Celebrating an Anglican who resisted our "all-consuming interest in self-esteem...self-assertiveness...self-enhancement and self-realization"

No, he wasn't here on the Northern Plains. Charles Simeon, commemorated on the Episcopal Church and other Anglican calendars this week, ministered in the University town of Cambridge, England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

But a Baptist in Minneapolis (!?!?), John Piper, picked Simeon as his witness for a 1989 exhortation to a gathering of pastors. You can read or listen to this amazing message, "Brothers, We Must Not Mind a Little Suffering," at Piper's Desiring God site.

Simeon stayed in place for decades in the face of sustained hostility and resistance. Piper points out that Simeon grappled with his own personal flaws while ministering to nominal, state-church Christians and University egos who mocked him publicly, locked him out of his own church building, and inflicted various social and academic sanctions on those who agreed with him.

In relating Simeon's life story and key quotes from his sermons and correspondence, Piper makes painfully convicting points for those of us in parish ministry today, through

...the life of a man who was a sinner like you and me, who was a pastor, and who, year after year, in his trials, "grew downward" in humility and upward in his adoration of Christ, and who did not yield to bitterness or to the temptation to leave his charge - for 54 years.

What I have found - and this is what I want to be true for you as well - is that in my pastoral disappointments and discouragements there is a great power for perseverance in keeping before me the life of a man who surmounted great obstacles in obedience to God's call by the power of God's grace. I need very much this inspiration from another age, because I know that I am, in great measure, a child of my times. And one of the pervasive marks of our times is emotional fragility. I feel it as though it hung in the air we breathe. We are easily hurt. We pout and mope easily. We break easily. Our marriages break easily. Our faith breaks easily. Our happiness breaks easily. And our commitment to the church breaks easily. We are easily disheartened, and it seems we have little capacity for surviving and thriving in the face of criticism and opposition.

A typical emotional response to trouble in the church is to think, "If that's the way they feel about me, then they can find themselves another pastor." We see very few models today whose lives spell out in flesh and blood the rugged words, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials" (James 1:3). When historians list the character traits of the last third of twentieth century America, commitment, constancy, tenacity, endurance, patience, resolve and perseverance will not be on the list. The list will begin with an all-consuming interest in self-esteem. It will be followed by the subheadings of self-assertiveness, and self-enhancement, and self-realization. And if you think that you are not at all a child of your times just test yourself to see how you respond in the ministry when people reject your ideas.

We need help here. When you are surrounded by a society of emotionally fragile quitters, and when you see a good bit of this ethos in yourself, you need to spend time with people - whether dead or alive - whose lives prove there is another way to live. Scripture says, "Be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12). So I want to hold up for you the faith and the patience of Charles Simeon for your inspiration and imitation.

I do "see a good bit of this self-seeking, fragile quitter ethos" in myself, and so Charles Simeon is an inspiration.

Just in case you're flying over...

Anglican blogs around the U.S. and abroad have been lit up by Pope Benedict's recent "Apostolic Constitution."

To give some idea of the disconnect between coastal/urban and "flyover" Episcopalians, let me just say that not a single parishioner has asked about this. Not a single coffee hour question.

John Tarrant was consecrated as Episcopal Bishop of South Dakota on October 31st (coincidentally my 5th anniversary here at Good Shepherd). Bishop Paul Swain of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls attended. Neither Bishop mentioned Apostolic Constitution or the migration of folks between their churches.

Time for a break

I need to take a break from blogging.

After giving thanks this week for God's provision of some financial relief, I realized how weary I am from four years of struggling with family health and financial burdens, multiple jobs, church stuff (normal and not-so-normal), etc. The death of a parishioner this weekend made the realization more acute.

I have a bunch of "deferred maintenance" needs. I've been taking better care of my health and have lost 20 lbs. over the summer. Feeling much better physically, but there's still just too much stuff that needs my attention.

On the church front, there's this observation from a friend who walked out on the Episcopalian melodrama:

There's really not much to say that people haven't heard; people have chosen their directions and are not changing their minds.

There have been enough words, and plenty of warning. Most ideas are simply recycling now.

Thanks for your prayers - those offered and those to come. God is good. May Christ's peace be with you.

You know what really hurts?

I am still in awe of the quick ruling in favor of my wife's disability claim, and the dawning awareness that four of the hardest, most painful years of my life are about to have a measure of relief.

A few times, I've called these the worst four years of my life. So much stuff all at once. My vibrant wife suffered a terrible decline in health, then became someone I didn't recognize for awhile. Our autistic son suffered his first grand mal seizures. Our finances tanked. Divorce and bankruptcy entered my thinking and our arguments. I worked extra jobs but things got worse. My church denomination plunged into madness and I found myself deep in ugly conflicts.

