Seeking the Common Good in Politics

Original ABBA outfits

Last summer on sabbatical, when Kristie and I were in Stockholm, we made sure to visit the most quintessential Swedish thing ever: the ABBA Museum. Yes, there is a museum dedicated to the band. And it’s everything you think it is. There’s the histories of the musicians, a replica of the recording studio, complete with the original soundboard, a theater showing old concerts, and, of course, a whole room with the outfits – all blinged out and flared at the ankles. They were deep in a basement, with no natural light, so as not to destroy all the polyester with the ultraviolet light of the sun.

One exhibit caught my eye, and that was about a later work done by Benny and Bjorn, after the band broke up, called Chess. It’s a musical set during the cold war, a US vs. Soviet chess competition. The assistant to one falls in love with the other player and both love and chaos and politics and heartache ensue. It’s pure ABBA genius.

I’ve been nostalgically listening to some of its numbers on YouTube, and got stuck on a super-ear-worm song called “Nobody’s Side”. Here’s the refrain:

Never make a promise or plan
Take a little love where you can
Nobody's on nobody's side
Never stay too long in your bed
Never lose your heart, use your head
Nobody's on nobody's side

Never take a stranger's advice
Never let a friend fool you twice
Nobody's on nobody's side
Never be the first to believe
Never be the last to deceive
Nobody's on nobody's side
And never leave a moment too soon
Never waste a hot afternoon
Nobody's on nobody's side
Never stay a minute too long
Don't forget the best will go wrong
Nobody's on nobody's side

It's the ultimate personal philosophy of cynical realpolitik. Trust no one. Nothing lasts. No loyalty. Get what you can while you can. All set to ridiculously catchy music.

I see and hear this in the world, and my first question is the same one the kids ask: who hurt you? What horrible thing did people do to you to make you so untrusting and uncaring? In the musical, it was the Soviets who steamrolled her hometown. Of course, love will break through (it’s theater) and the cynicism will melt. It’s not a French noir movie; it’s a Swedish musical.

I imagine a life like this filled with endless chasing of pleasures, and glaring absence of friendship and love. Debauched and lonely, successful and empty, cold but charming. It is, in almost every way, the exact opposite of Jesus. It’s also a good way to succeed in politics.

When I interned in the House of Representatives for a semester, I came in thinking I would find lots of really intelligent and capable people. How else did they get so far? What I found, instead, was a mixed bag. Some really were trying to do good, and some were the most arrogant, rude, selfish, calloused people I’ve ever met. I had to listen to tapes of the guy I worked for because he felt it was beneath him to have to identify himself to staff (even though we rarely saw him). One representative yelled at me with a loud “do you know who I am?” on the phone. Ugh. It was obvious they could turn it on at the state fair, in front of the cameras, and then became monsters when dealing with people for whom there was no transactional gain.

Is this what life is? We’re just individuals in a sea of individuals trying to get what’s best for us?

Are relationships just transactions? Is there no real love? Kindness? Compassion? Common good? And what about higher ideals? Self-sacrifice? Service?  What about that whole cross thing? Giving up everything?

If your view of things is a series of quid pro quos, then Jesus is the ultimate chump. He is the ultimate sucker who teaches us to let others walk all over us and get things from us without getting anything in return. What a wuss.

For those who are transactional, any giving without getting is not just frustrating; it’s humiliation. It’s getting played. It’s getting taken. And you’re convinced that, once the deal’s done, they’re snickering behind your back and laughing at you in disrespect. Giving is just letting people use you. Demand something for everything, then you can walk proudly.

We are in the midst of an election season, as we all know too well. I’ll admit I get tired of it, but I wouldn’t trade it for any other system. I may not always get the results I want, but no gain is worth having a dictator. And I’ll admit, too, that I feel such a deep grief at the total lack of thinking about the common good, the poor and the needy, the disadvantaged, the immigrants and refugees and homeless. The debates end up becoming a race between two people who have to win votes on selfishness: who will get me the most for me?

When did you hear a debate about whose policies will bring the most good to the most poor, and prevent or cure homelessness? They will argue, when pressed, that this or that policy they advocate will have that effect, but that’s ancillary. I don’t hear any “most good for the most people”. It’s always “are you better off than you were under this one?”

The Christian should be looking at the politicians the way Jesus did, through the eyes of the poor and powerless. We should be demanding that the government and corporations work for the betterment of the whole society, and world, to reduce suffering and poverty and environmental destruction. That should be the question. Not who will best satisfy my selfish desires with the least amount of personal sacrifice.

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As you know, I’ve been leading a small discussion group on the proposed ELCA social statement Civic Life and Faith. Like all ELCA statements, it moves slowly, building a case with scripture and theology, and moving to specifics. It’s far from radical, but sure to irritate some. It has a lot of talk about the need for Christians to advocate for the “common good” – a phrase that some, mistakenly, think is a code for communism and collectivizing all private property. It’s a slippery-slope argument that makes it impossible to talk about our “collective” responsibility to our neighbors in need. An excerpt from the beginning:

Article 2) In the biblical word shalom (Hebrew word) the Scriptures depict God's goal for creation and point to the nature of God’s ongoing active engagement with it. God’s power and love seeks shalom, the fullness of peace, well-being, goodness, truth, beauty, justice, freedom, wholesomeness, and love woven together for all. This statement is undergirded by that biblical term but in the context of civic life employs other terms such as “the well-being of all” or “the common good” because they are earthly measures toward God’s intention. God’s sovereignty brings forth and sustains the universe and grants creatures their power, even though it often is hidden to human view. God intends that humans use and share the gift of power so that human structures and systems serve the intended well-being of all with good order and justice.

So much here one could unpack, but I want to just highlight a couple ideas for consideration as we go into voting.

First, the idea that we are all in this together, the whole creation, and that peace and fullness exist only when we ALL are experiencing it. The good of all is the good for me. This is not a “if they get something I lose something” – a zero-sum philosophy (which is pointed out later in the statement), but a good for all. There is plenty for all, and one person’s winning is not me losing. It’s about wholeness, not transactional gain.

Second, the line about structures and systems. It’s not just about us, as individuals, minding our business and being nice to the clerk at the checkout counter (which you should be), but it’s about the whole system. Laws and policies can be rigged by the rich and powerful to their benefit, at others’ expense. Being ethical, as a Christian, is more than watching my own worst impulses, but about creating systems where some aren’t forced into poverty by laws and systems that give them no choice. We must seek a wholistic justice.

I could unpack this for ages, and I encourage you to take a look at the full statement again. Suffice it to say that we I believe we need to demand of our politicians a focus on the common good, and creating a wholeness with each other and the environment, a concern for the poor and disadvantaged, and not a transactional view of “what’s in it for me?” Transactional relationships are all about leveraging and using, not about loving and giving. They’re the opposite of Jesus.

Pastor Lars

Engaging Public Life as Christians - September pastor's column

This coming month a few big things will be happening in our church. The first is the Community Service and Family Fun Day on September 8th. You could also call it “Rally Day” or “God’s Work Our Hands” Sunday. It’s all those things. We’re trying to market it to people outside the church, who probably don’t know what Rally Day or God’s Work Sunday is. But we have food, community service projects, and some things for kids: the face painter and Willie the balloon maker are back. BUT…..you don’t have to have young children to participate!!!! It’s for the whole church, and intended to be an all-church, all-ages, all-community event.

In olden times it was Rally Day, which was the start of Sunday school. It was a kick-off to get kids back into Sunday school and the church program year. We haven’t had a traditional Sunday school for over 13 years; we do our lessons for kids during the sermon at the 10:30am service. Nonetheless, it’s still a fun time to get everyone back together.

