Confirmation

ahem.

where to start? I’ve been looking at this from a number of angles lately since I’m beginning in two weeks with my first class.

What have we done to confirmation? We seem to have made it a graduation (so far so good) from church instead of into church. What’s worse, it appears that we’ve managed, in the name of providing our children with a Christian foundation, to have usurped any kind of educational elements or teaching opportunities from the Christian home. Now we handle all of that and the parents are relieved of the need to help or participate (for the most part they’re happy about the arrangement). But are we not only taking on more than we should, but also enabling a breakdown of the Christian home?

I don’t mean for this to be doom and gloom, but isn’t this a symptom of the general breakdown and decline in the church? When we professionalize faith, then it is no longer the business of everybody and becomes the sole province of the guy in the alb and we make confirmation just another class, just another hurdle to be passed by rather than the entry into a life lived in faith and the study and exploration of that faith.

What we’re going for is a lived expereince, a chance to look at the effects of faith in your life. We’ll begin with a general overview and then venture into other aspects of life (body image, social interaction, peer pressure, relationship issues, family life etc.) and tie them into the catechism by highlighting the parts of the tradition that have daily pertinence. These will be punctuated by events in which the confirmands (and as much of their family as possible) like attending a Bar Mitzvah (or Bat Mitzvah) or other rites of passage in other religious communities to demonstrate the value and commonality of having your faith penetrate your life.

The program will be two years, with the alternating year being (a bit) more traditionally based in learning the specifics of the Lutheran expereince of faith, though keeping the focus on actually-lived experiences.

Finally, there will be a home element to each lesson. There will be homework for the parents as well as the children, discussion points, prayers and devotions focusing on the lesson and bringing the life of faith into the home in order to reinforce the confirmation class time.

A colleague (an interim whose church is sending their kids over for us to confirm) made a wonderful point about the possibilities of making the affirmation of faith an annual event not just for those who are finishing with the “confirmation” process, but also for all of those whose lives have been touched by the faith of thier parents and communities, i.e. some parents might be celebrating their 34th confirmations.  In this way we reinforce the idea that we are bringing them in in stead of sending them out.

wheeeew!

lots of thinking out loud, whaddya think?

Holy Son of the Most High guide us. When we think we have all the answers, let the children lead us. When we know we have all the answers, teach us to be wrong with strength and compassion. When we lead, let us be wise enough to let all your children have a say in which way we go.

The simple things

We went to the Air Showafter church on Sunday.

I’d forgotten about doing simple things. Going out with the family and just seeing something incredible. I guess that the 4th of July was like this, but this was solely a community event without the trappings of a national celebration.

It was very cool. especially the flight demos. When the c-17 took off on practically no runway, then crawled by at unbelievably slow speeds, then landed in about 1000 feet of runway it was quite the show. I’m not a big flag waver (we were also in Debbie’s Dad’s pickup with (probably) the only Kerry/Edwards sticker in sight), but this was really cool.

but I think my favorite must have been the a-10 warthog. I notice on all of the websites that discuss things military they always mention how fast a plane can go, but the thing was, this thing slowed down and flew close formation with a biplane (what? 20 knots?) than blew by at about 400 miles an hour (close to 360 knots). I think that the line I most remember was “I didn’t know we could do that” from sports night because it was just amazing.

how much effort is spent figuring out ways to wage wars and how little is spent trying to end them, or to avoid them altogether?

Heart of my heart, heal me. From the need for more, from the need to be entertained, from the need for . . . whatever. Make us strong enough to fail, wise enough to admit we don’t know and foolish enough to risk it all for the sake of your name. Return us to simplicity of heart that love may truly abide there.

“Whatever you do, DON’T . . .”

” . . . change ANYTHING in the first year in the parish.”

Words from not just my internship supervisor but also from every pastor at the table when asked for the most important piece of advice that they could give. I wonder if ANYONE else at that table actually followed that advice.

Well, the first year is coming to an end (Sept. 6th) and I’m finally beginning to see some of the wisdom in that warning.

I’ve spent a year trying to see how the Church’s vision, which they touted quite a bit, was being lived in the pews, a year trying to see where things might be changed or altered in the future, a year listening to those voices, maybe a little too much.

Because you can’t just sit there. I appreciate the advice, and in a lot of cases (like changing hymnals, or switching worship styles etc) its very good advice because you need to learn what the congregation cares about and you need to earn a little credibility. But it tempts you to try and let them show you these things, when the truth of the matter is, you need to encourage, nag, cajole and flirt them into showing you what they care about. Otherwise, people have the tendency to fall into unexamined and unexplained habits, and I for one find myself confused a lot of the time, mystified that people will attach a great deal of importance to one ritual while ignoring another without so much as a mention of it, ever.

I’ve fallen into the pit of that thinking recently. I’ve tried to let them show me. But what a lot of people do when someone lets them go, is that they go, they find it hard to work up the passion unless someone is encouraging them, and so things languish somewhat. This has happened to varying extents throughout the church structure and it is time for it to STOP.

Energy flows both ways but I have been a little too passive, plus the one year mark is coming up so I don’t even have the advice of my past to stop me. I love this place and I love the vision that they have set before them, to reach out, to grow the kingdom of God, to provide a place for young people to be touched by the grace of God and it is past timeto start letting that show.

set my butt on fire Lord, let the fire I feel for you and your kingdom be the model for the passion for your mission in the world, shown in the vision of the faithful and enacted in our lives each and every day. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart and the works of my hands be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer and may ourefforts honor and serve you in this world so that all may hear of the feast that is to come and know of your love.

Heck of a week . . .

So we were planning the church Open House for Saturday. There’s an awful lot of coordination required and I have been blessed by having agreat group here at church who did a spectacular job of putting the thing together (thanks Debbie, Janet, Bryanna, Tracy and Mary and everyone else who lent a hand).

Sometime in the middle of the two-week initial carb-fast for the insulin-resistant/South Beach diet I developed a histamine reaction to something and got a yucky-looking case of the hives. This compounded an already lousy disposition because of a cold that I had been developing so now there’s the wondering whether or not the residual stuffiness is because of allergies or just left-over cold.

Dad and Florence were in town, that was very nice and we got to go up to the ranch and relax a little, walk around,just be away for a few hours. We found a new and wonderful restaurant and all in all I had a good visit.

But I’m unsettled . . .

I guess it’s just uncertainty eroding some of that gung-ho mentality. We’ve got to get the people up and out a little, and we’ve got to spend some money to do it, but it is an odd feeling to do it.

But we can’t keep sitting up here quietly, waiting for people to notice us because eventually moss will cover us and we’ll dissappear. It’s just an odd feeling for someone with no extra money to spend in my own life, to be investing like this, trusting in God to “give the increase.” Time to practice what I preach I guess . . .

and then I read this from a classmate, Bono on faith? truly fabulous.

Precious light of all creation, stop me. Stop me from trying to see the results of my words, of my efforts and of my faith. Remind me that it is your Spirit that calls, gathers and enlightens not me. When we pull our talent from the ground, do not let us hold it close and admire it, but drive it from our hands and into the world, let us take what we have and invest it in creation so that what we touch may bear the mark of your love and your holy name.