One Vision: A Church Manifesto

I was recently talking with a spouse of a fellow minister. We were discussing different ministries within our respective churches and talking about what the future of those ministries might be in the follow years. This conversation led to the overall future of the Church. During our discussion she made the comment, “You know I believe Michael (not husband’s real name…those have been changed to protect the innocent) will be part of the last generation of people to actually retire from what we know as full time ministry. I mean for those going to into it (congregational ministry) now…I just don’t think the same financial support will be there.” She stopped there and immediately said, “I don’t say that to discourage you, but it’s just gonna be different for you.”

She’s right.

Having been in congregational ministry now for the past several years, I am all too aware of the declining numbers in the big main line denominations. While churches are still being planted, most are closing their doors. The faithful Baby Boomers are being replaced at a rapid rate by the “Nones” (those that hold no religious affiliation).

So in the words of the prophet MLK, “Where do we go from here?”

The following is my addition to Luther’s 95 Thesis. I figure it’s been 500 years and the institutional church could use a few more…

1)    The new generation of preachers, theologians, leaders, Christ followers are going to have to let what we know of church die. The saying that “we don’t go to church because we are the church” should be more than just an empty statement. It should be the new mantra. Maybe the problem the modern church has is its people have been going to it for too long. Asking them to be it is going take a different approach.

2)    Co-Pastor Churches. I was dreaming with some fellow “30 something” year old pastors not long ago about church leadership positions. All present were in some form of associate role, and while we did have one person say they had a desire to be a head pastor, the group was in agreement and spoke with excitement on the idea of co-pastorships. The idea of sharing equal responsibility with one or more church leader. And yes, before you think “well, isn’t that what the church does now?” Yes and no. While pastoral duties are broken up in modern churches, the intentionality behind co-pastorships is not a practiced norm. There are some churches where this is taking place, but these are outliers and are small in number. Sharing equal responsibility allows pastors the ability to be involved and support different causes/movements. However, if the future of the church is to embrace co-pastorships than future clergy will need to…

3)    Embracing Bi-Vocationalism. Ministry is a burnout waiting to happen. Just speaking from my own perspective, the average career of those in youth ministry is around 18 months. That’s not even two years.  Most pastors don’t know what a 40 hour work week looks like. The old joke of the pastor only working on Sunday is still around, but the reality of 60+ hour work weeks and limited boundaries are what pastors and their families often experience. With or without co-pastorship positions, the ability for small churches to afford a full time staff member is dwindling. Being able to work in something besides congregational ministry will soon be a necessity for many future church leaders. I myself have worked two sometimes three jobs in order to do ministry since I began working in the church. For those called to congregational ministry I believe the drive is there to make this work, but this is a two way street.

4)    Denominations and/or Independent Churches will have to look for different ways to support. Whether Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, United Church of Christ, Universalist Unitarian…churches want degrees and those degrees are not cheap. In 2014-2015 the average cost of seminary training from an ATS (Association of Theological Schools) was around $14,700 per year (the cost as you might expect has gone up). That’s roughly $45,000 for a three year program. The average pay for a pastor in 2012 was $28,000 (of course denominational affiliation, experience, and location play a factor). If I personally did not receive scholarships and financial aid, my school debt would be closer to $60,000 at the end of three years. Being expected to obtain a high level of education while being promised a salary close to the Federal Poverty Level is daunting. While I would love to see seminary charging less in tuition, my attention and call will be for denominations and churches to look for alternative incentives to employ clergy. Perhaps a part time position is the only option for a church, so why not produce financial support in other ways, i.e. insurance and retirement options instead of bottom dollar salaries? Again using myself as an example, I would happily look into pastoring a church where I was required to be there on average 25 hours a week and receive pay that reflected that sort of time commitment while receiving medical insurance for me and my family. Denominational resources could be used and partnered with resources of local churches to pull this off. Ah, but you ask…”if you’re only going to be there 25hrs a week and we are paying for your insurance, what are you going to be doing when you’re not working for the church?”

5)    Community Pastor: I mentioned bi-vocationalism earlier and being a community pastor ties in with that concept. Even when I’m “off” I’m never truly off. I find myself at least once a day sharing with someone what I do and where I serve. Often I do this while working at another job. People have known me as the “pastor who works at the t-shirt company attending all the local festivals” or “the pastor who works at the local bottle shop.” I’m out and about working, engaging people in my community, and intentionally sharing with them my faith and passions (sometimes that happens in the first conversations, sometimes it happens in the 20th one).

For years the institutional church has asked younger clergy to trust it, now we are asking the same. Pour into us the way we have poured into you.

This is but one person’s observation and opinion. In order to see action happen future clergy, churches, and dominations are going to have to have a “come to Jesus meeting” with one another. As a pastor, these are my thoughts…

What are yours?

Concerning Charlottesville: Why Reconciliation Is Needed.

I’m what you call a “processor.”

While although I can deliver wit and off the cuff comments, I often do better when I have time to sit in thought about something

I’ve been processing the events in Charlottesville, VA for the past week.

Having an outlet such as a blog forces me to ask myself this question every time I begin rapping my fingers across the keyboard: “What am I adding to this topic /conversation?”

In the context of Charlottesville, what can I say that hasn’t already been said?

Many others have said what I feel. Zack Hunt, John Pavlovitz, Diana Butler Bass, the dean and faculty at Wake Forest University School of Divinity, and even late night talk show host and comedian Jimmy Fallon.

And while I may not agree with everything those mentioned above have said, I agree with their assessment. The Alt-Right, Neo-Nazi’s, KKK members, and all other white supremacy groups that showed up in Charlottesville this past weekend are disgusting and wrong. They are manifestations of hate that I, as a faith leader within a community, cannot not sit quietly and not address. If there is a divisible line, this is worth being divisible over.

As for Antifa and other counter protesters in Charlottesville that weekend, I believe they raised their voices against hate in a moment in which it was desperately needed. I know many might disagree in this statement. I have seen comments all over social media saying counter-protesters were just as much a problem as the white supremacist groups. To that I would say; we can debate the tactics used by counter-protesters if you’d like, but we cannot debate whether or not action should have been taken in confronting a group of fascist, bigoted, racists.

Late last night while my wife slept soundly in the next room, I watched the VICE News piece on Charlottesville. What I saw went far beyond the racism I have heard and experienced growing up in the South. That’s not to say it wasn’t always there, but this was a more radical dormant rendition that I had never been exposed to personally. Let me be clear, the individuals in this video are not misunderstood. They are not themselves part of an oppressive system which targets poor whites into thinking that the only thing they have left to hang their prideful hats on is to know they are better than then the black folk who live on the other side of town. No, what I watched wasn’t that. The spokesmen and leaders of this white supremacy movement were wicked and without remorse as seen in their language surrounding any other ethnic group besides their own. They are not looking to dialogue with those who oppose them. They are not looking to come across table and grieve differences.

They are looking to burn the table and all those sitting around it.

 They are looking to eradicate the other side because the other side is less than them.

This is why I can’t remain silent. Yet, what is it that I will say? To whom will I say it?

For this purpose I want to speak to my people directly; white folk who claim to follow Jesus.

Trying to speak for any other group is pretentious at best and arrogant at worst.

I’ve read article after article and watched video after video, and as white male I don’t believe I have the right to tell others how to feel. That’s what got us in this mess in the first place.

I can’t imagine what African-American men and women in the south feel when walking past Confederate statues honoring soldiers and generals who fought to keep the business of slavery alive.

I can’t imagine what African-American men and women feel when the Black Lives Matter movement is referred to by elected officials as a terrorist group.

I can’t imagine what those claiming Jewish heritage think when they see Nazi flags flying beside our nation’s stars and stripes.

I can’t imagine what any minority group in the United States feels when they see the privilege being doled out time and time again to people who don’t look like them.

And there are more examples. While perhaps not on the forefront of this incident particularly, they are being shouldered by other courageous groups daily.

But I’m not talking to or for them; I’m talking to white people right now.

I was glad to see “us” show up to confront the horrendous individuals who attempted to spread a message of superiority. “We” added our collective voice to the voices of others in condemning such asinine claims. I saw “us” locked arm in arm with other groups marching in solidarity.

I also saw good intended people be pushed into committing acts of violence themselves.

*Disclaimer: Let me be clear, I am not comparing the actions and motives of the counter protesters to the white supremacy crowd. One is clearly a reaction to the other.

What I want to say to my white brother and sisters is…we got to do better than that.

