stumbling toward divinity

church nerd heaven

I've been working on a post, part of a series that I started a while ago.  It includes some touchy, emotional material, so I'm taking some time to consider what's best to say and what's best to leave unsaid.  But I didn't want my blog to be disregarded and neglected, so I thought I should come up with something to write.

And I do happen to have something of interest to add.  This past Sunday was our Conference Assembly, the meeting where our conference (a group of geographically close congregations within a synod) get together and take care of whatever business need to be taken care of.  This year we needed to elect delegates for the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.  One of the delegates our conference was in charge of electing a male clergy delegate.  So I talked to El Capitan and he ended up sending an e-mail to our conference dean and nominating me for the spot.

Well, to make a long story short, I ended up getting elected.  So I will be attending the 2009 Churchwide Assembly as a delegate.  Now, some of you may know, I am a self-professed church nerd.  I have, on numerous occasions, shared about my interest and excitement about Churchwide and Synod Assemblies and all that comes with that.  So, to be elected to be a delegate to the next Churchwide Assembly is almost like church nerd heaven.  I'll be in the thick of things, hearing about what's going on, rubbing elbows with all sorts of church people, and getting to vote on matters that are important to me.

I can't wait!

the Gospel according to Harry Potter?

So, anyone who pays attention to anything has probably heard the news by now that JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, announced that Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts the school of witchcraft and wizardry, is/was gay.  I would link to a website or online article where it talks about that, but really all you have to do is do an internet search with the words "Dumbledore" and "gay" and you'll get about a million from which to choose.  It seems everyone has something to say about this announcement.

I haven't read much of what is out there.  And, up until this point, really haven't felt the need to comment on it.  I guess I just didn't see the big deal about it.  So what if he's gay?  It doesn't affect the story at all.  Sure, now that the news is out there, it causes one to read or consider parts of the story a bit differently, but it isn't necessary to the storyline at all.  Which is good, I think.  The person and character of Dumbledore is more important than his sexuality.

Which then begs the question of whether we needed to know this information at all.  What's the point of telling us this bit of news about Dumbledore?  If it's not necessary to the story, and the story has already been told, then why even bother dropping this little tidbit?

My decision?  It might not be necessary, but it's important.

Consider this:  In the Harry Potter stories, what the world holds to be important - the rich, the well-connected, the powerful, the pure-bloods, and those who desire to be like them - these are the ones who turn out to be evil or corrupt.  The Malfoys and the Blacks (minus Sirius, of course), with their wealth and their powerful, well connected pure-blood families.  Lord Voldemort who, while not a pure blood, changes his name to rid himself of his muggle heritage and becomes the biggest advocate of pure-blood primacy.  These are the bad guys, the villains, the corrupt.

Now, take a look at the heroes:  There's Harry, the orphan.  Hermione, the "mud blood," who comes from a Muggle family, Ron Weasley and his monetarily-poor family, Hagrid the half-giant, Remus Lupin the werewolf, Neville Longbottom the awkward, uncertain screw-up...  It's these people who have the strength and the determination to stand up against the great evil.  Not the wealthy pure-bloods who easily cave-in or are corrupted, not the families who seem to be so powerful.  It's the nothings, those who don't seem to matter, that in the end are the ones who really do. 

And now, we get to add to their number, the wise, kind, compassionate, gay Dumbledore.  In a society where the value of our gay brothers and sisters is constantly called into question, it might not be necessary to know that this hero is gay...  but I think it's important.  It's one more reason why one of the heroes of this story shouldn't have been a hero.

As I sit here and write this, I can't help but think of the Gospel lesson for this past Sunday.  The Beatitudes in Luke, where Jesus turns everything on its head.  All of the things and the people that we make out to be important in our world - the rich, the powerful, the persuasive - these are not the ones who are blessed.  It's the poor, the weak, the meek... THESE are the ones who are important in the Kingdom of God, THESE are the ones who will inherit the earth, THESE are the ones who receive blessings.

And this is the message we receive from a set of stories about a young wizard and his misfit friends... the Gospel in an unlikely place.

my *musings* about the churchwide assembly

Last week, about 2,000 Lutherans gathered at Navy Pier in Chicago for the Churchwide Assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA.  I'm sure many of you have heard about one of the decisions made.  It's been plastered on newspapers and broadcast on the television.  I'll get to that decision in a minute, but there are a few other things I need to write about first.

