The Church: Hospital, School, Fitness Club, or Inn?

In a recent dedication of a new building at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas (the largest Episcopal church in the United States), former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey said:

“Those [churches] that are growing are living the gospel in a relevant way with energetic leaders who adapt, good lay leadership and dynamic preaching...” 

Reading that this morning caused some thoughts to coalesce that have been drifting around for a while. As a response to the Newtown, Connecticut shootings, commentator (and ordained minister) Mike Huckabee famously talked about the tragedy as not surprising considering that "we've systematically removed God from our schools." He goes on to lament the fact that Americans often pretty much ignore God until a crisis hits, then go running to church in search of comfort only to vanish weeks or months later after the ripples from the latest tragedy have died down. The fallacy in his argument, beyond its pastoral shortcomings, lies in equating the church with God. But that theological discourse will have to wait for another post.

This is a frequent lament by pastors and priests: we have larger numbers of people in our pews on Christmas, Easter, and after traumatic national events but those people don't seem to be interested in sticking around and becoming a part of the faith community. Those of us who are part of this faith community are often puzzled about this. However, reflecting on what church means for people, such a phenominon, while perplexing to those who have made the church their spiritual home, makes sense based upon a person's view of what church is. Four views come to my mind.

St. Luke's Hospital, San Francisco

Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby) has been famously quoted as saying that "a church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints." Over and over again, I've heard this sentiment expressed--especially in evangelical circles. Pastors see the ravages of sin and death all around us and say "come to the church to be cured!" This model of the church certainly has its good points. Ever since Jesus' time, Christians have been heavily involved with healing. The founding of many hospitals has been at the behest of churches. Some people naturally gravitate towards churches when they are in need of healing. That's why we have a healing service as part of our worship every third Sunday (next one is January 20). The difficulty with this view of the church is twofold. First, there are plenty of people in the world who don't see themselves as having a "sin sick soul", to quote a famous hymn. If you don't feel like you are sick, why visit a doctor or a hospital? No one visits a hospital unless one is sick, visiting someone who is sick, or occasionally getting some preventative care to keep from becoming sick. Second, even if one does visit a hospital, no one stays there longer than absolutely necessary. So when people show up at our churches with acute needs and find some comfort and healing there, we shouldn't be surprised that they don't stay. After all, now that they're feeling better, why keep visiting the hospital/church?

Photo from the Forma web site--Godly play.

There is also the popular notion of the church as school. Again, churches have been some of the primary founders and supporters of schools--we've seen it as part of our vocation to care for children and to help them be formed and educated. In the church, we used to think of this only in terms of imparting information: telling Bible stories, recounting church history, teaching about the sacraments, etc... We've evolved into realizing that being a follower of Christ requires not just education, but formation. Recently, the National Association for Episcopal Christian Education Directors (NAECED) changed its name to Forma, reflecting not only an easier name to remember but also a shift from the notion of education (imparting information) to formation (shaping the whole person). Even so, the difficulty with this idea of the church as a school is also twofold. First, there are people who are not looking to be educated. Just as they don't feel sick enough to go to a church-as-hospital, they don't feel uneducated enough to to a church-as-school. In fact, they may even have been hurt by the church or a church-related school in some way and a loathe to repeat the experience. Second, one traditionally graduates from school, but ideally no one "graduates" from church! We've seen some of this notion play out with the rite of Confirmation (adult affirmation of faith). Many times, it has been seen as a graduation from church for teenagers--their parents made them go to church when they were children, but now that they've been confirmed they don't need to go anymore. When we talk about this area of our life together as lifelong Christian formation rather than matriculation through a set of requirements it makes it clear that we're not just imparting information.

With the evolution of being equipped to follow Christ moving from education to formation, many people man now look upon church as a fitness club--getting in shape for Jesus. The difficulty with this idea is obvious--how many people are truly excited about getting regular exercise? Even more telling, how many are excited about getting regular spiritual exercise? Frankly, this is what trips most people up--we all can become spiritually lazy (and pastors are not exempt). We can often exist on a sort of spiritual inertia until some crisis intrudes for which we are spiritually ill-equipped, then it is a trip to the church-as-hospital. Also, like physical exercise, we don't really think of ourselves as having the time to spiritually exercise--we're too busy doing other things. So when we talk about getting "fit for life" or other fitness metaphor, people have to overcome inertia, busyness, and lack of motivation to show up on Sunday mornings--and we don't often make explicit what we're doing. What would you do if you simply showed up to your local fitness club and there were people working out on strange machines, and talking with each other (some in great shape, some "in progress") and no one gave you any sort of orientation? Or what if you showed up to a fitness club and the room was empty of equipment? You would likely head back out the door. That is what I suspect church often looks like to the unchurched--a lot of strange looking hardware (what is a chalice? a paten? candles? prayer books? hymnals? organ music?) and odd routines without any sort of guidance about how to use them or what they are for. We need to be more explicit about how we are forming and spiritually exercising people.

