Really??? The United Church makes the headlines again ...

This weekend, Globe and Mail Columnist Margaret Wente once again takes aim at the United Church of Canada, and dubs us and other more liberal denominations as irrelevant ...

My first response was "Really? Again?"

Then I read the article and I wondered yet again, why the media publishes articles about the United Church and manages almost EVERY TIME to interview people within this vast and diverse denomination, who are not really that reflective of the Church or its leadership.

There are those folks out there who do well at getting press coverage and getting their ideas and opinions out there, and in the process are deemed "reflective of the United Church." But when I read yet again, a clergy person who expresses a negative opinion of something as central and basic as belief in God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit I have to wonder what United Church they represent.

This past year, our congregations did a line by line study-conversation of the documents of faith that are part of the revisit and reframing of our beliefs as a Denomination. Over and over we commented on how the older pre-1968 words were problematic in embracing and reflecting our modern beliefs. But overarching that conversation was a firm and unwavering belief in God, and the basic tenets of the Church ... God, the Resurrection, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the transformative power of the Holy in our lives and in our world ... the words may vary, but the faith does NOT.

We spoke of the power and the necessity of prayer.

We spoke of the power and centrality of community.

We spoke of how our faith effects everything we are about as we live and move in our circles of family, friend and community.

We spoke of how what we believe colours and inspires our choices and actions.

We spoke of how being Believers motivates us to support the local food bank, offer support to our neighbours, opt to support outreach programmes and initiative, and be active and involved in our community.

We spoke of how living our faith means being open to sharing it with others through worship services, outreach dinners, weekly gatherings, the presence at the Farmers' Market and a dozen other things we do over and over and over ...

Is the Church irrelevant ... to some ... but as even Ms Wente notes, there is a spiritual hunger out 'there', and it our responsibility as a believing and vibrant Church to open our doors to new people, and invite them to become part of the conversation.

AND, I will go out on a limb and say BOLDLY and UNAPOLOGETICALLY, that 99% of that task rests on the shoulders of the Clergy. It is our responsibility as clergy to provide a passionate, enthusiastic, and faithful (not too mention Faith FILLED) leadership that inspires our people to dream and hope, and equips them intellectually, mentally, emotionally AND spiritually to go out  into the world and envision ways of sharing their faith.

It is NOT about the cult of personality that see Pastors drawing in waves of people enamoured by the prosperity gospel or some simplistic reading of the Scriptures, but rather it is ALL about COMPETENCE!!!

We need clergy who care about more than their pension and their next cheque.

We need clergy who are not marking the days to retirement.

WE NEED CLERGY WHO GIVE A DAMN!!!!!

Too many clergy are bland milque toast in their preaching and in their presence ... and too many clergy and leaders are SO steeped in the ways of the Church, that they are truly out of touch with the real world ... what we need is a diversity ... passion ... enthusiasm and a HUGE dose of living vibrant faith.

I can count on my facebook at least a dozen clergy friends who are incredibly competent and capable and amazingly passionate in living their faith - almost everyone of them begins and ends their work in prayer, and none of them undervalue the necessity of the Church to change and grow and embrace the leadership of the Spirit. They ARE believers and not surprisingly, none of them have ever been interviewed by mainstream media about what is wrong with the Church - and THANKFULLY, almost everyone of them is willing, able and courageous enough to express their take on what is wrong with the Church we all continue to call home.

I can speak only for myself, but I am willing to bet, that everyone of them continues to share in the ministry of this Church - This UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA, that we call home because everyday they encounter amazing people who inspire them and remind us that we are not dead yet, and that with the presence and love of the Holy Spirit Resurrections loom and bloom around us every single day.

Thanks for folks like Adam, Barb, Nick, Audrey, Phil, Clare, Cheryl-Anne, Darren, Brian, Bill, Bob, Gord, and dozens of others - the Untied Church of Canada is alive and well, and STILL living what it believes.

In short Ms Wente, and folks like David Ewart are WRONG.

The Church is still relevant - and our willingness to embrace social causes while living our belief with honesty and integrity and passion is what WILL change the WORLD!!!!

