iHOPE

The Sin of Certainty: An Unsettled Faith?

The first choice for Pastor's Book Club this summer is Peter Enns' book, The Sin of Certainty. In preparation for our discussion this Sunday (July 17), I am going to provide some thoughts and questions   that seem important to me. Next week, Jordan is going offer some thoughts and questions of his own (we are going to lead the discussion together). 

Thought #1: "An Unsettled Faith"

Enns (like myself and many others) grew up equating "True Faith" with "Correct Thinking." Even in seminary, I wanted to know and understand the "right way" to think about God, the Bible, and my faith. There is nothing wrong with trying to understand these things. In fact, I think it was essential for my early stages of faith development.  The fact that there are exams in seminary and then, Ordination Exams that tested to make sure my faith was "correct", also gave a little "extra" motivation! I found that helpful, not burdensome. 

Then "Life" happened.

When I got to my first church, all that well reasoned, logical and "correct" theology ran into the Real World. The answers I had learned so well, seemed too easy and not very helpful. There were questions I couldn't square with the faith I thought I knew. At first, I thought the answer was to find more (and better) "answers." After awhile, I discovered that the problem wasn't in my answers, it was my approach to the questions.  

Questions & Answers About Our Recent Decision

There have been a lot of questions and concerns about our recent decision to expand the definition of marriage and allow for same-sex weddings at New Hope. I got LOTS of them at the May 10 Pastors Q&A. Here is a summary of what was asked and how I responded. 

Besides the Q&A, I included a summary of the congregational surveys that were taken online as well as at the Congregational Surveys. The new wedding policies are included, in case you are wondering about the wording.

What is not included are the thoughts I shared with Session before our meeting. Those were part of a previous post and that document can be found here. 

Why I Voted for Same-Sex Weddings at New Hope

There are a lot of questions about the recent Session decision. I wanted to address them directly. Before the meeting on May 9, I sent Session a summary of my thoughts about same-sex weddings. As Moderator, I can't advocate for a particular decision during the meeting. As a member of Session, I wanted to have a voice in the conversation. This was how I did that. If you have taken my classes over the years (or even just had a personal conversation with me) there is probably nothing here that is surprising. Nonetheless, I wanted to provide a quick (4 pages!) recap of why I believe this was the right course to take.

Since I wrote this, Session made their decision. I voted for it. My next post will address some of my answers to the questions people have raised since then.

GA and Abortion: What was decided- and what wasn't.

The last two posts addressed the two most controversial of the decisions of the General Assembly (divestment & Same-gender marriage). While I intend to expand on each of these, my initial concern was to clarify the facts in each of these decisions. Before we can have a discussion or debate, we need to have the facts about what was actually decided- and what wasn’t.

 Which brings me to a third controversial issue:  Abortion.

 This one caught me by surprise.  In following the debates and decisions of the General Assembly last week, I hadn’t heard a thing about abortion. That all changed in the past couple days when I started receiving emails from people with links to op-ed pieces asserting that the PCUSA  doesn’t care about the fate of babies who survived botched abortions or, even more troubling, is “OK With Killing Born Babies”  (or here, or here).  How did I miss this story?

 Because it didn’t happen.

Easter: By the Numbers

By all accounts, Easter was a wonderful day at New Hope. Here are some of the numbers that go with it:

 1,431: The total attendance of people in worship over four services

32: The number of Greeters who were needed to welcome, greet and seat all those people.

197: The total number of children in Sunday School.

30: Volunteers, teachers and helpers in Sunday School and Nursery

$12,405.77:  The amount donated in the special offering for Youth Mission Trip

14: the number of people needed to prepare and serve hot drinks for the sunrise service and  food between the services for the musicians and worship leaders.

28: The number of pints of blood that were donated for the Blood Bank

9: The number of people gave blood for the first time!

83: The number of lives that could be saved from those donations

8: The number of volunteers staffed the Blood Drive

5:  Confirmands joined the church at the 11:00 service

59: The number of musicians who were part of the four services

248: The number of days between Easter and Christmas Eve (just in case you were wondering!)

Recent Readings from Worship

Several people have asked about the prayer from Ted Loder that I used in worship on March 2. It is titled, "I Need to Breathe Deeply, Lord" from his book, Guerrillas of Grace and I copied it below.  We have used a Loder prayer from time to time in worship, and with good reason. He is a constant source of inspiration.

The second request was from last Sunday (March 9) and the reading I used in the sermon. It was from a piece called "When Christians Love Theology More Than People." It was originally written by Stephen Mattson and relayed through a post by Jerry Kieschnick. If you are familiar with the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, you'll appreciate this even more.

I love finding nuggets of wisdom and insight, and I love passing them on. Enjoy!

To Forgive or Not to Forgive?

That is the question.  At least it’s a question I hear- a lot.

We are looking at Urban Legends of the Christian Faith this month and the topic of Forgiveness is always towards the top of the list.

Who can be forgiven? 

What does it take?

Do I have to forgive someone who isn’t sorry?

How do I forgive someone who isn’t alive?

Do I have to forgive in order to be forgiven?

To forgive or not to forgive- it’s not an easy question.  There are a lot of ideas out there that get repeated enough times that everyone assumes they must be true. But they’re not.

This Sunday we’ll debunk some of the Urban Legends of the Christian Faith around “Forgiveness”.

 

Some Questions in my "Inbox"

This Sunday is another installment of the Pastor’s Q&A. It is a time that I reserve after each service on the 2nd & 4th Sundays to stick around and answer questions (about 15 minutes each time). Often they are questions that have been written on the back of the Connection Cards. Sometimes they are questions I get from email. Here are some I have received over the summer that I’ll address this Sunday:

Do you believe the Bible to be the infallible, inerrant, living word of God?

Why don’t we know the Elders who represent us on Session?

I took a survey last Spring. What happened to it?

All good questions and all deserve a response. That’s what I’ll do on Sunday. Pastor’s Q&A is about setting up a regular time for conversation. Ask your best questions and I’ll give you my best answers.

Faith & Doubt: Shall We Dance?

"Doubt is often a sign that your faith has a pulse, that it’s alive and well and exploring and searching. Faith and doubt aren’t opposites; they are, it turns out, excellent dance partners."

Rob Bell, What We Talk About When We Talk About God

I like the quote above and am posting it for two reasons:

1.  It's a shameless plug for my next Pastor's Summer Book Club, featuring the book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God (details below).
2.  It gives a helpful way to look at Doubt.

For too long, people have been told that Doubt is the opposite of Faith. Faith is Good, so Doubt must be bad. But Doubt is not the opposite of Faith, any more than Fear is the opposite of Courage.

Got a Question or Concern?

Do you have a question or concern?  Email me and I'll address it.

I've been getting a lot of questions lately about the church, the Presbyterian church, Worship, Session, the denomination and specific issues (homosexuality, the end times, the Bible, racism; you know, the "easy" issues!). Let's use this space to start the conversation!  If you have a specific question in one of those (or any other) areas, drop me an email (use the link at the bottom of the right-hand column). If you have a question and want to remain anonymous, just let me know.

I have been think about bringing back the "Ask the Pastor" (sometimes referred to as "Stump the Chump"- very rude) time I did a couple years ago. On particular weeks, I would stick around after the service and field questions in a "Town Hall" format. It went well. We've learned a few things and I think it's time to bring it back (maybe in August, but certainly in September). I'll use the questions that get asked here as part of what I'll address in those times, too.

So, what's on your mind? What would you like to hear me address? If I need to think about it for awhile, I'll let you know.  If it's really tough, I'll refer it to Erik! :)