Merry Christmas!

For as long as I can remember I have been in church on Christmas Eve for a traditional candlelight service. Carols, candles, the Christmas gospel…these are some of my favorite things. As a child, this night was filled with wonder for me as the lights went dim and we raised our candles, singing Silent Night.

Christmas Eve, 1983. It was my first Christmas as a parish pastor. Can you imagine how surprised I was to learn that my new congregation didn’t even have a Christmas Eve service? Their long-standing tradition was to have the children’s Christmas program on Christmas Eve. Not knowing better, I suggested that we move the children’s pageant to the Sunday evening before Christmas so we could have a candlelight service on Christmas Eve. The congregation was kind to their young pastor and agreed to try it. Once.

The Christmas program came off without a hitch. Then I waited with Advent patience for Saturday, December 24 to arrive. Brand new candles and drip-cards were delivered. A pre-printed bulletin was ready for the ushers. The organist and pianist were well rehearsed. My sermon was set to go. I was excited…really excited.

The long awaited day arrived. But as the daylight hours progressed, my heart sank as low as the thermometer. It was snowy, windy and very, very cold. It was, in fact, dangerously cold and no one had any business being outdoors or in their car. Church cancellations were being announced throughout the day. It was after everyone else in the area had cancelled that I called the president of the congregation and we finally added our name to the list. The candles were put away, the bulletins stored, and the sermon filed away unused. I was miserable.

On the bright side, Sunday, Christmas morning, dawned brightly and 19 brave souls showed up for worship!

I do hope your celebration of Christmas is filled with whatever it is that makes it complete for you. I expect to be in church singing carols, lighting a candle and hearing the Christmas gospel. I remind you, however, even as I remind myself, that our celebration of Christmas is complete if we simply recall that our Heavenly Father gave us the gift of the Savior, Jesus. Thanks be to God!

Merry Christmas.

Bell Ringing

Each year I volunteer to ring a bell for The Salvation Army. I began many years ago while serving in Prophetstown. In those days (as may still be the case), The Salvation Army administered emergency funds for our town, so we pastors regularly referred transients in need of assistance to The Salvation Army representative. This was a convenient and prudent way of helping folks who were passing through town.

The ministerial association rang bells in an effort to support The Salvation Army and to thank it for its ministry on our behalf. Each local pastor and members of his or her congregation took shifts standing in front of the grocery store, ringing a bell and thanking friends and neighbors for their contributions.

In Rockford I don’t see many people I know during my two hour bell ringing shifts. I am fairly anonymous here in Kmart’s vestibule. It is such an interesting experience. Some people pass by me and never look up. Others apologize for not having anything to put in the kettle. Some even apologize as they struggle to push an overloaded cart into the parking lot. Children often have a look of delight in their eyes as they deposit the loose change a parent has provided. Last week I would say that more than half of the people who passed my bucket put something in.

One woman stopped to talk. She said, “I wouldn’t be alive today if it hadn’t been for you. I try to give every time I see a red bucket. I am so thankful for you.”

I was taken aback. It was odd to receive such personal thanks—real, sincere, heartfelt thanks—on behalf of someone else, for something I had not done. My giving an occasional donation and ringing a bell certainly didn’t save her life. She didn’t know how little I had really done. Besides, I’m not even a member of The Salvation Army! But I do know it does good and important work. The proof of that was standing before me.

Each and every Sunday I thank the congregation I am visiting for its support of the synod and the ELCA. I try to make it personal, but that’s hard to do when addressing a whole congregation. I try to impress upon people the good and important work that we do and how appreciated their support is. So, please hear me as I say “thank you.” Yes, you. And, if you aren’t sure if you saved someone’s life today, or if your offerings really do matter, I would beg you to find out. Ask your pastor. Explore the ELCA website. We, as a church, have an amazing story to tell.

Agur's Prayer

My wife and I had dinner with Ed Kruse last evening. Ed is the director of stewardship for the ELCA. It was a wonderful, relaxed time. Our conversation covered a lot of territory. Part of our conversation was personal as we count Ed among our friends. Another part related to my completing my work as the stewardship specialist for the Northern Illinois Synod. With Pastor Kurt Nordby beginning his work as our Director for Evangelical Mission, stewardship becomes part of his portfolio. We also spent some time talking about Proverbs 30:7-9.

