Isn’t it obvious?

Last Saturday I came home to find an old favorite all ready in progress.  My wife and children were dying Easter eggs.  My children love holidays and love preparing for them just as much.  Getting out decorations, baking cookies, dying eggs – they yearn for these activities . . . so they were delighted.

It didn’t take long to see their joy.  Half a second later they were telling me about an egg they had made especially for me.  They promptly showed me, then asked if I wanted to eat it.  Now I found this a bit odd, since they had just decorated it.  They went on, both of them, asking if I was hungry, if I would like an egg.  I passed, promising I’d eat it soon.

Later, I was able to ask my wife, “what’s with the egg?  it’s not hard-boiled is it?”
She smiled.  No.  It’s not.  I told them to not make such a big deal about it . . . can you play along?

Monday morning came.  The kids and I were getting ready for school, eating breakfast.  I say, I think I’ll have an egg this morning . . .

Both kids volunteer to get me one.  They race over.  Emma has completely forgotten about the prank they were pulling (for the moment anyway) and selects one of the ones she dyed and offers it to me, then insists I eat that one first.  Noah picks “the” egg.  I slowly enjoy the egg Emma gave me.  Then move to “the” egg.  I crack it on the plate . . . and slowly realize it is hard boiled.  Not “the” egg after all.

I am simultaneously amused and mortified.

Noah casually asked, “how does an egg get to be hard-boiled anyway?  Is it from cooking, or if it gets frozen?”

I answer that it is by cooking and he offers a small “hmm” – “why” I ask . . . “just curious”
Then he asks, “could you eat 3 eggs?”
I consider it for a moment and tell him I’ll have eggs again tomorrow.

The same scene unfolds all over again, Emma forgetting the prank and picking an egg by other standards and, believe it or not, Noah picking the wrong egg.
On the 3RD day it happens AGAIN (my cholesterol is now sky-high), the egg carton is nearly empty and I ask “are you sure this is the egg?”  - – “Oh yea . . . well pretty sure”

I crack another hard boiled egg, Noah says – “nope”
I ask, “how can you tell?”

As far they know I’m still not on to them.  So, if you talk to them please don’t mention it yet – maybe tell them when they’re teenagers and still think they’re being sneaky?

The whole week it’s left me thinking – isn’t it a little obvious?  I suspect we think we’re fooling our spouses, our friends and families – that we’re fooling God – and sometimes we’re only fooling ourselves.  We may think the difference in our behavior is as subtle as the difference of a raw or hard-boiled egg – and yet it’s entirely obvious to others.

Isn’t it obvious?  Our intentions, true intentions, our hearts and minds are known to God.   Even when we fool ourselves God knows.  It’s certainly a motivation to strive to be brutally honest with ourselves, brutally honest with God.

Visioning for the future of our church

As Vicar of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church I have appreciated the deliberate planning and visioning that has been a part of our past.  Those who have helped us to review these plans regularly have also helped us to live into the vision that was cast.

Toward the end of last year we recognized that we were due to gather with a larger group of leaders to revisit our strategic plan.  A guest facilitator would help us to refine our goals and help offer and fresh look at who we are and who we are aiming to be.

I am grateful to Fr. Bill from St. Michael’s and All Angels Kauai for his willingness to come and share his expertise.  He certainly guided us well.

As we gathered over coffee and snacks, Fr. Bill shared a few helpful metaphors (including a great ‘roller-derby’ story from his own life).  We centered ourselves with an application study of scripture and prayers for our church.

As we introduced ourselves we each shared what we found exciting and or what attracts us to St. Nicholas.  Even with the affirmations of what had already been said, it was great to hear about unique attributes were shared.  Some examples were, ‘our diversity’, that we are ‘Spirit-driven’, the sense of ‘possibilities’ (are they limitless?), a sense of ‘belonging’, and the general ‘energy’ of the group.

Together we dreamed a bit about where we might be in 3-5 years.  We were encouraged to free our imaginations.  Who was there?  What did it look like?  Sound like?  Feel like? We each shared some of these reflections too.  This list, along with our current strategic plan were the basis for forming our future goals/priorities.

Ultimately we settled on 5 priorities for our strategic plan revision: (1) “space issues”; (2) becoming self-supporting; (3) worship; (4) outreach and evangelism; and (5) formation for children, youth and adults.

1) Our space.  Church plants often face issue around their space.  While rented/borrowed space has inherent difficulties, these may be exaggerated in a community where the majority of churches rent space.  Fewer spaces suitable for churches are available.  This goal ranked high in priority because of it’s connection to other goals.  We believe we need more access to space to fulfill our goals in worship, formation and outreach — not because we are tired of our trailer . . .

2) Becoming self-supporting – 2012 is a landmark year for us, our members are have pledged more money that the Diocese for the first time.  A continued deliberate effort will be needed to reach financial independence, but we must commit ourselves to it.  Growing our support will also allow us to grow the programs we feel strongly about.

