Paying Close Attention

(From Sara Sybesma Tolsma, a General Synod blogger)

I am reading a book of essays by Barbara Brown Taylor called An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith. My daughter gave it to me and I’m trying to read it slowly, digesting the rich words and thoughts. Brown Taylor’s second essay in this book is entitled “The Practice of Paying Attention: Reverence”. I think her thoughts in this essay have something to say to me as I prepare for General Synod.

Reverence, she argues, requires paying close attention. I’m not good at paying close attention most of the time. I have a husband, three kids, a job, a house, a garden, church responsibilities. Who has time to pay close attention? Why does reverence require paying close attention and what does this have to do with General Synod?

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Co-creating community

(from Philip Bakelaar, a General Synod blogger)

Reading the late Dr. James Cook's invitation to Synod, Arranging For Joy, brought to mind the reality of reality. Bringing people together for dialogue, deliberation and decision-making is a challenging proposition. I've been invited to blog for this year's Synod, and am hoping to focus my attention on communication and community. When I teach communication studies, one of my favorite theories to discuss is Barnett Pierce's Coordinated Management of Meaning. This approach to studying communication argues that we are co-creators of our social worlds by the ways we choose to interact. So I'll initiate this blog with that thought, and these quotes from Bonhoeffer's Life Together.  

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'Conscientious Objection' at Too Great a Price

(from Angie Mabry-Nauta)

Although it happened almost ten years ago, it remains a microcosm conversation in many parts of the Reformed Church in America (RCA) today.

A handful of seminarians from around the country had gathered for an intensive summer class on RCA polity.  Most of the students were Reformed Church students who, for a variety of reasons, attended non-RCA seminaries.  Most of us had never met one another previously.

It didn’t take long for us to launch discussion on what seems to be a perennially touchy part of our Book of Church Order (BCO), colloquially termed “the conscience clauses”.  These are phrases of similar wording that appear three times in the BCO. 

1. It [the board of elders] shall not penalize nor permit to be penalized any member for conscientious objection to or support of the ordination of women to church offices; nor shall it permit any member to obstruct by unconstitutional means the election, ordination, or installation of women to church offices (BCO1.I.5.2h);

2. The classis shall examine students of theology for licensure, and licensed candidates for the ministry for ordination. If individual members of the classis find that their consciences, as illuminated by Scripture, would not permit them to participate in the licensure, ordination, or installation of women as ministers, they shall not be required to participate in decisions or actions contrary to their consciences, but may not obstruct the classis in fulfilling its responsibility to arrange for the care, ordination, and installation of women candidates and ministers by means mutually agreed on by such women and the classis (BCO 1.II.2.8); and

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The Infallible General Synod of 1978?

(by Robert Fretz on the Guest Blog)

In 1978, the RCA Commission on Theology upheld the traditional Christian view of homosexuality, stating, “We cannot affirm homosexual behavior.” The 1978 General Synod approved the report, and ever since it has been the touchstone upon which all discussions in the RCA regarding homosexuality have been judged. Each time issues regarding membership, offices, marriage, and a disciplinary trial have been brought before synod, it is the initial 1978 report that begins the conversation.

During the 2012 General Synod, several overtures will demand that ministers and elders “ought” or “shall” be disciplined by their classis if they take any action supporting LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) members of the RCA in the life of the church — particularly marriage in states where it is legal.

However, did the 1978 report objectively interpret Scripture? Or was there a bias (eisegesis) that prevented a clear understanding of what was and was not said within the Hebrew and Christian scriptures? Let’s step back a few decades to consider the cultural context of the 1978 report.

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African Christian Missionaries

(from Thomas Johnson)

Perhaps the most encouraging development I've seen in the ten years since I've been in Niger is the growing presence of other African missionaries on the field.  Coming (largely) from spiritually mature and dynamic churches in Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, these men and women confound those who associate Christianity as a Western imposition.  In a Muslim environment such as Niger, this fact removes an important barrier to receiving a Gospel message carried by blond and blue-eyed missionaries, who look like those old European colonizers.

 In many cases these missionaries are much better equipped psychologically and temperamentally to witness for Christ in the African context.  Most African faith workers are familiar with the slow pace of village life, taking public transportation, participating in community festivities and chatting for hours with friends and even strangers. They're able to live out their faith without being encumbered by budget-busting 4-wheel drive vehicles and huge houses that have become necessary for a Westerner to function on the mission field.  At the very least, our African brothers and sisters seem more approachable to the average Nigerien than we Westerners, who often appear indistinguishable from highly-paid UN workers that they might otherwise encounter.  Certainly the African missionary isn't expected to produce “handouts” in the same manner as we are which too often form the basis of the only relationships people are interested in.

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White Privilege -- the Iocane Powder of Racism

(from Angie Mabry-Nauta)

The Princess Bride (one of my all time favorite movies) features a battle of wits between Vizzini, a mercenary, and the Dread Pirate Roberts (aka Westley, the hero). The scene is set in a field. A bolder big enough to set a picnic of wine and fruit happened to be available. On one side is Vizzini and Buttercup, the Princess Bride, whom Vizzini has kidnapped. On the other side is Roberts. The dialogue proceeds thus...

Roberts (extending a tubular container): Inhale, but do not touch.

Vizzini: I smell nothing.

