Called to Ministry

Almost two and a half years ago, the established church we serve sold their enormous facility - a sanctuary with seating for 850 people, 44 rooms, a full-sized gymnasium, several apartments, and a separate office building with a chapel - to a developer who built a six-story condominum complex in the parking lot. The small remnant congregation has been meeting for worship in a synagogue on Congress Street, at the invitation of that congregation, while undertaking an intentional process of discernment. Although there has certainly been plenty of nostalgia about the past, this new building-free identity has also opened up lots of new possibilities! Without an aging, outdated building tying up all its time and financial resources, the congregation has felt a refreshing freedom to focus on ministry, and to consider an entirely new identity apart from its physical structure.

Since last fall, we've been meeting weekly with a group of leaders of the congregation, to continue this discernment process and to get serious about articulating a vision for a new and very different kind of ministry in Portland. We've met with city leaders, pastors and leaders of other churches, and leaders of social service organizations. We've gone on several field trips to visit the sites of other organizations doing work to care for people in need, both within and beyond Portland. It's been an exciting process.

After months of researching needs and opportunities for ministry within the city, in February we identified the neighborhood where where we feel led to sink down some roots. It happens to be the most densely populated square mile in the State of Maine - a neighborhood of mostly several-family homes and apartments, some of them in serious need of renovation, many of them rented out by landlords who live in other parts of the city or even out of state. It's a neighborhood with a reputation for drug use and trafficking, as well as prostitution and domestic violence -- all of which are still present, but expressed in more subtle ways than they used to be. Since it is the most affordable neighborhood in the city, it tends to be one of the places where recent immigrants and those who are recently homeless settle, but residents also tend to be very transient, moving on when they can afford to go elsewhere. It's also a neighborhood where students and some young professionals have chosen to live, and where a neighborhood center and a community policing program have had a very positive impact. Our vision for ministry in this neighborhood is taking shape, and although we have a lot of work to do to implement the vision - including talking more with people who live in the neighborhood to determine if our vision really meets a need they feel - we are hopeful and excited to get on the ground.

Yesterday at our weekly meeting of the team, an 82-year-old woman who's a relatively new member of the church and an active member of this team, said, "I've been praying that I live long enough to see this vision become a reality, because this is the first time in my life that I've ever felt called to something."

How powerful is that? We had a great discussion about that sense of being called, and I've been living with that comment ever since. Wow. God is good!

Rude friends stink.

Erica's been giving me crap about the fiddleheads post. I think her exact words were, "You did NOT just post that thing about fiddleheads. What a dork!"

Someone make her stop.

At least Krista appreciated it.

Fiddleheads

In honor of Sara's mother's arrival on Saturday evening, we made a classic Maine dinner: baked stuffed haddock, thanks to a trip to Free Range Fish and Lobster on Commercial Street; purple mashed potatoes that came from the Wednesday farmers' market at Monument Square; and fiddleheads that we bought out of someone's trunk on the side of the road Friday afternoon.

Yes, fiddleheads - a Maine tradition! Not quite Maine lobster, but almost as popular with some people! Here's what VeganYumYum has to say about fiddleheads:

Fiddlehead ferns are one of spring’s most elusive goodies. The are available for about three weeks in May (as in right this second), and are generally harvested in the northeastern United States. A fiddlehead is the tip of an unfurling Ostrich Fern frond, quickly snapped off with the flick of the wrist by professional foragers in the wild. If you see some growing in the woods near you, take care. There are many other ferns that resemble the Ostrich Fern, some of which are considered to be carcinogenic, like the Bracken Fern. Unless you have a guide with you, leave the collecting to the professionals and pick some up at Whole Foods. They cost $6 a pound in Boston.

Their flavor is mild, and perhaps most closely resembles asparagus, and asparagus is the best substitute for the ferns. Some also say they are similar to green beans and
artichokes. They are pleasently crunchy with a nutty, slightly bitter bite, which is why you’ll see so many fiddlehead recipes calling for butter and salt. Treat the fiddleheads like asparagus tips and you can’t go wrong. If you really want a treat, serve them up with some morel mushrooms; their season coincides almost exactly with the ferns and they pair well.

