Friday, November 10, 2006
Sermon on ecumenism....
As I promised in the discussion thread on WonderCafe.ca, here is a sermon I recently preached at Ladner United Church in Delta BC on my experiences in the World Council of Churches.
Blessings!
Carmen.
Holy One, Fill me as an empty vessel so that your glory might come forth, your people might be blessed, and your healing leaves might emerge; in the name of the one who is the Living Word, Jesus the Christ, we dare to pray and I dare to preach. Amen.
It’s good to be at ‘home’ at Ladner United Church this morning; although I must confess it feels like such a long time since I have been a regular member of this congregation. My life ebbs and flows and brings me closer and farther. I’m fortunate in that I get to see Ladner folk over in the ‘big city’ once in a while. I see Cathy Bone at school, sometimes I see Jim. I’ve run into Jon Jessiman the odd time either at meetings or at VST, I run into the Plants every so often – and the McMurtry’s have been a constant source of support, encouragement and love. Yet it has been a long time since I was in this place, living a different life. A long time since six years ago when I first walked through the doors and just let you love me. Then studying to be a chartered accountant, and in the process of my own spiritual awakening, this congregation acted as Christ to me. From the first weeks when I came back to church and chose Ladner UC as my home, I experienced a call to ministry, and you said to me “Go for it! Your faith has made you well!” And like Bartemaeus, I did not leave right away, but followed you for a while.
When Joan contacted me and asked me if I would come back to Ladner to share with you in worship and let you know some of what the past years have been like, the adventures that I’ve taken, of course I agreed. In fact, I did make a promise to the Church Council that I would make an attempt to worship here on a regular basis in my final year at VST. Somehow, since that meeting 18 months ago, my life has taken a very different direction and between worshipping close to home, worshipping with my parents, and traveling, I’ve only been here once so far! One of the things I am happy to do and which I was asked to do was to share with you some of my experiences with the national church and with the World Council of Churches. I think most of you know, but some of you may not know that last year I was one of 3 voting delegates sent to the General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Porto Alegre, Brazil. While I was there, I was elected as one of three Canadians to be on the Central Committee – a body of 150 people representing the different regions of the world which meets every 18 months. From the Central Committee I was elected as the only Canadian on the Executive Committee – there are 25 of us who meet every 6 months as the governing body of the WCC. All pretty exciting stuff!
While I am so grateful and so blessed that I have been called to this particular ministry – the ministry of international ecumenism, I am still a student – and at VST my excellent professors have taught me that there must always be balance between sharing our own lives from the pulpit and preaching the Word of God. While I do believe that God works through each of us in our own ministries, that Word is still tied to our biblical tradition, and so I hope to relate some of the stories of my travels and my work to our scripture stories this morning.
This morning’s reading from the Prophet Jeremiah is about the overwhelming joy felt by God’s people, but it is atypical, in a sense. Usually shouts of praise and joy were in response to people experiencing the saving grace of God. Yet in this passage from Jeremiah, the people are shouting with joy, “Save! Save!” They wait with expectant hope for God’s grace and restoration. God has promised to gather the “remnant of Israel.” God promises to take care of that remnant community – not only the strong, but also the weak – the blind and lame, women pregnant and with children. God promises that those who ‘stumbled’ will not stumble when he leads them back. All this is not something which has already come to pass, but something for which the people of Israel wait. They have faith, and celebrate with jubilant praise, the coming grace of God.
For me, this passage very closely parallels the work of ecumenism. When we gather together, whether it is in our local communities, at provincial levels, in national coalitions such as KAIROS, or at the level of the World Council of Churches, we are gathering together to celebrate the common faith we share in a gracious God who has promised us salvation. While we may feel week as Christians living in a very secular society, there are others who are weak in different ways.
My girlfriend Iyabo Oyekola is another young woman who serves on the Executive Committee of the WCC. She is 23, studying law, and she comes from the Church of the Lord Aladura in Nigeria. While the United Church of Canada has somewhere close to 3 million Canadians who identify with the United Church, the Church of the Lord Aladura has 30 million. They are the biggest Christian denomination in Nigeria, just the same as we are the biggest protestant denomination in Canada. While the Church of the Lord Aladura boasts 20% of the total Nigerian population – which far exceeds our reach as the United Church, they remain a minority in Nigeria, because the majority of all Nigerians are Muslims. It is hard for us to imagine a church which is almost the size of our national population as weak, yet my dear dear friend who is beautiful and prophetic and is the general secretary of the youth in her church does not always disclose her identity as a Christian because it marks her as a minority.