The first is that we re-elected our Presiding Bishop, Mark Hanson.  I have had the privilege of meeting him a couple times.  He is a great man, very personable and outgoing with a great sense of humor.  He even let me get my picture taken with him when I saw him at the annual gathering for youth ministry leaders.  I think the way he was re-elected speaks very highly of him and is a testament to how well he his thought of throughout the ELCA.  The way the ELCA does the election is through what's called an "ecclesiastical ballot."  At the first ballot, every voting member is asked to submit the name of someone they believe is most qualified for the office of Presiding Bishop.  There are no previous nominations or candidates running for office.  It is possible to be elected on this first ballot, but to do so one would need to receive 75% of the votes.  Because of the number of voting members (a little more than 1,000) there can be a lot of names brought up on this first ballot.  Mark Hanson was two votes short of receiving the necessary 75% to be re-elected on that first ballot.  He was re-elected on the second with 80% of the vote.  I think that is absolutely amazing.  All of the stuff that makes the news about the ELCA are the things that seem to divide us deeply.  There was very little coverage about how much we were united on this matter.  I think that vote serves as a testament to Bishop Hanson's character, as well as the overwhelming approval of his leadership thus far by the members of the ELCA.  And it makes me happy that we'll have him around for another six years.

The second decision was the election of a new Secretary of the ELCA.  Since the ELCA began the role of secretary has been filled by one man, Pastor Lowell Almen.  Before that, he was the secretary for the LCA.  So, the role of the secretary in the ELCA has pretty much been defined by this man.  And he's a hoot to watch when he gets up to speak.  He has such a dry sense of humor with such a serious demeanor.  Well, he wasn't running for re-election and so that left it wide open for someone new to be elected.  There were eight candidates who ended up with the nomination, after a process like what they used for the bishop re-election.  Out of those eight, there were a couple who jumped out as my favorites right away.  One, in particular, because they are from my synod and I like them.  As the voting progressed, however, the one from my synod didn't receive enough votes to continue on in the process, which I've decided is a good thing because they'll still be around to keep doing great work in our synod!  Finally, it was down to the top two.  It was between David Swartling, a trial lawyer from Seattle who had served as parliamentarian at the past two Churchwide Assemblies, and Pastor Paul Schreck who, apart from having a great last name, served as an assistant to Lowell Almen.  Neither were my favorites at the beginning, but Pastor Schreck won me over with one of his speeches.  Here is a brief excerpt from that speech:
When I resigned my call at St. Mark in Butler, Pennsylvania, we had a farewell and Godspeed service to send me on my way.  And at the end of the service I greeted everyone as they went to the reception that I never personally got to, and the spouse, the wife of a former pastor, came up to me, held my face in her hands, she kind of shook her head and tearfully said, "But you've got a pastor's heart!"  As if questioning why in the world would I go to Chicago and be a part of the bureaucracy?  And as I was hugging her I said, "Marveline, isn't that the point?"  I would bring to this office experience with constitutions, with rosterings, policies, with annual reports, minutes and archiving, church-to-church diplomacy, Churchwide polity and governance.  But I also bring a pastor's heart.  Illogically trained, Scripturally grounded, liturgically shaped, ecumenically opened, longing for the reign of God among us.  If that's not what you want in a Secretary, please don't call me.  I don't know how to be anything else.  But if this is what you desire in your next Secretary, I will serve Christ and this church with courageous humility.  Thank you.
Apparently, that's not quite what the Assembly was looking for, because they ended up electing David Swartling.  I was a bit disappointed about this at first, but after talking with a few of my fellow church nerds, and reading a few articles on the blogosphere that it might be a good thing.  You see, the position of Secretary is open to both the clergy and the laity and, until now, has always been filled by a pastor.  By having a lay member of our church fill this position, we are enacting the Lutheran idea of the Priesthood of all believers.  And if the 600+ members that voted David into office have confidence in his ability to carry out that role, then I can be open to it, as well.

