Anti-Racism and Ministeriums

Jess: Last Friday, my fellow juniors and I had to attend the Anti-Racism seminar. Eight hours of anti-racism. Anyone who was on Facebook that day probably noticed my quickly escalating anger from the class. 

Out of the eight hours, seven hours and 50 minutes of the class were devoted to A) Proving that racism still exists today and B) Making white people feel guilty about their privileged position in society. Most of the students were a little perturbed about this, to say the least. None of us were under the impression that racism was eradicated in the 1970s. We didn't need to have that drilled into our heads for 7 hours. What we needed was some sort of practical use of the class. 

There were a few other major problems I had with the class. First, I think that, in this day and age, it is inexcusable to talk about racism and not have some sort of comparable class about sexism, heterosexism, xenophobia, etc. Most of the class brought up this issue in either the large or small group sessions. At the same time, even if it were okay that nothing outside of racism was addressed, the only racism we focused on was whites being racist toward blacks. We have a Puerto Rican student in our class. This did NOT make him happy at all. There are whites in the class who have been discriminated against for being white. What about these issues?

So that's enough complaining. Now what do I do? The class obviously gave us no practical outlet for social justice. But as Christians, we're called to change the situations and systems that allow racism, sexism, heterosexism, etc. to continue. The closer I get to being a pastor, the more I realize that I need to not only practice what I preach, but practice BEFORE I preach. I can't go into the pulpit and tell someone to work on social justice ministry, then go back to my house and watch my big TV and ignore the problems of the world. So what do I do? 

My classmates and I were clearly troubled by the prevalence of racism today in the system. Our government is creating and sustaining systems that allow racism to continue. Helping an individual is great for that person, but what do we do about the inherent injustice in the system? Where do we go from here? Those of us in positions of privilege HAVE to do something. Recognizing the problem is a good start, but how do we change it?

I don't know yet. I do know I want to start an advocacy group on campus. I want to invite my class and I want to see where it goes. I want to be in marches, I want to write to my congressperson, I want to vote in a way that changes the system. But everything starts at a smaller level. And there are SO many problems. Which one do I start with? Is there some sort of domino effect? What will happen?

"“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me...‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"


Wes: You want to know what's weird? Princeton never made us go through anything like that. Apparently it's just the Lutherans who need to be informed that racism still exists :-P. But seriously, Jess' story just goes to show how good the church is at talking about the problem without really ever addressing how to tackle the problem. It's a sad state of reality for many people...


I want to share with you a blessing from God to Jess and I. For the past year and two months, I have been pastoring the two-point charge of Crosswicks UMC and Ellisdale UMC. Crosswicks, the larger of the churches, is located in Chesterfield Township, which is a small town off of Bordentown, which is a larger small town in between Hamilton, Burlington, and Trenton. Now, in Bordentown, all of the pastors from all of the different churches and denominations have a standing breakfast appointment together at the Town and Country Diner. This group, called the Greater Bordentown Ministerium, consists of Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Catholic, and Pentecostal ministers, with as many as 15 showing up on any given Tuesday for breakfast. I have been as faithful to this group as I possibly could, attending weekly with the exception of the semester that I had a Tuesday morning class. This group spends anywhere between an hour to two hours talking about life, ministry, theology, history, books, movies... absolutely whatever. There is never an agenda; we just spend time in each other's lives. 


Jessica and I were talking a couple weeks ago about this ministerium breakfast, and I realized something: If for no other reason, it was worth us coming to Crosswicks and Ellisdale just to be a part of this group. The pastors are encouraging and challenging. They keep me accountable in my studies and challenge me to push harder than I want to. They are willing to be questioned and stretched, willing to walk through process with Jess and I as we continue our education toward ordination. 


And not once have I felt like a 23 year-old sitting around the table with a bunch of soon-to-be or actual seniors who have been doing ministry longer than I've been alive. They make me feel like a colleague, like a partner in ministry. They include me in everything, ask my opinions and listen when I give them. It is a wonderful feeling, and I am completely and utterly thankful to God for this group. I honestly do not know if I could juggle everything that I have to juggle each week if it weren't for their love and support. 


