September Newsletter

 Evolving Church...Into What Exactly?

About 17 years ago then Moderator Peter Short called for a gathering of leaders within the United Church to discuss the future of the denomination. Like a lot of other such discussions I don’t remember anything concrete actually coming out of that event. I do remember writing a letter placing my name in nomination for attending (I was not selected).

In his call for the Arnprior event Short commented on the fact that the United Church was 80. Apparently some people count 40 years to be a generation and so, Short said, the United Church of Canada was entering its 3^rd generation. This resonated with me at the time, as I could clearly count myself as part of that third generation. My paternal grandmother had been, I found out at her funeral, a Presbytery Secretary in the 1950’s. My own parents had been very active in local church governance/leadership for my entire life. And I of course had gone into Ordained Ministry. But that is not really the point I was making.

The point I found when I looked at these three generations of leadership was that the church into which I was ordained was already very different than the church when my parents were on local council in the 1970’s and 80’s. That church itself was markedly different from the church when my grandmother was a Presbytery Secretary. Even then the United Church was a very different thing than it had been when my grandparents became United as children, when the Presbyterian Church in Simpson voted to become part of Union. 17 years later the church is again a different place than it was when I wrote that letter.

The church has always been evolving and changing. Even when we don’t notice. Even when we wish it would stay the same. Even when we pretend the change is not happening. Even when we try to stop it from happening. The church is always changing, largely because the people in the church and the world around the church is always changing.

Over the last 10-15 years I have seen a number of articles about what happens when organizations are not nimble enough to evolve as the world around them changes. Generally they don’t do so well. A classic example is KODAK, which remained stuck in the film era as cameras quickly became digital – where are they now? However mere survival is not why I think the church needs to keep evolving. In fact if survival is our main goal I suggest we are missing the point of being a faith community.

In the church we keep evolving, we keep reforming, because we are striving to follow where God is leading. The more we interact with the world, and with the tradition, and listen for God’s voice the more we are changed. The question that needs to guide our evolution is less “how can we be more relevant or worldly” and more “how is God calling us to be in the world today”.

So the question is never “should the church change?”. The questions we need to ask are “How is the church changing?” and “How should the church be changing?”. If the church did not evolve we would still not be ordaining women, or re-marrying divorced people, or recognizing the reality of racism, or working for LGBTQ+ inclusion. If the church did not listen for God’s wisdom (which I believe is revealed in a variety of places and ways) we would remain stuck in old ways of thinking and miss out the signs that God is at work around us. We would lose the chance to be a part of what God is about in the world.

The church can choose to resist. The church could choose to be the same as it once was. But then God will find another way. God leads us to evolve and change and grow so that we can take part in what God is up to – creating the Kin-dom of God. Sometimes we will get it wrong and try to evolve in the wrong direction. Sometimes we will run into a dead end and have to re-group. But we have to keep being open to change and evolution. May God give us the wisdom, the courage, and the hope to keep evolving as the gathered children of God.

And who really knows where we will end up, what we will look like, who we will be? Maybe God has some big surprise waiting for us!

Looking Ahead to September 4, 2022 -- 13th Sunday After Pentecost

As this is the first Sunday of September we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion this week.

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• James 2:8-13
• Mark 7:14-23

The Sermon title is What Do People See?

Early Thoughts: How can you tell if a person has been transformed by their encounter with the Living God? Is it in the words they say? Maybe. Is it in their piety? That can possibly be a show. Is it how well they can quote Scripture? That could just show they have a good memory. 

More than anything the evidence of transformation in a person's life is shown in their actions. Being a faithful follower of Christ is really a "by their fruits they shall be known" type of thing.

[detour... As I was writing the above paragraphs the Shoop Shoop Song (It's in his Kiss) came to my mind and I was almost tempted to rewrite  a bit of it...]

So what do people see when they look at us? What fruits are we producing?

In the Gospel reading this week Jesus gets to the heart of the matter. He points out that it is what comes out of us-- our words and actions-- that really matter. He points out that it is what is in our hearts that guides what comes out of us. It is a bit naive to suggest , as Jesus seems to, that what we take in does not play a part in the process as well (and I am not talking about food here). What we take in, the words and opinions and perspectives and attitudes, from the world around us can (and really does) make a big difference in the words and actions that we in turn put out into that world. The challenge is how we use and process what we take in. The challenge is in determining which inputs we give greater volume, greater power, greater influence.

