A Church for Starving Artists

Note:  People who know Shawna Bowman recognize that she’s a genius.  I credit her with this idea of “Bivocational Church” from a conversation yesterday.

Lots of people believe that bivocational ministry will be more prevalent for 21st Century Pastors than in previous generations (except for that very first generation of Jesus followers, of course.)

Bivocational pastors work part-time in professional ministry and part-time in another field.  In a perfect world, that other field would dovetail nicely with preaching, teaching, and pastoral care – say, like a school teacher or social worker.  But I also have friends in bivocational ministry who are part-time baristas, bartenders, and construction workers.

Acts 18:3 

The real question is:  How in the world does someone serve a church 20-25 hours a week and still equip that church to grow?  Sadly, many bivocational pastors serve tiny churches that cannot afford a full time clergyperson and after writing a sermon, leading worship, and making a couple phone calls they’ve used up their 20-25 hours.  There is no time for teaching Bible studies, training leaders, offering pastoral care, or connecting missionally with the community.  Often churches with part-time pastors can do nothing but maintenance and it’s almost impossible for those congregations to grow.  It feels like the beginning of the end for once thriving churches with full time pastors.

But . . .

What if the bivocational pastor acknowledged her/his utter inability to “do it all” and instead invited the whole congregation to be a bivocational church? 

Imagine the culture of a congregation shifting with the realization that church is not merely about a “Sunday service” but actually it’s about a way of life?  What if the bankers, plumbers, bakers, and waitresses all saw that their life’s work was indeed bivocational because they, too, are ministers?

• We are all called to ministry – at least that’s what my own Reformed tradition declares.
• We are all called to follow the way of Jesus.
• We are all called to a “Christian vocation.”

What if the crux of the 21st Century Pastor’s ministry tasks involved equipping her/his parishioners to do ministry out in the world?  Imagine spending 20-25 hours per week focused on teaching others to preach, teach, visit the sick, pray, and shepherd God’s people.  What if the bivocational pastor focused on teaching her/his parishioners to be A Bivocational Church?

Image source.

Many parents will soon  send their progeny off to college hoping they’ll major in engineering.  Fewer parents long for their kids to major in theology or religious studies.  But it occurs to me that what the church needs are ecclesiastical or theological engineers.

Engineers are trained and gifted in re-working systems as opposed to technicians who address specific problems.  Radiological techs take and read x-rays.  AC technicians fix the air conditioning.  There are highly skilled technicians and low-skilled technicians but both have more expertise than the average person who tries to install her own ceiling fan.

The church needs more ecclesiological engineers. Wise and hopeful congregations will seek leaders who come in with a solid foundation of the basics – theology, pastoral care, preaching –  but who are also creative enough to know how to tweak the way things are done in order to fulfill the greater mission of God’s people.

The greater mission does not involve details like organizing Vacation Bible school or ordering biodegradable coffee cups, although those things are important and they point to the greater mission.  But many pastors find themselves doing those tasks – tasks the members should be doing.

Most pastors are technicians. They craft sermons and Bible Studies.  They fix problems.  They look at information and act on that information.  In the church, we find pastors who are highly skilled technicians and others who are low-skilled.

But we need more pastors who are engineers.  A church’s DNA can be altered only if someone (or a team of someones) is willing to do the delicate work of inserting new DNA.  A church’s systems can be shifted by careful tweaking.  A church’s culture can be altered by whip-smart, loving, spiritually gifted pastors.

Unless the engineering is done gently and lovingly, the whole thing comes crashing down.

This metaphor is not perfect.    But there are too few churches – and I’m grateful to know some- who are led by engineers/the highest skilled pastors who have clearly altered the DNA, culture, and systems of their congregations.

More tomorrow.