And, unless you have been living under a rock, there’s an election coming up. And it’s big. And we will be asked to vote on candidates and a host of propositions and judges and various positions. We will have the opportunity to make change and participate in government, something a lot of the world does not get to do. As Christians, we have values that inform those decisions, but not uniform agreement on exactly what those values are, or what the role of the government is, or how involved the church should be in these matters. Unlike some pastors, I will not tell you which candidate is “appointed by God” and which propositions are “Biblical”, for many reasons. However, I do believe it’s good for us to do more with politics than just have church about personal problems and prayer, and leave the policies and justice discussions for someone else.

So, where does one begin?

The ELCA (The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), our denomination, puts out social statements from time to time. These are teaching documents, not binding on members (so you don’t have to agree with them to be an ELCA Lutheran). They are not policy documents for congregations. They don’t function with the weight of a Catholic encyclial, say. I’ve done videos on some of the old statements, giving my interpretation of them and introducing them to the people online who might not know that the ELCA exists, or that Christians exist who take social positions that are not reactionary.

Now a new statement is being proposed, and it’s still in the study phase, where people can view it and send back feedback to the committee crafting it. These are not concocted in smoke-filled rooms or in seminary salons. They’re open to the whole church to participate in. It’s called “Civic Life and Faith”. It delves into the issues of engaging issues as a church, faith and public life etc. It has not been ratified, which requires a 2/3 vote of a national assembly.

I decided to do a few study sessions on it to get us started in the conversation, and to be a part of the process. Feedback is open until the end of September. I will host four sessions, in-person, here at church, on September 11, 18, 25, and October 2nd at 6:30pm in the conference room. It’s just a read through and discussion, with no end goal; I’m not aiming to convert to a particular position, just to explore what the social statement committee has come up with.

Peter Muhlenberg. Lutheran Pastor, Revolutionary War hero.

Our history of engagement as Lutherans has been mostly about not-engaging, or selling out. The history is long and sometimes complicated. Lutheran churches in Europe are state churches, paid for by taxes and administered as branches of the government. This has changed in recent years, with the churches becoming moreindependent. It used to be in Sweden, and in England, that a new hymnal needed a vote of parliament. No longer. But with that history, we should not be surprised that bishops were not inclined to bite the hand that feeds them. As much as Martin Luther envisioned a dialectic with the church holding the state accountable, and the state keeping order, and them working back and forth simultaneously as “two kingdoms”, the reality became more one of political union and spiritual separation. Faith was about praying and worshiping and getting to heaven. Politics was the state. So most Lutherans who came to the US stayed out of active politics, with some important exceptions, such as Lutheran pastor Peter Muhlenberg who led troops at Valley Forge under George Washington.

So the history became what theologians now call “quietism” – Christians staying quiet about politics, keeping faith to personal matters and the interior and moral life. When I was in seminary it was a dirty word, and we were admonished constantly to not fall into it, but keep a prophetic witness. Speak the truth to power. Proclaim justice. Name names. It always worked better in principle than parish, where people can choose to leave, or try to run you out if they don’t like your prophecying.

But, and there’s always a but, one can’t forget the German church of the 1930’s. Hitler required an oath from all pastors, his oath, of course, and 98% took it. The Dietrich Bonhoeffers and Martin Niemoller’s were the exception. Yes, they had a prison camp waiting if they didn’t, but most were not doing it with gritting teeth, but with glee. The pastor in Eisleben, at Luther’s family church, where Luther was baptized, had swastikas on his boots under his robes. Because religion was so deeply internalized, it no longer had anything to say to the authorities. It was about making good citizens, with good morals, and not revolutionaries who cause chaos. We look back in such horror at their acquiescence and buy-in, but that’s hindsight. In the moment they were good patriots who loved their country and were proud their leader would make Germany powerful and respected again, the way they believed God wanted it. Their hearts were not initially in antisemitism, at least not openly, but in quietism and a theology that refused to see any contradiction between the Gospel and the desire for the greatness of the nation.

I keep that in the back of my mind, and always hope that we can take a critical view of our own political views, and not fall for the desires of ethno-nationalism and authoritarianism. But it’s hard, because we don’t like to think our views are on the table. It’s “those people” who are out to destroy us. Except Jesus died for them too.

So join me; I think it will be fun. We can model what the rest of the world struggles with: intelligent conversation about religion and public life.

Pastor Lars

Prayer Connection September 2024

Prayer Connection for September 2024:

Have a conversation with God!

This month, have a conversation with God -- let the Lord inspire and guide your prayer time through a Scripture reading. Begin by reading the passage actively and experientially: Where are you in the Bible passage? Who do you identify with? What is happening? As you reflect, calm your heart, and let the Lord speak to you. Then answer Him in your prayer.

Consider John 6:5-13:

5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do

7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

Where are you in this passage? Who do you identify with? What is happening?

Are you part of the crowd sitting in the grass? Are you Philip, Andrew, one of the other disciples, or the little boy? Do you see Jesus give thanks for the loaves and the fish and begin to distribute them to the people? Do you hear Jesus say, “Let nothing be wasted”? Are you one of the people who gathers all the leftover pieces, so abundant that twelve baskets were filled?

Calm your heart, let the Lord speak to you. What is God saying to you in this passage, for your life today? Trust and rest in God’s grace, and have a dialog with God about this passage: Converse with God in prayer!

A member of our congregation shared a Sunday morning prayer inspired by this Bible passage, adapted from the Church of Scotland: 

Gracious God,

Creator of all we perceive,

We join today in the abundance of Your love,

in community and in the joy that comes through love;

through the nourishment of Jesus,

our shepherd and our guide,

the one who feeds us in mind and in body;

through the sustenance of the Spirit,

and the knowledge that You are with us

as we face the highs and lows,

the struggles and joys of this life.

As we worship You this morning,

fill us with Your truth,

your wisdom,

your love and your mercy.

In the name of Jesus, I pray,

Amen.

Outreach September 2024

Outreach Team – September 2024 Newsletter Article

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, and Janette Carollo.

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

Continuing Events

Marana Food Bank
The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we collect spaghetti sauce, canned tuna/chicken, cereal, peanut butter and jelly, ready-to-eat meals (ravioli), and mac and cheese.

Let’s help start the school year right and make sure all the students and families in our community have enough to eat.

Donated items can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the hallway outside the Fellowship Hall.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that have been opened/used or expired.  Also, please no glass containers.

If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC
c/o Sahuarita Food Bank
PO Box 968
Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC. You can also donate online at mfb-crc.org.

Your monetary gift goes a long way.  Every $10 helps provide 50 meals.           

Previous Events

Roadrunner Backpack and School Supply Drive

We collected 20 backpacks, bags full of school supplies, Kleenex and ziplock baggies for the students at Roadrunner Elementary School. 

Thank you! Thank you!

Roadrunner and the Outreach Team thank you for your generous support!

Upcoming Events

Hygiene Items Drive for Butler’s Pantry at Roadrunner Elementary School

As many of you know, we have partnered with Roadrunner over the last year to establish a clothing and food pantry, Butler’s Pantry. Our donations and volunteers have helped to provide a place for families to go when they are in need. As school has just started, there is a great need for personal hygiene items. In preparation for God’s Work, Our Hands, we’ll be collecting hygiene items for Butler’s Pantry. We’re collecting toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, body wash, bar soap, deodorant, and feminine hygiene products. A flyer on items needed and a collection box has been placed in the Narthex. The drive started on August 18th and runs through September 8th.

We have a goal! Collect 100 tubes of toothpaste! We know we can reach our goal and help the families at Roadrunner!

