October 28th - Reformation Sunday

Reformation Sunday. A holy day. Pastor Dayle taped the 95 Theses on our church door in remembrance of the 490th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

This was also the day for the 9th Graders Affirmation of Baptism. Kate, Jakob, Maggie, Nathan, and Angela made public affirmation of their Baptism at the second service.

It was a music-filled service. The choir sang two pieces, All Are Welcome and God Is Our Refuge and Strength. The congregation joined in on both. The choir also learned Grace Alone and For By Grace You Have Been Saved to insure the congregational singing would be confident on these songs and it was.

Toni gave a stewardship talk introducing this year’s Time and Talents sheets and our Pledge cards. As she talked about Creator’s importance in her family’s life she mentioned how their decision to join Creator was because it was a close local church. She then remarked that the smallest decisions can become the most monumental. I understood exactly what she meant in that reflection and my membership at Creator also came about because of a small decision.

During the Adult Education we discussed the series How Lutherans Interpret The Bible. There were questions about which other denominations viewed the Bible in the way Lutherans do and Pastor Dayle answered most mainline churches. We talked about how the church viewed the writings of Martin Luther in the churches constant reformation.

Pastor Dayle talked about a public apology the ELCA made in 1994 which publicly rejected Luther's anti-Semitic writings, saying "We who bear his name and heritage must acknowledge with pain the anti-Judaic diatribes contained in Luther's later writings. We reject this violent invective as did many of his companions in the sixteenth century, and we are moved to deep and abiding sorrow at its tragic effects on later generations of Jews."

This brought home for me the importance of continuing reformation and owning church history. We sang Martin Luther's hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God within the piece God Is Our Refuge and Strength. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God is a hymn I learned so early in my childhood I remember not knowing what many of the words meant. What comes to us from Martin Luther are writings and thoughts we decide to embrace or reject.

Martin Luther, as Pastor Dayle reminded us, first only wanted to discuss the questions he nailed to the door of Castle church. We may not realize how important it is to keep asking our questions and seeing if our answers remain the same.

October 25th, 2007 - Synod Stewardship Meeting:

Stewards of Abundance

The evening was put on by the Oregon Synod Stewardship Committee to speak to stewardship beyond the local level and share some facts about how stewardship money is used.

Pastor Dayle opened the meeting with reflections on Fiddler on the Roof, which she had just seen again after the Harvest Party the night before. She pointed out how the main character balanced what we balance as the church: tradition, scripture and community. I am currently reading Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change and it was refreshing to get confirmation our church and the ELCA has been doing for a long time the kind of Christianity McLaren espouses and not what he indicts.

After Pastor Dayle’s welcome Becky, a member of the Stewardship Committee, kept us moving around the room by asking how we would respond to questions from 1 to 10. 10 meant doing well and 1 was clueless and we voted with our feet moving from one side of the Fellowship Hall to the other based on how we felt.

The questions were about how well the churches we represented were doing our ministry; how well the synod was doing its ministry and how well the synod could do given the right circumstances. This activity gave us all something to think about when we returned to our chairs.

I don’t know need to quote Bishop Dave’s presentation for this meeting. It is on the Oregon Synod website:

http://www.oregonsynod.org/highdesert/present/player.html

I must say I like the way he puts things together. Bishop Hanson, at last month’s Bishop’s installation quoted from the text Bishop Dave chose for the occasion - Isaiah Chapter 42:

Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:”)

and then quoted Bishop Dave on why he chose it:

“The Pacific Northwest is a creation-rich place in many ways. I dare say the first article speaks to concerns that dominate our spiritual consciousness. We receive this orientation from Native American spirituality, from the many environmental concerns that loom large in our part of the world, and simply through the natural beauty that surrounds us. The ‘sky slope’ or the ‘woods out hunting’ are articulated as many people’s church. They claim this without embarrassment or guilt. It is the Northwest.”

Capturing the reverence people do feel in the Northwest for the natural beauty here was very refreshing to hear last month.

There were seven of these synod presentations. The one at Creator was the final of the seven. It definitely inspired more concrete thoughts about the support we give to the larger church.

