So as soon as I started reading from Rheingold's Net Smart this week on crap detection, I couldn't help but think about what I call my, "Larsen Bay Paranoia". You see I lived with my husband for four and a half years on Kodiak Island in Alaska. We lived in a primarily Native village called Larsen Bay. In the winter there were about 70 -100 (kids included) that lived there. However, this little village thrived and grew by leaps and bounds during the summer months. The village had about 5-7 different lodges (resorts) that brought clients out fishing and hunting. As you can imagine you get really good at knowing your neighbor in such a small community and this might not be exactly how or what Rheingold would define as "crap detection" but my Larsen Bay paranoia, alerts me when the trust doesn't seem to be told, or something doesn't just add up. There was a huge need for crap detecting in a small village and small school (30 kids, 2 teachers), it was necessary to know the truth about what was going on so kids would be safe, we would be safe. So that we could stay healthy, so I could do a good job of teaching, so many reasons. This paranoia built because there always seemed to be drama and it was hard to keep up with what was truth telling and what was gossip making. My Larsen Bay paranoia lives on today (June will be 9 years that we have been back in the States). I guess through this weeks readings, I realized it has another name "crap detector".
So all that just to continue to say that the last two weeks of Gospel and Global Media class have been tough in that I have been enlighten or found sight so to speak on two issues I have been naive about. Last week was the digital divide and this week mass incarceration, the "War on Drugs", and social statements.
In an interview with Charlie Rose I learned so much in 25 minutes.
* The War on Drugs isn't about people it is about politics
* Prisons are highly profitable business venture today.
* The public is blind to the mass incarceration issue our country faces.
* Mass incarceration isn't about crime prevention and control, it is about racial and social control.
We have been asked to think about how the issue of mass incarceration ties into our churches social statements. In the Charlie Rose interview, Michelle Alexander said this, "Real change has to be a movement from the bottom up." This is exactly what the tie is between these social justice issues and our church. We can right all the social statements we want to, BUT the question for me is, "so now what?" What are we going to do about it?
Another student blogged about churches finding the one or two issues they can be passionate about and doing a good job ministering, caring for and making change. If every church was charged with "doing something" about every social justice issue, little would get done. What are the needs of our communities? Are their prisons near by? How about the homeless? Poverty? Housing? AA, NA? Sex Trafficking? There are so many....
This can be an overwhelming topic for churches and there are churches that don't reach out in these social justice issues. Or their reaching out is more about themselves than about others. Or maybe their reaching out is quiet and less publicized and I wouldn't want to take that work away from them. Maybe their reaching out is for the neighbor they can't see and not about the neighbor next door. I think that the church in the writing and adopting of the social statements is good place to start, but we really can't stop there. We must ask, "what's next?"
This ties in to "What is a successful church." or successful pastor. People want a new pastor who will fill the pews. That seems to imply great preaching and/or great programs for the people who only come because of the pastor. It implies that more people will put more money in the plate more regularly. But what if the pastor has a heart for one or two of the issues that you mention or imply? What if that pastor has a heart for getting the people in the pews to go OUT and do some service? Or what if that pastor has "a way of being" that induces hoards of poor people, ex cons, drug addicts, drunks and those struggling with booze, etc. to flock to that church? What if? What if the "successful" pastor fills the pews with those who don't have a dime to contribute? Or don't get that they are supposed to be part of the salvation of that church building? Looking back, we DID HAVE a pastor at one time who had a heart for those struggling with addiction. And those who had struggled and somewhat overcome their problems. And those people filled our pews. And we had chairs in the aisles every Sunday, week after week. And we had two services each weekend. Yes, this is true, Ms Wanderer Seminarian. And I am talking about TLC.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right these social statements and social justice issues can tie into what is a successful church. My concern about a successful pastor is to wonder what success means: a church that has filled pews and overflowing offering plates while the successful pastor is at that particular church; but what happens; where is the break- down when the passion or a particular issue comes from and is driven by the pastor. When that pastor moves on, the passion for the issue dies, the pews slowly empty and the offering plate is no longer overflowing. I would argue that a successful pastor or perhaps church is one that can self identify (the church) a passion for service and issues that their pastor can support them in. The passion comes from the people. God has called a people to a specific work and then every time a new pastor comes in it doesn't become about the pastor, but about the continued work of the church. God's church. I have heard about many wonderful ministries that TLC has been a part of and I would say continues to be a part of. It seems to me TLC is in a great position to be discerning what God is calling them to as they then look for a pastor who can support them in their passion for ministry in the church, community, and world. I am not sure what you meant in your last two sentences starting with Yes, this is...?
ReplyDeleteAll I meant was yes, this is the church you know so well, which isn't full any more. But then, I have heard that so many churches aren't full any more, unless they go the rock band route or something. My M-I-L even belongs to a Wis Synod church that has gone that route and is growing. My S-I-L belonged to an ELCA church that is like a mega church and had to double the size of their sanctuary. And then left the ELCA over "the vote" issue. And that comes back around to your comment: what happens after that particular pastor leaves? Good question. At TLC, we had a pastor at one time who people saw as lazy, and people didn't like his preaching all that much (he had rough edges, difficult delivery) however, I thought that his sermons ALWAYS took the core message of the day and showed some way that we could go and ACT like we were taught in the lesson. He put legs and hands on the lessons. And I also think that he had a quiet knack for empowering the lay leaders. He started all the various committees in the church, attended the meetings, and said very little. In not saying much, but being there as a guide if needed, he let the people become the thinkers and leaders. I still feel he was a true blessing, unappreciated, at TLC. He certainly was a contrast to the type of pastor who has a style of getting up, teaching, leading, but always being out there in front. And that can be good too, but that type of pastor leaves too big a hole when he/she leaves if he/she hasn't empowered other leaders. The pastor's job is difficult in navigating when to lead, when to push, and when to step aside.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking so much about this exact issue - the love of the pastor versus the love to service and faith in the name of Christ. As I prepare to finish up with school and am about to start internship, I really want to be prepared to lead a congregation into deeper faith, a stronger relationship with Christ and hopefully a love for our neighbors whoever and wherever they might be. I long to learn and be prepared to "step out of the way" so this is God's work and not mine. I just visited with a woman who hasn't been back to her church since the pastor left years ago, but she had a connection with the pastor and said, "there will never be another pastor like him" so I haven't gone back. Those charismatic pastors certainly bring people in, but can also be a part of the decline. I think that the decline of congregations is due more to the lack of relevance in the lives of milleniums and net-gens. These two age groups aren't necessarily looking for non-liturgical worship, but looking for a worship and church experience that is relevant. This is indeed a changing time in the church and I find a very exciting time as well!
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