This past Saturday, I was invited to lead a bible study at the regional WELCA conference. WELCA, or Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is the national women's organization for the denomination. There are WELCA groups at many local churches which then gather once a year in regional conferences (for us is it two counties in Connecticut) then biannually at a synod level and triannually in a national conference.
I'm not all that familiar with WELCA, Bethlehem does not currently have a WELCA group, and I have never gotten too involved with a WELCA group mainly because of the age gap. They are an aging group, I was the youngest at both this last conference and the one in the fall of 08 by at least a decade, and the average age at both conferences is probably in the late 60's if not older. The WELCA group at my internship congregation met at 1pm on a Tuesday, they were mainly "the greatest generation" and they couldn't figure out why baby boomers and gen x'ers weren't able to attend. And they got frustrated with a group of baby boomer women who met separately who did not want to be an official WELCA group. And this coming fall is the first time that the New England Synod Biannual WELCA conference will not start on a Thursday but instead Friday so that working women and stay at home moms will not have to greatly rearrange their schedule in order to attend.
So not only is the group aging, they also do not relate well with young women mainly due to scheduling. But lets also face it, it is odd to hang out with a bunch of people who are your parents age or older. Now I have quiet a few female friends who are in their 50's & 60's, however if they all start talking about menopause I have nothing to contribute or if they start referencing TV shows from their childhood or political figures or events that occurred before I was born, it can become awkward.
So I really don't know how to have WELCA reach out to younger women other than for the groups at the congregational level encouraging younger women (boomers, gen x'ers and even millennials) to start their own groups which allow them to do ministry as a group of women, whether they join the national organization or not.
However I also love WELCA because I owe credit to WELCA for my call at Bethlehem. Briefly, in fall of '08 I was asked by my seminary to attend the biannual New England Synod WELCA conference to represent the seminary. Most of the weekend I sat in a back room and needle-pointed but on the last day of the conference I weaseled my way into making a brief remarks to the gathering at the beginning of the business meeting. During these remarks I mentioned that I was living in New Haven and awaiting a call. Aftwerward two women approached me to get my contact information to be a supply preacher. Well I never heard from one of the women, but the other is a member of Bethlehem. She then brought my info to the congregational council of Bethlehem, who then contacted me to supply preach, and then they contacted the synod office to explore a call option.
So I love WELCA for that, and I also think that WELCA, especially at local churches, do a lot of good. They often raise money and goods for local charities, they hold dinners or breakfasts for social events for the congregation along with many other events that I can't begin to list since again I really am not all that familiar with WELCA.
However I wanted to talk about the conference this last weekend. It really was a nice day. The theme for the day was "Come to the Waters." Another female pastor lead a wonderful worship service and preached about love being one of the things that we need to survive. I lead a bible study on Isaiah 55 which ended up being more about food than water. And a woman did a great presentation as Katie Luther, Martin Luther's wife. She dressed as Katie and told her life story from childhood to the death of Martin. Katie Luther was nun who broke away from the Catholic church to follow Luther's teachings and she became a wonderful support to Martin during the reformation. While she was never an actual pastor, she was in a lot of ways the first female Lutheran pastor. It really was a nice day and I hope to continue to be involved in WELCA events in the future and maybe can help get some other younger women involved.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Singing with Babies
One of the ideas I have for Bethlehem is to start a monthly worship service that is focused on very young children. This idea also stemmed out of one of the presentations I attended at Baby Pastor School, which was about Godly play, a get on the floor and use props to tell Bible Stories to young children. So I have been toying with how to incorporate that idea into something that good for the members of Bethlehem and would reach out to the community as well. My mind then thought of Linda.
Linda was the music director/Associate in Ministry at my internship congregation. She would do mommy and me music classes and at a previous congregation she started a birth to 3 year old Sunday school class for parents and children. So I contacted Linda to see if I could come and observe some of her music classes. Well because of the economy the demand for these classes has waned. However the woman who got her involved in teaching young children is still teaching two Sally's Music Circle classes on Monday mornings.
