United Methodist Bishop Robert Schnase writes of the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-Taking Mission and Service, and Extravagant Generosity. He says each one of these practices is essential for a church to be vital and fruitful, and failure to perform them in an exemplary way leads to congregational deterioration and decline.

We studied this book as a session in the spring. In September I began to encourage you in my sermons to focus on two of them: Radical Hospitality and Intentional Faith Development. I set a vision before you, asking you to imagine, pray for and work towards inviting, welcoming and embracing the next 100 people into the life of the church.

It is my role to keep this vision before you. And to encourage you as I have been encouraged. Since September, we have a new mom’s group that is beginning to meet (see Elizabeth Negus) and a new Bible study is beginning this week on Fridays during lunch (see Kate Anderson or Mike Eversmeyer). I am starting a new weekly prayer group on Wednesday mornings. A group went to a wine tasting at a local winery. Our church joined with Emmaus Café guests and ate together as Jesus taught us to do, as we celebrated 10 years of this “risk-taking” ministry. Yesterday 18 men gathered to listen to Father Richard Rohr talk (via webcast) about the role of men and male spirituality. These are all signs of God doing a new thing in our midst.

Hospitality: let’s be aware of those who come to this building and invite them to our small groups (faith development). But more importantly, let’s be the church in the world, knowing that many people will not come to be with us on Sunday mornings, but they will come to Ardon Creek Winery or to a bible study at your house.

As I near the end of three years as your pastor, I am encourage and inspired. We continue to be savvy, letting go of some things, gathering up new. But in all things we must be faithful to the gospel good news of Jesus, news that teaches us to be people of resurrection living in a world that seems to love fighting, death and war.

On the green grass

Last night many of us gathered at church, picked up sack dinners and headed down Iowa Avenue to Riverside Park near the "red brick building" to watch Ballet West II perform: outside on the green grass as the sun set behind the west hill bluff and a breeze blew from behind us. The ballet's director Mark Goldweber introduced the pieces and then said: "I will be watching the dancers perform, but every chance I get I will also be looking out that way" (waving out to the Mississippi). "This is such a beautiful setting."

Indeed. The performance of art enlivened our minds and the beauty of God's creation held us all.

This is how God works in the world. When we gaze upon dancers on a stage and hear the music, we see and hear the Spirit dancing. We experience these times as thin places, and a thin place is any experience or moment in which we connect with God. It usually lasts for just a brief few seconds, because then we are distracted by a recurring concern in our life. Or we may have to run after our children (like Sophia) who don't need art because they are art.

Thin places are all around us because the kingdom of God is all around us. Jesus still invites us to sit down in groups on green grass and be fed (Mark 6:39-42). When we allow ourselves to be connected to God, our life becomes a work of art. When we allow the Spirit to shine in us and through us, people no longer see us. They see God dancing.

Willing, David

Scattering Ourselves for the sake of the world

The last time we held our monthly worship service at Carrington Place, Sam, Sarah and Sophia were with me. As I loaded them all in the van after the service, I place my Book of Common Worship on the top of the van. (The Book of Common Worship is the Presbyterian worship resource that contains worship services, prayers, psalms, etc.) I placed it up there and thought to myself: better not forget that. Minutes later, the kids heard something and said "What was that?" I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw paper flying all over Mulberry Avenue. My book suffered a few creased pages. But the book also had a few inserts with prayers or scriptures--all of these began to fly around with the wind.

I remember thinking that I needed to get all these bits of paper up: What if someone picked up the funeral service template? What if someone thought that these bits of prayers had been irreverently discarded? Is it right for prayers to litter the landscape? As my kids looked on from the van, I chased Psalm 23 (King James Version) and kept after the abbreviated Thanksgiving Prayer Over the Water that I sometimes use at baptisms. That prayer I had prayed at First Presbyterian Fort Worth in June 2006 didn't get away.

But why not? Why not scatter our prayers up and down Mulberry? Why not let our prayers blow over the road and hang on the fences and hedges? Many people have no reservation about blasting awful music awfully loud or spewing profanities as they drive around town. Many people drive around with little awareness of their surroundings. Why not be more intentional and more present?

And that is when it occurred to me that we already do this with our deacon prayer card ministry. Deacons spend hours composing prayers on postcards and mailing them all over the place, littering the community and the nation with words of grace and peace and healing and hope. I can't think of a better way to be "green" than to spread our prayers all over the road and lawns of the town. Shred your prayers into fine bits of love, roll down the window and let them fly all over. Your neighbors need to hear the good news--that the Kingdom is among us.

