Inquiring Minds

Deuteronomy 6:1-6
Mark 12:28-30

In the novel The Help Mrs. Hilly Holbrook is the president of the Junior League in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963. 1963 - - the year Medger Evers, the civil rights activist, was shot in the back and killed in Jackson, the year Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his speech about his great dream from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. But Miss Hilly, as all the maids must call her, isn’t too concerned with all these things. In fact, she’s working on a movement of her own in Jackson. As president of the Junior League she is trying to make sure that all respectable white folk with black hired help build a new bathroom in their garage or outdoor shed for their help to use exclusively. It’s for their own health, she insists.

Miss Skeeter, a lifelong friend of Miss Hilly’s, isn’t quite so sure about this movement, though. Fondly remembering the African American woman, Constantine, who raised her, Skeeter doesn’t understand why the women who care for the whites’ children and cook their food, among other things, should have to use the bathroom away from the rest of the house. It just doesn’t make sense to her. Skeeter begins to get to know “the help” on the sly. She secretly researches the Jim Crow laws she has always known exist, but has never learned much about. She begins to think for herself instead of just accepting what has always been a part of her experience and worldview.

When Hilly starts to discover the kinds of thoughts her dear friend is thinking she questions accusingly, “Who does she think she is? Does she really think she is smarter than the government?!?”

I have to admit I was sort of a little proud about the cover Skeeter uses when lying to her mother about her coming and going as she develops relationships with some of the African American maids. I’m proud that this brave and inquisitive woman is portrayed as a Presbyterian. Now I doubt that this was done intentionally. Our denomination, like all other Protestant denominations other than the Episcopalians split over the issue of slavery in the 19th century, and we remained divided into northern and southern churches until the 1980s. While there were civil rights activists in some southern churches in the 1950s and 60s, we Presbyterians weren’t known anymore than other for our support of the movement.

I don’t think the author Kathryn Stockett really meant to lift up the Presbyterian church, but it made me kind of proud that heroine used Presbyterian church meetings as her excuse when she was going out under the dark cover of night to expand her mind, broaden her experience, and learn more about the lives of the African American women she knew so little about. Skeeter was no longer comfortable just swallowing what was passed down to her uncritically. She realized a time had come when she needed to think through these things for herself and draw her own conclusions. She had been blessed with a mind to think, and it was definitely time to use it.

Jesus lifts up this particular blessing when he challenged by a scribe to choose one commandment over all the others that could be declared the greatest. The scribe like so many others was trying to trip Jesus up more than he was seeking his wise opinion. Other religious and political leaders were there, too, shooting questions at him like darts. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” “Who will a man be married to in heaven if he had multiple consecutive marriages while alive on earth?” And now a question about the greatest commandment from a scribe, a man who had spent countless hours copying the hundreds of laws in Scripture, writing decisions and commentary for the priests and religious leaders based on these laws. He was trying to catch Jesus in an obvious mistake, so I know he MUST have heard Jesus’ small, but significant change of Scripture.

“Hear O Israel,’ Jesus began to quote. “The Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” One thing is different in Jesus’ quote from the original in Deuteronomy. And it’s not that he would have messed this one up by accident. It is and was one of the best known passages in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is one that many faithful Jews recite to themselves daily as part of their prayers. Known as the “Shemah,” which means “Hear” as the community is commanded to do in the opening lines, this passage is too important and too familiar for Jesus to just have gotten wrong. Therefore, his addition must have been purposeful, and it must have been important.

In counting the ways in which God’s people are called to love God, Jesus adds in loving God with all our mind. Heart, soul, strength—these are all a direct quote from Deuteronomy, but mind is something different, something that didn’t appear in the Hebrew Scriptures. And for that reason, since Jesus bothered to add it to a crucial text for the people of his faith, it is something to which we should pay attention.

Our minds are a gift from God. Our minds are a huge part of what makes us uniquely human and they are definitely what makes us individuals different from one another. Our minds, like every other part of our bodies, have been given to us in order that we will use them to bless and honor and worship God. We do this by using them. That sounds a little strange, sure, but it isn’t. In too many situations, in too many churches, the expectation is that we will check our minds at the door.