God’s Work Our Hands

Outreach will be offering two projects as part of God’s Work/Our Hands during Rally Day, September 8, 2024.

One of the projects is sorting hygiene items that were collected during the month of August for the Butler’s Pantry at Roadrunner Elementary.

The second project will be making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Sister José Women’s Center. Sister José aids and transforms the lives of women experiencing homelessness. Their low-barrier day center provides unaccompanied women who are unhoused with a stable and safe environment to recuperate from the daily struggle of homelessness and extreme poverty. This will be the fourth year we’ve provided sandwiches for Sister José they are very thankful for the help. Thank you!

Volunteer as part of the 9/11 National Day of Service on Saturday, September 14th

The 9/11 National Day of Service is a commemorative effort at http://911day.org and http://JustServe.org. One of the projects in our community is at Roadrunner Elementary School to paint the Amphitheater and pillars at the school. Several people from Outreach will be going and we’re looking for more volunteers! Let us know if you’re interested, we’ll also have a sign-up sheet.

First Day of Preschool

August 6th was our first day of preschool is here at Lord of Grace. Our church is excited for the new year. We have a great program with experienced teachers and staff, ready to teach and build of young lives in Christ.

A big thank you to our Interim Director, and LOG member, Laura Tanem Hernandez, who got everything ready for us this year, working tirelessly through the summer to get the best program set.

Also a big thanks to our Preschool Advisory Board, who has helped with everything from handbook review to cleaning to interviewing. In case you didn't know, our PAB consists of:

We take registrations throughout the year. Some kids turn three later, or they take a little longer to be potty-trained (a requirement for enrollment). We still have openings, if you know someone interested just email our director Laura Tanem-Hernandez at preschool@lordofgrace.org.

Preschool Open House

Our new school year at the Lord of Grace Preschool is starting. First day is August 5th. There’s still some openings. If you’re interested contact us at preschool@lordofgrace.org.

Was fun to see all the faces at our open house, so many kids and families, getting to meet our staff. Looking forward to another fun year.

Diakonia - Adult Lay Theological Training

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New 2024-2025 Foundation Year Courses Beginning 8/27/24

Register Now at www.diakonia.education

Overview

Growing in Faith: The Diakonia Program is a 40+ year old ministry within the ELCA committed to fostering learning environments for followers of Jesus to grow in faith. The program has recently added new course curriculum and more flexibility with a Foundation Year and optional subsequent Practical Year tracks.

Community of Disciples

There are currently two Growing in Faith Diakonia communities in the Grand Canyon Synod with the Online cohort and hybrid communities in Metro Phoenix (which meets both in-person and online) offering classes, retreats, and mutual care to equip followers of Jesus to live out their faith. Students from all over the country are now enrolling in courses offered through our online communities.

Faith Development Foundation Year & Road to Service Practical Year“

Six 5 Week Classes Each Year

A two-year curriculum allows folks to progress through foundational and practical learning. The program welcomes people where they are in their faith understanding and challenges them to grow to a deeper level. There is a one time $25 Enrollment Fee and $70 Tuition Fee per class.

Classes meet in person at two locations: Peace Lutheran in Phoenix or Spirit of Hope Lutheran in Mesa. Or join online using the Zoom option.

Questions? Email admin@diakonia.education

Breathe In Breathe Out - August Pastor's Column

Years ago, when I used to do an alternative “Gen X” worship service, I would scour the internet for interesting prayers and meditations to include. Most of them, interestingly, came from England. They had a burst of creativity in the 90’s. One in particular stuck out for me, and I’ve used it for years since.

Breathe in love  - Breathe out hate

Breathe in life  - Breathe out death

Breathe in peace - Breathe out anxiety

Breathe in gentleness - Breathe out tension

Breathe in God’s presence - Breathe out all that distracts you from God

It works best when you sit back and take a bunch of breaths between each section. We tend to have a lot of anxiety, for example, and it can take a bit to get that out.

You know the phrase, “garbage in, garbage out”? This is the reverse of that – it’s choosing to focus on the positive, on the Godly. It’s taking in the good to fill yourself with that, rather than just focusing on the negative. I believe that simply getting rid of the bad by trying to abstain or push away is less effective than replacing the bad with the good. So, rather than just trying to cut back drinking with will power, maybe look at your social calendar and find some social outlets without drinking, and find some hobbies and activities that bring you joy and are sober, and work on identifying and replacing the negativities that you may be trying to not deal with or hide with drinking.

It's the same philosophy I have with kids, that when we simply say, “don’t use drugs” or “don’t sleep around” it can often be counter-productive, making it tempting. But when you have positive things your kids are doing – active in church, serving the poor, connected to family, contributing to the world – then they’re too busy and the destructive behaviors just don’t seem as appealing.

It’s when your life is filled with God and service, the stuff that comes out is positive.

So when life is full of these things that are negative, it can be easy to start becoming negative. When you watch news shows that are full of angry rants and doom-and-gloom prophecies of the end of your way of life and family and apple pie if you don’t stand up and stop XYZ now, you will find that your attitude gets angry and fearful. You become sour and bitter and walk around with a chip on your shoulder. I’ve seen too many people become unhappy with grievances over listening to people who are just that. The process is never instant; we are rarely conscious of it. We’re not good at being self-aware of our emotions as people; they creep up on us. But after a while you meet someone you haven’t seen in a bit, and wonder what happened. Why so mad all the time? He used to be so much fun?

Getting back to kids, this is what we understand when we think of our kids’ peer groups. You know the phrase, “they got involved in the wrong crowd”. And it’s true that to be friends in certain circles you have to conform to things – whether that’s drugs or some other behavior – or face ridicule and ostracizing. We know this with teenagers, but how often do we think of this in our selves? Are the people I hang around with life-giving? Do they build me up? Do they make me more loving, kind, patient, calm, magnanimous? Or something else?

Someone did a study in Colorado a few years ago, where they took liberals from Boulder, and conservatives from Colorado Springs, and put them in a room together to talk politics. When together, and forced to listen to opposing views, they generally took more moderate positions. Nobody converted to the “other side”, but their stances were less strident. When they had them only among like-minded people, their positions became more and more extreme the longer they were together. It was as if just having the echo-chamber to complain to each other made everyone’s views harsher and less tolerant.

So many ways that our thinking is influenced by the voices outside our selves. Time to step back, again, and breath in love, breath out hate…..

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A couple weeks ago I preached on Ephesians 3:16-17, and said I’d come back to it

16I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

The words struck me when I read them, not because they were jarring, but because they were so profound. What’s in our inner being? What do we bring into our selves to dwell with? Is it hate? Anger? Resentment? Fear? Or is it the Holy Spirit, filling our hearts with Christ and his ways of love, slowness to anger, forgiveness, service, and justice? Spirituality is just that, it’s breathing in the Spirit, filling yourself with God, and becoming more Jesus-like. Breath in Jesus, breath out anger, hate, revenge, resentment, fear. Breath in Jesus and breath in patience, calm, forgiveness, and love. Surround yourself with things like Jesus and become more like him, when he dwells in your inner being, and your outer being will be more joyful and full of faith.

Peace,

Pastor Lars

Outreach August 2024

Outreach Team – August 2024 Newsletter Article

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, and Janette Carollo.

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

Continuing Events:

Marana Food Bank
The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we collect mac and cheese, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, canned tuna/chicken, cereal, peanut butter and jelly.Summer is an especially difficult time for families since kids are out of school and missing some essential meals.  Let’s help lighten their burden and make sure they all have enough to eat.

Donated items can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the hallway outside the Fellowship Hall.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that have been opened/used or expired.  Also, please no glass containers. If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC. You can also donate online at http://mfb-crc.org

Your monetary gift goes a long way.  Every $10 helps provide 50 meals.           

