A Quarter of a Century. . . Can It Be True?
Rev. Eugene N. Nelson, Jr.
The Community Church of Sebastopol
June 29, 2003
Philippians 4: 4-9
Speaking of the experience of the black church, theologian James Cone wrote in 1979: “Black people who have been humiliated and oppressed by the structures of white society six days of the week, gather together each Sunday morning in order to experience a new definition of their humanity. The transition from Saturday to Sunday is not just a chronological change from the seventh to the first day of the week. It is rather a rupture in time, a kairos event which produces a radical transformation in people’s identity. The janitor becomes the chairperson of the Deacon Board; the maid becomes the president of the Stewardess Board. Everybody becomes Mr. or Mrs. or Brother and Sister. The last become first, making a radical change in the perception of self and one’s calling in the society. Every person becomes somebody, and one can see the people’s recognition of their new found identity by the way they walk and talk and carry themselves. They walk with a rhythm of an assurance that they know where they are going, and they talk as if they know the truth about which they speak. It is this experience of being radically transformed by the power of the Spirit that defines the primary style of black worship.”
The spirit of radical transformation. Have you seen any of that spirit around here? Have you experienced it? In 25 years of shared ministry, have lives been transformed in and through this community of faith? In recent weeks, as I have been thinking about today and what I might say, as I have been thinking about 25 years, that question of transformation has been rattling around in my mind.
I was 29 years old when I stood in this pulpit for the first time in June 1978. 29 years old. I am always a little nervous on Sunday, but that Sunday I was really nervous. I prayed that when I opened my mouth, some sound would come out. There is so much I don’t know now; I must not have known anything then. This sanctuary seemed huge and I felt very small. I was so inexperienced. What a gamble that search committee took. Actually, they might have even been more nervous than me on that first Sunday.
A story is told about the famous Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes. It seems he got on a train one day, but when the conductor came by, Holmes could not find his ticket. He looked everywhere, in his pockets, coat, briefcase – no ticket. And the more he looked, the more upset he got. Finally the conductor said, “Mr. Holmes, don’t worry about the ticket. I know you are an honest and honorable man. When you find the ticket, just mail it to the railroad office.” To which Holmes replied, “My good sir! The problem is not where is my ticket. The problem is where am I going!”
That is not a bad description of how I was feeling on that June Sunday, 25 years ago. I knew where I was. But where was I going? Where were we going? And was I truly the right minister to help get us there? Actually, it is a question I ask myself still. Because if you don’t know where you are going, then any road will get you there. True for individuals; true for church.
I could spend some time today reflecting on where we have been – the roads we have traveled. There are so many memories – some painful, most wonderful.
There was the memorable time I turned to the last page of my sermon, only to discover that it wasn’t there; the time I reached down to baptize Deidra Dawson and she turned and ran as fast as she could down the aisle – always did have a mind of her own. I think of when our Becky was born and Nancy put out on the church bulletin board – “It’s a girl!” There was Rocket Rev getting stopped on a mission trip in Arizona for going over a hill just a little fast. Funny how well the kids on the mission trip remembered that moment. I remember John Fiedler getting a flat tire on the way home from Family Camp and about half dozen church members stopping to help. I remember the experiment with two worship services, the experiment with the Rock and Roll service. I remember moving to two, then three Christmas Eve services – not a universally popular decision, but they have now become a part of our life together. I remember people baking apple pies at home and then selling them on the Danmar side of our church. Naida with her scale weighing each pie. Then J.L. Attebury joined our church and said he knew where we could get convection ovens – for free. Of course, the pies might taste a little like Kentucky Fried Chicken for a while. Then came the Apple Fair, Lloyd Lerum found a machine that would shape dough into pie crusts, and our days of selling by the side of the road were over. Memorial Hall. When I interviewed for this position, the search committee talked about the dream of replacing Fellowship Hall with a building where we could all gather under one roof. Finally it happened. What an accomplishment – what a joy.
I’ll never forget Gordon McPherson slowly making his way to the microphone during our congregational meeting that would conclude with a vote whether or not to be an Opening and Affirming church. Gordon – never shy about expressing opinions and not exactly a liberal Democrat. He once stormed out of a meeting when a negative comment was made about Chevron. Gordon finally got to the microphone – what would he say – and made a strong statement in favor of Open and Affirming. It was a moment of grace I’ll never forget. I think of the decision finally to hire a full time associate minister – not an easy thing to do financially for a church of 400 members. Tara is our third. What a bold decision for ministry that was. And look what it has meant for our youth ministry in particular and our entire ministry in general. I think of other decisions for ministry: a handbell choir, a church van, women’s retreats, men’s workcamps and retreats, summer MADD camp, the ongoing subsidy of church camping.
