I ran across this article about churches making do with the status quo. In fact, the lessons apply to any organization that struggles with innovation or stagnation.
The greatest strength of a start-up business is that they have nothing to lose. They are ready to risk it all for the sake of a new idea. Once that new idea succeeds, the tone of the business changes. Now, they have everything to lose. The very thing that made them successful - innovation - is the very thing they fear once they reach success.
What would the church be like if we had nothing to lose?
See this clip from Shane Claiborne about what he would say to a future church. 
Shane will be speaking in Albany June 22 and 23, and I look forward to our Westminster youth hearing from such a compelling Christian.What would you say to a future church?
This past Saturday, the confirmation class and I joined people from all over the presbytery to work in the village of Schoharie, which had been devastated by hurricane Irene.
 Part way through the day, I asked my confirmands why they thought this work day was part of their formation. Of course they all passed with flying colors, saying that helping people is part of what Christians are supposed to do.
What I hope they took away from the day is that we are all in this together.
There's more to being a part of the Body of Christ than helping people in need. It also means sitting with people who are crying, or trying to understand people who are angry. Church gives young Christians opportunities to practice being in community with people through the highs and lows of life.
These young people know that God is alive in their lives, even if they are not always enthusiastic about answering adults when they ask them questions. How do I know? I can tell by how they have love for others.
On this day of celebration across the world, we remember all for whom today is not a happy one – all people who are in need of your loving presence and who cry out to you for help.
We pray for those in need of care. Draw near to those who are lost, alone or afraid. Be with those who are sick in body, mind or spirit. We especially lift up to you those known to us who are in need of your healing touch. Be with people in institutions of care and their families. Bless all people recovering from addiction and their families.
We pray for those in need of forgiveness, for anyone who carries a heavy burden of guilt from the past. Relieve them of their burden. Let them know the power of your redemption to cover any sin of the past, no matter what it is. Forgive your beloved children; forgive us all.
We pray for those in need of justice, for those who are poor, unemployed and underemployed, those who have no voice. Be with those who work for peace in the world and in our streets, particularly an end to gun violence. Bless our beloved city that divisions would crumble and that unity would prevail.
Jesus, on this day of your resurrection, surprise us with your grace and your unexpected love in our lives. Jar us out of cynicism with the awe of the empty tomb. Make us anew so that we may be your agents of change in the world.
In the blessed name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
It's Holy Week - kind of a big deal around here.
Yeah, sure things are busy: extra services to plan, preparations to be made, people to visit.
Aside from the busyness, Holy Week has a kind of stillness about it, especially at the beginning of the week. Anticipation hangs in the air for the events of the coming days. Life and death, deepest sorrow and ultimate joy - we will experience all of these this week.
As I join with Christians all over the world to remember these events that took place long ago, I also remember significant Holy Weeks in my life. In India, Good Friday is the most observed day of the Christian year, bigger than Easter and Christmas. I remember the Easter I sang "A Toi la Gloire" in France and the Maundy Thursday stations of the cross at Nunraw Abbey in Scotland. In college I attended a Holy Week service at an Orthodox church in Chicago and in seminary preached at a Seven Last Words service in inner city Trenton.
This week has found me in many different places in my life, both geographical and spiritual. Where does Holy Week find you this year?
At Night Church, worshipers interact with prayer spaces throughout the sanctuary. This past Friday, one prayer space in particular invited worshipers to take sustenance for their journey of faith.
Several foods are on a table, each labeled with a different characteristic of Jesus: honesty, compassion, humility, grace and love. Here is an excerpt from the directions-
When we choose to follow the path of Jesus, we begin to live how Jesus tells us is the best way to live. The Holy Spirit starts to change us from the inside out, making us into the people God meant us to be.
Look at the different characteristics of Jesus on the table before you and think about which characteristic needs the most work in your life. When you have chosen the one you need most help with, go to that area and follow the directions.
It just so happened that a lot of people needed more grace in their life (chocolate represented grace on this table).
This prayerful action has really stuck with me these past few days. Lent is a journey, a journey where we walk alongside Jesus through his most difficult days.
Jesus also walks alongside us when we are going through difficult times in life and gives us sustenance for the journey.
What do you need most in your life now? During these 40 days, reflect on your faith journey and your relationship with God. Ask God for that particular food you need to get through today and the length of your journey of faith.
Last night, we marked the beginning of Lent with an Ash Wednesday service. The service was fairly typical: scripture, prayers, sermon and imposition of ashes.
My colleague, Jim Reisner, and I each had a set of ashes that we used to mark worshipers' foreheads. As we did, we said the traditional words, "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."
As I spoke these words over and over, I couldn't help but consider them. If we are told to "remember" that we are dust we must already know, we must have been told before.
