Staff Retreat - God With Us

by Ken Kelley

The church staff met in retreat on Monday and Tuesday of this week to plan for Advent and the first half of next year. We had previously decided on a theme for Advent of God With Us and searched for ways to celebrate God’s presence in our midst as we anticipate Emmanuel’s birth. Plans for Advent include our long-standing traditions including three services on Christmas Eve, our newer traditions of creative family activities throughout Advent, and new opportunities such as a multi-generational Christmas Eve celebration at the Meridian.

As Kay reflected on our two days together, she wrote, “I, too, am excited about the events we have planned for the upcoming months. This will be my first Christmas at KPUMC, so I am really looking forward to our Advent Family Workshop and multiple Christmas Eve opportunities. In so many of the ideas that we calendared, there are lots of opportunities for our amazing KPUMC children to not only participate, but to grow through leadership and blessings. On a personal note, ‘God with Us’ or in other words, the Doctrine of Incarnation, is one of my favorites!”

Kay’s remarks certainly reflect her enthusiasm for children’s ministry, but what struck me most about our time together, especially as we planned for next year and dreamed about the future, was that Kay and all members the staff creatively look way beyond their own focus of ministry. A shining example of this is shown by Jonathan suggesting that we continue our theme of God With Us into Lent. For those of you who don’t know, Jonathan is Jewish. And his reminding us that God is indeed with us through birth, life, death, and resurrection stands out as a stellar example of us broadening our horizons.

Our vision for next year and beyond certainly includes broadening our horizons by developing and expanding our relationships with Wesley Rankin, schools, and other organizations in new and exciting ministries.

• To develop partnerships with black and Hispanic churches as we nurture and serve each other as God’s children.

• To find new ways to build community and extend hospitality both to our Kessler neighbors and our larger community - including hosting interfaith services and having a Seder led by a rabbi.

We also find it important to keep you informed of the work of The Commission on a Way Forward which “was proposed by the Council of Bishops and approved by the 2016 General Conference to do a complete examination and possible revision of every paragraph of the Book of Discipline concerning human sexuality and explore options that help to maintain and strengthen the unity of the church.” Wes will continue to provide us information about this important task, including the upcoming vote next February, beginning this Sunday during worship.

Wes summed up our time together by writing, “What was most exciting to me about the two-day retreat was that the staff spent time together and that there is a real sense that we have begun to coalesce around a common goal and purpose of fostering discipleship and transformational growth. We really do want to help people grow in faith: to welcome all sorts of people into our doors while also being concerned about what happens outside of our doors, to be in connection with each other, to go deeper in their personal spiritual disciplines, and to serve the people of our city and neighborhoods.”

God is indeed with us all, and these plans further put in motion years of work by our lay committees: two series of Holy Conversations, the Vision Task Force, Catalyst training, Catalyst groups, and many other meetings and planning sessions. All of you are the ministers KPUMC, and I pray that you fully discover what that might mean for you.

I invite you to take a retreat from your daily routine by spending some quiet time considering where God is in your world, what difference God’s presence makes in your life, and reflecting on “A Statement of Faith of the United Church of Canada”:

We are not alone,
we live in God’s world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.

Thanks be to God.

Ken

My Useless Protest

Some of you might have caught a glimpse of me on the ten o’clock news on Sunday night. I took part in a demonstration outside of Cowboys Stadium with conducted a mock funeral in honor of two men recently killed by police officers — Botham Jean and O’shea Terry.

We wheeled two caskets up to the stadium. I was one of the pallbearers, dressed in my clergy robe and stole, along with a number of other pastors. A crowd of laypeople followed as mourners.

My friend, Rev. Dr. Michael Waters of Joy Tabernacle AME opened the service and gave several pastors an opportunity to pray, including Imam Omar Suleiman, another friend. Rev. Freddy Haynes of Friendship West Baptist Church gave the eulogy. Then we knelt in defiance of Jerry Jones’ insistence that his players always stand during the singing of the National Anthem. And then we left, as quietly as we arrived.

While at the stadium, I texted a longtime friend of mine. He’s always amused at my rabble-rousing. Here’s how part of our brief exchange went on Sunday evening:

Me: I might get arrested tonight.

Him: Why this time?

Me: (sent two photos of our procession)

Him: Useless protest

Useless protest?

I understand his complaint. If we measured street protests by the visible and discernible effects of such displays, then we might conclude that most protests are useless. And our little march on Sunday night was useless, in the sense that I doubt Jerry Jones was even aware of our presence. I am quite sure that neither Mayor Mike Rawlings nor Police Chief Renee Hall will make any decisions as a direct result of that event. I am not convinced that it will have any impact on the rapidly unfolding events in the Botham Jean investigation.

I can look back on a lifetime of showing up for protests and seeing very little results. After all, I remember marching against the very first Iraq war, back in 1990 in downtown Los Angeles. We went to war anyway.

Then again I marched in the gigantic downtown Dallas protest against President George W. Bush’s Iraq war many years later. That time, I was convinced that we could actually prevent the coming invasion. We went to war anyway.

I have appeared at various immigration rallies, against the Muslim ban and against family separation. Nothing has changed. I marched in the recent student march against gun violence, and even led a prayer vigil outside of the NRA convention this past summer. Nothing has changed.

So yes, protests and marches are “useless” if you’re looking for a quick result. They are a waste of a perfectly good evening if you want an immediate change.

