Michael Denton
March 4th, 2006
Installation service for Jan Powell,
Pilgrim Congregational, Oak Park
Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18
Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18: After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." 2 But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir." 4 But the word of the LORD came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir." 5 He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6 And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 Then he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess." 8 But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" 9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. 17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates...."
Greeting
Prayer
So, although this may actually explain a lot, this isn’t the kind of headline that a person in a position like mine is happy to see:
Meetings make us dumber, study shows
For many of us who attend lots of meetings, this one line has the potential to explain so much, doesn’t it? To some degrees, this confirms our worst fears or, at the very least, names an experience we’ve had. Alas, it’s not quite that simple. This February 22nd story from the MSNBC website goes on to say:
People have a harder time coming up with alternative solutions to a problem when they are part of a group, new research suggests. . . The researchers speculate that when a group of people receives information, the inclination is to discuss it. The more times one option is said aloud, the harder it is for individuals to recall other options, explained Krishnan, associate professor of marketing at Indiana University. Another contributing factor is variation in learning and memory styles. People store and retrieve information in myriad ways, so in a group situation, the conversation could cause individuals to think about the cues differently than they would if they were alone.
There are parts of that make a lot of sense. We’ve had this happen. All of us have had that experience of feeling as though we’ve been swept up in some sort of movement or moment, even though we may have had the feeling in our gut that there might be a better decision. There was a push to get the meeting done before the thinking was done so we go ahead and go with the idea that seems is going to come out on top, anyway. We’ve gone along with it, even though we knew there might be a better idea. The last line of the story is particularly important.
Krishnan said individuals . . . should take time to consider the facts on their own before coming to a consensus.
Again, in some ways, this is one of those common-sense-type of ideas. With more time to ourselves, we come to better conclusions within collaborative settings; we’re better able to get to a point where we can consider the information coming through our heart and our head; we’re less likely to feel as though we were pushed in to an answer. It’s no mistake that sometimes, some of the best ideas come out of those parking lot meetings where two or three people begin to discuss what they wish they would have said. It’s one of the reasons why a good search for a pastor takes such a long time; the process is designed so that people have time to read and think and discern on their own before they get to that point where they collaborate together. As you’ve experienced, frequently the best results from searches are the one’s that take the longest.
But I think there’s probably more to this than simply a description of how we work best in meetings. A lot of the work I do is with churches in conflict and I haven’t been in a single one of these churches where a complaint about worship hasn’t come up. The complaints about worship are remarkably similar, too. Inevitably, someone says something along the lines of “Worship doesn’t feed me” or “I don’t get anything out of worship.” When I hear this, I can count on that fact that one of the problems of that congregation is the personally practiced spiritual life of its members. For many people, their relationship with worship has become almost one of dependency where they count on all of their spiritual sustenance coming from Sunday worship. But, I’d suggest that in the same ways that meetings can make you dumb, worship can make you spiritually numb. Just to be absolutely clear, I continue to believe that worship is central to the life of a church and participating in worship is important for people of faith. I continue to believe that we can’t be Christians in isolation. I continue to believe that worship is one of those things we need to do together. But, in the same way meetings become unproductive without personal time to consider the facts, worship will become “unproductive” without church members taking the time to pray, study the bible and consider stewardship on times other than Sundays. When bible studies or Sunday School classes are offered, these aren’t offered just for the spiritual health of church members but they improve the health of the church. I’d even go as far to say that it’s the obligation of church members to participate in some of these activities, including taking the time for prayer and study at home. When we make the decision to become a part of a church a community, we’re also making a commitment to do what we can to make sure that community’s healthy. Our lives become tied up together.
This is really important stuff to remember on the day a pastor is installed. There is a particular promise that you are being asked to make as part of this service. At one point in the service, you’re asked to rise and say:
We the members of Pilgrim Congregational Church, United Church of Christ receive The Rev. Jan Powell as our pastor and teacher, promising to labor with her in the ministry of the gospel and to give her due honor and support. We gather with her and with the United Church of Christ as a sign of our mutual ministry in Christ’s name.
