Archive - June, 2010
Upstate NY Synod Assembly
The word on the church street is that most synod assemblies are kind of “blah” this year. For those of you who do not know, the synod assembly is a time for a geographic location of churches (or Synod) to gather together and attend to the “business” side of the church. There are resolutions made and voted on, memorials proposed, many conversation, Bible Study and fellowship time.
Before the assembly actually started, I was lucky enough to be a part of Y’ALL (Young Adult Lutheran Leaders/Links). During the assembly itself I drifted in and out of Y’ALL, spent some time participating in the assembly, hanging out with the delegates from my church and talked with people with whom I don’t see on a regular basis. I would like to share some thought about my time at Y’ALL and the Synod Assembly.
Y’ALL
Y’ALL was a group of six young adults between Buffalo and Albany. We gathered and talked about discipleship. Two of the many eye opening moments I would like to share with you.
The first happened Saturday afternoon. We moved our discussion from who has disciple us on Friday night to how can we disciple other people on Saturday. I group of six broke up into pairs and then we thought of a list of ten things that people in the hotel or surrounding community could do for them. They started out with some easy questions (what is your name, where are you from, where were you born) and then moved to more difficult questions (can I have a dollar, will you take a dollar, can I pray with you). Being an extrovert I have never really had problems going up to people I did not know and have a conversation with them. But one of the young adults said he was more nervous doing this activity than he was going on his first date.
I gave them 30 min to complete the tasks and they all came back accomplishing their goal. Their stories were awesome. Some of them told stories about people who completely ignored them or gave them funny looks. While others told stories about people really opening up to them some people asked for prayer in their life, and they told them things that they were struggling with, things they needed help with. It was powerful to hear the stories and to see the power of conversation and prayer.
The other eye opening moment for me was our conversation with the Bishop. We cooked dinner for the bishop which included chicken parm, steamed veggies, and rice all cooked in a microwave (it was pretty good). For dessert we had angel food cake with strawberries. During dessert the Bishop answered questions we had for her. There were two categories: Serious Questions and Silly Questions. This is where I was very impressed with the group. There were questions revolving the future of the church. They wanted to know where the bishop thought that the church was headed, not only Upstate NY but the entire church. It did not revolve around the few churches leaving the ELCA because the decisions about the acceptance of clergy in same gendered relationships or the blessing of couples in same gendered relationships that the ELCA made last August. It was about mission and vision. That really warmed my heart to see these young people in our church interested in the church, the current status of the church and the future mission of the church.
After dinner I left to lead worship at my church then next morning. But I drove back to the hotel to attend the Synod Assembly.
Synod Assembly
One the one hand I really enjoyed the Synod Assembly because I felt like the assembly was all about mission and vision. In some ways the assembly seemed very “blah” because of the major excitement and passionate opinions that were expressed last year. But I loved the focus we had on business at hand and the conversations that I was engaged in did not have to do with sexuality, but mission. I really enjoyed having scripture shared throughout the assembly and I would like to share some of my reflections about the Bible studies that I experienced during the assembly.
The assembly was blessed with Bible Studies given by three very passionate yet different leaders in the church. Sunday night Pastor Chuck Schwartz and his son John started us with our Bible study of the book of Philippians. We actually discussed the entire book of Philippians over the course of the assembly. I was so glad that we started with Pastor Chuck because I love listening to Pastor Chuck, he has a passion about scripture and the preached word I would love to bring into my own preaching. The thing that really impressed me was the difference in how I heard scripture from when I just listened to Pastor Chuck tell the Bible Story vs when I followed along with Pastor Chuck as he read scripture. The major theme Pastor Chuck shared with us was how the concept partnership and sharing. Just as Paul invited those in Philippi into a deeper relationship with God and with each other, Pastor Chuck invited everyone to hear God calling them into a partnership both within their own communities of faith and with God in Christ Jesus. I liked this because I think this is a large part of my call in Baldwinsville. I am asking the people of the church, how can we dive into a deeper relationship with God, with one another and with our community.