I wish I liked fiddleheads more. They're okay, but I'm not one of those people you'll find scouring the sides of roads this time of year. But then again, they're only available during a short window of time each year, and once a year is just about perfect for me...

Happy Mother's Day!

Today I am thankful for my Mom, Jeanne Merrill, shown here... with my Dad and my older brother Brian and me when I was 10 days old... with my whole family, including Brian and my younger sister Karen, when I was 6... on Thanksgiving 2007 being a little bit silly at the dessert table... and opening a funny gift on Christmas Day 2007.

I'm thankful to have a mother who is loving and generous in every way, and who has passed on her crazy sense of humor to the rest of our wacky family!

A different kind of church - YES!

On IM tonight, Sara was chatting with Erica, a member of our New Light community, who was telling her about an experience at work today. Another member of the community, Carlie, had stopped by to see her at work, and they were talking about some of the things we've been doing lately, like our Cinco de Mayo party. Afterward, a friend and co-worker (whom I've met a couple of times) said, "I'm starting to think more and more that this is a different kind of church you go to."

And I just have to say, that is the best thing I've heard all day! Music to my ears!!

Words to serve by...

The Earth and the Poor
Leonardo Boff

Is it possible to live in peace and happiness when you know that two-thirds of human beings are suffering, hungry and poor? To be human we have to have compassion. This solidarity is really the defining factor of our humanity and is gradually being lost in a culture of material values. It's not only the cry of the poor we must listen to but also the cry of the earth. The earth and human beings are both threatened. We must do something to change the situation....

There won't be a Noah's Ark to save only some of us. To meet people's fundamental concerns, change is needed. The world as it is does not offer the majority of humanity life but rather hell. I believe that change is possible, because I cannot accept a God who could remain indifferent to this world, but only one who cares about the poor and the suffering.

Source: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor

with a tip of the hat to Inward/Outward, a project of Church of the Saviour

Clearing Committee

Today I participated in a day-long retreat, "The Heart of Leadership: Leading with Spiritual Awareness," at Rolling Ridge, our United Methodist retreat center in North Andover, MA. The retreat leaders were Margaret Benefiel, Quaker, professor at Andover Newton Theological School, CEO of ExecutiveSoul.com, and author of Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations; and Larry Peacock, United Methodist pastor currently serving as executive director at Rolling Ridge.

One of the most meaningful exercises, for me, was time spent in a group of three, reflecting on an issue we're dealing with in our leadership, through what is called a Clearing Committee - a Quaker tradition. It goes like this:

• Silence (1 min.)
• Focus person speaks (4 min.)
• Clarifying questions - focus person responds (1 min.)
• Silence (1 min.)
• Questions and comments - focus person does not respond; someone in the group records (7 min.)
• Prayer (2 min.)
• Transition to the next focus person (1 min.)

I found it incredibly helpful to reflect in a very focused way, confined by clear parameters of time within a prayerful, supportive, reflective space; and then to receive not suggestions or advice, but questions and comments, to which I could not respond, but which invited me to further reflection. The idea is that the wisdom comes not from those in the group who have advice to share, but from within the person dealing with the issue, and from God.

I need to spend some time thinking about how this exercise might have application in my ministry. I think there are some real possibilities. The Clearing Committee -- sometimes called Circle of Trust -- invites spiritual groundedness when dealing with leadership issues.

How could you imagine utilizing the Clearing Committee in your ministry, workplace, church, organization, or family?

Cinco de Mayo!

We had an awesome New Light Cinco de Mayo party at our house tonight, complete with (virgin) Margaritas, a huge spread of Mexican food potluck style, Mexican music, cheesy decorations (including a five-foot inflated cactus and strings of red pepper lights, thanks to the leftovers from Fiesta Vacation Bible Camp!) and lots of wacky games -- games that included things like Sprite and gummy worms, sombreros, Bible verses in Spanish, jalapeno peppers, maracas, balancing cups of water on heads, and singing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" while gargling. Not all at once, of course.