In the marketplace, sellers pray that we won’t think to hard about the products that we buy, that we will trust their words in advertising and buy what they are selling, hook, line, and sinker. In some church traditions it is the same, but hopefully without the malice. Believers are called to do just that “believe,” but belief doesn’t involve critical thinking. Leaders at the top hand down doctrine and opinions on issues, and members are expected to accept them or at least keep their disagreements silent.

In our tradition that’s not the expectation. In fact, it is the opposite. Believers not only have the right we have the responsibility to think through matters of faith with our own minds and hearts. We have official doctrine, but in it are ten different documents written in the last 1800 years, and occasionally they disagree. Each one of us is called to put our minds to good use to think and pray and discern our beliefs and actions within the guidance and framework of these beliefs that have been lifted up over the generations.

We say in our tradition that God alone is Lord of conscience, and therefore each one of us has the responsibility to pray and study and discern our beliefs with the support of the Word and Spirit of God which we find in our life as a community. None of us are islands working out our faith in solitude, but each of us is called to explore our faith and beliefs for ourselves. There is not one among us who is not equipped to do this because God has given us each minds and has blessed each one of them for service in God’s name.

At same there is not one among us whose mind is perfect and full of all knowledge of God. Our growth in Christ is never complete; it is never whole and finished. This is why we are persistent in our offering and invitation to further engage our minds through education and small group ministries. This is why we don’t just offer Sunday School for children and nothing for our adults. There is not one among us who is done learning and growing and stretching our minds with the knowledge and love of God. Each and everyone one of us is called to continually love and worship God with our minds as we engage them in matters of faith, questioning, wondering, and growing in our understanding of the way of Jesus.

A few years ago the editors of storytelling SMITH magazine called for submissions from readers for project they called six word memoirs. The challenge to authors known and unknown was to sum up their lives in just six words – no more, no less. Some examples:

“Nobody cared. Then they did. Why?”
One from a 9 year old girl “Cursed with cancer. Blessed by friends.”
A couple of confessions:
“I still make coffee for two.”
“Most successful accomplishments based on spite.”

In an exercise of engaging our minds we’re going to try a twist on this theme. In each worship announcement bulletin and then coming through the aisles from the ushers are some pieces of blank paper or index cards. We are going to take time this morning to love the Lord our God with our minds by writing not six word memoirs, but six word theologies. Using no more than six, and no less write down what you believe. You may craft it yourself in a Trinitarian form as so many of the traditional statements of faith do. You may write a phrase or two that get to the core of what you understand about God. You may quote a portion of a favorite song or hymn that expresses your deepest faith. It does not matter from where it comes; it is your theology, your worship with your mind.

Those who are willing will have a chance to share after a few minutes, and all that are turned in in the offering plate later in worship will be posted to a bulletin board for others to read. Including your name is, of course, optional.
So now, let us enter a special time of prayer and worship, loving God with our minds.


In a way, Jesus blessed the very ones who are testing him. He blessed the Pharisees and Sadducees and the scribes who were trying to catch him and find something in what he said that they could hold against him. He blessed them by lifting up the importance of loving God with our minds. He blessed them by making their questions OK, their exercises of the mind an expectation of faith.

Jesus did here exactly what he does in just about every other situation. He blesses the ones we would least expect. He blesses his challengers, his enemies, those who seek to judge him and condemn him for the words that he says and the life that he lives. He blesses them by lifting up the kind of work they do with their minds, and he calls us to engage in that kind of work and worship ourselves, to love God by exercising the minds we have been graciously given. May God bless the minds we have and the faith we discover with them.

My Prayer Discipline and Passions

If you haven’t already noticed Pastor Stephanie is back! The staff is excited to have her back and to get back to the routine that was all but absent with summer schedules. Pastor Stephanie has come back with a renewed commitment and energy for ministry with this congregation. You can see and hear it in her sermons, writings, and conversations. This energy has rubbed off on me!