Southern Africa has been one of the hardest hit geographical areas by the HIV/AIDS pandemic sweeping their continent. While we have done much to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS here in North America, since the end of apartheid South African has virtually fallen off the advocacy map. Transition from an oppressive regime to a new democracy plagued by violence, crime, poverty and corruption has made the journeys of the South African churches tedious and difficult. They work tirelessly to continue to support the poor, the oppressed, those at the margins, and especially the children. Yet they find that their Christian allies around the world who spoke up so prophetically in the 70’s and 80’s to end the institutional racism of the South African government stand with their backs turn towards South Africa waited to be patted for their role in ending apartheid, and are now blind to the current situations and challenges. The hand of friendship, solidarity and support has been withdrawn in order for us to pat our own backs because we ‘did the right thing’ not realizing there is yet many more right things to do.
The Orthodox churches have made great strides in environmental theology. Their scholarship and sense of mission are prophetic, and the protestant world has much to learn from them. Yet we continually block out their minority voices because we, as the enlightened ‘liberal churches’ cannot understand their rigidity when it comes to worship, ordination of women, and human sexuality.
For nearly a century, mainline protestant churches in Europe and North America have provided the primary financial resources for the work of the ecumenical movement. As descendants of the world’s great historical and current empires, it has been the global north which always had the resources to give back to the work of the churches in the global south. Yet our denominations are not what they once were. And while our ethos around mission has stayed constant, and our understanding of mission and evangelism has become less colonial, our financial resources dwindle along with our aging populations. We are no longer free to carry the burden of the entire globe when it comes to the work the church. Yet countries in the global south see Europeans and North Americans enjoying greater and greater affluence. The Christian population in the south is exploding as their people get poorer. The Christian population here dwindles as societies get richer. We are also weak.
Now it’s starting to sound like there’s not a lot of hope in this story. Yet the beautiful thing about the global ecumenical movement is that it inspires much hope and much joy. When 4,000 members of churches from all across the world can meet together for prayer in word, song, and silence under the covering of one tent – we lift our voices with great joy, awe, and reverence and cry out to God “Save! Save!” When, despite all the ways we are weak members of God’s great community on earth we can trust in the saving Grace which we saw manifest in the fully human yet fully divine Jesus of Nazareth, we are like the Israelites in the time of Jeremiah, and tied to that great lineage of God’s loving mission in the world. While my girlfriend from Nigeria considers me a heretic because of our church’s theological positions on some issues, she can still hug me goodbye at the airport, tell me she loves me and see you again in six months, my sister. While Orthodox bishops continue to be some of the most patriarchal men in the world, my good friend Bishop Vicken Aykazian from Armenia read scripture in a prayer service so that I, a young, lay woman, could preach. In so doing, he changed the perception of a woman theologian from Korea who thought she would never see such a thing in her entire life. In that instance, she became Bartimaeus and she was able to see because her faith had brought her to that place at that time.
The hopelessness alluded to some of these stories is real. People all over the world face unprecedented poverty, inconceivable violence, and heinous environmental destruction. We also face a time of unparalleled fear at the global level. Yet we are blessed, like Bartimaeus that we have become travelers on the road with Jesus, following in his footsteps, even as he calls us to go forth in the world sharing our great faith which has the potential to make us well. May it be so. Amen.
Blessings!
Carmen.
Holy One, Fill me as an empty vessel so that your glory might come forth, your people might be blessed, and your healing leaves might emerge; in the name of the one who is the Living Word, Jesus the Christ, we dare to pray and I dare to preach. Amen.