Oh, it was great fun. Someone commented, "It's like Youth Group for adults!" Oh, wait -- that was me. But everyone agreed.

I'll try to post pictures soon -- especially the one of Sarah (the other one, not my wife) with a gummy worm sticking from each nostril.

What's the purpose of events like this in the context of a newly forming community of faith? Well, one thing I know for sure: laughter is an important spiritual practice. And besides that, it was wonderful to see community being strengthened and relationships being sealed across the two small groups. We do lots of things that have a stronger spiritual component, of course. We're intentional about engaging in acts of devotion, worship, compassion, and justice. But it sure was fun to hang out, eat good food, and laugh hard tonight.

Tomorrow I'm off to a retreat focusing on leadership and spirituality at Rolling Ridge. Good times.

Random Thoughts on a Friday Night

• Sara and I spent a good part of the day outside. We raked the back yard (last week I raked the front) and uprooted a few thousand tiny maple trees that have sprung up everywhere. Then we spent a couple of hours removing sod and tilling soil, preparing some spots to the left and right of our front walk where we'll eventually plant some flowers and herbs. It feels really good to get your hands in the dirt!
  

• I've been watching pieces of the live stream of General Conference now and then, and I have to say, I find the whole thing quite puzzling. Petition 81,000-something-or-other... Calendar item 1100-and-then-some... page 2,149 in the DCA... I'm sure all that is really important stuff, but I do have to wonder, did God intend for the church to become a bureaucracy? And I wonder.... Whom would Jesus exclude, really? Is there hope for our church? What would we need to do differently to truly focus on being the Body of Christ, seeking first the Kingdom of God?
  

• Tomorrow we're participating in a Potato Planting Party, sponsored by Cultivating Community, an organization that uses gardening to empower youth and then donates the vegetables it harvests to low-income families and elderly persons living in public housing, who otherwise might not have locally grown, organic produce.
  

• Sunday is my grandfather's 92nd birthday, and we're headed to his birthday party following worship. I don't recall that I've ever been with him on his birthday. Should be a good time.
  

• We went out for ice-cream tonight with friends. Mmmmm...

New Light update

It's getting more and more exciting to see the way the New Light community is forming. We've had this little influx of new people lately - 8 newcomers, all in their 20's, most of them invited by a friend. Most of them are already well connected into the community. Last night we had our monthly community gathering at our house - a yummy potluck dinner followed by conversation and worship. It was great to have the full community together.

Some of the things we've been up to:

• We have a Monday night LIFE Group that alternates between Oliver & Alison's house and Paul & Carlie's house, and a Thursday night LIFE Group that meets at our house.


• On Tuesday mornings we gather for Morning Prayer, just to pray for one another and people we know who are in need, for the New Light community, for Portland, and for the world.


• Now and then we've been getting together specifically to build community. Last week a bunch of us went to a Kutless concert in Lewiston. Next Monday we're having a Cinco de Mayo party. Good times.


• This Saturday we begin a new ministry. We haven't come up with a snazzy name for it yet, but on the first Saturday of every month we'll come together for a mission project... this first one being a Potato Planting Party with Cultivating Community, an organization that grows organic vegetables and distributes them to people who live in low-income and elderly housing in the Portland area, who might not otherwise have access to fresh, locally grown produce.


• We're putting together the plans for Journey Groups, which will be three-person, gender-specific groups specifically for accountability, support, and intentional spiritual growth. We'll be rolling out men's and women's pilot groups very soon.

Four of us, a group which we're calling the Leadership Community, have been meeting weekly to develop a strategic plan and a discipleship system. We recently finalized some statements that articulate our Core Values, which we're pretty excited about...

Core Values:

• Community: Faith is a journey best traveled with others who share common values and a common commitment to life together. We strive to be formed as a community steeped in God’s love, expressed in loving relationships with one another, and engaged in the larger community in which we live.
  
