Happy Halloween

I went for a walk in the cemetery today, and saw ghostly visions of the past.

Updates

1. Yesterday, I got a call from the Press-Telegram. They wanted me to subscribe. I explained (politely, because I know what it's like to be a telemarketer) about my ongoing problem with the newspaper (which I've chronicled here, here, here, and here). I was told that my balance would be waived if I subscribe. I replied by insisting that I don't want to subscribe. It was then suggested to me that I call customer service "one more time." How many times does it take?

2. The plastic bag is still stuck in the tree behind my house, despite this week's strong winds.

First Interview

Reading a book about wild redwoods last night, I was reminded of my first interview for a full-time ministry position. Not that the two have anything in common. Who knows what triggers those old memories to resurface?

Anyway, I was in my last year of seminary. Graduation day loomed ever closer, and with it, the expectation that I would begin my ministry. That, plus the fact that I would be evicted from the campus apartments reserved for seminary students and their families, motivated me to begin searching for a place where my newly minted seminary skills could be put to use.

I got a call from a church half a continent away. The woman on the phone sounded elderly, and said that their pastor of 25 years (she described him as a "real doll") was retiring. They were looking for a new pastor, and had received my papers. I said, "Let's talk."

She told me that one member of their search committee would be vacationing soon in a state next to the one where I was currently going to seminary. Perhaps he and I could meet? He and I got in touch, and he confirmed that he would be taking a cross-country RV trip. Arrangements were made for us to meet over coffee (or tea in my case), in his RV, in a WalMart parking lot several hours away.

A few weeks later, I drove to the WalMart parking lot, and found the RV. I briefly thought of other meetings that take place in big parking lots, but quickly put those thoughts out of my mind. I knocked on the RV door, and this older gentleman kindly welcomed me in.

We sat down at the small dining table; the window above the table framed the entrance to WalMart perfectly. We began with small talk, but the conversation quickly turned to more pressing questions. One of those questions had to do with gays and lesbians. He told me that a lot of people in the region he's from favor the ordination of homosexuals, and if the larger church ever tried to impose such a policy on the congregation, they'd leave the denomination, and how would I feel about that?

It's strange. I've never once had a search committee ask me what the church should be doing about the 30,000 or so children who die every day from preventable causes. I've never been asked about what the church should do to end poverty in the world--or even in one's own community. And I don't remember being asked how I think congregations can work to help those outside their walls. But every congregation I've ever interviewed for wants to know what I think regarding the behavior of two adults in their bedroom.

I told him that, in our denomination, things don't work that way. Authority in such things rests with the congregation. No one outside the congregation can tell the congregation how it should do things.

He said to me, "But what if they did?" I said that what he was talking about would never happen, but if it did, I was committed to the denomination and what it stood for, and that if the congregation should leave the denomination, then I would probably need to leave the congregation.

Surprisingly, this did not end my conversation with that congregation. The lady who had contacted me initially kept calling me, asking for more information on various things. We continued the process of learning more about each other over the next few weeks.

Then one day, she called and told me that their dear pastor of 25 years had become so used to living in the parsonage next to the church, and that he was so old, that they didn't think it was right to ask him to move. So the congregation decided to continue renting out the parsonage to him, and that they would provide their new pastor--me, if things worked out--a housing allowance instead of the parsonage. Besides, she said, this will make it easier for him to stay active in the congregation, which he plans to do.

It is commonly understood among clergy that it is unethical for a resigning or retiring pastor to remain active in his or her congregation after the arrival of a new pastor. It makes things too complicated and difficult for the new pastor. In my mind, I could see people coming to the church, looking for the pastor, seeing a parsonage next door, knocking on the door--and where would that leave me? How could that possibly be any kind of an effective ministry?

This first interview was not a good match. The second congregation I interviewed with was better, but still the match wasn't right. Fortunately, it wasn't long until a third congregation came along, and just a few days after my last seminary final exam, I arrived in my new congregation, ready to begin a career in ministry.

