Rev. Cameron Trimble's Blog

A Growing Divide

2007-08-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched a CNN special by Christiane Amanpour called "God's Warriors." Perhaps you saw it as well? It is a three part series - the first on Jewish radicals, the second on Muslim radicals and the third of Christian radicals. The section I saw last night was on the Muslim radicals. I must say - it was overwhelming, hopeful, terrifying and illuminating. At the least, it is a brilliant piece of reporting. But more than that, Ms. Amanpour took me into a world that I know so little about and showed me just a glimpse of all that I need to learn.

There were many points made in the segment that deserve careful discussion. But there were some statistics that might help frame an interesting dialogue. I can't remember the exact numbers (I will look them up) but a stunning percentage of young people are flocking to mosques across the world in numbers greater than their parents. In other words, Islam is drawing the young people instead of the older generations. Christianity, on the other hand, is experiencing the opposite. We now have a Biblically illiterate generation of young people who would rather go shopping on Sunday than attend a church. The point was made in the segment that we have become so consumed by materialism that we are ignoring/neglecting the practices of our faith. While young Muslims are being trained in the history, stories, traditions, scriptures and passions of their faith, our young ones are failing to connect to any of these. They are, instead, spending their days searching for the next purchase to make.

To be sure, this is a grossly over simplistic view. But there seems to be a nugget of truth here. I am by no means advocating a radicalized expression of Christian faith, but I wonder if we ought not teach our young people with more intentionality about these stories which have formed us in ways we only barely understand - not out of a place of fear (that the Muslims are after us!) but rather because our story is also one of love and belonging and welcome. Our story is one that can give them strength when life challenges them, guide their feet as they navigate moral ambiguities, offer them grace when they stumble, and teach them to love because God first loved them.

I don't know about your experience, but it has made a difference in my life to know that God created me and said "she is good." It changes my sometimes selfish perspective when I remember that I am to call you "sister" or "brother." We are family - you and I. We are connected by a God who creates us, sustains us, and hopes for our wholeness. And this gives meaning to my life. That is a gift that I want my kids to have too.

I Hope You'll Dance

2007-08-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

The other day as I was driving through the hills of our great conference going from one church to another, a song came on the radio which I had not heard for a few years. You know this song - even if you are not a country music fan - because it swept the country about five years ago and was sung at every high school graduation ceremony in 2001. It was Lee Ann Womack singing "I Hope You'll Dance."

I hope you never lose you sense of wonder,

You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,

May you never take one single breath for granted,

God forbid love ever leave you empty handed.

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,

whenever one door closes I hope one more opens.

promise me that you'll give faith a fights chance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance...

I hope you dance.

I hope you dance!

What does it mean to "dance" in your life? What amazing, beautiful music is the world playing for you? It is a tango? Or a waltz? Or maybe break-dancing? In my life, I think it is the chicken dance.

This past spring has been very, very busy. I don't know about you, but I let life get a bit out of control this spring. We have now started four new churches around the conference. We have three new Comma Connections. Many of our existing churches are growing in exciting ways that require new visioning and planning for the future. Some of our churches are declining and looking for ways to "do a new thing." We are working on our conference capital campaign, updating our use of technology and building collegial relationships throughout the denomination. What am amazing year so far! We have done some good work together - I hope you think so.

But I also learned some important lessons (that apparently I have to keep learning until I get it right!). I learned that can sometime over-do and over-commit. I learned that I am a better pastor to our churches when I am a better wife and mother to my family. I learned that I am more creative when I turn the computer off, and less stressed if I don't watch the news at night. I learned that talking on the phone is often more fun than typing an email (but I am not giving email up!). I learned that working with people you like, doing a job you love, is better than almost anything else in the world. In other words, I learned that "dancing" for me has a lot to do with pace, rhythm, harmony and accompaniment.

As we head into the fall, life's rhythm is picking back up again. But this season, I am going to take the time to watch the leaves turn as I am driving to your church for our next visioning meeting. I am going to call just to check in - with no particular reason in mind - so that we stay connected in this wonderful, crazy calling of ministry. I am going to read more books, drink more water, swim more laps and sing in my car.

