February 24th, 2008 - Pastor Mark's Farewell Sunday


Our transition after Pastor Mark's resignation continued with Pastor Mark’s last and farewell Sunday.

Pastor Mark’s sermon centered on the Gospel reading John 4, which is about Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.

Mark cited the gospel to speak to how Jesus recognized the common bond we share as children of God. Pastor Mark went on to describe how Jesus spoke truth to the woman and what a special gift that can be, how love is a gift God pours into our hearts and how meaningful sharing small acts of love can be. He spoke of how there are gifts given by the spirit that all help us to live in everlasting life.

Many things were tied into this sermon. Pastor Mark wove together his sermon from last Sunday on life everlasting, his farewell to the congregation and the lessons for the day. We will miss this gift he brought to Creator as well as others.

The worship services ended with a Litany of Farewell where the congregation joined with Pastor Mark in an acknowledgement that Pastor Mark was leaving. There was a confession-like request for forgiveness for any mistakes or shortcomings we may have made and then there was a recognition of the ministry we shared during Pastor Mark’s time here.

There was a gathering and cake after the second service.

February 17th, 2008 - Reasons to Come to Church

Pastor Mark gave the sermon this Sunday while Pastor Dayle was in Arizona with family.

His sermon began with a question, “For what reason do we come to church?” Pastor Mark cited statistics and practical benefits to answer the question, answers that did not necessarily center on belief in God. From here, however, he moved quickly to belief in God and our private and shared inquiries into the nature of God.

He preached about how God can speak directly to us, through people, through messengers, through God’s word and in dreams.

After college and before seminary Pastor Mark had an experience where God spoke directly to him in a dream which was to prepare him to go into seminary and to be a pastor. It centered on John 3:16, the last verse of today’s gospel lesson.

He dreamed he was in a small church with a pastor-like figure in front of a congregation. Pastor Mark was seated in the front and was called up and given a question “What are the two most important words in John 3:16?”

As he attempted to answer the question, thinking through the possibilities, the church melted away and he was on a mountain top. From here there was an incredible view of trees and instantly he saw the colors of the trees change, cycling through the seasons.

After this vision, Pastor Mark’s dream continued and he was back in the church. As he gazed into the pastor-like figure’s eyes which focused on him directly and compassionately he found the answer to the question was “everlasting life”.

Pastor Mark prefaced this with an observation that we, on the whole, do not freely share experiences of direct communications with God like this. From my experience he is right. I once considered asking for and gathering direct God experiences like this to share but there is a level of discomfort and reluctance in communicating personal, mystical moments. Not so much in a mystical experience itself but in how and with whom you reveal the experience.

It may have something to do with our concern about defining and separating ourselves from one another. God speaks to one and perhaps not another. Do we have faith in the source of these communications / visions? All this may have to do with a rational, sense-based view of the world we are comfortable communicating with publicly as opposed to another vision rooted in personal faith which demands more in our faith and in our shared vision of God within us.

In Adult Education Paul led the discussion. We talked about the parable of the talents. Paul shared a story he has shared before about a conversation with a man in Mexico in which each shared what their typical day was like with one another. Both felt sorry for the other and the life they lived, Paul from what little the man had in his life and the man for all the busy tasks and preoccupations Paul faced in his life.

All of us talked about being more focused on relationships in our lives rather than what we had focused on earlier in our lives.

Our relationships to one another certainly teach us about God.

February 13th, 2008 – Called to Living Water

What calls us to Wednesday worship? To the soup and bread before worship? To the choir practice afterward?

Paster Dayle, in her reflection tonight, said we remember God, listen to the scripture, we pray, draw from the wells of salvation (as the reading from Isaiah reminds us) and become part of God’s healing river. We both desire and fear new birth. The verses in Isaiah 12 are words of a worshipper who is secure in his knowledge of what happens when you trust God.

We were invited to pray around the cross and we were invited to the prayer corner during worship. For me, prayer did not come easy tonight. I had many internal distractions I did not rise above. Through the liturgy the words “washing away the selfish self-serving signs of my sinfulness” were on my lips, written in a litany, it was easier said than done.

Tonight sharing the peace was an important part of our worship. It may have been for others as well. It was longer than usual. More of us stayed in the sanctuary for conversation and simply acknowledging one another rather than moving into the narthex. The trays of water where we floated the lit candles around the cross took longer to clean up so choir had a late start.