I must admit that I have spent very little time studying Proverbs. I have approached the book more as a source of amusement than of something worthy of deeper consideration. This particular passage was raised by the music/worship leader of the stewardship conference we were attending. You can probably guess that I have examined many biblical texts relating to stewardship, but this one has missed my scrutiny. I am less embarrassed to report this fact since so many of the other stewardship “experts” I was with reacted in a similar fashion.

A prayer from the sayings of Agur: “Two things I ask of you; do not deny them to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need, or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or I shall be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God.”

What a great prayer. Keep me honest and give me enough. This stewardship seminar was held at a hotel down the street from this condominium high-rise (pictured above). The ads in the paper indicate that a cheaper condo can be had for about $1.5 million. A unit in the middle levels go for about $3.5 million and up at the top the selling price is more than $7 million.

I can certainly fantasize about what it might be like to have that kind of money and live in such a beautiful place, but I truly believe that I am better off praying Agur’s prayer.

A Time to be the Church

“As we journey home, may your presence be known: precious river, ever-flowing, now carry us home.” (ELW 453)

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 22:1-5)

My first call was served in a small rural parish in the beautiful hills of JoDaviess County. When there was a death in the congregation, the church bell was tolled to announce the news to the community. When the day of the funeral arrived, without fail, the people of St. John’s came to worship, tell stories, laugh and cry, and to share a meal. As a young pastor I came to expect that a congregation would show up for a funeral. When a member died, the church gathered.

In the past two weeks I have attended two funerals. One was for Pastor Al Zenker, former bishop of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod. Al was serving as an assistant to the bishop of the Illinois District (ALC) when I started out, so I had known him a long time. I had the privilege of representing Bishop Wollersheim and our synod at his funeral. The second funeral was for a woman I barely knew. She was a member of the congregation for which my wife is organist. I attended this funeral to support my wife in her role and because I know the family.

At each of these funerals I looked around at the people who had gathered. There were lots of pastors gathered for Pastor Zenker’s funeral. Of course, family, friends, former parishioners and members of the parish were also there. At the other funeral, family, friends and many from the congregation were present. I am glad that I was there too.

I believe that we need to be reminded of God’s promises that we hear most clearly at funerals. We need to be together to support each other in the hard times. As the church, we need to boldly sing the hymns of our faith. We need to pray. We need to tell stories. We need to laugh and cry. We need to be the church.

I believe a congregation should place a high value on funeral worship. Does yours? Do you think it should?

Removing Hatred and Prejudice

As a child I dreaded only one part of the Sunday liturgy, the Prayer of the Church (Service Book and Hymnal, p. 6). It was a long, all-encompassing prayer that the pastor of Victory Lutheran Church prayed almost every week. He also used all of the petitions, divided only by our responses, “We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.” I was thinking “Good Lord, how much longer?” Forgive me; I was about nine years old.

When Lutheran Book of Worship was published, an updated version of the prayer was included in the prayer section (p.52). As a pastor I used it on a few occasions, though I must admit, not many. It was still a long prayer, but I had come to deeply appreciate its beauty.

Two petitions of that prayer are on my mind today. One is the prayer for our nation, the president, the governor and all who make our laws. The second, which followed immediately, is a petition asking God to remove from us all hatred and prejudice and “whatever may hinder the unity of spirit and concord.”

I think we need to dust off the Prayer of the Church. I was listening to the radio in the car this afternoon and heard a report of acts of racial hatred being committed against some who voted for Barack Obama. The report also said that there have been an unprecedented number of threats against our president-elect.

Sadly, some of the most racially prejudicial statements I have ever heard have been whispered in church.

It is time for the Church to renew its efforts to work for justice, use its public voice and confront racism. Our synod council engages in anti-racism training annually. Workshops are available for our congregations through our synod anti-racism team. There are resources available on the ELCA website (www.elca.org) and the synod’s website (www.nisynod.org).

At this moment in history, I think we have a great opportunity to engage in this important work. I also believe that it is all the more important in congregations with little or no racial, ethnic or cultural diversity. I invite you to pray and act. Now.