• Inclusivity: No one is outside the bounds of God’s grace. We strive to practice generous hospitality, welcoming and embracing everyone with the same love we have received from God. We affirm the sacred worth of every human being – no exceptions.
  
• Creativity: At the foundation of our faith is the story of a God we call Creator – a God who is continually in the process of creating, who gifts us with creativity and invites us to create. We strive to incorporate music, drama, visual arts, dance, and other creative elements in all that we do.
  
• Transformation: As we journey inward, we strive for transformed lives that better reflect the love of Christ; as we journey outward, we strive for a transformed world that better reflects God’s vision of peace and justice.
  
• Simplicity: In a world preoccupied with materialism, consumption, and greed, we long for a simpler way. We strive to live simply, both individually and in our life together; to generously share our resources and practice faithful stewardship of God’s Creation.

So, please keep the New Light community in your prayers! It really feels like God is doing some exciting things among us!

The Pope Visits

I'm finding the reporting of the Pope's visit to the United States to be very interesting, and a bit puzzling. Today's Portland Press Herald features a front-page story about the Pope praying at Ground Zero and leading mass at Yankee Stadium. On one hand, I think it's really good to see this level of enthusiasm for something of a spiritual nature. I mean, how often does a religious leader, other than the likes of Billy Graham, draw crowds enough to pack Yankee Stadium? (Well, I suppose Joel Osteen does it every week, but I'll save that for another post...) On the other hand, though, it seems to me there's something just a little off when it's a human being that draws all the attention, rather than the One whom we worship.

A quote from today's article:

John Urban, 71, of Scranton, PA, left his home at 3:30 am and drove two and a half hours to arrive by 6 am.

He could only see the top of the pope mobile.

"It was enough," Urban said. "He's the head of our church. It's probably as close as I'm going to get to him, but that's fine."

Does this strike anyone else as a bit odd? Isn't Jesus Christ the head of the church?

I really don't mean offense to my Roman Catholic sisters and brothers. I have incredible respect for the rich tradition of the Catholic Church, and I think there are many, many things to celebrate about Roman Catholicism (as well as a few things to critique, such as their refusal to ordain women, which is also a topic for another post...). However, the whole mystique about the person of the Pope is one part I just don't get.

Spring has sprung (finally!)

Winter doesn't let go easily here in Maine! Finally the crocuses are in bloom, and finally... finally... finally... the last little strip of snow along the sidewalk in front of our house has disappeared!

Is it possible that spring has finally sprung? Or am I just ensuring, by saying this, that we’re in for another storm before winter finally releases its grip?

Back from the Walk to Emmaus

I spent Thursday-Sunday serving on the team for Crossroads Emmaus Men's Walk # 41, Walk to Emmaus, at Singing Hills Conference Center in Plainfield, NH. I am feeling renewed in spirit, spiritually strengthened, and somewhat sleep-deprived.

I've been thinking about a few highlights of the weekend which intensify my confidence in the way God uses the Walk to Emmaus as one tool in transforming lives:

• seeing guys take big steps in their faith, confront places in themselves that need to change, and move beyond a place of taking faith for granted
• experiencing agape love
• remembering again, for myself, the transforming power of God's grace
• seeing guys step beyond their comfort zone to give a talk
• experiencing Communion that really is communion in its truest sense: Communion with God and communion with one another
• laughing until it hurt
• crossing boundaries: interacting with people I otherwise might never encounter
• witnessing the breaking of emotional barriers
• realizing that public speaking is not just about excellent elocution skills, but more importantly, hearts transformed by grace.
• learning once again (in the words of a fellow spiritual director) that "rough hewn" works just as well - that sanctification is not the same thing as education or elevation

Have you been on the Walk to Emmaus? If so, what would you add to the list?

Time to Weed

I have 15,723 e-mails in my Outlook in-box. Does anyone think this is a problem?

Fatherhood

Rachel has a really bad cold today. It started on Saturday and Sunday, when she was just kind of lethargic. Monday she slept until 9:00 and stayed home from daycare with a congested cough. Today she has a full-blown cold: her nose is running constantly, she's sneezing a lot, and we have to keep wiping the boogers out of her nose and off her little friend Dodo. She's spent a good part of the day in tears... Any little thing is traumatic.

