Sermon: "State of the Churches" Testimony

Texts: Mark 1:14 -20, 1 Corinthians 12:4-13

Date: January 22, 2006

Rev. Dee Eisenhauer, Eagle Harbor Congregational Church

            I’m going to do one of the things my excellent preaching professor clearly instructed us homiletics students not to do—start a sermon with a hokey joke.   This is from Prairie Home Companion’s Pretty Good Joke Book .   A drag queen walks into a Roman Catholic church just as the priest is coming down the aisle swinging an incense pot, which is sending clouds of scented smoke into the room.   And he says to the priest, “Oh, honey, I love your dress, but did you know your handbag’s on fire?”

            Actually what my professor strictly warned against was telling a joke that had nothing to do with the subject of the sermon.   So maybe this one would pass inspection.   Because I do think it says something about a lack of understanding of religious traditions, even between Christians.   One reason Christian churches are so fractured is that there are some things we just don’t get about each other’s beliefs, traditions, and practices.    We hear or see things about what’s going on under another church roof that leaves us scratching our head in wonder that we could be in the same religious family.  

            Well, maybe the ear wouldn’t get the toe who wouldn’t   get the stomach if our body parts had an opportunity to detach themselves to have a look at the other parts.   Of course, they can’t detach themselves, which is part of Paul’s point about the unity of the body of Christ.   We who are part of the universal Body of Christ, the worldwide church, can’t detach ourselves from the body any more than the ear or stomach can have a life of its own without the other parts.   We may be confused because of the illusion of separateness that comes from having different buildings and different governing bodies, but we are all bound together spiritually in a unity that cannot be undone, even if we wanted to spin off on our own.

            This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an annual observation sponsored by the National Council of Churches.   In celebration of our unity, and in the hope that we will strengthen the church by trying to understand each other, I have spend some time in the last couple of weeks contacting our neighboring churches to get a glimpse of their current church life.   I asked each person what was giving them joy in their church life and what they were struggling with, the latter so that we could pray for them.   A few years ago, when I began this practice, I started calling it the annual state of the churches report because of its proximity to the state of the union address.   That’s a little bit of a misnomer because I’m not doing any analysis, just reporting what I heard from the churches I was able to get in touch with.   God will have to do the analysis, and may God have mercy on us all!   Here’s what I learned.

            Our good neighbor Bethany Lutheran Church is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA).     Pastor Paula Burchill resigned from her position as associate pastor in the fall, so Bethany is in the process of looking for a new pastor.   Pastor Marty Dasler calls this search a source of both joy and anxiety.   Transition times always seem to carry both anxiety about what will come next and excitement about the possibilities for the future.   They are hoping to find a “second call” pastor who will assist in family and youth ministries.   There is a possibility that a second pastor might help them more fully develop a Hispanic ministry, depending on who comes.   You might have seen in the Bainbridge Review that Bethany is hosting some conversations about affordable housing on the island.   From time to time the church considers whether to build affordable housing on their property.   Bethany is a generous church which is very interested in ministries of justice.  

            Our good neighbor Island Church is affiliated with the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination.   Island Church meets in the commons at Woodward Middle School , having outgrown their church building some time ago.   Pastor Grant Brewster reports that things are going well.   The church continues to experience growth.   They had a capital campaign about the same time we were having our “Roots and Branches” campaign.   Grant’s approach was to ask the congregants to pray about it seriously over a period of 6 weeks or so.   If God wanted them to make a gift to the campaign, he said, they would; if God didn’t want them to make a gift, they wouldn’t.   They had $3.4 million pledged, if I heard Grant correctly.   This falls short of the $5.3 million needed to build the 400-500 seat sanctuary they hope for, but they plan to break ground in April or May on property that is nearby their old facility, trusting that the resources needed will be there for the building they need.   In addition to these building plans, Grant says their youth ministry is going well.   His passion is the presence of God—he hopes people will encounter God when they attend worship.  

            Our good neighbor St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic church has a new priest this year, Father Emmett Carroll.   Father Emmett came to Bainbridge from Seattle University , where he retired from teaching.   When I mentioned the word “struggle” he immediately spoke about a leak in the roof—doesn’t that sound familiar?   Money is tight, even with 900 families related to the parish.   The parish is very positive about their school, which they are growing by adding a grade per year.   They have classes for kindergarten through 4 th or 5 th grade now.   They hope to build a new school building, probably on the site of the old parish offices.   I believe they are in the permitting process at present, and will move to a capital campaign when their plans are more clearly formulated.

