No More Crumbs!

Mary Andreolli, Minister for Outreach and Communications

Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."

But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs" (Mark 7:26-30, NRSV). The he said to her, "For saying that, you may go - the demon has left your daughter." So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

How many times do we just take the crumbs that are offered us? These crumbs may appear in the limits to job opportunities based on sex, race, or even who we love. They may also show up as limited access to healthcare because of how much money we make or because of where we live. Finally, these crumbs take the form of how much healing and care we allow ourselves and others through sabbaticals, self-care, spiritual formation, and even in death and dying.

What's harder, do you think, learning not to take crumbs or not to give them? They seem like part of the same loaf—metaphorically speaking.

In the Gospel of Mark we find Jesus entering a house where he "did not want anyone to know he was there." But he just couldn't escape notice anymore than we can at times. Jesus, being Jesus, was greeted at the house he was staying in by a woman whose child needed healing. Read more.

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

Relma Hargus, Alliance of Baptists, Editor

The two co-editors of a sexual orientation resource produced in 2000 by the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America and the Alliance are among a team of nine from three organizations that recently began working on a year long project to revise and market “Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth.”

When LeDayne McLeese Polaski and Millard Eiland co-edited the resource nine years ago it was recognized as a new stage in a long and still unfinished process of fully welcoming and affirming gay Christians, a journey begun by both organizations through official statements from their boards by the spring of 1995.

Joining them in this new effort will be Alliance members Eileen Campbell-Reed and Rick Mixon and Chris Copeland, Minister for Leadership Formation; BPFNA members Johnny Almond and Doug Cruger, and Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists members Anita Bradshaw, Ron Green and Jim Singletary.

Daniel Pryfogle of Signal Hill brings more than 15 years of experience in innovative leadership to his role as facilitator the team’s work.

The revision project will be guided by a commitment to “welcoming and affirming all of God’s children in their multitude of sexual orientations and gender identities to full inclusion in the membership, leadership and rituals of our communities of faith,” according to a statement released by the group following their May15-16 initial meeting at Park Road Baptist Church.

Tasks the group plan to complete include surveying current multi-media resources that support the purpose of welcoming and affirming lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender folks in the faith communities represented and mapping the Baptist landscape that helps describe and interpret the groups, constituencies and audiences the organizations most hope to address.

The team’s next meeting will be Sept. 23-24, with another meeting to be set for January/February 2010. They invite support of the project through “prayers for our work, your comments to the team, and your wisdom as we continue on the path set before us.”

The work is funded by a grant from the Arcus Foundation, which works around the globe in  human rights and conservation.

Information about the other participating organizations can be found on their Web sites: Baptist Peace Fellowship, www.bpfna.org; Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, www.wabaptists.org.

Living as God's Priests On Earth

Zach T. Roberts, Alliance member and Associate Pastor of Education and Discipleship, Ridge Road Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of God who called you out of darkness into God's wonderful light.” —1 Peter 2:9

In a recent interview on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” while discussing how he began his latest book, writer E. L. Doctorow said, “first lines are crucial...they give you the voice. They are the acorn from which the oak grows. You can find the entire book in that first line.” If we were to take that approach in looking at the story of Baptists we would see that our first line represents a voice of dissent. The Baptist acorn is one of dissent, and it has remained a significant identification embodied by the oak tree that has steadily grown for the last 400 years.
One of the most significant ways in which Baptists exercised dissent from the status quo religious structures of 17th century England was to listen again to texts like the one quoted above. Listening to such texts and reinterpreting them on the margins of the established, state-sanctioned, orthodoxy of the church of England, they concluded that the priestly hierarchies of the Church of England were not the sole arbiters of God’s revelation and will. This liberated act of biblical interpretation was one of several that led to the need for these first Baptists to escape to Amsterdam, the location where the first congregation was formed.

The value of priesthood originated among Baptists, I believe, as a desire to both embody an authentic expression of faith, and a prophetic protest to the church. In its simplest form, the doctrine of priesthood serves to liberate every person unto the possibilities of living as God’s priest on earth. However, as priesthood became contextualized by modernity’s individualistic foundations, and the ensuing project of “civilization,” it paradoxically became captive, and captivating. The fruits of which can be dialed up in one’s imagination when you read and hear statements like “chosen people,” “holy nation” and “God’s special possession.” These, and phrases like them, have been invoked by white European and American political leaders and preachers for much of the last several centuries. While they may have brought comfort to the hearers in “western” lands, such phrases spoke with an oppressive voice of conquest and occupation among regions of the world such as South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Read more.

Affiliate Highlight

Ravensworth Baptist Church in Annandale, Va.

Paula Clayton Dempsey, Minister for Partnership Relations

"Blessed to be a blessing" is not only the inscription on the 50th anniversary banner at Ravensworth Baptist Church in Annandale, Va., it’s also a fact! This progressive Baptist group formed into a congregation in March of 1959 and they’ve been a blessing to the Ravensworth/North Springfield area ever since.                                                                                                 

From the beginning, Ravensworth Baptist Church took actions that placed them on the cutting edge of social issues beginning with the civil rights movement and the Poor Peoples’ Campaign to supporting farm worker rights, the opening of travel restrictions to Cuba and efforts to bring peace with justice to Israel and Palestine.    