When we leave, whenever that may be, I am definitely going to miss this group. I don't know of any other place that has such a wonderful ministerium set up. Denominational differences, gender boundaries, and racial limitations dissolve when we are together, and we can engage in true Christian community. 


I pray that everyone, especially those in ministry, get to experience something like this at least once in their ministry or their life. 


Well, that's all for now. Love love love!


You stay classy, World Wide Web!




-jess and wes

Seminary is Taking Over Our Lives!

Jess: So I'm in my third week of class. I haven't drowned in reading and writing yet, and I'm really enjoying all three of my classes so far. I don't think I can pick a favorite because the topics are so different and the professors have a lot of styles, but I'm enjoying each class. I think the most difficult three hour block to get through is Scriptures of the World, simply because it doesn't end until 10 p.m., and I'm pretty tired by then.

I’ve really enjoyed the topics we’re talking about in my Sex and Scripture class. The main focus of the class is women’s role in the Old Testament, New Testament, and today. My professor is a female ELCA pastor who was ordained in 1974—this was before women were generally ordained in the ELCA overall. I am continually appalled by the completely irrational and idiotic sexism she has faced throughout her life. At one point, a Presbyterian pastor said that women should not be allowed to be pastors until after menopause. She had no female role models in the church. She was the role model.

So here we are in the twenty-first century and we think that we’re past sexism. We see books like Man Down by Dan Abrams, saying that women are pretty much better at everything. We see women in positions of power: running for president, serving as CEOs of companies, juggling work and families, etc. Yet sexism is certainly not dead. Even though I haven’t been exposed to a lot of it, Wes pointed out that, on one of the two times I preached for him, people came up to me after the sermon to challenge what I said. They would never dream of approaching Wes in the same way, signifying that he has more authority to preach than I do.

My professor made one point about our continued difficulties with women in positions of power, especially within the church. When a man is in power, we can very easily separate the man’s vocation from his family life. How many times do you think of Obama as being a father first and the president second? More to the point, when the pastor’s wife is pregnant, do we automatically think about the pastor as a soon-to-be father or as the pastor? Yet if a woman were in this position, there would be no denying her sexual, maternal, and family life. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

In Old and New Testament times, women were the property of their fathers until they were “sold” to their husbands. Women had no place in society outside of their father’s or husband’s family. In fact, they were not even considered a part of their husband’s family, yet they were no longer a part of their father’s once they were married. This made their place childbearing, bringing the next heir into the world. They were useful for nothing else, and had no power except that which their husband was kind enough to grant them in the moment.

Although Jesus turned this system inside-out (see his teachings on divorce, inclusion of women, healing of women, acceptance of children, etc.), we see this tradition continue to play out today. Women who go to work and leave their children in the care of others are seen as terrible mothers. Yet mothers who stay at home with their children are told they don’t have a “real job.” There seems to be no way to be a mother and satisfy society. We must choose between motherhood and work, yet no choice is the right one.

I’ve rambled long enough. I think I’ve been privileged to not experience a lot of sexism, but I know that this is something I’m going to have to be prepared to attack head on as I go into the ministry. Women pastors are a minority in the ELCA, and I will have to be ready. Part of this preparation will come through the paper I plan to write on this topic in Sex and Scripture. More preparation will come in working with women pastors, building a community of mentors for my future in ministry. And, most importantly, I will pray for God’s guidance and care throughout this path…and thank God for revealing this reality to me early in my ministry education. Amen.

Wes: First off, which seminary looks more exciting/worth attending, Jess' or mine?


Jess'------->

(Weird pointy sign. Lose)

<-----Mine
(Marble Freaking Columns. Win)


That is all on that front.

So. I started my classes this week. It's going to be a busy year, but a good year. I am taking a class on Methodist Studies, a class on Preaching, and a class on Revelation in a Post-Holocaust and Post-9/11 World. I am very excited about all of them.