October 24th, 2007 - Harvest Festival and Choir

The Harvest Festival at Creator is a party for children with many adults taking the opportunity to dress as farmers, nuns, Raggedy Ann, soldiers, motor bikers and other ingenious costumes. The kid’s costumes were even more varied and well-thought out. I arrived at the height of the festivities. There were many activities from golf to “flubber” making. Paul was pressing fresh apple juice. Everyone was having a great time.

The choir scheduled a quick rehearsal afterwards to go over the music for next Sunday. All Are Welcome continues to be a problem for some members because of the odd page turns the music forces you to make. We ran through God is Our Refuge And Strength and two other pieces of music that will be part of Sunday service.

Some choir members were a little uncertain and thought that we should rehearse them more but we should be ready for Sunday.

October 21st, 2007 - Episcopal / Lutheran Evening Service


I’ll bet have had the feeling or been in this mood. This was my third worship service of the day. There was a by-the-numbers quality to it that I wasn't feeling comfortable with at all. The same music was planned with a different liturgy and sermon than the morning services. Still it was our sophomore outing. The service did not begin with that ”What will happen?” question that was in most people’s mind the first time we worshipped together.

I was preoccupied by work which I had just completed. It was not a state for good worship. Then Reverend Julie, bless her, asked us to add a song that we hadn’t had a chance to practice for the Children’s Time and for the Sending called David's Song.

The musicians and congegation were still warming to the spirit of the song, that had a feel of Jewish celebration music to it and Reverend Julie began dancing when the lyrics of the song described dancing. She played the tambourine and the whole energy of the service lifted to another place for me.

It moved me out of my previous state of mind and I was able to listen the Pastor Dayle’s new sermon for the evening. She preached using the same gospel but offered different stories and examples. She was being cognizant of inclusion as she spoke about the widow and the unjust judge.

I appreciated what Pastor Dayle preached. She asked about justice for undocumented immigrants, for gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. To the latter she noted Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson’s voice was heard near and far. A gay priest in a committed relationship is now a bishop and how it has caused waves throughout the whole Anglican world.

"Justice usually causes waves!" she remarked and then gave an example of the ELCA, last summer taking a baby step when our bishops were counseled to refrain from disciplining gay and lesbian clergy who are in committed relationships. She pointed out that there are many voices crying out for justice. Sometimes we are those voices and sometimes we are the unjust judge who does not want to take the time to hear,

As the service concluded I wondered what the next steps are in our joint journey with Holy Family. The next activity with them is the Harvest Festival.

October 21st, 2007 - Persistence and Encouragement / Debi's Stewardship Temple Talk / Sunday Services / How Lutherans Interpret the Bible & El Salvador

This Sunday Pastor Dayle’s preached on the power of persistence and encouragement. Debi, in her stewardship talk this morning, talked about a decision to reset her priorities and to center her time and treasure on Creator, a place that plants seeds of hope, a place where hope dwells.

There is a powerful love the world that is expressed here. God shines through thoughts and actions in our congregation as is the case in so many times and in so many places. Sometimes our piety appears a bit naïve. At times I pray it remains naïve.

We watched Luke’s El Salvador presentation after the services. The stories and pictures of the government’s repression of the peasants were hard to watch. Debi talked about a hope among those people she and the group who traveled from El Salvador had witnessed that astonished them.

At the first service during the Children’s Time Pastor Dayle asked the children to think about the people who encourage them at times they are sad and frustrated in their lives. She wanted them to give those people a hug. At the second service there was a puppet show of the gospel parable about the widow and the unjust judge. The puppets were different animal characters. The widow was portrayed by a “black widow” spider. It was quite entertaining.

Pastor Dayle referenced the Living Faithfully event in her sermon, in particular a song Marty Haugen taught the hundred and a half people participating called Bambabela . There were so many spirit-filled moments I did not describe at Living Faithfully. The elation of singing this song, with apparently simple direction from Haugen, learned without music, was incredible. An equivalent would be singing a Paul Simon song off Graceland with those learning the song doing the Lady Blacksmith Mambazo a cappella singing.

