Sermon: 2005 State of the Churches Report
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Sermon: 2005 State of the Churches Report Text: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Date: January 23, 2005 Rev. Dee Eisenhauer, Eagle Harbor Congregational Church
Here’s an “oldie but a goodie,” as they say:
Recently,
just as an ecumenical gathering was commencing, a secretary rushed in
shouting, “The building is on fire!” The
Methodists gathered in a corner and prayed. The
Baptists cried, “Where is the water?” The
Quakers quietly praised God for blessings that fire brings. The
Lutherans posted a notice on the door declaring 95 reasons that fire was
evil. The
Roman Catholics passed the plate to cover the damage. The
Fundamentalists proclaimed, “It’s the vengeance of God!” The
Episcopalians gathered up their incense, formed an orderly procession
and marched out. The
Christian Scientists concluded that the fire would burn itself out. The
Presbyterians appointed a chairperson, who was to appoint a committee
to look into the matter and submit a written report. The
Unity Students proclaimed the fire had no power over them. The
Congregationalists shouted, “Every one for themselves!” and ran for the
doors. The secretary grabbed
the fire extinguisher and put out the fire. You may have heard that chestnut a dozen times before, but I wanted to start with it because I think it’s good for us to recall that every faith group has got not only its own unique identity, but its own strengths and weaknesses, and even its own foolishness. When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth , he brought up foolishness in Chapter One. He says that the message about the cross is “foolishness” to those who are perishing, but for those being saved it is the power of God. The gospel may sound foolish to outsiders, in other words, but that’s ok. Paul says that he was sent to proclaim the gospel, but not with eloquent wisdom, because if he was too eloquent in his presentation, the cross of Christ would be emptied of its power. Paul wanted to make sure the emphasis was on the power of Christ, not on the impressive abilities of this leader or that church to persuade.
Our churches are wonderfully gifted and deeply flawed, and in Paul’s words, “God decided through the foolishness of our proclamation to save those who believe.” [1 Cor. 1:21b] Isn’t that good news? Christ is among us on Bainbridge Island reaching out through a colorful variety of Christian communities who are experiencing joy and sorrow, success and failure, problems and resolutions. We’re divided up into little heaps of Christians who are drawn by particular organizations, or leaders, or theologies, or friends, or musicians, or architecture, or locations. Our division is a fact but it doesn’t have to be a problem, as long as we stay humble about our own mix of wisdom and foolishness, and as long as we keep the emphasis where it belongs, on our common ground: the power of God in Christ to liberate us. Each year, the world wide church marks January 18-25 as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. A couple of years ago I hit upon the idea of calling our Christian neighbors to inquire about what’s happening in their churches so I could make a “State of the Churches” report. I contacted as many as I could, and asked them about some good news I could share with y’all from each of their churches. [I wish I’d thought about asking them about a fine example of foolishness as well—but that might have made everyone too nervous! Sadly, we don’t know each other well enough to trust each other completely.] Here’s the 2005 report, in no particular order.
Bainbridge First Baptist’s Pastor Wymer said that the tsunami and other disasters have caused the congregation to become more thankful and appreciative of what we have and what we can share with others. Pastor Wymer has been leading that congregation for a little over two years, and has felt called to put a renewed emphasis on prayer. They have a “family prayer time” during each of their three weekly gatherings, Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings. He is grateful that the people in the church have come to rely on each other’s supportive prayers. Even after services have ended, small groups huddled in prayer off to the side of a room are a common sight.
