Listening to my Lutheran colleagues

On Tuesday I was privileged to listen in on a conversation among my Lutheran colleagues as they discussed the recent vote of their national church body to begin the process where gay and lesbian persons who are in a committed relationship may be called as pastors to a consenting congregation. The Lutheran Church also voted to begin the process of recognizing "lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships."

These are pastors I meet with on a regular basis to study the Biblical texts for the upcoming Sunday as we all prepare our weekly sermons. Today they agreed to set aside some time after our Bible study to talk about their national church decisions.

All these pastors spoke about their desire to minister to all their people in this time of change. All of them have addressed the issues in their congregations with small groups, forums, informal discussions, and one-on-one encounters. All of them have some members who agree with the national church decisions, and some members who disagree. It's a wrenching time for their denomination as they struggle with change.

I was able to offer my perspective from the experience of the Episcopal Church since we've gone through this a few years before the Lutheran Church. I told them I admired their pastoral sensitivity in the way they've handled this so far, and I wished them well in their attempts to maintain the unity and peace of their congregations.
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My summer vacation - Week 1

I just returned from two weeks of summer vacation. My time away was refreshing and renewing...just what a vacation should be. Like many clergy, I find that there's no way to really take a vacation unless I leave town. There are no phone calls, no temptations to do a little more work, no obligations to attend to. When you leave town, you leave it behind.

Week 1 of my vacation was spent backpacking with my older son Guy on the Washington Coast. We drove to La Push, a small village on the coast, and left our car near there. Katy then drove us around through Neah Bay to the north part of the coast and dropped us off at the trailhead to Shi Shi Beach. We hiked from there south along the beach to our car.

The scenery along the coast is breathtaking. We encountered huge rocks jutting into the surf, jagged rocky coves awash in waves, long crescent beaches, and rocky obstacles along our way.


The first morning we woke up to the serene beauty of a misty morning at the Point of Arches (above).


The next day we hiked along the beach (above) to Cape Alava where we camped on a grassy spot (photo at the top of this column).


The last two days were difficult hiking because we had long stretches of rocky shoreline to scramble over. I fell and hurt my shin, and I lost the sole of one of my boots. At the end we were weary, dirty, and smelly. It was great! We felt like we really experienced the Olympic Coast and accomplished what we set out to do.

And, of course, there's nothing like coming back home, taking a hot shower and sleeping in a real bed. After a hike like this, the comforts of home are appreciated like never before.

When I go hiking, my normal routine of prayer life is interrupted. I don't have an easy chair to sit in and meditate like I usually do. On a hike, I find myself talking to God more directly and openly. I'm able to break out of my usual patterns and listen to God in new ways.

What I find is that I'm able to shed some of the roles I usually carry and I'm able to be myself more honestly. Hiking especially makes me focus on the basics of survival and identity. That's refreshing to me because I'm able to renew my inner self and feel reaffirmed in who I am as a simple person walking before God. I'm grateful I had this chance to do that.
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Building a house together

Today I joined several others from our parish at a work day to help build Kathryn and Scott Tubberville's house. Kathryn and Scott are part of the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Self-Help program that allows them to become homeowners if they work on their own house and recruit other volunteers to work on their house.

Kathryn is the daughter of Heather and Bill George. heather watched their two small children and supplied lunch to us, and Bill worked on the building crew.

It was wonderful to see the energy at the work site. Eleven young families are taking part in the prgram, and they were all there, nailing on siding and installing windows. Kathryn and Scott work every weekend to earn their sweat equity, and the first floor of their house is framed up.

Several of us were assigned to build a retaining wall with concrete blocks. When we finished, we were proud of our work!

It felt good to be part of such a positive program. I hope our church can have another work day at this site, possibly when there's sheetrock or painting work to be done. It would also be nice if we could provide a lunch for these young families who work so hard.

Here's a few more photos.

Heather

Charles, Larry, and Tyler

Kathryn and Scott

Vacation Bible School Success!