From the Mailbox

The letter arrived in today’s mail. It began, “This is a very difficult letter to write….” I knew what it was right away. I have written three such letters myself, one to each congregation I was leaving. But this time I was on the receiving end of the news. My pastor has resigned his call.

I believe my pastor when he says that it was a difficult message to deliver. I don’t think most parishioners can possibly understand just how difficult it really is. It is so hard to leave a congregation that you have served and loved. As a pastor I have been invited into people’s lives in such intimate ways, in times of the greatest joy and the deepest sorrow. My life as a pastor has been richly blessed and I hope that I have touched the lives of many in positive ways with the love of Christ. When I left my first parish I remember telling Bishop Ehme Osterbur that I was never leaving another congregation because I couldn’t stand the pain. There were just too many tears. I did, however, subject myself to the pain of leaving two additional congregations only because I was convinced that God was calling me to serve in other contexts.

Today I experienced the pain from a different point of view. I was the parishioner receiving the pastor’s message. I don’t think most pastors can possibly understand just how difficult it is for happy parishioners to hear the news of their imminent departure.

The kind and pastorally written letter conveys the pastor’s thanks for the love, prayers and support of his congregation. My pastor has received a call, which he understands to be God’s call, to serve in a new context. I know I must respect that call, just as I have asked parishioners to do for me.

As a colleague, I am very excited for my pastor’s new call. I am, in fact, pleased for the whole church. As a parishioner, there is something about this that just plain stinks. As a synod staff person, I must hear the advice that I have given to so many congregations. Stay calm. God is good. God is with us. The Holy Spirit will bring us a new pastor. We will be just fine.

I would love to know of your experiences of either writing or receiving resignation letters.

I Love a Parade

On Reformation Sunday afternoon, the Northern Illinois Synod gathered in worship at Zion Lutheran Church in Rockford. We celebrated the ordination of three new pastors. It was a great day! Approximately 380 people were in attendance including parishioners from across the synod. About 50 rostered leaders were also present, each and every one there in a gesture of support. Many vested and processed while others sat in the congregation. It was a colorful parade indeed! I even spotted a couple of pastors seated in the balcony with their respective confirmation classes. What a good way to teach youth something about the broader church of which they are a part.

Since the birth of our synod, a high value has been placed upon celebrating ordinations, commissionings and consecrations at the synod assembly or in another synod-wide worship service. This practice is not part of the tradition I come out of, but I have come to deeply appreciate it. It emphasizes that ordination is a rite of the church and that pastors, associates in ministry and diaconal ministers are called to service in the whole church.

Following each of our synod services I hear similar positive comments from those who have never witnessed an ordination, commissioning or consecration. In fact, some find the experience overwhelming with meaning. I am sure that most (all?) rostered leaders cannot help but remember our own vows. I find myself renewed in my call each time I hear the scripture passages read and the questions asked. Ordination sermons always speak to me.

I don’t have a good sense of how many other synods share this same value. I think we are in a small minority. If so, I that’s just fine with me.

Comments? Ordination/commissioning/consecration stories? What do you think?

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs

Ephesians 5:19 offers this advice: "When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart."

Singing around the piano in someone's home seems like such an old-fashioned custom. It is something more often seen in an old movie than in daily life. I rarely find myself in a social setting, with the possible exception of Christmas, singing hymns and offering praise. But that is exactly what happened earlier this week.

After supper, at the end of the evening, we were invited to gather by the piano to sing "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs." We sang robustly and with good cheer, even if a bit off-key. We did have one false start. We got confused (well, I got confused) with the stanzas and refrain and some of us were (no, probably just I was) singing the right words at the wrong time. We stopped, my wife (the designated pianist) explained patiently again how we were supposed to sing and we began once more.

It really was a wonderful evening. We had prayed before the meal, we sat down to eat, we had fun and told stories, and we sang praises. What could be better than that?

Two thoughts have run through my mind since then. First, can you imagine how different our social gatherings would be if we always prayed together, ate together, and sang psalms, hymns and spiritual songs together? I don't think it would be hard for me to achieve. Everywhere I go I am surrounded by Lutherans! I do have Jewish relatives, but even in their presence prayers and psalms would not be offensive.

