September 23rd, 2007 – Sunday Services

Pastor Dayle, after the announcements, spoke in both services about what came up at last Thursday’s council meeting. We are $7,000 short of making payroll for the month.

We want and need to step up our pledged giving for this year. At the council meeting short and long term solutions were discussed but the shortfall is upon us. There are two Sundays to give the $7,000 needed. Executive Council will meet this week and the leadership is focused on gearing our expenses to fall within our means as a church and to find the dollar amount of the budget that defines our means.

Pastor Fred gave the sermon today. The topic of the sermon was God Will Provide. During Children’s Time there were many laughs as Pastor Fred showed the kid’s some M&Ms he had and immediately ate. When he shared the M&M’s older kids were scooting up the aisles into the group.

As I listened to Pastor Fred's sermon I thought about the variety of sermons we receive from the Pastors tied to this congregation.

Pastor Fred's sermons take their strength in the great Lutheran tradition. He provides story and humourous anecdote to make his point. There is laughter and reflection after his sermons and he makes a strong connection with all ages in the congregation.

When I listen to Reverend Al's sermons I feel I am comparing notes with a fellow sojourner on the way. Al has a passion for honesty and reveals pieces of ourselves that can be hard to look at.

Pastor Mark impresses me with his courage to go with the spirit and tie his insights with the physical environment. The toy lamb was a recent example and I still remember one of his first sermons on the circle around the altar. He said when our communion rails were up that they are in the semi circle he is used to seeing in Lutheran churches. He let us know this was not by accident but by design. It is actually a circle for the communion of saints and that we do not see the complete circle in the physical world but through faith. This is another layer to we can take to the Lord’s Supper each week. That thought sticks with me during communion.

Finally Pastor Dayle's sermons always seem to accurately reflect the where we are as a congregation and she often preaches about our future. Her emphasis on social justice and God's love is persistent and clear.

All our pastors contribute greatly to Creator's understanding of the good news and challenge us to spread the gospel.

Today, to emphasize all we are doing at Creator there was a Ministry Fair between services. Toni organized it as a tour “Through the Heart of Creator, Adventures in Ministry”. Three guides led groups through the sanctuary, the maintenance area and to various tables to find out what the various Creator ministries do.

On the Italian porch Mary and I worked on the Outreach table and we talked about OFB donations and made people aware of the other outreach efforts going on at Creator. Nancy gave details about Backpack Buddies. Larry let the groups know about Fellowship and Joel went into detail about the Blessings Auction.

There is so much dependence we have on one another to support all the work in the various ministries. There is that same dependence for monetary contributions. There were lines in this week’s Sending Song that we sang both at the Bishop’s Installation and at our Sunday services that resonated all this weekend for me:

The Lord now sends us forth with hands to serve and give, to make of all the earth, a better place to live.

The angels are not sent into our world of pain to do what we were meant to do in Jesus’ name; that falls to you and me and all who are made free.

September 22, 2007 – Installation of Rev. David Brauer-Rieke as Bishop of the Oregon Synod

Nita, Mary and I arrived for the Mass Choir rehearsal at the Chiles Center at University of Portland about 9:30 this morning.

The space was still not yet complete in all details at that moment but there was a painting hung for the space that took our breath away. It was He Qi’s Supper at Emmaus.

Unlike the painting posted here, the primary colors were red. It was, coincidentally, in keeping with the color of the event. The images were evocative. An androgynous Christ figure is part of the table with the wine and fish that are offered to the others. The disciples are transformed as they partake of this food and become part of the table / Christ lines as well. This art hung above the altar and allowed a profound meditation on the event.

Creator members who know Pastor Dayle’s passion and style for providing meaningful and inviting worship space could see her hand many places in the planning and use of Chiles Center.

Kelly led the choir rehearsal of John Rutter's For The Beauty of the Earth. I ended up sitting and standing with separate groups of singers and felt a pride when so many marveled at Kelly’s talent for leading the choir. That is not to mention Luke and his sweet, stately piano accompaniment. It was a great joy to sing with their lead and so many other choir members.

Back to Pastor Dayle's contributions, she also created some banner streamers I feel will likely show up at Creator worship. Toni, Jim (not a Creator member), Sara and I waved them during the procession. They were dramatic and made “extravagant” use of the space.