Upcoming Events

God’s Work Our Hands

Outreach will be offering two projects as part of God’s Work/Our Hands during Rally Day, September 8, 2024. All members of Outreach will be out of town on September 8th! We are looking for two people to take the lead for the service projects we do during God’s Work, Our Hands.

One of the projects is assembling hygiene bags for the homeless. During the month of August, we will be collecting hand wipes, hand sanitizer, socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, disposable razors, sunscreen, small Kleenex packs, band-aids, and lip balm. A collection box has been placed in the Narthex.

The second project will be making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Sister José Women’s Center. Sister José aids and transforms the lives of women experiencing homelessness. Their low-barrier day center provides unaccompanied women who are unhoused with a stable and safe environment to recuperate from the daily struggle of homelessness and extreme poverty. This will be the fourth year we’ve provided sandwiches for Sister José they are very thankful for the help.

If you’re interested in helping with either of these service projects, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or 520-419-7475.

Prayer Connection August 2024

“This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. . .” (Jeremiah 6:16)

The ancient paths of labyrinths offer us a time-honored way to seek the Lord. And we can do this anywhere -- we can let our fingers do the walking in a finger labyrinth, like this labyrinth from the Archbishop of York.

This is your time to seek and rest in the Lord. In a labyrinth, there is only one way in and one way out. Relax. Let the Lord guide you, resting in the knowledge that we walk with God in all the twists and turns of life.

We can say with the Psalmist, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

Thank you, Lord of Grace. Amen.

Suggestions for using a finger labyrinth

1.    Walking provides a natural rhythm, so when your fingers do the walking, use your breath as a rhythm.

2.    Begin by tracing the outside of the labyrinth, and pause at the entrance. Pray for God to guide you and your walk. You may want to meditate on a favorite Bible verse.

3.    As you enter the labyrinth, consider the following three stages adapted from the Centre for Spirituality: releasing (path to the centre), receiving and listening to God (at the centre) and returning (path back from the centre). 

The Path to the Centre – Releasing, Letting Go (Purgation) Place a finger from your non-dominant hand at the entrance to the labyrinth . . . As you trace the circuitous path of the labyrinth, stay open to whatever arises: feelings, sensations, memories, images, intuitions . . . perhaps what you need to release, let go of in life.

At the Centre – Receiving (Illumination) A place of meditation and prayer, waiting and listening. Be still. The centre is a place to pause for a while. Approach the centre with an open mind and heart, ready to receive from God whatever you need . . .  

The Walk Back – Return, Integration (Union) As you trace the return path and the walk back out you are entering the stage of Union or Communion. We realise that we are the hands of God; we are invited to embody the gifts of the Spirit in our daily life . . . gaining strength and integrating whatever we have received . . .

Sources:

Centre for Spirituality. Original version: https://centreforspirituality.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Finger-Labyrinth-Meditation-Guide.pdf

Faith in the North Finger Labyrinth. https://www.archbishopofyork.org/faith-in-the-north/labyrinth

Music for a Labyrinth Walk by Australian composer Corrina Bonshek. http://bonmusic.com.au/lab/

Veriditas. Information on labyrinths; links to videos, including one on hand-held labyrinths. https://veriditas.org/

2024 Synod Assembly

Report on Grand Canyon Synod Assembly

Submitted by Patty and Brian Clymer

We served as delegates for Lord of Grace at the Grand Canyon Synod Assembly held at Love of Christ Lutheran Church in Mesa on June 13th through the 15th. The theme of this year’s assembly was Embody the Word.

The main agenda item was the election of the bishop for our synod.  Bishop Deborah Hutterer was re-elected to a six year term on the first ballot. Lay members and rostered clergy were also elected to serve as delegates to the national church assembly, and to positions on various synod committees.

A report on the synod finances was very positive. The synod is in a good financial position, due in part to the gifts received from the congregations in our synod.

Pastor Lars, who serves as the official photographer for the assembly, was honored for his 25 years as an ordained pastor, along with other pastors who had reached various milestones in their ministry. One pastor, at the age of 99, was honored for the 70th year of his ordination. Lord of Grace was also honored for its 25th year anniversary as a congregation.

One sobering note on the state of ordained pastors is the small number of graduates coming out of all our ELCA seminaries in the United States.  There are not nearly enough pastors to meet the needs of our churches.

There was a talk by an ELCA pastor who is serving as a Federal Chaplain in the Air Force. He previously served as a pastor in the Grand Canyon Synod, and then felt called to enter the chaplaincy. He serves at an Air Force base in North Carolina. While he does lead worship services for the soldiers, he also goes with them on training missions and spends time with them as they complete their duties on base. He finds this is the best way to make meaningful connections with the soldiers.

We hope you will consider serving as a delegate to one of the future assemblies.  We have found it enjoyable to connect with other churches, and encouraging to hear all the things that are happening throughout our synod.

Prayer Connection July 2024

Prayer Connection

Persistence In Prayer

     Years ago, at a retreat I was taught that prayer should be an ongoing conversation between us and Jesus. Where we bring all our needs before him with unwavering faith and that he hears us and is willing to help in every aspect of life. We just need to take the time to talk it over with Him.

     Jesus told his disciples a parable of a persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8. It begins with an explanation of its meaning, “that they (the disciples) ought always to pray and not lose heart.” To “lose heart” means to “lose one’s motivation in continuing a desirable pattern of conduct or activity”; lose enthusiasm, be discouraged. Romans 12:12 says “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying.” A quote I read somewhere that stuck with me; “We should pray when the sun is shining as well as when it rains.” We often pray only when we are in trouble or feeling desperate. Don’t forget to rejoice!

    God answers prayer but on His own timeline not ours. It can be so easy to ask for help once but when the answer isn’t instantly given, we give up and try to “fix” it ourselves usually with unsatisfactory results. Unlike the widow in the parable, continuing to pray for the solution. I read a great analogy – “if your life was an automobile, prayer could be described as the steering wheel guiding us where we need to go. Unfortunately for many of us, prayer is more like the spare tire, seldom used or needed until something goes flat.”

     Just a reminder- when you need help with your prayers for a solution for your need, a problem, or decision, whether for you, a family member or friend, come to the prayer room after the services on the 4th Sunday of the month. You will be met by two “prayer warriors” from our prayer team who are trained listeners and hold what they hear in strictest confidence.  However, If you need prayer you don’t have to wait until the 4th Sunday, ask any member of the prayer team, anytime, and we will pray with you.

Outreach July 2024

Outreach Team – July 2024 Newsletter Article

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, and Janette Carollo. We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

Continuing Events

Marana Food Bank
The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we collect mac and cheese, pasta, spaghetti sauce, jelly, canned fruit, instant rice, and beans. Summer is an especially difficult time for families since kids are out of school and missing some essential meals.  Let’s help lighten their burden and make sure they all have enough to eat.

Donated items can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the hallway outside the Fellowship Hall.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that have been opened/used or expired.  Also, please no glass  containers. If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC. You can also donate online at http://mfb-crc.org . Your monetary gift goes a long way.  Every $10 helps provide 50 meals.           

Borega Orphanage

The Tisho Family visited Lord of Grace on June 23rd to tell us about the Berega orphanage they run in Tanzania. The have a holistic approach for caring for the orphans, caregivers, and families. Babies are raised by a female relative with support from staff. They provide education and small business skills to the family care givers. There are daily devotions and prayer to help them grow spiritually. The orphanage is becoming more self-sufficient through a dairy project, starting small businesses, and using Farming God’s Way to improve farm yields. 