We practiced two songs in choir, Shall We Gather at the River and Jesus Met the Woman at Well.

Dynamics are important to both pieces. The changed church configuration and where the cross is placed is making us change where we will sing Shall We Gather on an upcoming Wednesday service. It was surprising how much difference it made to be across the room from the piano.

Choir will be singing Wednesday services rather than Sundays for upcoming performances. I am looking forward to those evenings.

February 10th, 2008 - Pastor Mark's Resignation Announced / Prayer Corner for Lent

During and after the council retreat there was concern around Sunday worship and the Adult Ed where we would discuss with the congregation their reaction to Pastor Mark’s resignation.

Some anxiety lightened before worship started. Pastor Mark read the opening paragraph of his letter of resignation. In the service a brokenness was made evident and acknowledged, so was a path to address it. Both Pastor Mark and Pastor Dayle made the sign of the cross on one another's forehead and spoke Confession and Forgiveness together.

The liturgy today was David's. His Kyrie communicated part of the underlying plea shared by those in the space. There was a fragile beauty, a request for mercy; to help, save and protect us, that was expressed from a deep place of shared Holy Spirit.

Kelly’s All That I Have captured another piece of the morning's worship. In the performance the grand commitment of those lyrics to the Lord was conveyed. The emotional knowledge reached my heart in a new way. It was a commitment I saw revealed at the council retreat as well, that this music simply and deeply affirmed.

Pastor Dayle created a prayer corner for Lent. She referred to that corner in the announcements and introduced it during the Children’s Time. Each child lit a candle or had the candle lit for them.

The prayer corner was used during the service and, for me, the sense of being isolated while still in community was overpowering. Larry knelt with me and there was a new dynamic and support I could suddenly apprehend. Finally there was the "adding light to the greater light" piece that is often there when individuals light candles together.

The sermon pulled aspects of the readings (with an emphasis on the Genesis story about Adam and Eve eating from the tree of knowledge and the gospel of Matthew describing the temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness) and wove the particulars of those texts with our personal Creator story.

We associate the Adam and Eve story with original sin and the fall of man. Pastor Dayle pointed out there was no sin mentioned in these Genesis verses. Instead there were consequences for disobedience. Progression to knowledge and maturity is hard and leaves us exposed, naked and vulnerable. These are times of temptation. Evil thoughts can creep in, yet by turning to prayer, scripture and worship we can always return to know and experience that God is with us.

In talks before and between the services and Adult Ed I found members talking from shock, disappointment and anger. Many felt communicating to the congregation that there was tension in the team ministry before it completely deteriorated would have been a positive step.

This communication, they argued, would have allowed for congregational concern and their support to attempt to make an impact. For most of those I talked to, there was no sense of the broken nature of the team ministry until they read the resignation letter.

In many conversations I had this morning another common thread concerned who knew and who didn't know in these last few weeks about what was happening. Many felt something that we have struggled with before as community, a sense that there are insiders who knew what was going on and that many were left feeling like outsiders because of when they were told about the resignation.

Many in the congregation attended the Adult Ed hour to understand more about Creator's immediate decisions and plans. Susan guided the discussion. The High School youth remained with the adults and felt comfortable voicing their concerns and requests. It was acknowledged that people were in different stages of accepting the news of the Pastor Mark’s resignation and there will be different perspectives on the impact this will have on Creator.

Susan praised the High School youth and encouraged the adults to consider the knowledge and perspectives the youth could bring to both this transitional time and for the long term plans that are to follow.

There were questions and some tentative, perhaps only temporary answers. This is the beginning of something new for Creator. As Pastor Dayle said at the end of her sermon:

Leave taking is never easy. It’s a process. God will journey with us through this process. Just like God journeys with us all the days of our lives. Amen

February 9th, 2008 - "Sweet Escape" Formal Dinner Night

Greg wrote the following description of the Sweet Escape:

The Sweet Escape formal dinner certainly was a wonderful event. The youth did a great job hosting the event. Our hosts took the "formal" part seriously. Who knew they cleaned up so well?

After being greeted at the door and having tickets taken, each couple had their photograph taken. Then we entered the narthex for punch, appetizers, and general mingling. When we were ready to be seated, we were ushered to to the fellowship hall (very nicely decorated), where each couple was introduced with some good-natured ribbing provided by Taylor Carlisle. Taylor, with Kirsten Maier, would act as our emcees for the evening, and they did a bang-up job keeping it light. The music consisted of the type of songs you would expect to hear at a high school prom anytime from the 40s to the 80s.