I also have a renewed energy and passion for my ministry with you. This means that the educational and mission ministry ideas are flowing abundantly (sometimes to fast for me to keep up with!). The struggle for me is to discern which of these of ideas will be woven into God’s purpose and plan for this congregation and which will not. In a recent sermon Pastor Stephanie talked about the importance of prayer in the discernment and visioning process. It is important for me to return to a discipline of prayer in my ministry with you. I need to make time during the day to pray for and about the work I am doing. My hope is that through disciplined prayer and discernment I will be able to better serve you. I also hope that this will help to sustain my ministry on those days when I’m tired, worn out, and just do not feel energetic or passionate for the work I’m doing.

That said, I want to tell you what ministries I am feeling passionate about these days. First, I am passionate about our Adult Education theme for 2010-2011, A Year with the Bible. Being in conversation with God’s story, which is also our story, is one of the most important things people of faith can do. Second, I’m passionate about the potential of Small Group Ministry for our congregation. I hope that by providing both short and long term opportunities for groups of people to gather around specific topics, books, or passions; we as a congregation can grow deeper in our love for God so that we may minister more faithfully to one another and to those outside our church family. Third, I am passionate about providing varied types of mission and service opportunities that the entire congregation is encouraged to participate in. This might mean an outing to Feed My Starving Children to fill food bags for the hungry, an outing to Willow River State Park to help them on a project, or an in “house” mission activity. The options for service are endless and I would like your suggestions! What kinds of mission and service opportunities do you want to participate in?
My prayer for this congregation is that the renewed energy, passion, and commitment to the ministries of this congregation that Pastor Stephanie and I have will rub off on you as we begin a new program year!

Statistics and Stories

A few weeks ago I was reading one of our denomination’s magazines Presbyterians Today and came across some statistics about Presbyterians that I found interesting. Did you know?

• The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) consists of 2.1 million members in over 10,700 congregations found in every state including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.


• Half of congregations consist of 100 members or less and only 13 congregations have over 4,000 members.
  Nationally, average weekly attendance is 1.1 million.


• One in 3 active ministers are women (32%).


• The median age for both members and elders is 60 years; of pastors, 53 years.


• Most Presbyterians (59%) grew up in another denomination.


• Most members (74%), elders (84%), and pastors (86%) are married.


• Most members (64%) and elders (66%) are college graduates. All ministers have a master’s degree, and more than a quarter have doctoral degrees.

I have some thoughts about these statistics. As a denomination the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is larger than I thought we were. Just think each week there are 1.1 million Presbyterians worshipping God the U.S.A.! That’s a lot of people all worshiping God and this number doesn’t even include all the other Christians.

While we probably all knew this, we are a denomination of older adults. This means while we want to attract young adults and families we must not forget the older members who are already here and in the case of FPC very active. As a congregation we need to minister to and with both older and younger adults as well as families. All God’s children are an important part of the FPC family.

Unlike me, a life long Presbyterian, most of our brothers and sisters in the Presbyterian Church grew up in another denomination. They are not “tied” to the Presbyterian Church. They probably did not choose FPC because we are Presbyterian but rather because we are a friendly and vibrant congregation. They could just have easily chosen to attend Hudson UMC, Faith Community or any of the other churches in town.

While I find these statistics fascinating, I do not want to get bogged down by them. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and First Presbyterian Church are more that statistics. As they say, behind every statistics is a story. We grow in relationship with one another and God through sharing our stories. I believe it is one of the most important acts of faith we do daily. When we truly listen to another’s story and they to ours we grow.

This is one reason our Adult Education theme for 2010-2011 is A year with the Bible. The Bible is the story of God interacting with the world. During the 2010-2011 Program Year we will learn and be in conversation with some of these stories and with one another. The stories of the Bible will become important conversation partners as we continue to grow in our relationship with God. I want to challenge this congregation to make a commitment to attending Sunday School and Adult Education! May we be a congregation who tells the story of God’s people through out history!