Bambabela is a South African word that means “hold on”, cleave to or cling to, hang on… The story Haugen told at Living Faithfully was that it was the chant sung on a train or street car that was so full of people they were hanging out the sides. Those inside the train chanted “bambalela” hold on, to those on the sides. He taught us both the African words and his English translation “Never Give Up”.

In the Adult Education we watched the last part of Powell’s How Lutherans Interpret the Bible. This was the part that I vividly remembered from the first time it was shown. Here we were introduced to polyvalence – a technical term used in Part 4 of the series that simply means scripture can have more than one meaning to people.

One of the examples used was the Parable of the Prodigal Son. When asked what reduced the younger son to tending the pigs and starving, most Americans answer “He squandered his inheritance”. Ask an African and the response was, “Because no one is feeding him, the locals do not know how to help foreigners” and asking a Russian the likely answer would be, “There was a famine in the land.” All these are details that are given in the story as factors that contributed to the son's destitution. Culturally we pick up on diffferent details that are significant to us.

October 18th, 2007 – Council Meeting, Hearing Faith Statements, RIC presentation, New Council member

The chairs were set in a circle in the Fellowship Hall. Those who were about to affirm their baptisms together with their family, friends and council members listened while each read their individual faith statements, filled with trust and the love of God.

Each was unique. Some affirmed what they had learned about God, others described disappointment and renewed belief. The depth was amazing.

This was my first chance, as a council member, to listen to faith statements. Another, more spiritual, dimension of what it means to be on council was reinforced. There is business and monthly activity that can take a large share of meeting time. I was told by council members in the past about listening to these statements. I still wasn’t quite expecting the impact the presentations made.

Next Paul and Karen Jolly, representatives from Lutherans Concerned in North America, made a presentation on the Reconciling in Christ program which seeks to make clear the policy of churches where all people are welcome as full members, regardless of their sexual orientation, their gender identity or that of their children, siblings or friends. Creator is considering becoming a RIC congregation.

Karen told the story of when their daughter let them know she was a lesbian. Their daughter afterwards warned, “Now that you know, you will be in the closet.” Karen said she quickly experienced the truth of that statement. They quickly changed churches because they couldn’t worship where they felt a need to hide this about their daughter.

In a nutshell, that is what being RIC entails. There is an Affirmation of Welcome that is a sign that this is a congregation where you shouldn’t need to worry and hide things about you or your family that might have marginalized you in the past.

After that Vaune was voted in as our newest council member, replacing Scott who resigned. She is a welcome addition to council with her balance of humor (which is an essential attribute for our council members) and level-headedness. Her commitment to Creator is inspiring. Combining her musical gifts with those we already have on council we just may end up forming a musical group offshoot called. Is the name The Creator Council taken?

Considering all the “non-business” pieces of the council meeting Susan led us through a meeting that did not last later than usual. We talked about finances. September came in much better than we anticipated, likely due to the temple talks that people like Pastor Dayle, Susan, Joel and Larry have made. The toughest budget decisions are to come and hopefully, I might say as always, the congregation will rise to the financial challenge.

We closed in prayer and I believe it would have been hard not to leave feeling energized by all the evening's activities.

October 17th, 2007 – Book Discussion and Choir (Being led by the nose)

In our second meeting for the book discussion we had a good exchange and thought-provoking conversation about The Secret Message of Jesus. We talked about Part 2.

Greg pointed out the number of times McLaren used “what if” to preface one of his proposals. It is a way to bypass disagreement and makes it difficult to know what he is truly proposing. We also talked about the way McLaren wrote about parables and how he used the label “parable” somewhat interchangeably with “story” or “fiction”. Most of the group felt a parable was not simply a story or fiction and that the so-called "parable" of the newspaper reporter was simply a story.

Mary asked about the title and whether we now knew a secret about the message of Jesus. Her point was that we probably already knew what was in the book. The closest answer the group gave was in the conversation McLaren had at the Chinese restaurant when he was asked, “What is the gospel about?” and instead of his answer about justification by grace through faith he was told it was “The kingdom of God is at hand”. We still expressed some misgivings about the title that we talked about last week.