When I think of protesting it’s hard for me not to think of MLK. Dr. King and other Civil Rights leaders embodied a spirit of unwavering perseverance in the face of hatred. I’ve read the accounts dealing with the preparation Dr. King and others went through in order to ready themselves for marches and sit-ins. Dr. King was a believer in non-violence, and it showed in his actions. His belief and faith held his head up while keeping his fist down. From my understanding, Dr. King recognized there would be violence when he spoke out and marched but it would not be committed by him and his people.  This kind of display is the stuff Jesus was speaking of when he referenced the Kingdom of God. Dr. King’s ability to not give the other side what they in turn gave him is what made King not only influential for decades to come, but it made him right. You see there was a determination about what he did that surpassed the stubborn mindset of those fighting to keep segregation alive. Dr. King would say in his work Stride Toward Freedom, “It is still one of the tragedies of human history that the ‘children of darkness’ are frequently more determined and zealous than the ‘children of light’.”

So…

Dear white people,

If we are to show up and protest against hate in all its forms, we must have the desire to be more determined and zealous in our approach than those on the other side of the protesting line. What does that look like? We don’t show up to out fight, out scream, or out hate. We show up to demonstrate love and compassion in a way that when these opposing individuals go back to their homes they are not beaten physically but instead in spirit. We will need to stand firm in showing that peace and love are stronger and resonate more in the human condition than hate and divisiveness. What will be the outcome? I honestly don’t know. There will be pain and suffering. There will be losses and defeats. There will be weeping and gnashing of the teeth.

And I tell you with glorious certainty it will be worth it.

For something could happen not only to those we oppose, but to ourselves in the process. A fellow radical Baptist preacher, Will D. Campbell, understood the importance of dealing with those who sought division in many different ways. Campbell was a Civil Right leader who both marched with MLK and would later be moved by his faith to act compassionately towards those he had marched against; the racists. Lawrence Wright in a Rolling Stone article had this to share about his time with Campbell.

“In 1969, on the night before Bob Jones, the Grand Dragon of the North Carolina KKK was shipped off to federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, for contempt of Congress, Campbell was there in the Dragon's Den to celebrate communion with a bottle of bourbon. Later, Campbell talked with James Earl Ray, the man who had murdered Campbell's friend Martin Luther King. When people asked if he really expected to save the souls of such men, Campbell allowed that that would be presumptuous: "They might, however, save mine."

For those of us who profess faith, this is where the radical message of the Gospels gets played out in the here and now. We need to act out this message like those who have come before us.

I wish I could personally tell you that I’m there. That I am spiritual mature and disciplined enough to stay the course and remain loving in my protest against racism. However, I know I still have work to do in that area.

That’s why I know Campbell was on to something. We have to be in constant contemplation about how we show up and demonstrate. We must not ignore what is going on. Instead we must keep confronting not only those who stand against us but confront ourselves and the preconceived notions that we are already "right." Instead of succumbing to hate let’s allow the love we claim to posses have the profound impact we believe it can.

Saints in Elastic Boots

I often hear myself say at least once a day, “I can’t believe this is happening to me.” This usual occurs during those crucial life altering moments at the drive through at Starbucks. The one I usual stop at on my way to church has a round-about style drive through, which means when I’m pulling in I can’t see what’s on the other side of the building. Most mornings I arrive and see no line and instantly feel excited knowing my transaction with the drive through barista is going to be short and sweet, but sometimes there’s a line and I have to wait (usual I just park and go in if this happens). And then there are the times, which seem so overly frequent to me, where I see just one car in the line and I think to myself, “This shouldn’t take long.”

And guess what? It always takes waaaaaay longer than I feel it should.

The Mercedes SUV in front of me this morning was occupied by a single driver, but they purchased a whole tray full of drinks. Three of which were frappuccino! Who needs a frappuccino that early in the morning? Thus I am forced to sit and wait for my grande ice coffee and silently grovel while thinking to myself, “I can’t believe this happening to me. Why do I always get behind these types of people?”

Now there is a plethora full of things wrong with me in this scenario that I could pick apart, but I feel the major root cause has to do with me feeling as if what I do should take precedent over the needs/wants of others. Like somehow I’m more important than the driver with the three frappuccino, which of course is an absolute absurdity. When I pause and actually think about how upset I am I realize what I’m experiencing is not in any way a form of suffering, but a simple (and I’m stretching it here) inconvenience. #firstworldproblems

So as some of you know, I just returned from camp with my students last week and during that time away from home I felt inconvenienced almost daily. I wasn’t with my wife, I had to sleep on a bunk bed, I had to share a bathroom with six other guys, etc…Being honest with myself these are all pretty petty things, but in the moment, these seemed a lot bigger. Particularly one incident while we were there…

Our group shared the top floor of a cabin with another group from a different church. We had a shared doorway that connected the two rooms which we came to find out didn’t have a lock. On our first night there a leader from the other group walked through the door and explained to me that there wasn’t quite enough space in their section and that he’d like to sleep in one of our extra beds. You can imagine my initial response.

Uh, no.

Now I’m all for communal living, but there are some issue that arise when dealing with students. First and foremost is their safety and being respectful of their parents who’ve trusted me with their child’s wellbeing for a whole week. Having someone not part of our group and having not gone through a background check from our church just screamed “problem” to me. The students and I offered to give him some of the extra mattresses we had, but couldn’t allow him to stay with us. He seemed somewhat offended and not satisfied with that answer, but relented none the less. I informed camp staff just to keep them in the loop as to what was going on and considered the matter closed.

It was not.

For the next two days this leader entered our room unannounced.  He used a small hallway on our side of the cabin to store extra backpacks/luggage without asking which   felt like an infringement on my and the students space. Justifiably so, tension begin to rise on our end when our complaints to staff seemed to fall on deaf ears. I remember one of my last conversations with a staff member where it seemed they felt just as powerless as I did in the situation. I informed them I had tried to be as respectful as I knew how, but this issue was coming to a head quickly. It was then I was pulled aside by a senior staff member and given some information about the leader who had been entering our room. Reflecting back now, I’m not sure if that personal type of information should have been shared with me. However, it did give me an insight as to why this individual was not picking up on social cues that most would. Some life altering tragic events had recently taken place in this leaders’ life. As I walked back to our cabin my mind began its typical cycle. “I can’t believe this is happening to me. Of all the people I could have been roomed beside I get the one person who doesn’t understand basic common courtesy!”

And then something else happened. Each step I took I found myself thinking about the stories I had been told concerning this socially awkward, yet seemingly harmless, church youth leader. This individual had been through a lot in the past few months. Life had been hard for this person in ways I can’t even begin to comprehend. Noticing this helped bring about the revelation that I lacked the ability to even fully empathize with this individual. However, what I did discover was that this person had much more of a right to say “I can’t believe this happened to me” than I did.

Taking all this in, I decided to sit and talk with the group of students who had been directly affected by this situation. We talked and it was one of the students who said, “You know, honestly we’ve kinda blown this out of proportion. This really isn’t that big of a deal, more of an inconvenience than anything else.” Words of wisdom for us all. As we sat there my mind raced back to a C.S. Lewis quote. In his work God in the Dock, Lewis tells a story which explained his need and connection to the local church. He begins the story by saying that he initially hated going. He loathed getting up early on Sunday mornings. Even after he became a regular attendee, he held a disdain toward church hymns describing them as “fifth rate poems set to sixth rate music”, but felt his attendance was necessary because he couldn’t receive the Sacrament of Communion alone. However over time he began to rethink his cynical views.  

“But as I went on I saw the great merit of it. I came up against people of quite different outlooks and different education, and then gradually my conceit just began peeling off. I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren’t fit to clean those boots. It gets you out of your solitary conceit.”

I found this and read it to my students that night. We unpacked the significance it brought up in each of us, with the conversation continuing well into the night. Around midnight we heard a slight knock on our door. The leader poked his head through the door and asked if he could use our bathroom. We told him of course. One of my students whispered to me, “Can we invite him to sit and talk with us?” I gladly told the students I was fine with the idea, but it was up to them. The leader came out of the bathroom to a group of students wanting to introduce themselves to him and asking if he’d like to join us. The leader declined, but said he might take us up on the offer later. We continued to talk into the night, discussing the situation along with loads of other things that were on our hearts. Around 1:30am we finally settled down and I lay in my bunk complete floored by the events and conversation of the night. It will be something I will never forget and will cherish being part of. As I begin to doze off an all too familiar thought went through my head. Yet this time it was not in self centered frustration, instead it was a thankful prayer.

“I can’t believe this is happening to me…”

Fighting On Social Media

Came across an older post I had written in the early part of 2016 when I when I was still at Campbell University. I made no changes to the article, and yet as I read it, I could have written it yesterday...

As I type this, I am sitting in our comfortable red leather chair in our living room (that our cats have become too possessive over I might add) and enjoying my second cup of coffee this morning.

And yes, as a Pastor…I know how cliche what I just typed sounded.

However it is for these small things that I find myself thankful this morning. You see since Friday afternoon Lauren and I had been without power until yesterday evening. The blizzard storm, Jonas, (and when did winter storms start getting names?) covered the RDU area with a mixture of wintery precipitation.

And when I say “mixture” I really mean “ice”.

