Urgency.

I spoke with a good friend of mine, Kyle, and he talked me off the edge today in regards to a great frustration that I have.

Over the past several days I have become frustrated at what I can only describe as a lack of urgency in the church I serve (both local and regional). This is not a knock on the people of the church but I find I am beat down sometimes by some aspects of the church culture - what I perceive as a lack of urgency.

After talking a bit with others I think my sense of urgency is deeply rooted in my lack of friends my age involved in the church. I thank God for Kyle to help me see this.

As I look to the older leadership of the church they have a lot of friends in the church. They have other ministers and even friends whom they have been in ministry with for years. They are around the same age or they have kids who share the same youth group. The older leadership of the church seems to have a lot of friends within the church.

I do not.

I have watched more and more of my peers become de-churched and are not coming back to the church. I have seen youth involved in youth programs and leadership in the youth programs, but then move out of the youth group only to find the church is not doing much for that age group. The resources are lacking.

And so, over time, most of my peers have left the church. I have few friends within the church. I have more friends my age who are outside the church, and the latter group grows by the week.

I wonder if my frustration with church work is rooted in this concept.

Would you "do" church differently if you gave your life to the church only to find there was no one your age?

Would you have a sense of urgency?

I pray for a spirit of urgency (not panic or stress or anxiety) in the lives of church leaders.

Alter the Altar

At AHUMC we do not call it the communion table. We do not call it the communion rail. Rather we fall into a historical theological position when we reference these things however, because we call them the altar and the altar rail.

As I read the publications from the UMC, I understand this is 'altar' language is incorrect language for those areas. I for one agree.

Catholics celebrate the Eucharist and in that ritual Christ is sacrificed again (as I come to understand it), thus to call it the altar is correct. However, the UMC does not affirm this theology and instead affirms the Communion as a symbolic ritual of remembrance. Therefore communion table is the correct label.

But this seems like semantics.

However, for those Christians out there who do not affirm that Christ died as a substitutionary atonement for sin, to call it an altar can be troubling at best. The UMC has room for you who do not affirm this theology of the atonement.

Thank God it does because then I am not sure where I would be.

Rather my atonement theology is not so much Anselm as it is Girard. While Girard does not address the atonement much at all himself, his disciples have. In fact my wife did just that.

In her research in the class we shared, it became evident to each of us that Girard might fall more in line with 'Ransom' theory of atonement (which is the first atonement theory the church put forth).

This theory states that humanity was set free by God by paying a ransom to the Satan. This ransom was Jesus.

This sounds very archaic and fundamentally conservative. However, Girard's lens on this statement would in fact allow liberals and conservatives alike to claim this statement. While some of the terms need to be defined for a fuller understanding (such as Satan and ransom), Girard is one who is able to bring the left and right together.

Such a rare gift indeed.

So to all my UMC friends out there. Let us not continue in a tradition we do not understand by refereeing to the communion table as an altar.

Alter our language and we might just be able to alter the current course of the church.

Will YOU tell God that I have been really busy lately...

At Starbucks the other day with my mentor and friend, Kyle. We were talking about stuff which we were excited about when I saw a woman order coffee who attends the congregation I work with. I walked up to her as she was adding milk to her drink and said hello.

Of course I forgot her name until after she left, but recalled her kids names and asked about them. It was a normal conversation which everyone has 10 times a day. Then something happened in the conversation which is beginning to happen more and more. She apologized.

"Sorry we have not been at church lately..." "Things are busy and you know..." "We plan to get back..." etc.

I used to be put off by these comments as though, as Rob Bell says, I am carrying around a clipboard checking names off a list of who is and who is not in worship on Sunday. But this time was different. I began to wonder if her families lack of attendance at Sunday worship and congregation involvement is not because of her schedule or life situation but the church's in ability to express and show relevancy, nourishment, and/or connection to the lives of this family?

Parents find school for their kids very important. So important in fact that it affects where people move and even housing values!

When was the last time someone bought a house because it was in a certain church's district?

Is it because people believe schools are relevant, nourishing and connect to their lives and churches do not?