Tax deductible gifts can be given on line at http://TMS-Global.org/give. Refer to account #0351. You can request their quarterly newsletter and donate at: https://beregakids.wixsite.com/beregakids.        

Butler’s Pantry

We’re continuing to staff and work at Butler’s Pantry during the summer. If anyone is interested in joining us, contact Phyllis Teager or a member of the Outreach Team.

Upcoming Events

School supplies and Backpacks – Roadrunner Elementary

We will be collecting backpacks and school supplies as part of Roadrunner Elementary’s Backpack and School Supply Drive to help collect essential and urgently needed items for vulnerable students that attend Roadrunner. The drive will start July 7th and run until July 28th. Needed items include:

·         Backpacks

·         Reusable water bottles

·         #2 Pencils

·         Colored pencils

·         Pencil box or pouch

·         Expo dry erase markers – fine-tip or thin

·         Crayola markers, broad

·         Crayola crayons

·         Highlighters

·         Glue sticks

·         Scissors

·         Erasers, regular and pencil top

·         Two or three Pocket folders

·         Composition notebooks

·         Spiral notebooks

·         Wide-ruled paper

·         Ear buds (with cord) or headphones

·         Post-it notes

Also please consider donating Ziploc bags and Kleenex

Posters and Laws and Beatitudes - July Pastor's Column

It didn’t take long after the State of Louisiana passed a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom for the predictable social media implosion. On one side were the atheists and secularists freaking out – pulling out (again) Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton quotes about separation of church and state. On the other were the expressions of “finally we’ll get some morals and bring back Christian values to our schools” crowd. I’m sure many hearts and minds were changed immediately by the succinct and stinging truth of the memes 😊. 

As a pastor in a mainline denomination, I find the whole obsession with the Ten Commandments interesting, if a little bit odd. Why that one part of the Bible, out of all 66 books? If you notice, these votes for explicit, public Christianity are always about having those ten rules posted – whether on lawns, state houses, or schools. What’s behind it?

Of course, the meme circulates about why we don’t put up the Beatitudes of Jesus instead. Why not have every kid read:

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

 21 "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

 22 "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.

 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

 24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

 25 "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

 26 "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

 27 "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

 Luke 6:20-28

Well, the second part, in the Gospel of Luke, is avoided even by most Christians. We don’t like the idea that God is going to punish the rich for being rich in the final judgment. But it is what Jesus said.

The people who ask the question are coming at the it from a totally different perspective than those who want the Commandments posted. If you believe that the underlying problem with America is a lack of religious discipline, family authority, moral regulation – then the Ten Commandments are perfect. They even include explicit commands to obey parents, to not cheat on your spouse, to not kill and steal. If you believe that the root of crime and drugs is kids not obeying parents, parents not disciplining kids, children not respecting authority, and criminals not fearing punishment, then these commands fit in perfectly. We can turn the country around by teaching religious laws.

But there’s a lot of caveat here that many are quick to point out.

There are two versions of the Ten Commandments, one in Exodus 20:1-17, and one Deuteronomy 5:6-21, and the wording and ordering are somewhat different. Translation issues abound. Christian denominations differ in how they interpret the laws. Martin Luther wrote a whole section of his catechism on these, to make sure you understood that they are not just prohibitions against sin, but commands to actively to good to build up your neighbor.  For example, here is his section in the Small Catechism on the eighth commandment: You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbour, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

But that’s not getting posted.

Then, of course, you have the establishment clause of the Constitution. The Louisiana law is guaranteed to be contested in court.

But if Jesus is the center of your religion, why not one of his quotes on the walls? Why not some blessings on the poor, meek, persecuted, merciful? Won’t Jesus’ words make better citizens – going around blessing the poor and needy?

Well, that’s a different take on what makes for good citizens. The Beatitudes imply a world of powerful and powerless, rich and poor, oppressor and oppressed, one that is structural and systemic, where the have nots are victims of the social and economic order, and Jesus is promising them blessings in the Kingdom that the rich and powerful will not get. It’s class struggle and revolution. Of course people of a liberal bent would gravitate towards that.

It's the same chicken-and-egg debate we keep having all the time about human behavior.

Do we do what’s good because we fear punishment for doing bad?

Or do we do good because we have sufficient resources and a good system that doesn’t encourage bad behavior?

For example: do people steal from stores because they are lazy and don’t want to work and just want to indulge in drugs? Or, do they steal from stores because they can’t get rent, jobs, treatment, education to be on their own?

Is it possible that both, to some extent, are true?

Is life complicated, and people complicated? You hear of trust-fund babies committing crimes, when they have all the money in the world. And you hear of people improving their lives through better choices after being tired of consequences. Life is not so simplistic.

My own experience with authoritarian teachers and coaches probably poisoned me on this debate. I saw so many abusive power-trips, and so much creative glee by kids finding ways to break the laws, that the whole system soured me. The more you clamp down, the more fun it is to rebel. On the flip side, I’ve seen classes turn into zoos without enough law and order. But when I worked with teachers who had the authority, but chose instead to put their energy into building up students, listening, guiding, encouraging, there were less behavior problems, fewer incidents. The excitement of rebellion was gone.

So I tend to think that, while law and order are needed, they should be the second approach to social problems, after we’ve tried to make sure that everyone has food, water, shelter, education, health care, equal rights, opportunity, affordable housing, transportation. If these were all provided in the best possible way, and then someone still insisted on robbing the corner store, then you could say with confidence that the person is lazy and doesn’t want to work. But if rent requires a job of $45k for the cheapest place, and a first month, last month, security deposit, background check to get in – and minimum wage doesn’t pay half that, have we done enough?

Our theology, as Lutherans, is one of Law and Gospel. We need the law to show us what our sin is. We need the Gospel to show us the path of salvation. Our hearts should fear sin, but also be so filled with God’s grace that we do good out of gratitude, not fear. Jesus’ love should be the motivator, and if we were perfect at it, we would need no law. But we’re not perfect, so the law has to stay. But it’s the church’s job to show and live love so much that we can put the law out of business.

Luther’s view on Law and Gospel is one of the gems of his theology, and one of the most misunderstood. He was a dialectical thinker, meaning that he held both positions simultaneously in tension, and working off each other. It’s not how we normally think. Most of us think in either-or’s, or fractions. We need either law or Gospel. Either police or social programs. Either rehab or jail. Or we believe we need 30% law and 70% Gospel. We need 50% police and 50% social programs etc. But for Luther, people were both at the same time. We have a sinful nature, that’s a part of us, that needs law and authority to teach us what’s right and wrong, and to punish us for violating that. I think he could go way too far with his thoughts on authority, and sometimes have an overly pessimistic view of human nature, such that he disdained peasant rebellions and democracy. But that said, he did not believe that we could simply rise above social problems with the right cocktail of structural change and government spending and empathy.

On the other hand, he was the person who famously criticized the Pope, and challenged his authority, and undermined it. To Luther, Leo X was corrupt and unworthy of the position, and was not teaching the Gospel. Today, most Catholics would probably agree with that sentiment too. He did see authority as needing limits.

So he felt that while the law should hold us accountable, the Gospel should be there equally to remind us of salvation and call us to a higher and more Christ-like life. With all law we become despondent, hopeless. What’s the point if we’re just going to get punished. On the other if we only had the Gospel, then Jesus would be a quaint and nice teacher of interesting things, who needlessly died a death he could have prevented. He could have accomplished his stuff by writing his manual on love and ethical behavior (and gone on the marry Mary Magdalene or whatever). The Gospel is nothing without the law to teach us what sin is. The law is nothing if there is no way to be redeemed. They need to both exist, fully, simultaneously, until Jesus returns. Only then will we be able to live in a world so perfect that we won’t need the law. Until then, we live in a tension of both-and.