The menu consisted of salad, followed by mesquite chicken with ravioli and vegetables, and for dessert we had a choice of chocolate mousse, or pudding, with fruit. There was bread and pistachios at each table for munching on too. Triva questions kept us occupied between courses. The table service was very efficient.

Once dinner was completed we were treated to a slide show consisting of old prom/wedding/school photos, followed by the photos taken at the beginning evening. The kids who were entertained in the youth room during the dinner joined us for this. I was impressed with how they could whip up the entire slideshow while we ate. After the slide show, those who were inspired to, or persuaded by their spouse, got some dancing in.

As we left, we were presented with some custom decorated champagne flutes as a souvenir of a great evening. You can't complain about an evening good food, conversation, and entertainment for only $30 a couple. Hopefully this will be an annual event.

February 7th, 2008 - RIC Meeting

This was Janice and Mary’s first meeting. Their insight and energy was appreciated. The word about RIC is spreading and, as more Creator members hear about the effort the more people volunteer to do something to make it happen.

We shared stories of people who felt the pain of being excluded from the church. Gretchen brought in a book unChristian by David Kinnaman. The book contains data from surveys of outsiders to Christianity (ages 18 to 29) about their perception of Christianity. The percentages showed that most saw Christians as somewhat or very anti-homosexual. A very strong reason that if we want to welcome homosexuals to worship that the welcome be explicit.

RIC Training is coming to Portland in March. This is incredible timing for us and Creator is taking advantage with a number of us already signed up. We talked about ways to spread the word on the training as well.

February 6th, 2008 – Ash Wednesday, Dusty Mortality

Bethany attended the Ash Wednesday service last year, as Pastor Dayle reminded us in her message this evening. And Pastor Dayle reminded us this is a night to “own” our mortality.

The service was, as usual, subdued. The Imposition of Ashes while Kyrie Eleison and From the Dust We Have Come was certainly the central moment of this worship. This year, it particularly reminded us of the shortness of human life. In the past I have felt that the ashes were symbolic of our need to repent and as a mark of penitence. Of course that is always true but this service seemed all about the ephermal quality of our lives.

The choir sang Out of the depths I cry to thee. There was a rising and a falling communicated in that piece that encapsulated the mood of the worship. Create In Me a Clean Heart, sung during the offering, rose with reverence and hope, Kelly’s Quiet Our Souls allowed us to sing a prayer that had a falling trajectory and still expressing our longing and trust in God.

After the service a special council meeting was called. There was one item on the agenda. Pastor Mark gave his resignation speech.

He cited as his reason that the pastoral team ministry was not a healthy, functioning team. The council was then briefed that the Executive Council had worked with Pastor Mark and Pastor Dayle on issues around team ministry and that they had accepted Pastor Mark’s resignation.

The letter of resignation he wrote to all of us has gone out to the congregation by mail. There seem to have been issues both Pastor Mark and Pastor Dayle could not work through. Mark brought up other concerns (he read his resignation letter), budget and juggling a half-time call but said in the end they would not have been problems had the team ministry been working.

Some council members were aware this was about to happen and others were taken by surprise. There was prayer and concern was expressed about the congregational reaction to the news.

There are many memories of Pastor Mark I am confident will stay with me and with Creator. His concern for the youth and the congrebation, and many pieces of his overall ministry here will not be forgotten.

February 5th, 2008 - Fat Tuesday Celebration

This is the seventh (perhaps eighth year) of David playing a traditional hot jazz concert with friends to celebrate Mardi Gras.

This year many people gave cans of food for the Oregon Food Bank and received beads in return. In many ways this evening followed a now-established tradition. It started with an assortment of chocolate delights to savor while tables answered Mari Gras trivia questions.

When the time arrived to listen to the music the audience moved into the sanctuary and all were immediately enthralled. The love of this music among the musicians was evident. There were new players but the same joy as in years past. The quintet played Indiana, Nearness of You, Sweet Georgia Brown, Rosetta and Walking My Baby Back Home among others but this year I would have to give the nod to Perfidia as being a perfect encapsulation of the musical evening. There was a balance, a humanity to the music that created a musical landscape for the audience that no one wanted to leave.

