Flashback Post: The Superpower of Creating Dialogue

Below you will see an article from the May 2013 edition of our church newsletter, The Spire.  I felt the need to republish it here so that I could link it to our soon-to-be new website! 

Dear church family,

I do believe that the ability to create dialogue is the most incredible Superpower that we have as human beings.  No other creature on earth can participate in conversation the way that we can.  Surely other species can signal to one another about hunting and gathering or about the need to nurture their young, and as research evolves I am awestruck by how the communication that goes on between other species is far beyond what we originally thought possible.  Regardless, we can be sure that human beings are able to talk about issues that are infinitely more sophisticated and intellectual than any other species.  What a blessing we have!  Or is it a curse? 

Our Dialoguing Superpower allows us to talk about deeply emotional issues with people who disagree with us (e.g.: politics and religion; ways of raising children; the definition of a “healthy” lifestyle).  And when we make the decision to use this Superpower, we have to make another decision at the same time—will we let the alternate opinions of others make or break our relationships with them?  Though at times it may seem difficult, the best decision is to allow differing opinions to form and strengthen us as individuals.  In college, for example, several courses in Asian religions and belief systems made me more certain that Jesus was The Way for me.  My husband’s advocacy of plain black coffee made me more certain that I take cream and sugar.  My brother’s confidence that it doesn’t get better than living in Washington D.C. prepared me to move to a small rural town. 

This all has a point and is relevant to our current church context.  The Open and Affirming (ONA) process that has begun in our congregation is a time when we are invited to put on our Superhero capes and become Dialoguers.  ONA is a designation given to congregations which “make a public covenant of welcome into their full life and ministry to persons of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.” This is one of those deeply emotional conversations, isn’t it?  But it is one that we have to have in the 21^st century, because the Church has a call to stay relevant and maintain a voice in the conversations of our society.  Since its foundation, the Church (our own and the institution as a whole) has been at the forefront of social justice and civil rights dialogue and now, in a time when church conversations revolve around potlucks and building maintenance more often than issues of caring for the marginalized and downtrodden, it’s time for the First Congregational Church of Ripon to say once again, “Hold on, we have a Superpower and we’re going to use it.” 

When we use this Superpower, we won’t all agree.  And that’s why we have to remember to make the decision to allow differing opinions to form and strengthen us as individuals.  We will be a diverse community of God’s children whether we agree or not.  And that, in itself, is a gift; we learn little when we are only exposed to those who agree with us.  So for the next year and a half to two years, we will occasionally get together and talk about becoming an ONA church.  I want us all to feel free to put our true opinions on the table in the form of healthy, respectful dialogue in which many viewpoints are represented by speakers with open ears and open hearts.  When we take the vote, it may pass and it may not, but we can be assured that as a church we will have a voice in this extremely important issue of our time, and that’s what makes us a strong, vital part of the Body of Christ. 

As we begin this process, there are a few points that I want to make very clear.  One: Your voice matters.  I don’t want to see anyone hiding in the shadows because they think their opinion is the unpopular one.  No one will be kicked out of our church for a different opinion.  Which brings me to point two: There is no pre-determined outcome of this vote. Whether our congregation votes yes or no, we will emerge from the process a stronger church family for having asked the question.  Furthermore, we will remain a church family that, like any other family, has differences and disagreements but continues to be bound by love for each other and our common desire to learn what it means to be Christian in a world that is always in transformation.  And finally I want to make point three: No matter where you stand on the issue, I am your pastor.  That means I’m here to listen when times are tough, show up in the toughest and most amazing times of your life, and pray for your peace and well-being because I care deeply about you.  Please let me know if you want to visit over coffee or in my office and have a conversation about the process.  I’m always glad to get to know each of you better anyway!

With the hope and peace of May’s flowers,

Pastor Joanna 

Veterans Day

Hi Friends!
I've got quite a bit of catching up to do now that I've returned from my maternity leave.  Look for a sermon reflection entry tomorrow!

For today, I wanted to recognize our Veterans by sharing this video.  Maybe you've already seen it.  A church member sent it to me and said, "This would make a great mission for us."  At first I thought maybe she meant that we should invite Veterans into our church and give them a shave and a haircut, but now I realize she probably meant that we should consider giving some money to the folks who did this for Jim Wolf and others.  You can do that here, if you are interested:

"This Veterans Day donate to Degage Ministries to help other homeless veterans: http://bit.ly/198hfmV "

But I dunno . . . maybe we should invite Veterans into our church and give them a shave and a haircut . . . 

What do you think?

"Maybe I'm NOT Starving..."

Last weekend, five members of our confirmation class, two friends from Our Saviour's UCC, and four adults went hungry. For 30 hours. More specifically, we participated in World Vision's 30-Hour Famine, a “a worldwide movement of students who are serious about serving God and fighting hunger—all on an empty stomach.” And we, just like 18% of our world's population (or 20% of U.S. children), we went hungry for a day. 

