Thoughts on Departing My Call with the Vermont Conference, UCC

Friends, I wrote this article for the weekly e-newsletter of the Vermont Conference during my last week there. My call ended on September 30, 2017, and I began a new call as the Pastor of Atkinson Congregational Church in Atkinson NH on October 15, 2017.

Well, here it is, friends, my last e-kit article. It's ok, you can cheer, I can't hear you!

When I began at the Vermont Conference more than 13 years ago, my then position description contained lots of things I was supposed to do - and that list barely overlaps with my current call agreement. It's amazing to me how my position has evolved over the years. As I reminisce a bit, however, the evolution makes sense.

When I went to interview for the position of Conference Administrator (thanks Pam!) I entered a room with no less than 15 people assembled to conduct the interview. Well, isn't this interesting, I thought. I learned something about how the staff (there were 10 of us then!)  and the  leadership communicated and understood trust. It was a fun interview for me - I had no plans to accept the position, and thus felt rather, umm, unrestrained in my responses. I'll be darned if that didn't seem to play well.

Here are some of the things that weren't in my original position description: Stewardship, Church Growth, Church Vitality, Governance, preaching in churches, and leadership retreats. How they came to be part of my work can be attributed to a single word: covenant.

I made it my mission to raise up the bond between local church and wider church. If the local church didn't see any 'value added' in a relationship with the Conference, why have one? We were well past the time when the Conference and national setting of the church could 'expect' financial support because 'it was the right thing to do' or out of some sense of obligation. I thought (and continue to think) we need to earn it. So when a local church asked for help with Stewardship, I worked to become well versed enough on the subject to share something with others. As an old mentor of mine once said, "If you think you know a subject well, try teaching it to others. That'll tell you something."  I found churches hungry for help, and saw that an in-person visit with a local church giving assistance was the quickest route to improved relationship and covenant.

As time passed other skill sets evolved, eventually working their way into my actual position description. I owe a debt of gratitude to leadership that was willing to indulge my extracurricular activities and embrace them as part of my portfolio when it was found to be something our churches needed and fit the mission of the Conference.

Forgive me for what, as I read it, sounds a bit self-indulgent. The point I'm trying to make is this: In a time when churches as a whole have become more insular, the wider church needs to ensure that its efforts provide something the local church actually wants and needs. Mutual covenant and support grows from a symbiotic relationship in which each side contributes and benefits. The current buzz word is inter-dependence, which I guess is fine, but I think covenantal still works well too.

A few years ago Carole Carlson and I developed and taught a UCC polity course which focused on polity from the local church's perspective - and the tug of war between autonomy and covenant. Our churches tend to be more familiar with the autonomy part ("You're not the boss of me!") than they are the covenant aspect. But from the very beginning the mostly unchecked power of the local church inherent in congregational polity was balanced by an understanding of mutual support, relationship, and responsibility with other churches and a wider structure. That relationship needs to be continually exercised to remain strong and vital.

My friends, let me leave you with this thought. Local churches - nurture your relationship with your association, conference, and the United Church of Christ. There are things we can do together that no church can do alone, and skill sets you require that won't be available in-house. And my dear Vermont Conference, always be listening, always be responsive, always seek to provide the churches what they need - free of the institutional quicksand that can make you slow to grasp and evolve.

Many of you have reached out to me with a personal note. I have, alas, not been able to respond to them all. Please know that I cherished each of them. It's been a wonderful 13 years. Thank you all for your love, encouragement and support. I return to the local church from whence I came, answering a call to return to parish ministry. But a piece of my heart will always remain with you.

Peace,

Jim

Where Will Our Next Pastor Come From?

If your congregation has a settled pastor, this may not be the question at the forefront of your congregation's thoughts... but perhaps it should be.

The mainline church is in the midst of significant change, but that's not news anymore. One of the often overlooked components of that change is what the future of pastoral leadership looks like. Here are some startling facts: 

·         80% of all authorized ministers in the UCC are over age 50.

·         Only 6% of all authorized ministers are under age 40.

·         From 1992 to 2012, the number of employed ordained ministers decreased by more than 1,300.