Peter Stockwell tells the children the theme of the day

Today we concluded five days of Vacation Bible School with a wildly successful picnic/barbecue and by collapsing on the couch in complete exhaustion!

Peter Stockwell, VBS director, did a fantastic job of recruiting and managing an enormous team of adult and teen leaders. Our enthusiastic volunteers led the kids in crafts, music, games, Bible stories, food, and the Bible challenge (my specialty!).

It was wonderful to see the kids as they learned about God. Their openness to God is so lovely to see, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with them. Of course, there are always challenges! Some kids have trouble focusing, some kids get bored, and after five days we were all a little tired out. But overall, it was a huge success.

I'm thrilled that so many children came to know Jesus this week, and I hope that their parents will have a closer connection to St. Antony's that will lead them to become members here. God is good!

Vacation Bible School, Day One

Today was the first day of Vacation Bible School, and were we BUSY! We had some twenty five kids plus lots of teen helpers and adult leaders, which made for a full and active morning.

Peter Stockwell, our VBS director, has done a superb job of pulling together the people and programs necessary to make this work. It's marvelous to see it all come together.

Our theme is "Gadget's Garage", a program from Concordia Publishing house. The idea is that God made the world and all that is in it, just like a teenage kid named Gadget who likes to invent things in his garage workshop. The program includes snappy songs, craft ideas, Bible stories, and food creations. It's a pretty nifty show.

My part is to help the kids memorize a Bible verse using clap and stopping rhythms. Today we were also supposed to put together a paper cutout robot, but it was impossibly complicated and hardly any of the kids could accomplish it. Or adults for that matter! But we had fun anyway.

The children are full of energy and excitement, and they seem to be having a good time. And learning about God, I hope!
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A healthy discussion

On Sunday we held a discussion forum about the results of General Convention 2009. I think our discussion was candid, forthright, and helpful. About 25 people attended.

I opened the discussion by giving an overview of the resolutions passed at General Convention. Then we focused on the two controversial resolutions, C056 and D025.

Resolution C056 recognizes changes in state and national legislation regarding homosexual unions and calls for the liturgical commission to collect and develop theological and liturgical resources” for the 2012 convention to consider. The effect of this resolution is to open the door to future rites of blessing for gay and lesbian relationships, perhaps in 2015.

Resolution D025 recognizes that the baptized membership of the Episcopal Church includes same-sex couples living in faithful, lifelong committed relationships, and affirms that “God has called and may call such individuals to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church." This opens the door to the election and consecration of a gay or lesbian person as a bishop.

Our discussion began with questions about these resolutions and their affect on the church, but it quickly moved to the nub of the matter: are homosexual relationships morally acceptable or not? Some folks asked, "Why shouldn't gay and lesbian couples have the same opportunities as heterosexual couples?" Other folks countered with the Biblical view that there's nothing wrong with being homosexual as long as you stay celibate.

After some back and forth, we all began to recognize that we were going over the same ground that's been covered many times before, and it was obvious that we weren't going to solve the issue in one morning. We ended our session with a sense of good will and generosity.

What I liked about the discussion is that we were able to discuss these prickly matters and not get angry or huffy about it. Clearly there were different points of view in the room, but we were able to listen to each other.

Several people told me they were grateful to have the opportunity to express themselves in a relatively relaxed and open atmosphere. People feel strongly on both sides of this issue, and it's helpful to provide a non-defensive environment where all comments are accepted without censure.

I hope we can have diverse viewpoints within our congregation while at the same time maintaining our sense of oneness. Unity with diversity.

Barn Sale success

Another year, another barn sale!

Yesterday and today we held the 22nd annual Barn Sale, and it was a success! We sold truckloads of household furnishings, books, toys, furniture, and who knows what kind of miscellaneous bric-a-brac.

Many people worked hard to make this barn sale a success, and kudos to them all! Gathering, sorting and pricing hundreds of items was a huge task that was done beforehand, and a few brave souls undertook this job. On the two days of the sale, we had many volunteers to staff the tables and do all the many jobs required.

My thanks to all who made this event a success.