And of course it matters what is in our hearts to begin with. How have our hearts been formed and/or transformed to enable us to live out the commandment to love our neighbour? That is part of what shapes how we process the massive amount of information and opinion and argument that washes over us each and every day. How is the Living God active in our hearts and souls to guide our words and actions? What is God helping grow in our lives?

What fruits are making you known in the world? What do people see in you?
--Gord

Looking Forward to August 28, 2022 -- 12th Sundy After Pentecost

 This week's Scripture Readings are:

• Galatians 5:13-21
• Luke 19:1-10

The Sermon title is Set Aside Old Ways

Early Thoughts: To follow Jesus is to open ourselves to transformation. To follow Jesus is to open ourselves to the possibility that the way we once lived is not the way we will live in the future. To follow Jesus means we may have to put down some things so we can pick something different up.

What do we need to put down? What do we need to set aside to make room for God's transformation to be at work in our lives? What might get in the way of us being able to fully live out God's commandment to love our neighbour as we love ourselves?

Zacchaeus took the chance. He made a real effort to see (and perhaps to be seen by) Jesus. And the encounter transformed him. He pledges himself to be a different man, he pledges his wealth in the service of his transformation. The simple act of being noticed by Jesus, of being welcomed into Jesus' circle (despite the objections of others to that act of welcome) pushes Zacchaeus to embrace God's transforming work in his life. 

Now we do not know all of his story. Maybe Zacchaeus had been pondering these questions for a while. Maybe he had been having a crisis of conscience in his work and role as a tax collector.  Maybe that is why he was so driven to see Jesus as he walked by? All we know is that this encounter results in a public promise that reflects a changed perspective. We trust and hope that he lived out that promise after Jesus left town.

WRiting to the Galatian church, Paul reminds them of a couple of things. One is that as followers of Christ we are called into a life of freedom, albeit a special kind of freedom. Freedom in Christ is not license to do whatever we want. Freedom in Christ is in fact committing ourselves to follow a Rule of Life, a Rule of Love. 

Paul also reminds us to be careful that we do not "bite and devour one another". Paul reminds us that there are things, he refers to the as desires of the flesh, that get in the way of us living out our freedom in Christ. These are the sorts of things that we need to set aside if we are to be open to God's work of transformation.

The big challenge, as I see it, is that many of the things we take for granted about the way the world works tend to fall into that list that Paul gives about the works of the flesh. Much of what is considered normal operating procedure n the world leads us to bite and devour one another. Some of the old ways we need to set aside have become so ingrained into our collective understanding that we do not even notice that they get in the way of our ability to follow the rule of Love. To be truly transformed we may need to have harsh truths told about "the way things are".

Jesus' ministry was all about proclaiming the Reign of God. Jesus invites us to follow a different path, a path of deep transformation. Zacchaeus heard the invitation and pledged to make major changes in his use of resources. He had to set aside a different way of acting and being in the world to live out that pledge. Jesus invites us to be transformed as well. What might we need to set aside to accept the invitation? Where is God trying to transform us?
--Gord

July Newsletter

 Connected... to what?

The prompt for this newsletter was the theme The United Church of Canada seeks to be a connected church. So the first question that comes to my mind is: “what does it mean to be a connected church?”. Which, as often happens in my brain, then leads to a bunch of other questions. Who do we want to be connected to? Who do we need to be connected to? Are the answers to those questions the same or different? Why do we want/need to be connected to them? Who are we already connected to? How are/were those connections formed? Who instigates the connection? How do we maintain the connection? Are we talking about local, denominational, ecumenical, interfaith, international connections?

Maybe I should stop thinking about questions....

When the United Church says it seeks to be a connected church I think it means a variety of things. Coming from the General Council level I think it means we should be connected to each other through the structures of the denomination. I think it also expresses a hope that we will continue to be connected to our various ecumenical and interfaith partners, both in Canada and in internationally. These are all, in my opinion, worthy things to work toward. It seems to me that we are stronger as a denomination when these connections are maintained.

But what does it mean for St. Paul’s to be a connected church? (Oh great, I am back to my questions again.)

First and foremost, I hope it means is that we feel connected to each other within this faith community. As a community of faith I hope and trust that we have developed a web of connections that allow us to support each other, share our hopes with each other, discuss life and faith with each other. Further I hope and trust that we have a web where new strands can be added in as new connections are formed.