When it comes to outreach, again I think of our youth program – probably nothing we do reaches as many non-church families. The interchurch food pantry started here, the Sonoma-County faith-based organizing project started here. I think of the Vietnamese refugee family we sponsored, the Bodega Hills affordable housing development we helped to get off the ground, the many community groups who find a welcome here, raising money for the first new cabin at Camp Cazadero, and Byron and Ann Eschelman putting the name – Koinonia – on the door. Quite a legacy of service.
Mentioning Byron and Anne makes me think of the people – all the wonderful people who have contributed so much to this community of faith over the years. I don’t even want to start mentioning the names, emotionally I wouldn’t be able to finish the list. So many saints! Truly, as the Sunday school song goes, the church is a people, and today we stand on the shoulders of some wonderful, wonderful people – people who often drove each other crazy, who did not agree with every church decision, but who stubbornly continued to love each other and to love this church.
Colleagues who don’t know me, when they learn that I have been in Sebastopol for 25 years, often look at me as if I am carrying the SARS virus. What is wrong with you? You must be burned out, bored, or just plain lazy. But in spite of hundreds of Trustees and Council meetings and twenty-five stewardship campaigns and 25 annual meetings, and at least a hundred discussions about a leaky roof, it really has been very easy to stay.
I once heard a consultant say that if he goes to a church and doesn’t hear laughter, he knows there is trouble. We have never lacked for laughter. And of course we have never disagreed about anything. Right! But we worked them through and here we are. So often I have seen a love for this church, its ministry, its people, which has transcended disagreements. Again, grace.
And while we have certainly been capable of uttering those immortal theological words – “we’ve never done it that way before!” – still this church has more often than not demonstrated a very open spirit and a willingness to try something new, refusing to let fear of failure – or of not having enough money – stop us.
I remember my sister’s illness and death. How caring you were as you walked that journey with me. How generously you granted me the time I needed. But your caring for me and my family was but a reflection of the profound cavity you have continually shown for each other.
For me and my family, this has been a great place to be. Truly blessing upon blessing. Betty wanted me to add what a wonderful environment this has been for Bethany and Becky – truly for them an extended family. Many of you continue to ask about them still. You have meant more to us than you will ever know. All in all, a wonderful 25 years.
We know where we have been. But, thinking back to the Oliver Wendell Holmes story, where are we going? It’s no secret that in Northern California and throughout the country, churches like ours have been and are in a state of decline. They are getting older, membership is shrinking, worship attendance is shrinking, financial support is shrinking. Many are convinced that their best days are behind them, and the statistics support that grim conclusion.
I think of our church. Worship attendance is not what it was ten-fifteen years ago. No one has suggested the need for two Sunday services for quite some time. Guess we can all get a bit complacent after 25 years. Our financial support of the church, while still strong, seems to have flattened out, and the number of contributing households has actually dropped in the last two years. Total church membership has remained about the same, but certainly has shown no great increase for a number of years. And filling boards and committees with willing – or even unwilling – volunteers seems to get harder and harder. Guess we can all get a bit complacent after 25 years.
But, as I look out on the wider landscape of church life, we remain one of the healthiest, most vital congregations I know. As churches cut back and retrench, we continue to add ministries, even as we face our own budget challenges. Hiring a Christian Education director, for example, speaks volumes about our commitment to children and family ministries. Currently we are planning more retreats, not less. Emmaus is just back from their tour, a home-grown cantata will be performed here tonight, a Gospel Choir has taken shape, a new nursery school program has moved in, and we continue to have a steady stream of Sunday morning visitors, most of whom express great enthusiasm for what they see happening here. You know me – know that once in a great while I get a little nervous and fret just a bit – but there are many reasons for seeing the cup of our shared ministry half full and not, as I am wont to do, half-empty.
So again, where are we going next? My mind goes back to James Cone’s description of transformational worship in the black church. In worship something breaks into the world, into that space and time – call it the Holy Sprit – and creates a space that wasn’t there before, a space that allows human life to flourish, to change, to become something new. Transformation. As I asked earlier, does that ever happen around here for you? Do you ever leave here on a Sunday morning feeling you have been changed? Or is it just business as usual?
Many years ago, I came across this minister’s lament. I’ve shared it with you before – indeed have shared it at a couple of ordination services:
I’m not the one who runs this train,
The whistle I can’t blow.
I’m not the one who designates
How far this train will go.
I’m not allowed to blow the steam,
Or even ring the bell.
But let this damned thing jump the tracks
And see who catches hell.
For ministers, for church members, it is so easy to get sucked into just trying to keep the train on the track – maintenance. Pay the bills and try to find a few volunteers. Last week, church consultant, Ed White, told us that in most churches, committee work is the Protestant form of penance. But who is going to be transformed in a church like that? In the words of UCC minister, Anthony Robinson: “Those seeking a church today need more than a committee assignment. They need and seek a whole new way of life.