This is one particular place where I’ve see your church so some great work and I’m looking forward to seeing you continue it. The idea of “mutual ministry” is a key part of understanding ministry in the UCC. In the same way that the responsibility of the individual needs to be emphasized when considering congregational life, congregational responsibility needs to be emphasized when highlighting the installation of a particular individual minister. Even though having a really good minister, such as your pastor, is vitally important for a congregation, the ministry of that congregation should never, ever rest on the shoulders of that minister alone. All too often, a lot of the churches I work with want to talk about the deficits of their church’s minister without considering that these may actually be deficits in the whole church’s ministry. Maybe a pastor is a wiz at administration, finances and adult education but not so good at stewardship, working with youth and pastoral care. If that congregation recognizes this deficit they need to give up on the complaint and answer the call because that’s something their congregation needs to take care of. It’s a part of their mutual ministry.
Ministry isn’t just for the professionals, it’s something we’re all called to through our faith and authorized for through our baptism. Although there are some particular responsibilities that we’ve decided to confer to some through ordination these responsibilities can’t be equated to rights. In fact, the ordinand is giving up some of the autonomy a local church member has by becoming accountable to a local church and the denomination. Ordained ministerial standing is not a right guaranteed by the completion of an academic degree. The degree is only what the church requires as part of that individual’s particular responsibilities as an ordained person.
Too often, the pastor is treated as a church’s professional Christian: that they’re somehow hired to be a church’s representative Christian on behalf of all the members of a local church. Although a pastor is a clearly a servant of the people within the church, they are no more in service than any other member is called to be in service of their sisters and brothers. Now, again, I’m really not saying this because I’ve experienced this as a particular problem in this congregation. Without knowing any specific numbers, I’d guess that your church probably has a higher percentage of members who are involved with the ministry of this church than most churches I work with. Still, I like you folks so I don’t want to suggest that you still couldn’t do better.
Right now, in this congregation (and you know who you are) is someone who is feeling a call to become more involved with the life of this congregation at the exact same moment that someone who’s been working really hard needs to take a break. Right now, in this congregation, is someone who sees an area of ministry that they wish their pastor would take more time to focus on. Take that complaint, and recognize it as a call. How are you going to help make this ministry flourish? Right now, in this congregation, there is someone who has an idea of how to bring more members in to the life of this congregation. Don’t wait for someone else to think of it. You do it. Right now, in this congregation, there is someone who is fortunate enough to have more money than they need to survive. Imagine what this church could do with that money. What could be repaired? What program could be added? Who could be served? Right now, in this congregation, is someone who recognizes that they haven’t seen one of this church’s members in awhile or knows someone in this congregation who is ill. Give them a call. Let them know that you miss them and their congregation loves them. Right now, in this congregation, are dozens of people who are called to the mutual ministry of this congregation.
Sisters and brothers when this all is working right, there are some things done within this community that make our individual lives better and some things we do within our individual lives that make life in this community better. There is this ebb and flow, just like breathing, that takes place within the living of life where, when its working well, the servant is served and serving and served and serving. . . There is this ebb and flow that involves the community and the one who communes.
The biblical text for today has some of this ebb and flow in it. Now, right up front we need to recognize some issues with this text. Although God hasn’t changed, our understanding of God has. This text was written in a time when God was seen as solely being God for the Israelites so, if something was good for the Israelites, it must be God’s doing. So, of course there would be the understanding, in the time and place that this was written, that God gave Israel to one people and one people alone. It’s important to acknowledge that this is one of those places where we’ve come in to difficult disagreements with our Jewish brothers and sisters. Most Christians tend to believe that the same God who said “Do not be afraid” to our spiritual ancestors wouldn’t want our Palestinian sisters and brothers to be afraid, either. Although there isn’t universal agreement, most of the US mainline, Protestant denominations have indicated that we believe that the land given to the Israelites was no less given to the Palestinians.
