Continuing the Movement
The 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington is August 28. Many people will be converging on Washington this weekend to remember the famous “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fifty years ago The Rev. Gordon Price helped to organize several busses to take people to Washington for the event. Gordon often described getting on the bus in front of Christ Church. Several busses will be traveling to Washington for the anniversary.
Not many of us can ride the bus, but we can still continue the movement for equality at a local celebration this Saturday at Dave Hall Plaza, Fifth and Jefferson, in Downtown Dayton. Greater Dayton Christian Connections, Dayton International Peace Museum, DDRR (Dayton Dialogue on Race Relations), IFGD (Interfaith Forum of Greater Dayton), NAACP Dayton Unit (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), NCCJ-Greater Dayton (National Conference for Community and Justice of Greater Dayton), SCLC-Dayton Chapter (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) and the Adam Project will conduct a Continuation Celebration on Saturday, August 24, 2013, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
This Continuation Celebration will honor the March taking place the same day in Washington, D.C. and will feature speakers, entertainment and will conclude with a March that will end at Riverscape Metro Park. “This is a perfect opportunity to be connected with the celebration taking place in Washington, D.C.; it is an all faith gathering commemorating Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy and vision.”
I plan to be there, walking over from Christ Church at about 1:45. Please join me!
–John Paddock, Rector
How Do You Experience Community?
Community is important. We are raised in communities: neighborhoods, schools, faith groups, and numerous other recreational, social, and civic communities. We were formed by our communities, and we form others by our relationships and the groups in which we participate.
For many folk today, the need and hunger for community is met and/or fed by online communities like FaceBook, LinkedIn, Google+, blogs, and email groups. I am interested in learning about how you experience community regardless of whether it is traditional or virtual.
I would like to hear from you about the communities that are important to you and why. Please take a moment to complete this survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XPSWV8J
Thanks,
John Paddock
Independence Day and the Realm of God
The Fourth of July always presents the church with a dilemma. We have prayers for the American Independence Day, and we have patriotic hymns that we all love. But from the time of Moses and the prophets, there has always been an uneasy relationship between faith and the nation.
It’s not simply the kind of tension embodied in church and state issues, because that often comes down to legal definitions and arguments. It is broader than that. The tension arises out of idolatry.
Some of our civic celebrations become liturgies of praise and commitment that rival our best worship of God. At a church in Texas this past weekend, over 3,000 worshippers were treated to children re-enacting the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, fireworks in the church rafters, special recognitions for people in uniform, and an American flag lapel pin given to each and every attendee.
Please don’t misunderstand. This is not a critique of the flag, uniformed people, Iwo Jima or fireworks. It is that we need to be careful of confusing our patriotism our nation with love of God. God stands outside of and in judgment on all other commitments. As the commandment says, “You shall have no other gods but me.”
Christian faith calls for a commitment to the Realm of God that transcends all other earthly realms, even the The United States of America. We pray for our land, her residents and citizens, her government. We celebrate the Declaration of Independence and the courage it took to adopt and support it. But we also acknowledge a higher calling to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who came because “God so loved the world . . . “ and not just this part of North America.
May your Fourth of July be a day of blessing and celebration for what we have been given here in the U.S. And may it also be a time for rededication to the Realm of God. May caring citizens rise up and continuously call for the ways we live together in this land to be consistent with God’s values of love and equity for all the earth.
Next Steps in Visioning
Last April we presented to the parish an update on development of the Chapel space as well as a projection of other capital needs over the next 10-12 years. I am reposting it in the latest issue of the Christ Church Broadcast in case you may have missed seeing the update or want to refresh your memory.
Without a clear vision for our mission and ministry, however, the items in the update are just expenses.
In order to move forward we are engaging in a Visioning process to reflect on our values and commitments. All of us will be invited to complete a survey that will be distributed both online and in a print version for those who prefer that. Some of you will also be invited to an interview while others will participate in a focus group. This will be done during the later part of July.
All of this is a methodical and careful effort to include broad input so that we can move forward into God’s future for Christ Church with confidence and courage.
A Vision for the Future
The Wardens and Vestry are entering into a contract with Mr. Michael Vilardo of Transforming Christian Ministries. His organization is dedicated to assisting ministries envision, plan, and fund their work. Michael will be our consultant as we explore a vision for the future of Christ Church’s mission and ministry in downtown Dayton.
Michael comes to us with broad experience as a United Methodist pastor and a number of years as a development professional with churches and non-profit organizations across the country. He is based in Cincinnati.
We envision that this effort will take us most of the rest of the year, and we hope that you will take the opportunities that will be offered to share your thoughts, insights, and inspiration. Our vision must be inclusive, broad-based, and clear. As the author of the Book of Proverbs said so well, “Without a vision, the people perish.” (29:18).
I am committed to keeping you informed about next steps. In the next few weeks we will be talking with Michael about a timeline and planning for multiple ways for you to be involved.
I pray that you will find ways to be refreshed and renewed this summer. And I ask your prayers for our parish as we walk with Jesus into God’s future.
A Prayer for Mothers
O God of grace and love, we pray your robust blessing upon all mothers.
We thank you for the homes into which we were born and for the care and affection of our mothers.
We pray for those with difficult homes and relationships.
We pray for those at the end of their tether.
We pray for those mothers who feel unwanted, and for those who are widowed, divorced or without a partner.
And we pray for those who have never had children but desired to do so.
In the name of Jesus we pray.
Amen.
Waiting in Line
Last Sunday I preached about the man who had been trying to get into the waters of the healing pool for 38 years (Gospel of John 5:1-9). When the waters were stirred up, the first person into the water would be healed.
