What do worship leaders wear?
This post comes from the Pilgrim Uniting Church website and was written by Rev Dr Jenny Byrnes for that community. It is published here with Jenny’s permission.
To Robe or not to Robe…?
A recent conversation alerted me to the more familiar practice within the Uniting Church in SA for clergy not to robe for leading worship.
The conversation had me reflecting on why I robe to lead formal worship and the advantages and disadvantages of wearing or not wearing liturgical dress.
The alb (long white gown that the Uniting Church suggests is worn) is representative of the baptismal gown and is appropriate for all members to wear. We could all turn up in white!
The reason why I wear it is both practical and symbolic. It is a strong reminder to me as I lead worship that I am fulfilling a responsibility that is more than me just doing and saying what I like. Rather I am to exercise discernment and leadership that is prepared and offered after reflection and engagement with the issues and concerns of the whole people of God.
I am aware that it is often seen as creating, or reinforcing, a division between people; however for me that distinction is more about a division of roles and responsibilities.
Nevertheless it is experienced as a barrier (reinforcing outdated hierarchical and power issues) with some people and on many occasions when leadership of worship is shared amongst the people it is more appropriate not to be worn.
The more practical reason for wearing the alb is that it ‘blurs’ the individuality of the leader as a personality by covering the clothing. For me it is of assistance so that my personal clothing choices do not impinge on my presentation. I always remember a survey that showed that parishioners were more likely to comment on the dress and appearance of female preachers than they were to comment on the appearance of males. That was certainly my experience in my early ministry.
The Uniting Church suggests that clergy choose whether to wear liturgical dress or not but to always be mindful that the leadership of worship “is no casual task”.
Not surprisingly Pilgrim holds together a diversity of opinion and practice on the matter!
Shalom,
Jenny
We can! We can! Yes, We can!
We can do it! We can make a difference. Professor Fiona Stanley told Fran Kelly on Radio National’s Breakfast that she plans to end the annual Hawke lecture she is giving tonight at the Adelaide Town Hall, with Obama’s words of hope, “We can! We can! Yes, we can!” Former Australian of the Year, Founding Director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and Professor in the School of Paediatrics and Child Health in WA, Fiona Stanley will give the address she has titled “The Greatest Injustice: Why we have failed to improve the health of Aboriginal people”. Speaking on ABC Radio this morning she said, “We already know how to grow healthy and developmentally healthy young people. We have known this forever. We know what parents have to have, we know what communities are supposed to look like, what housing and hygiene people need.” We don’t need more policy but more effective implementation of what we already know. We need, she said “to get Aboriginal people to be part of the solution” by increasing the number of Aboriginal people employed in education, health, child protection and juvenile justice. It is time Aboriginal people were given the assistance they need to run their own services and where communities don’t have the capacity, though many already do, help them get up to speed. There is diversity among capacity in communities: some Aboriginal communities have 50% of their population under the age of 20. Unfortunately, tonight’s lecture is fully booked (1200 people and a waiting list). However, the transcript of Professor Stanley’s lecture will be available from the UniSA website (go here )
The MRN Team are strong supporters of the Close The Gap Campaign and Make Indigenous Poverty History.
Olympic gold medallists Catherine Freeman and Ian Thorpe helped launch the Close the Gap Indigenous health campaign, which seeks to achieve health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders within a generation. Photo by Michael Myers/OxfamAUS
According to the Australian Human Rights Commission life expectancy for Indigenous Australians is almost twenty years less than it is for non-Indigenous Australians.
One of the major contributing factors towards reduced life expectancy is poverty.
There are a number of campaigns focusing on Indigenous poverty in Australia.
The Close the Gap campaign aims at decreasing the disparity in life expectancy.
To find out what you can do to support this cause go here
Last week end’s Presbytery and Synod meeting saw the 330 members from across SA keen to see some other issues affecting Aboriginal people addressed, in particular prison overcrowding and housing. Below is an extract from the SA Synod’s Communications Team media release:
The Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC), the Indigenous arm of the Uniting Church, is concerned about severe over-crowding in the State’s prisons and the over-representation of Aboriginal people in prisons.
The meeting voted to establish a prison and justice issues advocacy group to investigate ways of addressing prison over-crowding, the high numbers of Aboriginal and remand prisoners, proposed prison closures and repeated lockdowns in the Port Augusta prison preventing prison chaplaincy and support.
Another issue raised by the UAICC is the lack of accommodation for Indigenous people visiting Adelaide from the APY lands.
The meeting heard that visiting Anangu people stay with relatives. This causes severe overcrowding which jeopardises tenancies and extreme financial hardship.