Their proximity to Washington, D.C., has sometimes provided numbing pain:

Our history now covers Kennedy, King, and assassins in airplanes. No words adequately express the anguish of those days… Each one’s pain was felt by the other. It was ironic we had already made plans for programs discussing “the face of God as seen by a Catholic, a Jew, and a Muslim.” Our hearts poured out to those who wore burkas, now fearful in America. We were fearful in America. The juxtaposition of Dr. Hyde’s words on Sunday… asking God to give him “the vision to see the light of God in each of us,” and Tuesday's actions lacking any such a vision, was numbing. We understood the need for understanding and shalom. (Read more of their history at http://www.rbc-va.org)

Led through the years by numerous young clergypersons including Elmer West, Mahan Siler, Dan Bagby, Bill Ratliff, Deryl Flemming, James Lamkin, Alicia Porterfield, Howard Roberts, Patti Faesey, Stan Hastey, Alan Neely—and most recently by Bob Turner and Steve Hyde—the congregation
has demonstrated a committment to welcoming and fostering inclusivity and diversity of gender, race, ethnicity, same gender loving people along with openness to all faith traditions. Their mission and ministry touches and blesses folks world-wide! Read more.

Mission Partner Highlight

The Sabbath House

Rachel Lackey, Co-Director of The Sabbath House

The story is told of an indigenous guide who was leading a missionary through the jungle. They had been traveling on foot over rough terrain for several days. Suddenly, the guide stopped and sat down. The missionary protested. They had many miles to go before reaching their destination, but the guide refused to go any further. When questioned as to why, he simply said, “I am waiting for my soul to catch up with my body.”

If you are living anywhere in the industrialized world in the early 21st century, chances are you are too busy and seldom get the rest you need. Chances are your soul needs to catch up with your body. The Sabbath House is a place where this reunion can happen.

The wisdom of Sabbath-keeping is ancient. It comes to us through the sacred writings and teachings of many religious traditions, most particularly that of Judaism. Jesus continued this practice by inviting his followers to “Come away to a quiet place all by yourselves and rest for a while.” Sabbath is a great gift to humanity from the Creator. It was made for us, not we for it. But like all gifts, it must be received. Read more.

Sabbatical Highlight

Slow Church

Stan Wilson, Pastor of Alliance-affiliated Northside Baptist Church in Clinton, Miss.

I am back at work now after a summer sabbatical with the theme of “Sustainable Ministry.” I also called it “Slow Church” because I was looking at connections between ministry and sustainable agriculture, slow food, and the new agrarian movement. It was funded by a Clergy Renewal Grant from the Lilly Endowment, and it was built around the hunch that a healthy congregation is a lot like a small, organic farm.
A small, sustainable farm will typically feature a great diversity of crops and animals living in complex interdependence. All crops depend on healthy soil, which in turn, depends in part on manure provided by healthy animals, who depend on healthy grass. Good soil also depends on careful cultivation by a variety of crops in rotation, with each depending on the other to ward off pests. Chickens can get a significant nutritional boost from fly larvae in manure, and this helps keep the cattle healthy and happy. Squash, beans, and corn grow well together because each provides something the other needs.

Spiritual Journeying and Advanced Care Planning

Beverly Isley-Landreth, Alliance endorsed chaplain,

Hospice and Palliative Care Center, Winston-Salem, N.C.

It is often said that Americans live in a death-denying culture. Others around the world have observed that we live as though we think death is optional, as though it happens only to an unfortunate few. And yet, spiritual self-care would call us to periodically and intentionally take the long view across our lifetimes; looking back across our years of living and ahead toward death as a culmination of our earthly spiritual journeys. What might it be like to look toward our dying process with intention about decision-making we might encounter; actively engaging those choices medicine gives us about the way we move through the interim of a life-limiting diagnosis and ultimately to the time of our transition? Then in balance with those choices, our intentionality would also remind us to embrace what continues to be unknown; making peace with what remains veiled in the Great Mystery. Does looking ahead, taking the long view, change the way I join with the Creator in living into the completion of my journey?

If we think about death and dying from this vantage point, how does it change the stories of our sojourns here? Is my passage through this journey different as a Christian when I view my lifetime as a narrative with a beginning and an ending? What do I want to be intentional about as I write this story? Is the way I face death a part of the spiritual legacy I leave with my family? What will my children and my children’s children learn about the way to approach death by watching me? Read more.

Giving From the Loaves

Mary Andreolli, Minister for Outreach and Communications

The last time I saw her was on the elevator as we were leaving the Thomas House Retirement Community. Laura died the next day. She was feisty and fun and always had a story; after all she'd been around the world and had many to tell. Visiting with Laura was like taking time out to go and see a rare and beautiful jewel. How many lives had she lived in her 80+ years? More than I can imagine. And oh my, how she loved Calvary Baptist Church. You could tell there was nowhere else she wanted to be and yet she didn't want to be any trouble by asking someone to bring her on Sundays. A deeply faithful woman who gave more to me in ministry and love than I could have  ever imagined.