The 48 hours prior to yesterday’s return of modern convenience was a true eye opener. This of course is not the first time I’ve ever lost power in a storm, but it has been awhile since it occurred. Although many offers from friends and families were extended for a place for us to stay, we decided to hunker down and break out the candles and extra blankets. Not to mention having Fred (a large Golden Retriever) and two cats to share our bed; we were beyond toasty.

So no power means no lights. No hot water (we ran out on the second day). No stove to cook. No way to charge our phones (unless we charged them in the cars…which we did). No Hulu. No Netflix. No internet.

Those last three things I mentioned; it was like living in the 1990’s all over again.

However even with the lack of today’s technology being limited to me, I came to appreciate the circumstance/pleasure that had been obstructed by a self imposed desire of contemporary accessibility (i.e. Hulu, Netflix, Social Media).

Reading.

Now for those that know me, this may sound a bit farfetched as you know I am a constant reader. Nonetheless, in recent times I have found that I have neglected reading as a form of pleasure. I had begun to recognize it more as a task. Reading for school is the obvious example, and as much as I enjoy studying/learning…I must admit trying to consume enough knowledge/ideas can be taxing at times. But not all of my reading is scholarly. What I discovered in the deafening silence offered by the power outage was that the majority of my reading is now being occupied by the tabloid of my time…social media, and to be more specific: Facebook.

A small disclaimer: I get the benefits of social media. It can be used in lots of positive ways. It brings people together. Everybody has a voice. Etc, etc, etc…

So the question now to be answered is; what is it that personally draws me to social media/Facebook? Why is it that as I lie in bed at night, I scroll through Facebook?

If I’m honest with myself, and for this reflection I really want to be, it’s not for the above mentioned benefits. I’m not doing it to stay connected to high school friends. I’m not using it to check up on current colleagues and peers to share in their pictures of new babies (and trust me there are A LOT of them). I’m not intentionally using it to learn in a traditional sense, although I have learned something in this instance…so maybe that’s a plus. What I’ve come to understand is that I go to Facebook to see one thing.

People argue.

People fight.

People disagree.

People end friendships.

People make hurtful statements.

People make harsh claims.

People attack each other.

I could keep going, but I think you get the point.

Sad thing is we could substitute “I” for “People” if we are going for authenticity here.

Yes, everyone has a voice. That voice and its opinion are protected under the First Amendment of these United States. All good and understood.

Yet, do I always need to express my opinion? Is my opinion on certain topics even worth expressing? And when I do feel the need to express, do I need to do in such a way that degrades another’s point of view? When I state my opinion do I state it as fact? Am I looking to dialogue? Do I state it under the presumption that I’m right and you’re wrong?

Western civilization today presents us with a very polarizing worldview. We are given this side, or that side. Yes or no. Black or white. We are taught to oppose “this” and support “that”.  Little room is left for discussion or gray areas.

This thinking brought me back to a moment I had in the classroom at Campbell University. As part of a class discussion, we were breaking the class down into subgroups to see what are resources were. We were doing this in order to gain perspective on what we could offer as support to a certain community that we wished to engage. This conversation led to what type of questions should we ask of the community we wanted to enter and be involved with. What should we take into consideration? We used our own small 14 persons class as a case study. What was our income level? What different ethnic groups did we represent? What denomination or faith groups existed? Age groups? Basic yet important questions. To know the needs of a people you must first know the people. As I stared at the board, I noticed one obvious distinction we had somehow missed…

“What about political views” I asked? “Not just Democrat or Republican, but are they/we conservative or liberal”?

Silence.

Nothing.

Nada.

Our professor acknowledged that it was an important factor to consider and wrote it on the board. However NO ONE in the class wanted to share what their views were. No one wanted to express their opinion in lieu of being exposed to questioning for thinking a certain way.

Of course this brings up so many questions. That fact that we feel we can express our income, faith, and ethnicity, etc…to a certain level while not feeling threatened says wonders. Yet why can’t we speak about our political stances without the fear that we’ll be ostracized? If my class was an indication of the larger feelings that those of us living currently in the United States have is that we are more attached to our personal political stance than we are to any other identifier.

As someone who claims to follow Jesus…this is a problem.

In the past several months, and what is to be expected in the months ahead, the division of one another over issues stemming from political to economic beliefs will intensify (it’s a election year after all). Instead of working together, offering different perspectives by listening to one another, appreciating our differences and the values they hold, and demonstrating diplomacy we are urged to segregate ourselves into opposing camps. The picture we are given instead is that we must take a stand to ensure that as a people we won’t be taken advantage of, that we won’t allow a group of people to terrorize us, and that we must protect our freedom and way of life by any means necessary…

I flip through Facebook and see the dividing walls being lifted. Arguments between strangers and even family members erupt over these issues. Hurtful comments sent across the internet that can never be wiped clean (even as much as we like to believe they can be deleted later). These conversations become snapshots in time that preserves our lack of understanding and willingness to hear each other out. When we attack someone, what we are really saying is that “we are superior to you” and “your opinion doesn’t matter”.

Sadly I see many of those waving the Christian banner doing exactly this…

Instead of voicing our preferences, opinions, and fears…what if we could become the “light of the world” that Christ spoke about in Matthew’s Gospel (Ch.5:14)?

Instead of mocking, shaming, and vilifying one another we rid ourselves “of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and slander” (1st Peter 2:1)?

Instead of celebrating when those who disagree with you fail, demonstrate a way that does “not rejoice when your enemy falls” or if they stumble (Prov.24:17)?

I could keep going….but I think this next one sums it up nicely.

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1st John 4:20-21)

My wish is to see more encouragement in this world. More affirmation. More compassion. More sincerity. More Love. More Jesus. I know it’s hard to walk along side someone who’s different. It’s hard to be taken out of our comfort zones and be exposed to ideas that might rattle our worldviews. It’s hard to show patience with people. It’s hard to love people, but the alternative of hate is something we must not surrender to. Dr. Martin Luther King said it this way in one of his sermons;

“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.”

This is how Christ overcame this world, and he has called us to do the same.

“For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Eph. 2:10)

"What's Going on at Duke?" My personal back and forth with the resignation of Paul Griffiths.

In early 2016 I was discerning where my next stop in my theological education would take place. I had whittled the choices down to a few institutions, one of them being Duke University’s School of Divinity (Alas, Wake Forest School of Divinity won out). I toured the school and was able to have lunch with a few current students to gauge their experience. As part of the tour, I was able to attend an introductory theology course taught by Dr. Paul Griffiths. Overall I enjoyed the class and took enough notes to fill several pages. I had wanted to introduce myself to Dr. Griffiths, but I did not get the opportunity.

If Paul Griffiths’ name seems familiar to you it’s because it’s been in the local and national headlines recently.

Griffiths has taught at Duke Divinity for over a decade, but will be resigning from his position as the Warren Professor of Catholic Theology at the end of the next academic year. Why you ask? Well, the answer depends on who you ask and where you fall on the spectrum of free speech (I make this statement knowing already this scenario isn’t so cut and dry, and like most cases, is harder to decipher than it first appears).

Without giving a complete retelling of a story that has been told in dozens of other articles (News&Observer and WSJ), the resignation of Griffiths began with an email request from fellow faculty member, Dr. Anathea Portier-Young. The email encouraged staff to attend a two day seminar dealing with diversity training. Upon reading the email, Griffiths responded back in his own mass email to the rest of the faculty encouraging them not to attend the “definitively anti-intellectual” training sessions. From there Dr. Elaine Heath, Dean of the Divinity School, became involved and voiced her support of the diversity training. It would appear the two parties were unable to come to terms to a sit down meeting. The disagreement quickly escalated; with a harassment suit being filed by Portier-Young through the University’s Office for Institutional Equity and charged with unprofessional conduct by Dean Heath. Griffiths’ resignation would come soon after and accompanied with a published explanation of why he did so.

It would be easy to play “Captain Hindsight” here and explain why this disagreement between two faculty members couldn’t have been settled in a more professional manner. From an exchange of emails, it would seem the situation moved so fast that perhaps lines were drawn before the opposing parties really knew what was at stake. My general thoughts, after having time to process this story, were like many in the comment sections of the articles I have linked to above.

Why did Griffiths respond in the matter he did using a mass email?

Was his response part of a much bigger issue and back story we “the readers” are not privy to?

Did Portier-Young take the criticism more as a personal attack vs. a critique of the purposed diversity training? If not, why file the harassment suit with the university?

Why couldn’t three highly educated adults find a time to sit down and work this out?