Extravagance was a word that reoccurred in Bishop Mark Hanson’s sermon. He talked about the extravagance of God shown in the parable of the Sower, throwing seed everywhere and then working the good soil. He changed Bishop Dave to an evangelism marked by perseverance, defiance, patience and extravagance.

I pray for God to give you clarity, courage and humility to hear the Good News, to proclaim it and to lead...

Bishop Hanson spoke in high praise of the Northwest after quoting a sincere statement Bishop Dave sent him about why he had chosen the particular readings for this service. He talked about the environment and how Oregonians understand the natural beauty around them leads them to worship an that this comes from the same spiritual roots as native Americans.

I was impressed with our new Bishop's insights and words. I understood he had collaborated with as a poet with a painter on a work called Creation Cabal and after what Bishop Hanson quoted of his writing I wanted to read his poetry.

Most of the liturgical music was from the new ELW and a small ensemble, where Kelly played guitar, gave it a depth and beauty that collapsed the feeling of the huge room to one of initimate worship. Bishop Dave's daughter Clare sang lead on Taste and See and she gave yet another dimension to the worship with her beautiful, clear voice.

There were some 800 people who attended, with 150 ministers wearing white robes with red stoles. There were many Creator members in attendance.

At an event like this there is a deepening of relationship as well with those in the Synod who become familiar faces from Cluster and Synod events. The cookies, juice, and conversation outside afterwards relaxed many who were there and the blue skies and mild temperature on this last of day of summer just made it that much better.

A special day to celebrate.

September 16th, 2007 – God changing God’s Mind

The music at both worship services felt energetic and exuberant; a joyful sound. For second service David, Kelly, Kim and I led the African American setting with the performance of a few familiar hymns.

The sermon reminded me about what draws me to worship. Pastor Mark tackled the First Reading from Exodus 32:14:

And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring his people.

This is a tough verse on a couple of scores. First off, that God plans to bring disaster to his people is difficult to square with our conception of a loving God. And when we reconcile ourselves to that difficulty we come to concept of an all-powerful, all-knowing God changing God’s mind.

Pastor Mark admitted he did not feel any more comfortable giving his sermon on this text than we might have in listening to what he had to preach. Yet he had the courage to continue and had faith that this was important for us to hear. It felt like Pastor Mark was compelled to move beyond his level of comfort to preach from some deep inspiration.

And that was and is important. Discomfort at what we don’t understand provides an opportunity to place the creative energy of the community to work on a solution. Pastor Mark offered the solution that God has the ability and has chosen to be self-limiting. God does this for relational reasons, to allow free will.

Another moving piece of worship was how Pastor Mark during Children's Time stressed the lost sheep in the Gospel reading. He looked around the sanctuary for a lost sheep and finally "found" a stuffed toy lamb that, when pressed, sang Jesus Loves Me. The congregation sang the song together and there was something special in that moment that drew us all together.

In Adult Education Al Miller guided us through a community Bible Study of the Gospel reading Luke 15:1-10 about the shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to find the one and the woman who searches for one coin lost out of the ten. It was a tough choice between this and the Men's Group led by Paul meeting that also met between services.

Al stressed the community aspect of the Adult Education hour. I was reminded of how much Creator is opening not only to itself but to the larger community. There are programs like Backpack Buddies, Habitat for Humanity, OFB Work Days, joint worship with Holy Family Episcopal, Red Cross Blood Drives, supporting a refugee family, walks/biking to support research for diseases, taking a major part in the Installation of Bishop Brauer-Rieke among a number of other projects where the congregation volunteer their support with their time and talents. Several years ago many expressed the desire for the church to be more involved in community and now we have seen a great flowering from that seed.

In the afternoon there was a choir rehearsal for our Bishop's Installation that happens next week. As usual, Kelly used our time to good advantage and quickly identified and corrected the troublesome passages. It demonstrated a dedication and faithfulness that there were singers who will participate on Saturday from Albany and Newport who attended the rehearsal.

Seeing individuals in the Synod in worship on Saturday for the Bishop will be another community building event. It looks like Creator will be well represented.

