Monday, March 29, 2010

God's Law vs. Human Law or Sexual Abuse in the Church

I rarely mention the sexual abuse controversies which have arisen in the Catholic Church over the past couple of decades. Generally, I find that the topic only angers people, for a number of perfectly understandable reasons. It is about almost unforgivable acts, the abuse of power by persons of trust toward children. Also, the apparent response of the church hierarchy to allegations of such abuse seems incredibly, and perhaps indefensibly, uncharitable toward the victims.

However, those in any church can learn a great deal from considering this ongoing story. There are lessons about church culture and the desire to protect those within from those outside the church. There are issues about balancing remorse and forgiveness against justice and ministry to victims.

There was a fine essay recently in The New York Times that addressed some of this is an informative and even-handed way, which you might wish to read.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Ecumenical Dialogue

From lunch Monday until lunch Tuesday, I and several other Disciples gathered with several Roman Catholics for a prayer retreat. This annual retreat, which is a part of the ongoing ecumenical dialogue between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia, is an opportunity for us to gather together, pray together, and have discussions, usually guided by a guest presenter. This year's presenter was Dr. Peter Morgan, a well-known Disciples minister with close ties to West Virginia, who is a past president of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society.

As usual (this year marks my third such retreat), the event was a wonderful experience. It was an opportunity to catch up with people I don't get to see enough (among both the Roman Catholics and the Disciples), including a few who've experienced health challenges over the past year. It was also an opportunity to enjoy the hospitality and pleasantness of the Bishop Hodges Pastoral Center, outside of Huttonsville. I appreciate any chance I get to drive into the Valley, which is so beautiful. And the Pastoral Center is a relaxing, friendly place with a knack for serving lots of wonderful food.

Dr. Morgan offered three sessions inviting us to remember and then look ahead, first our personal stories, then our shared stories, and then what he termed the "master story" -- the Gospel. At one point he offered the excellent point that "the master story (the Gospel) is always correcting our story," meaning that the truth of the gospel always interprets, and sometimes must amend or correct, our vision of the events and experiences of our lives. This is both a good way to understand the role of faith in our lives generally, and also a glimpse of how honest inter-faith dialogue can occur.

I cannot reconstruct the context for much of what was shared during our discussions, so I will refrain from mentioning specifics, so I do not give the wrong impression. However, I can share that I appreciated the openness of our time together, our prayers together, our meals together, and our discussions together. Those gathered recognize that Jesus called his followers to be one, but that we are not; we also recognize that there are many significant reasons why the church is divided. I was impressed, despite how brief our time together was, with how much we shared, both our hopes and our frustrations with this process. We celebrated our time together and enjoy our growing relationships. At the same time, we realize that we cannot share the Eucharist together, despite the centrality of Holy Communion for both Roman Catholics and Disciples.

Ecumenism, like much important work of living out our faith, is fulfilling but often hard work. Often, it is overlooked work, as Christians focus on other things, many of them (though probably not all of them) valuable. There is always much to do, especially in our own congregations and communities, that pushes our attention and our time commitment away from making the effort to share with other faith communities.

Central Christian is blessed with some long-standing ties to other churches. Through the regional church, we are longtime members of the West Virginia Council of Churches (now in its 130th year); we also enjoy the fruits of longtime ecumenical dialogues with both the Roman Catholic church and the United Methodist Church. Within Fairmont, we are an active member of the Greater Fairmont Council of Churches, whose ministry is shared in surprising ways, from our presence at government meetings, to public access Channel 19, to service projects (ecumenical mission trips, the CROP Walk, last November's "Christmas Toy Drive"), to shared worship and education activities.

I value our contributions to the ecumenical life of the church (I'm not sure I could pastor any congregation which refused to support such things); I hope we all do. I firmly believe that it makes us better disciples, better doers of the God's Word. I also think that it makes us better listeners, more aware of God's continuing involvement in our lives.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Disciples General Minister Travels to Haiti

Rev. Sharon Watkins, the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is part of a delegation traveling to Haiti this weekend. She will be part of a group of Disciples and UCC (United Church of Christ) representatives looking at relief efforts, including those supported by our ministries, firsthand.


Given the resources that several Disciples ministries will be directing toward Haiti in the form of relief efforts and reconstruction efforts now and in the coming years, this seems a wise trip. Sometimes such "fact-finding" trips are little more than photo-ops or brief feel-good things. Given the previous efforts in Haiti, and the evidence that the leaders of Global Ministries and Week of Compassion say they will continue and be added to after the earthquake, this trip feels much different to me. I hope that is true, and I hope that this trip is just another step in our continued ministry to the people of Haiti.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Channel 19 in March

The March schedule is now playing on Channel 19, which is a public access channel partly sponsored by the Greater Fairmont Council of Churches. Our Lincoln Sunday worship service was recorded and is being shown at 11:15 am and 11:15 pm each day. The service has been edited to about an hour, including the sermon, some of the prayers, and a lot of the music (certain things like announcements and specific prayer requests are not shown). DD did a nice job editing and adding some graphics and Lincoln-related photos. In addition, the choir's performance of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is being shown at other times during the day, including at around 10:15 am and 10:15 pm.

The full March schedule is available at the Channel 19 website.