These are just a few of the questions that I, and others, have asked ourselves as this story continues to unfold. I for one would prefer this to be a simple case where there is a clear victim and perpetrator, leaving me to know exactly whom to side with. I must admit at first I thought it was that easy. I read the story with the understanding that Griffiths was being confrontational and maybe a bit of a contrarian. Why would someone not be in favor of diversity training? Certainly a professor at a prestigious divinity school would support gatherings encouraging inclusivity, right? I began to paint a picture in my head of a academic elitist who thought he was too good to sit and listen to a panel of speakers explain to him what he should already be aware of in his classroom. And yet, as I began to read article after article I began to see a different side to the story. One that didn’t make it so cut and dry as I would like it to be.

I used to work in manufacturing and logistics. Working in those environments I was part of numerous mandatory meetings dealing with large companies’ policies ranging from harassment to diversity. As I began to reflect back on those experiences I started to realize, “God, that kinda was a waste of time.” Before you think I’m a horrible person for not wanting to sit through this type of training, let me say very clearly that I by no way believe that to be aware and informed of these type of issues within the workplace (and in this case a university) isn’t important. Discrimination towards people groups and individuals happens all the time, and I want to be part of a process that helps bring this to end. I did however question the motive and means in how this training was approached and taught. Who was benefiting from this training? Could it be done in a better way? Why wasn’t I asked for feedback? It seemed I was being “talked at” instead of being asked to join a conversation. Instead of eagerness I met those times with resentfulness. Maybe Griffiths felt something similar. Once I saw this, Griffiths’s situation became relatable.

And here is where it started to get tricky for me.

Griffiths’s response seemed harsh and somewhat demeaning to me. Yet, his mass email was a candid expression of what he thought of the training…much in the likes of Portier-Young. Where she was for, he was against. They both used the same platform, email, to point out why they felt the way they did. When I began to break this down, this is what I came to; two intellectuals in the same respected field of study disagreed on something. Instead of having discourse and walking away with mutual respect for one another, one filed a harassment suit and the other felt the need to resign.

This might be an assumed misconception, but bear with me. I have been brought up to believe the Academy of academia was where the best and brightest go to learn and teach. Professors representing different schools of thought could come together to offer an experience where all sides of a situation could be heard and dissected for examination. Particularly in higher education regurgitation of material was not sought. Instead, concepts and past knowledge were tested and leaned into to see if they actually held up. New ideas could be brought to the table with dialogue being key in understanding not just theories, but each other better (I think of the debating friendship of G.K Chesterton and Bernard Shaw). Disagreement is part of the academic process; it’s what makes us/them better at what we do.

When I see two fine intellectuals at a flagship institution like Duke Divinity not being able to work out their differences I worry for the rest of us.

An opportunity representing two diverse opinions (oh the irony) presented itself and the individuals and university were not able to take advantage and engage with it. The resignation of Griffiths means his voice/stance will no longer be heard at the university concerning this matter. This act could lead others to feel the same way and depart from the university because they feel as if their voice isn’t being heard. As a Baptist, when voices start becoming silenced at a university my ears perk up. I have heard of the stories and incidents that took place at the major Southern Baptist Seminaries in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Depending on whom you ask these institutions experienced a conservative resurgence or a fundamentalist take-over. Either way a number of highly accredited Moderate-minded professors were dismissed, or felt they could not stay at these seminaries in good conscience because their understanding of scripture and how they taught differed with their colleagues. I hope I’m not comparing apples to oranges here, but I believe the general notion of one side pushing another out can be seen.

In the end, this issue has become more gray than “black and white” to me. I agree with Portier-Young and Dean Heath that diversity training is a needed and good tool. However, I am for Griffiths having the ability to question and critique the reasoning behind the training. In a nutshell; I want to push for diversity, but should always be willing to reevaluate how I approach those means in which I operate. My hope is that Duke and other universities learn from this ordeal. When one surrounds themselves with “head-nodders and yes men” the outcome steers one away from needed and sometimes difficult conversation. I expect more from them (Duke Divinity, Portier-Young, Griffiths, Heath) because I really want to expect more from myself.

“We” are better than this.

Neighbors: The Next Step in Community

A while back I wrote a blog about community. As I grow older, and hopefully wiser, I want to revisit the idea of community in and outside the Church.

When I pulled into the parking lot I already felt a little nervous. It’s always a little jarring for me going into a place I don’t know very well. I had given myself a pep talk on the ride over, reminding yours truly not to drift into my default mode of being a “wall flower.” When I finally parked I begin to experience both excitement and anxiousness, two emotions which often accompany one another. As I sat in the car not ready to get out, I had a stream of thoughts run through my head.

“You know, you could just turn around. You’ve got other stuff to do today.”

“I’ve heard weird stuff about the people who go here…”

“Will anyone talk to me?” (I think I’m cool, but will they think I’m cool.)

I made my way across the lot and through the front entrance. As soon as I hit the door I saw three people standing inside what I understood to be the foyer. Before I had the chance to say anything, a young woman made her way over to me.

“Good morning. You must be Justin, right? I’ve heard about you. Nice to have you here with us.” She said all this with what I perceived as a genuine smile across her face.

 She was followed by a handful of other people, introducing themselves to me with hearty handshakes. I found a seat and continued to have a conversation with a young man who was asking me a bit about myself. Not intruding questions mind you, but simple open ended questions that allowed me to share in detail as much as I felt comfortable with. More people began to come in and I was introduced to them as well. I was pleased to see people who looked different from one another. This was not a place where everyone looked alike. Men and women representing different ethnic backgrounds stood around in an open circle conversing about their lives and what they had done since they had last seen one another. From what I could tell from eavesdropping, most of them had seen each other no longer than a day or two before. I heard laughter coming down the hall and saw children entering into a room filled with toys and a big flat screen TV. There was even a dog wondering around affectionately looking for attention, which she found plenty of as the crowd grew to over 30 people.  As we made our way into a slightly larger room a gentleman named Reggie called everyone to attention.

“Hey everybody, we have a guest with us this morning. If you haven’t met him already, this is Justin. Before we leave today I want you to be able to tell me one thing about him.” I tend to shy away when a spotlight is directed upon me, but the manner in which this act of kindness was done made me feel a sense of acceptance.  

Working with students I often find myself talking about acceptance at least a couple of times a month. Acceptance is something I imagine most people become aware of in elementary school, if not, certainly by middle school. Being welcomed into a small community of friends where one feels they can truly be themselves with little to no judgment is highly sought. What I tell my students is the longing for acceptance never really goes away. Wanting to fit in or be accepted by a certain group of people happens well past ones awkward teen years. The same emotions can arise no matter the age, be it 15 or 50. In my case, I find life in groups which recognize me as a unique individual. Groups that allow me space to express my thoughts and feelings. For me it’s not so much about “fitting in” as it is allowing me to “be me.” When I feel I can’t convey who I am I shutdown versus conceding into the preferred stereotype (I mean come on, I picked the moniker black sheep Baptist for reason).

For the next hour I engaged in light conversation with different people who were both encouraging and affirming of my presence and contribution. We participated in a group activity where this milieu just happened. By the end of our time that day I felt I had shared more with some people in an hour than I had with some of my seminary classmates over the course of an academic year (not because my seminary peers aren’t awesome, but this environment seemed more conducive in allowing me to open up). After everything was over, Reggie raised his voice over everyone’s yet again. “Alight, who here can tell me something about Justin?” Multiple voices began shouting…

“His wife is named Lauren.”

“He moved here from Raleigh and lives over in Ardmore.”

“His got a golden retriever named Fred.”

“He goes to Wake Forest University.”

“He works at a church in Statesville.”

As I began to make my way out, a few people came over and thanked me for joining them that day. They expressed a desire for me to consider coming back and hoped I could bring my wife next time. Some even asked what my schedule was like to see if perhaps we could meet up during the week. I’m a pretty cautious person and typically when people approach me in this manner I tend to take three steps backwards to create space and evaluate the situation. This time I found myself only taking one step backwards. Somewhere deep inside me I believed they meant what they said. My encounter with these folks appeared to be bona fide.

As I got in my SUV I ran the scenario over in my head. I was greeted and felt welcomed. People were happy to see me there. I was asked to participate and cheered on for what I brought to the experience. People wanted to know something about me; they wanted me to add my voice to theirs. I felt part of something, even if it was just the first time I had visited there. Everyone seemed to want to accomplish the same goal, but did this in different ways. They not only invited me back, but wanted my wife to come (acknowledging her is just as important as acknowledging me). Driving down the road the thought came to me, “Man that really felt like church.”

But it wasn’t church. I wasn’t visiting another congregation. I was at a CrossFit “box”.

*Disclaimer/Confession: I’m not here to plug CrossFit. I was one of many people who for years made fun not so much of the program as much as I did of the people who went there. What’s the old joke? Q: How do you know someone does CrossFit? A: Don’t worry they’ll tell you. The irony of all this is when I got home I posted on social media about going there. Pot meets Kettle. My purpose is to become more active and lead a healthier life. At this time CrossFit is the best option for me to obtain that goal.

