Culturally Relevant

Recently I had a conversation (okay, it was a Facebook conversation, but it was still a conversation) in which people were commenting on why some folks leave Methodist churches, for instance, to go to large, non-denominational churches. And this happens EVERYWHERE... I heard these kinds of conversations in Kansas when I was serving a church there, and on each side of this state in every community I hear similar sentiments. And everyone wants to know WHY?

There seem to be a few underlying concerns, and they are all intertwined and difficult to separate.

1. Our decline feels like a "death" is imminent.
2. We need to change to be more like “them” in order to stave off death.
3. Their theology and music is not of my liking, so I don’t want to change to be more like them.
4. Do we really have to choose between being culturally relevant and theologically sound?

I think that last question unearths the most pertinent assumptions. Are these two really mutually exclusive? BY NO MEANS!

I wholeheartedly agree that we have to be culturally relevant, but that does not have to mean that we sell our collective soul. I have a few convictions about this particular trend of people leaving for bigger, more performance-driven congregations and church worship services.

1. People more often make a decision to attend a church based on its’ music style instead of theology. I don't think most people think that deeply about it.

2. Those that do choose to attend these churches based on theology often need the certitude that a more conservative, literalistic understanding of God, the Bible, and faith will provide (and I am not saying that pejoratively at all).

3. Our world is filled with increasing chaos and change, and people who feel uncomfortable with ambiguity often need their understanding of faith to be more stable and unchanging. Often this is characterized by a need for black and white in a gray world.

I think we can and should be culturally relevant AND completely authentic. If we can do that, then people won't have to choose between "good" music (which is different for everyone) and "good" theology (ours, of course!).

Book Review - "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

This is a story about three women in Mississippi in the 1960's; two African-American maids and a young, white college graduate who has just moved back home. It follows their lives as they intertwine in a plot that has its share of twists and turns. I got to a point that I couldn't put the book down, so I stayed up way too late to finish it.

I found this book to be excellent in developing the characters, such that I finished the book and felt like I knew the characters. For someone who has visited the south, and understands that it is a different culture from the one I grew up in, this book helped me to more deeply understand how one might have felt as they lived through the civil rights era in the south.

• Have any of you read the book? What did you think?
• Given that racism is everywhere, how would you classify the differences between the cultures of the north and south?
  

Greetings from Spokane!

Hello Friends!

Welcome! I know I haven't posted much recently, but the congregation I am currently appointed to (Spokane:Covenant UMC) is launching a website redesign that includes a link to my blog... So here we are!

Here is the church's website: www.covenantmethodist.org.

Check back frequently as I will be blogging at least weekly (unless I am on vacation), and feel free to leave comments and suggestions for future posts!

My family and I love living in Spokane, and I think I can speak for myself as well as the congregation, that we have had an incredible beginning to our ministry together, and have found this appointment to be a GREAT fit (in every way)!

Talk to you more soon!
Peace,
Gregg

Book Review - "Home to Harmony" by Phillip Gulley

I found this book to be a delightful surprise! This is a book about a small town church pastor in the Quaker/Friends tradition who has returned to his hometown (Harmony) to serve his home church. He is fallible and human, but he is also humorous and very faithful.

I was given this book as a gift (I am always a little curious about what - if any - message is intended by being given a book), and I don't know exactly what I expected. What I found however was a very sweet book, that had hilarious insights about life as a church pastor, and some poignant moments about the depth of purpose and meaning of being a church pastor. The depth of insight added a wonderful layer to go with the moments of levity.

Ch... Ch... Ch... Changes!

Well, after two short years we are moving again. I will be appointed to serve Covenant United Methodist Church in Spokane, Washington effective July 1st. We are really excited for the opportunity, but we are in that bittersweet time of saying 'goodbye' to friends on one hand while getting to know new friends on the other.

During this whole process of discerning and now getting ready to move, I have been extremely aware of how my anxiety has PHYSICAL manifestations. I have been trying to pay attention to that, and to manage it in healthier ways this time around. Probably the biggest step I have strived to take is to not eat anything except when I am truly hungry... Eating for comfort has been one of my modus operandi throughout my life, and it is a pattern that I am seeking to change.

Because of all the times of uncertainty, I have been reminded of a sermon entitled, "Floating on a Sea of Faith." In it, the author tries to convey that for all of our seeking of stability and certitude, we still have to ultimately rely on the gift of faith. He is clearly postmodern in his orientation (against any form of foundationalism), and he contentends that there is nothing that is ever REALLY certain. If we can accept that without fear and anxiety, then we will truly be FLOATING ON A SEA OF FAITH.

May God help us do exactly that!




(cf. "Sex and the Single Savior," by Dale B. Martin)