The next day we started out with a Bible study from Pastor Dean Hunneshagen who had more of an intellectual Bible study. He posed questions to us and lead us down a road where we talked about how we are the body of Christ and sometimes we feel disconnected from that body but we are drawn back in to go deeper in the joy we find with Christ. I don’t know about you but I feel that way a lot. Sometimes I feel that way because someone said something and I questioned my faith, or why I am part of the church. Other times it is brought upon by my own internal dialogue. Whatever the reason, the one thing that brings me back is a community of faith. There are so many people who I look to when things are tough and I thank God everyday for those people.
Our third experience with Philippians was not a Bible study but a sermon. Bishop Jerge preached on Philippians during worship. She began with a narrated poem punctuated with the phrase “I know how you can get. I know how you can get when you haven’t been out drinking love,” and conversely, “I know how you can get…when you have.” This is from the book Saved by a Poem: The Transformative Power of Words
So we started the assembly with a Bible study of passion then we moved to a Bible study of intellect, we joined together for communion and we listened to a powerful and moving sermon and we ended the assembly with a Bible study from the heart.
Our last Bible study together was with Assistant to the Bishop Amy Walter-Peterson. I have to be honest, I don’t remember too much with what Amy said, but I do know how I felt and the others in my group felt. She got us into a place where we were able to share from our hearts, we were able to share deep inside of ourselves and I know tears were shed in many of the groups around the assembly hall.
Thank you Upstate NY Synod for a great and moving assembly, focused on God, scripture and mission.
Seventh Sunday of Easter
For awhile now I have been wanting to record my sermons and post them on this blog. Here is a sermon from May 16, 2010. While most preachers post their transcripts online, I would much rather post something you can listen too. I believe that the preached word needs to be heard, not read.
So please enjoy! I will be trying to set up a connection with itunes so you can download the sermons from there as well. Before you listen it might help to start with reading the lessons for the day.
Acts 16:16-34; Psalm 97; Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26
[buzzsprout episode="5775" player="false"]
Positive Thinking
If we put all our energy into positive thinking, what are we to do with our feelings that are not so positive?
I try to be a positive thinker, but sometimes I can confuse my desire to think positively with my need to deny other negative feelings. Have you ever felt sad or angry about something and then buried the feeling deep inside of you because you believe that it’s best to look on the bright side of life?
This happens because we are told that it is proper to be happy, and that we need to think positively all the time. Especially as Christians we are told to turn the other cheek, and that everything will be okay as long as we pray about it.
Now, I’m not saying that we should hold on to the negative feelings that cause discomfort or pain. We need to let them go, but before we let them go I believe that it’s important to let go of these feelings after we recognize them, name them and deal with them in a proper way.
All of our feelings are important, the happy and positive ones as well as the sad, angry and hurtful ones. All of our feelings; need to be acknowledged and looked at before we can release them. To deny feelings is to say that there are certain parts of us that do not have value, that there are certain parts of ourselves, our thoughts and our ideas that are not important. But God says we are all important, that every hair on our head is important and the ideas inside of our head are important as well.
Throughout the Bible we read stories of people expressing to God their inner most thoughts and feelings and God accepts them all. God accepts us all so we can accept all of our feelings no matter what they are.
Accepting and acknowledging our feelings is the first step to gaining control over them, then we have the power to deal with them and to work with them in a helpful and healthy way. If we deny and repress them we are sure to give them control over us.
Life Update
Mental/Emotional Life
I have not been in the “right space” to seriously blog lately. I have posted some great video’s and pictures but my content has been lacking. As things settle down in my head I hope to share more about that…..but in general my mental and emotional feelings have not been good. I enjoy my life, my job, and my family — but I feel like I am at a turning point right now in all of those areas right now. I feel like I have two choices: I can choose to either embrace the changes or I can run away. I want to let you know that I am choosing to embrace all the changes in my life and let me tell you, from what I have been experiencing and what I have been told embracing is usually the harder thing to do.