Now, it's not like we sat around and stared at each other for 24 hours, listening to our stomachs growl. We played games, watched videos about world hunger, visited tenants and served lunch at a local assisted living facility, and watched a fantastic documentary about hunger in the United States called "A Place at the Table" (go check it out!). By my observation, this documentary is what really hit home with our groups that weekend. By the time we sat down to watch it, we hadn't consumed anything--with the exception of some apple juice or grape juice--for about 26 hours. We had just served lunch to 40 senior citizens, and beef stew had NEVER smelled that good. As Thomas A. Dorsey sang, we were tired; we were weak; we were worn.

And while we dozed in and out of catnaps through the documentary, one thing became abundantly clear to us: we are not starving. We were hungry, sure. But for those of us locked in the church that weekend, we had taken solace in knowing that, once 6 p.m. rolled around, we'd have food from Fat Bruce's waiting for us. And some of us had been getting text messages asking what we'd want to eat at home after the unimaginable action of not eating had been completed. 

But you know what? Unfortunately, it isn't unimaginable. Nearly one billion people go hungry every day. In our own nation, the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, fifty million people--one in four children--don't know where their next meal is coming from. ONE IN FOUR. This enrages me. And this weekend, it shocked some of our youth, as well.  Praise God.

In our discovering injustices like this, a holy anger can develop. And I do believe it can be a holy anger. As we all know, learning doesn't always lead to happy celebrations. Sometimes, learning something new can open a Pandora's Box to the injustices of the world, imbalances among God's children, and complete breaches from what God has called us to do. Isaiah proclaimed this very same holy anger throughout his prophetic lifetime. God's word spoke through Isaiah, who called out to the people unaware of injustices in his time in this way:

Is not this the fast that I choose:
   to loose the bonds of injustice,
   to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
   and to break every yoke? 
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
   and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
   and not to hide yourself from your own kin? 
if you offer your food to the hungry
   and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
   and your gloom be like the noonday. 
The Lord will guide you continually,
   and satisfy your needs in parched places,
   and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
   like a spring of water,
   whose waters never fail. (Isaiah 58:6-7, 10-11)

What is the fast we choose? Is it to share our food with the hungry? Is it to satisfy the needs of those who are really hurting? And what does it really mean to do those things? Over the course of the weekend, we spoke about what it might mean for us--and by all means, talk with the youth about their thoughts coming out of the weekend! They'd be happy to share. But these are demands that we should all be taking under consideration. 

What is the fast that you choose?

Harvey Milk and LGBT Rights

A few moments ago, I finished watching “Milk,” a historical documentary about the life, death, and legacy of Harvey Milk.  Harvey Milk was a local businessman turned politician in the Castro district of San Francisco in the 1970s.  He was also the first openly gay person to be voted into public office in the United States, and a portion of his career focused on campaigning against police persecution and anti-gay ordinances by Anita Bryant in Florida and others across the nation.  The culmination of his activism was the successful voter rejection of Proposition 6, an ordinance which would have mandated the firing of gay teachers or any school employees that supported gay rights.  

On November 27, 1978, Harvey Milk (and Mayor Mascone) was assassinated by his conservative colleague, Dan White.

I’m overcome with a sense of such grief.  Grief that an individual would choose murder over sensible debate or a respectful difference of opinion.  Grief that so many in this movement eventually died from an AIDS epidemic that was largely ignored by the public and the government because of its initial classification as “gay cancer.”  Grief that, twenty years later, we are still allowing the debate of a homosexual’s hospital visitation rights, employment rights, and human rights to even occur.  

Milk was so convinced that his activist lifestyle could incite his assassination that he tape-recorded a message to be played in the event that it came to fruition (the transcript of that recording is here and is worth reading).  In spite of the violence and resistance, Harvey Milk gave a message of hope.  Hope that closed minds could be opened and hope for a better future.

“And the young gay people in the Altoona, Pennsylvanias and the Richmond, Minnesotas who are coming out and hear Anita Bryant on television and her story.  The only thing they have to look forward to is hope.  And you have to give them hope.  Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great.  Hope that all will be all right.”    - Harvey Milk

I believe more strongly than ever that this is the civil rights issue of our generation.  We have come so far since the 1970s, but there is still so much to be done to assert equal human rights, regardless of sexual orientation.  I stand with my LGBT brothers and sisters, in activism and in hope that a brighter future of equality is ahead.

What are your memories of Harvey Milk and the anti-gay resistance of the 1970s and 1980s?  Does the debate of the repression of LGBT rights have a legitimate place in our society? What is The Church's role in the LGBT movement? 

- SP

Resources

Started by Dan Savage, the It Gets Better Project is a nonprofit organization that shows "young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years. The It Gets Better Project wants to remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone — and it WILL get better."

The book "And the Band Played On" by Randy Shilts is a heart-wrenching account of the neglect of the public and government at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic.  I can't recommend it enough, especially since it gives particular context to the characters of "Milk."