You can imagine how this takes a little bit to wrap your brain around, and why it’s easier to default to a polar position of one or the other.

When I look at countries around the world, you have several examples of law: Saudi Arabia, Brunei, North Korea, China, Cuba. These places have low crime, clean streets, order. But we all know there’s a price, and very few people are moving to these places because of it. On the other hand, we have examples of countries that have invested in preventative measures, programs, social safety nets – Sweden, France, Germany, New Zealand – and they have people flocking to get in. Yes, they still have police. In fact, one thing I noticed in Sweden last summer was the increased police presence, and their open carrying of firearms. This used to be something they would brag about not needing. Then I landed in Stockholm and saw the guards with AK-style weapons walking around the airport, and knew that times had changed. Nobody has no police or laws or prisons, but many places have tried to invest in both the “soft” measures as well as the “hard” punitive ones.

We live in this tension, needing both at the same time.

My question for those in Louisiana is: why only the Ten Commandments, and not also the Beatitudes? If the kids need to be reminded of their sins, why not also remind them about God’s abundant love and compassion for those most downtrodden? If it’s about being Christian, why not also have Jesus’ words?

I would argue the theology behind the legislation is missing half the equation: the Gospel. Laws without it rarely change much. Think of a kids who grow up in homes with tons of love and support: do they get in as much trouble as kids who grow up in loveless houses with harsh belt lashings ? We know the answer. You can’t have all love and no law, or you’ll get walked over. But law without love is just being cruel, and will lead to rebellion or self-harm.

It's my position that the Ten Commandments in classrooms thing is a short-cut, a way to try to reform behavior without doing the hard work (and spending the tax money) on the soft preventative measures, fixing unjust systems and providing social supports. In fact, the state of Louisiana is not even paying for the actual posters with the Ten Commandments – they’re soliciting donations!!

And as for their efficacy, I don’t think a whole lot of kids would actually change their behavior if they saw them on a school wall. The fact that the government posted it would make it exciting to rebel against. It would be a fun target to desecrate when the teacher isn’t looking, or a bingo card to brag about violating and not getting caught. It would be like the “don’t use drugs” posters they put up when I was kid. It made drugs more cool and fun. I also don’t think posting them will change any of the fundamental problems behind why kids get in trouble. Broken families, violent neighborhoods, proliferation of weapons - none of that will be changed by the posters. It won’t make kids want to go to church, or believe in Jesus if they don’t already.

The love of Jesus changes lives. I believe this. I have seen it. Hardened criminals have turned their lives around. Enemies have reconciled. People find hope. It’s real and not just in your head. But love does not come disembodied. It has to be experienced through someone. Posters are things. They cannot love. But people can love, and share their faith, and talk about Jesus. This is the church’s job, maybe our biggest job. The state has the power to enforce and teach laws, but it cannot love. It cannot care. It cannot show you your worth and dignity. This must be done by people, and that is our calling.

Pastor Lars

Prayer Connection June 2024

Who do we pray for? What do we pray for? Simple questions, but the answers run deep.

Some days are hectic, and our prayers touch on urgent matters in daily life -- but we are also called to reach beyond our inner circle of family and friends. The Scriptures teach us that we are called to pray for each other, beginning with those we know, and reaching out to all peoples. As we read in I Timothy 2:1-2 (NLT):

“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.”

Yes, we are called to enlarge our circle of prayer. God’s heart embraces the whole world!

This past month, the Care in Prayer Team was asked to open the Lord of Grace Annual Congregational Council meeting. The Team Members composed a corporate prayer to open the meeting; each person added a portion to the prayer. As we welcome the new Council members this month, we invite you to add your own requests to this prayer, adapted below, as we continue to pray for each other, our church, and for the world.

Heavenly Father, Lord of Grace,

We pray with hearts filled with gratitude for all who are willing to share their time, talents, and gifts for the betterment of us all.  Give us each a heart of wisdom to hear your voice and guide our discussions so our intentions may align with your will.

We pray for you, Lord, to guide us by your Holy Spirit and to lead us into truth.

We pray for you, Lord, to surround Lord of Grace with your life-changing presence.

We pray for Jesus to build us, strengthen us and grow our faith.

We pray for your blessings, O Lord, for our church leadership; for our Council, for Pastor Lars and his wonderful family, and for all our Ministry Teams,

and we pray for blessings for our Preschool staff and students.

Heavenly Peacemaker, we also expand our prayers, and pray for our local and Federal governments, for peaceful election campaigns, for those who make difficult medical decisions, and for people who are deprived of their rights due to hatred, that they can finally feel safe.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your mercy, grace,  lovingkindness, faithfulness and compassion from generation to generation.

We humbly ask you to watch over our families and friends, our church, our community, and our world in the coming year. Give us your wisdom and understanding, grace and guidance to serve you.

Thank you, Lord, for being in our midst today and every day.

In Jesus' Name we pray,

Amen.

Outreach June 2024

Outreach Team – June 2024 Newsletter Article

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, and Janette Carollo.

Laurie Acker has decided to resign from the Outreach Team. She’s not leaving Lord of Grace and will continue to organize the monthly potlucks. Thank you, Laurie, for your assistance this past year!  

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

Continuing Events

Marana Food Bank
The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we collect hygiene items.  They are very low on hygiene items and they are in high demand.  They need shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, toothpaste, deodorant, shaving razors, and mouthwash.

Let’s help our neighbors with these basic needs to make their days brighter.

Donated items can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the hallway outside the Fellowship Hall.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that have been opened/used or expired.  Also, please no glass containers.

If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC. You can also donate online at http://mfb-crc.org

Your monetary gift goes a long way.  Every $10 helps provide 50 meals.

Upcoming Events

Roadrunner Elementary – Backpacks and School Supplies Drive

We’ll be having a backpacks and school supplies drive during the month of July. More information will be coming in the July newsletter.

Being in a Denominational Church

Being in a Denominational Church

Pastor’s Column for the June, 2024 newsletter

This month is our annual synod assembly again up in Mesa. I’ll be there June 14-15th to cast votes on resolutions, listen to speakers, and, this year, to vote on who will be the bishop. Our synod, called the Grand Canyon Synod, has been led for the past 6 years by Rev. Deborah Hutterer. Here first term is up and she will be running again.

Holy Communion setup at Love of Christ Lutheran Church, Mesa, AZ

A bishop here can serve two terms, and is elected by “ecclesial ballot”. Basically, everyone at the synod assembly writes a name for who they want to be bishop. It can be any pastor in good standing in the ELCA. They don’t have to live here.  If one person gets 75% or more of the vote they are elected right away. If no one has that much, it goes to a second ballot, or a third, and so on until one person is elected. (I can never remember the exact percentages needed with each round, but the crowd thins each time).

The idea behind it is to reduce the influence of campaigning and leave more room for the Holy Spirit. Some people do, of course, try to get their names out there, and having name recognition in the synod always helps. There has certainly been a tendency to elect bishops from larger urban churches because people know them, but that’s not a hard rule.

All of it will make things more interesting. Synod assemblies, once upon a time, were huge events that went most of a week. People would submit multiple resolutions, followed by loud and contentious debates. Local newspapers would send a press corps. In the 70’s it was the Viet Nam war resolutions, then nuclear war in the 80’s, then in the 90’s and early 2000’s it was same sex marriage and ordination. I remember lines of people cued up to debate pro or con changing the policies, complete with accusations, crying, anger, emotional pleas etc.