The second thought had to do with our singing in worship. I have had the joy of serving congregations which were great at singing. Some congregations are just better than others when it comes to singing. Occasionally, even in these congregations, we would stumble on an unfamiliar hymn and I would interrupt the singing to start over. I would suggest that you check the mood of the organist before you try it yourself! I recall deeply offending a parishioner once in stopping a hymn. He felt that I was judging the quality of his worship. He took it very personally. It certainly made me think before I tried it again. Lest you think it is a common element of my ministry, I think I've stopped a hymn a total of three or four times in 25 years.

How about you? Have you gathered with family and friends to sing at a social gathering in a home? Pastors, have you dared to stop a hymn or re-try something in worship when it just didn't go well? Parishioners, how did you react when your pastor asked for a do-over?

Pass the Purell!

Sharing the Peace became a regular part of our Lutheran liturgy with the introduction of Lutheran Book of Worship. The practice was slow to catch on in some places, but now it is widely practiced in the congregations of our synod. Sharing the peace is much more than just greeting others with a cheerful "good morning." Sharing the peace of Christ is a profound gesture of reconciliation in preparation for receiving the bread and wine of Holy Communion. Some congregations take just a moment or two for the Peace allowing worshipers to shake hands with just those who are close by. Others take a few minutes while worshipers move from their pews or seats and seek out numerous others to greet in peace. We observe hugs between friends, kisses between spouses, and handshakes and smiles between strangers.

I believe a combination of factors has led to a new liturgical ritual. Regular sharing of the peace with its requisite handshaking, frequent celebration of Holy Communion, and our cultural fear of germs has led to the Purell Ritual. Pastors go from shaking hands to immediately sanitizing them prior to the breaking of the bread. I don't think that is a particularly bad idea, although I am one who believes that it is better to wash one's hands with soap and water. Unfortunately, relatively few sacristies are equipped with a sink. So, the bottle of instant hand sanitizer is kept close at hand. I mean, really close at hand.

For the past few months I have taken note of where the pump bottle or squirt container is kept in the congregations I visit. I have seen it on the altar. Not a good place in my opinion. I have seen it on the credence table, in an offering plate, on the floor under the altar, even under its own linen cover. I just had to laugh in one congregation (not in our synod!), where each communion station had its own bottle of hand sanitizer on its own wooden stand. The stands matched those used for the flower vases. They were certainly very attractive, but those pump bottles had achieved the status of liturgical appointments!

I believe the pastor and communion servers should have clean hands to handle the elements. But, I think it would be best to hide the Purell (or whatever brand you choose) or just keep it in the sacristy.

Care to comment?

Feeling Like an Outsider

Have you ever been the only one not to laugh at an "inside joke?" Perhaps the group didn't intend to exclude you. You simply didn't have the same shared experiences to understand why the joke was considered to be funny.

Have you ever felt like an outsider in your church? I did after I arrived at seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Norwegian, Swedish and Danish Lutheran culture was new to me. I had never heard an Ole and Lena joke. I had never heard of, let alone taste, lutefisk. Or lefse. Or fruit soup. I had grown up surrounded by Lutherans of German stock, whose cultural heritage had been muted through the generations, and by non-ethnic Lutherans. My paternal heritage was Scottish and Irish. I'm not exactly the typical Lutheran, but I never knew it until I wasn't laughing at the inside jokes.

Have you ever felt like an outsider in your own congregation? I was thinking about this recently when I preached for a congregation's 150th anniversary. I was the outsider trying to look in. My sermon focused on how the Holy Spirit had been at work for the past 150 years and is continuing to work, carrying the congregation into the future in new and exciting ways. It was quite a contrast to an anniversary sermon I heard on the radio. It was preached by a former pastor of the congregation. It seemed to be a message for insiders. It was a message that certainly excluded me. I wondered how I would have felt sitting in a pew as a newcomer, guest or recent new member.

Do you have stories of your own? Have you ever felt like an outsider in a congregation? Do you have suggestions to make our congregations more open to those of us who have felt excluded?