It’s good to be at ‘home’ at Ladner United Church this morning; although I must confess it feels like such a long time since I have been a regular member of this congregation. My life ebbs and flows and brings me closer and farther. I’m fortunate in that I get to see Ladner folk over in the ‘big city’ once in a while. I see Cathy Bone at school, sometimes I see Jim. I’ve run into Jon Jessiman the odd time either at meetings or at VST, I run into the Plants every so often – and the McMurtry’s have been a constant source of support, encouragement and love. Yet it has been a long time since I was in this place, living a different life. A long time since six years ago when I first walked through the doors and just let you love me. Then studying to be a chartered accountant, and in the process of my own spiritual awakening, this congregation acted as Christ to me. From the first weeks when I came back to church and chose Ladner UC as my home, I experienced a call to ministry, and you said to me “Go for it! Your faith has made you well!” And like Bartemaeus, I did not leave right away, but followed you for a while.
When Joan contacted me and asked me if I would come back to Ladner to share with you in worship and let you know some of what the past years have been like, the adventures that I’ve taken, of course I agreed. In fact, I did make a promise to the Church Council that I would make an attempt to worship here on a regular basis in my final year at VST. Somehow, since that meeting 18 months ago, my life has taken a very different direction and between worshipping close to home, worshipping with my parents, and traveling, I’ve only been here once so far! One of the things I am happy to do and which I was asked to do was to share with you some of my experiences with the national church and with the World Council of Churches. I think most of you know, but some of you may not know that last year I was one of 3 voting delegates sent to the General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Porto Alegre, Brazil. While I was there, I was elected as one of three Canadians to be on the Central Committee – a body of 150 people representing the different regions of the world which meets every 18 months. From the Central Committee I was elected as the only Canadian on the Executive Committee – there are 25 of us who meet every 6 months as the governing body of the WCC. All pretty exciting stuff!
While I am so grateful and so blessed that I have been called to this particular ministry – the ministry of international ecumenism, I am still a student – and at VST my excellent professors have taught me that there must always be balance between sharing our own lives from the pulpit and preaching the Word of God. While I do believe that God works through each of us in our own ministries, that Word is still tied to our biblical tradition, and so I hope to relate some of the stories of my travels and my work to our scripture stories this morning.
This morning’s reading from the Prophet Jeremiah is about the overwhelming joy felt by God’s people, but it is atypical, in a sense. Usually shouts of praise and joy were in response to people experiencing the saving grace of God. Yet in this passage from Jeremiah, the people are shouting with joy, “Save! Save!” They wait with expectant hope for God’s grace and restoration. God has promised to gather the “remnant of Israel.” God promises to take care of that remnant community – not only the strong, but also the weak – the blind and lame, women pregnant and with children. God promises that those who ‘stumbled’ will not stumble when he leads them back. All this is not something which has already come to pass, but something for which the people of Israel wait. They have faith, and celebrate with jubilant praise, the coming grace of God.
For me, this passage very closely parallels the work of ecumenism. When we gather together, whether it is in our local communities, at provincial levels, in national coalitions such as KAIROS, or at the level of the World Council of Churches, we are gathering together to celebrate the common faith we share in a gracious God who has promised us salvation. While we may feel week as Christians living in a very secular society, there are others who are weak in different ways.
My girlfriend Iyabo Oyekola is another young woman who serves on the Executive Committee of the WCC. She is 23, studying law, and she comes from the Church of the Lord Aladura in Nigeria. While the United Church of Canada has somewhere close to 3 million Canadians who identify with the United Church, the Church of the Lord Aladura has 30 million. They are the biggest Christian denomination in Nigeria, just the same as we are the biggest protestant denomination in Canada. While the Church of the Lord Aladura boasts 20% of the total Nigerian population – which far exceeds our reach as the United Church, they remain a minority in Nigeria, because the majority of all Nigerians are Muslims. It is hard for us to imagine a church which is almost the size of our national population as weak, yet my dear dear friend who is beautiful and prophetic and is the general secretary of the youth in her church does not always disclose her identity as a Christian because it marks her as a minority.
Southern Africa has been one of the hardest hit geographical areas by the HIV/AIDS pandemic sweeping their continent. While we have done much to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS here in North America, since the end of apartheid South African has virtually fallen off the advocacy map. Transition from an oppressive regime to a new democracy plagued by violence, crime, poverty and corruption has made the journeys of the South African churches tedious and difficult. They work tirelessly to continue to support the poor, the oppressed, those at the margins, and especially the children. Yet they find that their Christian allies around the world who spoke up so prophetically in the 70’s and 80’s to end the institutional racism of the South African government stand with their backs turn towards South Africa waited to be patted for their role in ending apartheid, and are now blind to the current situations and challenges. The hand of friendship, solidarity and support has been withdrawn in order for us to pat our own backs because we ‘did the right thing’ not realizing there is yet many more right things to do.
