Choose Respect...End the Violence

I spent time last weekend at Kenai UMC (Check out their new sign.) and Soldotna UMC. While the Whetsell's were leading a Walk to Emmaus I got to spend the night in our old house and preach and teach at SUMC.  The topic was Healthy Churches.  At one point I asked, "If I were to ask several people in this town what they know about Soldotna United Methodist Church, what would they say?"  

In your community what is the reputation of your church?  Wouldn't it be amazing if people in your town began to say something like, "Isn't that the church that really made a difference in reducing domestic violence in Alaska?"

On March 31 at noon I encourage all United Methodists to join Governor Parnell's rally cry to put an end to domestic violence and sexual assault in our state. In the ongoing effort to raise awareness of DVSA, the Office of the Governor and non-profit groups across the state are sponsoring simultaneous “Choose Respect” events in more than 50 communities across Alaska.  There will be free parking at First UMC, Anchorage where the march will begin in the park strip. The march in Juneau will begin at noon at the capitol building and end at Marine Park.  You can learn more about Choose Respect events across Alaska at: www.chooserespect.alaska.gov

Pastors, please consider preaching a sermon about this vital issue.  Laity, think about getting involved in your community's efforts to reduce violence in the home.  To be sure this is God's desire that all people live in peace.

Grace Always,

Dave

Value of a Faith Community

What's the old song?  You don't know what you've got til it's gone.  Hmmm...tempted to sing...They paved paradise, put up a parking lot! 

Now that I'm no longer a pastor of a local church, going on two years now, I am learning a few things.
1. I miss the ongoing relationships with people, especially children.
2. I miss the rhythm of preaching.
3. It is much more difficult to get into the liturgical experiences of Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Pentecost because I am not present in one faith community.
4. Playing my guitar recently for the first time in two years at Soldotna UMC I realized that I can worship when I lead worship.  And this is a good thing.


There are many more aspects that make this life of superintending very different than pastoring a church.  But the simple truth I want to point out is this.  Cherish your church!  Savor the little things that come with being a part of a faith community.  You know what they are.  The giggle of a 3 year old sitting next to the pastor.  The magnificent way your pianist and choir draws you in to music and lifts your soul to heaven.  The sorrow shared from a long time member who recently lost a loved one.  The teen who drove you crazy at the retreat but gave you a big hug and said thanks at the end. The banter between the pastor and the people in worship that makes you laugh.

Faith communities come in all shapes and sizes.  They are full of needy, loving, difficult, forgiving people.  They are God's people.  And they are your people.  Enjoy this amazing gift of your faith community.

Grace Always,
Dave

Letter to My Son (Published with his permission)

Dear Ryan,

I feel a need to write to you and all other young people whose rational and logical minds make it a bit hard to allow room for a living, loving God without empirical evidence.  I invite you to think about this question.  What would life be like if there was indisputable, observable evidence that God is who people of faith have been saying for centuries?  Think about this.  When you see sunlight you follow the source and look up into the sky and see the sun.  You see it with your eyes and feel its warmth on your body.  This is how you know the sun is real. 

What would it be like if God were that physically real so you could see and feel and hear God any moment of the day?  I encourage you to really think about this.  Do you ever look at the sun and not really see it?  In other words do you take the sun for granted?  Of course you do.  We all do.  Would your life be different if God physically spoke to you each morning to let you know how loved you are and shared ways God wanted you to think and act for the day?  For example, if God audibly told you to speak to a homeless man on the way to work would you be likely to do it?  If God literally whispered in your ear to resist the temptation to buy a luxury car so you could give more to the poor would you listen?

My point is that even if God were to reveal God’s Self in a scientifically measureable way people would still live as if God did not exist.  We would still find ways to ignore God’s desire for us to love God and neighbor. 

I remember one day when you were in kindergarten.  We had recently moved to Alaska and you and your brother and I were in the woods laying in the snow observing a moose.  At one point while lying on our backs I said to you boys, “Isn’t it beautiful?  Isn’t God amazing?”  And you said to me, “Dad, you always say that!” 

Where in our scientific minds is there room for beauty?  Can you measure it?  Is it logical?  How can you know it exists if you don’t have eyes or heart to see it? 

I believe God gives us glimpses of God.  We see God in creation.  We see God in and through the witness of countless people of faith who caught these glimpses and found wholeness and salvation.  We see God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.  We see God every day in the midst of our mundane routines.  We just need eyes of faith to see Love that cannot be isolated in a lab.  We need hearts that are seeking these moments of grace, hearts that want to learn how to catch them when they are flung at us. 

One thing I know, Ryan.  These God moments are real.  The case I am making in this letter is that human, scientific logic doesn’t need to be a barrier to you discovering these God moments.  Give yourself some time to appreciate wonder and beauty.  If your heart is open to matters of faith God will speak to you in a powerful way. 

I love you.

Dad

Professor Stirs Up Alaska Clergy

Last week the clergy and lay professionals under appointment gathered at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Anchorage for our annual retreat.  Dr. Elaine Heath was our resource leader who stirred our thinking about how we do church and how we might do church in the future.  She asked some good questions.  Are we too married to the attractional model of church where we build it and they will come?  Research suggests that this only works 40% of the time.  What would church be like if everything we did was measured in terms of its missional value?  What if we became a kenotic church where emptying ourselves for the sake of others was our guiding light?  We are so attached to our buildings and budgets that our focus has been narrowed and the poor become objects of our mission rather than people with whom we are in relationship.