This sounds like we were cold on the book but that is not true. The book is encouraging, and challenging. There are many times you wish you were talking with McLaren to clarify what he is proposing. He talks about Jesus being deliberately provocative in the parables and what he preached. This book forces the reader to re-examine Jesus and doctrine and, I believe, the author hopes that through that re-examination the book inspires new action.

As in our last discussion the video series, How Lutherans Interpret the Bible, was referenced. It gives us common ground to talk about the ideas that are being presented in both the book and by the series.

Debi talked about how The Secret Message of Jesus affected her by relating one of her stories about El Salvador. Essentially she found not just a lack of anger towards people who are repressing them. The people she met there embraced those they might regard as enemies and she attributed it to a different understanding they have of Jesus and what he taught.

For her this was exemplified by Oscar Romero and the hope he gave with the Christian message. He stood up for those in poverty in El Salvador. As a result he was shot to death in 1980 while celebrating Mass after he gave a sermon in which he called on Salvadoran soldiers, as Christians, to obey God's higher order and to stop carrying out the government's repression and violations of basic human rights.

She talked about Romero's life and stand for justice being a message of hope. Those he stood up for took it to heart. She felt that same message reading this book and, obviously she is not alone. The hope is that we respond more to the untamed, revolutionary vision Jesus often seems to reveal with his parables of kingdom of God.

We decided three weeks from now we split our discussion of Part 3 into two Wednesday discussions and define two major topics, one to center on each of the two nights.

Singing in choir is pure joy right now. We familiarized ourselves with Creator praise songs and began to work on Agnus Dei. Sharilyn attended with the express purpose of singing Agnus Dei and we know she will not be the last to join for that reason.

The highlight of the evening for me was For The Beauty of the Earth, particularly Janice and Sara’s soprano opening. We will sing it this Sunday. We are still having difficulties with temp in the last section of the song. Kelly directed us through this when the mass choir sang at the Bishop’s installation but this time he is playing piano so he suggested we watch his nose for the direction.

I'm sure Kelly is asking himself when he won't need to lead this choir by the nose.

October 14th, 2007 - Healing Service

Today worship was far more tactile and emotional than usual. We were asked to focus on the lighting of the altar candles. There was the oil for the Laying On of Hands piece of the service and, as we observed this piece, the emotional impact was profound.

Two of Kelly’s inspired pieces Quiet Our Souls and Heal Us, guided us to a devotional place in our hearts as the members of the congregation knelt at the altar or laid there hands on someone in support. As we watched the prayers, the anointing and the laying on of hands, the power of how the participants were affected was clear.

Communion was special today after attending the Living Faithfully workshop and in the knowledge this was a healing service. At one point in the workshop there was an emphasis on that, during communion we received not only the bread as Jesus’ body but the brokenness of that body as well. We become what we receive. That became an emotional truth during communion. Kneeling at the communion rails changed communion as well. When we look up instead of ahead as we usually do, it changes perspective in more ways than one.

We continued the video series How Lutherans Interpret the Bible during the Adult Education hour. The discussion was of the binding and loosing of scripture as is referenced in Matthew 16:19; 18:18:

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Powell demonstrates that applying scripture is tricky and that we all do it in some fashion.

Take for instance the Bible’s teaching, "Thou shalt not kill." It’s obvious this applies to outright premeditated murder, but does it also apply to war? Does it apply to killing in self defense? How about abortion? How about capital punishment? Who determines when what the Bible says on these things is to be followed or not?

I didn’t remember this third part of the lecture from the time we first experienced it but this has been much more in my thoughts recently and the idea of binding and loosing of scripture now seems to me where law and compassion must be balanced as we think of the verses from Matthew above.

October 12th - 13th, 2007 - Living Faithfully

The Oregon Synod has organized and presented Living Faithfully events for the past 8 years. Each was centered on an attribute that builds faith, namely; prayer, study, worship, service, invitation, giving, and the theme of this year’s event, encouragement.

