"Pastor, forgive me, I've sinned."

I preface by saying that parts of the penance/reconciliation/confessional practices are skewed in some bodies of faith, however I pose the discussion that there could be benefits to encourage a more one-on-one pastor/parishioner relationship and accessibility when it comes to accountability and sin. While we may not consider this a ‘sacrament’ initially, is it not a ‘means of grace’?

I’ve been to confession. I’ve experienced the preparation of taking a good examination of my thoughts, words, deeds, and faith practices. I’ve experienced the anxiety of having to make the car ride to the church thirty minutes before service starts and wait to see that dreaded light turn green so that I can go in and make a contrite confession of my shortcomings, mess ups, sins, and struggles. I’ve also experienced the freedom that comes from a called minister of God listening carefully, without judgment, and express his/her sorrow with me and encourage me to pray a prayer of repentance to our God and go and sin no more. I’ve heard the words, ‘You are absolved from you sins, go in peace and penance to our Lord and your brother and sisters in the faith’. I’ve been reminded that my shortcomings, mess ups, sins, and struggles not only effect me, but they also effect the body. I’ve participated in the ‘sacrament of reconciliation’ both face-to-face and even behind those funny little screens. And it was wonderful! But why?

D.I.Y. Communion

In my area I have noticed an interesting and somewhat disturbing trend of "Do It Yourself Communion." For example, a local non-denominational church posted in the local paper, "On the first Friday of every month, the _______ Church will be open from 9:00 a.m.--5:00 p.m. with prepackaged bread and juice available throughout that time. Whenever it is convenient for you feel free to pop in, and take Communion or take it with you, and take some home to your family as well."

(I have seen similar statements coming from Nazarene Churches as well, so please don't think I am picking on this particular church, their statement just reminded me of this practice. )

So here are my questions:

What would motivate us to serve communion this way?

What if anything about this statement should disturb us?

What does this statements say about the ecclesiology of the participating local church?

What does it say about their understanding of Communion?

What role does a sacramental versus an ordinance understanding play in "D.I.Y. Communion"?

How is this similar/dissimilar to home communion?

What would you tell a member of your congregation who proposed that your church participate in something similar?

I look forward to learning from your responses.

Brian

Theology (and Practice) of Ordination

Thanks to everyone who offered wisdom and guidance regarding the question of “pulpit supply” in churches that practice weekly Word & Table. I have thought much about what each of you has said. It seems, however, that I have inadvertently raised a much bigger issue – one that is appropriate to be discussed on a Sacramental-Nazarene blog. That issue is, of course, our theology and practice of holy orders.

Filling the Pulpit

So I need a little advice. We are going to begin speeding up our transition to weekly Eucharist. I will be starting a sermon series entitled "The Ways We Worship" the last Sunday of August. I will be basing it off Lester Ruth's article "A Rose By Any Other Name" which attempts to categorize protestant worship. Among other things, he notes that people tend to experience God in one of three ways: music, preaching, communion. The first week I will introduce the idea, and then I will spend three weeks each with songs in scripture (Mary's Song, Zechariah's Song, Simeon's Song), sermons in scripture (Peter @ Pentecost, Stephen @ the Sanhedrin, Paul @ Areopagus), and The Lord's Supper in scripture (institution, means of grace, frequency). I will then conclude the series on Christ the King with a sermon titled "The Worship of God and the Mission of God" that will tie in each of the three ways we worship with the great commission. We will be celebrating Holy Communion weekly from All Saints through Epiphany... and hopefully beyond.

Anyway, one thing has been going through my mind lately is a practical question. What do I do when I am gone for a Sunday?

Church History in Fiction

A question for all you readers - help me out here: are there any *good* novels (whether a series, or individual works by individual authors) about the history of the Christian Church?

I'm not talking about "(Christian) historical fiction," a la Francine Rivers, but rather, something more along the lines of what Steven Pressfield does with ancient Greece in several of his novels (Tides of War, Gates of Fire, etc), or what Susan Howatch does with the recent history of the Church of England in her "Starbridge" series (Glittering Images, Mystical Paths, etc - six books in all), or even sort of what Umberto Eco does with medieval monastic life in The Name of the Rose - make the historical narrative come alive in Story in a way that scholarly texts never quite (and simply cannot) accomplish.

If there is a striking absence of such novels - rather than it just being my own ignorance - then as a student of literature, I have to ask, why? The history of Christianity is fascinating, full of all the things that make novels great - right? Intrigue, deception, corruption, sex, violence...it's all there.

So. Do you know of any such books that fill the bill? I can think of several worthy examples of biblical historical fiction (Anita Diamant's The Red Tent; even Walter Wangerin's Jesus: A Novel isn't too bad), but what about church history? A novel set amidst the backdrop of the early church, or the councils of Nicea or Chalcedon, or the Iconoclastic controversies of the 8th and 9th centuries, or the Great Schism, or the Reformation - I mean, if it was well-researched and well-written, wouldn't that be fantastic? Those seem like worthy time periods for fictional treatment, and could potentially make the required reading for an undergrad church history course MUCH more exciting.

Finally, if you haven't read Steven Pressfield's The War of Art, DO. IT. RIGHT. NOW.

Naming the Seasons

All this talk about a Nazarene Book of Worship got me thinking about conversations I've had recently about the various names for the seasons, particularly the seasons that follow Christmastide and Eastertide. So I was wondering, what your church celebrates and why?