This retreat and the winter meetings have stirred a number of us.  I know of three pastors who have already talked with their congregations.  Jon Disburg shelved his sermon series and confessed to his congregations Sunday about his need to fall in love with Jesus again.  Carlo Rapanut in his sermon confessed that he has become too preoccupied with the wonderful ministries happening inside the church to the neglect of people outside the church.  Charles Martindell shared a vision with his Sunday School class of a New Day community being possible in Homer. 

We are not talking about doing away with our buildings and the amazing ministries that are happening.  But we are talking about a shift in priorities where the needs of the world determine our mission.   We are talking about deconstructing some of our conference structures to make us more mission agile.  Bishop Hagiya is organizing a task group to examine ways we can streamline our many rules.  Look for a report at this annual conference.

Something new is bubbling.  Dr. Heath believes that Alaska can be a missional model that can lead the entire United Methodist Church into a new day of being the Church of Jesus Christ.  I invite our pastors and laity to share how you plan to carry this vision to your church and community with a comment post.  Let's keep this conversation going.

Grace Always,
Dave

Alaska United Methodist Rendezvous

This week is one of our three big events as clergy and lay leaders of the Alaska United Methodist Conference converge on Anchorage for our Winter Rendezvous.  We also have a Fall Rendezvous in October and Annual Conference in early June.  Why is it important for our conference to pay travel expenses three times a year for these gatherings?  Let me share a story.

A reader once wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper commenting on how he had sat in church and listened to thousands of sermons in his lifetime.  He was questioning their value because he could not remember them.  Responding to this letter another reader wrote a response that went something like this.  "My wife is a great cook.  I have enjoyed thousands of her meals over the years.  But I can't tell you what I ate on February 23, 1978 or many other dates.  But I can tell you that without them I would not have enjoyed the life I have lived.  Those meals fed and nurtured my body and soul.  In the same way so have all the sermons I have heard from caring pastors over the years.  I can say that without them my soul would not have enjoyed the abundant life God has blessed me with."

Our conference gatherings are food for our connectional souls.  We United Methodists are a connectional people.  While others in the lower 48 may be tempted to take this for granted we in Alaska understand that it is our lifeblood.  Tomorrow begins our retreat for pastors and lay professionals under appointment.  We will sing and pray and listen to our bishop and resource teacher.  It will be important for the health of our souls to gather for spiritual and community formation.  We may not remember the details of this gathering down the road but we will cherish the times as we recall how important this feeding has been for our souls.

I invite us all to pray for travel mercies and for the spiritual and connectional hearts of our pastors and lay leaders as we gather this week.  God will feed us and we will return to our parishes renewed and refreshed to continue our ministries in the name of Jesus Christ.

Grace Always,
Dave

Future Church

A major focus of my ministry as superintendent is to meet with my counterparts from the Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians in Alaska.  I meet regularly with Mike, Curt, Mike, and now Mark for spiritual reflection, personal sharing, and talk around how we can share ministry in Alaska.  On the table are issues like lay leader training especially among our native people, sharing clergy, merging and yoking churches, and a common witness for Christ in the public sector on homelessness and domestic violence.

Now it is time to move this conversation to a broader level: to the clergy and laity of all four denominations.  When we discovered that three of us held leadership meetings in Anchorage in February the Lutherans and Methodists changed their dates to coincide with the Presbyterian meetings so we could come together on Friday, February 25 at St. John United Methodist Church and celebrate what God can do with even more cooperation among the body of Christ.  Food, table conversation, worship, mass choir, holy communion, and dessert!  Rev. Dr. Elaine Heath, professor of evangelism at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas will be our preacher.  Elaine grew up in Alaska and understands our context.  She will help us think about what the church could look like in the future.

I am pumped to say the least!  I want to encourage our clergy and lay leaders in our various communities to give serious thought about what shared ministries might be possible with sisters and brothers from other Christian traditions.

Clergy are encouraged to wear their robes and green stoles.

Grace and peace,
Dave

Beware of an Invitation to Snowmachine with the Superintendent!

I am seeing something of a pattern.  Bad things are happening when I have invited Alaska clergy to go snowmachining with me.  Last year I picked up Robert Hicks in single digit weather and we drove to Hatcher Pass for a ride.  Not!  The area was closed. 

Last weekend I picked up Peter Perry for a ride in Willow.  After a flat trailer tire that came off and rolled down Muldoon Rd. we finally made it out of Anchorage after 3 hours.  Then the sled I brought for him wouldn't start.  Then the key broke in the ignition.  Then my sled started leaking antifreeze on the trail at -10.  At one point it even sprayed through the hood (cowling) directly into my face which greatly amused my riding buddies.  Do you know antifreeze tastes sweet?

Now both sleds are in the shop and I have to cancel the ride I promised to Richard Whetsell tomorrow.  Maybe you should be very thankful, Richard!

I have always used older snowmachines.  I'm not a high marking rider who tries to zip up mountains without triggering an avalanche.  I stay away from steep slopes.  But the main reason I ride is that it gets me out of the house and into God's winter wonderland.  I love everything that the experience brings, even when things go awry.  Riding is not a solo sport.  People do it with other people. 

Living the life of a disciple of Jesus is not a solo endeavor.  We need the fellowship of the community of faith to be fully formed into the image of God.  There will be breakdowns and delays and detours as we head down the trail.  If we are able to let go of our destination modes of journeying through life we come to realize that the detours and delays are every much a part of our journey.

Grace Always,

Dave