The realization that Crossfit does community better than most of the churches I’ve visited over the last decade was, and is, staggering. The people there were connected in ways I rarely see in church settings. I often hear the expression when leaving church, “Have a good week” or “I’ll see you next Sunday.” This doesn’t happen with the group of individuals who attend the box I visited (a “box” is what CrossFitters call their gym, if you go to one you’ll understand why). These people see each other anywhere from 3 to 6 times a week and sometimes travel to regional Crossfit competitions with each other. They get together and participate in other activities besides working out. One of the conversations I overheard dealt with a handful of people who had joined a kickball league together, another being a couple of guys grabbing breakfast one morning. These people were living out community and I was in awe.  

Rebel-rousing Baptist preacher Will D. Campbell in his fictional work The Glad River had this to say about authentic community. “Community ain’t something you join. You don’t get voted into it. It just happens!” Campbell alludes to the situations where community is less selective as it is organic. However, I’m hoping ole’ Brother Will would agree with me here, there has to be some intentionality behind community. Looking at the Crossfit community that I visited, I realize their facility and common desire to exercise is the catalyst that draws people together, but the motivation to connect with other individuals is what keeps people coming back day after day week after week with such gusto. All of a sudden the focus is not so much on the community, but the relationships that occur within it.

In the first chapter of The Glad River Campbell introduces two main characters, Doops and Kingston. They are thrown into getting to know one another in the midst of training for war (the scene takes place sometime after the attack on Pearl Harbor). Walking along, Kingston begins to share a revealing personal story about his upbringing. The story is intimate and Doops is both intrigued and taken back by the suddenness of Kingston’s ability to open up to him. From the feel of the conversation, the anecdote was told in order to build up a level of trust. Doops sensing this and starts the following dialogue.

Doops put his hand on the man’s shoulder and turned him around, looking directly into his eyes. “Do you trust me, Kingston?”

“Yes. I trust you, Doops. Do you trust me?”

“Yes. I trust you.” They stood shaking hands again, looking each other squarely in the eyes.

“Then we are buddies?” Kingston asked. Neither face showed any expression.

“Yes. We are buddies. I’m your buddy.”

“Are you my friend?”

“Friend?” Doops relpied. “Friend.” He repeated the word but no longer as a question, his voice dropping. “That’s a stronger word. We’ll have to see. But we’re neighbors. Like I say, we’re neighbors. I know that much.”

Neighbors. Maybe that’s a better way of describing how people that live in community should view one another. In fact, let’s change the idea of community to that of a neighborhood. When Lauren and I moved to Winston-Salem, we knew we wanted to live in a neighborhood we both liked and were excited when we found a house in Ardmore. Yet, just because we moved into the community/neighborhood that didn’t automatically make us neighbors with those around us. Sure maybe on the surface level and based solely off proximity, but simply being in a certain place doesn’t necessarily make one part of that place. I can run onto the basketball court at a Cleveland Cavaliers game wearing a Lebron James jersey and just because I’m close to the players doesn’t make me part of the team. To be neighbors with someone I believe a relationship has to be established. Over the course of a year we are starting to become neighbors with some of the folks in our neighborhood. We feed some of excess vegetation to our next-door neighbor’s goats (yes, we live in the city and our neighbor has goats). Our neighbor across the street has brought over our mail when it has been delivered to his place by mistake. Perhaps the best story deals with our neighbors down the street. After all the drama that surrounded last year’s political season, these neighbors wrote us a warm letter the day after the election stating that they wished to get to know us better (this letter was accompanied with homemade baked bread as well). Since then we have had several interactions including a lovely dinner at their place. We may not be the best of friends with these folks yet, but we are certainly neighbors. We not only recognize and see one another; we have also made moves towards one another.

In Luke’s Gospel Jesus tells the story/parable of the Good Samaritan. A man is robbed, beaten, and left for dead. A priest and Levite, representing religious authority leaders in the Jewish community, pass by the man and offer no help. The foreign Samaritan, an individual not considered part of the Jewish community, sees the injured man and is moved by compassion. He helps the man where the others did not. At the end of the story Jesus uses the term “neighbor” in describing how the Samaritan responded. The injured man and the Samaritan were not friends, we do not know if they knew each other prior to this story, yet this did not stop them from becoming neighbors.

Sometimes community happens easily, i.e. I show up at Crossfit and I’m part of it. But if I want a deeper relationship with people I have to be willing to become neighborly. This summer I am fortunate to be serving at my current church in a full time role. My goal is to allow myself to become more immersed in the community of my congregation. I’ll also be thinking of ways I can be more of a neighbor to not only my parishioners but others as well.

 People at Crossfit.

 Fellow seminarians.

 Individuals in my actual neighborhood.

Maybe the answer to the question is not so much as how can I be a neighbor to them, but them to me?

As I often tell my students when presenting two different views; it’s probably a little bit of both. You can’t just be someone’s neighbor. They have to be yours too.

Tough Conversations: Unpacking 13 Reasons Why

Have you ever been hooked on a television show? I remember when the show Lost was must see TV for me. I had binged watch the first few seasons on DVD and made sure every Thursday night I tuned in to see what happened on the mysterious Island (I still think I’m trying to process what happened in that final episode). Lauren and I had just started dating, so my memories of Lost are of a time that takes me back to sitting in her small apartment near UNC-Greensboro’s campus and eating NYP pizza (which is hands down the best pizza joint in G’boro. They stay open to 5am!?!).

Movies, television shows, and now Netflix series can have quite an impact on us. I have always been something of a movie buff and have viewed all types of cinema as different forms of artistic expression. Just like me associating Lost with meeting Lauren and awesome pizza, movies and shows have the ability to take us back to times and settings long past. They have the ability to influence…sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. At their best I believe movies and shows have the ability to expose us to things that perhaps we haven’t been aware of before (think Boyz n the Hood for white suburbia in the mid 1990s).

With all that being said, I haven’t latched on to a show in quite some time. There have been a few here and there, but for the most part I tend not to allow myself to get drawn in too much by a series. As funny as it might sound, there is commitment involved. People speak of “binge watching” shows, and I have experienced that firsthand. You watch one or two episodes mid morning on Saturday and the next thing you know the sun is going down. One must be aware of these pitfalls, especially near the end of the academic semester (I’m completing my first year at Wake Forest Divinity in about a week, Allelujah indeed).

And yet, in the Youth Pastor cliques I run in I kept hearing about this new show. I found out students from all over our country are watching it. Without going into the whole synopsis (you can read that HERE), 13 Reasons Why tells the story of “Clay Jensen, a shy high school student, who returns home from school one day to find that he has received a mysterious package in the mail. It contains seven double-sided cassette tapes used by Hannah Baker, a classmate who has recently committed suicide. Each tape details a reason that she killed herself. The tapes were sent to various other people before arriving at Clay's door.” The show was released on March 31st 2017 as a Netflix original series. It was based off the book of the same name by author Jay Asher.

As a Youth Pastor I can’t help but be involved in some way in youth culture, even if it often leaves me feeling as if I’m on the outside looking in. When students begin to talk about something like this, adults like myself, need to pay attention.

For this reason I felt the need to address 13 Reasons Why.

First and foremost let me be clear: I’m not here to tell you as someone who doesn’t have kids what you’re supposed to do with your kids. That’s just not how I operate. What I do want to do is give parents the information they need in order to make that decision themselves.

So besides the synopsis, here is what I can tell you.

The show depicts the lives of modern day high school teenagers (perhaps sensationalized at times).

These teenagers come from all different backgrounds and have their own difficulties and problems.

Some characters drink and use drugs.

Some characters are sexually active.

They curse a lot.

There is a suicide scene at the end of the series.

A female character is raped.

I do want to make the point that certain scenes and language used at times may feel “raw” to some viewers. However, in my own opinion, the depictions of these scenes are less evasive than other shows and movies out there that deal with similar issues. Surprisingly, nudity almost never occurs.

For many, this could be reasons enough not to watch the show, and again, that is a choice you as a parent will have to make. However, I must say that by choosing not to engage the issues surrounding this show you might miss the opportunity to discuss issues ranging from;

Depression.

Pressure; imposed by peers and parents.

Bullying.

Gossip and Hearsay.

Mental Health.

Isolation and Disconnection.

The responsibilities of one’s own words and the consequences of one’s actions. Particularly when filtered through all avenues of social media.

What 13 Reasons Why brings to the forefront is that there are people sitting beside us, going to school/working with us, living in our communities that are suffering. For those of us who claim to be persons of faith…how can we stand by and not get involved? If I am to love my neighbor (Mark 12:31) than I must know my neighbor. That means spending time with them and doing life with them. It means we must allow those around us to trust us by building bridges. It means stepping out of our comfort zones and approaching people that don’t look like us and inviting them into our circles.