Recently I have been reflecting on the three “gardens” of hospitality, compassion, and worship in the parable that the Session created for our congregation. All three gardens are necessary for our congregational life and are all connected to one another. It strikes me that my work with you as your Director of Education and Mission Outreach is relevant to all three of these “gardens” or ministries. I want to say a few words about how I see this occurring in each of the three ministries.

Ministries of hospitality are “ministries that welcome people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, meet them where they are in faith, and equip them for living their faith.” Much of the Christian Education work I do is seeking to meet the members of this congregation where they are. Then based on where you are in your life’s journey provide resources and opportunities that support and challenge you to grow in your faith both individually and as a congregation. Another aspect is providing resources and opportunities that equip you to live out your faith this complicated world. I have to continue to remind myself that this requires me to get to know you individually. I want to know your story, your needs and your desires. This year, as much as possible, I am trying to spend time with a wide variety of this congregation in different situations. So don’t be surprised if I plop myself down at your table on Sunday morning.

Ministries of compassion are “ministries that seek to recognize the brokenness of the word and individuals within it and reach out with Christ’s love to bring hope and healing.” For me this defines what “mission outreach” is. In mission outreach we seek to recognize and understand the needs of our community, our nation and our world. Once we have done that we discern how we can use our passions, strengths, and skills to respond effectively to those needs. My role is to assist you in recognizing and understanding the needs as well as working with you to establish and grow ministries that can address some of the needs and brokenness.

Ministries of worship are “ministries that assist the people of God in praising God, acknowledging the divine presences, and responding to God’s claim and redemption.” You might have asked yourself how my work in “education and mission outreach” is relevant to ministries of worship. Well you are not alone in your questioning as I too have reflected on this. My work is relevant to worship ministries primarily through worship education. For example this year the elementary children spent four weeks of Sunday School learning about worship as well as creating elements our Sunday morning worship liturgy. As adults the more we understand why, how and who we worship, we are able to more fully participate in worshiping God.

I want to challenge you to reflect on the ways your passions and God given gifts are relevant to each of these areas of ministries.

I recently attended the Association of Christian Educators (APCE) Annual Event in January. The purpose of this conference is to learn, worship, connect and reconnect with others who work and volunteer in Christian Education. The conference was held in Nashville, TN and theme was Awake My Soul. The worship services throughout the week did just that-my soul was awakened. The music, preaching, prayer, and keynote speaker were moving and I experienced the presence of the Holy Sprit in my soul. The following are some other highlights and insights.

I attended the Presbyterian Organized in Nurture and Training (POINT) conference prior to the APCE Annual Event. Our keynote speaker for this conference was Dr. Susan E. Hylen, Assistant Professor of New Testament at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. She used the story of the “Woman at the well” to help us explore and articulate our own expressions of faith as well as explore how we might lead/experience corporate discernment of faith in our community. I was most intrigued by Hylen’s unique interpretation of the story and especially the character of the woman. In many interpretations the woman is portrayed as “nincompoop,” asking seemingly unanswerable questions. In Heylen’s interpretation the woman is viewed as asking deep questions of Jesus stemming from her knowledge and beliefs of her own religious and cultural background. I wish I could remember all she said about this!

I led my first workshop at this conference and it went very well. It was a confidence building experience as well as learning experience. The workshop’s title was Christian Education in Small Congregations. The planning process itself was useful in that it made me systematically think about FPCH and what we do that is unique because we are a small congregation. Some of these things include our partnership programs (i.e. NETworks Youth Ministry, NETworks Vacation Bible School and the Ecumenical Men’s Breakfast group), adapting curriculum and resources to fit fewer numbers, and our Family Faith Talks workshops. People in the workshop asked very thoughtful questions and shared their own stories as well resources unknown to me.