Looking at that today, I'm amazed - but the litany of calamities doesn't bug me. Instead, Psalm 30:5-6 comes to mind,

For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye, his favor for a lifetime.

Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning.

You know what hurts? As I look back over these last four years, I see the ways that God and kind people reached in to keep us going. I see sacrifices and kindnesses of all kinds. I see extravagant measures of compassion, patience and love poured out all over me, not the least of which was the deepening of our marriage and the resurrection of my wife, at least in personality if not in physical strength. I see both of our kids flourishing here. I see how our parish grew in numbers, resources, knowledge, prayer, service to the community and just about every way a church could experience blessing. I see God changing me in ways I've long desired.

WHAT HURTS SO MUCH is how little I appreciated the blessings while whining about and protesting the hurts. What hurts is that I was so full of myself that I emptied my thinking of Jesus' message: that God loves me and is ever faithful to that love.

It hurts enough that I can finally step back, bow down and really join the guy in Jesus' little story,

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'"

And in saying that, I know I will be getting up as someone new - not yet complete - but new today and closer to who God wants me to be forever, because He loves me.

God bless you all this weekend.

God is all over things today... email from a parishioner

Earlier today, I posted the news that my wife's disability claim was approved. Just now, I got this email from a parishioner. He and his wife have also struggled with financial and health pressures, and he's been trying to work toward a new career:

"I contacted XXXXX at SD Dept. Of Labor about my test results. She contacted someone at the school administration office, and they both decided there was a space available and they would allow me in because of my overall score averages. But wait, all the money through the WIC program was depleted...... XXXXX informed me that she had put the alloted money aside, just for me. She wanted to see if I was serious about becoming a CNA. She said I proved to her I was and will be. I start school on September 21st. Paid for by the Government of South Dakota. My goal is to help the elderly and special needs children. The adventure begins...........I think God wants me in this field as well. I've thought and prayed for guidance....and for at least a window to open up.

It opened and I'm crawling through. I hope it's not considered breaking and entering. Thank you Father for all your prayers......may God BLESS you and your family, and get you through your hard times. XXXXX and I are here for you........see you at church on Sunday."

Stuttering and stammering because I'm so thankful - - to God and to all of you who prayed

My wife's Social Security Disability hearing was on Tuesday. We were told to look for a decision letter in about 60 - 90 days.

Well, our advocate just called and said, "Melissa is my all time record for fastest decision rendered." He received a written statement of judgement in our favor this morning.

I am stunned - the financial and medical and medical and financial struggles of the last four years have dinged my ability to anticipate good news in those aspects of our lives. This is going to heal our struggling finances.

I praise God for keeping things together for us and teaching me much over these years. I've encountered much of the self-centered evil lurking in my heart, and by the grace of God have crucified some of it. I've also learned more of what love really looks like.

I thank God for the people at Good Shepherd and beyond who have been patient, flexible and supportive in so many ways - especially in faithful intercession that has resulted in blessings I probably overlooked along the way.

Psalm 18 is one of my favorites. Sacred tradition holds that David "sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies." It was praise built up over a long season of affliction. So I share some of David's lyrics, as they are always better than my prose:

I love you, O LORD my strength, O LORD my stronghold, my crag, and my haven.

My God, my rock in whom I put my trust, my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my refuge; you are worthy of praise.

The cords of hell entangled me, and the snares of death were set for me.

I called upon the LORD in my distress and cried out to my God for help.

He heard my voice from his heavenly dwelling; my cry of anguish came to his ears.

He parted the heavens and came down with a storm cloud under his feet.

He reached down from on high and grasped me; he drew me out of great waters.

He brought me out into an open place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

As always, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

This weekend, give yourself the time to read this woman's report

Rachel Lucas » Blog Archive » “We have to go into the despair and go beyond it, by working and doing for somebody else, by using it for something else.”

This amazing account, with powerful photography, has been shared by a number of other bloggers but it is worth the widest possible read, so I'm posting the link as well.

Among other things, remember that the people behind what this woman describes discovered the X-ray, had one of the highest concentrations of seminaries/theological schools of any nation and produced giants of music, philosophy, natural sciences and other disciplines.

They also viewed themselves as "victims," and were in some measure right, given an unfair treaty imposed on them just a few decades before what the blogger describes.

They were suffering under terrible economic conditions and what you will read and see at the link was one means to reinvigorate their economy and standard of living.

The problem of evil remains with us, and if we are honest we should fall to our knees, confessing our collaborations with evil, giving thanks for every blessing, and crying out for transformation of our hearts and actions.

