World as Parish

I've been thinking lately about the differences in ministry in John and Charles Wesley's day, and the present age. Is what happens through social media at any level near what George Whitefield and John Wesley stirred up when they took to the fields to preach?

Why am I thinking about such an analogy? Well, quite simple really. If you read back in this blog you'll find this little post about the start of a church community through the use of Facebook.

John Wesley found himself stirring up things quite a bit in his day. He often took advantage of invitations to fill a pulpit to preach messages that conflicted the hearers. The established Church of England had become a place for people of wealth and position, but the average man rarely stepped a foot across the sanctuary threshold.

That led to his rather unorthodox practice of preaching in fields, and public spaces on many occasion. Not only did he preach, but he even conducted Eucharistic celebrations to serve the gathered people.

What do some outside the box priests and congregants do today?
They do "Church outside the church". Sometimes to skid row. Sometimes in the subways.
They take rituals of meaning to the people instead of waiting for the people to come to them.

During John Wesley's life he spend a great deal of time visiting the sick and prisoners as well as encouraging members of the Methodist classes to do so. His admonition, "Do all the good you can, as often as you can to as many people as you can for as long as you can."  With more people claiming to be spiritual but not religious, institutional chaplains are more likely to encounter people with a need for someone to listen and offer a ministry of compassionate presence. In my own continuing discernment process I have run toward, away and then returned to this significant place of ministry, recognizing that as a chaplain, I serve from the place of my own spiritual strength, not with an intent to change the existing set of beliefs, only to help the other name them and find strength for their journey.

John was known for his intense daily schedule and his ability to maintain correspondence with a vast number of people both in and outside the Methodist Movement. He was a giant in the field of mentoring in the Christian life for both men and women. He wrote tracts that were published to help the preachers and class leaders, to equip them for their work of forming faithful disciples.

What do we do today?

BLOG! Self-publishing has become easier than ever.

We no longer even have to spend money on paper, ink or printing labor.

All a person really needs to begin to form a community online is to spend time on the computer, and engage with other people.

Being open to the Divine Dance and relevant relationships that the Holy Spirit may be inviting us into seems, at least to me, to be the key.

But one little item still seems incomplete...

Human beings need tangible human contact.

While all this online communication helps create familiarity, when the world around you begins to fall apart at the seams, most people need all their available senses to be engaged. The touch of a hand, the calm presence of another person sitting across a cup of tea or coffee. Even someone that will be moved to offer a prayer of intercession. These things cannot be fulfilled through an online community.

And in this respect, I think that John Wesley would urge each of us to find ways to commune often around a table, with Chalice and Paten, as well as Scripture to complete the work of growing in grace and giftedness to the Glory of God.

How that looks on the ground might look like one of these in the New Monasticism or in might look more like this gathering around the table in Brooklyn.

One thing I am pretty certain of. The missional focus will look beyond just the individual's needs and wants. The missional focus for the core of any such group will have a passionate interest is doing more than "hatching, matching, and dispatching" of people to "meet their maker" at the end of human life, and it won't be entirely consumed in what simply makes the members feel comfortable. It will be a place where people become proficient in listening to the Holy as She whispers and swirls among the people gathered.This kind of community will be a fountain of healing and holy living, inviting all who are thirsty to drink from the well of the Living Water.

Just my thoughts...

What do you think?

Saving money takes planning

John Wesley admonished the believers "Earn all you can, save all you so that you can give all you can."

In the wake of the Industrial revolution of Britain, with large numbers of Britain's poor working class finding newness of life in the reception of the gospel, Wesley regularly emphasized the theme of stewardship. His three points of stewardship was presented as a simple directive. Simple that is, if you listen to the beginning and sleep through the remaining two points. Sermons generally lasted much longer than present day preachers turn out. So,I could see how one might conveniently miss the next two point. People were very eager to better their financial position so folks liked being told it was good to earn lots. Letting loose of some of that hard earned cash was easier to do for one's own benefit than for someone else. That's timeless human behavior I think. Frugality can lead to stinginess. You can bet you are being filled by the Holy Spirits gifts if generosity is present and growing.

I was thinking about John's instructions today as I sat in the Coupon Class taught by Amanda Fricke. She came well prepared to lead us through the basics of maximizing the use of coupons and explaining the format of her weekly reports. She also came prepared to protect herself legally, by having each participant sign an agreement not to photocopy or redistribute through any means, any of the materials she handed out. She's put a lot of effort into the research and development of her materials. She has every right to expect others to respect her intellectual materials as protected under copyright laws. I'ld love to tell you everything and freely share all that she produces. But I'm not willing to pay her $45.00 fine each time I do.

I can say this, Amanda understands that making and saving money requires careful planning and discipline. She has a monthly budget for food. She shops and stores surplus knowing there are certain things she will always use. She even plans her menus around what is on the shelf, rather than planning a shopping list around her menus. That fits in with my way of operating. I watch the specials and pick up in surplus knowing there is a certain cyclical nature to store adds.