Roberts: What you do not smell is called iocane powder. It is odorless, tastless, dissolves instantly in liquid, and is among the deadlier poisons known to man.

Vizzini: Hmm...

Roberts grabs the two wine glasses and turns his back to Vizzini. He turns around and puts the goblets in front of Vizzini and himself.

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Mother's Day Theology

(from Angie Mabry-Nauta)

Mother’s Day, it seems, has become a sacred festival.  Not many churches across our country fail at least to mention mothers on “their day”, which is this Sunday.  Many churches have mothers and motherhood as the theme of worship and the sermon. 

Odes to Mom are shared.  Special music is played, often accompanying a slide show of pictures that make everyone cry.  And Proverbs 31 is read – at least verses 28-29 that mention a mother’s children and husband praising her.

I wonder how many churches honor our Mother who gave life to us all – Christ?

One of the most beautiful theologies of what happened on the cross was given to the world by Julian of Norwich.  At the age of 31 and a half (ca. 1373), she suffered from a potentially life-ending illness.  As she neared death, Julian experienced sixteen intense revelations, or “showings”, as she named them, of Jesus. 

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Thank God for teaching churches

(from Angie Mabry-Nauta)

Sanctuary of Maple Avenue Ministries, Holland, MIThere is a sign above the bed in my sister and brother-in-law's home that reads, "Home is where your story begins." I first noticed its arrival in when they were hosting an international student for a year. It was in a different place then, but the message was just as effective. It is so like my sister-in-law to do something like that -- purchase and hang a sign to share a subtle yet immensely hospitable sentiment. A sense of home is important, especially if one is separated from one's family by oceans and multiple time zones. I have no idea if the student saw or read the sign, but I remember thinking that I would have appreciated it (and my host mother) if I were in his position.

"Home is where your story begins." I experienced the timeless truth of this statement on Sunday when I returned to the church where my pastoral ministry story began. Eric and I first stepped into the building of Maple Avenue Ministries (MAM) in July 2001. We had just moved to Holland, MI. where via transfer I would attendWestern Theological Seminary (WTS). I was so green! I was high on passion and void of pastoral experience.

As part of WTS' teaching church program, MAM took me in as one of their pastoral interns. (Each seminary student is required to have a certain number of part-time and full-time internship hours to graduate.) For the first two of my three years at WTS the MAM congregation loved on me and watched me grow while somehow granting a level of pastoral authority to me. They grinned and bore my clunky sermons of those early days, and by some means found space for shouts of "Amen!" and "Hellelujah!" One time, when I went too far in a children's sermon about the Sabbath, saying that God "slept" instead of saying that God "rested," my theology was gently admonished in a way that did not shame me. What I remember most clearly about Eric and my time there is how generously the staff and congregation showered and sheltered us with love, love and more love and prayer, prayer and more prayer when our first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. MAM was our church and we were MAM's people.

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I'm here to help!

(from Thomas Johnson)

Remember that old joke that has its punchline as “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you?”  What makes this funny is the recipient’s well-reasoned doubt that he truly needs whatever it is the government has to offer.  Sometimes, as a foreign missionary, I think that you could easily replace “government” with “church” or “mission” with the same result.  People may indeed want help, but it’s not necessarily along the lines the giver is willing and able to do.

Here in Niger, Westerners are clearly associated with great wealth.  What’s worse, though, is the common assumption among the people that we’re getting paid a lot of money to live and work in the world’s poorest country.  Sadly, when speaking of United Nations and international non-government organizations, that is indeed the case.   In Niger, most foreign organizations pay a 25% hardship bonus above base salary for living in “primitive” Niger, as everything Western costs more to buy in the country.   At the end of the day, we’re all considered financial mercenaries of a sort.  Yes, the Westerners want to make a difference, it seems—but only if we’re well-paid to do so. 

I recently attended the opening of an obstetrics fistula repair hospital in which the visiting American surgeon addressed the crowd and said (along the lines of), “I have been richly blessed by these female patients”.  His Nigerien interpreter (roughly) rendered his words into French as “Ces patientes m’ont biens enrichis “ or in translation, “These female patients have made me rich”.   The interpreter was simply sharing his understanding of Western charity in the developing world.  The only real reason anyone would come to these places is to earn a lot of money, right?

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Aunt Ada's Adaptation

(from Eric Johnson)

The first time I heard my friend mention his Aunt Ada, it was in the telling of the story of what she said to his wife at their wedding, ‘It’s a shame you are marrying my nephew.  I always liked you and now I know you’ll never be saved.’ He shared this with good natured humor, but the lingering hurt of it was there too. 

Well today he is back from Aunt Ada’s funeral and as is often the case, on the day his family gathered to mourn a death and celebrate a life, the time proved to be marked by grace and growth.  He’d described Aunt Ada as a person who was rigid and judgmentally religious.  At the funeral, he heard more about her life and gained insight.  Perhaps living in a story where all things are either good or bad provides some sense of security or control, but it also comes at a cost.  He talked about Ada’s son who married a Jewish woman and had real wine at the wedding!  He talked about a grandchild who went to jail.  He reflected on the reality that Ada’s own story placed her at odds with the people she loved and the reality that to some degree she was able to revise her story later in life so that she didn’t become isolated from her family. 

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