My United Methodist Studies class fulfills one of my candidacy requirements for becoming an elder in the United Methodist Church. Apparently, they want you to know a little bit about where the church has come from and what the church believes before they agree to let you become a leader of the church. What's up with that? But seriously, it should be very interesting. We are living in a time when every belief system is being questioned, and having a strong foundational understanding of my denomination will help me personally in owning up to my faith as believer in Christ and as a member of the United Methodist Church as well as help me professionally in better articulating to members of my church and visitors alike what it is that we stand for as Christians who worship in United Methodist Churches. I am excited to learn this and then to immediately apply it as I work to teach my first round of Confirmation at Crosswicks UMC. 

I must admit that, already, my Introduction to Preaching class is better than I thought that it would be. Now, I'm not trying to sound boastful or haughty, because I know that I still have a lot to learn and that I am nowhere near perfect at this, but I've been preaching twice a week every week for over a year now. I figure that I have the fundamentals of it down. I'd love to be in an advanced class where I can tweak what I'm already doing and fine-tune things that need to be adjusted, but I figured that this class would just be a redundant waste of time. Wow. I was wrong. My professor is amazing. He just finished his doctorate in homiletics (preaching) from Fuller Seminary, where he did his dissertation on Creative Preaching. I have a lot to learn from him, and I am excited about doing so. I also love that this is not going to be a straight-up lecture class, but is much more a forum and practicum. Even if I do have most of the basics down, he can help me fine-tune and perfect what I am doing so as to be better. 

My last class, Revelation in a Post-Holocaust and Post-9/11 World, is going to be especially interesting for me. A few years ago, after engaging in one of the infamous peat-repeats of the United Methodist Church--God is good all the time and all the time God is good--a friend of mine asked me if I really believed that. Then he asked me if I thought that the Jewish people in Europe after WWII would say that. It really made me think, and really made wonder not only how we as Christians can work to answer to the question of evil in the world, but how we can make such blanket statements like that without any regard for the way that afflicted people might interpret that. What does "God is good all the time" mean for the parent who is watching her children starve because she doesn't have the means to feed them? What does "God is good all the time" mean for the soldier coming back from war who is struggling to understand his experiences of death? How do we find and share God with the world today, in light of such horrors and atrocities? 

I have a lot of reading for my classes. Already in this first week, I've had the whole of three different books assigned to me, and I have about 750 pages more to read by the end of next week. Suffice it to say that the XBOX is going to go untouched for the majority of the semester. 

Well, that's all from us for now! Pray that we still have time to talk to each other in the midst of school, homework, and church! 

You stay classy, World Wide Web!

-wes and jess

Business and Ministry-ness

Jess: I really have no idea what to write about this week, but I know it's time to write our blog again. Let's see...how about we talk about how ridiculous this semester is going to be and how excited I am for said ridiculousness.

So let's take a quick look at my schedule for the fall:
 
M:  7-9 babysit; 4-7 babysit; 6-7 class (yeah, that's right)--update, I have class at 2:15. Yay not being in two places at once.
T:    9-10 breakfast; 4-7 babysit
W:  1:30-10 class
R:   4-7 babysit
F:   8-11 class; 12-1 tutor; 4-7 babysit
S:  FREE DAY!!!!--except I already know that I have something scheduled every week for the next 4 weeks. So....bad start.
S:  Field ed in the morning

So, yeah. I'm going to be about as busy as I was back in high school and college when I was in 10,000 activities, working, and going to school full-time. Which may sound like complaining, but let's face it. I freaking love being busy and working hard. I'm super excited about actually having to schedule my days again. 

I started seminary for real on Wednesday. I have three classes per week in 3.5 hour blocks. I'm taking Sex and Scripture, which is a survey of how gender relates to how Scripture was written, interpretations of Scripture, and how gender roles and stereotypes affect our ministry. I'm also taking Scriptures of the World, in which we will literally be reading Scriptures from around the world. It's an interfaith class, which is one of the concentrations I'm considering joining. My last class is Telling the Story: Preaching and Evangelism. We're talking about what evangelism means to us, what it should mean to the Christian community, how to preach it, and how to teach it. I'm probably most excited about this class, and not just because one of the professors is a Texan, and sounds like it. 