            Our good neighbors at St Barnabas Episcopal Church are also in a state of transition, though Priest-in-Charge Curt Zimmerman says it is time of relative stability as well.   Some of the projects that the church has had an interest in for a long time are moving forward.   For example, the “Interium” is being expanded.   Do you know that word?   I didn’t—in a “your handbag’s on fire” moment I had to ask what that was.   It’s a place on the church property where the ashes of members can be interred.   There has been no vacancy for a while, so they are glad to expand to meet the needs of the congregation.   They have also signed a contract for a new pipe organ for the sanctuary, which will be built in Portland and installed in August.   They still have a little fundraising to do for that project, though the initial gift they received of $300,000 toward the $408,000 project got them a long way.   Curt feels that the ministry of the church is in focus, and there is a good sense of community.   The process of calling a new rector is complicated in that communion and it is going somewhat slowly.   That process and ongoing financial strains were named as struggles that we could pray for.

            Our good neighbor First Baptist Church is encouraged by the new people who have been coming to the church and staying.   Pastor Weimer says that this is especially heartening to the people who have been long-time members and feel more hopeful that their beloved church is not going to fizzle out.   They are excited about the group of missionaries that have been sent out from the congregation.   Pastor Weimer told me one story about a single woman who felt called to a mission in Russia and went to the Ukraine .   There she met a man, a co-worker in mission, and they are now happily married and working together in Kiev .   I could hear Pastor Weimer smiling over the phone as he told this story as another lesson in “Do what God says to do and God will take care of the details.”   He mentioned as their main struggle the number of cases of cancer plaguing their congregants.   One of them has had a nine-year battle with lymphoma.   The blessing in these illnesses is that it teaches us that every day is a gift from God.   The members “who think they are well” are engaged in caring for those who are sick, cooking meals, running errands, and so forth, and they are all learning to manage their time better.   The whole purpose of the church, Weimer says, is to honor the Lord, and they hope they are doing that.

            Our good neighbors at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints continue to find joy in their church life.   Interfaith Council representative Patricia Lahtinen mentioned the joy of a baby being born recently in the parish, and the anticipated joy of a couple more babies on the way.   They are happy to be re-joining the Super Suppers team after some time away from that community ministry.   They are as a church community emphasizing disaster preparedness among their families.   Patricia mentioned unemployment as a struggle that is affecting some members.   She also spoke of the struggles they share with everyone around the world who are suffering the effects of natural disasters and so forth.   The way she spoke about that brought to my mind the generosity of the LDS church in this community.   Their folks are always out there being helpful in whatever way they can—I have the deepest respect for the way the Mormon life is oriented toward service.    

            Our good neighbors at Seabold United Methodist church, like the LDS church, are celebrating the birth of a baby—their youth director recently welcomed a little one.   Seabold has been doing some congregational re-development work and believe they are starting to see the results.   They have increased their active membership and are experiencing increased financial stability.   The struggles Pastor Dan Sailer mentioned included not having enough money to do everything the church would like to do, and the deaths of three long time members in recent months.

            Our good neighbors at Cross Sound church are affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of America.   Their joy is centered on celebrating their ten-year anniversary as a congregation this year.   I spoke to Paul Shuler, their founding pastor and senior pastor at Cross Sound.   The anniversary is giving the church an opportunity to celebrate, to count the blessings of the faithfulness of God, and to renew their sense of calling on Bainbridge Island .   The church is working with a mission group called “Agros” in an adopt-a-village model of ministry.   Through this match, they send teams to do community development work over a 5-10 year period, listening carefully to local villagers to learn what can bring hope to the village and offering services in partnership with the folks there.   Cross Sound has sent a couple of teams to Chiapas , Mexico to work.   Paul had a sabbatical this year and came back much refreshed, recommending sabbaticals as a practice.   The challenges that the congregation faces are what Paul calls “the normal challenges of trying to be a community of people who love God and love each other.”   There are a number of people in the congregation suffering from cancer.   Cross Sound is just beginning to put a Stephen’s Ministry program in place.   Their associate pastor, Dave Sellers, had experience with the program in a former parish and will be leading Cross Sound’s care givers, hoping this will be a means of providing care for people past the first level of crisis.