After two glorious weeks away traveling from Chicago to Brooklyn to the NC coast to Chapel Hill to the NC mountains/Wild Goose 2013, I am filled with energy, joy, and many ideas to ponder.  But it was a long drive home yesterday and I don’t yet have a handle on the impact of these recent blessed days.  It’s coming, but for now, here are some quick pieces of wisdom:

1. One-on-one conversations are crucial for faith development and intimacy.  21 people were on our family vacation at the beach and we had a magnificent time.  But I wish I’d been able to spend a whole day individually with each person talking about Things That Matter.  Sadly, I don’t have 21 days of vacation for this particular purpose. Nobody does. (But thank you Edmiston Family for a fabulous time.)
2. Pastors don’t have to be responsible for everything in their congregations. “I don’t feel responsible for what my parishioners believe.  I feel responsible for what they hear.” (Thank you Nadia Bolz Weber.)
3. If a person speaks a word that points to the Truth of God’s Word, that person is serving as a priest, regardless of who she/he might be.  On Sunday morning, HH and I went to see ancient Native American pictographs and met a retired science professor along the way who self-identified as a pagan. Nevertheless, he spoke the Truth to a couple of vacationing pastors.  (Thank you, God.)
4. There’s something wrong with a sanctuary when 1/3 of the entire space is set aside for 1-3 special people who get microphones. (Nadia again.)
5. Best explanation for why FBC (and countless others) mark their bodies with ink and piercings:  ” Many people, today, personalize everything (Hello, grande soy mocha with an extra shot) and personalizing your body is an act of spiritual storytelling.” (Again, from the lovely/inked NBW)
6. Huge insight I can’t wait to share with my seminarian/pastor friends – especially those who have experienced a large measure of pain:  “Preach from your scars, not your wounds.”  (Thank you again, O Pastrix.)
7. Wild Goose is a fun experience.  Camping is a fun experience.  For some people, it’s too hard to do both the same weekend.  Some of us need to take our Wild Goose learnings to a cabin with a shower and AC at the end of the day. (Thank you HH.)
8. Sometimes a glass of sweet iced tea can save your life.  (Thank you, Darkwood Brew, who donated 100% of their profits to Wild Goose.)
9. “We need some new protest songs.” (Yep, Amy Ray.)
10. “God calls us to speak the Truth in hostile situations.”  If we aren’t speaking up for the weak and oppressed in places where we might find push back if not rejection, we aren’t following Jesus.  (Thank you William Barber.)

More later.

Image of the French Broad River in Hot Springs, NC by Aneel Trivedi. 

Vacation feasting continues as I gorge on memories here in the town where I was born and raised, went to college, married my HH, and said goodbye to my parents.

All I have to do is walk the sidewalks for random memories to pour over me.

• There’s where I was sitting when I told S that her boyfriend was, in fact, gay.  
• Here’s my old dorm room where H came to crash for a few weeks after her mother died.  
• Over there on the wall of the gallery where several of us worked is the once  barely-attached-to-the-wall painting we used to borrow  to “give” to each other for birthday gifts only to return before morning.  Who doesn’t need a Rembrandt? (Note:  It’s now securely bolted to the wall.  I checked.)
• There’s the bush where I threw up after stumbling upon my boyfriend making out with his future wife.
• And over there’s the house where four of us, standing around bored at a party, decided to go to Europe together after graduation.

I haven’t lived here for 35 years but it’s my Ur.  God called me out of here to go where I hadn’t planned to go.

My current home is a community in the Midwest where many residents grew up as children.  They left home for college, perhaps, but returned to settle down and live their lives.  I know several people who live in towns like this across the country.  They’ve chosen to stay put for lots of good reasons.  Some towns are basically great places to live, great places to raise a family.

Who wouldn’t want to live in a place that’s comfortable and familiar and safe?

Place is sacred in my theology.  God calls us to specific places.

Some of us are called out of all that’s comfortable, familiar, and safe.  And some of us aren’t.  Neither is better than the other.

Occasionally loved ones have directly asked me: Why have I chosen to live so far away? Maybe it feels like I don’t want to be geographically (or even emotionally) close to family.  Actually, it would be nice to live closer to them.

But sometimes God calls us to go.  Remember Abram & Sarai?  I believe that God still calls us away.  Maybe not all of us are called to do this, but many of us are.  This – I’m convinced – is why Shane lives in Philly, Margie lives in Jordan,  Joanna lives in Thailand, and Matt lives in Pittsburgh.

God doesn’t say, “Please leave” or “Leave if you feel like it.”  It’s more of a “This is your next call.  Go.”