Think it's just "History Channel"? Think we're above it? I sit here comfy, not too far from "Reservations" on which my government, people and even church, extolling freedom and progress, consigned another race to cultural destruction under hellish conditions. And on those Reservations are young men, well versed in words protesting their victimization and oppression, who feel entitled to rape, abuse and murder among their own clans, and young women, well able to report the hardships of their lives, who neglect and abuse their children.

Lakota story tells of Iktomi, the trickster who lured the people out of abundant life in Wind Cave; my Christian tradition speaks of the devil, "the father of lies" who lured the people out of abundant life in the Garden of Eden. Ancient wisdom recognizes an evil genius loose in the universe, and our vulnerability to deception.

So Jesus' warning to some religious leaders really should convict us all:

...on the outside you appear to people as righteous [fill in your
own self deception here - intelligent, just, enlightened, tolerant, moral, oppressed, etc.] but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees [fill in your own demographic here],
you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the
righteous. And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would
not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of God's prophets.'

So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of
those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your
ancestors! You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being
condemned to hell?" Matthew 23:28-33

Equal Time: A South Dakota Deputy's positive take on General Convention

Jean Lacher is also chair of SD's Standing Committee. She's been making a sincere and much appreciated effort to be in contact with me, and I asked her if she might share her point of view, given my negative review of the Convention.

I am going to borrow a page from Kendall Harmon's playbook: I will take comments by email only (address on the blog masthead) and post at my own discretion. Jean is not a blogger and isn't signed on for snarking.

That doesn't mean I won't post comments that disagree with her - but in choosing your words please think of yourself sitting across from somebody's grandmother (Jean and her husband are out of state celebrating the birth of a new grandson).

Perspectives on General Convention 2009

“Center Aisle is an opinion journal offered by the Diocese of Virginia as a gift to General Convention. We offer analysis and opinions from a variety of sources that reflect the transformational center of our Church.”

“The middle is not the midpoint on a line between two extremes, in the life of faith, the great bulk of people are at the center, and that center is faith in the Risen Christ.” The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, Bishop of Virginia.

These next two items were taken from the July 17, 2009, Issue 9 of Center Aisle. Two paragraphs from the Perspective written by the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, Bishop of Virginia:

The most lasting impact of the 76th General Convention is likely to be an increase of initiative and energy in local congregations and dioceses. The emphasis on local ministry is a proper expression of the principle of subsidiarity, whereby mission should occur at the level closest to the people who are called to engage in that mission.

Local mission is also enhanced by resolutions which the secular press has incorrectly interpreted as necessarily damaging our world wide relationship and as following the agenda of a gay and lesbian lobby. Instead, what the convention did is to reaffirm that the ordination process is under the control of local bishops and dioceses, while stressing that access to that process is open to all baptized persons.

Editorial – Glorious Messiness

Tidiness is overrated. We head home a messy Church. Thanks be to God.
We are, by our own proclamation, “not of one mind” on matters that have caused division in the Communion.

We are in search of a communications strategy appropriate for the changing media landscape.

We are developing resources for same-sex blessings, without committing ourselves to “action.”

We will soon debate an Anglican covenant that could help clarify the bonds of Communion.

We are searching for creative ways to do great things with reduced resources, while living up to our mission responsibilities.

Put it all together and you have a Church that doesn’t have all the answers – and never will. It is a Church on a spiritual journey that never ends.

But be prepared: There are neat-freaks who don’t appreciate messiness. There will be cries of Armageddon in the wake of Convention’s vote for an ordination process open to all.

These doomsday predictions have been heard before. And it’s true that the passage of Resolution D025, whose nuances have been lost in much of the media coverage, could create problems in the Communion.

But this is no time to despair. The bonds between our Church and Canterbury are still strong. It’s hard to imagine a Communion that doesn’t include the National Cathedral in Washington, the mission initiatives on Native American reservations of the Dakotas, and the rustic parishes of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Discussion will continue. Compromises will be struck. Bonds of affection will be strengthened. The focus on the foundational beliefs that unite us will return.

The Church, in all its glorious messiness, will move forward.

I read this last issue of Center Aisle after I returned home from General Convention and both Bishop Lee’s words and the Editorial struck me as a good summary of the actions taken at General Convention 2009.

Jean Lacher,
Lay Deputy 1 from South Dakota

Bishop N.T. Wright of Durham, England on the Lockerbie bomber release -- is "You don't get it, we're British" a moral answer?

A good editorial that reflects the different perspectives in the USA and UK. This came up in the comments on my earlier post. h/t TitusOneNine for the link.