Hospitality at Miller Park

Last Friday evening my wife and I traveled to Miller Park in Milwaukee to watch the Cubs and Brewers play. We have been there before and have always enjoyed the experience. Miller Park is a great baseball venue. Yes, I still prefer Wrigley Field. What Cubs fan wouldn't? But, Miller Park is still new and clean, with great food options and decent restrooms.

It was a full house. Attendance for the game was 44,084. A great majority of fans were wearing their favorite team's colors. You could tell the Brewers fans from the Cubs fans and there were lots of both. Before the game, I leaned over to my wife exclaiming something she already knows, "I love baseball!"

As we entered the park, our tickets were scanned and we were welcomed to Miller Park. The first person we spoke to was gracious and welcoming. Food was the first thing on our minds, so we checked out the concessions. The concessionaires were friendly and hoped that we would enjoy the game.

As we passed one souveneir stand, we did hear someone yell "You know what CUBS stands for? Chicago Using Brewers Stadium." Pretty clever, I thought. The Cubs/Brewers games do attract a lot of Chicago fans. The Brewers fan sitting next to me was friendly and we discussed possibilities for post-season play.

After the game, we made our way to the car. I was a bit dejected since the Cubs had deservedly lost, 5 to 1, after playing poorly. Brewer hospitality turned ugly. "Cubs suck!" one woman shouted at me. A young woman yelled, "Go back to Chicago!"

Gee, what had I done? That is, other than proudly wear my Cubbie blue t-shirt, jacket and hat? I didn't exactly fear for my life, but the sooner I could get on the road, the better.

At Miller Park everyone who is paid to be nice to guests was, in fact, very nice. Some of the regular fans were nice too, but some were just rude.

Hospitality in congregations can be like a visit to Miller Park. The official greeters and pastor are nice and friendly, the coffee is good and the restrooms are clean. But sometimes you sit next to someone who isn't so happy to share the pew with you. The unspoken message can be, go back to where you belong.

How have you experienced hospitality or lack of it in congregations you have visited?

Dressing for Church

When did it get so hard to decide what to wear to church?

My brother and I worshiped at Zion Lutheran Church in St. Ignace, Michigan on the Sunday morning of the Labor Day weekend. We were in this Upper Peninsula town to fulfill a lifetime goal of walking the Mackinac Bridge. Among the 70 or so in worship that morning there were about 20 children and at least 10 visitors. As the visitors were invited to introduce themselves, I took note of what they were wearing. I must admit that as I had gotten dressed I wondered what unwritten dress code this congregation might have.

I was wearing a short sleeve dress shirt and a pair of khaki pants. I was as casual as I could be and still feel comfortable in church. Brant was dressed similarly. We were, after all, raised in the same family and in the same Sunday School. I remember well a Sunday School teacher in about 1965 telling our class that it didn’t matter what you wore to church as long as it was the best you had.

Among the visitors an older couple was dressed very nicely. She was wearing a dress and he was wearing a suit and tie. A young family was dressed in t-shirts and shorts. Most of the members were dressed about like me. Everyone seemed to be comfortable.

I saw a piece in the Chicago Tribune (Sept. 18, Tempo section, p. 4) with the headline “Casual clothing is too relaxed for some churches.” It tells of a Catholic congregation in New Jersey with a dress code printed in the bulletin. Parishioners and visitors are admonished to not come to church dressed in “short shorts, tank tops, miniskirts, shoulderless dresses, etc.”

How do you decide what to wear to church? Does your congregation have an unwritten dress code? What should I wear when I come to visit your congregation?

Welcome!

Welcome to the Northern Illinois Synod blog!

I'm not convinced that the world really needs another blog, but it feels like we're taking another step into communications of the 21st century. I am hoping that this blog will become a conversation--a friendly and civil conversation--involving issues of common interest in the Northern Illinois Synod. We are trying to make using this blog as simple as possible. With open access, however, there are hazards. To avoid some trouble (you'll have no problem imagining the possibilities) all comments will be screened before they are posted.

I really hope this blog will be yours. There are lots of topics I have in mind, but I would like to know where you would like to begin. What are your suggestions? Let the conversation begin!

Pastor Jeff Clements