Honestly, it would be nice to live in NC again.  Or Virginia.  Or NY.  All places I’ve loved calling home.

But God’s called us elsewhere.  And because we are loved, God makes life beautiful wherever we’re sent.   This is grace.

Image is Abram and Sarai by Marc Chagall.

Summer = Church Conference Time for many of us.  It’s been a feast of possibilities this summer in the year of our Lord 2013:

• Big Tent just ended in Louisville.
• UNCO 2013 East Coast was held in June and a West Coast event is planned for the fall.
• Wild Goose begins this week in Hot Springs, NC

And then there have been/will be an array of Liturgical Arts Conferences, Preaching Conferences, Bible Conferences.  And of course the Mother of all conference centers –   Chautauqua   – offers dozens of interesting events all summer long.

How do you decide how to spend your precious time and money when it comes to enriching your soul?

• Do you choose a denominational event hoping to make connections and attend practical workshops?
• Do you seek enrichment in a specific area of spiritual or professional development?
• Do you look for theologians and artists you admire?

HH and I chose Wild Goose this summer – not just for the amazing line-up – but also for the creative interactions with people beyond our tradition and perspective.  We’ll report on how it goes.

But I’d like to hear from you.  Have you attended a church/spiritual conference this summer or do you plan to attend a conference?  And why did you choose this event over all others?

Image is art from Wild Goose.  The Indigo Girls will be singing to our heart’s delight.  

I am a middle-aged white woman with a college education living in a nice house with a good job.  I am a person of privilege.

When we talk about The Privileged in the United States of America, some of us get defensive.  We explain that we’ve earned what we have.  We’ve built the lives we lead.  We have worked hard to get where we are.

But the truth is that most of what we have is a result of winning the genetic lottery, being born into certain families, and having a leg up in terms of wealth, health, and opportunities.  Show me a person with an excellent education living in a great neighborhood and I’ll show you a person blessed with advantages that most likely gave him/her a head start.

I am especially aware of our privilege on my vacation – from where I write this today. Last night, I was feasting my eyes on 11 healthy kids (with two more healthy kids at home) from the porch of a lovely ocean-side “cottage” that sleeps 23 people, enjoying daily meals that –  for most people in the world – would be once-in-a-lifetime feasts.  Taking it all in, our enormous privilege was tangible.

All of our kids have the opportunity to go to college.  All of them have gone to excellent high schools because of where we are able to live.  All of us have passports marked with interesting stamps.  We drive cars that work.  We get paid vacations.  We have health insurance.

We are privileged.  But how do we respond to this privilege?  That question begs many others:

• Can we live privileged lives and truly follow Jesus?
• How much of our wealth are we willing to share so that others can  live in safety and comfort?
• Do we believe in a zero sum game when it comes to our way of life? (i.e. There is a limited amount of wealth, so if others have more, we will have less?)
• Do we want as many as possible to have what we have?

Some of us believe our stuff will save us.  And some of us say we believe that Jesus saves us, but we still depend on our stuff.  And a very few of us trust Jesus with all we have and are.

What I believe is that everybody should have the kind of vacation we are having this week,  with plenty of rest and food, surrounded by people who love us.

Driving from Chicago to Brooklyn today with a dog wearing a Thunder Shirt.  (The dog’s wearing the Thunder Shirt, not me.)

Occasional vacation posts to follow.

[Note:  It’s a privilege to write reference letters for colleagues and friends.  Occasionally we in the church are invited to offer “charges” to new pastors or their congregations with advice and reminders.  Nobody has asked me to offer charges to sorority girls, retired pastors, or pastor search committees, but that’s my plan before leaving for vacation.]

Dear Pastor Search Committee,

The truth is that you are the most important committee in the church.  Your choices will impact the future of your congregation for the rest of that congregation’s life.

No pressure or anything.  But here’s the good news:  God wants to direct you. Your job is to discern and listen and then act in faith, not in fear.