It’s within this complicated, modern, socio-political context that we read about Abraham’s covenant with God. To our ears, this very particular sacrifice Abraham is asked to make seems kind of odd. It is a pretty bloody text. But, also remember that these weren’t pets. The fate of these animals at the altar wasn’t all that much different than they fate that was going to be theirs anyway. This was an offering of something that was of value to Abraham. These were possessions that Abraham was giving as a leader of his people on behalf of all of those God was promising would come after him. This early understanding, this covenantal understanding, was an understanding of a mutual ministry with God in which Abraham did Abraham’s part and God did God’s part.
It’s out of this initial understanding of covenants between God and God’s people that covenants between God’s people were established. Even though these promises were made between people, the base of the promise was to God. God was the one to enforce violations of the covenants and, if needed, be the arbiter in any disagreements. There was always some sort of sacrifice, some investment, that those who were part of the covenant had to make. Making a covenant is no small thing.
Today’s installation service, this service of covenant making, is no small thing. Your pastor is taking a risk and making a sacrifice to come be among you and work among you. Sometimes, the distance between the East Coast and the Midwest is a whole heck of lot more than a few hundred miles. She’s come to be among a people she does not know, in a place she’s never lived, within a community where there are few people she knows. There is risk in this covenant for her.
There’s risk and sacrifice in this for you, too. Beyond just the financial costs, you’ve got your emotional and relational risks and sacrifices you’ve had to make. You looked for this person for a long time. You took some risks in inviting her here. This covenant is no small thing.
Here’s the thing: Jan, you were faithful and Pilgrim Congregational Church, you were faithful so you did your things and God did God’s things and now I’m really excited to see all of the things we all get to do, together. God’s done God’s part, we’ve done our part. Now, we get to see what will happen next.
May we find our blessings to be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
March 4th, 2006
Installation service for Jan Powell,
Pilgrim Congregational, Oak Park
Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18
Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18: After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." 2 But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir." 4 But the word of the LORD came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir." 5 He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6 And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 Then he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess." 8 But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" 9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. 17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates...."
Greeting
Prayer
So, although this may actually explain a lot, this isn’t the kind of headline that a person in a position like mine is happy to see:
Meetings make us dumber, study shows
For many of us who attend lots of meetings, this one line has the potential to explain so much, doesn’t it? To some degrees, this confirms our worst fears or, at the very least, names an experience we’ve had. Alas, it’s not quite that simple. This February 22nd story from the MSNBC website goes on to say:
People have a harder time coming up with alternative solutions to a problem when they are part of a group, new research suggests. . . The researchers speculate that when a group of people receives information, the inclination is to discuss it. The more times one option is said aloud, the harder it is for individuals to recall other options, explained Krishnan, associate professor of marketing at Indiana University. Another contributing factor is variation in learning and memory styles. People store and retrieve information in myriad ways, so in a group situation, the conversation could cause individuals to think about the cues differently than they would if they were alone.
There are parts of that make a lot of sense. We’ve had this happen. All of us have had that experience of feeling as though we’ve been swept up in some sort of movement or moment, even though we may have had the feeling in our gut that there might be a better decision. There was a push to get the meeting done before the thinking was done so we go ahead and go with the idea that seems is going to come out on top, anyway. We’ve gone along with it, even though we knew there might be a better idea. The last line of the story is particularly important.
Krishnan said individuals . . . should take time to consider the facts on their own before coming to a consensus.
Again, in some ways, this is one of those common-sense-type of ideas. With more time to ourselves, we come to better conclusions within collaborative settings; we’re better able to get to a point where we can consider the information coming through our heart and our head; we’re less likely to feel as though we were pushed in to an answer. It’s no mistake that sometimes, some of the best ideas come out of those parking lot meetings where two or three people begin to discuss what they wish they would have said. It’s one of the reasons why a good search for a pastor takes such a long time; the process is designed so that people have time to read and think and discern on their own before they get to that point where they collaborate together. As you’ve experienced, frequently the best results from searches are the one’s that take the longest.