This year’s Living Faithfully started at 1:00 Friday afternoon and ended 3:30 Saturday afternoon. There were Creator members who attended both day. I spent most of my time with Eileen, Nita and Pastor Dayle but I was able to say hello to Paul, Debi, Stephanie, Luke and Sara between work shops and the other events. Paul and Debi knew many of the attendees from past churches they had attended and Nita introduced me from the Women of the ELCA event she attended last week at Jantzen Beach Red Lion.

We gathered to learn about encouragement, to encourage each other, to prepare for worship and to worship. I have taken part in other synod and cluster events as well as past.Living Faithfully events. The participants I meet at Living Faithfully are a unique group. Predominantly they are deeply engaged lay members, together with pastors and synod leaders.

I’m sure everyone was spiritually drawn to, or inspired by, different parts of the event. For me, the Worship and Music workshop on Saturday was special. We tasked with working on the music and the Prayers of Intercession for the worship on Saturday afternoon that would close the event. Marty Haugen and Susan Briehl, the keynote speakers this year, divided the workshop into two sections to accomplish those tasks after their presentation.

The presentation before the work that needed to be done left us 30 minutes of work time. We faced a daunting task of group writing 3 occasional verses to the tune of In The Singing with lyrics taken from one of the day's readings that Bishop Dave was preaching on, 2 Timothy 2:8-15. The group wrote a verse and a half in that time. We were given homework to write another verse. Taking up that challenge my verse was used after a brief collaboration with Mr. Haugen:

In our suffering, in our hardships,
Tempted to forget the chosen;
We remember that the gospel
Moves unchained through Christ’s salvation.

Not a verse that will likely endure but it fit the occasion and it was used. How Marty Haugen simplified the words by grafting a piece of the half verse the group composed impressed me. He said writing occasional verse was all about the deadline and syllable count. Of course he is steeped in the doctrinal correctness of the lyrics. I'm usually thinking someone is going to shake their head and exclaim "You think we believe that!"

The part of Living Faithfully that was open to the public on Friday evening was Songs and Poems of Encouragement. Bishop Dave captured the beauty of the event in his sermon Saturday when he said that singing Marty Haugen music, with Haugen performing, is to know that he is touched by God. Bishop Dave also remarked that Susan Briehl, with each poem she read, would pause for a moment and find the poet’s voice within her. She read from Denise Levertov and a number of other poets. We were touched by the poetry and, with the music, we sang for the moment. We also sang to practice for the Saturday worship.

Saturday morning I chose to attend, after the keynote talk, to experience Turn My Heart: A Sacred Journey. It dealt with individual sorrow, loss and brokenness. There was an aspect of public brokenness where this workshop/liturgy moved into lamentation. There were stories about Christian response to 9/11 and how lamentation moves us to God.

Throughout the event I enjoyed my conversations with Eileen and Nita. Not to complain but it is hard to for me to connect after the services and I apologize for that. The “exit music” needs to be played or a chore or two needs to be done and then everyone in the narthex is already involved and talking. This was the perfect opportunity to catch up with Eileen and Nita and we three took advantage of it.

The Saturday service that ended the event used an evening setting of Holy Communion called Unfailing Light By Marty Haugen and Susan Briehl. There is something about worship that you have contributed to and anticipated that moves the effect of the service to a new level.

I was also impressed with Bishop Dave’s sermon. Beyond what I have already quoted he read some of his poetry. I don’t know what to make of this but there was an Augsburg Fortress book display in the narthex. One of the first books I picked up as I waited for the first workshop was Luther’s Wit. I opened to a passage describing how Luther went through the Bible looking for verses where God laughs and Luther found only one, Psalms 2:4.

I wrote this as the first entry in my notes about the event to remember this. It was this psalm that Bishop Dave chose to rewrite using his own poetic skills. He quoted it in his sermon that was about 2 Timothy.

I don't know what to make of it beyond how it beautifully tied the ending event of Living Faithfully back with the beginning for me.

I knew Living Faithfully would change my experience of Sunday worship, but that is another blog entry.

October 10, 2007 – Monday Hunger Awareness, Wednesday Book Discussion and Choir

There have been many downs and ups this week for me and the week is not over.

Our Hunger Awareness team meeting was on Monday. I must and will apologize to the rest of team for focusing that evening on what others could do and not on what was possible for me to do.

