Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, Daring Justice

The United Church of Canada recently created a new vision and mission to shape and guide our ministries in the next few years. The three broad headings are Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship and Daring Justice. This blog explores those ideas based on current events.

Deep Spirituality

When we come to worship on Sunday, we are moved by music and words, we are reminded of our connection to other people, to the history of the Christian story, and to God’s world. But if only intentionally connect with our spirituality on Sunday morning, we miss opportunities to be deeply grounded in our faith.

Our spirituality is the way in which we connect with God on a daily basis—in between gathering together for worship. Some of us have a regular practice of prayer—maybe in the morning, or at a mealtime, maybe before bed. Some of us have never developed that kind of regular routine. Some of us prefer meditation. Some of us take long walks in nature and notice the changing of the seasons and give thanks for how the earth supports us. Some of us just sit quietly and reflect on life as it goes by. Some of us use music (either listening or creating it) as a way of feeling the spirit move. All of these practices, and many others, help us to deepen our sense of God’s presence so that when something terrible happens in our lives or in the world we know we are not alone.

Sometimes praying might feel empty. We can’t bring back all the people who were killed this week. The words of our prayer won’t change what happened but our deep spirituality reminds us that God comforts those who mourn—ourselves, the families and friends whose lives have changed forever in those moments of violence. Our spirituality reminds us that we are people of death…and resurrection. We are people who know death doesn’t have the last word. Our spirituality reminds us that we are not alone. Our spirituality doesn’t change what is but it gives us strength and courage to stand firm in the God of love, even when the world feels like chaos.

And so we pray in whatever ways we know how. We pray that all those impacted by the school shooting will know the power and strength of love—that they will feel strong arms holding them. We pray that violence will end and that schools will be places of safety, growth and learning.

Bold Discipleship

We ground our lives in our spirituality, our prayer, our vision for the world. Discipleship is about following Jesus faithfully even when it feels counterintuitive or dangerous. In Acts 16, we see Paul act to heal the household worker so her employers could no longer take advantage. It meant beatings and prison for Paul and his companions. Then there’s an earthquake and they could escape but the jailer would have killed himself, so they stayed put and offered him care and compassion in the name of Jesus. They didn’t need to involve themselves in any of this. They could have ignored the household worker as an irritant and carried on. By healing her Paul set in motion a chain of events and had to see it through.

When we think about school shootings, they are much rarer in Canada than in the United States but they do happen here too. Rather than see these as events removed from us we are being called to discipleship in our own community. We might support the anti-bullying work that is a part of many schools. Maybe our discipleship is building relationships with and supporting LGBTQ+ students and others who might sometimes feel like outsiders because of race, ability, or class. Maybe our discipleship is continuing to ensure that guns are not easily available in Canada. Discipleship requires us to take a stand—to speak and act publicly—to create with the holy spirit, the world God envisions. Discipleship often involves saying and doing the things that might make ourselves and others uncomfortable. Once we start on this path, it may lead us to discover other actions that support a safe and flourishing community.

Daring Justice

In scripture, we often find the words justice and righteousness together. Righteousness is about treating others as the image of God and being in right relationship with others. Justice is noticing the vulnerable, offering tangible support that helps for the moment. Justice goes another step and requires us to speak and act to change social structures to prevent injustice.

Sometimes when we look around, the world feels like chaos. There are so many huge overwhelming problems right now. We see war, school shootings, climate change, unmarked graves at residential schools and it feels like we can’t do anything about any of it. As a community of faith there is a tendency to turn inward and focus on ourselves—our survival, our lack of people, our lack of financial resources. But I think this is a story we tell ourselves to avoid the real work that God calls us to. We want to maintain the vision of what we had rather than creating the vision of what could be. We want to be comfortable but, Bold Discipleship and Daring Justice will take us out of our comfort zones.