Reflecting on her death still brings me a bit of sadness but then I remember the elevator scene and that twinkle in her eye that said, "I am up to something" and I just can't keep from smiling.

One of the things she'd apparently been up to was end of life planning that led her to bequesting funds to Calvary Baptist Church. Many in the Calvary community were not surprised. I'm not sure Laura ever even heard of crumbs.

As you reflect and discern on ways to give to the Alliance of Baptists please consider making a bequest to this vital organization. Susan Parrish, Minister for Development recommends the following guide for folks in the process.   

Social Justice Highlights

Spirituality and Healthcare

Relma Hargus, Alliiance of Baptists, Editor

When Nancy E. Petty stood up to preach at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church Aug. 23, where she stood on the need to be involved in health care reform was not in doubt.

“As our country debates health care reform people of faith cannot afford to stand safely on the shore on this issue while others brave the raging waters. On the issue of health care and the well being of all God's people, our faith calls us to act,” she began a sermon titled “Jesus, Einstein and Health Care Reform.”

“On the issue of health care, Jesus was clear. Of the some 35 miracles ascribed to him, more than half are healing miracles,” she reminded the Raleigh, N.C. congregation she co-pastors with Jack McKinney.

While questions still remain about what a reform would look like, there is core need to “look at what we believe about how we will treat one another and live in relationship with one another,” she said.

Jesus’ healing ministry demonstrates his understanding of the very real connection between the physical and spiritual aspects for humans, she said.

“The more than 46 million Americans who do not have access to affordable and quality health care know this truth all too well,” she said.

The topic of health care reminds Nancy of a time when she didn’t know where to turn for the medical needs of the Russian daughter she and her partner were adopting.

“Vickie and I were told from the outset that Nora had a heart defect and would need medical attention once we got her home. … Upon arriving in Russia, the first thing I was told was that Nora was sick and needed immediate medical attention. …When we finally saw a doctor, not for care but to complete adoption forms, I was told that her enlarged liver needed immediate attention." In all of this, no one offered any medical care to Nora.

“I felt helpless and scared. How would I—how could I—get her the care they said she needed? At night I would stay awake just to make sure she was breathing. … No prayer, no words of Scripture could have comforted me in those moments. No, in those moments I didn't need words of faith, I needed a doctor. … All I could think about was getting her home—here, to the United States—where I knew that I had access to quality health care." Read more.

What is Spiritual Formation to Me?

Tere Canzoneri, Alliance endorsed pastoral counselor,

Emmanual Center for Pastoral Counseling, Decatur, Ga.

Spiritual Formation, a term long used by Catholics and other faith traditions, has only recently been used more widely by Baptists to refer to the process of deepening understanding and practice of one’s faith over a lifetime. Though we never used that term, it is what we focused on in Baptist Training Union when I was a child in the 1950s and early ‘60s.
 
As a pastoral counselor, I see my work with persons, couples and families as one part of the process of spiritual formation. For me the work of self-care, of healing, of reconciliation to God, self and others, is not separate from coming to see God present and at work in all of life, in all of creation. Because the work is not separate, coming to love God and oneself, which naturally leads to loving others, is the same work.

I believe that each of us is made in the image of God. Each of us is a particular incarnation of the infinite, loving God. Our spiritual life invites us to find the ways that being who we are, using our gifts in the world, makes more of God’s graceful, loving, creative presence available in the world.

The theme of the 2010 Alliance of Baptists Convocation in Monterey, Calif., July 29 – Aug. 1, will explore spiritual formation in the lives of individuals and communities. Mark your calendars and plan to be a part of this transformative experience.

What Are You Reading?

Collegial Clergy Communities

Mahan Siler, an Alliance of Baptists founder

You who are clergy have this in common: You practice leadership within a particular community (congregation, hospital, prison, military, retirement home); you practice theological reflection, connecting the narratives of God with the narratives of communal and individual lives; and you practice spiritual disciplines that nourish the Source of your calling.

What if … you regularly gathered with a few colleagues and offered to each other support, collaboration and accountability in these practices of leadership, theological reflection and discernment, and soul nurturance?

As pastor I found the isolation debilitating. To a significant degree, I felt on my own to interpret the gospel, elicit feedback, read the “signs of the time” in our history, judge appropriate responses to crises, establish practices of self-care, and integrate the learning from the plethora of resources available to me. The model of lone leader is familiar and well established. It’s the norm of our work. The ruts are deep. The wheels of our vehicle turn unbidden in that direction.

I began to look for a few pastor friends with whom I could be out-of-role, yet peers who experienced the role daily. For many years I met weekly with three other clergy friends for a Sabbath time that included silence, prayer, conversation about our work, rest and laughter. Since retiring from being pastor in 1998, I have continued to experiment with a model of clergy community. AnamCara is the fruition of this effort. In 2008 I was ready to write about this vision and make it available to others. Read more.