A Church Moved by the Spirit

The keystone story of the Christian pathway to spiritual transformation is found in the Pentecost story. Having been told by Jesus to wait upon the Spirit before taking up their calling to carry his good news to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), a small band of Jesus’ followers wait patiently until the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit falls upon them like “a mighty wind.” At that moment, as the Spirit of God falls upon this gathering of God’s people, it is quickly apparent that this room cannot contain the presence of the Spirit. Soon, the whole city --a city that’s full of pilgrims -- begins to hear the message that the Spirit has come to give witness to the risen Lord, Jesus the Christ (Acts 2). In the moment that the Spirit blows through this community of disheartened and fearful disciples, they find new resolve and purpose, giving birth to a new movement of God in the world. It is through them, and all who follow in their footsteps that Jesus Christ is present to the world.

If one takes a journey through the Book of Acts, one will watch as the Spirit empowers and guides this new movement of ordinary people who took up extraordinary callings. The result of this movement of the Spirit is that the people who would come to be called Christians would leave an indelible mark on the world. The Spirit drew these first disciples together, empowering and gifting them, so that they could go to their community with a word of healing. As Peter said to the man sitting in the city gate: “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk” (Acts 3:6). This has been the message of the church, when the church has truly understood its calling: God will not leave your life unchanged.

When that earliest community of faith gathered for worship and prayer, they comforted each other and gave generously to those in need. At our best, we continue this tradition. We serve meals to the hungry and provide homes for the homeless. We lift up the downcast and bring healing to the hurting. Such a church, to quote Fred Craddock, is “going out and serving other people who are not even grateful, hurting when anybody else hurts, emptying their pockets for other people’s children, building a Habitat house when their own house is in bad need of repair and the paint is peeling, going to the woman’s house and mowing her lawn when their own grass is twelve inches high.”  [Fred B. Craddock, The Cherry Log Sermons, (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2001), 69.]

The message of Pentecost is simple: when the Spirit begins to move in our midst, expect things to change. When the Spirit is moving our hearts begin to focus on the needs and concerns of our neighbor. We begin to practice the ancient art of hospitality. We advocate for justice and for peace. With the coming of the Spirit, the call to change the world begins to resound. It’s important that we understand that the point of Pentecost is not the spectacle of tongues of fire, but is instead the transformation that occurs when the Spirit moves in the midst of the church. As the church opens its doors to this refreshing wind of the Spirit one should expect to find a community that is learning to live out the two great commandments: love God and love neighbor.

An excerpt from Gifts of Love (unpublished manuscript)

Reframing Hope -- Review

REFRAMING HOPE: Vital Ministry in a New Generation.  By Carol Howard Merritt.  Foreword by Diana Butler Bass.  Herndon, VA: Alban, 2010.  x + 147 pp.

    It’s probably unnecessary for me to repeat the canard that Mainline Protestantism is an aging religious tradition.  It’s true, the Mainline has been aging, and in many of our churches the elderly far outnumber the younger ones, but the Mainline isn’t simply a spiritual retirement home for hidebound traditionalists.  There are many signs of renewed life, which give hope for the future.  This is especially true if we pay attention to the younger adults who have either chosen to stay home in the Mainline, or found in the Mainline the spiritual home they had been seeking.  The reasons for staying or joining vary.  They range from the greater openness to the leadership of women to the presence of gays.   It could also be the intellectual openness that is found in these traditions.   And while it’s true that the preponderance of clergy is graying, there are a growing number of eloquent younger leaders whose voices have begun to ring out in the church.  Among this group is  the Rev. Carol Howard Merritt, a Presbyterian pastor, author, and broadcaster, who by her own self-description is a “loyal radical.”   That self-description is an important note, because it signals a desire to be part of a tradition, but willing to challenge it when it becomes sedentary and moribund.  There is a recognition that the church needs more than simply chaplains, but prophetic and visionary voices that point us into the future. 

    In this, her second book (the first being Tribal Church), Carol Howard Merritt offers us a portal through which we can look at the church as it stands today and then begin to see a trajectory upon which a renewed and revisioned church can begin taking its journey into the future.  In days of yore, we looked to the elders of the community for sage advice, but now is a time to hear valuable words of wisdom from those who are agile and adept in their participation in the turbulence that marks the present era.  Leaders, like Merritt, have their finger on the pulse on the current situation and have an understanding of the way in which these changes are affecting the church as it maneuvers in the early decades of the  21st century.  If we’re willing to listen, we’ll discover that these changes make for a ministry that is both more difficult and more exciting. 

    The world we inhabit is marked by technological, generational, environmental, and political changes and challenges, changes that affect not only the old Mainline Churches like Carol’s (PCUSA) or mine (Disciples of Christ), but also the evangelical megachurches that seemed so adept at adapting to the cultural changes just a few years ago.  Alas, the tide may have turned once again, and it’s possible, though by no means assured, that the Mainline churches, many of which inhabit the old urban centers, may have a new opportunity, especially since as Merritt suggests: “worship as entertainment seems to be losing its luster” (p. 1).   So perhaps it’s time to do a bit of “reframing,” so that vital ministry might take place in a new generation.   

