Change

This is an article I shared with our congregation in our March newsletter.

Change. I’ve been thinking a lot about change this past year.
I have been thinking about change because there are a lot of things going on in each of our lives. We experience aging. We experience new births and the death of loved ones. We experience change in our living situations. Some get married; Others divorced. Some of us have lost a job and with it more than income and insurance but also a sense of our identity and maybe a sense of our worth.

I have been thinking about change because we have all felt the impact on our lives of the economic recession we are experiencing. Our money does not stretch as far as it used to. I think of that every time Steve and I buy groceries. I think of this and I am more grateful than ever to have meaningful employment and a roof above our heads.

I have been thinking about change as we enter the season of Lent. It is a time of introspection and a time when we are called anew to ponder Jesus’ question “Who do you say I am?” and the questions of “who are we?” and “whose are we?” These are questions we have to answer as individuals and as a church body. If we answer, “Jesus in our LORD”, this means that we are called to follow and following is not a static, unchanging thing.

I have been thinking about change because of the election of Barak Obama. Whether we agree with his political views or not, it is undeniable that we are entering a new chapter in history.

I have been thinking about change because our church and our Indiana Conference are in the middle of great change and transition. As you know, the coming together of the North and South Indiana Conferences was approved last year and we are now deep in the transition time and implementation and working the nitty gritty details.

I have been thinking about change because Bethel is in transition and we are faced with decisions having to do with how to remain faithful as a church and faithful to our mission of making disciples of Jesus. You’ll hear more about this in the weeks and months to come.

I would venture to say that most of us, if not all of us, have mixed feelings about change: Change can be exciting and it can be scary and often change is all these things at once. We can embrace change or we can resist it. In the end, whether we embrace or resist change, it is inevitable and it is part of life.

I am talking with several people about change and how to negotiate transitions in our personal life as well as in our gatherings of people we call the church.

I went to a seminar in February, after having read several books from our presenter, and we talked about how to introduce change in churches. There are some good ways of doing this and there are not so good ways of doing this. One of the pastors who attended recalled how she served a church which had forgotten its purpose and which refused/never found ways to adapt to meet the needs of a changing neighborhood. They used to be a large downtown church, well attended by wealthy parishioners. But through the years, attendance dwindled to less than 50. They do have a beautiful, European-inspired, church, which only remains open because of an endowment fund. She said it looks more like a mausoleum than a church. What striked me is that she did not say, museum – which is bad enough; she said mausoleum - a place where the dead are buried. This saddened me. I know the church and another friend is serving there now. I hope he can help revive this place through the people in it and by inviting others to come and experience life with Jesus. This will require changing hearts and minds and it will require a lot of work on everyone’s part.

When I think of change and transitions, I think of the story of the Exodus in the Bible; how the people found themselves facing new situations. They had to learn new ways and they had to adapt and it did not always go very smoothly. Many even grumbled that the slavery in Egypt they had just left would be better than that they were experiencing in the wilderness. It’s interesting how we remember things. The good ol’ days were usually not as good as we might remember them. They grumbled so much that God ended up giving them a lot of extra time to think and hopefully mature. It also took the passing of the rebellious generation before the rest of the people could enter the Promised Land.

When I think of change and transitions, I also think of 1st and 2nd Peter. In these letters, the author, whom we think was the apostle Peter, exhorts the scattered Christians in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) to hold fast to their faith and their trust of God in the face of hardship. We started the study of these letters and what they have to say to us last Monday. It is not too late to join the study!

When I think of change and transitions, I think of prayer. As people of God we are called to pray without ceasing. I don’t believe we can live life very well and negotiate the inevitable changes and transitions, which come our way without talking with God and seeking His guidance.

When I think of change and transitions, I think of God because no matter what we all face, He is with us and will guide us through when we seek Him.

One question that our seminar leader asked - and that question haunts me in some ways - is “If your church closed, would anyone in the neighborhood, in the community, notice and care? Would your church be missed by anyone outside of it?”

Witnessing History

I have been watching quite a bit of news broadcasts these past few days and been emotionally moved a lot.


Monday (usually my day off) was spent between the History Channel, which honored the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and stations like CNN, MSNBC, and Fox as they each broadcasted the pre-inaugural festivities for Barack Obama.
I have usually voted for presidential elections but this is the first one when I find myself truly moved and with the sense of witnessing something important and historical. I find myself wanting to understand the political system better. I find myself wanting to learn more about Martin and the whole civil rights movement.

This is not part of my heritage. I was not born and I did not grow up in the United States. American history was not taught to me growing up. French history was. Twenty years ago I had a couple American history classes in college while Steve and I lived in Texas. I enjoy history, I just don’t have a lot of time to read about it as much I would like to, with the other things that I want to read and need to read. This is something I want to remedy.

I was surprised to find myself teary-eyed these past couple of days because I was 3 when Martin Luther King Jr, was assassinated. I believe what moves me is the dedication of one’s life for peace and justice to the point of accepting death as a very probable result of one’s involvement. The men’s dedication is not the only thing that touched me. With each of these men was a strong, dedicated woman and these men would not have achieved what they achieved without these women. What was true for Martin is true for Barack.

Whether one is Republican or Democrat (or something else), the hope that is currently present is undeniable and America desperately needs hope.


Hope is what some pastoral colleagues and I saw and felt when we shared Hawaiian pizza together (here goes the low carb diet) as we were watching Obama’s inauguration on TV. The pastor who invited us to her home said about the pizza, “if it is good enough for Barack, it is good enough for us” (and it was good pizza.) We had a great time together, sitting in this small living room. Giggled at Aretha Franklin’s hat. Commented on what we heard being said. There was this sense of unity despite the fact that we don’t all share the same views on several things (our host is a Unitarian Universalist pastor; we had a United Church of Christ pastor, a Presbyterian and me.) But we could all agree that it is time for a change; that it is time to work harder than ever toward peace and unity and we believe that this starts with us.

Now the danger is to place too much hope of the shoulders of Barack. His name means “blessed” but he is not the Messiah. The challenges are huge – and regardless of political parties and ideologies - it is going to take everybody working together to get us out of the mess we are in. Whether we agree with everything Barack is going to try to achieve or not, he needs our prayers.

Everything Changes but there is One constant

Everything always changes it seems. The seasons, the economy, our jobs, our lives, relationships; us... The weather is turning crisper - great sleeping-with-your-window-open weather; the leaves are turning various shades of golden and red. The markets are on a roller coaster ride. Things that we might have taken for granted as true and secure aren't. Just when I think I have things and people figured out, I realize again that there are many things I don't understand. The older I get the more this last thing seems to be confirmed and I am not that old!
At a gathering of about 2000 pastors, lay delegates and guests on the Indy fairgrounds Saturday, we passed the final vote to become one Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church where there had been a North and South Indiana Conference. I think it is a good thing. Our Bishop told us that we were meeting in the building which usually holds the sheep exhibit - How appropriate. I am glad they had cleaned out the manure before we got there!
During the gatherine, we were reminded of where we came from and admonished to look ahead.
I remembered my own journey that has enabled me to stand among this crowd, my family of faith, and I gave thanks again for them and for the One who is constant. When life goes nuts, when things move way too fast. Jesus is the rock, the anchor... Always.