Having said this, I get that you don’t want denominational staffers to tell you what to do, but there might be some insights that we can contribute as entities who do this All The Time.  You don’t have to take this guidance, but honestly, we want you to have the best pastor possible and these tips will help.  You can find this out now or you can find this out later.  So please consider the following:

• For the love of God, please don’t judge a pastor by his/her gender, hair style, skin color, accent, age, or (even) education.  Maybe she went to the local community college for a really good reason.  Maybe he studied at Harvard but he’s a jerk.  Perhaps he has fabulous hair, but he has the pastoral skills of a carrot.  Maybe she won preaching awards but she’ll stab you in the back.  Maybe he’s quirky and yet there is a holy aura about him.  I’ve written about pulpit candy before in this blog.  Don’t choose pulpit candy.
• If you consider yourselves to An Amazing Church, congratulations.  But do not assume that all candidates believe you are all that.  If you come off as arrogant (“If we should deign to call you . . .“), if you believe that everyone will be clamoring to be your pastor, if you believe great candidates will come to you – beware.  The candidate you really want is not that shallow.
• If you consider yourself to be a church with little to offer, stop it.  You deserve a strong pastor.  Keep in mind that your community needs a shepherd who will teach you how to make disciples and love people.  Don’t settle for someone without the energy to serve you well.
• If several candidates have turned you down, stir up the courage to have someone contact the former candidates and ask what you could have done better.  Make it clear that you truly want to learn how you could be more hospitable, transparent, authentic.  And listen to those comments.
• Give people space and yet keep them informed.  Don’t interview somebody and then fail to be in touch for a month.  Acknowledge receiving their resumes.  And when they come into town, do not insist they look at certain neighborhoods while simultaneously offering a salary package that makes that neighborhood out of their financial reach.
• Tell the truth.  Don’t hide skeletons.  Don’t forget to mention the misconduct of your former pastor or the full financial picture of the congregation.  It will not be pretty – or fair – when your new pastor finds out the truth the week after her/his installation.
• Don’t rush.  It’s better to have no pastor than have a pastor who’s a terrible match.

Your congregation deserves a pastor who will understand you, love you, lead you, admonish you, and challenge you.  Pray for her/him.  Your next pastor is out there but it might take a while for you to find each other.

Grace and peace, Jan

[Note:  It’s a privilege to write reference letters for colleagues and friends.  Occasionally we in the church are invited to offer “charges” to new pastors or their congregations with advice and reminders.  Nobody has asked me to offer charges to sorority girls, retired pastors, or pastor search committees, but that’s my plan before leaving for vacation.]

Dear Retired Clergy Colleagues,

I imagine it feels discombobulating to move from a rhythm of weekly preaching and liturgical seasons to a schedule comprised primarily of personal errands, etc.  To shift from being The Pastor to a wholly new identity (“Retired Person” or “Former Pastor”) would be disconcerting, especially if you were a pastor for 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 years.

Although I’m not retired, I have an idea of what you are going through in that I made the move from being a parish pastor for 27 years to being a middle judicatory staff member.  I still get to preach and I still attend church meetings, but nobody calls me Pastor Jan anymore.  I haven’t baptized a baby since May 1, 2011 and maybe never will again.

I know what it’s like to grieve the loss of leaving a congregation.  I do.  I know what it’s like to end  a pastoral relationship and try to maintain friendships while not interfering with your former congregation’s future.  It’s painfully difficult.  At least for a while, we cannot even maintain those friendships.

Now that you’ve retired, please remember that when you to pop into worship or show up at church gatherings in your former congregation – uninvited by the current pastor –  it’s not good for the church you say you love and miss.   You put the current pastor(s) and frankly, you put me as a member of the Presbytery Staff, in a difficult situation.  You are forcing me to contact you and remind you about skills you should have learned in elementary school.

If you have been specifically invited by the current pastor to return for an event, whether it’s a wedding, a funeral, or a worship service, that’s great.  But to show up uninvited is a boundary violation.

At best, you are breaking your Covenant of Closure (which in my tradition is what the retiring pastor signs on his/her last Sunday.)  At worst, you are in violation of your ordination vows – the one about being a good colleague (“Will you be a friend among your colleagues in ministry, working with them, subject to the ordering of God’s Word and Spirit?“)

It would be healthy and helpful if you would stop.