At Willow Creek Community Church, a mega church outside Chicago, a group of church members had the gift of fixing up secondhand cars like new. A letter was sent to the congregation encouraging anyone buying a new car to give the old car to the church and take a tax deduction on the gift. Then this group of church “grease-monkeys” would fix up these second hand cars and make them available to people – single-parent families, people on limited pensions, working moms – who needed transportation but could not afford to buy a car. It was a win – win!
Rather than being told, “We need to check on insurance or it will be too hard to manage or we’ll never find a place to store the cars,” the car guys were given permission – were allowed to exercise their God-given gifts on behalf of the church in a way that was meaningful to them. The program operated on the principle of accountability and trust, not on the principle of control. As I think about where we are going, I want us to become that kind of permission giving church, a place where creative ministries bubble up from the congregation and people are given permission to run with those ideas. For that is the kind of church where, in worship, in meetings, spaces are created where human life can flourish, indeed can be transformed. A permission-giving church.
A pastor writes, “One of my fondest pastoral memories is of a brief moment at the conclusion of a funeral. The deceased man’s daughter, a professor at a distant university, had grudgingly agreed to her father’s desire for a church service, following the established ritual. The Psalms and prayers having ended, she came forward. Looking me dead in the eye, she said, ‘You know, the way you read the Scripture is almost enough to make me believe it might be true.’”
Wouldn’t it be great if Sebastopol, if Sonoma County, could say that about our church? “The way you live together, the way you exercise your gifts and serve your Lord in all you do, is almost enough to make us believe it might be true.”
As I look out at you this morning, as I give thanks for your friendship, your faith, your faithfulness, still I find myself wondering…in this church, have you been given the opportunity to use your gifts, to share that part of yourself where you feel most called by God? Sure, you may be good at raising money, but perhaps what you would most like to do is design banners for worship. I want you to have the opportunity to design those banners!
Look at the sheets attached – these same questions were used at a workshop my first week at Princeton. How would you fill it out? When I thought of our church and its expectations, this is how I filled it out:
1. To support the congregation financially.
4. To attend regularly on Sunday morning.
6. To conform to our congregational culture.
13.To serve on a committee
15. To show up on Christmas and Easter.
That is a description of a church in the membership business. Not expecting much – doing what we must do to get by. But what if our expectations included #3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14? That would be a church interested, not in membership, but in discipleship; a church offering people, not a committee assignment, but a whole new way of life, yes, transformation. As I think about the days ahead in our shared ministry, that is a path I would like to explore with you.
A Presbyterian minister was talking with one of his more evangelistic colleagues about some of the troubles in his church. “Well,”said his colleague, “at least you can take comfort in knowing that Presbyterians will get to heaven first.” “What makes you say that?” asked the Presbyterian pastor. “It’s right there in I Thessalonians,” the other pastor replied. “The dead in Christ shall rise first!” I don’t want that to be said about us.
Twenty-five years. It has been such a blessing to me and my family. I hope in some small way it has been a blessing for you and this church. And I am supremely confident that even more blessings lie ahead.
During the first Gulf War, a U.S. female soldier was captured by the Iraqi army and placed in solitary confinement. Conditions were primitive; she was verbally abused, and spent most of her day completely cut off from any human contact. After several days, she thought she was going to go crazy. So she started singing. She got through the seemingly endless string of days of isolation by singing every song she knew.
When she was finally released, she discovered much to her shock and surprise that another soldier had been held in solitary not far from her. He had never spoken a word. She asked how he had possibly managed to get through the ordeal of solitary confinement. He answered simply, “By listening to you.”
Friends, this is our task as we consider the road ahead. We do have a song to sing – a song of hope, of reconciliation, of forgiveness and peace; the story of God’s love as revealed in Jesus Christ, a love that remains true – no matter what! It is a song to sing for ourselves; it is a song to sing for our world. And by God’s grace, here at Danmar and Hwy 116 we will do just that!
Questionnaire Follows:
WHAT DO WE EXPECT OF OUR MEMBERS?
What are the norms for membership in our congregation? Please circle all that apply.
1. To support the congregation financially?
2. To Tithe?
3. To give a percentage of our income?
4. To attend regularly on Sunday morning?
5. To intentionally pursue our spiritual growth through Bible study, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines?
6. To conform to our congregational culture (i.e., like the hymns we like and accept the service the way it is)
7. To discover, develop and exercise our God-given gifts and talents in the life of our church?
8. To exercise our God-given gifts in the workplace, home, and community?
9. To discover in what we are doing all week long a "calling" and not just a job?
10. To talk about the work of God in our lives and share our faith with others?
11. To invite our friends and family members to church?
12. To accept the norms of the congregation as to how we deal with our differences?
13. To serve on a committee?
14. To participate in a small group that will provide nurture and pastoral care?
15. To show up on Christmas and Easter?