So within my 48 hour trip to Philly, I was able to observe two classes, receive some old material from Linda along with half a carload of musical instruments and other objects that she was no longer using, and pick her brain a little about what worked for her both in the Sunday School class and in the music classes. And of course as long as I was in Philly, was saw a few friends and got my soft pretzel fix.
And as an added bonus, this week is also convocation week at LTSP, my seminary alma mater. I did attended any of their special presentations since that wasn't way I came to Philly, but I was able to attend Easter Vesper, which is a special evening worship service featuring the seminary choir. It is always a great time to be able to worship and not lead worship. Plus the seminary chapel has wonderful acoustics so the singing is phenomenal!
Ohh so were does this new worship stand for now? Well I need to inventory all the instruments that are still in my car and get a few more materials, but my hope is that starting in the fall I will be to start a "Worship Together" service on Saturday mornings. I was originally thinking once a month, but Linda and others have said the repetition is good for children so I maybe it will be most Saturdays...still toying with the idea, but I'll keep you updated.
Linda was the music director/Associate in Ministry at my internship congregation. She would do mommy and me music classes and at a previous congregation she started a birth to 3 year old Sunday school class for parents and children. So I contacted Linda to see if I could come and observe some of her music classes. Well because of the economy the demand for these classes has waned. However the woman who got her involved in teaching young children is still teaching two Sally's Music Circle classes on Monday mornings.
So within my 48 hour trip to Philly, I was able to observe two classes, receive some old material from Linda along with half a carload of musical instruments and other objects that she was no longer using, and pick her brain a little about what worked for her both in the Sunday School class and in the music classes. And of course as long as I was in Philly, was saw a few friends and got my soft pretzel fix.
And as an added bonus, this week is also convocation week at LTSP, my seminary alma mater. I did attended any of their special presentations since that wasn't way I came to Philly, but I was able to attend Easter Vesper, which is a special evening worship service featuring the seminary choir. It is always a great time to be able to worship and not lead worship. Plus the seminary chapel has wonderful acoustics so the singing is phenomenal!
Ohh so were does this new worship stand for now? Well I need to inventory all the instruments that are still in my car and get a few more materials, but my hope is that starting in the fall I will be to start a "Worship Together" service on Saturday mornings. I was originally thinking once a month, but Linda and others have said the repetition is good for children so I maybe it will be most Saturdays...still toying with the idea, but I'll keep you updated.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Making an Exchange/An Example in Tabitha
I'm a few days late in posting my sermon from Sunday. Early Sunday afternoon I left to go to Philly to visit friends and explore a ministry idea, but that is a later post. First I should tell you a little about Sunday morning.
I, well Bethlehem, participated in a pulpit exchange with the Wilton Clergy Association. For the exchange a member of the Wilton Friends Meetinghouse came to Bethlehem to talk about Quakerism and his faith journey and I went to United Covenant Church. I was excited to go to UCC because I have become friends with their pastor, Faith, and another member of the congregation. But also there is bit of history between the two congregations.
In a nutshell, UCC was created from two Covenant churches in the 70's, one of which was a church in Georgetown. That church was the Swedish Covenant Church which was founded by Swedes from mainland Sweden. Bethlehem was founded by Swedes from Olund Island which the mainlanders did not considered true Swedes because the island has switched between a Swedish and Finish territory. But realistically members have switched between the two congregations for years.
Worship at UCC was wonderful. Faith's husband, Dan, leads music on his guitar along with their 90 plus year old organist. Overall the liturgy felt familiar to me but different. The sermon was one of the last parts of the service and there was no communion, but theology-wise, there was nothing said that made me cringe. Honestly if I was not a pastor and looking for a church home I would probably go back and check the church out another time.
My sermon there was based on Acts 9:36-43, a beautiful story about Tabitha, who Peter raised from the dead through prayer. Here is my sermon from Sunday.
Tabitha died! The woman who was devoted to good works and acts of charity died. And probably quiet quickly too. “At that time she became ill and died.” One sentence, that’s it! Was she fine one day and the next morning she had just a sore throat or an ache in her side and two days later was she dead?