Something else that I have been told is that many if not all pastor’s go through this change at some point in their ministry. It usually happens within the first 2-4 years of a new ministry setting. Well, I have been in my ministry setting and in pastoral ministry period for almost two years. I have had a lot happen to me personally and professionally the last two years. Some of it I have recorded on here, some of it I talk about on facebook and others of it I have shared with close friends and family. But overall I would say that my time at St. Mark’sand in Bladwinsville has been very positive. We were unsure about moving to CNY, but I do believe that this is where God has called me to be……
So here I am, I am in CNY, I am doing the ministry work God has called me too. I am also experiencing a change in my life. So I am talking with colleagues, friends and family about my life, my ministry and I am praying and discerning what God is calling me to next — not in my ministry setting (as in I am not leaving Baldwinsville) but in my ministry at St. Mark’s.
One of the changes that has brought me to this point is that I have spent most of the year studying preaching. I have been working harder and harder on my preaching style, my content and the way I approach writing my sermon. I think I am finally “finding my voice” in my preaching. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback about my preaching. I enjoy that positive feedback (thank you) and I want to “find my voice” in other areas of ministry at St. Mark’s.
What does that mean? I really don’t know right now. All I know is that I feel good about it, but it also causes a problem.
The problem with “finding my voice” in my preaching and the problem with the positive feedback I have received is that the more I get the more I want to pour myself into my preaching…..but just because I put more time and energy into my preaching does not mean that the demands of the everday work at church does not become less, it does not mean that the demands at home become any less, so where does my “extra” time come from? Well…..mostly it comes from my personal “down” time. Which leads me to not take any extended period of time off for about 6 months…..which makes for an unhappy papajoe.
What do I do now that I realize all this?
I am taking the next week off!! Granted I am not going anywhere, but I am staying out of the office and I am going to get things done around the house and around my life. My uncle has come to Baldwinsville for the week and he is going to be helping me with lots of yard work!
Physical Life
As I have mentioned on here 1.000 times, I need to get in shape. It has come to a point in my life where this is not a want anymore — I need to do it. I don’t know why, but I have this mental block that kicks in anytime I start to get healthy. I need Jullian or Bob to come and kick my butt to get at the root of my problems because I have not been in a good space with it. But in all actualityI have not taken the time in the last 6-7 years to really devote to serious weight loss.
So part of my time this week is going to be dedicated to starting a new healthy papajoe. I am going to take time and work out everyday my plan is to hit the gym 2 times a day for the next week. I don’t want to mess around this time. I believe if I follow through on my plans I will see a significant weight loss this next week and I pray that motivates me the rest of the summer. So when I see the results over the summer that will motivate me for the fall — you see where I am going with this??? Please pray for me.
Family Life
This is one area that I think is going pretty well. Cheesewiz will be finishing his first year of Kindergarten up this next month, and he has had a banner year. I hope his schooling continues to go well. But I have seen a growth and maturity in him that is like night and day.
We have been trying hard to keep him on track and some of the hard work seems to be paying off. We have been very diligent about his overall health as well. We have tried very hard to get the right nutrition inside of him and I think it is helping with his overall behavior.
For example, in the last two days he was very engrossed with two different outings — yesterday a scouting event and today during our trip to the beach. He was enjoying himself and he did not want to leave. Now, in the past we try and prepare him for the transition from being at the event to getting in the car and leaving for home. But he usually starts to throw a fit and we eventually have to physically remove him. Well yesterday and today he started to throw the fit and then I did some negotiating and he pulled himself together and we left happy. I have been amazed at the growth I see in him, I account it to good health, wellness and maturity.
Overall
I would have to say that overall I am in a good space right now. I am thankful for all the people who love me and care for me. I am thankful for a great congregation to serve and supportive people. I am thankful for my wife and my kids. I am thankful for colleagues who are honest with me, who support me and who share with me. Without these things in place I would be in a bad space right now.
I can honestly say that I am really excited for the week ahead — I am going to really be working on me and that is very much needed. Oh and if you would like to help in shaping who I am in the future (I need all the help I can get) leave a comment below 
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