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
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Via Dolorosa "Way of Grief"
Yesterday on Holy Tuesday I went to pray with my friends at St. Johns Episcopal Church. The Holy Week meditation was the fourteen traditional stations of the cross, sometimes known as the "Way of the Cross." As we prayed I found myself spiritually in Jerusalem walking the Via Dolorosa with my Lord, which is believed to be the road our Lord Jesus traveled to Golgotha. For me this is what good holy week liturgy is all about, being able to once again enter into the mystery of the passion and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as we await the celebration of His glorious resurrection.
Have a blessed Holy Week.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Lenten Reflections on Prayer and Ministry
Two great readings this week from Henri Nouwen in A Guide to Prayer, week 18 (leading up to the Third Sunday in Lent):
“Listen, O Lord, to my prayers. Listen to my desire to be with you, to dwell in your house, and to let my whole being be filled with your presence. But none of this is possible without you. When you are not the one who fills me, I am soon filled with endless thoughts and concerns that divide me and tear me away from you. Even thoughts about you, good spiritual thoughts, can be little more than distractions when you are not their author.
O Lord, thinking about you, being fascinated with theological ideas and discussions, being excited about histories of Christian spirituality and stimulated by thoughts and ideas about prayer and meditation, all of this can be as much an expression of greed as the unruly desire for food, possessions, or power.
Every day I see again that only you can teach me to pray, only you can set my heart at rest, only you can let me dwell in your presence. No book, no idea, no concept or theory will ever bring me close to you unless you yourself are the one who lets these instruments become the way to you.
But Lord, let me at least remain open to your initiative; let me wait patiently and attentively for that hour when you will come and break through all the walls I have erected. Teach me, O Lord, to pray. Amen.”
~ from A Cry for Mercy, Henri J. M. Nouwen
“From all I have said about the minister as a sustaining reminder, it becomes clear that a certain unavailability is essential for the spiritual life of the minister. I am not trying to build a religious argument for a game of golf, a trip to a conference, a cruise to the Caribbean, or a sabbatical. These arguments have been made and they all strike me as quite unconvincing in the midst of our suffering world. No, I would like to make a plea for prayer as the creative way of being unavailable.
How would it sound when the question, “Can I speak to the minister?” is not answered by “I am sorry, he has someone in his office” but by “I am sorry, he is praying.” When someone says, “The minister is unavailable because this is his day of solitude, this is his day in the hermitage, this is his desert day,” could that not be a consoling ministry? What it says is that the minister is unavailable to me, not because he is more available to others, but because he is with God, and God alone – the God who is our God.”
~ from The Living Reminder, Henri J. M. Nouwen
“Listen, O Lord, to my prayers. Listen to my desire to be with you, to dwell in your house, and to let my whole being be filled with your presence. But none of this is possible without you. When you are not the one who fills me, I am soon filled with endless thoughts and concerns that divide me and tear me away from you. Even thoughts about you, good spiritual thoughts, can be little more than distractions when you are not their author.
O Lord, thinking about you, being fascinated with theological ideas and discussions, being excited about histories of Christian spirituality and stimulated by thoughts and ideas about prayer and meditation, all of this can be as much an expression of greed as the unruly desire for food, possessions, or power.
Every day I see again that only you can teach me to pray, only you can set my heart at rest, only you can let me dwell in your presence. No book, no idea, no concept or theory will ever bring me close to you unless you yourself are the one who lets these instruments become the way to you.
But Lord, let me at least remain open to your initiative; let me wait patiently and attentively for that hour when you will come and break through all the walls I have erected. Teach me, O Lord, to pray. Amen.”
~ from A Cry for Mercy, Henri J. M. Nouwen
“From all I have said about the minister as a sustaining reminder, it becomes clear that a certain unavailability is essential for the spiritual life of the minister. I am not trying to build a religious argument for a game of golf, a trip to a conference, a cruise to the Caribbean, or a sabbatical. These arguments have been made and they all strike me as quite unconvincing in the midst of our suffering world. No, I would like to make a plea for prayer as the creative way of being unavailable.