The energy was intoxicating and there were smiles on everyone’s face. You felt a musical friendship with these musicians as they took the music to a new levels with each improvisational solo. Gavin Bondy returned this year with his superb trumpet performances. Bryan Dickerson played clarinet, Kevin Dietz returned on bass, and Warren Murray played drums.

There was also the traditional burning of last year’s palms. These ashes will be used for Ash Wednesday tomorrow night.

February 3rd, 2008 – Transfiguration

Climbing the Mountain with Matthew. Last Thursday Bishop Dave gave a webinar with this title emphasizing how important mountains were to Matthew who was underscoring Jesus as the new Moses. Many of the thoughts this webinar inspired with me on this Transfiguration Sunday including the detail of a “mountain” structure to Matthew I was not aware of before. Certainly the mountain experience was an important part of the Transfiguration.

Transfiguration and transformation. Today the sanctuary had a different configuration with transformed perspectives. Behind where the altar now stands would have been a view of Mt. Hood, but the day was cloudy so the mountain could not be seen.

Both services had a Souperbowl Skit put on by the Creator Youth, a take off on A Christmas Carol with Superbowl substituting for Christmas and an Aunt who hates football replacing Scrooge. Plenty of laughs with the way the youth performed the skit with some rather zany improvisations.

Members of the Holy Family Episcopal Fellowship worshipped with us today. Meghan and Mike also participated in the Adult Education hour with Pastor Dayle (the Men’s group meet at the same time). Currently Holy Family is in a time of transition. As we studied the gospel we read it three times. One time we read it with "what the passage is currently calling us to do in our lives" in mind.

It pleasantly surprised me when Larry felt the detail of the three dwellings Peter wanted to build was a call for other fellowships to worship at Creator. Other passages had significance, as we were talking, regarding how Holy Family and Creator might move forward in ministry. Another joint planning meeting between Holy Family and Creator is currently being scheduled.

Linda discussed the “Get up and do not be afraid” passage and other pieces of the gospel. She talked about a call to live life in an immediacy that can be hard for us to do sometimes. The Adult Education sessions that have focused on Gospel readings for the past several weeks have impressed and inspired me.

Each service ended with the choir singing a benediction The Lord Bless You and Keep You. There is liturgical music that links me back to past choirs and past worship services and this is definitely one of those pieces. Singing the sevenfold amen made a deep, heart connection to individuals who were instrumental in guiding my faith.

January 30th, 2008 – Harmonious Circles

After a satisfying wrap-up of Three Cups of Tea the book discussion group began to propose alternatives for the next book to read.

Debi started with an interesting selection; The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. Will first gave a definite no until he found out it wasn’t just a diet book. The subject is the ethics of the food industry and our own in what we choose to eat. Peter Singer recently spoke at Pacific Lutheran University.

Debi also wanted to read the new Jim Wallis book The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America. Gretchen saw Wallis a night later at a book reading at the Baghdad Theatre and reported being inspired by Wallis’ message.

Last of Debi's suggestions was The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream By Barack Obama. The promise of a new kind of politics in this country is infusing hope for many OBama supporters I know in the congregation.

Stephanie recommended Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. We are about to begin RIC discussions at the church and a novel about a transsexual might help us understand the feelings and disenfranchisement of someone with a different sexual identity.

She also suggested The Book Thief by Markus Zusak in which Death is a leading character. Death meets the book thief, a 9-year-old girl named Liesel Meminger, when he comes to take her little brother, and she becomes an enduring force in his life, despite his efforts to resist her. "I traveled the globe . . . handing souls to the conveyor belt of eternity," Death writes. "I warned myself that I should keep a good distance from the burial of Liesel Meminger's brother. I did not heed my advice."

We went through other selections. I suggested a few and was surprised we chose The New Man: An Interpretation of Some Parables and Miracles of Christ by Maurice Nicoll. This is a book that I have reread many times since college and gives me new perspectives on the gospel and parables each time.

We will begin our book discussions again after Lent.

I have included many discussions and descriptions of the choir here. There is a shared experience and history that binds so many of us together. The music tonight moves from the harmonic purity of Jesus Met the Woman at the Well to gorgeous complexity of Be Thou A Smooth Path. Regardless of what we practiced there was an ease of togetherness, a feeling of being in a harmonious circle.

There is also a completeness that is palatable at the end of the evening, as we end in prayer. The strength of the choir is hard to articulate but provides a chord, a cord, one tie that binds our hearts at Creator.