January 21st, 2007

It is the season; Epiphany. I am experiencing many epiphanies at Creator right now; small, major, musical, and spiritual epiphanies. There are epiphanies of thought and Word. This Sunday there were epiphanies of definition and direction in the sermon, in the music and in the Adult Eduation hour.

Today Pastor Dayle preached about Pastor Brad Schmeling who, because he is a gay man living in a partnered relationship, has fallen “out of compliance” with the standards the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America set forth in Visions and Expectations which require chastity in singleness and fidelity in marriage.

The Gospel for this Sunday was Luke 4:14-21 which describes Jesus’ mission:

To bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind… and to let the oppressed go free.

Pastor Dayle made a powerful connection with the Gospel lesson and the charges against Pr. Schmeling and the ecclesiastical trial that began on Friday. Pastor Dayle pointed out Jesus is always on the side of the oppressed.

We exchanged email and I found out there is Reconciling in Christ (RIC) program which recognizes Lutheran congregations that welcome and include people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. The Oregon Synod is part of this and on January 28, 2007 at 7:00 PM there is a Reconciling in Christ Sunday Worship Service at Central Lutheran Church.

The rest of the sermon dovetailed in with thoughts about the Hopkin's poem in the last blog entry. Pastor Dayle said:


The mission of Jesus is the mission of the whole body of Christ, the church… that’s us. Together we have all the gifts to be functional and whole… together we have eyes and hands, ears and legs… working together, we are whole. God gives us all we need to be the church God is calling us to be.

Hopkins poem was obviously on the same masterful passage, the same heartfelt vision.

For the music on the Third Sunday after Epiphany we followed the ELW Setting 8. The Kyrie is a leader - response composition. People I talked to liked the feel of the melody, and it gave a fresh perspective on the words of the Kyrie as new music often will.

The Alleluia fits into the music of the setting. It moves from the leader - response of the Kyrie to a musical echo of the alleluia that the congregation sings.

The hymn of praise, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, may take time to sing with confidence, although it was already becoming more familiar at the second service.


The Adult Ed Hour continued with Bishop Mark Hanson's book, Faithful and Courageous. This was Session 3 Jesus the Questioner. We talked about questions Jesus asked when he might be expected to offer comfort or help. It was interesting to talk about all the challenging questions Jesus asks in response to questions or in moments of conflict.

I was grateful to Teresa's organization and purpose for this particular session.

Teresa wants the Adult Ed hour for Faithful and Courageous to develop our confidence as Christians and an eagerness to share our faith stories with others. Basically to help Creator members cement their Christian friendships with one another.

She touched on this during our planning session and again at last week's Adult Ed hour. Together with Debi's observation, about how there are too few appropriate moments to share end experience each other’s Christian friendship deeply given the events we participate in, I found myself pondering ways to help bring about these deeper relationships.

People are involved in trying to accomplish this in many ways. Linda is starting up a prayer chain. There was a connection made with the help we gave the Hartungs. All the volunteer work people do here create an open environment where we can question learn and grow.

I pray and ask for guidance in this because I tried something with mixed success last year. The attempt revolved around sessions called Faith Stirring which sprung from a catechumenate model used by the early church.

There can be a discipline and a sharing of faith between those who want to affirm or reaffirm their baptism with other members of the church. We tried it as a new members class and there were moments of deep connection but it seemed to come from those who were invested, had spent time absorbing the material, and wanted to know each other. I wondered if, in the end, it was too wrapped around my ways of experiencing spiritual growth and that it was hard for me to hear what others were sharing.

Faith Stirring came from the same desire I feel in Teresa and Debi. I also see that longing in my wife. It is a hunger that not everyone has in the congregation. In some it is filled but for others, we feel an ache for different conversations, different relationships with others at Creator that nourish a deeper faith and is not afraid to question our society and conventions as we follow Jesus.

After the last service we had our congregational meeting. We adopted deficit budget of $38,875. Paul announced Susan Nolte as new VP, completing term of David Biggam, who will continue as Council Member at Large. The congregation elected Sara Gross and Peter Overvold to attend Oregon Synod Meeting in Eugene May 18-20. Paul went over the accomplishments and the turmoil that we experienced in 2006.

In closing, kudos to Paul, who has taken Creator through all the accomplishments and turmoil with strong faith and leadership.