We typically have energetic meetings but Monday’s was not. There was a team consensus that given the team size we couldn’t do justice to new projects. Since we don’t need to meet monthly about the OFB donations effort, we agreed to meet every three months.

Is there a natural cycle for a team of volunteers? There were highlights for the Hunger Awareness effort this year at Creator but I wasn’t expressing thankfulness but basically wondered if there will be new people who sign up for the team when the Time and Talent sheets get turned in next month. Would new team members shake us up?

The consensus decision was a retreat for the team but perhaps that needs to happen right now.

Wednesday’s first Book discussion on Brian McLaren’s The Secret Message of Jesus had, in contrast, a high level of energetic discussion and there was an unexpected group dynamic; at least from my perspective.

There was a half an hour time constraint given 6:30 is the time Confirmation begins and 7:00 is choir practice for many participants but so much was packed into that half hour everyone agreed to starting fifteen minutes earlier to give us more time.

There were 7 of us: Greg, Shirley, Randy, Debi, Gretchen, Pat and myself. Knowing that our time was limited we plunged right into what we felt about the reading. Instantly there were books that one person would refer to that another person or more had read: God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It by Jim Wallis was one and Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller was another.

McLaren describes in the book what is widely called ‘the emerging church’. There seemed to be general agreement that our focus was more on the Bible being a human response to God rather than the only divine Word ever given to man. Also we seemed drawn as a group more to the historical and metaphorical rather than literal factual interpretation of the Bible.

Biblical interpretation brings up another touchstone the group is currently sharing during our Adult Education hour. That is the video series: Mark Allan Powell’s How Lutherans Interpret the Bible. Gretchen reported that David was hearing Powell speak during his current trip to Chicago.


There was also an enthusiasm for McLaren’s interesting use of placing you, as a contemporary reader, into the historical context of trying to figure out which of the Jewish groups that Jesus belonged to.

Among the other ‘emerging church’ interpretations McLaren explores in the first part of the book are the idea of the kingdom of God or eternal life pointing to the here and now rather than an afterlife and that there is also a public, not just a personal dimension to salvation.

Well, I could go on but there was choir practice that was no less interesting. We opened practice with a song from Agnus Dei which we will perform for Christmas. We worked more on Be Thou a Smooth Path and the music is more beautiful each time we rehearse. Kelly commented on the sound that was coming from ten voices. It was amazing (although I believe all of us are hoping more will join for the Christmas program). We also rehearsed All Are Welcome and God Is Our Refuge and Strength.

Kelly closed us in prayer and once again I felt blessed to be a part of the Creator choir.

October 7th, 2007 - End of a High School Lock In - Banjo, guitars and a trio in tight, glorious harmony - Pet Blessing

A Sunday morning for what felt like special Creator fellowship. Our gathering this morning particularly started with joy I felt seeing all the cars that were in the parking lot when I first arrived. I was surprised until I remembered the High School Lock In that started 8:00 PM the night before. Brian and Shirley greeted me when I came in, happy and a little spent with a less sleep than usual. Their reports were it was fun for all the participants.

Vaune arrived shortly afterwards to set up for the practice with Anne and Kim. The three sang two songs: Home to You by The Peasall Sisters and Martyrs and Thieves By Jennifer Knapp.

Home To You featured Vaune playing a plaintive banjo together with Annie on acoustic guitar and their now familiar soaring, tight harmonies. They also gave a very passionate, vibrant performance of Martyrs and Thieves. Their beautiful, clear vocal harmonies abounded and musical storytelling of the songs impressed everyone. The songs were inspirational, their hard work and practice was apparent.

Pastor Mark gave a thoughtful sermon about the Gospel reading about the temptation we have of asking God to give us more, make us better equipped to face life's challenges. Jesus, when the disciples asked for more faith responded that when they did something in faith they should understand this only as having done what they ought to have done.

The Pet Blessing, in rememberance of St. Francis, was popular again this year. This year we followed a printed service, sang a hymn, listed to a bible reading and prayer. It was great fun to see the different pets and see the expressions of love people gave to their pets.