Of almost equal importance to me is that we are a church connected to our neighbours. If we want to see ourselves as being a part, hopefully an integral part of Grande Prairie we have to be connected to the community around us. Reflecting on the stories I have heard over the years it seems to me that these connections have waxed and waned over time. There is a question I like to ask from time to time “if St. Paul’s suddenly disappeared from Grande Prairie what, if anything, would people notice?”. How we answer that question speaks to how connected we are to the wider community. I think that we are making new connections all the time. I think that we have built, or are building, relationships with a variety of groups in town. If we are going to grow and thrive as a community of faith we have to be intentional about continuing to build these connections. Also these connections will help us know how best to respond to the spiritual needs of the community.

We also need to be connected to the other faith communities around us. This means the United Churches in the area and the other faith communities in the city. I’ll talk a bit more about United Church connections in a moment. To be honest, connections with other faith communities were not especially strong as it was, and two years of COVID have probably weakened those connections that did exist. I think that as people who all care for the well-being of the community we are at our best if we can build (or re-build) connections with other churches and with other faith groups in town. It may not always be easy but I think it is important for us to think about.

Then there are connections with the larger United Church. One of the recurrent complaints I hear from across the country is that when we re-structured in 2019 we lost a lot of the connections between United Church congregations. I think that is largely true, though I am also quite sure that the pandemic has made that loss more profound than it might have been. Still, how much do we know about how life is going in the other United Churches in the Peace country? Do we know how we can support each other? Looking into the future, I see a time when the United Church of Canada will, in many areas of the country, be forced to look into new ways of being the church. This may, in some areas almost certainly will, include some form of regional ministry – and I think the Peace area is in the almost certainly category. That will only work if we have established healthy connections before we try to work out what it means to share ministry.

To be a healthy, thriving, lively community of faith; to be good witnesses to the Reign of God proclaimed and inaugurated by Jesus; we have to be connected in a variety of ways. I honestly don’t think it is an option. At the same time we can never be equally connected to everybody. So in the end I return to the list of questions I gave in the first paragraph. I don’t have full answers to any of them. I have shared some of where my brain leads me on those questions. Where does your brain take you when you consider what it means to be a connected church?
Gord

Looking Ahead to July 10, 2022 -- 5th Sunday After Pentecost

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Psalm 77:1-12, 19-20
• Romans 5:1-5
• John 14:25-31

The Sermon title is Remember, Lament, and Hope

Early Thoughts: When you contemplate the world, when you meditate on the past and the present, what makes you lament? What brings you hope? 

I am somewhat fascinated by this Psalm reading. What is the psalmist feeling as they write these words? Are they feeling that God is absent? Do they wonder if God has abandoned the nation? It seems so. And yet the 'cure' that they choose is to remember and contemplate what God has done for God's people. It seems that they find hope there.

There are lots of reasons we might choose to lament as we look at the world. Every generation has people who wonder if God has abandoned the nation. Every generation has people who lament that the people have wandered from the path of God's wisdom. What do we do then?

We remember the glorious gift:

We are not alone. We live in God's world...In life in death, in life beyond death. God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.

We may well need to lament about many things but we also need to remember that God is there. We need to be honest that the world is not what we want it to be but we also remember that we are help in the faithful, trustworthy love of God. In John's Gospel Jesus reminds us to not let our hearts be troubled nor to be people of fear. In that is our hope.

Our hope is not in the world. Our hope is in the faithful trustworthy God. Our hope is in the gift of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit who continues to teach us and remind us of the promise of the Reign of God.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to July 3, 2022 -- 4th Sunday After Pentecost

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• 1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22-25
• 1 Timothy 6:6-16
• Luke 16:10-13

The Sermon title is Faithful or Worthless?

Early Thoughts: What kind of a servant are you?

Eli was the High Priest. He is the one who is teaching the boy Samuel, who will become the next great leader in the story of the Israelites. Eli's sons, however, are a problem. They are expected to follow in their father's footsteps, to inherit the role as priest, but it seems they are only in it for themselves. They are misusing the sacrifices offered by the people. Even when their father pleads with them to change their ways they take no notice. As spiritual leaders they are, to be honest, worthless and scoundrels.

Timothy raises the faithful/worthless question from a slightly different perspective. The letter writer makes the less than subtle suggestion that maybe faithfulness is determined by what we consider most important.  If we assign ultimate value to the wrong things can we truly be faithful slaves/servants? (in the world where Scripture was written there is essentially no difference between slave and servant)

Then we have Luke, who brings in questions of honesty and dishonesty. It is a statement of faith that we have been entrusted with what belongs to another (God). It is a question of stewardship if we have kept that trust well and honestly. And, in the end, Luke goes to a similar place as Timothy. Which master will we serve? Can we be truly faithful to more than one?