We know climate change is a real thing—even though there are deny-ers out there. We know that humans are having an impact on the environment and yet it is hard to have a conversation about climate change without becoming mired in the politics. So we don’t talk about it in our church because we don’t want to upset anybody. Some people agree with carbon tax, some people don’t. Some people want more solar and wind power. Some people want more support for the oil and gas industries. Constructive conversation doesn’t happen. We are afraid of the conversation because it might upset someone. Daring justice means that someone is going to be upset. The question is not about us and what’s going to inconvenience us least. The question is what parts of the earth are most impacted by climate change? That’s where our attention and focus need to go. How do we help the earth, as a whole, to flourish? That’s a practical question for how we live. But it also goes towards changing government policy to support and protect the earth.

Justice isn’t short-term bandages. Justice is long-term work that changes the world. I invite us to send our roots deep into our spirituality, to be bold in our discipleship and daring in our justice. May our faith sustain and call us forth.

Unpacking “Clobber Passages”

Leviticus 18:3, 22 is definitely not the traditional thanksgiving scriptures. But I do want to give thanks today and I invite you to also give thanks. I am so grateful to be a part of the United Church which has a long history of looking at scripture in different ways. I appreciate some alternative theologies that have come from our denomination and the ability to interpret and re-interpret scripture in ways that are life giving.

When I was a teen, I didn’t know anyone who identified as queer. I didn’t have role models or language to talk about what I was feeling and experiencing. Heterosexuality was so ingrained as normative that I didn’t realize there were other options. I am grateful for people who have gone before and helped to create communities that are safer and more comfortable for the Queer community—sometimes at great cost to themselves.

In 1988, when the United Church, made the courageous decision to openly welcome LGBTQ people in ministry, I remember hearing this passage from Leviticus. I remember the hearing the hatred and animosity in people’s voices as they quoted scripture. Leviticus 20:13 runs in a similar vein and concludes: “they must be put to death.” Even though I hadn’t figured out my sexual orientation I was bullied because of how I was perceived, and I remember being afraid.

We rarely hear passages from Leviticus in worship. It is a book of the Hebrew Bible which lays out the ways in which the Hebrew people should conduct their worship and the way they should live that is distinct from the cultures around them. Much of the book is concerned with rules that applied to the priests and those who serve in the temple rather than to the population at large.

This particular passage is often used to condemn gay men. It has been used to exclude from communities of faith and from ministry, so I want to spend a bit of time unpacking this passage.

We need to be reminded of a few things in order to make sense of this passage. Scripture is not written by God. It is written by people in a particular time, place and context to address things that are happening in their community. The words in this passage come from people rather than God.

The word abomination refers to something that creates a sense of disgust or hatred. In biblical terms it refers to something that is hated because of its association with idolatry—the worship of other gods. So, in this context, abomination refers to the male same sex acts used in Canaanite and Egyptian worship. One of the reasons the passage was written was to prevent these acts from finding their way into Hebrew worship. It is the association with idolatry that makes this an abomination rather than the act itself. In Leviticus, things like shaving, wearing clothes of mixed fibre, eating shellfish and pork are all referenced as abominations—because they were associated with the Canaanite culture, not because they are inherently evil.

But there are other things going on here too…

The Bible was written within a patriarchal context which shapes the beliefs and values presented. Within the cultural hierarchy, men had the highest standing, followed by male children, women, and female children. Women were not considered fully human—they were lesser beings. Women were considered property of their father and then their husband. They were to be under the control of a man. It was understood that sexual acts between two men meant that one of them would be taking on the role of a woman. It meant that one man would “own” another. It meant that one man was giving up control to another man, becoming like a woman. This changed their place in the hierarchy. Being like a woman was dishonorable.

In ancient Hebrew society, the survival of the entire community often felt like it was in jeopardy.  There was high infant and child mortality rate, so procreation was really important for the survival of the people. Any act that “wasted” the source of life was inappropriate. In ancient times, women were seen as the incubators of life, rather than active contributors. This passage specifically identifies male activity because it is a threat to patriarchal nature of the society and doesn’t contribute to procreation. Women’s sexual activity with other women isn’t mentioned here because it was seen as unrelated to procreation and didn’t change their status in the hierarchy.

That’s some of the background to these passages. So, what does this mean for us? Our context is very different. We don’t need to maintain a distinct identity for our community and culture to survive. We understand that both men and women pass their genetic material to children. We no longer believe that women are lesser beings or that they are property or that they need to be controlled by men. There is nothing dishonorable about being a woman. The things that made same sex acts a threat to the society, do not apply to our society or how we currently understand sexuality. But does scripture still have something to say about our sexuality?