I had to think seriously about whether I wanted to spend my Sunday evening outside of the stadium, or on my couch watching the game.

Yet showing up in the streets is not simply about forcing results. Protest is a complex animal. There are many good reasons to march in the streets. One reason I attended the Botham Jean protest was to show solidarity with African-American clergy. Police brutality affects their constituents much more directly than mine; when the shooting of an unarmed black man occurs, it is an existential crisis in their communities, not mine.

I am also acutely aware that, when a police officer shoots and kills an innocent victim, white folks are far more likely to trust the criminal justice process. African Americans and Hispanics feel quite differently. Their history has taught them to be wary of the process. I don’t understand this suspicion, so I try to put myself into situations where I can feel it for myself.

After spending time talking to the attorney for Jean’s family, and some of the clergy at the march, there are significant questions about the police department’s handling of the case. It’s clear that some media outlets in town were complicit with the police in releasing information about Botham Jean that would tarnish his reputation on the same day that his life was being mourned by hundreds of friends and family. My black colleagues taught me that this is common in these situations: “First, they kill the body. Then they kill the name.”

After the march, we all went home. Nothing changed.

Yet everything changed. I came home different. I came home with a new empathy and sensitivity for the situation of the African-American community in today’s America.

Let’s also recognize that thousands of people witnessed the weird sight of pastors pushing two caskets through the parking lot outside Cowboys Stadium. I anticipated that we might receive some hateful stares, rude gestures, or even some shouted curses.

Instead, people seemed to stop and stare reverently. Lots of people pulled out their phones to record the event. Some raised their fists in solidarity. Others said, “Thank you!” and “Amen!” They seemed to understand, if only momentarily, that there are some things going on in Dallas that are more important than a football game.

The action was seen by a larger group than even the fans who were present; video of the march was shared on social media, most of the local news stations covered it, and I can’t help but think that some people were talking about it around the water cooler this morning.

Then again, maybe it doesn’t really matter if it was “useful” or not. There is something valuable simply in the fact that it happened. A good protest is like a ritual; the value of it lies largely in doing it. It is a performed action, and it doesn’t depend on how many people participate in it.

A good protest is like Holy Communion, which is one of the most “useless” things we do. Think about it — we take a little crumb of bread, which doesn’t actually satisfy any part of our appetite, and we drink a few drops of grape juice, which is hardly enough to wet our throats. We’re supposed to believe that Christ is present, but there’s never any visible evidence that he actually shows up. And nothing changes because we’ve taken Communion; the world is still evil and broken. If an outsider were observing a Communion service, she might say, “Well, that was pointless.”

But you and I wouldn’t say that, would we? Because we participate in it. We eat the bread and drink the cup. We act in faith. We know in that holy moment that nothing changes … and yet everything changes.

That’s how I feel about Sunday night. It was glorious.

Being the Driver

by Kurt Maerschel

Recently I drove home from a class which I am taking at SMU Perkins School of Theology. The class is titled “Prayer and Spirituality.” It is a 3 hour class which meets Monday evenings from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

Part of class time is “to do nothing.” That does sound funny but is much harder than one would think. We sit around in silence trying not to think about anything, but to simply be. I have practiced this for a while now and from time to time I did have what I would call an “epiphany moment.” When we are silent and step out of “clock time” into what I like to think of “transcendent time,” we are more open to connect with God.

But why is this so? This is where I had to circle back to my thoughts about my drive home from class. I am the proud father of four kids, fifteen and under. I spend an extraordinary amount of time in the car driving them from activity to activity, either picking them up or driving them to a sports game, a birthday, girl scouts, boy scouts, camp, band, gymnastics meet or simply to get some ice cream. I love my kids and I want to give them the best childhood that they can have, including all the activities they love to be part of. I am in charge of getting them from point A to point B. I need to keep them safe. I need to make sure they get there on time. In between I am asked to change radio stations, no matter whether I am in the middle of a merge on I-635 or not. However, when driving, more often than not, the kids simply stare at their screens or are busy choosing songs to play over the car stereo. When they get in the car first, I ask them excitedly how their day was because I want to be part of their lives. Most of the time I get a “fine” and an “I’m hungry.” Thereafter we move on to picking songs on the stereo or staring at their screens.

No matter how hard I try, the kids fall back into this same tired old routine. I get it, too. They come from school and are finally happy to kick back and relax. The last thing they want to do is to tell this annoying parent what they have been doing all day long. So in the end I am relegated to being the driver. The kids are totally oblivious of what is going on in the outside world. Once we reach our destination they get out and happily do whatever they are there to do. Most of the time I have to order them back to the car to get their stuff out, but sometimes I am just too tired.

I believe that God often feels like the “driver” in our lives. We are busy, not noticing what is going on around us. We take it for granted that we arrive safely somewhere. We get annoyed because the radio does not play the music we want. We get annoyed in the rain, when it takes forever to get anywhere. Often we simply say “hi,” or “my day was great,” or “I am hungry,” and then continue on our smartphone ignoring everything around us. God is not pushy, God is patient and drives us through our lives. Without ever stopping and listening to God we often simply get annoyed, disappointed, desperate, discouraged and lonely in our self-created bubble of distraction. God wants to share community with us, every day all the time, but for this to happen we sometimes simply need to stop and “do nothing.”

If you want to know more about doing nothing please feel free to talk to me in person, by email or by phone. Kurt Maerschel kurt@kpumc.org 972-835-1909.