Could you have these discussions without watching the show? Absolutely. The goal of this post is to simply nudge parents towards having these conversations in an environment you and your student feel is safe. I know it may sound cliché, but the old saying of “your kids are already having these conversations with someone” I feel rings true here. One of the most alarming takeaways for me was how the parents on the show had no idea what was going on in Hannah’s school and social life.

Once we see these types of issues around us, we can’t turn a blind eye to them. I think to when Jesus heals a blind man in John’s Gospel. Jesus does this and is being questioned by the religious leaders of his time (Pharisees). Jesus, when speaking to the blind man, says, “I entered this world to render judgment – to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” (Ch.9:39) The religious leaders standing nearby became upset. These were the people who understood everything about the Jewish religion. How dare some radical rabbi from Galilee claim otherwise? They cry out to Jesus, “Are you saying we’re blind?”(v.40)

Jesus hits them with what is called in today’s terms a “clapback.”

“If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty. But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.” (v.41)

If we claim to care for people, if we claim to love our neighbor, if we claim to want to be welcoming of all people, if we want to practice being inclusive and not exclusive, if…

If we want to claim we follow Christ, we must admit that we see these issues and the people they are attached to. We must not suppress or shy away from these difficult conversations with our students. These types of issues are prevalent in people they know…and maybe even themselves.

Let us not claim we can see when we obviously don’t. And let us pray that when we do see we’re not afraid to do something about it.

Are public attitudes toward clergy changing? It’s complicated.

(This article first appeared on March 22, 2017 in Baptist News Global and can be viewed in its original form HERE.. Another big thanks to Jeff  Brumley for allowing me to lend my voice to the discussion. For reference, my piece will appear in bold.)

Few ministers need coaches or surveys to tell them what Americans think of clergy these days. They can rely on their own experiences for that.

Amy Butler does.

Based on interactions with strangers on flights, at parties and in other settings, it’s apparent some people simply “can’t stand” pastors, said Butler, senior minister at The Riverside Church in New York City.

There also are those who become so intimidated in the presence of a minister that they try to improve their language and behaviors in the moment.

And it seldom has to do with whether the person is a churchgoer or not.

“Even if they are not religious, they have religious baggage and minsters are the recipients of people’s projections,” Butler said.

‘Crisis of credibility’

The respect Americans have, or don’t have, for ministers is a vital measure for religious groups struggling through an age of declining attendance, especially among young people.

The Barna Group has looked into the issue in a new study titled “The Credibility Crisis of Today’s Pastors.”

“The good news: Most people don’t dislike pastors. The bad news: They just don’t really care about pastors either,” Barna declared in a summary of the report published online.

The study, which was produced in cooperation with Pepperdine University, found that a quarter of American adults have “a very positive opinion of pastors in general.”

A slightly higher percentage holds either a “somewhat” or “very negative” opinion of clergy.

 “Similarly, one-quarter of the population has little regard for the pastoral influence in their city or neighborhood,” Barna reported. It found that 19 percent believe pastors to be very influential.

Barna also found that a large percentage of U.S. adults believe clergy are of “some benefit” to the public, while those with personal connections with a pastor feel much more strongly that they do.

“This leaves significant room for pastors to continue to make a positive difference, in spite of the seeming crisis of credibility plaguing their occupation,” Barna said.

‘It has accelerated’

The origins of that credibility crisis, at least in part, lies with the declining credibility of the church in American society, said Mike Queen, a retired Baptist pastor and a consultant with the Center for Healthy Churches.

And that crisis, Queen said, stems largely from an increasingly secular society in which little accommodation is given to people and communities of faith.

 “With that happening, there is probably less respect for clergy just like there is less respect for the church in general,” he said.

Queen began his career in ministry in 1981 and retired in 2011, and he currently is in his third interim position. In that time, he said he’s seen the lack of respect for church and minister decline.

“It has accelerated,” he said.

In part it’s the widening cultural divide driving those attitudes, he said. And it doesn’t help that ministers are held to higher standards in the public eye.

“Every time a minister does something wrong, it’s big news,” he said. “Every time a minister has a problem, then all ministers have a problem.”

‘Maybe that’s just the South’

Pastoral scandals definitely impact the opinions many — especially young people — have about the church and ministers, said Justin Cox, a first-year student at Wake Forest University School of Divinity and minister to students at First Baptist Church in Statesville, N.C.

For many Millennials and Generation Xers, ministers are associated with the many scandals they’ve grown up with, Cox said. More recently, the politicization of churches and the ministry also are offensive.

“It’s a total turnoff,” he said.

Many young people will say there is enough conflict in the world without going to a church and listening to a pastor engaged in controversy, he said.

Those behaviors, or even just the perception of them, will keep younger Americans away from church and taint their beliefs about clergy, he said. Those attitudes outweigh any interest they may have in a congregation’s spiritual practices.

“They say I don’t want the headache I see on social media,” he said.

Another impact is that many ministers in training are opting to serve in nonprofits and other non-church outlets, Cox said.

“They see church as a vehicle that doesn’t move that well.”

Yet, Cox said he is still treated with respect in the community.

“I get taken to lunch by people — younger and older,” said Cox, who is 36. “I have an expense account at church and I have never had to use it to pay for a meal or a coffee. Maybe that’s just the South.”

‘The biggest party killer’

That’s hardly been Butler’s experience.

“People are often surprised and consider it strange” that she is a minister.

And the information can also be a downer in certain settings.

“I say it’s the biggest party killer ever in New York City,” Butler said. “When someone asks what I do for a living, it just kills the party.”

Butler said she rarely discloses her identity as a minister in public, especially during flights.

“Almost 100 percent bring up one of two things,” she said.

“They want to convince you that they are religious and practicing and in the good graces of the church.”

For the other group, it breaks down barriers. “They immediately tell you their deep dark secrets and feel the need to confess,” she said.

Butler said she will disclose her calling in crisis situations.

She recalled a flight during which an elderly male passenger became very ill. When he was taken forward for treatment, Butler sat down beside the man’s wife.

“She asked me to pray and I held her hand until the plane landed,” she said.

“What was interesting, the woman said ‘I am not religious, but please stay with me and pray.”

'Water into Wine' brings faith into focus

This article appeared in Statesville Free News and can be found in it's original form HERE. Big thanks to Amy Fuhrman for joining us that evening. 

For several months, the “Water into Wine” discussion group has been popping up in my newsfeed on Facebook.

Billed as "a group that seeks to have honest conversation about faith in the 21st century” — and held at one of my favorite Statesville haunts, Wine Maestro — the notifications caught my interest.

And so, on Monday evening, I found myself in a diverse group of faiths and ages, pondering the week’s topic — does God intervene in our daily lives? — over a round of beer and wine.

The “Water into Wine” discussions are a collaboration between Carrilea Potter; Associate Pastor at Broad Street United Methodist; Wes Pitts, Director of Christian Education at First Presbyterian; and Justin Cox, Student Minister at First Baptist. Each gathering, the group focuses on a different topic of discussion, and the group leads the direction the conversation takes.

At Monday’s meeting there were people from different faith and life backgrounds — all participating in a robust and personal discussion about if and how God acts in the lives of humans.

Participants gathered in a circle and shared their thoughts and experiences, from moments where they felt the direct hand of God in their lives — an accident avoided, for example — to moments that made them question their faith and God's role in it, like mass genocide or natural disasters.

The conversation veered in many directions, and it became clear just how personal each individual’s connection with their faith was, as people shared how they made sense of one of the most difficult questions: “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Many of the participants had different views, from the concept that God intervenes in many life moments to the thought that God equips people with the tools to deal with life’s troubles and allows them to do so ... or not.

In the end — as with so many questions in life — no one answer was reached. But the group did agree on the idea that humans are all connected in ways not immediately clear, and that God works through people of faith to make things happen.

One member of the discussion summed up his beliefs using the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to make his point.

“God didn’t intervene there, he didn’t take him off the cross and save him … I think he does the same in our lives,” he said.

Another participant voiced his acceptance that some answers may not become clear in this lifetime: “I’ll let you know when I get to the other side,” he said.

The next "Water into Wine" discussion will be held on Jan. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Wine Maestro in Statesville. Participants are asked to bring canned goods to donate to Iredell Christian Ministries. The topic will be "Faith and Justice."

Coming To Terms With Being Baptist

(This article was originally written as part of a submission to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship “cbfblog.” The original article can be found HERE).  

As I scooted into a booth at the small Indian restaurant I had no idea my spiritual direction and understanding were about to shift. So much had changed in the last few months with my wife and I moving to Winston-Salem, N.C., buying a home and me preparing for my first year at Wake Forest School of Divinity. I should have suspected something as I watched the man I had come to meet, Don Durham, enter through the glass doors.