·         Licensed Ministers now account for 9% of all authorized ministers.

·         There is some good news - the number of female pastors is up to 46%. (although they are, on average, still paid less than their male counterparts)

·         70% of all UCC churches have a worship attendance of less than 100.

·         Here in Vermont, only about 1/3 of our churches have a full time pastor.

So, most of our pastors are over 50 years old, opportunities for full time pastorates have declined significantly, but even so there aren't enough new pastors in the pipeline to offset the massive upcoming retirements. Starting to think this is something to pay attention to?

The way we 'make' pastors is getting a lot of attention these days. I don't think our denomination's appreciation for a learned clergy is going away anytime soon, in fact I think the 4+3 (undergrad degree plus a Master's of Divinity) education model as part of a Member in Discernment process should remain the normative one.  And yet, there are significant obstacles before us, including:

·      With fewer churches who can afford one, there are limited opportunities for newly minted ordained pastors to be called to a full time pastorate.

·      Many seminarians graduate with more than $100K in total college debt, and face decades of student loan payments.

·      Local Church Pastor is not always the first career choice - even for those attending seminary.

At the United Church of Christ General Synod this past summer, one of the resolutions we considered tried to address at least part of this systemic problem. It was the resolution that sparked the most debate, more than mountaintop mining and divestment from fossil fuels and all the others. The initial resolution draft called for the establishment of a sixth all-church offering to be used for financial assistance for seminarians swimming in debt. In one of the closest votes at Synod, the resolution language was changed from "an annual all-church offering and other possible funding initiatives" to "an annual all-church offering or other possible funding initiatives." The amendment passed with 51.3% of the votes in favor. Our General Minister and President was for the amendment, stating that requiring a sixth offering would "tie the Collegium's hands...". The national setting of the church is working on options that will likely be brought to the next General Synod in 2015.

While the urgent matters before our churches call to us with loud voices, we cannot allow them to drown out the important matters that are also before us. Multiple Paths to Ordination and Licensed Ministry will have an important role as we go forward, but they are a partial solution to a larger challenge. How will we provide a continuum of support to those called to pastoral ministry to ensure that they are well prepared and unburdened as they begin their calling?

So, do you know where your next pastor is going to come from? It's not a rhetorical question.

Peace,

Jim

Does It Matter Where the Rockets Come Down?

Some years Lent and its purposeful reflection sends me down some odd rabbit holes. This year I'm pondering to what extent we take our Sunday morning faith into the rest of the week - I mean - do we live into being a disciple of Jesus away from church? And does it matter?

I'm intrigued by the life of Wernher von Braun. Wernher wasthe central figure of the German rocket program from the 1930's until the end of World War II. A real life rocket scientist, perhaps the greatest one in history. He developed the V-2 rocket, built with workers from concentration camps, and more than 3,000 were fired upon England and Belgium during the last 18 months of that war. After the war, he was whisked to the United States along with several members of his team. His history was whitewashed, and we put him to work. Designing ICBMs. And later, the Saturn 5 rocket that took our astronauts to the moon. It's fair to say we might not have made that trip without him.

Tom Lehrer

Wernher was contrite about his past later in life, resulting in some revisionism. In his recollection of the day of the first successful firing of a V-2 at England he quoted himself as saying "The rocket worked perfectly except for landing on the wrong planet." Nice one, Wernher. He described himself as apolitical, and cared more about designing rockets than what they were used for. He was famously spoofed in the mid 1960s by satirist Tom Lehrer in his song "Wernher von Braun" which included the lyrics: "Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down; That's not my department," says Wernher von Braun."

But.

But, it IS our department, isn't it? We can't hold the moral high ground for an hour a week and put it away for the rest of it. If discipleship means anything, it means this: That we live our whole lives as followers and disciples of Jesus, and whole means not just all of us, but all of our time.

Some of us seem to have built a partition that we hide behind, disconnecting our professed faith from how we actually lead our lives. This Lenten season, I am being intentional about not doing that. The mantra I repeat to myself (and I invite you to say to yourself) is:

"I DO care where the rockets come down."

All the time.

Every day.

Amen.