Transitions

It’s getting to be time to say goodbye. This coming Sunday is my last at Amazing Grace before I take another call at a Spanish-speaking congregation near the border. I realize it’s relatively premature to leave Amazing Grace after only two years, and I greatly struggled with whether I should make this big transition or not.

In the long run, I feel this is a good move for me and for the wider Church. It’s good stewardship to have bilingual clergy in settings where those gifts are greatly needed. In the short run, however, it seems difficult for Amazing Grace. We have had quite a bit of transition and change in the recent years: a new pastor, new musician, building repairs, dwindling attendance, financial uncertainty, turnover with lay leadership. Just as the congregation is getting used to me and just as we’re in the slow process of gaining momentum and renewing focus, I leave. It’s tough because I was looking forward to working with some newer leaders on Council, and I’m enjoying cooperating with two other congregations for Confirmation. We’re just at the point where we need to do some visioning and planning for the future.

Yet, I am hopeful for Amazing Grace. As sad as it is to leave, I realize that I am opening up an opportunity for another pastor. All ministry is interim ministry. I've planted seeds that someone else will harvest. This is an opportune time for Amazing Grace to do some careful discerning and planning. Amazing Grace is a pretty resilient people. Strengths I see: Amazing Grace is a pretty friendly place; there is a welcoming spirit. Amazing Grace likes to have fun. Amazing Grace has the grace to live with disagreement well. Whereas a few families have transferred membership and chosen not to worship due to disagreement with ELCA policies, Amazing Grace has not had the major conflict and division that other congregations in our synod have had. This is a good sign!

What’s next at Amazing Grace? We’re in the process of saying goodbye. Last night, I had an exit interview with our executive committee and the conference dean. It was a helpful time to name what went right and what to try to do better in the future. I’m spending these last days doing some final visits, packing up stuff, and getting the office in order. We’re finishing up some paperwork (ELCA parochial report, membership records), and I’m writing a “turnover book” with some instructions for the new pastor. Council is meeting this week to interview a possible interim pastor. Liturgically, we will say goodbye on Sunday with a litany of thanksgiving for ministry that will include mutual benediction: I bless the congregation and the congregation blesses me. Also, in good Amazing Grace style, we have food—there’s a potluck Sunday at 12 noon.

Prayer

A few weeks ago, I heard somebody say, “Prayer is advocacy.” I found that phrase to be helpful and reassuring. Oftentimes, I don’t feel that I do enough of “speaking for justice in behalf of the poor and oppressed,” which is part of my Letter of Call as a pastor of the ELCA.

When we pray, God is listening, but so are the others in the assembly. We make our concerns collective concerns. I’ve made it my discipline to compile the prayers for worship each week. I try to be mindful of events in our congregation and world. Sometimes the prayers from the hymnal or the liturgy websites are nice, but they don’t always speak to our present situations.

I frequently repeat petitions from week to week. Here are a few that I use almost every Sunday:

Healing and sustaining God, you hold in your comforting hands all those who long
for healing and wholeness. Bring your reassuring presence and loving strength.
We especially lift up in prayer those we name either aloud or in the silence of
our hearts…

Welcoming God, help us embrace a spirit of hospitality.
Give us the courage to visit strangers. Be with those who do not always feel
welcomed in this world.

God of Time and Eternity, you enter our
world and journey with us, even to death on the cross. Your story becomes our
story. Be with us as we tell stories of our lives and listen to one another.

Holy God, we pray for peace. Be with people affected by violence
and disaster. Be with those affected by war and terrorism. Be with those who are
considered terrorists. We pray for our enemies. We pray for those who disagree
with us. Stir up in us the spirit of peace.

I love Wordles because they help us see what words we use frequently in our writing. Here is a Wordle of about thirty weeks of prayers I have written at Amazing Grace. I had expected the words “hospitality,” “peace,” and “lament” to show up bigger than they did. I’m relieved that “God” ended up being pretty big, because it is God to whom we direct our prayers.

Prepositions

When reading my seminary’s alumni magazine, where people can send in updates about what they’re doing now, I noticed wide diversity in the prepositions pastors use to describe their calls. Thinking about these little two- and three- letter words might seem nit-picky, but they have major implications for how we think about the relationship between pastor and people. Am I pastor at, to, with, or from Amazing Grace, or all of these? I don’t think that there is necessarily a wrong answer, but it’s worth thinking about.