The church is considering solutions including whether it should push for a ‘Town Camp’ for Adelaide similar to those in Port Augusta and Ceduna.
If you would like to have further conversation about the issues raised in this post, please contact Peter Russell (prussell@sa.uca.org.au ), Covenanting Officer for the Presbytery and Synod of SA
The Lord’s Prayer
Last week’s call from the Speaker of the House, Harry Jenkins, for a public debate about the use of the Lord’s Prayer at the start of each Federal Parliament session has sparked much discussion. Some say that of course this prayer should continue to be prayed – it is part of this country’s Christian heritage. Others believe that this alone is reason enough for it to be discontinued: let’s honour the many varied traditions and cultures of those who now dwell in this land. Others say that those who pray it dont believe it and so therefore shouldnt pray it. “They mumble it so that you cant even understand the words”, was one commnet I heard. Cheryl Lawrie, writing for The Age says that any discussion about the use of the Lord’s Prayer before Parliament needs to go deeper than the sentiments raised so far. She suggests that the Lord’s Prayer offers a foundational ethic for the communities that pray it: that it is actually a prayer for the radical transformation of the way we understand ourselves in the world. It’s a vision of a community that has echoed for thousands of years across many countries; where the needs of all are met, where vengeance is transformed into forgiveness, where compassion holds us to each other, where we are liberated from forces and systems that oppress.
Saying the Lord’s Prayer before each sitting of Parliament is a public ritual – something of which we have all too few. If it was to go what, of equal menaing and power might replace it? Cheryl’s inspiring opinion piece can be read here
Top 12
The US magazine Christian Century (October 21, 2008) has listed the top 5 selling books from 12 different Christian book publishers. Those that rated number one are as follows:
Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics after Religion by E J Dionne Jr, published by Princeton University Press
Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation, by Eboo Patel, published by Beacon
The Discipleship Study Bible edited by Bruce C. Birch, Brian K Blount, Thomas G Long, Gail O’Day adn W. Sibley Towner published by Westminster Knox
Promise of Paradox by Parker J Palmer, published by Jossey-Bass
Christ and Culture Revisited, by D A Carson, published by Eerdmans
God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question – Why we Suffer by Bart D Ehrman, published by HarperOne
The Future of Atheism: Alister McGrath and Daniel Dennett in Dialogue by Robert B Stewart published by Fortress
The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church by Alan Hirsch, published by Brazos
First Corinthians by Joseph A Fitzmeyer, published by Yale University Press
Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in Theology of God by Elizabeth A Johnson, published by Continuum
Massacre at Mountain Meadows by Ronald W Walker, Richard E Turley Jr and Glen M Leonard, published by Oxford university Press
The Cambridge Companion to the Bible edited by Bruce Chilton, published by Cambridge University Press
Best sellers, of course, dont necessarily stand the test of time. In the same edition of the magazine there is a delightful article about those books which have endured: it is titled A Second time Around and can be viewed here. Ten writers reflect on books they have read two, three, or more times. The article got me reflecting on the books that I have read more than once. To Kill a Mockingbird was the first that sprang to mind. The example of courage documented in the book inspires me still to care about and advocate for issues of justice. Other books I have re-read have been ones that have been poetic in their use of language and imagery – like Peter Carey’s His Illegal Self , Robert Dessaux’s Night Letters or Sonya Hartnett’s Thursday’s Child - none of which are likely to become classics. How about you? What are the books you have read and re-read?
Prime Minister meets with UCA leaders
Bruce Mullan, from the Qld Synod wrote the following about the recent meeting with the Prime Minister:
“The issues of climate change, human rights and the death penalty were among those raised when the Uniting Church met, for the first time, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 21 October.
UCA President, Rev Gregor Henderson, National Assembly General Secretary Rev Terence Corkin, and National Director of UnitingJustice Australia, Rev Elenie Poulos spent half an hour with Prime Minister Rudd, presenting him with an information pack about the Uniting Church. Included was an overview and explanation of the structure of the Church along with a copy of the Basis of Union and the 1977 Statement to the Nation.
“We spoke about who we are as the third largest church in Australia and our commitment to making a difference to the Australian community and nation,” said Mr Henderson.
“We talked about UnitingCare, Frontier Services, Uniting International Mission and Uniting Church Overseas Aid, and UnitingJustice. We talked about our multiculturalism and the importance of the Uniting Islander and Aboriginal Christian Congress.
“He spoke to us as a person of deep Christian faith. He not only has a commitment to public theology but a deep personal interest in it,” said Rev. Henderson.