Wright provides some helpful insights, but I still don't hear any answers to my earlier concerns:

1) Clemency/mercy was already granted - it is built into a UK system that does not impose a death penalty. IOW, Scotland already said, “Yes, you murdered our citizens, but our system will not kill you in retaliation.”

2) Compassion for his terminal condition could have been offered by bringing loved ones to him in some sort of secured hospice set up. There was no compelling need to release him and set up the obscenity of a hero’s welcome in Libya.

3) Still no calling the act what it was: a “crime against humanity.” The bombing of non-combatants, of multiple nationalities on an international flight is not a somewhat-more-serious-crime than shoplifiting. It is the sort of thing for which Nazis and Japanese officials were hanged after WWII.

Wright brings up the UK opinion that al Megrahi was a "fall guy." If so, the release was not "clemency" or anything noble at all - it was a cowardly face saving maneuver exploiting moral language.

The Bishop also opens the question of "Was this a deal to get Libyan oil?" If so, the depravity of the whole escapade becomes hellishly deep.

I still see the release as a massive moral failure, whether as an unnecessary and unintended consequence laden effort at compassion, a political face saving gesture, or a craven oil deal. And the "You just don't get our culture" argument doesn't change my thinking.

Impact of denominational revision on one lay leader and his congregation

By email:

"...I have been spending the past few days talking to a number of people within my current congregation along with others in the spiritual sister communities of the local Methodist church and the LCMS church. There are a number of families in my church that have pushed the church council to call for an informal meeting after church this Sunday to discuss the events of last week along with having an open discussion on the overall feeling of the church membership and setting a direction for the future of the currently ELCA church in my community. We have already decided that if the local church members choose to become Lutheran 'ostriches' and just bury their head in the sand and hope this all 'goes away', that we will be all pulling out of the church, who for some of us has been our only church home for our entire lives, and forming a house church until there is a time we can hopefully align ourselves with another church that holds our same spiritual beliefs or we create a whole new church altogether as more people withdraw from the ELCA.

I have also chosen to resign from my positions I currently hold on the ELCA Synod Board and the Synod Compensation Committee due to the dramatic affect the decisions of the ELCA has made on not only myself, but on my immediate and extended family members (as you can read in the attached letter of resignation I submitted yesterday to the Synod Bishop)."


Here's the letter:

I would like to personally thank both of you [Pastor and Bishop] for your guidance and direction in these past few years that I served as President of XXXX Church in XXXX and the many trials and tribulations we have faced and overcome during that time. I also have appreciated your guidance during my time serving on the Engaging Leaders Board of the Synod and on the Synod Compensation Committee. I really enjoyed my involvement on this Board and my time spent working with the others on the board and committee, along with the retreats I attended and the time spent in worship together. I hold you both in very high esteem and regard for the spiritual guidance you have provided me in our time spent together.

It is with a very heavy heart that I have to tell you the following statements, however.

I watched a number of the plenary sessions via live video-cast of the recent ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis and my sadness grew and my heart grew heavy as I watched events that unfolded on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. I knew that the day was coming that the core beliefs of the ELCA were going to be shaken by actions taken by representatives of the ELCA membership, however in my own small-town traditional German Lutheran ways was hoping it never would come. I am deeply saddened by the actions taken by the voting representatives on the Social Statement and the latter vote on the Policies resolution. The actions taken at the assembly goes against everything I have been taught by the ELCA growing up and now tells me that my core beliefs no longer apply. It saddens me even more in knowing that the actions of the ELCA will fracture the core membership within and also widen, and possibly sever, the associations built or that were hoped to be built with the Roman Catholic Church and with the LCMS. Both have publicly denounced the ELCA actions, and the LCMS leader spoke directly to that during a presentation to the ELCA at the assembly on Saturday. Even more saddening to me is seeing my father, who is a 3rd generation family member of our home church become completely disenfranchised with the ELCA and contemplates leaving the church and my grandmother, who has been a member of the same church for 90 years, deeply upset about the actions of the ELCA and leaves her wondering how she can be a member of a church that holds these new beliefs.

Because of the tremendous impact the actions of the 2009 Assembly has had not only on my family, my church and my personal spiritual beliefs, I have no choice but to regretfully resign my position on the Engaging Leaders Board and on the Synod Compensation Committee immediately. This is not a decision that was made easily, as I have prayed about this continuously since last Friday and am in tears as I write this to you.

Please understand that this is in no way a reflection on both of you or even on the XXXX Synod itself, however I cannot in good conscience serve on any boards of a greater church that no longer holds the core teachings of the bible as central to their belief and direction to its membership.

I pray for you and the rest of the XXXX Synod leaders as you will face many challenges in the days ahead.

God’s Peace be with you.