At: This is what I probably use most often in everyday speech, but boggles my theological sensibilities. I frequently introduce myself, “I am Paul Bailie, pastor at Amazing Grace Lutheran Church.” This seems to be the most natural to me, but it also presents an ecclesiology that is somewhat limited. “At” makes the church seem like a location or a place, when as Lutherans we understand the Church to be more than a building or an address, but the assembly of the saints. This goes along with my quixotic practice of avoiding the word “church” when talking about an individual congregation. The Church is the Body of Christ across time and space—something hard to pinpoint in a specific locus.

To: “To” seems a bit patronizing to me, like the pastor has all the answers and the people don’t. A large congregation I know describes one of their pastors as “pastor to the international community.” It’s like the immigrants need to be ministered to, instead of being active co-participants in the life of the ministry. Grammatically, I guess it’s ok, but it feels more condescending than I would like.

With: Maybe “with” seems more like the partnership that I’d aim for. I’m pastor with Amazing Grace. It sounds clumsy when you say it, but implies that the people of the congregation are ministers along with me. We are laborers in the vineyard together.

From: I don’t use “from” enough, as in “I am pastor from Amazing Grace.” This implies that I’m functioning as a representative of the congregation, doing ministry in the community. Our Lutheran church structure seems like it encourages the pastor to serve as a big deal in their own dukedom or bailiwick, instead of being an ambassador to the world.

A sneak peak of tomorrow's sermon

Last Sunday's Wordle

For Baptism of Our Lord:

Talking about sex

When I was in sixth grade, while we were standing in line at the drug store, waiting for a prescription to be filled, my dad nervously pulled me aside and pointed at a display rack of little square boxes. Standing there in his green surplus-store parka and Elmer Fudd-style hat with ear flaps, he quietly instructed, in an avuncular whisper, "Son, these are prophylactic devices, used to prevent conception during sexual intercourse. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, Dad," I said matter-of-factly, "They're condoms."

Sometimes parents are uncomfortable talking to their children about sex. For the last couple years, Amazing Grace has tried to be a place for our middle schoolers to learn about sexuality in a frank and honest, yet loving and Christian, atmosphere. A wonderful woman in the congregation with a social work background and a few decades experience working with young people in all sorts of settings begins a ten-week series with our confirmation youth this Sunday. She uses Big Decisions, an abstinence-plus curriculum that many Texas school districts use, as well as Free in Christ to Care for the Neighbor: Lutheran Youth Talk about Human Sexuality, an ELCA resource that invites youth into having conversations about issues of sexuality.

When I first interviewed at Amazing Grace, this teacher was worried that I would try to squelch this class. On the contrary, I think that this is a very good thing. I am thankful that we have a skilled and loving teacher who is willing to equip our youth to live in our diverse and often difficult world, always reminding them that they are beloved Children of God.

A few years ago at a workshop for religious and medical professionals on HIV/AIDS, I heard Rev. Jeremiah Wright say that the reason church folk are so uncomfortable talking about homosexuality is that they are uncomfortable talking about sexuality of any sort. He is absolutely right. Let's start talking.

Funeral planning

It might sound a bit morbid, but one of my favorite parts of being a pastor is officiating at funerals. It is a sad time, but funerals are among the times the Church is best the Church. We proclaim Christ crucified and risen. Now is the time we comfort each other in our grief, to mourn, to sing, to pray, to hope. There are hugs and food, and tears and prayers. We bring casseroles and condolences. We encounter the God who loves our loved one and who loves us.

Over two years ago, Amazing Grace had a series of adult forums about death and dying. A hospice chaplain, a geriatric physician, and I led discussion about end-of-life issues. I focused on the liturgical aspects of a funeral. From that discussion arose a desire to have some sort of worksheet that people could fill out now to think about what their funeral should be like, rather than waiting until their family members are sitting in some mortuary office wondering, “What was Grandma’s favorite hymn?” or “Where was that passage from Habakkuk that always gave Uncle Jack hope?” After two years of procrastination, I have finally put it together. It has been posted online (http://aglcsa.org/resouces/Funeral%20Planning%20Worksheet.pdf).

As Christian people, we trust in God’s promises of resurrection hope. Planning a funeral is a chance to reflect on how your life proclaims what God is doing.