I attended four workshops three of which are noteworthy and so I “speak” to them. First, I attended a workshop titled Encouraging Family Conversations About Faith. The workshop should have been called “How to Talk with Children about God.” In other words the focus of this workshop was looking at ways to help adults, mainly parents, talk with and answer questions children have about God and faith. The presenter had some really great insights on ways to do this. I would like to offer a workshop on this topic for parents and any interested adults in our congregation.

Another workshop I went to was titled Murder in the Pew. The whole focus of the workshop was ecclesiastical mystery novels. The presenter, and avid mystery reader, took us through her bibliography of mysteries that in some way are linked to religion. Some take place in religious building and in other books the main character is a monk or clergy. I did not know there were so many of these types of mysteries. One could have a whole book club based on these mysteries. If anyone wants a copy of her bibliography let me know and I’ll make you a copy!

The final workshop I attended was titled Helping Others: Servant or Sucker. This was the best workshop I attended because I think the potential applications for the Mission Outreach ministry of FPCH are plentiful. In this workshop we looked at the culture of poverty including the different levels of poverty. We talked about how a person or congregation can begin to take on the issue of poverty in practical ways. There is too much information to summarize here. I will say I was so inspired by the presenter that I bought her book titled Loving Our Neighbor: A Thoughtful Approach to Helping People in Poverty. I’m looking forward to reading it and reinforcing my understanding of these issues. I hope to gain insights on ways FPCH can provide effective and compassionate ministry to those in poverty. I’d be happy to share the book with anyone who is interested!

I must also say a “couple of words” about the “private” concert by Christian singer Amy Grant. I was first introduced to Amy Grant’s music as a middle school student by one my youth group leaders. I have loved her music ever since then. Amy Grant lives in and attends a Presbyterian church in Nashville and asked the local conference committee if she could come spend some time with us. Her concert was amazing. She told stories of her family and her faith. These heartfelt stories were enhanced by singing of some old favorites as well as a few new songs. Even though I was sitting in a banquet hall with a thousand other people I felt like I was sitting in Amy’s living room chatting and listening to her. It was a night to be remembered!

Why Christian Education?

In a recent blog entry Pastor Stephanie asked “Why are you Presbyterian?” This sparked the questions Why Christian Education? Or more accurately Why is Christian Education important to ones faith journey? However before we can answer this question I think we have to ask a more basic question; What is Christian Education?

In recent years the idea of Christian Education has taken on several other names which I think are helpful in our understanding of Christian Education. One name is faith formation. The name faith formation hits home that we are not just educating people about God and Christianity but rather helping individuals recognize, accept, and respond to God’s gift of grace (this concept comes from theologian Craig Dysktra). A second name is spiritual growth. I like this name because it emphasizes God presences in and around us as well as the fact that we are always learning and growing. For me Christian Education is a combination of both of these ideas.

With this in mind we can ask the question Why is Christian Education important to ones faith journey? I think the most important reason is that God wants us to continually recognize, accept and respond to the gift of grace he gives to us freely. We are continually changing and our world is continually changing so we need to rediscover how to recognize, accept and respond to God. Thus, it is our job as children of God to do so. In order to discover or rediscover and begin to understand God’s grace we have to be in relationship with God and with the community of faith. This is not to say that God only gives grace to those who know him but rather that when one knows God and is in a relationship with her it is easier to recognize, accept and respond to the grace given. One cannot be in relationship with someone that they do not know. Because God is not here in flesh and blood we have to learn about God through the Scriptures, through others encounters with God and through the world around us. In other words we have to know something about God to know God. Once we know about God we can continue the important work of exploring our relationship with God. We can together in community see where God’s grace is give and discover how we are called to respond to that grace.

Christian Education provides an opportunity for begin and grow in our relationship with God. Christian Education also helps us build relationships with those in our congregation. Christian Education provides an opportunity to learn about the ways we can respond to God grace in our lives, in our homes, in our congregation and in our community. Christian Education is important for everyone because God’s calls us to be faithful people recognizing, accepting and responding to the gift of grace in our lives! And God keeps on giving grace anew each day!