Poor Rachel. I'd much rather have the cold myself (and give me a day or two... I well may!) than to watch my little girl be so miserable.

Easter Challenges

On the evening of Easter Sunday, we hosted a New Light Easter Celebration at our house, complete with a yummy potluck dinner, an Easter egg hunt in the backyard, and worship. The food was great, and it was really awesome to have the two small groups (the Monday night group and the Thursday night group) together. Three people brand new to our community came, too, so it gave them a chance to meet others who have been part of New Light for a while.

The Easter egg hunt was fun. My neighbor saw me hiding all the plastic eggs out in the backyard and hollered over the fence, "Now that's what I'm talking about!" I don't think he expected to see a dozen adults and a couple of teenagers fanning out, scooping up the goods.

When we came inside, of course we enjoyed the chocolate and jelly beans inside, but first we had everybody put aside all the yellow eggs into a separate basket. Later in the evening, we introduced "The Great Easter Egg Challenge" and had everyone pick a yellow egg from the basket. Inside each egg, besides a couple of pieces of chocolate, was a little slip of paper, on which we had written a challenge. As we went around, each person opened his or her egg and shared the challenge.

Here's a list of some of the things people are doing between now and April 20:

• Read all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).
• Have a conversation with a homeless person.
• Spend an hour in prayer one day a week, either in one sitting or up to three 20-minute sittings over the course of one day.
• Visit a church, synagogue, or mosque to experience worship in a tradition other than your own.
• Make a sacrificial gift to help care for people in need through United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) or another worthy organization.
• Talk to a friend, co-worker, family member, or neighbor about your faith.
• Invite a friend, co-worker, family member, or neighbor to New Light.
• Forgive someone against whom you have a grudge. If this requires great interior work, take a significant step towards forgiveness.
• Practice at least one random act of kindness a week, for the next four weeks.
• Fast from something important in your life in order to make more space for focusing on God.
• Write at least three letters to legislators about an issue(s) of justice that you are concerned about.
• Over the next four weeks live as simply as possible; limit your purchases to the essentials.

We have covenanted with each other to support one another and pray for each other as we undertake these challenges. At our next monthly potluck dinner/ worship gathering, we'll spend some time sharing experiences.

More about my own challenge later...

The Church & Starbucks

Now here is a compelling question: What if the church took the night off? by Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL and author of The Big Idea: Focus the Message, Multiply the Impact.

Check it out!

A Prayer for Good Friday

Shock Me with the Terrible Goodness of this Friday

Holy one,
shock and save me with the terrible goodness of this Friday,
and drive me deep into my longing for your kingdom,
until I seek it first —
yet not first for myself,
but for the hungry
and the sick
and the poor of your children,
for prisoners of conscience around the world
for those I have wasted
with my racism
and sexism
and ageism
and nationalism
and religionism,
for those around this mother earth and in this city
who, this Friday, know far more of terror than of goodness;
that, in my seeking first the kingdom,
for them as well as for myself,
all these things may be mine as well:
things like a coat and courage
and something like comfort,
a few lilies in the field,
the sight of birds soaring on the wind,
a song in the night,
and gladness of heart,
the sense of your presence
and the realization of your promise
that nothing in life or death
will be able to separate me or those I love,
from your love
in the crucified one who is our Lord,
and in whose name and Spirit I pray.

— Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle

More inspiration from England

Besides time at the Urban Theology Unit, we’ve also spent part of a day in Bradford, a once affluent but now struggling industrial city with lots of poverty and issues of race relations, also home to the University of Bradford and Bradford College. We visited the Desmond Tutu House on the edge of the campus, led by Rev. Chris Howson, the Anglican Diocese of Bradford’s City Centre Mission Priest, who is doing some amazing things to help students and other young people explore issues of spirituality and become active in the struggle for peace and justice. Chris is well known in the UK for his involvement with Fresh Expressions, which has parallels with our emerging church movement. We’re incredibly thankful for his generosity in sharing his time, even taking us on a (very cold and soggy) walking tour of Bradford, with a stop at the German Church in Bradford (once a Methodist Chapel) for midday worship.