I'm still doing my nanny gig in the afternoons, but Wes has graciously offered to take over for me on Wednesdays so I could condense my school days into two trips. I haven't figured out how Mondays are going to work yet, but we'll get there. I have three families that want me to babysit on occasional mornings, so we'll see how that fits with my schedule.

For the first two years at LTSP, we are required to do several field education experiences. Our first year, we do a rotational field ed experience, where we visit five churches for three weeks each throughout the semester. In between the first two years, we do a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), where we (generally) work in a hospital for 10 weeks of the summer, learning that aspect of ministry. The second year, we are placed in a church, where we work 10 hours per week, including Sunday services. Instead of school, our third year is an internship, where we work full-time in a church, learning how to be a pastor, working on and honing our skills. 

I am actually doing a site placement because I did not have the gas money or time to drive to the rotational sites in Philly every Sunday. I haven't found a church yet, but hopefully we'll be working that out soon. Like, in the next 2 days. I might do the same again next year, and I'm looking to defer my internship until after my last year of seminary. 

Soooooo, life is great. I would write more, but I have some homework to do!

Wes: Well, I don't want to be complaining all the time like someone... not to be naming any names, but to be rhyming names, hers rhymes with Smessica. :)

I thought I'd tell you about the amazing weekend that I just had and how God is doing some really neat stuff up here in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. My weekend started with a wedding on Friday. The bride and groom, two great people whom I really enjoyed talking to and getting to know, said they wanted a short and sweet wedding, and that's what I gave them. The entire ceremony, sermon included, was thirty minutes long. Now, this experience revealed certain things to me, one of which is that I am slightly more of a hopeless romantic than I care to admit it. I don't like short and sweet wedding services. It is very possible to do and say everything necessary in the United Methodist wedding liturgy in about 25 minutes. But I struggle with seeing why anyone would want such a short service! I know how much wedding dresses cost, not to mention the fact that the bridal party has rented/bought tuxedos and dresses, someone paid untold sums of money to decorate the sanctuary, and people have driven/flown in from who knows where for the sole purpose of witnessing and celebrating the joining of two souls. I would think all of that was worth at least an hour. 

But, all that being said, it was a wonderful ceremony that went off without a hitch, the bride and groom are on their honeymoon in Aruba, and everyone was happy with it. 

After the ceremony, Jess and I loaded into the car and drove to Ocean City, a tiny island community about 20 minutes away from Atlantic City, for a youth ministry weekend extravaganza. At Ocean City Youth Weekend, an event that has been going on for years, we had about 500 youth gathered together for fellowship, worship, and service. We listened to the musical stylings of Agape, a Christian hip-hop artist, watched in awe as illusionist Jared Hall made a table float and made the sanctuary snow, worshipped with local youth bands, and had communion on the beach. 

We also, for the first time, implemented a service aspect to the weekend's activities. We broke up all of the youth into groups of tens and twenties and fifties and sent them out to do different projects around the area in both Ocean City and Atlantic City. Jess and I had a group of ten that we took to do the "Ten Dollar Challenge." Everyone was given $10 and told to use it to bring glory to God's Kingdom. We pow-wowed before we went out and decided that we wanted to combine our money together and do something with $100 instead of each person doing something with $10, so we went off in search of someone we could help. We found ourselves at the local fire station, and when we asked what their needs were, the captain said that what they really needed was help cleaning the station. So we put our hands and feet where our money was, grabbed brooms and dust rags and trash cans and got to work. It was a wonderful time, and we ended up giving the money to the station's charity to use for local events and to help local families. 

Here's one of the coolest parts of the event, though. Agape, the nationally-known Christian hip-hop artist who performed for the youth on Friday and Saturday, went with our group to do the service project. He not only hung out with us, but he engaged in service with us, working side by side with the youth and showing them what true Christian leadership and service was about. It was so cool, and it was an amazing testament to the One whom he is doing ministry for. 

By the way, his real name is Dave.