Then in 2009 the ELCA approved a social statement on sexuality, along with a policy change for ordination, that allowed same-sex marriage and ordination, and we had more than a few people leave – much as is happening now with the United Methodist Church. Since then, assemblies have been quick, with few resolutions. Part, I’m sure, is the lack of such hot-button issues. But I also suspect people got burned out with the sexuality debates, and after being so stressed with congregational conflicts and then covid battles, nobody wants to debate much.

Bishop Deborah Hutterer of the Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA

It's all part of being a church in a denomination, which they nickname the “mainline” today. In the 1950’s most people belonged to denominational churches. Now that number has shrunk to a minority. Instead, as you can see in NW Tucson, non-denominational churches have proliferated. They have trendy names that don’t sound particularly religious and are mostly conservative-Baptist in their politics and theology. Lord of Grace is a bit of an outlier in this regard.

There are reasons for the growth-decline trends. Mainline churches have done plenty of resting on past history and getting lazy, but it’s much more than that. I believe one of the biggest drivers towards non-denominationalism is the way people function in community.

Mainline churches are set up like democracies. We have meetings where everyone gets a voice and vote, and we know we won’t always get what we want. Not everyone will like every new initiative or agree with all the items in the budget, but it’s always been assumed that we would stay with our church and  support it even if it didn’t always go our way. And we always understood that democratic process involves meetings, discussions, debates, and time investment. Changes can take time, compromises get made, actions get delayed, but that’s how it works.

Taking a vote at the 2023 Grand Canyon Synod Assembly in Oro Valley, AZ

If you look around our world, participation in organizations is declining across the board. Social groups like Masons or Moose or Elks are shrinking. Non-profits are getting fewer regular volunteers. People are simply less interested in investing the time in process or belonging to groups that require it. Instead, it’s more what we call “vote with your feet”, where if you don’t like it, you just go. You probably don’t lodge a protest or try to talk to anyone before you go; you just leave and look for somewhere else that’s more to your liking.

We do this with restaurants. If I don’t like the food, I’m not going to volunteer to be on a committee to meet weekly for several months with the restaurant owner and chef to develop a new menu, which would then be voted on by the customers. I just leave and try somewhere else. When new ownership comes, I might try it again, see if it’s changed, but I’m not spending my time to fix it.

This attitude carries over to church. Rather than invest in a democratic process to change what you might not like, people are more likely to just move somewhere else.

There is some good in this. I have known people who are so miserable in the church they’re in, constantly fighting things, being angry, blocking, complaining, when they could just go down the road and be content. If I weren’t a pastor, and moved into a new town, I would shop around a little before joining a church. If they taught fundamentalism, creationism, or complementarianism (where women submit to husbands but we say that the obedience is “complementary” to the man’s authority and therefore equal – I guess), or anti LGBTQ sermons, I wouldn’t go. If they gave my kids dirty looks in worship when they talked, I’d move on

On the other hand, it’s hard as a church leader to always stay ahead of everyone’s felt needs and opinions. You try to listen, stay in touch, know what’s going on, but you can’t read minds. It makes church members more like customers, less like family members in community. If we really love each other and care for each other, then leaving will be a last resort, not the immediate go-to. In a community, you’ll make the point of getting involved in the process because you have a commitment to the church. If you’re a customer, it’s commitment until something better comes along.

But I wouldn’t change being in a denomination for the alternative. Yes, I’m biased, but I have seen what happens to churches that leave the ELCA and go independent. They usually do fine for the first few years, then, when the pastor retires or leaves, they struggle to find someone new. Then, there’s an exodus of people who don’t like the new pastor, and the place is dead in a generation. They struggle to outlive the founding pastor’s personality. Mainline churches have more resilience this way.

I also like having a bit of a buffer on things with the synod office. You can’t just fire a pastor with a council vote (I like that, of course). You can’t just sell land. You can’t just leave the denomination (without a lengthy process). You can’t just do a lot of things. There’s a process to keep the most extreme actions from being done quickly, and force people to take time to debate and discuss it. Things done in the heat of the moment are rarely done wisely.

So we will see how this synod assembly goes. I am the designated photographer, so I get to get up from the table and walk around to take pictures. (You can see my photos from 2023 here). I will be more excited at some speakers than others. I will enjoy catching up with colleagues, and hearing some news, and know that I’m a part of something bigger than just one church, and that we can do a lot of these things we do better when we live in community. I will enjoy watching the balloting process for a new (returning?) bishop. I will also surely get frustrated at some opinions voiced, some statements made, some things other churches are doing that I disagree with. But I am a part of a community, we are a part of a community, and we don’t walk out on each other without really taking time to turn over stones first.

Peace,

Pastor Lars

Teacher Appreciation

Teacher Appreciation

The preschool week of May 6th through May 10th is designated as Teacher Appreciation week.

Our preschool teachers are very special women.  In the bios in the newsletter, we have read how much the teachers love what they are doing.  Besides the basics of a preschool learning curriculum, they give the children a warm, accepting place to learn about Jesus and the wonderful world we have.

Did you know Lord of Grace Preschool has been rated the third best child care center in Marana in 2024?  That was published in the Northwest Explorer News recently.   So the reason our preschool has such a good rating is by the votes of parents (and possibly grandparents) in our neighborhood.  And that is totally due to our great teachers. 

From the Preschool Advisory Board, we thank our Director, America Trujillo, and the eleven teachers we have on staff.   We ask God’s blessings for them and their students.

Candy Borstad

Of Spirits and Trees and a Richer Life in Nature

Last July, while on sabbatical, I had the fortune of visiting the old Viking burial mounds, and the 1000 year old church, at Old Uppsala in Sweden. In Viking days, it was the seat of kings and a place of religious ceremonies and celebrations. The early missionaries, after the kings had converted to Christianity, built the first church on what they believed was a “pagan temple” or a sort of “pagan cathedral” – a symbolic replacing of the old with the new. You can still see the church, rebuilt a couple times because of fires, which is a working parish church with Sunday services.

The Viking burial mounds at Old Uppsala, Sweden

Of course, as you tour the area you read on the displays that modern archaeology and historical research has not been able to back up the claims of the missionaries that the place was a center of animal sacrifices, nor did it have a sort of “pagan cathedral”. They have found none of the mass collections of bones where they were supposed to be, nor did Viking religion even have cathedrals and temples.

Those medieval bishops can be somewhat forgiven for not understanding the nature of Scandinavian paganism; it was such a different worldview from theirs - an enchanted universe where everything in creation had spirits and powers and meanings. The gods were not particularly caring, just powerful. Thor and Odin would never talk about “abiding in love”, just a lot about bravery and war. It lacked centralization – so people practiced sacrifices all over the country, at different times, without a central organization or priesthood. Yes, some were closer to the gods, or knew more, or had more visions, but nobody got certified. Each chieftain practiced in each place as he saw fit.

Old Uppsala Church, built on the site of a former Viking building, probably a long house.

What was believed to be a “pagan temple” was probably just a “Long House” that would have hosted festivals (read: drinking and gift-giving parties), sheltered people at times, and been a community gathering space. It was where the king would hold court, so putting the church there, surrounded by the mounds of buried long ships and treasures, was symbolic that Christianity was the new central theme in town.

Having studied some of the history of my pagan ancestors, both Irish and Swedish, it intrigues me to see young generations romanticizing the old ways. If you listened to the neo-pagan memes, you would think it was some sort of egalitarian utopia of spirituality and nature connection. In fact, the Vikings could be very violent and practiced slavery. They had kings, rigid social classes, and an economy dependent on plunder. But the part that the neo-pagans do get right is that the universe was not separated from the gods and the spirits, but intimately connected to them.

Inside the church in Old Uppsala.

