Parker was the responder. She said so often we see ourselves as "God's regent, God's stand-in, or simply god." Instead, she said, we need teacher - from indigenous cultures that are earth-honoring, and from the earth itself, and the rest of creation. We need a sense of place, and a sense of community.

OK - that's enough for one post! One more set of reflections to come.

Bertha Holmes

First, thank you to all of you for your comments and prayers about Grayer. I appreciate your kind words.

Monday I went to the funeral of Bertha Holmes. Bertha was a member of Rome First UMC, the church I attended from sixth grade until the time I was appointed to St. Paul's. Bertha was a widow of a United Methodist pastor, mother of four sons, and just wonderful person. She was 95 years old. If you had asked anybody at Rome First who they would call a "saint," I'm betting a good 85% of them would quickly say "Bertha Holmes." She didn't see that in herself - she just saw herself as someone trying hard to be faithful. But to others she was a daily living example of how to live as Jesus called us to live. I remember taking Disciple Bible Study with her when I was in high school, and I was amazed that though she knew the Bible so well already, she put her all into this study, and said how much she had learned from it. She was inspiring.

When I was in college, I served in my home church a couple summers as the "ministry intern," and my then pastor (now colleague!) Rev. Bruce Webster let me spend a lot of time with him seeing what it was like to be a pastor. One of the most daunting things for me was visiting people in nursing homes and hospitals. I'm actually extremely shy (though in professional settings you might not be able to tell this) and I was terrified of having to visit people. But I remember that everywhere we went that summer, the people we visited would mention that Bertha had been recently to see them. She just made a commitment to be there with them, and they obviously greatly appreciated her presence.

Years later, when I was looking at seminaries, I told her that I had finally decided on Drew. (I had looked also at Boston and Wesley.) She looked at me and said, "Oh, I prophesied that you would go to Drew." I have to tell you, I'm a skeptic. If almost anyone else had said that to me, I would have thought they were teasing or just wrong. But with Bertha, I knew that Drew was doubtless the place for me to be.

Bertha had a stroke a few years back, and has been in a nursing home out of the area for these last few years. But despite this more recent physical disconnect from Rome First, there were easily 100+ people at her funeral, people of all ages whose lives she had touched. As I said, she was inspiring. A true saint. Would that we could all leave such a legacy of love behind us.

General Conference and the Use of Technology

Sorry for the lack of posting - I've had a busy week. As I mentioned, I had a Book of Resolutions Task Force meeting this past week, in conjunction with the Interagency Legislative Task Force Meeting. The Interagency thing is where staff/members of different boards and agencies get together to talk about legislation they will be submitting to General Conference 2008. The idea is that agencies will be able to collaborate on legislation and avoid submitting similar/overlapping petitions or avoid assigning work to another agency without informing them beforehand.

During our conversation together, the issue of technology and General Conference came up. Someone asked about the rules for using things like PDAs, cell phones, and laptops during GC, especially for delegates. Currently, there are no rules in place. The conversation quickly turned to all the 'bad' ways technology might be used at GC, and a suggestion that device-use be restricted for delegates, and signals jammed onsite.

At this point, I had to speak up. I think the conversation was showing some fundamental differences in the way people make use of technology. I immediately thought of Leonard Sweet's language of 'native' and 'immigrant' when it comes to digital technology. I don't always agree with Sweet's ideas (he was a professor of mine at Drew) but I think he puts this in a helpful way to think about. Natives don't just 'use' technology - it is a fully integrated part of life, a way of life. But 'immigrants' may use technology, but more as an external tool that is employed to facilitate work. To me, attempting to limit use of technology at GC would be limiting a huge part of how people expect to be able to live, interact, and carryout work and relationships during GC. I think some of the folks as the meeting only thought of ways that technology could distract from the 'real work' to be done, but I see exciting possibilities for how it can actually positively and radically impact the work of the church.

I'm not sure I convinced everyone, but there were some who were certainly on the same page as me. To illustrate the point perfectly, one member received a text message while we were talking that had important information for our meeting. God moves in mysterious and timely ways, right?

What do you think? How can/might/will/should/shouldn't technologies be used at General Conference?

**Update: Jay mentions in comments that some rules are already in place. I'm surprised no one at the meeting knew about these. I understand the concerns Jay mentions - really, I do. But how long will these rules hold up against a changing world? That's another issue...

Heroes

Since I haven't been in the mood to write anything else, I thought I'd respond in a new post to John's question in the comments of my last post about All Saints Day: "So, who were your heroes?" Put the names out there into the blogosphere. He was referring to this part of my post:
"And yet, I'm not sure we can help but make heroes of those we admire. When I was in junior-high, I regularly kept a 'hero-list'. I will confess to you that I a bit(?!) arrogantly consider myself hard to impress, so the list was pretty hard to get onto. But I can remember today almost everyone whose name graced the list, and I remember how and why they got there. A couple teachers, a classmate or two, some family members, people in the arts, even an inspirational speaker that came to speak to us. I like to think they gave me something to work for, a model to be like, to try to be like at least."

Well, I admit I had to spend some time going through my old journals to find the complete list. Some people were added on through the years of course, and others dropped off when they become less a part of my current state of mind, though I don't think I ever mentally 'kicked someone off'!