The Orthodox churches have made great strides in environmental theology. Their scholarship and sense of mission are prophetic, and the protestant world has much to learn from them. Yet we continually block out their minority voices because we, as the enlightened ‘liberal churches’ cannot understand their rigidity when it comes to worship, ordination of women, and human sexuality.
For nearly a century, mainline protestant churches in Europe and North America have provided the primary financial resources for the work of the ecumenical movement. As descendants of the world’s great historical and current empires, it has been the global north which always had the resources to give back to the work of the churches in the global south. Yet our denominations are not what they once were. And while our ethos around mission has stayed constant, and our understanding of mission and evangelism has become less colonial, our financial resources dwindle along with our aging populations. We are no longer free to carry the burden of the entire globe when it comes to the work the church. Yet countries in the global south see Europeans and North Americans enjoying greater and greater affluence. The Christian population in the south is exploding as their people get poorer. The Christian population here dwindles as societies get richer. We are also weak.
Now it’s starting to sound like there’s not a lot of hope in this story. Yet the beautiful thing about the global ecumenical movement is that it inspires much hope and much joy. When 4,000 members of churches from all across the world can meet together for prayer in word, song, and silence under the covering of one tent – we lift our voices with great joy, awe, and reverence and cry out to God “Save! Save!” When, despite all the ways we are weak members of God’s great community on earth we can trust in the saving Grace which we saw manifest in the fully human yet fully divine Jesus of Nazareth, we are like the Israelites in the time of Jeremiah, and tied to that great lineage of God’s loving mission in the world. While my girlfriend from Nigeria considers me a heretic because of our church’s theological positions on some issues, she can still hug me goodbye at the airport, tell me she loves me and see you again in six months, my sister. While Orthodox bishops continue to be some of the most patriarchal men in the world, my good friend Bishop Vicken Aykazian from Armenia read scripture in a prayer service so that I, a young, lay woman, could preach. In so doing, he changed the perception of a woman theologian from Korea who thought she would never see such a thing in her entire life. In that instance, she became Bartimaeus and she was able to see because her faith had brought her to that place at that time.
The hopelessness alluded to some of these stories is real. People all over the world face unprecedented poverty, inconceivable violence, and heinous environmental destruction. We also face a time of unparalleled fear at the global level. Yet we are blessed, like Bartimaeus that we have become travelers on the road with Jesus, following in his footsteps, even as he calls us to go forth in the world sharing our great faith which has the potential to make us well. May it be so. Amen.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
WonderCafe.ca
Today the United Church of Canada made the front page of the print edition of The Globe and Mail for our controversial new ad campaign and the launch of our invitational website WonderCafe.ca. I have to say, I was worried about the Emerging Spirit Campaign and it's ability to address people in Canada ages 30-45 and their "issues" with life and with organized religion.
After a few interactions online today - I can say I wholeheartedly support the site, and look forward to engaging dialogue with other Canadians my age.
And come on.... you gotta love E-Z Answer Squirrel.
After a few interactions online today - I can say I wholeheartedly support the site, and look forward to engaging dialogue with other Canadians my age.
And come on.... you gotta love E-Z Answer Squirrel.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
It's a perfect rainy blick day outside...
This is my favourite time of year... the start of the 20 to 40 day rain marathons.
I love the sound of the rain on buildings, hitting the pavement, puddles, the trees... the wind gusting. It lets me know that despite everything, all is right with my very westcoast world.
This morning I got up early to drive my parents to the airport, and since then I've just been puttering around the house. No real desire to go outside.... got the garbage and recycling ready to take out, tidied the house a bit, did a couple of assignments for school - took a nap with the dog on the couch. It's a good rainy almost-winter day.
Yesterday was the same, and I walked a lot. I got up at 6am and walked for a good hour around campus in the rain. I think to make it even more enjoyable would be better if I had some goretex pants, but I need those even more for walking to class. I'd be soaked if I had to go to class today.
Anyways - for all you SK folk out there reading the blog... don't miss the cold, and I wish I could share this rain with you.
C.