It's that sense of connection that they’re longing for, more so than Odin and Thor and Loki. That’s why they’re best called “neo-pagans”, because they practice a highly edited and cherry-picked version of the old religion that keeps the nature and skips the slavery, plundering, and hierarchies.

But it wasn’t Christianity that killed the connection with nature or the spirit world. If you went back to medieval Europe, people very much believed spirits, both good and bad, inhabited everything. The rain, the crops, the trees, were all full of them. Angels and demons roamed everywhere, and visions and dreams were still considered messages from God. Where you got in trouble with the church was if you tried to summon those nature spirits for power over others with curses; that was witchcraft (and, yes, a good deal of those accusations were totally bogus and just about property disputes and such). But the world was still very much an enchanted place full of divinity and power.

What broke that connection was the Enlightenment and the advent of modern science. They taught that miracles don’t happen, God doesn’t heal things, angels are fantasy, demons are nonsense, and if God exists, he’s outside the world, never interacting. This forced scientists to explore nature and not fall back on “the gods made it happen” every time they couldn’t answer the question. But it also made nature meaningless, spirit-less, just molecules arranged through natural selection and physics. Just things.

And when nature became just things, we became separated from it, and could now trash it or exploit it without feeling bad. There’s no “essence” or “spirit” in that redwood. It’s just cells – cells that can make me a good profit if I chop it up. There’s no “meaning” to the wetland, so let’s just drain it and build another 5,000 houses, etc. etc.

Seeing the destruction of nature, and feeling the disconnect, a lot of people are asking if something was lost when we took the spirituality out of the world. Are we killing off a part of our selves, and our experience of life, when we see everything as meaningless material objects?

This certainly goes against the experience we all have when we are in nature, and we talk about the effect it has on us, and how we feel refreshed and healed being in it in ways that can’t be explained with just molecules. A lot of modern Americans sense this, and know that there must be more out there than a cold world of particles, but they don’t want to get involved in church, so they call themselves “spiritual but not religious”. It’s a sort of “take the parts of religion you want without the commitment or beliefs or community or practices or expectations”. It’s having the connection with a world of meaning and value and spirits, without doing anything or believing anything. Or you can call it “neo paganism” and have essentially the same thing.

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When I was going through seminary in the 1990’s we would debate how to get the people back in church. The families were led by baby boomers who probably had some church connection and believed in God, but found the organization “boring” and “irrelevant”. In came the “seeker-sensitive” churches to make it “fun” and “relevant” with music and lights and sermons about daily life. There was a lot of excess, and some good corrective. Many places were boring and took people’s attendance for granted and gave sermons about esoteric points of doctrine and a lot of sin and hell. So the seeker-sensitive model was supposed to be the solution to evangelism problems, and so contemporary worships were started and life-groups that focused on specific felt-needs and sermons series’ about things like marriage and finances. And some of it worked, and a lot of good came out of it – including a lot of good music.

But the decline in church attendance and belief in God continued.

Now, I believe, we’re in a new phase where the problem is not that church isn’t relevant; it’s that the church is seen as moving you away from nature and experience, and obsessing with life after death. People are longing for connection with the divine, and to find experiences of transcendence, and are asking questions about meaning and value. It’s just that churches bought into the enlightenment ideas that God was not present in the world, but was outside it, in heaven. God was not filling us with dreams and visions, but telling us what vices to avoid, what words not to say, what clothes not to wear, what substances not to inhale, and promising us a place in the other world after we die.

The churches turned their eyes to the beyond nature, while the culture turned their eyes back in.

So our struggle today is not so much about style or packaging or marketing. Those things matter, but only with people who already believe and are shopping for a new church. It’s about bringing God back into the experience of life and nature today. It’s not about teaching how to prevent sin, but bringing back the enchantment with the world where the divine is seen and felt and heard in the world. It’s about finding a richer, fuller, more meaningful, more spiritual life today. It’s about getting more joy and more healing and more presence now.

So a better question to pose is: how do we structure our church and community life in such a way that we help people experience God, find more richness and meaning, more connection to the divine, more spiritual encounter, more living?

Our role needs to be more as guides to experiencing a fuller life through Jesus, not denying life today for a better one later.

I believe that when we become a place, a community, that disciples and guides people to that experience, we will have a better future as a church.

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The labyrinth from the prayer retreat on April 20th. It’s an ancient spiritual practice that is even built into the floors of some of the medieval cathedrals. The idea is that walking in the pattern focuses the soul on the Holy Spirit, and allows for greater encounter with God. Many of us do, in fact, prayer better moving than sitting still.

What about Lord of Grace?

I got thinking about all this as I reflected on the April 20th prayer retreat that our Prayer Ministry put on. I intentionally stayed out of it, for a couple reasons. First, the leaders are plenty capable and don’t need my input. Secondly, I didn’t want the presence of THE PASTOR to cause people to defer to me, rather than embracing their own experience of the Holy Spirit. Encountering God is not something reserved for professionals, but something for everyone. I want to empower that.

The prayer wall from 2023 Advent services. Meant to imitate the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem where people roll up and squeeze their prayers, here we do the same thing with colored paper and a mesh of plastic chicken wire from Tractor Supply. Either way we make the encounter of God and selves through our actions, bringing our prayers in person, to put our whole selves into the experience.

Then I heard the reports of all the people, the speakers, the prayers, the people giving me testimonials of how it changed them – it just warmed my heart. This is exactly the kind of things that we need as people – time to experience the Spirit today. In fact, people came from outside our congregation just to be a part. The spiritual hunger is real. The marketing trick is letting people know that this is the place you can find it; you don’t need to return to Odin and Thor or the Fairies Of The Trees And Bogs to find it.

In all we do, I hope we can have great experiences that make life richer and fuller and more divine. Whether that’s in just getting some joy out of line dancing or throwing balls at community days, sharing our pains and concerns in small groups, delving into art or creative projects, or just getting lost in the music. It’s what guides so much of what I’m always trying to do.

I have in my head a slogan, or tagline, of “Lord of Grace: finding the richness of the experience of Jesus in the life today” – something like that. It’s unofficial, but helps guide where I believe God is calling us today - to find him in the world and make a fuller life. It is what Jesus said,

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” - John 10:10

Peace,

Pastor Lars

Outreach May 2024

Outreach Team – May 2024 Newsletter Article

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, Laurie Acker, and Janette Carollo.

The Outreach Team would like to welcome Janette Carollo to our team! We’re looking forward to having you join us!

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

Continuing Events

Marana Food Bank
The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we collect instant rice, mac and cheese, spaghetti sauce (please no glass), pasta, peanut butter, and jelly.

Let’s help our neighbors have a wonderful spring with a fuller pantry.

Donated items can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the hallway outside the Fellowship Hall.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that have been opened/used or expired.  Also, please no glass containers.

If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC. You can also donate online at http://mfb-crc.org Your monetary gift goes a long way.  Every $10 helps provide 50 meals.

Upcoming Events

Roadrunner Elementary – Backpacks and School Supplies Drive

We’ll be having a backpacks and school supplies drive during the month of July. More information will be coming in the June newsletter.

Past Events

Butler’s Pantry

The Lord of Grace Outreach Team collected personal hygiene items for Butler’s Pantry to support our friends at Roadrunner Elementary during the month of April. Thank you so much for supporting this ongoing outreach in our community!

Several members of the congregation, Patty Clymer, Gail Nicewander, Darlene Paul, and Chris Kollen prepared a dinner for the Sister Jose Women’s Center Supper Club on Friday March 29, 2024. We prepared lasagna, salad, bread, and dessert. The women were very appreciative and loved the lasagna. It was a wonderful experience and we’re hoping to continue this service on a regular basis. Thank you!