We are made in the creator’s image—that includes our sexuality. We affirm that our sexuality is a gift from God. Many passages remind us that it is YHWH who creates us—in all our wonder and uniqueness.

Psalm 139:

For it was you who formed my inward parts;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.

We understand that many of us identify as queer at a young age and that it is inherent in who we are. This passage lifts up that sense that all of us are wonderfully made and formed by the creator. All of who we are, each and every one of us, is a blessing to the world. The blessing and gift are not contingent on being formed a particular way. It simply is.

As with any gift, our sexuality is an honour to receive, and we have responsibility for how we use it. The intent in our closest relationships is that they reflect the life-giving love and compassion of the one who made us. Any relationship that builds up, brings out the best, supports and encourages someone to be their full self is a gift, and reflects the one who made us.

We know that our communities of faith have not always been safe places for queer people, but I am grateful for a church that has wrestled with what it means to be faithful and has risked stepping outside conventional theology. This is one of our greatest strengths as a denomination. As you think about this community of faith, or our wider community, who do you give thanks for? Who has helped to make our communities safer? Who has paved the way or encouraged you to be fully you?  This thanksgiving, I encourage you to give thanks for the courage of LGBTQ+ people who risk being known for who they are, who challenge us to include and who work towards a safer community for all people.

 

I Shall Not Be Moved

Psalm 16 is entitled a Song of Trust and Security in God. The writer has a sense that no matter what happens in life God is present. In God, there a sense of abundance and of safety. Nothing can shake the confidence that we are not alone.

As people of faith, it is God that gives our lives direction, meaning and purpose. The United Church has, at times, been accused of believing anything, of not having conviction of faith, being swayed by the culture around us.

I would strongly disagree with that assessment. I believe that God gives us purpose, direction and meaning to our lives as United Church communities. We tend to think of ourselves as open, welcoming, inclusive, liberal or even progressive in our theology. I believe that this comes from deep and abiding faith in God, a sense that God continues to be active around us and that God speaks to us from the contexts in which we find ourselves. I don’t see this as being swayed by the culture but as being a faithful response. This response to culture and context grows out of our conviction that all of us are made in God’s image. We are convinced that God has concern for the most marginalized and vulnerable people. We affirm that God created the earth and that we are stewards of creation. Who we are, as communities of faith, stems from a deep conviction of God’s love for all people and for the earth.

The psalmist reminds us that we cannot be moved even when it feels challenging. To outsiders it might look like we’re a wishy-washy church, but we are not moved in our belief of being created in God’s image and the value each of each person. This is a core part of my identity as a person of faith and as a United Church person.

How we live out love for God’s world changes as we learn. It changes with the wisdom of hindsight. It changes as we are challenged by circumstances and by those on the margins. I am convinced and firm that we are all created in God’s image, loved and accepted by God.

When the form of our belief becomes more important than substance of our actions, we get off course. The psalmist writes it this way. “Those who rush after other gods will bring trouble upon themselves.” Being white became the god that allowed residential schools to flourish. Being straight became the god that encouraged conversion therapy to “correct” sexual orientation. Being wealthy became the god that allows our own comfort to trump compassion.

We all have gods within us that distract us from God’s direction, purpose and meaning. When these gods rule our lives, we become closed, our own world becomes smaller, and we lose compassion for ourselves and others. Our communities disintegrate and a cycle of fear and scarcity develop. When we are in this cycle, anyone who seems different from us is someone to fear. In this cycle, there are not enough resources, and we must cling tightly to what is ours or lose everything.

The psalm invites us to break out of this fear and scarcity. It invites us to feel safe in God’s presence. When we are grounded in God’s love our conviction of God’s love for ourselves, and others can shine through. God invites us on a path of life. When we walk that path, we are never alone.