            Our good neighbors at Port Madison Lutheran church, like Bethany affiliated with the ELCA, celebrated with joy the baptisms of three children in December.   Pastor Lori Hoyum gives thanks for a congregation that is still bringing in families with children.   Lori and I always find common ground when we talk about our churches because our buildings are a similar age.   She mentioned the old building as an ongoing source of struggles as they wrestle with how and when to do various renovations.   They are currently raising money to repair their pipe organ.   Accessibility is a problem for the older folk in the congregation.   Lori has been studying demographic trends on the island and said that the middle-aged group looks like the one that will be growing fastest in the near future—we should be preparing to minister to people aged 45-65 as the cost of housing pushes out   younger families.   She thanks us for our interest in their ministry.

            Our good neighbors at the Christian Science church continue to maintain their ministry of a reading room on Winslow Way . The reading room is open every day except Sunday with a quiet study area to read the Bible lessons for the week or study various Christian Science publications, and with a sales room where one can purchase publications.   I asked about whether they get much traffic, and volunteer Patty Richards said that their inspirational window gets quite a bit of attention from passers-by.   They have a committee that decides what to put in the window, changing it frequently.   The church does not have a great deal of activity as a congregation; their style is to support the daily prayerful life of the individuals who have found the Christian Science perspective and literature meaningful.

            Our good neighbors at the Suquamish United Church of Christ are feeling good about their 90 th year as a congregation.   Pastor Tom Thresher spoke about the congregation’s plan to reach out to the community in a more intentional way to tell their neighbors about their church—they no longer want to be the best-kept secret in Kitsap County .   They continue to have a quarterly interreligious service.   There is a Native American medicine wheel service each week, and the Episcopal outreach to the Native community is housed at their church.   They are planning to host Rabbi Michael Lerner at a forum in February.   When the topic of struggles came up, Tom very characteristically cut to the chase: “the finances suck!”   Yet the congregation feels optimistic about its future.

            Our good neighbors at Grace Episcopal church are experiencing the joy of church growth and enjoying being able to put their building to full use.   The church celebrated an ordination this year of a priest whose emphasis is on Native American ministry.   Grace church ’s struggles revolve around the undertaking of a strategic planning process.   Rector Bill Harper spoke of the gap between hopes and dreams and the hard work of putting one foot in front of the other.   Grace is also experiencing along with many its church companions a disparity between expected income and planned expenses.     

            Although Cedars Unitarian Universalist church would not identify as Christian, they are such good neighbors that I called their minister Drew Johnston as well.   Cedars is having their congregational meeting this morning after worship. They are considering whether or not to do a capital campaign to purchase land and build a church building of their own.   The church has completed a feasibility study and has done some initial exploration of church sites. We might pray for them in this time of discernment, since the church is not of one mind on the timing of the campaign.  

            Our good neighbors at Rolling Bay Presbyterian church, part of the Presbyterian Church USA, are looking forward with joy to the arrival of a new youth minister in mid-February.   The last youth minister left in October and the youth group has been more or less self-led in the interim.   Pastor Dave Holyan has been working extra hard since the retirement of Pastor Dick Middleton last summer.   In the Presbyterian system, there is a considerable amount of work to be done by a parish before an interim minister can be called, and it can’t really begin until the former minister leaves.   The interim search committee is close to finishing its work so that an interim minister can come and serve alongside Dave while the search for a long-term senior pastor is underway.   Pastor Holyan says that there have been quite a few members of the congregation who have had the opportunity to preach while they are waiting, and that has been a good thing for everyone.    They ask for our prayers for the search for both interim and long-term pastor.

            There are three other churches I can think of on Bainbridge that I wasn’t successful in reaching—the Spiritual Enrichment Center of West Sound, the Bainbridge Bible Chapel, and the Agate Passage Friends. There are quite a variety of churches out doing their thing around here.   When Paul wrote about the variety of gifts given by the Spirit, he was talking about individuals, not congregations.   But as one looks over the assortment of Christian churches, you can see that each church brings its gifts to the community.   We each have our strengths and our weaknesses.   We each have our joys and our struggles.

            Thinking about Jesus calling fisherman so long ago and promising to send them out to fish for people, I picture a little fleet of fishing boats bobbing around out on the waves.   I’ve been out ocean fishing when you look around for other boats to see where there might be fish schooling, and go toward them, so you end up with a little gaggle of boats fishing separately together.   That’s what we’re doing ‘round here.   We’re fishing separately together.   If one ship would start to founder, hopefully the fishing neighbors would come to its aid.   We don’t need to understand everything about our neighbors bait and tackle to understand that we’re all in this together.   God has provided plenty of fish in the sea.   Let’s trust God to work through each of us to bring the good news of the gospel to a community in need of love   and hope.