A) The Season of Epiphany/Pentecost
B) The Season after Epiphany/Pentecost
C) Ordinary Time
D) Other: _________________________
E) Nothing -- we don't do the season thing

COULD YOUR CHURCH BE OUR HOME

Well I was afraid this could happen and it has, even though our small congregation has fought to keep things going we have not been able to do so. The economy and a aging congregation has left our small Nazarene church faced with dealing with the closing of our church in the next 60 days or so. Not a prospect any Pastor wants to have to deal with, even though I will probably be done at the church before that actually happens. So here we are wondering what to do next with two teenagers to boot. For us it has been a five year journey here with our small community of faith, it is a shame it has only been in the last couple of years that we have seen several new young couples attending.

But to get to the point of the matter and I'm very much aware of how the CotN works. But at the same time I was wondering, does anyone out there know of any good leads for a Pastor who has strong sacramental convictions, and is very much open to the ancient future form of worship, who is classically Wesleyan in theology. Be it either as Pastor or Associate Pastor in the Church of the Nazarene. Regardless please pray for me and my family during this time of transition in our lives. If you have any thoughts you can contact me through my profile here on the Sanctifying Worship blog.

Now for some food for thought, how hard do you think it is for a Nazarene Pastor with sacramental convictions to find a good match with a like minded congregation in the CotN?

Peace,

Steven

"MSD" (Multiple Service Disorder)

Since I know Brannon is busy (!!), I thought I would start a new conversation. Peace to you all in the name of Christ during this Holy Week.

A rapidly growing trend in contemporary churches--and yes, particularly in the Church of the Nazarene--is the eventuation of what I will call "msd": multiple service disorder. The church my wife and I just moved from recently built a second "campus" in addition to the main church building (located some 8 miles away in a much more secluded area, yet where houses will soon be surrounding the building on every side--a brilliant seeker-sensitive move if I've ever seen one). Once this move was finalized the two-service church then shifted to an option of three services: one in the main sanctuary and one in the gym of the old building, and another at the "north campus." After a trial run of this model, the decision was then made to make *four* services (an additional service being added to the north campus building), each one with its own "campus pastor," eventually leading to the requirement of, at times, at least three preaching pastors to make it to all of the services (even in the previous three service model, the pastor was being stretched thin).

Report from the Front Lines

I guess I am attempting this first blog mostly to earn the right to have my name in the prestigious list to the right (contributors). I've enjoyed reading the stuff I've found here, and I truly appreciate Brannon's efforts to make this a place where ideas can be exchanged about an area which is a passion of mine. I am a pastor in a Nazarene Church in the South. This is my 3rd church and I truly love the Church of the Nazarene. I have pastored in three different regions, with three very distinct groups of people inhabiting each Church. The Church I am in right now is largely white-collar, and we have an ever-increasing contingent of students and grad students from Baylor University attending. I have truly loved sharing with this Church my passion for worship, the Sacraments and the Christian calendar. I’ll share two interesting accounts very briefly, then try to sum up my rambling and get out as painlessly as possible.

SacNaz Honour Roll Spotlight: Epworth Chapel on the Green

If you haven't noticed, I made good on the promise to start an "Honour Roll" of Nazarene (or, in one case, quasi-Nazarene) churches which are making gestures toward more liturgical and sacramental ways of worshipping. So far we have 10 churches on the list (in the right-hand sidebar), and are of course always keen to add more, so keep the nominations coming.

I sent out emails to the pastors and staff of all the churches who had been nominated to inform them of this great honour, and I have received a few gratifying responses, gratifying if only because this indicates that the pastor or church apparently cares enough to read my email, have a look at the site, and type a response. For instance, Rev. Dr. Brook Thelander, rector of Epworth Chapel on the Green, wrote:

Thank you for honouring Epworth Chapel on the Green in your attempts to recognize churches working toward sacramental and liturgical renewal. Even though Epworth is now "independent," the core group of people who started the church were Nazarenes. I myself am an ordained Nazarene elder, and still work with the Intermountain District to get permission to minister here... Thanks for noticing what we are trying to do. It means a lot to us.

It means a lot to us, too! I have to applaud this creative and deliberate approach to being a local church that situates itself within a tradition that does not really exist (yet). What I mean is, by being a "Wesleyan-Anglican" church, they are carving out a "traditioned" identity that does not exist per se as a Tradition (proper), or which did not exist heretofore except by absence, by the gap left by the lack of any such tradition. While I suppose a very high-church Methodist congregation could describe themselves as "Wesleyan-Anglicans," as far as I know, Epworth is entirely unique in their solution to the "problem" of situating their Wesleyan-holiness identity within its proper Anglican ecclesial and liturgical tradition, of reconciling these two aspects, once inextricably joined but now almost entirely divorced.

This testimonial about Epworth, which I ran across on another blog, seemed to me worth sharing:

We had a very good visit to Epworth Chapel on the Green in Boise yesterday. It’s a Wesleyan-Anglican church that is totally liturgical, and stresses the right kind of ecumenicity as well as evangelism. The people were exceptionally kind to us and the liturgy was wonderful. The cantors and the organist were first-rate which made it a great listening and singing experience. We were so excited to find this diamond in the rough so close at hand when it seemed like there wasn’t much around here in an Anglican stream that wasn’t totally liberal and corrupt. It was interesting to me to observe how my kids reacted to the liturgical service. They seemed interested, maybe because it is so new to them. But I think it would be a really positive environment for them to learn Christianity in...

*Sigh*...oh, to hear such things said often of Nazarenes churches. I wonder, though: would it be possible to follow Epworth Chapel's lead without becoming independent? Or was their detachment from the denomination a kind of necessary sacrifice? Is there room within the COTN for churches who are compelled to move so fully and deliberately in this direction?