7th Sunday after Easter Sunday Service

Pastor Dayle started her sermon by saying:

Stories are our way of understanding the world. Jesus prayed the story of our lives: “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.”

These strong words relate directly to my efforts in this blog. At the Oregon Synod Assembly apparently one speaker said unless we in the ELCA do a better job of telling our story, our denomination could be gone in 50 years given the current trends in church attendance.

Pastor Dayle’s talk during children time helped emphasize how much of our worship and music are as intregal to that wonderful story as the Bible readings. I was touched by what she pointed out to the children.

During the Music in Worship, Worship in Context facilitated by Mark Douglas, Director of Worship and Arts for Central, Portland he talked about the Christian story being, at root for Lutherans, a different message to the one everyday world presents to us. He proposed the Christian message is not the same message that we hear in society.

It was an interesting statement. This is in keeping with the church as I see it today more than the church I experienced as a child and young adult. At that time, for me, the Lutheran churches I attended seemed in lock step with society’s perspectives and concerns. I remember my pastor saying, “God helps those who help themselves” in response to a question I had as if he was quoting the Bible. The church to me seemed about sanctifying everything we did as Americans.

When thinking about the parts of the Christian community that are currently growing it seems society or “family values” is of major importance to the churches that are experiencing a burst in attendance. We have, at our core, a different message. Might some of this be playing a part of the decline in attendance?

Back to the sermon Pastor Dayle said more about stories:

I’ve come to believe that telling our stories is the most important thing we do. Our stories are our breath. Our stories are life. Jesus was a master story teller. His followers we enthralled with his stories. People understood God through the stories Jesus told of the poor being rich, the lowly being lifted up. And these stories are our stories to tell and retell.

One of the passionate stories we heard in the service today was Rebekah Burton singing, “The Potter’s Hand”. Mary and I saw her perform more than a year ago at The Grotto during Christmas with her trained voice singing sacred music and were blown away by the power of her voice. We have also seen her perform with her band “Tribe of the Outcast” where her voiceand piano are imbued with a raw, naked authenticity. This was a performance that blended those two extremes. Rebekah turned the chorus into a plaintive, heartfelt prayer and I was astounded by her performance.

Sunday Service 5/21/06

The services felt intimate today. What many people commented on after both services was the choir performance of a medley Matt put together of Oh Lord, You're Beautiful, Steal Away and I Have Decided To Follow Jesus.

Five of us and Matt sang. Sara, Peter and Matt were soloists on Steal Away. Greg, Liz and I also sang. Matt played the piano and established this musical journey of seeking and faith. All the songs had simple words and tunes, we were a small group, but it seems something powerful is bound to happen when the Creator choir sings and it was felt during this performance.

Pastor Fred's sermon was about the part of the gospel reading where Jesus called the disciples friends. He illustrated with three stories about friendship. Then he cited an example from his boyhood where he was selected as the last team member when two boys were choosing teams. He taked about how he understood he was not an athlete but that it hurt in his heart. In the end he was comforted to think Jesus had chosen him before he was born, and was his friend. That friendship would never be taken away.

This connected with the "Jesus is for losers" t-shirt thought in the keynote address for me yesterday in some elementary way when looking at it from the negative side. Essentially this points to something contrary to an innate sense of value deep in us. Thinking of Jesus with us should comfort us. There is no egotistical stroke, however, when it is something perceived as completely commonplace. Jesus loves everyone so, like common things in our world, it receives no value in our hearts unless it comes through effort or a different kind of understanding. That kind of understanding or making that kind of effort is rare.

Today Pastor Fred, in the adult education between services, was going to ask us why we go to church. What need does it fulfill? He was looking for something deeper than why we attend Creator. For me, unfortunately, it is so easy to slip into what it is doing for me. When I was talking with Mary about this later, she responded with a quote from the Taxi sitcom.

It is Reverend Jim's words in Lotka's marriage in answer to the question "Why marry at this time?". The answer Jim gives is "We marry because, after all the other alternatives have been explored, we still want to, need to and must." This for me is on the right track.

Establishing a right relationship with God is the work of a lifetime. In life we establish habits and routines in the way we live. It is easy to accept the world at face value, learn "common sense" and, at least for the people I am around, live a comfortable life. Being Christian challenges this. Going to church is not about me, my needs or my desires. It provides a perspective that is outside of daily life and my wants. This is why what Mary quoted from Taxi speaks to my heart.

This was not the thrust of Pastor Fred's question, however. He wants us to have something to say when inviting friends to church. This is not a simple discussion you open up with a friend. There would need to be conversation about where they are in their relationship to God.

Time for meditation and prayer on that topic.

Creator in Community - An Oregon Synod Assembly Experience 5/20/06

I am at the Red Lion Hotel on the River at Jantzen Beach in the Main Ballroom around 8:00 AM. The Oregon Synod Assembly is in its second day. Our delegates are about to start another day and I have come today to see the keynote speaker, Dr. Allen Powell and to check out a Music in Worship, Music in Context workshop.

The first person I meet from Creator is Nita. We catch up on news and chat about the next time she and Mary will meet to collate, fold and staple together the newsletter. Nita always has a smile and is ready to dig into what needs to be done. She is looking forward to the day.

We find the table with the other Creator members who have arrived. Joel and David normally are like Nita, a smile and make you immediately feel at home. Today Joel and David are welcoming but too tired (I'm sure partly from all the synod work the day before) to smile and joke much. David talks about being overwhelmed with work responsibilities and health issues in his family. We haven’t had time to talk recently and now I know why.