Finally, the decision that most everyone is talking about.  Thursday afternoon/evening, the Assembly voted down changing the policy that prevents people who are GLBT in their self-understanding, and also in committed same sex relationships, from being rostered leaders in the ELCA.  What this policy means is that GLBT people are required to be celibate in order to be rostered as pastors, diaconal ministers, deaconesses, or associates in ministry in the ELCA.  However, on Friday, the Assembly voted to encourage bishops and synods to exercise restraint or to refrain from disciplining these leaders who violate the policy.  It has been described as "a crack in the dam," and "a desire to find 'some space and a place' for how the church might live together."  There are others who would describe it as a "backdoor," to sneak gays and lesbians into the pulpit, but I don't agree with that viewpoint.  Personally, I think it's a small step in the right direction towards including all of God's children in the work of the Kingdom.

So, those were some of the decisions that were made at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly.  One of my favorite parts was the youth address to the Assembly (of course).  They led the Assembly in a call and response version of  "Jesus Loves Me."  Then, the president and vice president of the Lutheran Youth Organization spoke a bit about what they had been doing at the youth convocation, and their hopes for the ELCA.  They said that they were available, and would love to talk to anyone about the LYO and the ELCA, and said they'd be easy to find:  one of them was sporting a mop of curls and the other had quite the mohawk.  I would say it was within a couple inches of being a foot tall.  I have to admit, I was a bit jealous of that look.  I wish I had enough hair on the top of my head to pull it off.  When I was his age, I may have had enough hair.  Of course then I took it for granted.

The next Churchwide Assembly is scheduled for 2009 and will take place in Minneapolis.  It will be interesting to see what goes on in the church between now and then, and then what decisions will be made at that Assembly. 

Of course, I think LutheranChik puts it well in her view of the Assembly in this post. 

a small moment of personal triumph

I mentioned previously, in this post, about how I extremely dislike calling people and asking them to volunteer.  It is quite the involved process, where I have to work myself up to it, and the smallest thing can derail me.  I also mentioned in that post about how I was needing to call people to get them to volunteer to be small group leaders for our confirmation program.  Well, today I am officially done with that!  I've got my final volunteer!  I am so glad to be done with that.

In other news, I've been watching the live, streaming video of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly today.  Especially this afternoon they were addressing some important issues and I wanted to see what was going on.  The last item on the agenda for the plenary session was the second ballot for Secretary of the ELCA.  I was watching the footage, and noticed that I have some kind of connection with three of the eight candidates.  Considering they come from all over the country - Chicago, Seattle, Gettysburg, South Dakota, etc...  I think that's pretty good that I have met three of them! 

Tomorrow is my day off.  I don't have much planned.  I'll probably keep reading the last Harry Potter book, and I'll probably tune in online during the plenary sessions to see what's going there.  That's how exciting my life has become now, folks. 

Avengers assemble

First, I must once again put forth the claim that I am a huge church nerd.  I guess, having been raised in that sort of environment by my pastor-dad, and being involved in it in high school, going to a Lutheran college and being heavily involved in the campus ministry there, working as a church camp counselor during the summers, then being a youth director for a year before heading off to seminary to become a pastor...  there was no hope for me, really.

Second, I must once again put forth the claim that I. LOVE. our church Assemblies.  The ELCA divides the US up into nine regions which are then divided up into 65 smaller synods.  Every year, each synod has their own assembly.  Having had the privilege of living within several different synods, I have had the opportunity to experience several different synod assemblies.  They are always great opportunities to network, see old friends and meet new ones, and to catch a glimpse (and maybe rub shoulders) with the movers and shakers in the synod.  For a church nerd like me, they also serve as great opportunities to see and hear and experience what is going on in the synod.  When the different proposals come up, and the floor is open to discussion, you get to see who agrees and who disagrees with certain items.  It also gives you an inside look at what is going on in the larger synod.  I must say, I love it!  Every two years, the ELCA has what is called their Churchwide Assembly.  That is where each synod is allowed to elect a certain number of voting delegates to travel to wherever the Assembly is being held that year, and to be a voice and a vote at the big decision making meeting of the ELCA.  There are always a lot of people that attend as visitors, too, who don't have a voice in the voting but show up to see what's going on, or to set up a display table for their organization.  These are also great opportunities to see and hear and experience what is going on in the larger church, as well as rub shoulders with people.  Unfortunately, I have NOT been to one of these yet.