3) Worship.  This is why we gather and is central to who we are.  Our style of worship is unique.  It blends ancient traditions with contemporary expressions.  We believe it is important to continue to offer this, but to find ways to offer new expressions of worship as well.  We hope this will help attract new people to God.

4) Outreach and Evangelism – our relationship with Onemalu in Kalaeloa has changed substantially this year.  We began a read-to-me program to help families there.  The first week there were 12 kids, this week 37 - we are responding to a need among us.  Serving those around us is important.  While there are other areas of outreach/evangelism (Relay for Life, Pride4Ewa and more . . . ) Onemalu is central to this.  Our use of technology is another area we have developed in the past 2 years – our podcasting and streaming services have helped us reach more folks!

5) Children, Youth and Adult formation – our emphasis on children and youth has been at our core from the beginning.  Ice Cream Sunday and Kidzone are regular visible signs of this.  St. Nicholas Day, Hometown Nazareth and Family Camp are good examples of significant events that support this goal.  Our emerging youth group, confirmation classes, and other studies for adults are also examples.

As our leadership works to officially revise our strategic plan I hope to continue the conversation around these goals.  This post is not meant to be comprehensive, but an introduction (with a few examples) to what was discussed and hoped for during this process.

Biblical Ethiopia – or bust

It’s a trip that seems a bit surreal.  Perhaps any trip that far does.  Perhaps any trip to Africa?  I’ve been a bit reluctant to say much about it, for fear that the whole thing may fall through anyway.

The trip is a part of on-going continuing education, The First Parish Project.  An Eli Lilly Endowment Program that helps encourage and educate young clergy.  The group I am part of has been meeting for about 3 years now.  The formal program was all held in North Carolina, the follow up sessions depend upon the group.

Our group made a conscious decision to make our first gathering inexpensive, so that we would have some carry-over funding to do something more involved for this gathering.  We set out looking for a pilgrimage.  Something that would be educational, help challenge us spiritually and bond us further as a group.

We found a “familiarization” tour for pastors.  The tour groups hope is that we will find the trip to be a meaningful experience and return with others from our church.  The tour we choose is called “Biblical Ethiopia”

Details have been slow to arrive, funding was questionable for a while . . . it’s hard for the reality of the trip to set in when you’re unsure if it will happen.  Things seems to be happening now though.  I even got my vaccinations.  So, a bit about the trip – much more to follow.

View Larger Map

I will meet my group in Washington D.C., we will fly to Addis Ababa (it means ‘new flower’) together.  The city is relatively ‘new’, founded in 1886.  It is a major diplomatic capital, not only for Ethiopia, but for Africa as well.  It hosts over 70 embassies and consular officies.  It is home to Trinity Cathedral and the Ethnological Museum.

Next, we will fly to Bahir Dar.  A city on the shores of Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia.  We will take a boat tour of the 37 islands, 30 of which have churhces and monasteries of considerable significance.

Then, we will proceed to Gondar.  A long-time political headquarter and capitol city.

From there we will go to Lalibella, often described as the 8th wonder of the world (along with a lot of other fantastic attractions around the world, right?).  It is home to rock hewn churches.  Were these the ones featured in Indiana Jones?  Maybe I’ll buy a new hat and a whip for the pictures.  Ethiopia is likely the home of the ark of the covenant after all.

Then, we will fly to Axum (modern spelling Aksum).  An ancient site with a variety of stops of interest.  From there we will return to Addis Ababa and our long return home.

Evangelism in a new era

I’d wager to say ‘evangelism’ is frightening (or at least a turn-off) to more people than not.  Whether you are concerned about how to share your faith effectively, without driving people away; or grow frustrated with those who try to share their faith with disregard for your own.  For many the idea of evangelism is a frustration on both ends of the spectrum.

Rob Bell addresses some of these complexities in his Nooma series video “Bullhorn guy” - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-825273137571541112

So, we’re conflicted.  We feel compelled by Jesus call to share our faith, but the primary known expression of evangelism is controversial and largely disagreeable.

How do we move forward?  Break the mold?  Revise the cultural understanding of the term . . .

Evangelism is important to faith.  Sometimes we mistakenly believe that it is suppose to be entirely to people we don’t know, or just met . . . sometimes we define success as when someone comes to our church as a direct result of our efforts.  Quit it.

Evangelism is genuine sharing of our faith.  This mostly likely will happen most with people that you already know.  This will often happen with people that have faith as well, showing interest in where their faith is also important.  Here’s the confusing part.  If you practice genuine sharing of faith, you will bring people closer to God.  You will probably also draw people into your church.  Hence our confusion.

In checking in with friends they share a similar experience.  Shared joy in sharing faith.  Occasionally helping someone we’re close to find faith.

Reading scripture – opening the Bible

Many of you know I’m a big fan of the “Daily Audio Bible” podcast.  It allows me to listen to the entire Bible each year.  Not surprisingly, I spend a fair amount of time actually reading it too.