Celebrating and Lamenting on the United Church’s Anniversary

The United Church of Canada was formed in 1925 as a coming together of the Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Methodists. Their union was a recognition of the things we have in common as people of faith, a good use of limited resources, a shared commitment to spreading the love of God. It started with excitement and energy. We have a strong history of connecting our faith to people on the margins of society and recognizing that our faith needs to be lived in the world around us. The United Church pushed the boundaries of ministry with Lydia Gruchy being the first woman ordained in Canada. In 1988 we openly welcomed members of the LGBTQ+ in ministry. Over the years, the United Church was involved in women’s suffrage, medicare, supporting same sex marriage and banning conversion therapy. These are just a few of the movements and issues in which the United church has participated and offered leadership. We have many things to be proud of as a United Church. These are moments when we have been church in the best way possible—when we have been courageous and stood with those on the margins and worked towards a better society.

As much as we have things to celebrate as a church, we also have parts of our identity and history that we need to acknowledge and lament. We continue to have a complicated history with indigenous peoples. Our shared history is the history of colonialism in Canada. The United Church was involved in residential schools and all the destruction that was a part of that system. In 1986 we were the first denomination to apologize for our role in colonization of Indigenous peoples. The apology was acknowledged but not accepted. There was a sense of waiting to see whether the non-Indigenous church could live into the words of the apology.

Isaiah 43:1-3, 5-11, 18-23 spoke to me of where we are as a people and more specifically as a church at this moment in time. The scripture begins by reminding us that we are called. Each of us is called by our own names and as Christians we are also called by the name of Christ. We are called. A New Creed affirms that we are called to be the church. The Christian church has a history of colonization in Canada and in other parts of the world.
As I read the scripture this particular scripture, I could see the Indigenous children being gathered into residential schools with the intent of giving them new names and new identities. It has been a struggle for many of us in the non-indigenous church to hear the stories from residential schools. Many of us don’t want to hear the horrific stories and don’t want to believe that the stories have anything to do with us.

But we need to hear and recognize the truth in these stories. We have eyes, but can we really see? We have ears, but can we really hear? Our apology to Indigenous peoples includes these words:

We did not hear you when you shared your vision. In our zeal to tell you of the good news of Jesus Christ we were closed to the value of your spirituality. We tried to make you be like us and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were. As a result, you, and we, are poorer and the image of the Creator in us is twisted, blurred, and we are not what we are meant by God to be.

United Church of Canada

Residential schools destroyed much of Indigenous culture, tore families and communities apart, and caused deep pain and suffering for so many Indigenous people. Indigenous peoples have stories to tell: stories from residential schools and the impact on their society and culture, stories from long before the colonizers and setters arrived, stories of communities healing and growing strong. Those of us who are non-Indigenous need to listen carefully to all of these stories and understand that the stories are not separate from us but are a part of our history as God’s people, as a church, and as a country.

The role of prophets in scripture is to remind people how they get caught in doing what they think God wants, following the rules precisely, being distracted by wealth and power. When that happens, they lose sight of what it means to be faithful and loving and justice-seeking for the good of all God’s creation. This passage ends with Isaiah challenging God’s people. As we look back at the history of residential schools, we might see it in this light: as a church we got distracted by the wealth of this land, the power of colonization and privilege, the call to bring people to Christ. We lost sight of what was really important: seeing the face of Christ in another human and responding with love, compassion and justice.

The prophets are not all doom and gloom though. Even though they accuse and say things that are uncomfortable, the prophets also hold out hope. They hold up in image of the world made right, a world where the resources are shared, where justice has created peace and where God is fully known. We are at a moment in the church’s history where we hear the accusations. How could we not know? How could we let this happen? How could we be complicit in a structure that destroyed so many people and communities?

But we are also at a moment when we can lament our church’s role in residential schools. We can acknowledge and the ways in which we benefit from stolen land and communities destroyed. We can listen to the stories and hear the truth of what this means. Our work is to hear the stories again and again, listening for the differences in the stories, the nuances—each time adding a layer of understanding. Our work is to respond with vulnerability and compassion instead of anger and entrenched power.