Pumpkin Field

Today I post this two year-old picture of my son for two reasons: One, because I don't have a new photo to share this week; Two, to remind myself where pumpkins really come from, now that I live in the big city. (They don't just pop-up by the front door of the grocery store...)

Social Media and Ministry

It started on Christmas Day, 2004. The kids were playing with their presents, and I sat down at the computer and decided to see if I could figure out how to start a blog. I set it up and published my first post, which, in essence, said to the world: "I'm starting a blog."

665 posts later, I'm still here. Amazing. I never really publicized my blog to people I knew, but neither did I try to keep it secret. Eventually, a few people began reading. Soon, I had an "audience," albeit a small one. I'll admit, though, it was a bit startling when, after a several days with no posts, I got a comment from someone I didn't know saying, "Where are you? Is everything okay?"

In the time since, I've experimented with other forms of social media. When a group of teenagers told me about myspace, I got my own myspace page, mainly so that I could view their myspace pages and see what they were up to. Eventually I was able to use myspace to remind them of youth group meetings, camp registration deadlines, etc. At times it seemed to me that I was delving into some adolescent subculture, but the truth is that I was surprised to discover a number of adults on myspace as well.

I was happy at myspace for awhile. Then someone told me about facebook. Well, might as well see what that's about. Eventually, it seemed that most of the people I wanted to keep in contact with were on facebook, and I started using myspace less and less. This happened about the same time I moved from northern California to southern California, which also got me thinking that perhaps it was a regional "thing."

Then yesterday, I heard this story on NPR about social divisions between myspace and facebook. Seems like there is a definite myspace crowd, and a definite facebook crowd...some of the reason for that, the story suggested, is regional, cultural, generational, and even racial. The story also mentioned that only "old people" use Twitter. Who knew?

While social media are fun, over time I've begun looking at them with an eye to how they can be helpful to me in my ministry. Facebook has been very helpful. I set up a facebook group for my congregation, and I think 40 people joined it during the first 24 hours it was available. I've also secured musical talent for church events through facebook, and made contacts with community members and organizations; and once, at a church board meeting, I used my cell phone to post as my status: "Board meeting is starting--where is everyone?" and one member, at home on facebook, jumped in his car and came to the meeting.

Then there's twitter. I started tweeting last spring. (At 38, I guess I'm old enough.) To be honest, I'm still not sure how helpful it is, or what the point is. Tweeting during General Assembly was fun; it felt kind of like passing notes in class. And occasionally I'll find a helpful link in someone else's tweet. But I'm still not sure about twitter.

DisciplesWorld magazine now has The Intersection, which is a community for members and friends of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Yes, I'm a part of that, too, although I admit I haven't been too active there. I'm still waiting to see what that can do for me and my ministry that facebook isn't already doing.

I'm still exploring ways that social media can benefit the ministry of my small church. I'd love to hear how other churches--especially smaller churches--are using social media to help them carry out their mission.

I Thought Only Dogs and Cats Did This

We recently won a "family four-pack" of tickets to a "Trick-or-Treat Party" at California Adventure. While waiting for the Halloween parade to start, lights in various colors and Halloween shapes shone down on the parade route, moving and circling around, much to my son's delight.

Blog Action Day: Climate Change

Every glacier in the world is smaller than it once was. All the world is growing warmer. John Muir, 1894.

The recent spotlight on climate change seems to suggest that it is a rather new phenomenon. However, climate change has been occurring throughout earth's history, as cold spells gradually give way to periods of warmer temperatures, and vice versa.

Yet the climate change that the planet is experiencing now is anything but gradual. Before John Muir's time, few believed that the earth's climate was changing, or that glaciers were responsible for the massive rock formations in Yosemite and elsewhere. That's because the changes that were taking place were too subtle to witness in one's lifetime.

Now, for the first time in earth's history, the changes are occurring so rapidly that they can easily be observed within the span of a generation. Alaskan villages are having to be relocated because rising sea levels and thawing ground are making it too dangerous to remain. The polar ice caps are melting at rates that can easily be measured from one season to the next. Patterns of precipitation are changing all over the globe.