Regardless of how she died we know enough about Tabitha that she was loved and cared for by the members of her worshipping community. And Luke, the author of Acts, had heard enough about her and how wonderful she was that he too wrote things that suggests just how special Tabitha was.
She was a disciple, the only woman to be specifically named a disciple not just in all of Acts but in all of the New Testament. Luke cared enough to translate her name into Greek so that his readers would know what her name means. In English, Tabitha, or Dorcas, means gazelle, was she as strong and graceful as a gazelle? Scripture hardly gives that level of care that the author will translate a name so that even the original reader knew what their name meant. And we hear that Tabitha was devoted to good works and acts of charity. While we don’t know what exactly that means, what good works or charity she did, we know that she must have been a good woman, someone that we would probably want to know, someone that we would want helping us out, as a member of our congregation.
And after she died, the community mourned and washed her and laid her out as they grieved her death. And like any good funeral they clung to her life through the material things that she left behind. They showed off the tunics and other clothing that she made.
We still do this at funerals today. Not only do we have pictures of the dearly departed around the funeral home or church, we also often had other tokens of their life. When my husband’s grandmother died, at visitation, funeral and post-funeral lunch there were coolers full of cans of Coca-Cola, and people had a Coke on Dixie, since she was such a Coke fan and everyone knew this about her. At a family friend’s funeral they auctioned off her famed purple sparkly hat in order to raise money for her favorite charity. While no one could bare to actually take the hat (the winners of the auction gave the hat to her son) they raise a lot of money for an AIDS related charity that she spent much of the last 15 years of her life supporting.
At funerals I have seen purses, hats, art work, kitchen utensils. At funerals, I have eaten famed recipes and favorite foods. At funerals, I have drunk favorite drinks. And among the tears, the heartbreak and the grief, these items bring back loved memories of the deceased; they bring back memories filled with laughter, joy, happiness and hope. We cling to these items when we grieve. That is why some people will never be able to toss out that ugly, outdated and broken vase/artwork/shirt/hat/purse/piece of furniture because it came from a dead loved one and the memories of joy that item envokes help ease our grief that we still feel for them, even years after their death.
But what is most striking to me about Tabitha’s death and how much her community loved her and grieved her death is that they sent Peter for her. Now all we are told is that people told him: “Please come without delay.” We don’t know if they expected Peter to raise her from the dead, or if Peter knew her well and they wanted to make sure that he was there for her funeral. Maybe they went and told Peter because this was the first death they had in their community since becoming believers and followers of Jesus and they weren’t sure how her death should be handled. Therefore they called the leader of the church, the equivalent of the Pope (well really Peter was the first Pope) to come and help them mourn and lead them in their grief. Regardless of why they sent for Peter, Peter came. He got up and went with them to her wake, her visitation, her funeral.
And through prayer, Peter made Tabitha alive again.
Now wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could do that? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if at the funerals of our loved ones, at the funerals of the people who have touched our lives, we could pray and tell them to get up and they would open their eyes and be alive again?
I haven’t been to too many funerals, probably less than 50 in all. But at none of those funerals, nor at any funeral that any of my friends, family, or church members have been to, has the dead come back to life. Now am I missing something in the Lutheran church? Have the dead come back to life at Covenant funerals?
Now maybe if you had a different preacher here today on this pulpit exchange they would tell you something like “If you truly believe and pray hard enough Jesus will raise your loved one from the dead.” But I’m not like that, and I think if I came here and said something like that, Faith would be getting an ear full come tomorrow, if some of you didn’t even call her up this afternoon, as soon as you left here, to tell her about how crazy I am.
So where is the gospel for us? Where is the good news for us in this text? Well maybe the gospel, the good news, the Christian message here is that Tabitha touched so many people’s lives and in such a loving way that they wanted her to come back to life. Through her good works and acts of charity, she touched people’s lives and hearts. Many members of that Christian community probably came to their faith through her love towards them. Many people learned about Jesus through her words and deeds, through her good works, acts of charity and ministry to others.