But I think there’s probably more to this than simply a description of how we work best in meetings. A lot of the work I do is with churches in conflict and I haven’t been in a single one of these churches where a complaint about worship hasn’t come up. The complaints about worship are remarkably similar, too. Inevitably, someone says something along the lines of “Worship doesn’t feed me” or “I don’t get anything out of worship.” When I hear this, I can count on that fact that one of the problems of that congregation is the personally practiced spiritual life of its members. For many people, their relationship with worship has become almost one of dependency where they count on all of their spiritual sustenance coming from Sunday worship. But, I’d suggest that in the same ways that meetings can make you dumb, worship can make you spiritually numb. Just to be absolutely clear, I continue to believe that worship is central to the life of a church and participating in worship is important for people of faith. I continue to believe that we can’t be Christians in isolation. I continue to believe that worship is one of those things we need to do together. But, in the same way meetings become unproductive without personal time to consider the facts, worship will become “unproductive” without church members taking the time to pray, study the bible and consider stewardship on times other than Sundays. When bible studies or Sunday School classes are offered, these aren’t offered just for the spiritual health of church members but they improve the health of the church. I’d even go as far to say that it’s the obligation of church members to participate in some of these activities, including taking the time for prayer and study at home. When we make the decision to become a part of a church a community, we’re also making a commitment to do what we can to make sure that community’s healthy. Our lives become tied up together.
This is really important stuff to remember on the day a pastor is installed. There is a particular promise that you are being asked to make as part of this service. At one point in the service, you’re asked to rise and say:
We the members of Pilgrim Congregational Church, United Church of Christ receive The Rev. Jan Powell as our pastor and teacher, promising to labor with her in the ministry of the gospel and to give her due honor and support. We gather with her and with the United Church of Christ as a sign of our mutual ministry in Christ’s name.
This is one particular place where I’ve see your church so some great work and I’m looking forward to seeing you continue it. The idea of “mutual ministry” is a key part of understanding ministry in the UCC. In the same way that the responsibility of the individual needs to be emphasized when considering congregational life, congregational responsibility needs to be emphasized when highlighting the installation of a particular individual minister. Even though having a really good minister, such as your pastor, is vitally important for a congregation, the ministry of that congregation should never, ever rest on the shoulders of that minister alone. All too often, a lot of the churches I work with want to talk about the deficits of their church’s minister without considering that these may actually be deficits in the whole church’s ministry. Maybe a pastor is a wiz at administration, finances and adult education but not so good at stewardship, working with youth and pastoral care. If that congregation recognizes this deficit they need to give up on the complaint and answer the call because that’s something their congregation needs to take care of. It’s a part of their mutual ministry.
Ministry isn’t just for the professionals, it’s something we’re all called to through our faith and authorized for through our baptism. Although there are some particular responsibilities that we’ve decided to confer to some through ordination these responsibilities can’t be equated to rights. In fact, the ordinand is giving up some of the autonomy a local church member has by becoming accountable to a local church and the denomination. Ordained ministerial standing is not a right guaranteed by the completion of an academic degree. The degree is only what the church requires as part of that individual’s particular responsibilities as an ordained person.
Too often, the pastor is treated as a church’s professional Christian: that they’re somehow hired to be a church’s representative Christian on behalf of all the members of a local church. Although a pastor is a clearly a servant of the people within the church, they are no more in service than any other member is called to be in service of their sisters and brothers. Now, again, I’m really not saying this because I’ve experienced this as a particular problem in this congregation. Without knowing any specific numbers, I’d guess that your church probably has a higher percentage of members who are involved with the ministry of this church than most churches I work with. Still, I like you folks so I don’t want to suggest that you still couldn’t do better.