St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic parish is delighted about the growth of the elementary school they house in their building. They started with a kindergarten, and have been adding classes so they now go through third grade with plans to add fourth grade next year. They have 70 students, including their pre-schoolers. Their priest, Father Sean O’Loughlin, has served the parish for a year and a half, the first priest in several who has lived on Bainbridge. The parish is anxiously awaiting the green light from the city to build a new facility that will include classrooms, a library, new offices, and meeting rooms. Their aging school and office wing no longer meets their needs—sound familiar? They will begin a capital campaign after their re-zoning request is approved by the city officials. Pastor Dave Sellers, rather than giving me particular news about Cross Sound Church , emailed me this prayer request for Cross Sound:
“We'd
love for you to pray in the following ways:
Port
Madison Lutheran Church Pastor Lori Hoyum spoke about her sense of gratitude
for what’s developing at that church. A couple of years ago, twin girls
were born to a member family, and at the time, there weren’t many young
children in the church. Lori remembers hoping at the time they arrived
that by the time they got older, there would be enough little kids for
a Sunday School class for them. She looked in the door of the classroom
and saw ten little preschoolers this past week. So Lori shares with
us her gratitude that God keeps bringing new life into their church. The Agate Passage Friends meeting has, in recent months, developed a closer relationship to the Native American tribe in Suquamish. They got involved with the Olalla Neighbors Association and have made it a point to have someone from their fellowship attend meetings and work on their projects. They were deeply involved with the campaign to return Old Man Park to the tribe. In keeping with the historic Quaker tradition of being a peace church, Agate Passage Friends has been active in resistance to the Iraq war. They have partnered with Suquamish UCC to offer training in Conscientious Objector status to young people on the second Wednesday of each month at Suquamish UCC.
Speaking of our sister UCC church, I spoke to Christian Education Coordinator/Youth Leader Debe Nelson there. She spoke with enthusiasm about a new initiative, begun by Rev. Tom Thresher, of hosting an interfaith worship service in place of their strictly Christian worship once a quarter. They have invited a Buddhist monk, a Jewish rabbi, and a Native American spiritual leader to co-lead their next interfaith service. Confirmation class is underway for the church, with six students participating in a series of Faith Journey retreats. There is a group called “TAGS”—Talking About God Stuff—that meets both Tuesday morning and Thursday evening. They are also starting a Transformational Prayer group that will meet weekly for the next six weeks.
The Unity Church is being led by Rev. LeeAnn Gibbs. She celebrates having wonderful musicians come to share their gifts with the congregation. They completed a class called “Beyond the DaVinci Code” that was so enjoyable and interesting that they have decided to do it again. The class encompassed learning behind that popular book, from history to biblical scholarship to study of the Gnostic Gospels. They did a fundraiser for Tsunami Relief within their fellowship and were able to collect $1000, an impressive sum for a church of their size.
Grace Episcopal is hoping soon to launch a new ministry reaching out to the Native American tribes in our region. They continue to be thrilled with their new building, and are delighted that the community has been using it well for a variety of events since they opened. Rector Bill Harper says they are experiencing the challenge and opportunity of church growth, recognizing that such things tend to be cyclical, and wanting to do well at welcoming while new folks continue to come. Bill had a sabbatical last summer which he used in part to do some studying and thinking about vital youth ministries. He is developing a wilderness youth pilgrimage he hopes will spark the spiritual imagination of young people. He’s planning to take a group out on an 11 day mountain pilgrimage this August, and wants to offer his pilot program to the Episcopal denomination as a model for engaging youth.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has a Cub Scout troop that is integrated into their youth ministry that held a rummage sale to raise funds for tsunami relief last weekend. They netted some $1400 dollars and are feeling really good about their ability to be of service. The youth group got together recently to collect coats and blankets and to sew 150 ground tarps for use by Seattle ’s homeless folk. It’s not just the young people who are engaged in hands-on mission. Bishop’s Councilor Charles Oliver spoke warmly about the church’s Service Saturdays—once a month whoever is available goes out to do a work project together. Most recently, they built a retaining wall and did some heavy yard work for a widow in the community. They’ve just called Cart Williams to a ministry to organize and coordinate those service days. Charles reminded me that they would love to have people from other churches join them on their projects, and would love to hear of mission opportunities from community members with ideas.