Finally, appropriate for the season, some people see the church as an inn, or hotel. On the bad side of this, the church can degenerate into being seen as a social club--an exclusive place where the "beautiful people" congregate to reinforce how nice things are. That was the genesis of the Dear Abby quote about the church not being a "museum for saints." We don't want to be seen as, or actually be, a place where one must be perfect to attend. I've seen people apologize for crying in church! Why apologize? Because it is seen as not "seemly." Well, church should be the one place in which we can express our deepest emotions, so cry away! People also can see the church as a place for rich people--much like going to a hotel with a fancy lobby. The question "Do I fit in here?" is often at the top of people's minds when the visit a church. I actually think that an inn is a wonderful metaphor for the church. We need to constantly look at how hospitable we are: Are we easily seen from the road? Is our signage good and clear? Can people find their way to our front door easily? Are they welcomed warmly when they do? Does the place feel like an exclusive club or a warmly welcoming bed and breakfast? We might even be seen as having a (spiritual) exercise room, a buffet (coffee hour?), a spa for healing (holy oil at the healing service?), even a classroom or two.

I'm going to continue to reflect on the inn metaphor for church in the coming weeks. I think it is a rich one. We often talk about the church as "my church" as if we somehow own it. This does make us feel more at home (after all, how much more at home can you feel then when you are at home?) but may make others feel like they are temporary and unexpected guests rather than potential members of God's family. I much prefer the image of the church building that I learned as a child: God's house. We are all in God's house. We are all staff (paid or unpaid) and we are welcoming guests who intentionally seek us out as a place to rest that is apart from the hustle and bustle of the world. We also need to be mindful that God is both our host and our permanent guest--we need to make sure we have room in each of our "inns" for God as the Christ child. We also need to be aware of whether we're "living the Gospel in a relevant way" as a church--making sure that we are adapting well to changing needs and providing things for which people seek out the church. I'm not suggesting that we become some sort of plastic "dream church" for everyone, but that we make sure that we are engaged in actively living the gospel in the world rather than merely supporting one another.

As we end Advent and approach the Christmas season, may we have room in our hearts for Christ, our homes for one another, and our church for those who seek a place of rest and refreshment--and perhaps an appointment with the One who is Emmanuel, God with us.

Jars of Clay or Feet of Clay?

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. - 2 Corinthians 4:7

Last week I was thinking about the Gospel passage for this past Sunday, the Second Sunday of Advent, I thought about the Gospel as meaning "good news" and how much bad news surrounds us, even bombards us, on a daily basis. The economy is a shambles, people continue to struggle to make ends meet--even governments are struggling to make ends meet--and there seems to be a daily litany of people who we have put our hopes in to get us out of this mess and inevitably disappoint us with either personal failings or failing to move in the direction we think they should. They truly have "feet of clay," easily shattered.

By contrast, John the Baptist is not the least bit setting himself up as the solution to any problem. In fact, he is probably the least likely person you would want as a problem solver. He has this distressing habit of speaking his mind, no matter what that is, and he's not one for subtlety. As I thought about him and his message, I recalled the above passage and several things seemed to click. The fact is, all of us are clay jars--unadorned, perhaps dirty, hardly worthy of a second look from outside. And yet we have a treasure within us: the power of God to transform us and those around us. That's what the Incarnation is all about--God with us. May we know ourselves to be bearers of the light of Christ just as Mary was the bearer of the Christ that first Christmas.

Do you believe?

"And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." - Elizabeth (Luke 1:45b)

One of the many Christmas decorations in our house is a painted piece of slate which says simply: "We believe." It is accompanied by either a painted sprig of holly or painted Santa (I can't recal which) but it obviously is intended to convey a belief in at least the spirit of Santa Claus. I thought of that piece of slate as I prepared and delivered the sermon for last Sunday. The Gospel passage is Mary's visit to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, while she was still pregnant with John. The quote above is part of Elizabeth's exclamation as the child leaps in her womb in response to Mary's greeting. We might even say that John started preaching even before he was born!

As Christians, we talk a lot about belief and blessings. Most of the time, when we talk about blessings, we talk about them as things that already are. We are blessed with a wonderful church, family, job, etc... In the Magnificat that follows this passage, Mary recounts something that will be as if it has already happened! She believes so strongly in God's faithfulness that she is able to proclaim that faithfulness by talking about God's wonderful works before they even happen. She might have even heard the words "Consider it done" from God, and so she does consider it done!