Joel's thoughts are on council issues and church concerns. He was Creator's president for two years and, given there are members that are a part of the church's foundation, Joel and his family are on that list.

Pastor Dayle, Peter, Tamara, Larry and Sara all arrive and I am impressed with the representation that Creator consistently shows for events where the Cluster or Synod gathers.

The Assembly starts with worship as we sing “All Are Welcome” and music from a sampler of the new Evangelical Lutheran Worship Pew Edition Sampler which appears to be collecting devotional songs from other countries, new composers, together with carrying forward hymns from the old hymnal.

We sing a strong African hymn “Jesus, We Are Gathered” that has a reverential weight to it and a simple Swedish hymn called “You are Holy” that has something special about it to my ear. Maybe it just appeals to my Swedish family roots.

Dr. Powell’s keynote address is substantive and entertaining. He talks about being offended by someone with a “Jesus is for Losers” t-shirt until he gets the double-entendre. The topic is leadership in the church and he makes it clear that the best leader is getting out of the way while leading us to Jesus.

After the address there is a suggestion to get a group photo taken with the quilt that was made by Creator for the synod quilt auction. Our former vicar Amanda, now Pastor Amanda Wilson, snaps the picture and after that we break into our workshops.

I attend a Hunger Awareness Workshop Nita brought to my attention. It is a dynamic session full of ideas to bring back to the team that are educational, fun and empowering.

The Music in Worship, Music in Context workshop is pointing participants to a music path Creator is already on. Rather than dividing worship by musical taste (contemporary versus traditional, for example) the question is asked if all can accommodate to one another’s taste and worship together. Of course there is always work to do in discerning that music and it makes me think about music that might attract our community and how to raise the visibility of that music to the community.

I leave invigorated but with the knowledge I am not involved in the actual voting or business of the Synod Assembly. I am appreciative of those taking that task on this year.

Sunday Service May 7, 2006

Pastor Fred preaches on 'Good Shepherd Sunday' and Susan Nolte does a good job on the children's sermon with a core thought that shepherd is a noun and a verb and that Jesus bridges those meanings just as Jesus can be both sheep and shepherd.

There was special music this morning. Annie Miles, Vaune Kemp and Kim Fairbanks-Lee performed Mummer's Dance. Their hamonies were pure and revelatory. The song took on another dimension of meaning for many of us yesterday morning.

Congregational Meeting after Services

There is so much to say about Paul Stromberg, our Congregation President, his wife Debi and the Creator Council who are now: Teresa Berry, David Biggam, John Brooks, Kelly Carlisle, Paul Haulbrook, Nita Hoops, Pat Isaac, Joel Mobley, and Susan Nolte.

Paul has already guided the congregation through many tough decision points. Early on there was debate on an opportunity to expand on the church building space with a barn. There were strong sentiments on each side. Paul kept the decision making process on an even keel and went out of his way to make sure all voices were heard and all the facts brought to bear as this was debated. In the end the vote was not to expand with the barn.

Another area where there has been congregational soul searching is in the steps to take in finding where we are called in our youth ministry. Here again the council is making sure everybody is informed on the process and is seeking input from those who are most involved. Debi has kept the activities and the organization of the youth intact while the decision is being made.

Here I come to a decision point in this blog. Rather than dwell on many details or work that could be recognized I will concentrate on what animates Creator; the strength and the gifts people in our our congregation are given to face the challenges.

Choir Practice: April 26, 2006 & May 3,2006

The mission statement of Creator is "Singing God's Song, Sharing God's Love, Serving God's People". Recently I talked to someone who suggested that “Serving God’s people” should come first. No doubt it is proper in terms of priorities but what always seems to come to most our members mind's first when thinking about Creator - what is wrapped at a core of the Creator experience - is music.

Choir practice remains a holy gathering for me. Often we gather together and, for me, we are exuberantly experiencing secrets of the world together on Wednesday nights. The music we practice always comes from a mix of chronological and geographic sources. It comes from great and oscure traditions, classical to pop to experimental.

Recently, Matt’s joy and involvement in the traditional spirituals in choir practice and performance has infused us with a greater enthusiasm for many of those songs we will soon be singing as a medley during Sunday worship. These songs are familiar and the perfomances range from quiet recognition of God's holiness in life to a sound that is jubilant, revs up the room and animates the joy within our souls.

Hunger Awareness Team Meeting 5/1

This team spearheads Hunger Awareness within the church and organizes the activities Creator undertakes as a community to help the hungry. The desire to make something happen was strong with our members from the beginning. There has been a great success beyond our initial expectations as to what we have been able to donate to the Oregon Food Bank.

Since coming together the team has organized a volunteer effort to pack food at the OFB in January and is planning another in June. There have been other events in the past and planned for the future to keep Creator aware of what we can do to help.

Today’s meeting, like most, is comfortable and focused. I respect David Biggam’s low key leadership. His comments foster enthusiasm for the team’s projects and the no-nonsense, cut-to-the-chase efficiency of what we do is due in no small part to him.

My wife is part of the team as well as Vera James and both attend today’s meeting along with Pastor Dayle. Both Mary and Vera contribute to keeping our efforts realistic and practical. Each has an eye for detail and both have good memories for what has already been discussed and agreed upon. It is clear Pastor Dayle shares and also inspires this group’s commitment to the work that needs to be done. So far there is a strong, infectious optimism these meetings always kindle.