Hey brother, I encourage you to share this morning’s thoughts at our next council meeting; we are not a business, but sometimes our actions and decisions are terribly out of balance;are we ministry,or are we business; are we servants, or are we finance driven?
I am reading (for church book group) Ross Kane's The Good News of Church Politics. It is interesting next to your thoughts. He refers to church politics as "the politics of loving interdependence." Starting my second year as senior warden of my parish, I continue to be surprised by how the politics want to tend OTHER WAYS.
If you want to try another, non-news, radio station, Dallas' WRR Classical (online at wrr101.org) is a great little listen, owned by the city but now run by the folks who run our NPR stations.
Thanks, again, for bringing saneness and calmness to my brain! Having read Edward Abbey’s “Monkeywrench Gang” in the late 70s, and being so mind blown by the “Pandemonium” (we had an epidemic, now we have pandemonium), I have thoughts jump into my head like what subversive things can I do? Then, fortunately, I remember that vandalism absolutely doesn’t help or change anything. Being a servant does! Being of service with no expectations for anything in return brings joy. It also sends a bigger message to the right-leaning I may interact with that, yes - I declare myself the “enemy from within”, the person/servant that wants children to have free school breakfast and lunch; an exceptional public education system (we used to, we know what to do so let’s do it again); a great social safety net for all, no one should have to sleep outside or in their car, or give up their beloved dog to go in a shelter; to keep Meals on Wheels and Head Start going…
I could go on and on as I understand it… my wanting a just and good American democracy makes me the enemy within, then so be it! But serving all my community and neighbors shows them the real story, I’m not the person to be afraid of.
Sorry, Tripp! Your writing and the cold & snow outside my Michigan window, makes my brain crank out words to my thumb! Hahaha
I enjoyed the other commenters thought, too, on church as a business or community? Always a tough conversation, especially I think now, I’ve been in a discussion group (on Reddit) talking about “When is our Bonhoeffer Moment?” Well, I say now! I believe declaring for being a servant of God includes standing against the evil, not waiting for others to. This will split some churches, cause some more financial problems, etc. I’ll stop now, you know what I mean! But thank you again!
Ha! I can relate to the unbearable urge to communicate every wise thing I ever learned! It can be a bit much. That said, I follow and agree with all you wrote! Sigh.
Thank you for reminding me that, although I am a "servant" at my parish (in several ways) our pastor (from an African country), doesn't see himself as a servant to the community. He sees his staff and those who freely give their time and love, as "His servants." This strange dichotomy makes for difficulties in communication and understanding of the roles and how to placate the pastor without becoming angry at the misunderstandings.
I started to laugh reading the beginning of your post as I am currently driving IN VIRGINIA (en route from Connecticut to Alabama—don’t ask, ha!) and wouldn’t you know, the entire VA portion has been SNOW (a state of emergency acc to the radio, eek!) and the windshield washer isn’t working in the rental (though the wipers are).
Wait’ll I tell the rest of the car about Virginia snow! ❄️❄️
Today I have the honor of preaching at the ordinations of 6 deacons in our diocese. I am reminded and preaching, at least in part, on it being a ministry of servanthood.
Thank you, Tripp. I have identified this too! The moment the Supreme Court passed Citizens United, they made their clique safe for an array of unconstitutional action because they strayed from the essential servanthood laid out in the Constitution. I’ll be trying to post about that in the days ahead.
Hey brother, I encourage you to share this morning’s thoughts at our next council meeting; we are not a business, but sometimes our actions and decisions are terribly out of balance;are we ministry,or are we business; are we servants, or are we finance driven?
I am reading (for church book group) Ross Kane's The Good News of Church Politics. It is interesting next to your thoughts. He refers to church politics as "the politics of loving interdependence." Starting my second year as senior warden of my parish, I continue to be surprised by how the politics want to tend OTHER WAYS.
If you want to try another, non-news, radio station, Dallas' WRR Classical (online at wrr101.org) is a great little listen, owned by the city but now run by the folks who run our NPR stations.
Thanks, again, for bringing saneness and calmness to my brain! Having read Edward Abbey’s “Monkeywrench Gang” in the late 70s, and being so mind blown by the “Pandemonium” (we had an epidemic, now we have pandemonium), I have thoughts jump into my head like what subversive things can I do? Then, fortunately, I remember that vandalism absolutely doesn’t help or change anything. Being a servant does! Being of service with no expectations for anything in return brings joy. It also sends a bigger message to the right-leaning I may interact with that, yes - I declare myself the “enemy from within”, the person/servant that wants children to have free school breakfast and lunch; an exceptional public education system (we used to, we know what to do so let’s do it again); a great social safety net for all, no one should have to sleep outside or in their car, or give up their beloved dog to go in a shelter; to keep Meals on Wheels and Head Start going…
I could go on and on as I understand it… my wanting a just and good American democracy makes me the enemy within, then so be it! But serving all my community and neighbors shows them the real story, I’m not the person to be afraid of.
Sorry, Tripp! Your writing and the cold & snow outside my Michigan window, makes my brain crank out words to my thumb! Hahaha
I enjoyed the other commenters thought, too, on church as a business or community? Always a tough conversation, especially I think now, I’ve been in a discussion group (on Reddit) talking about “When is our Bonhoeffer Moment?” Well, I say now! I believe declaring for being a servant of God includes standing against the evil, not waiting for others to. This will split some churches, cause some more financial problems, etc. I’ll stop now, you know what I mean! But thank you again!
Ha! I can relate to the unbearable urge to communicate every wise thing I ever learned! It can be a bit much. That said, I follow and agree with all you wrote! Sigh.
Thank you for reminding me that, although I am a "servant" at my parish (in several ways) our pastor (from an African country), doesn't see himself as a servant to the community. He sees his staff and those who freely give their time and love, as "His servants." This strange dichotomy makes for difficulties in communication and understanding of the roles and how to placate the pastor without becoming angry at the misunderstandings.
I started to laugh reading the beginning of your post as I am currently driving IN VIRGINIA (en route from Connecticut to Alabama—don’t ask, ha!) and wouldn’t you know, the entire VA portion has been SNOW (a state of emergency acc to the radio, eek!) and the windshield washer isn’t working in the rental (though the wipers are).
Wait’ll I tell the rest of the car about Virginia snow! ❄️❄️
Drive safely! Let us know when you are clear of the winter weather.
https://www.ruthbraunstein.com/podcast
Hear, hear!
Today I have the honor of preaching at the ordinations of 6 deacons in our diocese. I am reminded and preaching, at least in part, on it being a ministry of servanthood.
Bullies are plentiful. Servants are few.
As always, thank you for your writing.
Thank you, Tripp. I have identified this too! The moment the Supreme Court passed Citizens United, they made their clique safe for an array of unconstitutional action because they strayed from the essential servanthood laid out in the Constitution. I’ll be trying to post about that in the days ahead.