    A frame allows us to focus and describe something, and as Merritt writes, “the way we frame our situation has an impact on our current attitudes, our cognitive abilities, and our future behavior” (p. 3).  So, how do we go about this “reframing” project so that we might experience hope and vitality (not just among the younger set, but among all who inhabit our churches)?  Merritt offers several items to consider.  The first warms my heart, because I am by training a historian, and that it is impossible to ignore history.  Whatever its nature, the church has a history and that history can’t be ignored, because we can’t understand the context without understanding where the church has come from.  Second, as we consider our histories, we must acknowledge the dark sides of our past.  Third, we must seek to understand why mistrust exists in our congregations.  Fourth, if we don’t understand the past, we can’t understand the present.  She writes: “we can begin to imagine vital church ministry in a new generation only by remembering that we have emerged from somewhere specific” (p. 6).   Finally, it is important to recognize the strengths of our traditions.  God maybe doing something new, but God hasn’t thrown out everything old (despite what we preachers quoting Paul might suggest). 

    By engaging in the act of reframing our world and its history we have a better opportunity to discern the meaning of the present, and Merritt notes that due to the date of her birth she has never lived in a church-centered world.  She doesn’t remember when Mainline Protestantism dominated the national conversation, and change has always been part of her vocabulary, but at a time when the religious institutions continue to lose market share, an opportunity is presenting itself where hope can once again be rekindled and a new vitality can emerge within the church.  This is occurring in a context where young adults are returning to the city, demonstrating concern fro social-justice issues, and looking for more meaningful and participatory forms of worship, where lay people are empowered to engage in leadership and ministry.  That is, people are looking for things that may lie buried in our denominational churches. 

    In the course of seven chapters Merritt explores such concepts as the redistribution of authority, the re-formation of community, the reexamination of our mediums of communication (read internet, blogs, social networking sites), the retelling of  the message (a new day for evangelism), the reinvention of activism (more than simply marches), engaging in the renewal of creation (a commitment to environmentalism), and a retraditioning of spirituality (rediscovering old practices and resources from the history of the church).  There is a strong sense of reengaging tradition, but there is also in this discussion a strong reminder that the church today and tomorrow will be linked closely to the web, especially social networking sites, which are evolving quickly.  This offers new opportunities for collaboration and accessing resources for knowledge.  At the same time, there is a caution, for the virtual world is not a replacement for the flesh and blood engagement. 

    One of the words that sticks out in this reframing of hope for the church is that of centralization.  Because of the technology that is present, we’re not nearly as dependent on centralized institutions.  Indeed, many have become skeptical and distrustful of these institutions, seeing them as moribund.  While there is a resistance to centralization, there remains a powerful movement toward consolidation.  Thus, it seems as if there are two competing visions – one that suggests bigger is better and the other that small is good.  But, while the bigger is better continues to have its say, the alternative is gaining ground.  Ultimately, we must recognize that in the church vitality is not defined by brand but by what’s happening in the local community of faith.

    We’ve heard it before.  You need to revision for tomorrow.  And that is true, but simply changing the words and the nomenclature won’t move us forward.  Times have changed and a new way living together as people of faith is required.  Our context is no longer culturally or ethnically homogeneous.  Younger people don’t necessarily know the stories or the language of faith.  Merritt writes:
   

    Today, our neighborhoods are filled with people from a wide array of religious backgrounds and expressions. We struggle to communicate our faith in the midst of such pluralism and, in our worst expressions, we avoid or discriminate against those who are not Christians (p. 131).

She goes on to note that in our old frameworks we could depend on social conditioning and denominational loyalty to “drive people to church.”  That’s no longer true.  We have to be intentional, and our reach must be compassionate.  The way we communicate must adapt as well. Consider Merritt reminds us that even as the younger members of our communities are fluent in social media, many of our churches struggle to put together a basic website.  There is hope, nonetheless, for the Mainline church, even as it struggles to stay afloat amidst this sea of change, to be a transformative presence.  If we’re to respond to the context, we need to understand that even in the midst of rampant individualism there is a crying need for community.  There is a desire among the younger members of our society to communicate prayerfully, and there is a desire for social justice.   Social justice has been at the core of Mainline Protestant life, and there is in this a point of connection. 

    Writers such as Diana Butler Bass, the author of the foreword to this book, and Eric Elnes (a UCC pastor in Arizona), have been reminding us that there is life in the Mainline churches.  Carol Howard Merritt adds her voice to this series of testimonials, offering to us a word of hope from the younger side of our community of faith, a reminder that God is still present and at work in our midst.  For this reason alone, this book is a worthy read.  It is, also well written and insightful, making this another must read for the year 2010 and beyond.