When were we told? Every Ash Wednesday for starters. But we were also told earlier: at our baptism.
Baptism is another ritual in the church that we are told to remember. As the saying goes, "Remember your baptism and be glad."
In general, we think of baptism as a joyous celebration of a new Christian in our midst. When we celebrate infant baptism, we also give thanks for the new life God is welcoming into the world. We don't think of it as a celebration of dying.
But that's what baptism is: dying to ourselves so that we can be alive in Christ.
A blessing said over the water at baptism contains these words: "We thank you, O God, for the water of baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. From it we are raised to share his resurrection..."
While we have been told before, we still need some reminding. That is why once a year we are told in word and in deed that it is not about us. We are told that our small self-centered world is not all there is, that we are called to die to our very selves in order to live in Christ.This Lent, may it be so among us.
Also, see this Ash Wednesday photo slideshow from NPR.
I admit that I have mixed emotions as I write today's post.
On the one hand, I am still glowing from an uplifting worship experience from our youth group yesterday. They led a truly meaningful service, reading scripture, leading announcements and acting out the scripture passage in a modern day retelling. A freshman in high school preached the sermon on accepting other people in the face of exclusive high school cliques.
It's not just me, the entire congregation is still aglow. Phone messages and emails are pouring in from the congregation telling me how meaningful it was. I know the youth feel a sense of accomplishment as well, to have led worship without any adult help (besides the choir and organist). The Spirit is certainly at work!
Then on the other hand, I am saddened by recent news in our denomination. This past weekend, a group of Presbyterians announced a break away denomination from the PC(USA).
Plenty of individuals and congregations have left the denomination already. But there hasn't been a split like this one since reunification in 1983. Incidentally, that split was over the issue of slavery back in the 19th century. The North and South churches decided they were better off together and reunited in 1983.
I just don't think that splitting is the answer. Some of the literature ECO has put out says that they want to stop bickering and be with people they agree with more. The problem is that every group of 2 or 3 people (including Christians) will find something to argue about, no matter how small, no matter how unimportant. They will have plenty of controversy within their own ranks in a few years.
I also think that the Church - capital C - should be moving toward unity in all that we do. Throughout the 20th century, Lesslie Newbigin served in churches in South India, where I myself served for a year. As a missionary theologian he wrote about how splintering factions hurt the church's mission worldwide. That's not to say that those involved in ECO may not find a better fit somewhere other than the PC(USA). It's to say that we are better together.
It is an uncomfortable feeling to be the one person in a room who is different from everyone else. But I find it much more uncomfortable to be in a room with people who are all alike.
I ran across this blog post from Emily Morgan, entitled A Letter to the Church about Young Adults and Worship. Many churches want to "get more young people" in church. Morgan considers this question from many angles, as a young adult and a churchgoer herself.
A point that really sticks with me is the difference between ministry to young adults and ministry with young adults.
A good friend of mine is pastor of Redemption Church in Pennsylvania, a new church start that intentionally reaches out to college students and young adults in Bucks County outside of Philadelphia. They have young adults at every level of leadership and are reaching new people all the time.
They have so many young adults, in fact, that they are trying to reach out to older people. Instead of the typical question, "how do we get more young people?" they are asking, "how do we get older people to join our church?" A unique problem to have.
I am reminded of churches that want to be more culturally diverse. How do we get more people who don't look like us to be a part of our community?
Themes from Morgan's article can be applied to each of these situations. Now I'll p. What would you add?
This blog post was supposed to be about the church.
At a recent church potluck, I noticed how quickly folks jumped to clean up after the meal, stack chairs, put tables away and wash dished.
In a society where the customer is always right we have come to expect a staff to clean up after us, or at the very least to do most of the work. Church is one of the few public spaces where we have to take responsibility not just for the food and program but for cleaning up afterwards.
At least that's what this post was going to be about.
Then on Monday, Occupy Albany met in our church. They held a facilitated debriefing session after the camp's eviction on December 22. Over 75 people came to the 3 hour session. We broke into small groups to talk about our experiences and then came back to the larger group to share themes and think about what comes next.
Monday night the church building was available for Occupy Albany to use. But Tuesday morning, the FOCUS breakfast program was to begin preparations at 5:45.
When the Occupy Albany session ended around 8:30, I asked people to stay and help set the room for breakfast.
It turns out I was wrong: church is not the only place where people jump up to clean up after themselves and go out of their way to make a facility look its best.
Over 30 people set up chairs, moved tables, washed dishes, swept the floors, set place settings and wiped off counters. Even more thanked Westminster for the use of the space with genuine sincerity.
Thank you to all the volunteers who worked together that night. May we all work together with such ease and grace.
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