As the days are short and the nights are long this time of year, it is very tempting to look out upon the world with a skeptical, even cynical eye. We are still embroiled in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate is even now wrangling over health care reform. Our own state is dealing with a substantial budget deficit, and even our church is dealing with the aftermath of the church split that occurred earlier this year. There are many, many reasons to be pessimistic! Yet, if we have Mary's faith, we can say in the midst of all of this: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior..."

May that faith be born in us anew as we again await the Christ child. Merry Christmas!

What then should we do?

Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours, no feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which to look out
Christ's compassion to the world
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now.
--Teresa of Avila

This morning in my sermon I explored the question: What would John the Baptist say to us today? In the Gospel lesson appointed for this, the Third Sunday of Advent, John begins "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance!" Not exactly a Hallmark or Christmas special moment! John is speaking plainly, even brutally, and no one has any doubts about what he means. In fact, several different groups of people ask him "What then should we do?"

So, what then should we do? Given the fact that we are approaching the season of the Incarnation, perhaps thinking and praying about how and where God might be calling us to live out our faith more tangibly would be an excellent start. Then, of course, we actually need to do what we believe God has called us to do. As Teresa of Avila says above, we are the hands and feet of Christ in the world. If we don't do it, who will?

As I think about what it exactly means to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world, a few ideas come to mind. John the baptist addresses everyone when he says "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." Clearly, then, the responsibility to share what we have with those who have less than we do applies no matter who we are. I'm even thinking about my family's closets and how many coats we actually have. How many people do not even have one? Something to think about, especially in the dead of winter!

Beyond giving to the economically needy (remembering that we are all needy, just in different ways), the ways of being Christ's hands and feet in the world would seem to be as diverse as the gifts and talents that God gives us. Someone with a talent for construction, for instance, might well volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, or even labor unseen to help another nonprofit renovate their office or help a needy neighbor with a long-deferred home maintenance project. For me, of course, as a priest, my job is my ministry--visiting the home-bound with communion, planning and leading worship, and even the innumerable administrative tasks that threaten to take over the day. Even typing on the computer like I am doing now can be a Jesus thing.

What is God calling you to do in the world in Christ's name?

Stewardship and St. Edward's

There is a quote about stewardship that says "Stewardship is everything you do after you say 'I believe...'". This morning, we launched our Fall Pledge Campaign at St. Edward's. There were a few things different about this effort from others in which I've been involved. First, I've been at St. Edward's less than a month--this was my fourth Sunday here. Second, as most of you who will be reading this know, St. Edward's is a congregation in the midst of restoration. We've been focusing on the part of Praise my Soul the King of Heaven that identifies us as "ransomed, healed, restored, [and] forgiven" people. It is when we know ourselves to be blessed by God--to be ransomed by Christ's death and resurrection, healed by Christ's power, restored to right relationship with God in Christ and each other, and forgiven for those things we have done or left undone--that we are freed to enter afresh into a partnership with God in, to use the language of the prayer book, "restoring all things to unity with God and each other in Christ."

St. Edward's has been on a remarkable journey in many, many ways. Those who have chosen to remain here and thus remain in the Episcopal Church have sacrificed much through their gifts of time, talent, and treasure to keep St. Edward's the vibrant, lively community that it is. We certainly have our faults, and our fair share of interesting personalities (mine included!), but we are in the process of re-discovering what it is to be beloved Children of God. In that process, we are spending this month, as well as the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, focusing on the benedictine value of stability--not changing things for change's sake, establishing a firm liturgical, spiritual, and even financial foundation, and preparing ourselves to look at each other and out into the world with God's eyes, seeing where God is working, and joining in that work.

If you are reading this and are not already a part of St. Edward's, I invite you to come and be a part of this period of (re-) discovery. If you are part of St. Edward's, you will have many opportunities to see God at work in the world and join in that work. The first of those chances is the Pledge Packet that was given out at worship this morning and will be mailed out tomorrow to those who did not pick their packet up. Please take it, put it in a prominent place, and commit to thinking, praying, and talking with your family about your commitments of time, talent, and treasure to St. Edward's in 2010. Unlike a PBS-style pledge drive, we won't be asking for a specific amount or be giving out thank-you gifts for different levels of support. What we will be doing is using the collective pledge of all of our members to begin to discern God's vision and mission for St. Edward's in 2010 and beyond. May God bless and guide us in this effort.