Who brought you to faith? Your parents? A pastor? A friends? How did you or would you feel when they die? Not only would you mourn them as a person but part of the mourning process also includes giving thanks for how your faith life was effect by them.
Through Tabitha’s love for Christ she was able to share Christ’ love with others. Through Tabitha’s belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior she was able to show others God’s grace in this world. And that love and grace did not go un-noticed.
Through the grace that God has poured out on us, we are able to share Christian love and grace to others. Through Christ’s love for us, we are able to love others, and we all know that sometimes we are only able to love others because Christ first loves us. And through the power of the Holy Spirit that is flowing through us constantly we are able to use the gifts of the Spirit in order to lead others in faith and life. Gifts like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity and self control, help us show our faith to others and lead others to faith. Gifts like teaching, preaching, caring for the sick and the dying, parenting, and feeding the homeless allow us to show Christ in this world.
Yes Tabitha made a difference in her community. Yes Tabitha was loved by her community. But she was only able to make a difference and their love for her only occurred because God first loved her, the gifts of the Spirit were given to her and Christ first died for her. And God has first loved us, we have been given the gifts of the Spirit and Christ had died for us so that we might love and care for others and be Christ in this world.
I, well Bethlehem, participated in a pulpit exchange with the Wilton Clergy Association. For the exchange a member of the Wilton Friends Meetinghouse came to Bethlehem to talk about Quakerism and his faith journey and I went to United Covenant Church. I was excited to go to UCC because I have become friends with their pastor, Faith, and another member of the congregation. But also there is bit of history between the two congregations.
In a nutshell, UCC was created from two Covenant churches in the 70's, one of which was a church in Georgetown. That church was the Swedish Covenant Church which was founded by Swedes from mainland Sweden. Bethlehem was founded by Swedes from Olund Island which the mainlanders did not considered true Swedes because the island has switched between a Swedish and Finish territory. But realistically members have switched between the two congregations for years.
Worship at UCC was wonderful. Faith's husband, Dan, leads music on his guitar along with their 90 plus year old organist. Overall the liturgy felt familiar to me but different. The sermon was one of the last parts of the service and there was no communion, but theology-wise, there was nothing said that made me cringe. Honestly if I was not a pastor and looking for a church home I would probably go back and check the church out another time.
My sermon there was based on Acts 9:36-43, a beautiful story about Tabitha, who Peter raised from the dead through prayer. Here is my sermon from Sunday.
Tabitha died! The woman who was devoted to good works and acts of charity died. And probably quiet quickly too. “At that time she became ill and died.” One sentence, that’s it! Was she fine one day and the next morning she had just a sore throat or an ache in her side and two days later was she dead?
Regardless of how she died we know enough about Tabitha that she was loved and cared for by the members of her worshipping community. And Luke, the author of Acts, had heard enough about her and how wonderful she was that he too wrote things that suggests just how special Tabitha was.
She was a disciple, the only woman to be specifically named a disciple not just in all of Acts but in all of the New Testament. Luke cared enough to translate her name into Greek so that his readers would know what her name means. In English, Tabitha, or Dorcas, means gazelle, was she as strong and graceful as a gazelle? Scripture hardly gives that level of care that the author will translate a name so that even the original reader knew what their name meant. And we hear that Tabitha was devoted to good works and acts of charity. While we don’t know what exactly that means, what good works or charity she did, we know that she must have been a good woman, someone that we would probably want to know, someone that we would want helping us out, as a member of our congregation.
And after she died, the community mourned and washed her and laid her out as they grieved her death. And like any good funeral they clung to her life through the material things that she left behind. They showed off the tunics and other clothing that she made.