“I don’t think there’s any question that we can say we have a positive relationship with the highest levels of government. That encourages us to continue to do our homework well on the national and international issues that concern us most and to know we have the avenues of further representation to the government. We don’t have any doubt whatsoever that the Prime Minister’s door is open to us.”
Bible in Vogue
The glossy coffee table tome, titled Bible Illuminated: The Book, is a bold attempt to capture the attention of modern readers. Instead of following the usual Bible format – lots of words but somewhat lacking in celebrity portraits – Swedish ad man Dag Soderberg has decided to repackage it in the style of Vogue.
Passages are written out in a magazine-style format and accompanied by striking images. Angelina Jolie’s picture is included alongside Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and U2 frontman Bono, to illustrate the importance of doing good deeds. They were selected after the publishers asked the Swedish public which famous figures in modern times represented goodness and compassion.
According to its publishers, when The Book was released in Sweden it accounted for a 50 per cent rise in the country’s Bible sales for 2007. It was initially sold in fashion boutiques, art galleries and design stores before reaching bookshops.
Soderberg insists he is not particularly religious, explaining that his motivation is to make the Bible more accessible. “Most people have issues with the Bible. They have never gotten into it. They don’t find it accessible. But it’s our history, our heritage. And for most of us, we relate to it more than we think. Religious or not, it shapes much of our moral codes,” he said.
His goal is “to make a version of the Bible that people want to pick up, instead of hide away or just place on a bookshelf.”
[Anita Singh posted by telegraph.co.uk 09 October Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2008. Read the full article at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/3167018/Angelina-Jolie-Bono-and-Nelson-Mandela-feature-in-Vogue-style-Bible.html]
“In general, Bible publishers have always been creative, but now they are scrambling to meet a culture where people are moving away from print reading,” said Paul Gutjahr, an associate professor of English and adjunct associate professor in religious studies at Indiana University.
The Bible is reinvented quite often. While essentially still the same book, Gutjahr said that for the past two decades, updates were largely focused on new translations. There are also versions that come out each year that are essentially the same book, with different covers and sizes based on people’s wants. But he sees the next trend as one toward textual translation and visual translation.
“In a visually literate, advertising-skeptical age — how do you grab people’s attention?” Gutjahr asked. “Mixing the biblical text with Angelina Jolie doesn’t surprise me.”
Bible Illuminated: The Book is the creation of former advertising executives, it pairs intense photo essays — including images such as a child with a gun or beatings in the Belgian Congo under King Leopold’s II’s regime — with passages from the New Testament. It is aimed at people who might not otherwise ever read the Bible.
Illuminated World is quick to point out that they are not affiliated with any church or religion. The Swedish version was sold first in boutiques and design stores, and mainstream bookstores were hesitant to carry it initially. But as it gained popularity, the book was sold more widely and even found a strong secondary market in secular sales.
Norton said sales of “Bible Illuminated” in Sweden, where an estimated 60,000 Bibles are sold each year, reached 30,000 in its first year. They are hoping for similar success in the U.S. and plan to release the New Testament in October and potentially the Old Testament in March. In the U.S., the New Testament is already pre-selling on Amazon and Illuminated World has contracts with most major bookstores.
“We are living in the age of increased secularization and distance from traditional religion,” said Robert Hodgson, dean emeritus at the Nida Institute For Biblical Scholarship that is responsible for the translation and quality control for the American Bible Society, which licensed the rights to the Good News version of the Bible to Illuminated World.
“It’s about new points of entry in a modern world that is not ready to open its doors and windows to the traditional word,” he said.
These “gateway Bibles” — those intended for the secular crowd — seem to be the latest frontier in Bible publishing.
“Contrary to popular belief, I think most Bibles are published for people who are already in the club,” Gutjahr said. “Publishing for people who are outside the club, I don’t know how much luck there has been with that.” read more of Sarah Skidmore’s article from Associated Press here
Financial Crisis (No) Joke
The financial crisis is no joke, but here is one that comes from Bruce Mullan (UCA, QLD Synod) which did make us chuckle:
Following the problems in the sub-prime lending market in America and the run on HBOS in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan.
In the last seven hours Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches.
Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song, while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived.
Samurai Bank is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks, Ninja Bank is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black.
Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.
A Radical Vision
The NSW Moderator has implored his church to start selling its underutilised churches, manses and halls and give the proceeds to the poor and disadvantaged.
Faced with dwindling congregations and conceding the church could all but disappear in 30 years, the Reverend Niall Reid says the church should let go of its “holy, sacred spaces as beautiful as they may be” and work to establish an “underground” community of faithful that connects with the spiritually needy in pubs, on beaches and in shopping malls.