Scattered, David

Living in High Definition: Can we be HD Disciples?

A university English professor recently told me about one of her "teaching revelations". The subject was Shakespeare. Unfortunately, the students struggled with the prose and failed to grasp the significance of the writings. She decided to bring in actors to act out the stories, and guess what happened? The students saw the light. They got it. And the teacher thought to herself, "Of course! Shakespeare's work was written to be experienced, not read."
I thought of this encounter during the worship experience at Carrington Place today. Christ loves us. And how does he want us to live? Beyond his words, in "high def".
What is HD, or high definition?
With regard to your television set, HD is the, "Whoa!" of viewing experiences: sharp, vibrant, clear, crisp, and exciting. It's as close as one can get to actually being on the beach at sunset.
How can we live in HD and shine for Christ? We need the connection-to be "tuned in" to the signal-and to bring the words to life through our life stories.
Hear the words. Know the words. Experience the words.
Sounds exciting!
The HD experience today at Carrington Place was wonderful. And I would like to think that Christ thought, "Well done! Encore! Encore!"
Thanks be to God, the loving producer and director of wonderful works. He has given the call: "Action!"

As I write this, I am working "off campus" at Camp Wyoming outside Wyoming, Iowa. Here we are in beautiful Jones County, a county that Gov. Culver has asked to be declared a disaster area due to flooding. Already the news is talking about "the flood of 2010" while the camp counselors are sharing stories of the flood of 2008. I think it is one of the challenging things for us to comprehend--how nature can be so wonderful and so destructive at the same time.

Some of us react to flooding and other natural disasters by declaring "these things shouldn't happen," and we doubt the benevolence (or even the existence) of God. Other people react by not wondering about the big questions, but just start helping out as best they can. Other people say that humans are not capable of affecting any change and continue living their own lives as best they can. What do you think? How do you respond?

As thoughtful Christians, we find ourselves in the middle of transitions and crises, and we may not always be able to make sense of it all. Those of you who are currently suffering (or have suffered) loss, pain, defeat--you are the ones who have the perspective of faith. And the rest of us can love and serve in many different ways. I think there will always be things we don't understand. (That is a sign of wisdom--to know that we don't know and to be okay with that.) Calvin believed that our faith should teach us humility, gratitude and freedom from fear. In the mix of these three, I find my place in life. When the floods of life come, what works for you?

Peace like a river, David

219th General Assembly (2010) - Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Tonight the General Assembly elected a new moderator, Cynthia Bolbach, an elder from Washington D.C. Her two year term begins immediately. She will spend the bulk of her term traveling all over speaking to the church and also representing us to the world. Hopefully, she will be in East Iowa Presbytery soon, as her predecessor Bruce Reyes-Chow was.

This link should take you to the details of the election and a brief description of

219th General Assembly (2010) - Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Words That Mean Everything

Three verses:
"When the Lord saw the widow, he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep." (Luke 7:13)
"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7:50)
"Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." (Luke 8:39)

These three simple verses are from the scripture readings we have used in worship June 6, 13 and 20. Spoken to a widow, an unnamed woman "whose sins were many" and a demon-possessed man who lived in the tombs--these words meant the world to them. Words gave them comfort in the midst of pain, pardon from guilt and shame, and direction and purpose. Words!

They mean a lot to me too. I have the great joy and responsibility of wrestling with these words and the Word on a weekly basis in preparation for worship. Weekly preaching is the hardest thing that I do; it takes a great deal of mental energy as well as lots of lonely time staring at a blinking cursor on the computer screen. But weekly preaching is also the best thing that I can do in response to the grip that God has on my life. My sermons may be good or bad, yet the Living Word always brings good news. Good news like "do not weep" and "go in peace." Good news that inspires us to go tell our friends what God has done for us.

My vision--actually God's vision--for this church is to be a community that is excited about the possibilities of encountering the Living Word in worship on Sunday mornings. Fruitful congregations are made up of people like you and me who are committed to hearing the "wonderful words of life" as often as we can. Our lives are filled with words--without spending time with God and God's people, where will you get the words of life? peace? hope? love?

God still speaks to people through the gift of Holy Scripture. God still speaks words that mean the world, that mean everything. I invite you to be a part of worship on a regular and customary basis this summer. Not because you want to, but because you can't live without it. Jesus says: "I have something to say to you." (Luke 7:40). We respond: "Teacher, speak!"