We need to recognize that the work of healing this wound in Canadian society and in our church is not just the work of Indigenous peoples. It isn’t just something to get over and move on from. This history and these stories are part of us and we are also wounded. We trust in God. We trust in God who reconciles and makes new. We trust in a God who works in us and others. We trust in a God who calls us to seek justice and resist evil. These are all signs of hope that these wounds can be healed. We need to live into God’s hope for the world.

As I continued to sit with this passage, I had a sense of gathering the children again—the work of finding and identifying graves, finding missing and murdered Indigenous women…this time not to take away from their homes but to return home for the healing of lives and communities.

Celebrating the United Church of Canada for 90 years

This is a reflection on the past, present and future of the United Church of Canada as we celebrate 90 years. It incorporates Psalm 113 which praises God’s goodness. The psalm reminds us that God is bigger than we are. God has been faithful in the past. God is faithful in the present and God will be faithful in the future.

God is good in the past. God drew together and the spirit invited congregations across Canada from the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregationalist churches to work together. God’s spirit offered a vision of what churches could accomplish working together. Over the last 90 years, God’s spirit has worked through the United Church to bring about social change and create leaders. The United Church was the first church to ordain women beginning in 1936. In 1942, the United Church was active in a movement to resist conscription. In the 1950’s, the United Church supported the development of Medicare. In the 1960’s there was a shift towards a more tolerant view on alcohol usage and the church provided emergency aid to Vietnam draft dodgers. In 1988, the United Church affirmed that people are welcome in ministry regardless of sexual orientation. In 1998, the United Church apologized to First Nations for our role in residential schools and we continue to live into this apology. The church has been involved in anti-racism work and inter-cultural/interfaith work, HIV-AIDS awareness and relief, support for same-sex marriage, peace work in Israel and Palestine, various emergency relief efforts following natural disasters and climate change. These are just some of the things the United Church of Canada has been involved with over the last 90 years. Some of these are areas of concern that we continue to learn more about and seek a faithful response. Right from its inception, the United Church has a history of speaking and acting in ways that are often counter-cultural but result from the prompting of the spirit. The psalm that we heard this morning speaks of how “God raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap…gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children.” The Psalm has this sense that God’s faithfulness changes the circumstances of those most in need. Those who might otherwise be without the basic requirements of life and without community to love and support them are welcomed by this God. This is the work that the United Church has been about in the past.

God is good in the present. The congregation of St. Andrew’s, that I work with, is gifted with a healthy congregation. We have a large number of people, a variety of ages and financial stability and God continues to be active among us. There is an openness to exploring the ways in which God calls us to be church and to share the story of God’s loving presence with many people.

The past and present of the United Church place us in a good place to enter the future. There are mainline protestant congregations all over North America that are growing and thriving. These include some United, Evangelical Lutherans and Anglican churc, and, if you happen to be American, Episcopalians United Methodist and United Church of Christ, along with a few others. Diana Butler Bass, and others, have done research about these congregations and the characteristics they share.

I want to introduce these characteristics to you today. This is a very quick summary of twelve characteristics of Diana identifies in thriving churches.

Hospitality: Hospitality invites everyone into God’s love. People are invited as they are. There is no requirement to change or to become “like us,” but people are transformed by welcoming and being welcomed. There is no requirement to pay dues or fees. God’s table is open to everyone and when people are welcome they want to provide that welcome to others and so will support with their energy and their finances a community that invites and includes. Many congregations believe that they are welcoming but are hesitant to be explicit or have not addressed the invisible barriers that prevent full participation in the life of the community. Sometimes congregations assume that everyone knows they are welcome but for many people who are not used to coming to church there is a large question mark about whether they will be welcome and whether they will fit in. The churches that thrive have done intentional work internally to identify the barriers within themselves that prevent inclusion and then are explicit telling the community that everyone is welcome. This is particularly important in regards to sexual orientation and gender identity. The explicit welcome gives people a clue that this is a community where they can be safe and talk about all aspects of their lives. Hospitality requires us to look beyond our own social groups and intentionally invite people we don’t know into conversation.

Discernment: Discernment is about listening carefully to each other and listening for God within each other. Discernment requires that in all our decision making we listen carefully for God and ground our decisions theologically and spiritually. Sometimes the decisions God requires of us are not the easiest, the cheapest or the least complicated. Sometimes God requires us to enter difficult and painful places in order to be faithful.