October 3rd, 2007 – Called Together – Creator Choir

Last night everyone seemed to be in a social mood and there was much to talk about and catch up on.

A running joke started during the first part of practice. People arriving late or going out and coming back into the sanctuary used the right side door. To comply with fire marshal regulations to close quickly, the door makes a loud slam when it is not opened wide. Nobody opens this door wide and so the person trying to make an unobtrusive entrance makes a very noticable one. We compounded it by shouting out the name of whoever was trying to be stealthy. Disrupted practice a bit but it was fun.

Tonight we started by practicing Marty Haugen's All Are Welcome. The words and music continue to have profound impact on me since singing it during this year’s Oregon Synod RIC Sunday service which took place at Central Lutheran in January.

Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space, as we share in Christ the feast that frees us: All are welcome in this place.

Until this year for me, the lyric above in All Are Welcome referred to the church globally, in the past, present and future, revealing the love of God through action. In the context of a service centered on supporting acceptance and full participation of people of all sexual orientations and sexual identities, another meaning became evident.

God’s love, constantly being revealed in new ways, breaks down the differences and fractured relationships we draw between each other through time and in different places.

Peter Gabriel wrote a song called Not One of Us. The lyrics hit hard and capture what we find ourselves fighting against:

There is safety in numbers

When you learn to divide

How can we be in

If there is no outside?

All shades of opinion

Feed an open mind

But your values are twisted

Let us help you unwind.

You may look like we do

Talk like we do - but you know how it is

You’re not one of us

Not one of us

No you’re not one of us

The choir also tackled other pieces. We spent a good deal of time on Be Thou a Smooth Path by Ralph M. Johnson. The quiet beauty of the piece began to emerge as we became familiar with the melody, harmonies and the rhythms of the music..

Greg, Pat, Debi, and I, together with any others who want to join, are going to meet next Wednesday about half an hour before Choir to discuss Part 1 of the book The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian McLaren.

I am looking forward to that and continue to look forward to choir practices.

September 30th 2007 - Announcement from Susan, Council President

Today Susan talked about Creator’s financial situation. She was frank in confessing she was not up to date on her annual pledge and gave her reasons why. First off her concern was scarcity (not having enough money for something needed). Her second reason was that a change in her giving would not make the same difference as others who gave more.

She asked that we all help each other, including herself, to live up to our potential in being able to give to Creator.

Susan also reported we would be able to pay September mortgage and payroll expenses.

Dr. Mark Allan Powell’s video series “How do Lutherans Interpret the Bible” is being presented during the Adult Education hour. This was well received when it was shown two years ago. His presentation is thought provoking and provides a firm, definitional foundation for how Lutherans interpret the Bible in ways that may be different from how other Christians view the Bible.

What I like best in his presentation was a differentiation in the answer to a question “Do you believe everything in the Bible is true?”. The differentiation was to say “What is literal I believe to be literally true, what is metaphorical I believe is true metaphorically. He gave as an example “The Lord is my shepherd”. He believed in that metaphorically but not literally or I would literally have to think of myself as a sheep.

Powell laid out that Lutherans believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, not the inerrant.

Later on Sunday evening Nita invited Mary and I to a church that is presenting a series called “Out of Thin Air” which refutes the theory of evolution and Darwin. Currently this seems to be a pivotal issue that is more divisive now with people I know and respect than I remember growing up.

At issue for many is whether God is the evident, driving force of creation or is not needed to explain the process.

One thing Dr. Powell talked about was that Lutherans want to be in dialogue with those who don’t share their interpretation of the Bible to arrive at agreement. I felt like I wanted to get into dialogue after “Out of Thin Air”. In the end, I am interested in the arguments but creationism as science doesn’t answer process questions well.

I also feel like I want to get into dialogue with scientists like Richard Dawkins, who wants to rid the world of religion (see comments from last Sunday for more on Dawkins) because religious teachings are not rational.

From my perspective, there appears to be strength in each view that compliments one another as much as they conflict. Dr. Powell stressed Lutherans see the Bible as a "Jesus book" and not as a science book. This way of thinking about Biblical truth allows the focus to come back to those strengths.