Transforming Acts: Adventurous Theology for the Twenty-first Century (Bruce Epperly)

For Disciples, the Book of Acts, has been a central text.  Early Disciple leaders like Alexander Campbell looked to it for a model of church life and expansion.  Acts has also become a key text for the missional movement, and I have looked to it as a guide for our congregation's expansion of ministry in the community.  So, I was pleased when Bruce Epperly suggested writing a series of columns on this most important text.  With this post, we begin a journey through Acts!

***************************************

Transforming Acts:

Adventurous Theology for the Twenty-first Century

Bruce G. Epperly

Annie Dillard advised people attending church to put on crash helmets and wear seats belt in the pews because what we invoke in church is life-changing and life-shaking. God, like Aslan the Christ-figure described in C.S. Lewis’Chronicles of Narnia, is not tame, but transforming, lively, and awesome. When God shows up in the confluence of divine call and human response, surprises abound. The fourteen billion year and one hundred billion galaxy adventure of our universe should fill us with awe and wonder, not only at the grandeur of the universe but the Creative Wisdom that brought forth – still brings forth - majestic galaxies and the intricacy of our own bodies, minds, and spirits.

Over the next several weeks, I will be reflecting on Acts of the Apostles as a primer for today’s adventurous Christians. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel proclaimed that one of the primary religious virtues is “radical amazement” and this sense of amazement is what we find throughout Acts of the Apostles. Some suggest that Acts of the Apostles is an idealized account of what the church can be when it is truly spirit-centered; others see Acts as a description of the honeymoon period of the church, when the church was unfettered, free, and open to divine surprises at every turn. Still, Acts of the Apostles is an important text for Christians today. It is an invitation to a holy adventure in which we expect great things from God and great things from ourselves. It is an open door to experiencing beauty, wonder, and miracle in our own lives. Our universe is far from domesticated and leaps of quantum energy enliven our own lives and the world around us. Today’s churches need to be surprised and set free to find God in the most expected places, including within the church itself.

The author of Psalm 8 captured the wonder of the universe long before the first moon landing or photographs from the Hubble telescope.

O Lord, Our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You set your glory above the heavens….

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

The moon and the stars you have established;

What are human beings that you are mindful of them,

Mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,

And crowned them with glory and honor.

In the immensity of the universe, in which our solar system is but a dot, God is working in our lives, giving us the gifts of creativity, artistry, technology, and spirituality. A great God, beyond imagination, is moving in our little world, is calling us to be partners in the creative process. Despite its cosmic insignificance, our little world is the portal to the divinity who makes holy all planets and galaxies.

I believe that Acts of the Apostles is a guidepost for adventurous living and a challenge to Christians to open their imaginations and hearts to God’s presence, moving in the cosmos, our congregations, our lives, and the planet. Acts presents us with a Spirit-filled world and invites us to embrace a Spirit-centered life of prayer, healing, hospitality, adventure, diversity, and justice-seeking.

I see Acts of the Apostles as a post-modern gospel, describing a church at the margins, making it up as it goes along, open to astonishment and new ways of seeing God’s presence in the world. The margins for these first people of the Way of Jesus were also the frontiers of faith. Just as the Spirit is unfettered, so too is the Way of Jesus that takes us into all the world and embraces creation in all its diversity of race, culture, religious practice, and life style. Our parents in the faith balanced fidelity to the God of Jesus Christ with an awareness of religious and cultural pluralism. They knew they had to break through their own parochial understandings of God to be faithful to God. They knew that they had to relativize – and challenge – the Laws of God given to Moses to follow in God’s new pathways of the Spirit. In the spirit of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, they did not reject God’s covenant with the Jewish people, but saw that evolving covenant as unfettered and all-embracing, welcoming and declaring “clean” all the nations of the earth. That is our calling, too – to embrace the past as we awaken to new dimensions of fidelity for our time.

So, be ready for a spiritual adventure! Strap on your safety belt as you open yourself to God’s vision for our time, reflected in the transforming words of Acts of the Apostles. God is still moving in our world; God is still speaking in our lives; God’s faithfulness is everlasting and God’s mercies are new every morning. We need not be afraid of pluralism, for God is our companion as we faithfully and creatively respond to wondrous diversity of human culture and spirituality. We can become the people of the Way – the everyday mystics, healers, and visionaries – as we venture forth into the frontiers of the twenty-first century.

Bruce Epperly is a seminary professor and administrator at Lancaster Theological Seminary, pastor, theologian, and spiritual companion. He is the author of seventeen books, including Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living, a response to Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life. His  Tending to the Holy: The Practice of the Presence of God in Ministry, written with Katherine Gould Epperly, was selected 2009 Book of the Year by the Academy of Parish Clergy.    His most recent book is From a Mustard Seed: Enlivening Worship and Music in the Small Church, written with Daryl Hollinger.