It is clear that humanity is at least partially responsible for the accelerated change. There are, of course, those who still insist that this is not true. There are also those who told Muir that glaciers had nothing to do with Yosemite, and there are those who insist that Iraq really did have nuclear weapons in 2002. And the moon landing took place on a Hollywood sound stage. Whatever. Some people just have trouble adjusting to a new world.

And it is a new world in which we live in. A world in which we must care about more than just ourselves, and more than just our own little corner of the world. It's a new world, but it's not exactly a new idea.

The prophet Ezekiel spoke against those who would pollute the earth, making it harder for others to live.

Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your feet? Ezekiel 34:17-19.

Is it such a big deal that I use an excess of electricity if I can afford it? Is it such a big deal that I overwater my lush lawn here in arid southern California?

I can afford the water, but what about my neighbor who can't? As water becomes more scarce and the price goes higher, it becomes more difficult for him. My excessive use contributes to the shortage, making it more difficult for him.

If the wind blows the exhaust from my car away, is that OK? 25% of southern California's pollution comes across the ocean from China. China. So where does the pollution California produces end up? Denver? D.C.? Denmark?

Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it languish; together with the wild animals and the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea are perishing. Hosea 3:4

Among the wild animals who are perishing are the polar bears. I mention this because a few weeks ago, my eight year-old son and I were watching a documentary on TV about some paleontologists searching for dinosaur bones in Alaska. At the end of the show, my son said to me, "When I grow up and the polar bears are extinct, I want to be a scientist so I can study polar bear fossils."

He loves polar bears. Hopefully there will be more than just bones for him to study when he grows up.

Photo by Norwegian photographer Arne Nævra.
This post is part of Blog Action Day. 7,000 9,000 13,000 blogs, all discussing a single topic. find out more at blogactionday.org.

Blog Action Day Has Begun

Blog Action Day has begun in the east, in places like the Philippines. My own participation in Blog Action Day will appear here at 12:01 am Pacific Daylight Time.

Sunrise

I spent a few days last weekend completing the second half of my Wood Badge training. I arrived at the mountain location Thursday at 7:00 a.m.; the temperature was 39 degrees, and the sun was just rising through the pine trees...

Stay Tuned

I'm taking a week off from blogging. In the meantime, I'm preparing an essay for next Thursday's Blog Action Day, an event that includes over 4,000 blogs around the world. Check back then!

Agapanthus

Taken this summer at Rancho Los Cerritos.

Figuring It Out As I Go

At next week's meeting of the church board, we will do more than receive the usual reports. We will do more than discuss various aspects of running the church. We'll do more than discuss property needs, or the fact that we still don't have a chairperson for the facilities management committee.

At next week's meeting, we will, if all goes as planned, discuss the possibility of a whole new ministry, and possibly even give approval to this ministry. It's a ministry that we've never done. Few churches have. A number of churches have ministries like the one that is proposed, although when it comes to this exact type of ministry, I know of no other Disciples congregation where it is taking place.

The ministry I'm talking about is a worship service in Khmer.

Khmer is the language of Cambodia. The Long Beach area has more Cambodians than anyplace outside of Asia. Several families in our congregation who are Cambodian have asked if they could organize a worship service in Khmer for their relatives and friends who speak little or no English.

Needless to say, we've never done anything like this before.

Some may ask, "How does this fit in to your congregation's Master Plan?" Well, we don't have anything quite so formal as a Master Plan, which may, in fact, be to our advantage. Master Plans don't often allow us to take advantage of spontaneous opportunities that come our way, opportunities that may be the result of the Spirit working among us.

Despite the exciting possibilities that this opportunity presents, I am hesitant. I am hesitant, because I don't speak Khmer. I am hesitant, because it's so new. I am hesitant, because this is not exactly what I'd planned, and I do feel the need to plan things out before they happen.

But the Spirit often doesn't wait for us to plan. The Spirit often insists that we get moving, even if we don't yet know exactly where we're going. "Figure it out as you go," the Spirit seems to be saying. Which, I guess, is a better plan of action than just sitting and waiting.