Here's the list:
Al DeNeve - Mr. DeNeve was my ninth grade English teacher. A few of my classmates and I used to call him "the smartest man in the world." He seemed to know everything - both useful and silly things. He would share poetry with us, and loved to rewrite fairy tales using words that sounded like the right words when said quickly (like "cheeses priced" instead of "Jesus Christ"). He was the first teacher that I had that ever interpreted what we were reading in a deeper way. We read many, many short stories that year, and he would always talk to us about the metaphors in the stories and the subtexts and I'd never had anyone do that before. I felt like he was solving literature mysteries for us. I was fascinated. Plus, hey, he taught me grammar. Some of it I still use! A nice man, an excellent teacher.

James Wygant - Mr. Wygant I considered second only in intelligent teachers to Mr. DeNeve. He was my eighth grade science teacher - basic physics/chemistry stuff. I always hated science, so anyone who could make me enjoy it was already winning points. I liked Mr. Wygant because, as I wrote in my journal, he was "quiet, but always smiling on the inside." I felt like he was always laughing to himself about the silliness of junior high drama.

Frankie Scinta - Scinta came to my junior high school as a motivational speaker. Like people are with a good sermon, I don't remember the specifics - just that he was funny and direct and encouraging general goodness out of the students and managed to be cool while doing it. Apparently, he and his family now perform a family-friendly show in Las Vegas.

Carol Finn - Carol and I went to high school together (sometime toward the end of high school is when I stopped keeping the list) and I primarily knew her through orchestra. Carol was the concert mistress, which gave her a step in the right direction right there, and she was one who didn't seem to lord her principal chair status over others (a common problem!). But what I liked most about Carol was that she didn't seem to fit any particular mold, didn't seem to be part of any particular set clique, which is of course a miracle in high school. She had her own style, was very intelligent, never seemed to care what other people thought of her. She was funny, and adventurous (at least to my timid mind) without doing dumb things for adventure. I got to room with her on a trip to Austria with one of our string groups when I was a junior and she was a freshman in college. The trip would not have been nearly as much fun without her.

Kevin "Bull" Troy - When I was in between fifth and sixth grades, I went to "Adventure Camp" at our conference church camp, Camp Aldersgate. The 'dean' of the camp, a clergyperson, had to cancel last minute. Taking over for him were two counselors, Laura and Bull. My mom was not excited - Bull was huge - 6' 4" and muscular, pierced ears, bandana over a shaved head, and generally your stereotype of a tough-guy. He was great! The nicest guy, friendly and tender-hearted. He was on staff the next several years, and has since stayed connected with my uncle (a pastor appointed near Aldersgate), and I always looked forward to seeing him.
Meredith Niles - I met Meredith at Camp when I was going into ninth grade. (She has a twin that I never did get to know - Mindy - so Meredith was called "Mork" by many.) Like Carol, Meredith struck me as a non-conformist with her own style. She had a deep faith, and yet still struggled and was down on herself about so much. She was a couple years older than me - I thought she was very mature, and I really admired her, her creativity.

Robert Zazzara - He conducted the area all-state choir when I was in ninth grade. (He's faculty - retired? - at Ithaca College.) This was the first music event I was part of that was outside of my own school. I loved my junior high chorus teacher - she was great. But this was my first experience with someone of his level of training, singing with other singers who were more serious students, and singing songs that were at a higher level of difficulty. I loved it. I still remember a couple of the pieces we sang. And I thought he was an awesome conductor.

Henry Wilson - I've written about Henry before. Henry played Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar at Salt City Playhouse for the first three seasons I went to see it there. Without ever speaking to him, I was totally infatuated with him in a way that only junior high kids can be. But because of my huge crush, I came to know and love the Lenten and Easter seasons better. I still love Jesus Christ Superstar. I am still intrigued by what propelled Judas Iscariot, still wonder what he was really like. Henry was an excellent actor and singer. These days, he (among other things, I'm sure) sings in a local band.

A few others here and there, but these were the 'main' members of my elite group.
Who are your heroes?

RevGals Friday Five: Back to School

I always loved going back to school in the fall, so I thought I'd play this week's edition of the RevGals Friday Five:

1. What is your earliest memory of school? I remember lots of things from pre-school, actually. I remember the one day that I got to stay all day for pre-school instead of a half day, which meant I got to eat lunch there. I remember playing with the plastic cash register, and I remember the playground.

2. Who was a favorite teacher in your early education? I loved my third grade teach, Miss Brudette. Not many of the kids liked her - she had a reputation for being mean - but I thought she was great, and she really pushed me to do things that were challenging. Of course, my kindergarten teacher was also great - Mrs. Merrill - all of my siblings had her. I still see her sometimes around the area.

3. What do you remember about school “back then” that is different from what you know about schools now? When I went, the school system was K-6, 7-9, 10-12. Now it is K-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-12. That seems pretty strange to me.

4. Did you have to memorize in school? If so, share a poem or song you learned. Sure, but I remember mostly from kindergarten when we had the Maypole dance: "Cheep, Cheep, why do the birds sing cheep, cheep? Why do the birds sing cheep, cheep? The birds all sing cheep, cheep, cheep because it's spring!" Or "Bend and stretch, reach for the stars, there goes Jupiter, there goes Mars..."

5. Did you ever get in trouble at school? Were there any embarrassing moments you can share? Hardly ever. I was pretty much a goody-goody. In first grade, we were writing the Pledge of Allegiance, and I tore my paper, and the teacher made me start all over again. And the second time, my left hand margin was slowly creeping in, so she made me start all over a third time, and I had to go to gym late, and I was crying. Note: She was not in my favorite teachers list! Then, in fifth grade, I actually got in a fight with a girl at recess, and we had to sit in the cafeteria during recess for like a week - and we became good friends for a while after that!