Healing: The practice of healing may include things like reiki and healing touch which work on an energetic level to heal body, mind and soul. Healing includes praying with and for people who are ill and dying. Healing may include the act of anointing. Healing is also about mending broken relationships and the practice of forgiveness.

Contemplation: Contemplation includes all our spiritual practices: silence, meditation, prayer or walking a labyrinth. These are the things that calm our minds and bodies so that we can be open to God, open to the spirit. These practices ground us, root us, give us energy and peace in our lives so that we are better able to be faithful servants of Christ in the world.

Testimony: What is the story of God in your life? When and how have you experienced God? The practice of testimony is telling these stories. It doesn’t have to be a big story or earth shattering. There is no right or wrong story. My story is not better or worse than yours. Each of us has a story of God’s spirit touching our lives. Sometimes we tell these stories to one or two other people. Sometimes we tell these stories publicly. The setting doesn’t matter. What matters is the practice of talking about our faith with others.

Diversity: Diversity is related to hospitality. A congregation that is diverse reflects the makeup of the community around it including economic diversity, racial and ethnic diversity, diversity of abilities, sexual orientation and gender identity, ages and theology. A congregation that is diverse works hard to hold the differences together – not with the intention of trying to make others fit the mold but with the intention of celebrating the diversity that God created. The diversity is reflected in all areas of a church’s life.

Justice: Congregations that thrive are intentional in their justice making. They listen to the stories from the truth and reconciliation process and seek opportunities to build relationships with First Nations. They participate in Pride parades and celebrations – maybe even host their own. They are intentional about their responsibility to the creation and environmental concerns. They work to assist people living in poverty and to change the systems so that no one needs to be hungry. They support this work financially as individuals and as a congregation. They support this work with their time and their energy.

Worship: Worship remains central to thriving congregations. It is worship that engages all our senses: we hear, we see, we touch and move our bodies, we taste and smell. Worship reflects the diversity of our congregations in the leadership and content of worship.  We use a variety of styles of music to enhance worship and touch our souls.

Reflection: Reflection includes study of scripture and theology and then applies what we are learning to the situations around us. Reflection invites us to think about situations in world and offer a faithful response. This is where our faith moves from an intellectual idea about our faith to an action that is lived out in the world. Reflection happens individually and in small groups.

Beauty: The final trait that Dianna Butler Bass identifies is beauty. The space needs to be cared for. It needs to be clean and occasionally updated. Sometimes things need to be replaced, not because they are no longer functional, but because they are looking worn and tired. Function and beauty need to go together. If you watch any of the cooking shows on television they talk about eating with our eyes first. The same is true of our worship and gathering spaces. If a space looks dull, boring and dingy people will want to spend less time in the space.  We need art and things of beauty throughout our church buildings—quilts and banners, photographs, pottery, painting, sculpture, live plants. We include laughter, music, drama in all aspects of church life to help us feel alive and sense God’s presence among us.

All of these practices are ancient. They are not ideas and concepts invented recently. The original concepts are Biblically based. Many of these practices were part of the early church and have either been lost, suppressed or corrupted through time. Many of these practices have been a part of the United Church since our early days. We are in an exciting time in the church and I am incredibly hopeful about the future of the church generally and about the ministry that lies ahead for St. Andrew’s.

There are significant and unknown changes ahead for the United Church of Canada. The church as we currently know it will no longer exist. It will look very different five or ten years from now. There will be many proposals going to the national General Council in August and those decisions will need to be confirmed by congregations. Over the next few months, something will begin to emerge and congregations will be given the opportunity to participate in shaping the future of the United Church of Canada. Watch for this information as it becomes available and participate in the conversations that will be happening within our congregations.

As we move into a time of upheaval the focus for our congregation, and denomination, as we live into this future needs to be about grounding ourselves in God’s spirit and reclaiming ancient traditions for a modern world. I am confident and hopeful that a new church that will continue to serve God’s world will emerge in beauty, love and compassion. God’s presence has moved through the church, is among us now and will continue to be faithful into the unknown future.