We still do this at funerals today. Not only do we have pictures of the dearly departed around the funeral home or church, we also often had other tokens of their life. When my husband’s grandmother died, at visitation, funeral and post-funeral lunch there were coolers full of cans of Coca-Cola, and people had a Coke on Dixie, since she was such a Coke fan and everyone knew this about her. At a family friend’s funeral they auctioned off her famed purple sparkly hat in order to raise money for her favorite charity. While no one could bare to actually take the hat (the winners of the auction gave the hat to her son) they raise a lot of money for an AIDS related charity that she spent much of the last 15 years of her life supporting.
At funerals I have seen purses, hats, art work, kitchen utensils. At funerals, I have eaten famed recipes and favorite foods. At funerals, I have drunk favorite drinks. And among the tears, the heartbreak and the grief, these items bring back loved memories of the deceased; they bring back memories filled with laughter, joy, happiness and hope. We cling to these items when we grieve. That is why some people will never be able to toss out that ugly, outdated and broken vase/artwork/shirt/hat/purse/piece of furniture because it came from a dead loved one and the memories of joy that item envokes help ease our grief that we still feel for them, even years after their death.
But what is most striking to me about Tabitha’s death and how much her community loved her and grieved her death is that they sent Peter for her. Now all we are told is that people told him: “Please come without delay.” We don’t know if they expected Peter to raise her from the dead, or if Peter knew her well and they wanted to make sure that he was there for her funeral. Maybe they went and told Peter because this was the first death they had in their community since becoming believers and followers of Jesus and they weren’t sure how her death should be handled. Therefore they called the leader of the church, the equivalent of the Pope (well really Peter was the first Pope) to come and help them mourn and lead them in their grief. Regardless of why they sent for Peter, Peter came. He got up and went with them to her wake, her visitation, her funeral.
And through prayer, Peter made Tabitha alive again.
Now wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could do that? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if at the funerals of our loved ones, at the funerals of the people who have touched our lives, we could pray and tell them to get up and they would open their eyes and be alive again?
I haven’t been to too many funerals, probably less than 50 in all. But at none of those funerals, nor at any funeral that any of my friends, family, or church members have been to, has the dead come back to life. Now am I missing something in the Lutheran church? Have the dead come back to life at Covenant funerals?
Now maybe if you had a different preacher here today on this pulpit exchange they would tell you something like “If you truly believe and pray hard enough Jesus will raise your loved one from the dead.” But I’m not like that, and I think if I came here and said something like that, Faith would be getting an ear full come tomorrow, if some of you didn’t even call her up this afternoon, as soon as you left here, to tell her about how crazy I am.
So where is the gospel for us? Where is the good news for us in this text? Well maybe the gospel, the good news, the Christian message here is that Tabitha touched so many people’s lives and in such a loving way that they wanted her to come back to life. Through her good works and acts of charity, she touched people’s lives and hearts. Many members of that Christian community probably came to their faith through her love towards them. Many people learned about Jesus through her words and deeds, through her good works, acts of charity and ministry to others.
Who brought you to faith? Your parents? A pastor? A friends? How did you or would you feel when they die? Not only would you mourn them as a person but part of the mourning process also includes giving thanks for how your faith life was effect by them.
Through Tabitha’s love for Christ she was able to share Christ’ love with others. Through Tabitha’s belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior she was able to show others God’s grace in this world. And that love and grace did not go un-noticed.
Through the grace that God has poured out on us, we are able to share Christian love and grace to others. Through Christ’s love for us, we are able to love others, and we all know that sometimes we are only able to love others because Christ first loves us. And through the power of the Holy Spirit that is flowing through us constantly we are able to use the gifts of the Spirit in order to lead others in faith and life. Gifts like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity and self control, help us show our faith to others and lead others to faith. Gifts like teaching, preaching, caring for the sick and the dying, parenting, and feeding the homeless allow us to show Christ in this world.
Yes Tabitha made a difference in her community. Yes Tabitha was loved by her community. But she was only able to make a difference and their love for her only occurred because God first loved her, the gifts of the Spirit were given to her and Christ first died for her. And God has first loved us, we have been given the gifts of the Spirit and Christ had died for us so that we might love and care for others and be Christ in this world.
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