There are many contemporary pools that are intended to be places of healing. Yet they often become pathetic places where people go for help: utilities, rent assistance, unemployment, picture I.D.’s, healthcare, food and so on. There are long lines, limited resources, too few helpers. Needs often go unmet, too many give up in despair, the lucky ones have to live with the knowledge that their luck probably contributed to another family’s bad luck.
As I was thinking about those people waiting for hours to submit an application, I suddenly remembered the last application I made. I walked into an auto dealer’s showroom, where I was warmly greeted and immediately introduced to a person who helped me. With only my driver’s license and an insurance card for documentation, I drove a new car off the lot a little over an hour later.
Privilege is a wonderful thing. It works to my advantage even when I’m not conscious of it. So I try to be more aware. That’s why I am so committed to our CityHeart ministry where we intentionally and consciously create a space of hospitality and welcome in the heart of the city.
If you haven’t seen CityHeart in action, I’d be delighted to show it to you. Give me a call/email/text and we’ll schedule a time. CityHeart hours are 10 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m. Monday thru Friday.
Multitasking for Jesus
While the chapel at Christ Church was being deconstructed my office was out of commission as well. Dust and noise were the culprits that drove me out. For many days I spent my office time at the front desk. There are many more interruptions out there where the phones ring more often and people come and go all day long. When Kris Sexton worked at that desk, she used to say that it was her job to be interrupted. I now know exactly what she meant.
I also know that I’m not very good at multitasking. It all became clear one morning when I was in the office alone. I was on the church phone dealing with a pastoral issue when, simultaneously, my cellphone and the doorbell rang. A glance at the cellphone indicated that it was a caller I had been waiting to hear from for days. And I knew that the person at the door was someone with whom I had an appointment.
I made the decision to stay with the call I was on and to ignore the cell and the doorbell. By the time I got to the door, my visitor had left, and it took several more days to connect with the cellphone caller.
Although that incident wasn’t unique by any means, it serves for me as a metaphor for much of modern life. With calls, emails, texts, radio, television, family, friends, work, healthcare, home chores and so on we are constantly on call, interrupted, and distracted.
I find that among the best times of my week are times of corporate worship. The ringers get turned off, interruptions are few, and demands of the world and concerns of life are turned into prayers. Attention is focused. God is present in ways more discernable than in the chaos.
I may be called upon to multitask for Jesus, but I prefer the one-thing-at-a-time way of doing things.
–John Paddock
Mid-Lent
This has been quite a winter with our building challenges and the sojourn with First Baptist Church. Despite all of the ecumenical activities of the past few decades, it is extremely rare to share worship, especially regularly scheduled weekday or Sunday worship. I count it as a treasure and a gift to know that God can be praised and the sacramental presence experienced with and among people of widely divergent traditions. The flexibility, good will, and generous spirit on all levels will remain with me for a long time to come.
The word “Lent” derived from the old English/Germanic term for “lengthen” as the amount of daylight grew longer with the coming of spring. In Christian tradition Lent is set aside as a time of fasting and self-denial. This is a challenge for those of us living in a culture of self-indulgence and self-centeredness. It is even more difficult in a religious environment where the “prosperity Gospel” has often been substituted for Christianity.
Truly following Jesus by denying self and taking up our crosses may be more counter-cultural than it has ever been. Self-denial is not just an experience or aesthetic of self-deprivation. It is intended to reduce our own profile that we might better see and appreciate the needs and godly aspirations of others. On a physical level part of our fasting is to spend less feeding ourselves so that we can have more to feed the hungry. On a spiritual level it trains our eye beyond ourselves to focus on marginalized, opens our vision to see the common good, invites us to gaze upon the rest of God’s creation.
It was good to start Lent with the Baptists. We had to let go of our treasured building for a while. We and they had to give up some valued traditions and practices while we adopted and adapted others. The horizon of our vision was expanded.
I pray that these final weeks of Lent will continue to do that for us.
Playing Well With The Baptists
We started our sojourn with First Baptist Church (FBC) this past Sunday with a wonderful morning together. At 10:30 the church was so filled with people that First Baptist Pastor, Rod Kennedy, said that it looked like Christmas.
The combined choirs sounded wonderful together. On many of the musical offerings the organ, played by Alan Kimbrough, was accompanied by piano. Holy Communion went well with different stations for wine and grape juice without too much confusion. My sermon was well received even though the Baptists are used to longer homilies than we are. Sermon
Wednesday and Sunday 8 a.m. services in the FBC Chapel also went well. It is a lovely space.
Deconstruction of our Chapel is moving forward on schedule. A crane was brought in this morning, so it won’t be long before the bricks start to come down.
This coming Sunday, February 3, Rod Kennedy will be preaching. The Rev. Jack Koepke, Assistant to the Bishop, will bring greetings and best wishes from Bishop Breidenthal and the Diocese of Southern Ohio as we proceed with our ecumenical common worship.
The Adult Forum time will have two offerings: African Bible Study and a conversation on Anglican and Baptist commonalities and differences.
Our Annual Parish meeting will be held after the 10:30 service in the FBC dining room. Activities for children and youth are available during the meeting.
I am pleased to announce that The Rev. Judith Doran will be joining us for several months, assisting with worship and pastoral care, before she and her husband Pat move to Chicago in June. Judith has served at St. Paul’s, Oakwood; St. Andrew’s, Dayton; and at Trinity, Troy. The Doran’s live at The Landing, the same complex in which Bob and Rose Dwight dwell.
The Holy Spirit is blessing us in so many ways. Join us this Sunday as our journey continues!
–John Paddock
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