Stay tuned ... we've ONLY JUST BEGUN !!!!!

A good read ... a better calling !!

I started this blog on Thursday January 19th 2006, after having blogged on the old United Online web site ... my intent when I started the Prairie Preacher was to explore the ways in which the Church can offer its ministry in new forms ... to my thinking then, and now, the internet and the many online resources from Twitter to Facebook have vast untapped potential as places to engage and share in our life and ministry as people, clergy and Church.

My intent when I started Prairie Preacher was to share the happenings in my life, to provide a place for my family to keep up on the things Noahkila, Ms H, and Beetle are up to, and to show a different face of the Church that removes the silly deification that places clergy on an ivory pedestal. I wanted Prairie Preacher to be a place where real issues were raised and discussed, a place where real happenings are laid on the table and reflected upon and most importantly, where the truth about the Church was offered in an honest, upfront and unblinking way.

Along the way, I've struggled with my vocational calling, we've journeyed into the darkness that came following the Church fire in Minnedosa, I've moved twice, been fired once, experienced the rejection of the Church writ large, worked in another denomination, worked outside of the church, and struggled with real life issues including the deaths of my mother, my brother, and now two close friends ... Prairie Preacher, has over the last five years been my sanctuary and my refuge where I've been able to wrestle honestly and openly and perhaps most significantly, UNAPOLOGETICALLY with the real life issues and struggles I've encountered along the way.

Looking back, there are some posts here that I am deeply proud of, a few I am in retrospect slightly embarrassed by, and a couple that I have pulled after further reflection and feedback from trusted friends. But what strikes me most of all, as I looked back on the last four months since mom's death on January 11th, and my subsequent silence here, is the importance that Prairie Preacher has played in my journey ...

In those moments when I've considered shutting this blog down, or when I've found myself struggling to put into words what I've been feeling and experiencing, I find comfort in the legacy that this site has embodied. I can go back and re-read postings from my past, and see in a tangible way how much healing and growth I've experienced. I can read the comments of friends and strangers and see clearly the support I've had, and the importance of continuing to speak up and speak out about issues that otherwise would linger at the margins of our collective consciousness.

This week, as I began reading the book pictured above, I became aware of how appropriate the simple choice of the word 'preacher' in my blog title was ... Over and over Lischer stresses the importance of Clergy reclaiming the VOCATION of preacher in their work. More than just part of the work we are called to do and share, PREACHING is central to everything we are about in ministry.

Preaching means taking the Gospel and sharing it by word and deed with the world around us. Preaching means wrestling with the real life issues of our world and our lives, and making sense of God's calling within that context. Preaching means speaking up and speaking out, even when the world and the bureaucracy demands acquiescence and silence. Preaching means more than standing up in a pulpit and sharing a warm pink fuzzy theology.

Preaching is the very heart of what we, as ministers are called to do and be. And looking back, this blog, has over the last five years engaged in a preaching that has moved through some deep and dark moments of life ... a preaching that has tried to offer an honest and unrelenting critical reflection of the Church and its ministry in the modern world and encouraged a rethink of who and what we are.

The very future of the Church depends on the willingness of clergy and lay leaders to wrestle with the perception of hypocrisy and irrelevancy held by many who no longer darken the doors our physical buildings, yet hunger for something spiritual ... they want to hear honesty and openness from the Church, and they want to know that their concerns are not only heard, but heeded and that the Church takes seriously its call to PREACH the Gospel in its fullness.

Lischer is one of those who gets this calling, and he wants others to get it too. Five years ago, I started blogging because I for one, take seriously the need for the Church to reach out to the margins of our society where this calling needs to be offered most urgently.

Preaching the Gospel to the margins means dealing honestly and openly with the bullshit that has sadly been too much a part of the Church in recent years, and I for one have come to realize the importance of actively engaging in that form of preaching, and this place -this blog has been one means of embodying that ministry of preaching, and for that I will be neither ashamed, repentant nor intimidated. This is my place, my voice, and my preaching.

And the journey continues ...