You know something? I think I may have asked the wrong question up above. I think what I should have asked is "when are you a more faithful slave/servant and when are you less faithful?". Or maybe, following the logic we fine in Timothy and Luke, the question should be "to what master are you a faithful slave/servant?" "what do we think is of ultimate importance in guiding our actions?".

WE are called to be faithful slaves/servants in matters both big and small. Part of the way we respond to that call is to know when our wants fall into second place, that way we avoid the mistakes made by Eli's sons. Part of the way we respond is to put ultimate importance on community and basic needs being met and not falling prey to the love of money -- the root of all evil. Part of what it means is to remember that it is not, in the end, our stuff we are taking care of. And part of being a faithful slave/servant is to remember who is really in charge, who the master truly is.

How will you be a faithful slave or servant of God?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to June 26, 2022

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Psalm 144:3-4, 12-15
• 1 Peter 2:4-10

The Sermon title is Living Stones

Early Thoughts: Stones. Living? Stones that live? Seems like an odd image doesn't it? But that is what the writer of this letter suggests, that we are Living Stones, being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.

What does it mean to see ourselves that way?

I think it calls us to remember that we are part of something bigger. I think it also calls us to remember that we rely on a solid foundation and cornerstone --Christ. I think it pushes us to ask how we may be used by God in this act of construction.Certainly it reminds us that it is not all about us, that we do not proclaim our own actions but the God who is at work around, within, and through us in this act of construction.

Then comes the kicker. Once we were not a people, now we are God's people, recipients of mercy. There is a great blessing in that verse. I think there is also an obligation in that verse. If we see ourselves as God's people how might that change the way we see ourselves, our neighbours, the world. How might it change our actions and choices?

What is a living stone? Is it a stone that moves or simply a stone that is changed? How are we like stones? Are we hard and unyielding but able to be changed by the world around us? How are we a part of the structure that God is building? Are we in fact part of a holy, royal priesthood? A chosen race? God's people?

I seem to have a lot of questions this week.  Maybe by Sunday I will have some answers too!
--Gord

Looking Ahead to June 12, 2022 -- Trinity Sunday

 The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Hosea 11:1-4
• Psalm 130:5-8
• Psalm 131:1-3
• 2 Peter 1:16-18

The Sermon title is Images of God

Early Thoughts: When you hear or read the word God what images come to your mind? The wind? The old man with a long white beard? The village wise woman? "The Force"? What words do you use to describe your understanding of God? What picture might you draw to share your image?

The first Sunday after Pentecost is (in some traditions) known as Trinity Sunday. It is the only Sunday in the year designated to celebrate a theological construct rather than an event or story. On Trinity Sunday we are invited to explore that uniquely Christian understanding of a God who is 3-in-1 and 1-in-3.

In traditional language the Trinity is described as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost as I first learned it). There are other ways we have expressed it. I like Parent, Child and Spirit as it keeps the relational aspect. Another model which talks about the actions of God is Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. There are a variety of other formulas out there.

The challenge with the doctrine of the Trinity is that it is very difficult to explain in terms that make clear logical sense. Many ways we try to understand and explain it actually lead us to problematic statements, as this video shows:

Still, I think we need to try to explain how we understand God. Even if it is sort of like trying to grasp a cloud and pin it down we need to try. The beauty is that there is no one right way to describe God. There is no one right image. The challenge is that there is no single image that captures the whole picture. We have to use a variety of images, a wide range of language, to try to evoke all that God is in the world.

Father/Mother, Friend, Redeemer, Rock, Source of Life, Ground of Being, Creator, Love, Judge, Teacher. That is a brief list of terms that came to my mind in the last 30 seconds or so. All of them are terms that have been used to describe who God is. I suspect you can add to the list. You can add adjectives. You can add verbs about what God does. Trinity Sunday may have developed as a day to mark a specific doctrine, but I think it is a day where we can stop to think about the images we have of God.

So how do you describe God? What words or pictures enter your mind? You may be asked to share some of them on Sunday.
--Gord

How Bold Do We Want to Be? -- June Newsletter

Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, Daring Justice

These three word pairs are a recent articulation of who the United Church thinks we, as a denomination, are called to be. These words were adopted at the national level during a meeting of the 43rd General Council last October. You can read a bit more about them at this link. Now we are challenged to figure out what they mean. They look great in print, would probably look nice framed and hanging on the wall, but what do they look like on the ground? What does it look like when we live as people of deep (and presumably deepening) spirituality? How are we and/or how can we be) bold as disciples of Christ? What makes justice daring?