I had been told to connect with Don from one of my professors at Campbell University. I believe Dr. Brian Foreman thought we’d get along for a few reasons; the most obvious being our shared affinity for facial hair. The other I would soon discover, as we enjoyed our conversation over curry, was a mutual questioning of how ministry was “supposed to look.” Don shared his story with me and I with him. Somewhere in our conversation Don mentioned the name Will Campbell. I guess my blank expression was enough for him to sat his fork down and raise his eyebrows.

“You don’t know who Will Campbell is,” Don asked?

“No, never heard of him,” was my meek reply. Schleiermacher, Barth, Harnack. These names I knew. But Will Campbell I had never run across.

“I’m going to tell you the same thing that I was told by the man who introduced me to Will Campbell,” Don said. “Don’t you tell anybody that you’re a Baptist until you read him.”

Don gave me a list of books by Campbell that I jotted down in my moleskin. He began to tell me about a white man from Mississippi who had referred to himself as a “bootleg Baptist.” Campbell would fight segregation at the University of Ole Miss in the mid 1950s, be the only white person at the first Southern Christian Leader Conference led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and later minister to members of the Ku Klux Klan. As I heard Don describe this man I could hardly believe he was describing a Baptist.

I left Don’s company that day and immediately logged onto my Amazon Prime account and ordered his first Will Campbell recommendation, Brother to a Dragonfly.

The story is an autobiographical telling centering around Campbell’s upbringing and the relationship he shared with his older brother Joe. In the midst of unpacking boxes and painting our new home, I would rise early in the morning and read Campbell’s work. As someone who fancies themselves an avid reader, I found myself stretching this book out. I would read passages and bookmark pages as I tried to digest what I had just read. Slowly I began to feel a true connection with a denominational identity I was discovering I knew very little about.

I took my questions and curiosity into Dr. Bill Leonard’s History of Baptist course during my fall semester. On the second floor of Wingate Hall, Dr. Leonard has exposed me to the writings of Howard Thurman, Walter Rauschenbusch, Roger Williams, etc. The experience has been on par with trying to drink from a fire hose. So much history that gives me joy and a promise of hope.

I learned that Baptist heritage was built on dissenting and questioning those institutions that imposed corrupt legislation and ideologies on those less fortunate. I learned that the voices of Sara Wait and Anne Hutchinson would lay foundational stones for future generations of strong Baptist women. African-American men such as Thurman and Rufus Perry would help the black Baptist church in developing their own distinctiveness.

I learned that there are A LOT of different kinds of Baptists! Calvinistic Baptist, Arminian Baptist, American Baptist, Primitive Baptist Universalist, Cooperative Baptist, Reformed Baptist, Two Seed in the Spirit Predestination Baptist, and on and on. I could keep going, but the point I’m coming to understand is that Baptist identity is found in the freedom the faith allows and is defined by. The assurance of freedom that someone like myself, who has always identified as a “black sheep”, can find a place at the Baptist table.

Since that conversation with Don, I’ve read a lot of Will Campbell, and like Campbell I’m discovering what kind of Baptist I am. So if you see me, and ask me to describe where I fall on the Baptist spectrum you might get this for an answer; I’m a Southerner who is a Cooperative Baptist. Who knows, I might even be a “bootleg Baptist” before it’s all said and done. Or maybe something else? “Black sheep Baptist” has a nice ring to it don’t you think?

‘Black sheep Baptist’ explores inspiration, path to newfound spiritual identity.

(This article was written for Baptist News Global by Jeff Brumley. I received a call from Jeff after the CBF Blog story posted. I got to talk with Jeff about being Baptist and he got to explain to me how he, being Eastern Orthodox, ended up working for a Baptist news source. Thanks again Jeff for the piece. The original article was published January 2017 and can be found HERE.)

Justin Cox is a first-year student at Wake Forest University School of Divinity, a Cooperative Baptist Leadership Scholar, and minister to students at First Baptist Church in Statesville, N.C.

Not bad for a guy who’s only been Baptist for just over a nanosecond.

“It was a slow progression and it was very hard for me to say I was a Baptist because I wasn’t comfortable with it,” Cox said.

But that began to change last summer when Cox was introduced to the writings of Baptist author, activist and minister Will Campbell.

He could hardly believe he was reading about a Baptist.

Cox, 36, said he was electrified by Campbell’s references to himself as a “bootleg Baptist” and by his stand for civil rights.

Others have since begun to inspire and shape his new Baptist identity. They include Roger Williams, John Smyth and others.

So, what’s it like to be a new Baptist, and to forge a new religious identity, in an age when so many are abandoning theirs? Cox addressed that and other questions for Baptist News Global.

You said you previously knew little of Baptist denominational identity. Why?

I did not grow up Baptist. I had some great aunts … who would carry me to church at times and would go to Baptist vacation Bible school. My family didn’t attend church. … When we returned to church, when I was in high school, it was at a Methodist church. My idea of Baptist was Southern Baptist. That’s all that I knew about Baptists.

How did you make your next approach to the faith?

I was just exploring around, doing a bit of soul searching. I just had this idea that Baptists are all about hell fire and brimstone, and that doesn’t fit my mold. I saw them either as very angry, or as Billy Graham Baptists — having a faith too perfect to attain.

But it wasn’t until I moved back to Greensboro, N.C., that I met my future wife and we were going to a Methodist church. Then I found Campbell [University]. Before then I didn’t know anything about moderate Baptists. I saw that the professors didn’t fit the typical mold. I saw that there is a lot of freedom in the Baptist world and that I fit into that.

What in Will Campbell’s writings gave you a feeling of true connection with Baptist identity?

At the core there is a distinct nature about Baptists where they question things. Baptists have an underdog mentality at times. …

Campbell lived out the conversations I had in my head all the time. That’s the appeal of being a Baptist to me. It’s never easy. It’s a faith that deals with people. I think that was a big clicking moment for me.

In an age when people are distancing themselves from denominational identity, you are seeking cultivate it. Why?

It’s weird. I remember talking to a Methodist minister when I was first starting at Campbell and I said I don’t get the idea of denominational ties. His answer was ‘when I go stand before people, there is a group of people that have my back.’ For me, as I have embraced this idea of being a Baptist, it’s a standing-on-the-shoulder-of-giants kind of thing. There are people who have put the work in and sacrificed, and Baptists are ready for new voices to come along and add to a new narrative.

How much do you know or care about the troubles the divisions that tore Baptists apart a few years back?

I know it’s part of the history. I think it would be different if I grew up in the Baptist faith. Some of my classmates are 25 years old and they grew up in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. They don’t know anything else. I don’t get caught up in it.

So, what kind of Baptist are you?

CBF has been very eye opening to me. … It allows me flexibility. But when I hear the word moderate, I go back and forth with that. It can mean you won’t pick a side — that you are in the middle of the road. But what I have seen in the CBF is that moderates can take stances on something. I can feel conservative on somethings and liberal about something else. But being Baptist gives me the choice to change my mind tomorrow. I am going to coin the phrase “black sheep Baptist” for myself.

Babel On

(While I a student a Campbell University, I used to meet with a wonderful gentleman by the name of Charles. We would meet in his son’s coffee shop on campus and discuss our lives and read scripture. Charles became a much need spiritual mentor to me during that time. This post, written in May 2016, was a result of one of our weekly meetings.)

“You ask where will we stand in the winds that will howl,

As all we see will slip into the cloud

So come down from your mountain and stand where we’ve been,

You know our breath is weak and our body thin”

~Babel, Mumford & Sons

  Every Tuesday morning I make the 20 minute drive to a coffee shop near Campbell University to meet with a man who has become a mentor to me in many ways. We are committed to coming together once a week to share life experiences and to open the Word of God and express how it is working in our life to one another.

 More than once in our discussion, true revelation has hit me. Perhaps an explanation is in order.

 Revelation can be defined as a surprising and previously unknown fact, especially one that is made known in a dramatic way.

 What I mean by that is that sometimes God drops something in our lap that we are sure did not come from our own knowledge. Peter proves this true is Matthew’s Gospel when Jesus asked him who he thought He (Jesus) was Peter answers him by saying “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” (Matt. 16:15 NLT)

  What I always found funny is what Jesus immediately said to him after this. Jesus pretty much says that Peter was unable to make this connection for himself or have anyone tell him, but that the only way he could have come by this knowledge was that God revealed it to him (vs.17)

  This morning I felt like I had one of those moments. A self realization that was not done by the “self”, but by something divine.

  Our Tuesday morning study of scripture is built off of the Revised Common Lectionary. Here is what the University of Vanderbilt’s Divinity Library has to offer as a description;

           “The Revised Common Lectionary is a three-year cycle of weekly lections used to varying degrees by the vast majority of mainline Protestant churches in Canada and the United States. The RCL is built around the seasons of the Church Year, and includes four lections for each Sunday, as well as additional readings for major feast days.”

 In other words, it is a standardized reading of scripture meant to serve Protestant denominations. You typically get an Old and New Testament passage with a Psalm thrown in for good measure.