The big key is planning your shopping by doing research on the current week sales and keeping every possible coupon. She also buys several copies of the Sunday newspaper specifically for the coupon supplements.

Amanda saves so much money, and is able to pick up so many great deals that she can easily be charitable with neighbors, and non-profit organizations. As we all listened to her describe her surplus the question was asked where did she put it all. The reply "under the kitchen table, in closets, a spare refrigerator at her parents home." To make sure no food goes unused because bargains aren't bargains if you end up throwing away expired food, she makes sure to rotate the shelves and give away anything within two months of expiration.

In our presentation I was remembering my years as a mother with one, then two children, going to back to the university to finish my degree. Coupons and refunding were my corporate food stamps. We lived on one income, enjoyed living on campus, and took advantage of many entertainment opportunities primarily because I was able to keep our food budget to the bare minimum.

In this present economy it is easy to slip into thinking we are being deprived. Being with Amanda today reminded me that there is a great abundance available to those who will engage themselves with diligence and discipline to wise use of their resources. A few might even want to follow behind Amanda Fricke weekly for a while to learn all the tricks of the trade and become professional shoppers for others. All of us can learn to save more and do just as well spending less for the same quality we have been accustomed to.

If you didn't attend Amanda's class in Ashton today and want to learn more, check out her blog.

By the way, the Ashton neighbors that came to this class saved a bundle today. Amanda normally charges $40.00 per person for her class. SHARE Network arranged a special price and then offered scholarships to reduce the out of pocket expense to all participants. Our hope is that these people will be better equipped to save as much as they can. If they also begin to share from their abundance and help the Pantry with making special purchases that would be a double blessing.

"A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid for her household when it snows
for all her household are clothed in Crimson."

Proverbs 31: 10,11, 16,18,20-21

Feminism in the Church

"I'm Not a Feminist!NOT!"

I’ve been very clear about that with many people. I’m NOT a feminist. I’m absolutely not one of those women who goes around breaking barriers and challenging authorities for the right to do anything that women have never done before.

And yet, I am reminded that I am indeed a feminist. By the fact of my birth, my gender places me in the ranks of 50+% of the world’s population. I worked in banking saw the glass ceiling of the management and lending officer training programs in the 70's keep good women from advancing. I've worked in political campaigns of women candidates for congress and saw their battles end in disappointment as they challenged conservative male incumbents with the worst congressional records of attendance. I’m a woman who grew up listening to music which included a repertoire of “I am woman hear me roar.”

But I also chose to be a stay at home mother, rather than immediately enter graduate school, because I saw it as my first responsibility raise up young men with values to pursue peace and justice in their christian lives. As a mother raising my two boys in the 80’s I would tease them with the “wonder woman” twist not just to see them roll their eyes, but more importantly to reaffirm my own power as a woman of ability and accomplishment. It was sort of a mind trick I played with myself for a while when I would begin to feel like my own career had been put on hold, and I was at a loss for my own identity; something other than "Robert's and James' mom." So Yes, I am a feminist. I'm just not a cutting edge "in your face" feminist. I think of myself as more of a heritage feminist. I've accepted as given my opportunities, even as I've worked in small ways to continue the tradition.

The way I read any text, scripture or otherwise is read through the lens which I take so entirely for granted. Coming to that realization is not so completely new, just something that I need to remember. It came home to me recently in this way:

As a Pastor in the United Methodist Church I take our Wesleyan tradition seriously and with pride. I am a student of John Wesley’s sermons. Preparing sermons for my congregation will often include background reading of at least one John Wesley sermon. I was doing just that, reading Sermon 98, “Visiting the Sick” as I prepared to preach on the text Matthew 25:31-46.

In his sermon he calls the people to take seriously the call of Jesus to visit the sick as an act of compassion. He urges the wealthy especially to break out of their protective zone to reach out to the sick and lonely. Then, as he goes point by point in his argument he says, to paraphrase "this is worthy work for women also." (Italics added). At that I snapped my head to attention. All the time I had read the text I was carrying in my head the present day church, the one that I have become so familiar with in America. It sunk in to me all at once that the primary audience seemed very certainly to be Men. At that point I was really ready to give a big AMEN, because what Wesley preached in the eighteenth Century seems just as relevant, probably more relevant, now than in his day.

I am referring to the call of discipleship which is equally valid regardless of gender. John Wesley was a Feminist. And so am I!

I’m especially proud to serve a congregation in a community that has a long history of being served by women pastors. That history reaches back even before 1956 when women were granted full rights as elders by the General Conference. My male colleagues in the United Methodist Church are of kindred spirit with John Wesley (being Feminists) and for that I am also deeply grateful. We may disagree about some specific policies of and social issues adopted by our Denomination through the General Conference, but my experience is that we are also capable of cordial dialogue and civility in disagreement. That is evidence to me that the Holy Spirit is at work in each of us.

Grace and peace,

Barbara