September 9th, 2007 – Rally Day: Beginning two Worship services again and the Education Hour.

I once heard an interview with the novelist Jeanette Winterson where she described how her evangelically religious mother taught her to embroider a sampler with the sentence, The summer is nearly over and we are not yet saved. Not that it reflects what I believe, but that sentence comes back to me each September.

Pastor Dayle wrote about how, whether or not we are still in school, September marks a beginning month in our lives and a time to reflect on the eventfulness of our summer and assess the achievements of the year.

Yes, Rally Day is certainly not a festival of the church year but it comes around predictably each year.

Sunday worship and between worships was an opportunity for us to celebrate the importance of learning for faith formation and spiritual enrichment for adults and children. There was a Sunday School Staff Installation at each service and a formal kickoff between services. Kelly exuberantly led the entire group a couple of songs and then adults stayed in the sanctuary while everyone else went to other rooms for the hour.

Helping to plan Adult Education has given me a perspective on the amount of behind-the-scenes work there is above and beyond the actual teaching commitment that is made each year. The care and concern overwhelmed me at the Adult Education meeting I attended last week. There is fundamental community building and volunteer coordination that was impressive. Creator attracts many who are deeply involved in education as a career, vocation or as volunteers so this is not unexpected.

Teresa led the adults in talking with one another and announced what was planned for Adult Education through December. There is so often something that comes up for me in that hour.

This last time it was in a conversation with Gladys who, I found out during Adult Education, remembered my first time attending Creator worship and detailed that memory. It was something that surprised me and it made an impression that she should remember that as clearly she did.

Back to Teresa, she has a vision of constantly remaking Adult Education to be as meaningful to the participants as possible and has done a great job pulling the resources and people together to do just that.

There is a palpable energy around the new way Sunday school is organized as well. We are looking forward to seeing how this manifests itself this year

September 7th, 2007 - LCNA meeting

It is fascinating to see how relationships, how groups and communities are formed. The Lutherans Concerned North America, at least the Portland Chapter, does this extremely well. Before the meeting everyone was talking with someone else, wrapped up in finding out more about one another and catching up on what everybody had been up to.

Many people were lamenting how quickly the end of summer was coming. In a conversation I was having with Gene and Joan, Joan said she had heard that if you plan and do eight memorable activities over a summer it will stay in your memory as a summer that did not just slip by.

This was not a summer that will just slip by for many in the LCNA. A majority of this meeting was worship with memories of the Churchwide Assembly in Chicago recounted as part of the service. We began by singing All Are Welcome. The Haugen piece connected this with last January’s powerful RIC Sunday worship service that moved and inspired so many I am coming to know.

Jim Morrell’s stories of this summer’s struggles and reconciliations in Chicago quickly connected with the group. He was one of three voting members attending the meeting tonight. He began by having the voting members stand, then the volunteers and those who supported through prayer and by being part of the Goodsoil prayer vigil. Everyone was standing in the end.

Many who were in Chicago at the meeting went to the Goodsoil Worship on August 8th and revealed the wonder of that shared experience. It was not an official Churchwide Assembly event and still over 650 people attended and Bradley Schmeling preached.

For many Chicago showed an early sign of a shift from the past in the church. Many, like Jules, have been involved in this struggle for over three decades and tonight he recalled a story about someone telling him how God looks for holy impatience at times.

After the memories, the service ended in prayer.

There was more fellowship, a little business and additional conversations after that. The mission and ministry was in the air, together with the care and respect the members appear to have for one another. I don’t know if it is the nature of who these participants are at their core but there is no exclusion or feeling of being an outsider. I have attended only one other meeting but there was only invitation at each meeting before, during and after.

During worship we drew "heartstones" with words to reflect on as we lit candles. The word on mine was recovery. I could have looked the meaning for recovery in the book but, for me, it was about needing to find again something that was precious.

There is a Walt Whitman quote from Leaves of Grass I thought of during and after this meeting. I also thought about this quote after the last Creator worship I attended and during a meeting for planning Adult Education last Wednesday. Since this is from the poem Song of the Open Road I used to think of the travel as being much more literal than I do now:

Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? Will you travel with me?
Shall we stick to each other as long as we live?