And in the midst of it all - I am going to DANCE! Will you join me?

A New Way of Being Connected

2007-08-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

As the political season intensifies and national elections linger just around the corner, unfeigned dialogue about life issues can sometimes be subjugated by flashy but ill-informed rhetoric and emotional, poorly crafted responses. It must be noted that in the past twenty years we have watched in disdain as religious organizations have leveraged the black and white “cowboy” mentality so clearly ordained by our present executive leadership, leaving many of us intimidated, off balance and struggling to catch up in a war of words, actions and public policy which scandalize our Christian, social justice sensibilities. When faced with well organized lobbying groups which have the funding to out-rhetoric us in almost every arena, many liberal Christians wring their hands in frustration and find solace in their self-perceived silent but superior ideological positions. “Let them attack Muslims, Jews and gays – we know we are right on these issues and justice (somehow) will prevail.” We have sacrificed our voice for the sake of propriety, and in so doing, we are missing the chance to learn, to teach and to grow.

Today we find increasingly that people are not only befriending people of like-minds, but they are choosing their churches, their communities, their schools and their recreational activities based upon a shared political platform. Democrats want to live with Democrats, Republicans with Republicans. We have conservative and liberal churches, conservative and liberal social clubs, conservative and liberal communities. We are increasingly isolating ourselves from the very people who could teach us a new way of understanding and who might be open to learning from us.

An emerging trend of self-started, intentional social groups is on the rise to combat this isolationist movement sprouting up around the country. Based on the original Christian small group ministry idea, these groups describe themselves as non-church-based organizations whose goal is to build bridges of communication between people of varying backgrounds, political leanings and economic levels. Groups like “Theology Café” and “Seekers Church” and “Philosophy Café” reach people who long for a more intellectually developed conversation about life issues with diversity being at the heart of the conversation. They meet in coffee houses, cafés, private homes and rented buildings. They gather weekly for discussion, study and fellowship. They come looking for connection, growth and challenge – and they are spreading like wildfire.

What is it about these groups that is so appealing to many today? Quite simply these gatherings are places for connection in meaningful relationships with a wide mixture of people and without the deafening rhetoric of narrow conservatism. They offer a safe space to talk about questions, fears, joys and challenges with people who will both honor their positions and offer alternatives of their own. These are not traditional church environments with “learned clergy” and “lay leaders.” Rather these are completely egalitarian communities of people who journey together in the life of faith, offering what insights they can and respecting the learning that others bring.

Perhaps through these groups we liberals will start to make our voices heard. Perhaps the gift that we bring is not stealing the megaphone and spewing a narrow agenda onto the lives of moderate Americans but rather to gently create environments for God to speak in our world today. This is good – but it is not enough.

We must remember – ours is not a history of passive complacency. We are the trouble-makers, the rebel-rousers, the abolitionist, the freedom-fighters, the emancipators. We are the people who have taken bold and dangerous stands against injustice regardless of the cost to our persons or institutions. We are the people who speak for the voiceless, work for the helpless and fight for the oppressed. We have done amazing, wonderful acts throughout history when we have had the courage to stand up and speak. And historically, we have spoken most clearly through the Church.

About fifteen years ago in a paper written for the United Church of Christ on mission, the author quotes David Bosch book Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission: “In the new image mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God. It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the Church’s. Mission is thereby seen as a movement from God to the world; the church is viewed as an instrument for that mission. The church is there because there is a mission, not vice versa.”

The mission of the modern liberal is not to move away from the Church but rather to move toward it. While it may feel like walking into the scorching fires of hell itself, it is the place that most needs the needs the witness of authentic discipleship and dialogue. Together we can do more than apart.

Imagine if Pat Robertson had openly gay and lesbian members join his church and refuse to buckle under his condemnation. What would happen if he had to start talking to them, getting to know them, maybe even understand them? Imagine if Christians, Jews and Muslims joined together in community projects which brought these groups into dialogue and relationship and opened the door to understanding. These are the leading social justice issues of the day. These are the ways in which reasoned, rational thought and conviction can lead to a better and more peaceful world.