Rolling Bay Presbyterian Church is continuing to build on their Spiritual Formation emphasis. They have hosted a number of wonderful spiritual formation workshops open to the community and region, inviting to Bainbridge such leaders as Lyn Bauman, Richard Rohr, Joyce Rupp, Cynthia Beaurgaulx, and Margaret Gunther. They have men’s and women’s retreats each year, weekly Bible studies, and a monthly men’s breakfast with a focus on spiritual formation. Pastor Dick Middleton also mentioned that they continue to have financial challenges pressing upon them (sound familiar?), and hoped I’d mention that situation as well as their accomplishments. He said with great candor that they are working at being careful with what they have been given, and are looking for God to continue to bless them out of God’s abundance. Dick is planning to retire this summer after 25 years of leadership at Rolling Bay , so the church will be in a state of transition this year.
Seabold United Methodist Church is looking forward to a planning session on February 12. Pastor Dan Sailer says they have invited an outside facilitator to help them look ahead for the next year or two. He started to call it a planning retreat but stopped himself, saying that they were not planning to retreat but to advance through this work together, re-establishing their identity, looking for clarity about their mission. They are building on a new youth ministry begun a year or so ago. The youth group did a great Christmas program called “Come to Bethlehem ’s Inn ” which included a play and a spaghetti dinner. So many people from the church came to enjoy it that they changed the social hall to Bethlehem ’s Inn in a more literal way than they had planned—there was no more room!
The Christian Science Church gathers for prayer and study each Sunday morning. They open with prayer and then one of the members reads the scripture lesson which the whole fellowship has been studying all week, along with a lesson sermon. The church is very much focused on prayer, which is the essence of the practice of Christian Science faith. There is a Spiritual Goals Committee which meets regularly to talk and pray together about the spiritual goals for the community. They suggest focus areas for the community’s prayer, such as prayers for unity, or prayers for peace. They are very generous in their prayers for the whole community; prayer is the focal point of their mission.
Bethany Lutheran Church ’s pastors, Paula Burchill and Marty Dasler, feel like they have turned the corner toward a better year this year. Last year they found themselves wrangling over two difficult issues: how to worship together, and the national Lutheran Church ’s Sexuality Study, which highlighted some thorny theological issues around biblical authority and living within a permissive culture. They discovered that they are not all of one mind on these issues, and this year they are learning to live with their differences a little better. They are developing a new partnership with a ministry in Guatemala that they are excited about. They have focused their mission statement, making it more concise and understandable: “Passion for God / Compassion for Others.” Their educational and service activities are focused around this mission.
Well, that’s the state of the neighboring churches, as much news as I could get with a couple of days on the phone anyway. It’s not the whole picture of course, because I didn’t hear back from as many of our more orthodox neighbors as I would have liked, and because I only mainly asked for good news. God’s the only one with the whole picture.
Have you heard the one about God calling up the Pope on the phone, saying “I’ve got some good news and some bad news.” The good news, God says to the Pope, is that “I’ve decided that there should be one church and one religion. No more confusion.” The Pope says, “That’s wonderful!” God says, “The bad news is, I’m calling from Salt Lake City .”
I don’t think there’s ever going to be a call from God announcing there’s only going to be one church, not in our lifetime anyway. Is that bad news or good news? That all depends on how we handle our pride and our humility. We can smile at that joke as long as we realize it would be just as horrifying to some of our neighbors to hear that God’s was calling from Cleveland (home of the UCC headquarters) as we might react with shock to God calling from Rome or Bob Jones University. Our take on the good news of the gospel seems just as foolish to some as some other fellowships’ take on the gospel seems to us. But no matter how divided we may feel or appear to be at times, Christ is not divided. Our unity in Christ is a given; it’s up to us to appreciate it and build upon it.
Isn’t it a wonder that God’s grace and power are being revealed through our gifted and flawed churches? Thanks be to God!
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