Right now, in this congregation (and you know who you are) is someone who is feeling a call to become more involved with the life of this congregation at the exact same moment that someone who’s been working really hard needs to take a break. Right now, in this congregation, is someone who sees an area of ministry that they wish their pastor would take more time to focus on. Take that complaint, and recognize it as a call. How are you going to help make this ministry flourish? Right now, in this congregation, there is someone who has an idea of how to bring more members in to the life of this congregation. Don’t wait for someone else to think of it. You do it. Right now, in this congregation, there is someone who is fortunate enough to have more money than they need to survive. Imagine what this church could do with that money. What could be repaired? What program could be added? Who could be served? Right now, in this congregation, is someone who recognizes that they haven’t seen one of this church’s members in awhile or knows someone in this congregation who is ill. Give them a call. Let them know that you miss them and their congregation loves them. Right now, in this congregation, are dozens of people who are called to the mutual ministry of this congregation.
Sisters and brothers when this all is working right, there are some things done within this community that make our individual lives better and some things we do within our individual lives that make life in this community better. There is this ebb and flow, just like breathing, that takes place within the living of life where, when its working well, the servant is served and serving and served and serving. . . There is this ebb and flow that involves the community and the one who communes.
The biblical text for today has some of this ebb and flow in it. Now, right up front we need to recognize some issues with this text. Although God hasn’t changed, our understanding of God has. This text was written in a time when God was seen as solely being God for the Israelites so, if something was good for the Israelites, it must be God’s doing. So, of course there would be the understanding, in the time and place that this was written, that God gave Israel to one people and one people alone. It’s important to acknowledge that this is one of those places where we’ve come in to difficult disagreements with our Jewish brothers and sisters. Most Christians tend to believe that the same God who said “Do not be afraid” to our spiritual ancestors wouldn’t want our Palestinian sisters and brothers to be afraid, either. Although there isn’t universal agreement, most of the US mainline, Protestant denominations have indicated that we believe that the land given to the Israelites was no less given to the Palestinians.
It’s within this complicated, modern, socio-political context that we read about Abraham’s covenant with God. To our ears, this very particular sacrifice Abraham is asked to make seems kind of odd. It is a pretty bloody text. But, also remember that these weren’t pets. The fate of these animals at the altar wasn’t all that much different than they fate that was going to be theirs anyway. This was an offering of something that was of value to Abraham. These were possessions that Abraham was giving as a leader of his people on behalf of all of those God was promising would come after him. This early understanding, this covenantal understanding, was an understanding of a mutual ministry with God in which Abraham did Abraham’s part and God did God’s part.
It’s out of this initial understanding of covenants between God and God’s people that covenants between God’s people were established. Even though these promises were made between people, the base of the promise was to God. God was the one to enforce violations of the covenants and, if needed, be the arbiter in any disagreements. There was always some sort of sacrifice, some investment, that those who were part of the covenant had to make. Making a covenant is no small thing.
Today’s installation service, this service of covenant making, is no small thing. Your pastor is taking a risk and making a sacrifice to come be among you and work among you. Sometimes, the distance between the East Coast and the Midwest is a whole heck of lot more than a few hundred miles. She’s come to be among a people she does not know, in a place she’s never lived, within a community where there are few people she knows. There is risk in this covenant for her.
There’s risk and sacrifice in this for you, too. Beyond just the financial costs, you’ve got your emotional and relational risks and sacrifices you’ve had to make. You looked for this person for a long time. You took some risks in inviting her here. This covenant is no small thing.
Here’s the thing: Jan, you were faithful and Pilgrim Congregational Church, you were faithful so you did your things and God did God’s things and now I’m really excited to see all of the things we all get to do, together. God’s done God’s part, we’ve done our part. Now, we get to see what will happen next.
May we find our blessings to be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
posted by Rev. Michael Denton at 10:06 AM
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