The invitation for this newsletter was to talk about what it means to be a bold church. I think it means embracing all three word pairs. I do not think we can be a bold church unless we seek deep relationship with the Divine. We have to be disciples, learners and followers, of the Teacher who shows us The Way. And if we are not ready to take chances, to be daring in our crying and working for justice can we ever claim that we are being bold?

So how bold are we? How bold are we willing to be? How bold do we need to be?

If we are to be around in 20 years, either as a local congregation or as a national denomination, we have to be bold. Which is not to say that we are not already being bold, it is to suggest that maybe we need to be bolder. We need to be bold enough to try new ways of being the church. We have to be bold enough to share our vision, our understanding of God’s vision, of how the world could be. We have to be bold enough to proclaim, to shout from the street corners, to share on the internet, that God is active in transforming the world and how we are along for the ride. We even have to be bold enough to share our own story, maybe even to brag a little bit, about how we respond to God’s call in our lives.

I think that remembering how people from this congregation were involved in getting Odyssey House and the Friendship Centre going reminds us that we have a history of being bold. More recently, putting a Pride flag in our front window, and using the LED sign to pronounce support for the LGBTQ+ community, or Black Lives Matter, or Indigenous peoples, are ways we have been, and continue to be, bold as a congregation. Boldness led this congregation’s council to write a letter during the pandemic calling for more access to public washrooms in the area. 6 years ago we were bold enough to host a panel discussion where people shared stories about the Residential School experience. We are bold as we live out our faith. We are bold in standing up for a vision of what the world can be. We dare to speak for what justice can mean in the world today. We share our understanding of how God calls us to be in the world. This is boldness.

Boldness has results. Sometimes positive, like the people I and others have talked to this past year who have come to explore who we are because they say the Pride flag, or the “A Come As You Are Church” sign and wanted to find out if we really meant it. Boldness sometimes challenges others. There have also been people who have come because they saw the Pride flag and tried to convince me that I had to get it taken down (not knowing I was the one who suggested putting it in the window). In 2020, when we had bulletin boards with pro LGBTQ+ and pro Indigenous peoples and pro Black Lives Matter messages on the sidewalk for the reverse Canada Day Parade we had some very appreciative responses and some people flipped us the bird as they drove by. Boldness means we stand out a bit more. Some people will like that. Some won’t.

Which is why the question is not only “are we bold?”. The question is more about how and where we will be bold. The question is more about how bold are we willing to be. Are we willing to stand out and let people react both positively and negatively.

We have been bold in the past. We are being bold in the present [side note, I keep missing the ‘b’ as I type bold which makes it seem like I am saying we are old...]. I encourage us to keep finding ways to be bold as we move into the future. I think that to follow Jesus requires that we are bold. Some people will cheer us for it. Some will condemn us. But still we have to be bold.

Who is with me?
Gord

Looking Ahead to May 29, 2022 -- 7th Sunday of Easter

 This Sunday we will be celebrating a Baptism. Actually we will be celebrating a pair of Baptisms.

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Deuteronomy 29:10-15
• Psalm 111

The Sermon title is Faithful Relationship

Early Thoughts: What does it mean to say that we are in relationship with the Divine? How are we faithful to that relationship? How are we unfaithful to it? How is God faithful in that relationship? When might we feel that God has been unfaithful or has left us to our own devices?

Periodically in the story of the people of Israel they are invited to remember and re-establish their covenant relationship with God. These events are often a chance to remind themselves how God has been part of their lives, of the promises God has made, of the gifts God has given, and their own responsibility to respond to God's presence and activity. I wonder if we should do that more often as well  (John Wesley might agree as he encouraged the use of a Covenant Renewal Service). I think we do ourselves a favour when we regularly remind ourselves that we are in relationship with God and with each other. Then we have ask ourselves what it means to be in relationship and how we need to act to maintain that relationship.

In this Deuteronomy reading Moses invites the people to remember and renew their covenant relationship with God. In the Psalm reading we are reminded how God remains faithful to that relationship. When we celebrate a baptism I hope we remember our own identity as baptized people (recognizing that most of us will not actually remember the act of being baptized). As a baptized and baptizing community we recognize our relationship with God. We recognize that we are called, claimed, and commissioned within that relationship. How are we faithful to that covenant of baptism? How do we live out that relationship?

I suspect we all have different answers to the questions I have asked thus far. Many of them might overlap with each other but have a specificity unique to each individual. Those answers are certainly important but asking ourselves the questions is even more important.

What does it mean to you to be a part of faithful relationships with your neighbours? With God? With yourself?
--Gord