His radical vision was presented at the NSW Synod’s annual meeting last weekend and comes as the church recently valued its property assets including schools and aged care facilities at $3.9 billion. With land, the assets of the church could be double that.
Read what the Sydney Morning Herald wrote on this here
Alban Institute
Alban Institute publish many of the books that we as an MRN team have found to be helpful resources in our work with congregations and also for our own faith journeys. Their website also has a host of readily available resources. For instance, on their blog this week, you can read a post about the way in which vital congregations are communities of practice – places where we “immerse ourselves in those patterns of communal action” …which “create openings in our lives where the grace, mercy and presence of God may be known to us” (Craig Dykstra). The author of the post, Wayne Floyd, identifies and expounds on five practices that he associates with vital congregations: Discernment, Story-Telling, Proclamation, Hospitality and Service. You can read the whole entry here
You can subscribe to a weekly newsletter which contains articles and information about resources. In this week’s there is an excellent feature on “Planning as Holy Conversation”. The authors, Gil Rendle and Alice Mann have written a book, titled “Holy Conversation”: a resource I use frequently. They acknowledge the complexity of planning, where in contemporary congregations there are many competing preferences and needs. Their belief is that planning is not problem centred and it is not the responsibility of the leader(s) to find a solution. Instead, the task of the leader is to help the people have a purposeful and meaningful conversation about who they are and what they believe is important to do. The Exodus journey mirrors that of many congregations. It is helpful to think of leadership as “a dance in whcih we seek a more distant future that is both meaningful and faithful while simultaneously mananging the specific day to day realities of the trip”. To read the full article you will need to subscribe to the Alban Institute weekly newsletter – which is FREE. You can do that here
Their book (see below) is available on order from MRN Resources. Please contact Heather at hbald@sa.uca.org.au MRN have a copy for previewing.
Holy Conversations: Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice for Congregations by Gil Rendle and Alice Mann
Gil Rendle and Alice Mann cast planning as a “holy conversation,” a congregational discernment process about three critical questions: Who are we? What has God called us to do or be? Who is our neighbor? Rendle and Mann equip congregational leaders with a broad and creative range of ideas, pathways, processes, and tools for planning. By choosing the resources that best suit their needs and context, congregations will shape their own strengthening, transforming, holy conversation.
Even in Sleep…
It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for God gives sleep to his beloved - Psalm 127:2
Those who have the wind of the Holy Spirit go forward, even while they sleep – Brother Lawrence
Last Thursday the MRN team enjoyed a half day retreat with Marjorie Thompson from The Upper Room. Her theme for the morning was Sabbath. This beautiful poem set the refreshing tone:
Camas Lilies
Consider the lilies of the field,
the blue banks of camas
opening into acres of sky along the road.
Would the longing to lie down
and be washed by that beauty
abate if you knew their usefulness,
how the natives ground their bulbs
for flour, how the settlers’ hogs
uprooted them, grunting in gleeful
oblivion as the flowers fell?
And you — what of your rushed
and useful life? Imagine setting it all down —
papers, plans, appointments, everything —
leaving only a note: “Gone
to the fields to be lovely. Be back
when I’m through with blooming.”
Even now, unneeded and uneaten,
the camas lilies gaze out above the grass
from their tender blue eyes.
Even in sleep your life will shine.
Make no mistake. Of course
your work will always matter.
Yet Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these.
~ Lynn Ungar, from Blessing the Bread
Marjorie reminded us that in the Jewish tradition day begins at sundown. We tend to think the day begins when it is morning and we get up, ready to make things happen. All labour begins with rest. A secular rhythm makes work primary, and we go from work to vacation. In contrast, a sacred rhythm moves from Sabbath to vocation. Resting in God is radical in our culture and in our churches particularly for those in church leadership: we are always being tempted to “leave God for God’s service”. I enjoyed hearing Marjorie quote Eugene Peterson
”The Hebrew evening/ morning sequence conditions us to the rhythms of grace. We go to sleep, and God begins His work. As we sleep, He develops His covenant. We wake and are called out to participate in God’s creative action. We respond in faith, in work. But always grace is previous. Grace is primary. We wake into a world we did not make, into a salvation we did not earn. Evening: God begins, without our help, His creative day. Morning: God calls us to enjoy and share and develop the work He initiated.”
How beautiful is that! What a way to begin each day – remembering that God has already been at work and now that we are awake we are invited to join in and participate with delight in what God has already been doing.