[Gentle Readers who do not happen to be Retired Clergy:  just as sorority girls don’t read my blog, retired pastors probably don’t read my blog either.  But if you are friends with a retired pastor – especially if he/she continues to consider that last church to be forever his/hers – please have a loving conversation with our retired colleague.]

Retired Colleagues, please consider this:

• If your grown children and/or grandchildren are still members of your former church, please talk with the current pastor about how you will deal with those events when your family members play the flute on Christmas Eve or serve as liturgist on Palm Sunday.
• When the church staff has a celebration or they go on retreat, don’t assume you are invited.
• If you are “Pastor Emeritus” it doesn’t mean you are still part of the church staff.  It means the congregation gave you an honorary designation to show that they love you.  It doesn’t mean you are entitled to be their pastor forever and ever.
• Although we believe that everyone is called to ministry, you are still called to ministry, but not ministry in your previous parish.  You are called to serve in a new way, in a different context.  Prayerfully consider what that new ministry will be and remember that it could be in a museum or homeless shelter or high school.  But it’s not in your former church.  Ever.
• Please respect the person who followed you in your former church.  And realize it’s not respectful when you turn every opportunity to return as your showcase moment.
• It’s your job – your job – to say no.  “No, I can’t officiate at your wedding.”  “No, I cannot return to do your funeral.”

Please let’s talk about how you can make disciples in new ways.  I would love to dream with you about how you might serve in this next season of your life. And thank you for your service.  It has been a blessing, but now it’s someone else’s turn to be a blessing with the church you no longer serve.

Respectfully, Jan

[Note:  It’s a privilege to write reference letters for colleagues and friends.  Occasionally we in the church are invited to offer “charges” to new pastors or their congregations with advice and reminders.  Nobody has asked me to offer charges to sorority girls, retired pastors, or pastor search committees, but that’s my plan before leaving for vacation.]

Dear Southern Sisters,

Last week I wrote a reference letter for a young woman who will be going through sorority rush this fall as a college freshman.  She is great!

Very bright. Effervescent, Gifted in music and sports.  So kind.

But as I wrote her letter, my stomach started to churn a little bit.  My young friend is from the Midwest and she’s going to a college in the Southeast where the young female students have the reputation of being thin, blonde, and “from there.”  My friend is cute and even blonde, but she’s not from there – geographically or culturally.

Her last name might sound “foreign”  because her father hails from the Middle East. His first name is Arabic.  And in fact, I think he’s Muslim.  My friend is Christian, but she knows and loves a lot of people who are not.

I went to college with you and was one of you – sort of.  I never had a wasp-like waistline but I was a WASP.  I never had a trust fund or the money to use Laszlo skin care products, but I had enough to cover the annual dues.  I didn’t go to private school but was blessed to graduate from an excellent public high school.

So, after I sent off the reference letter, I shot a quick note to her, wearing both my mother hat and my Southerner hat,  letting her know  that

1. People can be mean, so don’t let the mean ones ever make you believe you are not amazing,
2. Southern people can be parochial and some still don’t understand why waving the Confederate flag is a problem, and
3. Southern college kids can be clueless, especially in fraternities and sororities, and especially when drinking adult beverages.

As I write this letter, I totally realize that college girls do not read this blog, and so I am depending on my friends and colleagues who are the mothers and grandmothers and friends of teen-aged and college-aged young Southern women.  Maybe you could have a conversation with the young Southerners in your lives.

Please ask those young people to be kind to those who are Not Like Them.  There is a pack mentality in college, especially in sororities and fraternities, and those packs are often exclusive.  And mean.

I am one of those Southerners who prays – every time a White supremacist kills a Sikh or  young straight men kill young gay men – that the perpetrators don’t have Southern accents.  Please God. And I doubly pray that the perpetrators don’t self-identify as Christian.

But the truth is that my young friend from the Midwest will almost certainly experience something less than Southern hospitality when she goes to college in the Southeast because she will be perceived to be different, culturally.

Please let’s teach our children that talking about Southern Hospitality and knowing the stories about hospitality in the Bible do not make us hospitable, even to our friends, much less to strangers.

And may God protect those who are different as they head off to college this fall.

Your sister, Jan

Image Source.