The center itself and its ministry are impressive. They have a gathering room, called Peace Chapel, used for worship, but also for meetings of groups promoting peace, justice, environmental awareness, and other causes compatible with their mission. Worship gatherings at the house include SoulSpace (a relaxed, participatory, inclusive gathering) on Sundays at noon and JustChurch (focusing on issues of peace, justice, and human rights) on Tuesday evenings. We ended our visit with a great lunch at Treehouse Café, housed in the Desmond Tutu House but run by the Bradford Centre for Nonviolence – a smorgasbord of local, fair trade, organic food, coffee, and desserts. We learned a lot and left with plenty of ideas. It was a very inspiring visit. (See further notes about this visit on my New Light blog.)

We took advantage of a free day on Thursday and drove about 90 minutes to Epworth, childhood home of John & Charles Wesley (and their 12 or 13 siblings). We saw the Anglican Church where their father, Samuel Wesley, was the rector for 39 years. As a priest and leader of the early Methodist movement, John Wesley was banned from entering this church because his ideas were so controversial and radical… a good reminder that God sometimes moves us to witness and work for change, and sometimes that means doing and saying things that are against the mainstream of society and even against the authorities of the church! Not to be defeated, John Wesley preached from other places in the town, including his father’s grave outside the church. The rectory where the Wesleys lived for almost 40 years was closed for the season, but we got to walk around it (and peek in the windows), and around the village, which was quite a thrill. We also saw the Wesley Memorial Methodist Church and several other historic sites in Epworth.

Rachel is taking everything in stride! She is sleeping well and entertaining everyone, and when it really counts, she’s even settling down and looking at her books contentedly so we can listen to speakers and participate in sessions. We are thankful.

Reporting from England

We are several days into our England trip, and I haven’t been able to post as I had hoped because our access to the Internet is much less consistent than we had anticipated. I’ll try to encapsulate some of our experiences briefly.

Sheffield is an interesting city. Though diverse in other areas, the sections we have been exploring are largely Muslim, evidenced by Muslim businesses, mosques, and people in Muslim dress everywhere on the streets. Long-time Sheffield residents have no doubt seen many changes over the years!

And here, in the Sheffield neighborhood of Pitsmoor, in the center of Muslim life, is the Urban Theology Unit, where we’ve spent much of our time since arriving on Monday. We have found our work with Rev. Dr. John Vincent to be quite helpful as we continue to sharpen a vision for ministry in Portland. The vision is emerging – quite possibly to include a coffee shop/ laundromat in the Portland neighborhood where we’ve begun to focus our sights – not for the sake of providing coffee or laundry facilities per se, and certainly not because we’re looking at profit potentials, but specifically as a means of developing community in a neighborhood that lacks such amenities and thus lacks stability. Most important, we’re realizing, is to ensure a low threshold, so people in the neighborhood will enter our doors. Then once they’re there, we can practice Christian hospitality, begin to develop relationships, and form community. Our facility might include meetings spaces, a chapel (of sorts), space for children, eating space (of course!), art on the walls, community bulletin boards, and possibly performance space for concerts and the like. We can imagine all sorts of groups – reading groups, discussion groups, worship gatherings, and interest groups focusing on peace and justice issues, for example – that we might form to gather people together. This kind of space would also provide opportunity for a variety of worship gatherings – mid-week Taize worship, traditional worship, more quiet & reflective worship, and possibly worship with musical styles appealing to younger adults as well. Our goal in this proposed center is not to provide social services, and not necessarily to “do good things” for people in need, but rather to form authentic community, striving always for mutuality in relationships.

But these our just our ideas, which sound great in the abstract. First, though, we’ll need to begin by listening… listening… listening to the people who are already on the ground, who call this neighborhood their home, who know their own needs much better than we know them as outsiders looking in.