Then we came home for Sunday worship at our churches, and I felt truly blessed to be a part of my two congregations as we spent time in prayer and remembrance of those affected by 9/11. I am honored to be the pastor of Crosswicks UMC and Ellisdale UMC, and am honored to be able to minister to and be ministered by the people that make up these congregations. Yes, there are struggles at both, but there are struggles in any church, and I am so thankful and joyful to be surrounded by such great people. 

Well, that's all for now. I'd give you my schedule for the semester like Jess did, but honestly I don't know what it is. I don't start school til next week, and I couldn't even tell you what classes I'm taking off the top of my head. ;)

See you next time! You stay classy, World Wide Web!

-wes and jess

Study Cains and Hurricanes

Jess: I started seminary last Sunday. Yes, Sunday. I'm taking a class called the Prologue, where we learn about various parts of seminary life, as well as discuss Shopping Malls and Other Sacred Spaces by our wonderful professor, Dr. Jon Pahl. After about 10 minutes of class, I realized that Dr. Pahl is the LTSP version of Dr. Ruge-Jones from TLU, so I'm loving that. He also reminds me of a cross between Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society and Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World. So, that's pretty freaking sweet. He's a history professor, so maybe I'll actually enjoy history for the first time since Euro with Mr. Yanko. 

The class has been pretty interesting. We've been meeting together every day from about 4-10, eating dinner together, worshiping together, and trying to learn the names of the 50 other people in the class. We have tackled some fun topics, and we have tackled some very challenging topics. How do we, as faithful people, address the anti-creational, anti-Jesus things that occur throughout the world today? How do we act in a way that is faithful to Jesus' precepts? How do we end the violence caused by Christianity?

Some of these questions have been difficult to process. We watched a movie called Malls R Us on Wednesday evening, and I seriously had a stomachache by the time class was over. Feel free to watch the preview here. The movie goes into detail about how malls are destroying so much of what God has created and wants for our lives. For example, groups from North America have built malls in India, across the street from where people have no clean water or sanitation systems. 

This class is designed to help us find our voice, to determine our academic level, and to help us make the transition into seminary. Dr. Pahl has used these challenging issues to begin our discussions and to help us find that voice. And the question on my mind hasn't been so much who I am or who I want to be, but what I want to do. What am I going to do for the world? People are lost, people are hurting, people have a void that needs to be filled. We try to fill it with visits to the mall, among other things. What am I going to do to follow God's calling on all of our lives? Who will I help? How will I do it? How will I be Jesus' hands and feet in this world?


Wes: So as many of you know, it seems like the end of the world is upon New Jersey. At least, that is what I heard a teenaged girl say after we were hit by the shocks of an earthquake and a hurricane within one week. I personally thought that the earthquake was kinda cool, but I wish the rain at least from the hurricane could have gone to Texas instead of here. We have enough, and they have too little (or none in some cases). Which brings me to my first point: For everyone in Texas praying for rain, please include a location in your prayer next time. Thanks. 


With the hurricane hitting on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, I was all but ordered to cancel Sunday services. This is a problem for me, because on principle I firmly believe that services should never be canceled. If it is a matter of safety for the parishioners to come to church, I absolutely think that they should stay home, pray together as a family or alone, and not risk the elements. But I firmly believe that part of the call of the pastor is to brave the elements no matter what and be there at the church just in case someone does come and needs to hear a word from God. If I am not there, I cannot be God's instrument in that place. So canceling services was very hard for me to do. I felt like I was letting God and my parishioners down. It doesn't matter that one of the churches was literally not accessible on Sunday no matter how many roads I tried to take to get there or that this church still does not have power due to the hurricane. I should have been there, and I was not, and I feel like I did not hold my end of the agreement between me and God because of this.


So this has been my struggle all week, and I know it might sound stupid, but I can't shake the feeling like I did the exact opposite of what I should have done. 


Oh well. I guess that's what grace is for. 


Well, thanks for waiting patiently for a new post. In Jess' defense, she wrote her's last week and has been impatiently waiting for me to sit down and write my half. I promise to be better about it in the future. Unless I drop the ball on that too... 


Thanks for reading! You stay classy, World Wide Web!




-wes and jess