How would it sound when the question, “Can I speak to the minister?” is not answered by “I am sorry, he has someone in his office” but by “I am sorry, he is praying.” When someone says, “The minister is unavailable because this is his day of solitude, this is his day in the hermitage, this is his desert day,” could that not be a consoling ministry? What it says is that the minister is unavailable to me, not because he is more available to others, but because he is with God, and God alone – the God who is our God.”
~ from The Living Reminder, Henri J. M. Nouwen
Thursday, March 05, 2009
A Pastor's Responsibility to Prepare
Twice yesterday, I came across accounts of pastors administering the sacraments. Each pastor seemed to have a different approach to his responsibility to prepare the one receiving the sacrament to receive the sacrament. Consider these two scenarios.
1) A pastor has a young college student attending his church. That college student is a self-proclaimed atheist. The student has been in attendance at several communion services, but has never received because of his atheism. This particular service, however, the student came to the altar to receive communion. Before serving him, the pastor asked him a question, "Has something about your atheism changed?" The student convincingly answered affirmatively and for the first time received the sacrament as a follower of Christ. Later the pastor and the student got together to discuss this perceived change.
2) A pastor has felt the need to encourage his people to experience the sacrament of baptism. So he prepares a beautiful worship service that will conclude with a baptism service. He includes videos of people talking about baptism and preaches a sermon discussing the sacrament. At the close of the sermon, instead of the traditional "altar call," there is a baptism call. Many people stood up, came forward, and right there and then got baptized.
These two pastors seem to take very different approaches to "preparing" their people to rightfully receive the sacraments. So my question is this: (1) What is a pastor's responsibility to the church and to the people to prepare candidates for receiving the sacraments' (2) What do you do to prepare your parishioners or how does your pastor prepare you/your congregation to receive the sacraments?
1) A pastor has a young college student attending his church. That college student is a self-proclaimed atheist. The student has been in attendance at several communion services, but has never received because of his atheism. This particular service, however, the student came to the altar to receive communion. Before serving him, the pastor asked him a question, "Has something about your atheism changed?" The student convincingly answered affirmatively and for the first time received the sacrament as a follower of Christ. Later the pastor and the student got together to discuss this perceived change.
2) A pastor has felt the need to encourage his people to experience the sacrament of baptism. So he prepares a beautiful worship service that will conclude with a baptism service. He includes videos of people talking about baptism and preaches a sermon discussing the sacrament. At the close of the sermon, instead of the traditional "altar call," there is a baptism call. Many people stood up, came forward, and right there and then got baptized.
These two pastors seem to take very different approaches to "preparing" their people to rightfully receive the sacraments. So my question is this: (1) What is a pastor's responsibility to the church and to the people to prepare candidates for receiving the sacraments' (2) What do you do to prepare your parishioners or how does your pastor prepare you/your congregation to receive the sacraments?
Saturday, February 21, 2009
How to be a theologian...
Ben Myers post over at Faith & Theology - "Advice for Theological Students: 10 Steps to a Brilliant Career" - was too good, I thought, not to link to.
And as a (less humorous) counterpoint, his "Ten Virtues for Theological Students."
I figure most of us around here, whether formally or informally, either are or have been theological students, so this should hit home on some level.
And as a (less humorous) counterpoint, his "Ten Virtues for Theological Students."
I figure most of us around here, whether formally or informally, either are or have been theological students, so this should hit home on some level.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
WTS Paper on Wesleyan Worship
Todd Stepp, pastor of one of our Nazarene churches, has a paper on the agenda for the upcoming WTS meeting at Anderson. Check it out here:
"Athentic Christian Worship: Discovering Wesley's Criteria"
"Athentic Christian Worship: Discovering Wesley's Criteria"
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Inclusive Prayers
In the wake of the media frenzied Inauguration Day and the glut of inaugural prayers, I wonder: should Christian clergy be expected to pray "inclusive" prayers? How far is too far? How would you have prayed, had you been asked to pray one of the inaugural prayers?
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Water Is Thicker Than Blood
In honor of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, I thought I might point you in the direction of the recent issue of Holiness Today in which there appears an article by Jamie Gates (director of the Center for Justice and Reconciliation at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego) entitled "Remember Your Baptism." Here are a few quotes, but our discussion need not be limited to just these quotes. The entire article can be found here.