  This morning our OT reading was from the book of Ezekiel. In chapter 37 the prophet is given a vision from God where he is placed in a valley full of bones. A desert image is depicted, the socially accepted area where no life is present. In this vision the prophet is commanded to breathe new life into these dry bones by invoking the name and power of the Lord. The bones, first take on flesh, then rise up and become living creatures once again.

 The connection here for people of the faith should be easily seen. This passage should be highlighted in every preachers Bible as a constant reminder of the call we have on the lives of those around us, to speak the Word of God which brings new life to those that understand what they hear.

 God’s Word has power. We see this all throughout scripture, perhaps most famously in the first lines of John’s Gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (NIV).” The Word is used to identify Christ and his presence within the Trinity. Christ, the Word, has authority. A few verses later, John says that the Word gave life to everything created. It possess the power of life.

 This idea of the Word made me think more directly on my chosen “words”. As usually, scripture has plenty to say about the words we use towards one another.

  Proverbs 11:9, “With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.”

  Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

 Proverbs, 15:28, “The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.”

  I could keep going, but you get the idea.

  So as I sat there taking all this in, I started thinking about what my words do. Do they give life? Or am I prone to produce more saltwater than freshwater (James 3:11)?

  I was quickly reminded that I produce enough saltwater to fill the Dead Sea while in traffic during the simple act of driving to the grocery store. My speech is not edifying. It’s fodder and at its worst, directed at nothing.

 The same mouth that preaches the Gospel to my students on Sundays and Thursdays spews venom when my life doesn’t go exactly how I’d like it to.

 It is then that my revelation occurs. I’m a living Tower of Babel.

 For those not familiar with the story, it’s found in the 11th chapter of Genesis. We find mankind speaking one language with a desire to build a structure that at its peak would reach into the heavens. God saw the pride of man and in response confused their language. This story is often used to explain the origin of our many languages.

 It became apparent that my language is a confused mixture. A babel of both the language of heaven and that of the unwise. I can share the traits of both sinner and saint simultaneously. The struggle is real and ongoing, and Lord knows I need guidance and help.

 And perhaps the best thing that can happen is God reminding me to speak his Word by knocking me down when I speak my own.

 That’s what these Tuesday morning readings and discussions have been for me; a time to be humbled by God’s Word. A time to be reminded that my words have meaning… be they good or bad. That I can speak new life into dry bones or I can cause harm to others and cause them to stumble.

  I pray that God’s Word to me will always speak revelation like it did to Peter. That the power of life that springs forth from the source of mercy, hope, and love be on my lips constantly.

  I pray this for you all as well.

Does Youth Ministry Form Bad Traditions?

(This Summer (2017), I’ll be working on my 5th year in youth ministry. When I first became a student minister, I joined on-line peer groups in which I hoped to build camaraderie and supportive networks. To some degree that did happen. I also began to see certain “formulas” surface as to what youth ministry was supposed to look like. My journey in youth ministry has been marked more by failures than success, but through those failures I learned I didn’t have to do things like everyone else had did. This freeing realization allowed some truly authentic ministry to take place. As I reflect back over this post from April 2015, I am reminded of the fact that youth ministry is messy. For those that are volunteers, parents, leaders, pastors, etc…who are involved I offer but one simple bit of advice; raise your eyebrow when you come across an individual or group who believe they have it “figured out.”)

I want to bring attention to a trend I’ve noticed. I don’t particularly know how long this trend has been in effect. It relates to the church, and given the fact that I wasn’t the most frequent Sunday School attendee growing up I have little past knowledge to pull from. So I am going to assume here, and most of the time we know where that leads us, that this trend is at least 15-20 years old.

But before I unveil this trend, or dare I say tradition, perhaps a little more background is needed. At least a better picture needs to be painted before we can take a look and dissect the issue.

I want you to think of your Sunday morning worship time in church. I would argue that on the whole, most churches still hold 11am as the beginning of their call to worship. This has been a tradition (at least here in the North America) that has been around from the 18th and 19th centuries. Family life focused around a more agricultural community that demanded a constant hand in upkeep and chores. A close to midday service allowed people time for chores as well as adequate time to travel to and from their local church.

KABOOM. A tradition is formed.

Of course the time of service is not the only institutional thinking we’ve picked up over the years. See if this sounds familiar. You enter church and immediately are handed a bulletin filled with upcoming events. You grab a seat as prelude music is being played. Someone from the church might make some form of greeting and announcements. The choir begins to sing somewhere between 2-3 songs. Usually an invitation is given to greet your neighbor or take part in the ‘sharing of the peace’. Not long after an offertory prayer is said and the plates are passed. A sermon is given that usually last around half an hour. An invitation is given, more songs are sung, and a benediction finally closes the hour.

Where did this practice of worship come from? Many of us have attended at one time or another a church where these institutional forms of worship happen. Without totally getting sidetracked from my original purpose (tracing the start of this form of worship is another blog post entirely), I believe it is fair to say that most of these traditions have become part of our Protestant Christian heritage. The effects of the Reformation left Protestant believers with two cornerstone sacraments, baptism and communion, but that seems to be the extent of rituals brought with us from the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church. Over time we have established new ideas and beliefs that have separated us even further into different denominations that hold their own particular understanding of doctrine.

I know that was a bit of a tangent there, but what I wanted to get across is that we have established a lot of our own traditions over the years…dare I say some biblical and some cultural (ex. the start time of churches). What has been done 200, 100 or even 50 years ago has an effect on how we do things now. Think of the impact that Sunday School has had on the church, with the beginning of that movement being just at start of the 19th century!

So where am I going with all this?

Youth ministry.

I frequently read a lot of different youth ministry blogs and websites. And before it looks like I’m about to throw many fellow youth pastors under the bus, let me first say that many of these individuals are highly committed to their ministry to students. Passion is not in short supply, however what we tend to focus on sometimes are activities over substance. The scary aspect of this type of thinking can lead to traditions that in all likelihood we do not wish to establish. Let me give you a few examples.

On a weekly basis, one of the youth pastor message boards that I frequent, someone will request a funny video to show to their youth that week. These videos are sometimes funny and by all means harmless (if you haven’t seen the video of the guy dunking on his wife in a Target…you should).

Another request is for group game ideas. Whether it is “minute to win it’ inspired games or one that went viral a few weeks ago, the live action Hungry Hungry Hippos game. The pressure for every youth ministry to have their own Gaga Ball pit is becoming a must have to get kids to come to youth events.

These are just two examples, but what I want to start and try and convey is that youth ministers have now started to form their own traditions. Let’s take the same steps we did earlier with the typical church service and now do it with a Youth Service. Students arrive and have a free time to socialize. They play some form of the above mentioned games. They are fed a snack or food. If the church has a youth band, you can fill them in here for a few songs. A funny video is also shown during this time. They are then taught a lesson that in most cases needs to be short as to not lose their attention. Have some form of discussion after said lesson. A few more songs are played. The meeting is then finished off with either free time or another sort of game. This information is what I’ve gathered from other youth ministry websites as well as other youth pastors.

Here is where I worry. We talk a lot in the church about becoming too comfortable. In fact we are warned about the dangers of making church to much about ourselves. More modern churches have been accused of this from the standpoint of not truly needing better facilities. Cushioned seats in their sanctuary to providing the ‘Star Bucks experience’ with free coffee that one can sip on as they listen to a worship team powered by amps, instruments, and lights usually reserved for outdoor concerts. Most of these churches take the stance of “any means necessary” in order to get people in the doors.

This effect has seemed to have trickled down into youth ministry.

We need the new Xbox.

We need the biggest flat screen TV.

We need an awesome student led band.

We need door prizes to hand out.

We need the most charismatic youth leaders.

We need the most new innovative games.

We need bigger and better facilities.

Me. Me. Me. I. I. I. Now. Now. Now.

Where is our focus? We are laying a foundation with young adults who we are hoping that one day will continue sharing the message of the Gospels for the glory of God’s kingdom. What we are now, not only showing them but teaching them, is that the church is simply a place for you to come be entertained and catered to. This is not a tradition that we need to start or pass on. We must be careful and intentional with our actions toward youth. The foundations of their faith are being laid and what we don’t want to see is youth thinking entertainment is synonymous with church. We come to church to give of ourselves, with our focus on God and his interaction in our lives. Now please understand, I am not saying that fun activities cannot happen at church. Games can be fun and bring a group of students together; I’m simply saying they should not be the target of why we meet and what we teach.

Traditions can be beautiful and sacred acts. At other times they can turn into “sacred idols” if we are not careful. The point I wished to make here is that traditions sometimes happen unintentionally, such as coming home from work and watching Netflix for three hours instead of doing homework (I am speaking from personal experience here). Other times they are intentional, like the act of baptism and communion. We must ask ourselves what are our priorities to our youth and what should they be learning from us. The answer should be clearer than extreme dodge ball.