I find that a bit upsetting.  I mean, being the way that I am, I think it would be like church nerd heaven.  A bunch of people, from all parts of the country, convening in one spot.  To talk Church.  I mean, holy cow, that'd be awesome!  It's also a bit upsetting because the Churchwide Assembly is going on RIGHT NOW in Chicago, and I had the opportunity to go, at a reduced price, simply because I was a young leader.  I had been invited, as a leader under 31, to attend this Young Leaders gathering that was going on concurrently with the Assembly.  And I was one of the people who responded in time to be registered to go.  Only it conflicted with a couple things going on at church, and I figured it was more important for me to be present for those things.  So I opted to not go.

And it's not that I'm regretting that decision, per se.  I'm glad that I was here at church for the things that are going on.  It's just that I wish I could be at the assembly, too.  One big reason for that is that it's a Bishop election year.  Now, granted, our current Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson is up for re-election and I've been confident that he would be re-elected, but I still think it would be interesting to be present for that, to experience what that is like.  Of course, being the church nerd that I am, I've been reading the updates on the website, and a couple of blogs I know that are blogging the assembly.  They had their first ballot for bishop last night.  There were 1,022 votes cast and 101 clergy ended up receiving votes for Presiding Bishop.  It would take 75% of the votes for any of them to be elected on the first ballot.  Mark Hanson received 765 votes, which put him at only two votes short of being re-elected on the first ballot.  So, I have to say that my confidence in him was not unfounded, and I think it is great that he received such a vote of confidence from the voting members.  I have to admit, I have a great love for the man.  He's friendly and dynamic and funny and compassionate and he let me take my picture with him once.

When they have their plenary sessions at the assembly they have been streaming them live over the internet.  So, when I have been able, I've been watching them to see what's going on.  Granted, it's not the same as actually being there, but it has been fun, and dare I say interesting, to watch what's been going on.

Anyway, I'm going to go surf over to the ELCA website and those blogs and see what other tidbits of news might be floating around...

my profile picture

I was bored, and so I made a new profile picture.
Every person in that picture represents a youth at my church.
Except for me in the middle, of course.
Some of them are a bit caricatured... but only a bit.
Except for me in the middle, of course.
Two of our infamous "too cool" boys are pictured.
I bet you can't guess which two they are...
Here is a larger version of the pic for you to enjoy:

i don't know that i ever saw my life turning out like this

First, you need to be aware that I have a commitment tomorrow that requires I be on the road by 7:30am.  On a Saturday.  If that's not god-forsaken, than I'm not sure what is.  By god-forsaken I, of course, mean "wretched; neglected; pitiable," and not deserted or abandoned by God... Anyway, on with my story.

Seeing as how I need to be up early tomorrow, it really put a limit on what I could do with my time this evening.  So, would you like to know how I spent my evening?

Sitting in my house, listening to worship music (not just ANY worship music, mind you, but Marty Haugen worship music), chatting online with a good friend about the new worship resource in the ELCA.

You may now commence with the mocking.

self promotion

So, this whole process of finding a call has been taking a bit longer for me than for many of my classmates.  I've been following the rules of the process up to this point, and we see how well that has done for me.  So I've decided that perhaps it has become time for me to take matters into my own hand and do some self-promotion.

Now, when I think about the promotions that have stuck with me, it has been memorable characters with snappy catch phrases.  Like the old woman in the "Where's the beef?" commercials.  Or the other old woman in the "Help!  I've fallen, and I can't get up!" commercials.  Or the McDonalds commercials of old with Ronald and Grimace and Mayor McCheese and the Hamburgler and the Fry Guys.  Characters that were fun and phrases that were easy to remember.

On the walk back from the campfire this evening, this is the idea that popped into my head.  So I utilized the create your own South Park character tool for some visual imagery that really pops.  I hope you enjoy.

Have MDiv, Will Travel

Don't you think that has a ring to it, and the character is pretty memorable, right?  If I send flyers like this out, with my personal information, it should get me all sorts of job offers.

Right?

can you believe it?

Justo Gonzalez is totally going to speak at the commencement for my seminary class.

I am excited.

A wee bit.