"Baptism is wide in the sense that it ties us to a global body of Christians who are called by one Lord, one Spirit, and one faith to be one Body. Baptism became one of the early church practices that initiated new converts into a new way of being a group of people. "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:10, NRSV). We have received mercy so we might be holy people, a group whose lives together should be a sign of God's kingdom at hand."
"As members of Christ's Body, we are no longer to hold on too tightly to the ties that used to bind us. We are like a husband and wife who, because they are bound together, should no longer seek their individual interests at the other's expense. Water is thicker than blood. Ties to our brothers and sisters in Christ should become more important than our ties to people of our own extended family, race, ethnicity, or nationality."
"I guess living in the San Diego-Tijuana metropolitan area, a border town between Mexico and the U. S., makes me more aware of how often our citizenship trumps our baptism. It is difficult to see the San Diego-Tijuana region as one parish when a big fence with armed guards cuts off part of our community from the other. It is difficult for us to live in the "year of Jubilee," holding all things in common so that none go without, when we have wealth disparities reinforced by the international border. It is difficult to be one body and one faith with one baptism when immigration laws increasingly hinder our brothers and sisters from south of the border to join us for worship and fellowship north of the border."
Peace,
Eric+
"Baptism is wide in the sense that it ties us to a global body of Christians who are called by one Lord, one Spirit, and one faith to be one Body. Baptism became one of the early church practices that initiated new converts into a new way of being a group of people. "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:10, NRSV). We have received mercy so we might be holy people, a group whose lives together should be a sign of God's kingdom at hand."
"As members of Christ's Body, we are no longer to hold on too tightly to the ties that used to bind us. We are like a husband and wife who, because they are bound together, should no longer seek their individual interests at the other's expense. Water is thicker than blood. Ties to our brothers and sisters in Christ should become more important than our ties to people of our own extended family, race, ethnicity, or nationality."
"I guess living in the San Diego-Tijuana metropolitan area, a border town between Mexico and the U. S., makes me more aware of how often our citizenship trumps our baptism. It is difficult to see the San Diego-Tijuana region as one parish when a big fence with armed guards cuts off part of our community from the other. It is difficult for us to live in the "year of Jubilee," holding all things in common so that none go without, when we have wealth disparities reinforced by the international border. It is difficult to be one body and one faith with one baptism when immigration laws increasingly hinder our brothers and sisters from south of the border to join us for worship and fellowship north of the border."
Peace,
Eric+
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Church on Christmas Day?!
It seems to be a phenomenon that churches, specifically protestant evangelical churches, in America do not have services on Christmas Day. If we are willing to stand up against those who refuse to say 'Merry Christmas' (insert Happy Holidays), then how can we justify not even celebrating together on Christmas Day?
I have been doing some searching online at quite a few church websites in America from the small to the mega and it seems to be a prevailing trend: service on Christmas Eve, no service on Christmas Day. I wonder, do we celebrate people's birthdays on the day before and do nothing on the day? What is the reason for this?
I pray this is not universally true. How many of you Nazarenes out there have a service on Christmas Day? If you don't, what are your reasons for not having one?
Peace,
Joseph
I have been doing some searching online at quite a few church websites in America from the small to the mega and it seems to be a prevailing trend: service on Christmas Eve, no service on Christmas Day. I wonder, do we celebrate people's birthdays on the day before and do nothing on the day? What is the reason for this?
I pray this is not universally true. How many of you Nazarenes out there have a service on Christmas Day? If you don't, what are your reasons for not having one?
Peace,
Joseph
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Chewing the Host
...or, Weirdest Discussion Thread. Ever.
Make sure you get to the second page to read this "tasty" (pun intended) comment:
Make sure you get to the second page to read this "tasty" (pun intended) comment:
most of the time it goes down fine without a chew but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.... short of chokingAnd I thought some of our discussions (like Joseph's quandary about serving communion to someone with a feeding tube) got pretty "out there"...!
I remember as a child an old nun told me that chewing the host was "snapping the bones of Christ"
considering what happens to the host after you swallow it chewing is probably not an issue
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)