Please Pray and Act for the victims and country of Haiti. This disaster only adds to their already desperate situation.

via Lutheran World Relief – Disaster Response, Fair Trade, and Advocacy.

I hope you have had time to follow the debate that is happening at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly concerning the social statement on Human Sexuality. It is informative and important. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has gathered 1045 faithful people to try to discern God’s will and hope for the church. Though I am not there, I am sure that there will be both tears of joy and of pain in the decisions that will be made. Yet, through all of this the question is, “Can we still be a unified church who proclaims the gospel in spite of our differences on this issue?”

Our country has degenerated into a bickering, winner take all sort of climate. Voices from both the left and right shout and scream at one another only succeeding in polarizing the nation even more. We have lost respect for one another’s opinion.  Instead of seeking a common purpose we resort to name calling and vilifying. Whatever happened to “United we stand. Divided we fall?”

The ELCA is in a very unique situation this week to address this state of affairs. In the debate over the Sexuality Statement the principle of “Bound Conscience” has been introduced and explained to the voting members. Dr. Timothy Wengert gives a wonderful presentation on Bound Conscience. You can watch it here: Video Rev. Peter Strommen, chair of the task force, re-emphasizes how the idea of Bound Conscience affected the task force’s decision making and what it means in the passage of the Sexuality Statement. This video was not available at the time of this posting.

The point of all this is that in spite of your feelings about the Social Statement. In spite of how the vote went, we still can be a united church as we proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. If each of us respects the other’s opinion and understanding of God’s will for them, there cannot be division. Each side will try to understand the other side and respectfully listen and together both can move ahead in the greater mission.

If we, the ELCA, can live out this principle in our church and lives, we stand as a witness to this nation. A nation that needs to come together and strive for justice for all people. We need to stop name calling and begin to have real dialog about the issues that matter: issues of poverty, white privilege, violence, education and, yes, health care.

My prayer today is that through all the discussions and frustrations the next few days will bring to the voting members at Nationwide, we will grow stronger as a church. And that we can be an example to the nation on how to respect one another for the purpose of the greater good.

Not too long ago I attended the Eagle Ceremony of one of the young men in our congregation. I had been to a few “Eagles” before and was prepared for the pomp and ceremony. There is a lot of Scout history in an Eagle Ceremony. Throughout the ceremony we are reminded of the meaning of the symbols of Scouting and get a glimpse of the path a scout takes to reach this ultimate achievement.

This particular Eagle Ceremony was different in that it was held outside by the “fire pit.” This in its self offered a few challenges. There is a point in the ceremony where the Voice of the Eagle addresses the inductee. When held indoors the Voice booms out of the loudspeaker filling the room with wisdom and insight. Well, outside there isn’t a sound system so the scout who was the Voice of the Eagle had to hide himself behind some bushes by the dumpsters and shout the eternal wisdom of the Eagle. Needless to say there were a lot of scouts and parents trying not to snicker at the Voice coming from the bushes.

But, because it was outside, the Scouts got to do something they can’t do inside, dispose of an old flag by burning it. Now, I wouldn’t say I’m overly patriotic, but there was something about the flag burning ceremony that really moved me. The scout master presented a very tattered flag that a family had flown since 2002. Two scouts took the flag and very gently folded the well worn cloth. They then reverently placed the folded flag on the fire. As the flag burned we sang Taps:

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.

   It was moving, stirring emotions of my own time in the Scouts. But it was more than that, the ceremony touched something deep inside of me that I can’t explain. A part in me that connects with the collective conscience of humanity which can only come about through ritual and ceremony. Dare I say, Liturgy? There is something to say about repeated rituals and ceremony. Without them we loose a connection with our history and humanity. Yes, sometimes they are corny. Yes, sometimes they have lost their original meaning. Yet, they have a place in society providing a connection and a way to express our commonality.

The Voice may have hollered from the dumpster, but, for a moment at least, those young men were once again connected with everything that is good and right about the Boy Scouts of America.

Our church building is a wonderful place in which life changing ministry happens and out of which the Gospel is taken into the world. We have plenty of space for worship, education, community events, Boy Scouts, music, youth, and meetings of almost every ilk. Since the beginning of the congregation the building has gone through 2 major renovations. In last 10 years we have added a new worship space and Sunday school rooms, updated our parking lot, fixed roofs, replaced carpet, reconfigured offices, and added technology to enhance our 4 weekend worship times. Besides some peccadilloes, (i.e. lack of storage and odd placements of the light switches) it is a great structure for our congregation. But, is owning a church building a good witness of our stewardship of God’s resources?

Two weeks ago our property chair informed the council of the need to fix a leaking roof once and for all. It will cost about $6000 or more. Well, of course, fix the roof. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Oh, and by the way, the chillers (only 10 years old) are going to have to be fixed. How much is that? AND the floor in the old sanctuary now fellowship hall needs to be sealed. Cost? Anywhere from 4 to $15000!

It’s a wonderful building, but just to keep it running costs tens of thousands of dollars every year. This in not counting things that break and have to be fixed like burned out lift pumps, furnace pumps, and water damage from overflowing toilets. Add to that the 1.2 million dollar mortgage from the last renovation and there’s a lot of money being spent that could be used for other ministries.

I used to agree with the spin that a building is a ministry so the costs are justified but I’m starting to rethink it a little. I have seen too many aging buildings that have become albatrosses around the necks of the congregation. Rural congregations that have to choose between a pastor or keeping the lights on. Intercity congregations who need to feed their neighbors but need to spend money trying to keep a dinosaur furnace alive for another season.

So I was wondering if it wouldn’t be better if congregations leased instead of owned? Take my congregation for example. If we leased in one of the MANY empty office buildings or strip malls our maintenance costs would be almost nothing. When the furnace blows up we wouldn’t need to scramble looking for funds. When the congregation needs more space we could just lease more. And if our needs change we could always lease less.  Wouldn’t ministry still happen? The worship of God isn’t confined to a particular type of place is it? See John 4:21-26

I’m far from being an accountant or finance savvy (ask my wife), but I would think that in the long run if congregations leased there would be a LOT more money to do the work of the kingdom. I know this isn’t feasible for every congregation and every situation, but isn’t it worth looking at? Perhaps if St. John’s were to lease then we could help another congregation so they could call a pastor or at least get a decent furnace. The possibilities for ministry would increase 1.2 million fold!

After all the church isn’t a building is it.