Not so long ago I got an email from my Bishop encouraging me and the clergy of the Diocese to try out the “Common English Bible” (CEB) – a relatively new translation.

I downloaded it to my Kindle and began using it a little.  It is good.  Then I got another offer, a free copy (actual feel it in your hand copy) to use in ministry and offer some thoughts about the translation through the blog etc.

Today as I flipped through it I noticed the nice maps in the back.  I spent a fair amount of time looking over them.  I recalled my own travels to Israel, looked over the places I’ve been.  Day-dreamed a bit about the places I may go next . . .

Tonight as I read a commentary to prepare for Sunday I found a quote I felt was fitting in light of the CEB translation:

“Whenever we pick up the Bible and read it, even in a contemporary version like the Good News Bible, we are conscious of stepping back two millennia or (in the case of the Old Testament) even more.  We travel backwards in time, behind the microchip revolution, the electronic revolution, the scientific revolution and the industrial revolution, until we find ourselves in an alien world which long ago ceased to exist.  In consequence, the Bible feels odd, sounds archaic, looks obsolete and smells musty.”
(J. R. W. Stott, The Contemporary Christian: Applying God’s Word to Today’s World (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 186)

While the stories are still ancient ones, the CEB does help transcend that time.  It reads freely, without significant commentary within it.  If you’re interested in a translation that is accessible, this is it.  Perhaps it will be a part of your New Year’s resolution?

Steve – aka Bearclaw – aka the guy with the signs

For those who attend St. Nick’s or listen to the blog . . . you know part of the story already . . . although I feel as though there was more to tell.

It began easily enough.  The neighbors asked if our kids could go along to something, Sarah already had plans, and I was left with a few hours free on a Friday evening.  I enjoyed sometime on the motorcycle, cruising around Kapolei and Ewa Beach.  Eventually I found my way to Taco Del Mar for dinner.

On my way in I saw a familiar face.  A man I’d seen many times, yet we’d never spoken.  He is a familiar face to many people in the area, he stands at a busy intersection and holds signs.  My favorites include: “SMILE!”, “Smile! It’s contagious”, “BE the LIGHT”.  As I entered Taco Del Mar I paused and said hello.  He responded with a smile and “Merry Christmas”.  I wished him a Merry Christmas too and left it at that, he seemed to be busy gathering his things.

As I order I felt like I’d chickened out, I’d wanted to meet this guy for a while now and I may have missed an opportunity.  Then, as I left the cashier, I saw him sitting at a table outside.  God is good.

I asked him if I could join him for dinner.  He was enthusiastic with his yes, I suppose it’s a rare request.  Steve introduced himself, noting that his Cherokee name was actually Bearclaw.  I told him how much I loved his signs and his joy.  I told him I was curious about his story as well.

He shared freely, from his heart.  The good, the bad, the in between.  He has experienced a lot in his life, traveling abroad, serving our country in the military, fatherhood.  While he is homeless now there wasn’t much regret or trouble that went with this.  He embraced it.  He believe he is doing exactly what he is suppose to be doing with his life, sharing joy and offering some perspective on life.  He did mention that if I asked his mom she would say he just sits on the corner and holds signs . . . not true however.  He pointed out he could ‘make more money’ if he would just keep his mouth shut, but that’s not why he’s out there.

Steve believes our culture has inhibited our ability to appreciate life (my words, not his). He was clear, “the only thing I really miss is my motorcycle”.  Yet he is quite happy.  That doesn’t mean life doesn’t have challenges, it certainly does.  He has physical aliments left over from his military service too.

I look forward to my next meal with Steve.  I believe I have more to learn from him.  I hope that he continues to share his joy and perspective on the streets of Oahu.  I hope that others are willing to learn from a man who doesn’t appear to have much to offer.

Becoming the liturgy

My wife and I sometimes joke about how we are ‘becoming our parents’.  We often catch her using the all-to-familiar phrase “I heard this great program on the radio” as if it were coming directly from her mother.  We don’t have too look too hard to see how I am like my father, or my mother – in so many ways.  We don’t regret these similarities, we embrace them (with a laugh of course).

It is sometimes difficult to express the importance of “liturgy”, that is a worship service that has a certain amount of repetitiveness to it.  A video (possible sneak peak into Sunday’s service) helped me to understand and convey this importance - http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/index.php?ct=store.details&pid=V00928

Just as a child is exposed to their parents phrases and behaviors – and is often formed by them – perhaps even “becoming like their parent(s)” – so too we can be formed by our patterned worship service.

Today, Christians have many options as to the types of worship we can participate in.  In the Episcopal Church our pattern of worship is steady, it is consistent.  The particulars may change based on local preference – yet the overall pattern is remarkably the same.

My hope is that we may allow this pattern to form us.  It is an ancient disciple.  It is worth the effort.  It takes time for this to happen.  To properly ‘give-it-a-try’ may mean attending a church for weeks or months before weighing it’s value.  I recognize this is an usually long commitment today, for something one might be unsure of – hence my writing, by way of encouragement.

See you in church . . .