MINISTRY FROM TWO POLES

Archive Page 5

May

Road Trip

Categories: Personal Stories

usarvblogmap-747526 I am looking forward to the first of two road trips this summer. This one, in which we will end up in Iowa for Leah’s high school graduation, is a warm up for the Montana trip in late June for Jenna’s late father’s memorial service. A stopping point on each trip will be our dear friends Karl & Sue in Central Ohio. I was going to call them brother Karl and sister Sue, but then I’d have difficulty explaining the two children they have together. They are like family to Jenna and I. I feel this especially for a couple of reasons.

The first is that I have no siblings or parents living in the states. Apart from my children, who I dearly love but do not relate to as siblings (obviously enough), my family is in Australia. It has been four years since I saw my mother, and 15 since seeing my sister and brother. The role Karl & Sue play in my life, therefore, fills an enormous void. Continue reading ‘Road Trip’

May

Scarcity Trumps Abundance Almost Every Time

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Economic Theology, Ethics and Sermons & Studies
Tags: biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, Economy, Ethics, Faith, God, IMAGE OF GOD, Kingdom of God, Liberation theology, PC(USA), poverty, Progressive, Schenectady, Theology

Jesus is asked to intervene in an inheritance dispute, and responds by telling a parable about greed. Obviously, Jesus has decided that greed is the underlying motivation of the person who asks for their share of the inheritance, and that this is a good time for a lesson about greed in general.

Quite simple, really. Hardly much point in preaching about it, since it’s just so obvious, eh?

There is more here than is initially apparent – to find it we have to delve a little deeper into the text. And my job is to do that without turning this into a geek fest of language and theological study that leaves you groping for the back button in a bored stupor. Continue reading ‘Scarcity Trumps Abundance Almost Every Time’

May

… to Each According to Need

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Economic Theology and Ethics
Tags: biblical authority, Christian, Church, church administration, cultural competence, Ethics, Faith, initiatives, Kingdom of God, PC(USA), poverty, Progressive, Schenectady, Theology

While this exact phrasing is allocated to Marx, there is a biblical equivalent to “From each according to ability, to each according to need.”

The pericope from Acts 4:34 & 35 is:
“There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”

While I have attended churches that lived fully into this concept, one has made it into the news. CNN reports in “Church gives fresh meaning to ‘offering’ plate” that a Texas church has opted to follow this example in its Sunday worship. As the plate goes around, people are asked to give what they can and take what they need. Continue reading ‘… to Each According to Need’

May

A Failed Rationale for Ministry

By Rev Andy Little 3 Comments

Categories: Ethics, Justice & Mercy and Personal Stories
Tags: Christian, Church, church administration, conflict resolution, cultural competence, Ethics, Faith, group dynamics, initiatives, poverty, Schenectady

This is the rationale for ministry I developed for the church I served until recently. In the end, while many in the congregation were enthused, the leadership rejected it wholesale. Because of the way the relationship was terminated, I will probably never know why this raised the ire of the leaders. This was not delivered as one document, but as several. I have compiled it here and I would love to have feedback from readers telling me where I went wrong. Don’t worry about being subtle or reserved – brutal honesty would be appreciated. Continue reading ‘A Failed Rationale for Ministry’

May

Mary’s Song – Magnificat Not Just for Advent

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Ethics and Sermons & Studies
Tags: biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, Ethics, Faith, Feminist theology, God, healing, humility, IMAGE OF GOD, inclusive, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Liberation theology, oppression, PC(USA), poverty, Progressive, reconciliation, Schenectady, Theology

Normally, we hear this passage in Advent. It prompts images of the gift of God that coincides nicely with our gifts at Christmas. The gift of God in the person of Christ, however, is not limited to one short period in the Christian year – it is ongoing 24/7, 365, year after year. It is the gift that keeps on giving no matter the season.

In return we are meant, as Christians, to be a gift to the world – again, not just at Christmastime, but in all times. This is not a passage for one season, but one for all seasons. Even though we tend to reserve Christmas for the anticipation of the coming Messiah, that too is a constant expectation.

So, this morning, we’re going to continue to wait, while listening again to the song of Mary. Read Luke 1:46-55. Continue reading ‘Mary’s Song – Magnificat Not Just for Advent’

May

U.S. State Dept Treats Foreign Workers as Commodity

By Rev Andy Little 1 Comment

Categories: Economic Theology and Ethics
Tags: Christian, cultural competence, Economy, Ethics, oppression, poverty

In a new revelation, the full story of which can be found at CNN’s “State Department: Non-Americans making $3 to $4 a day“, we find the State Department paying the equivalent of slave labor in our missions overseas. The State Dept corrected an earlier report that discussed some workers earning less than $1 a day after realizing they had made a currency conversion error.

You’d be hard pressed to find a sweat shop in the least developed country paying less, unless the workers were indentured servants or slaves. Doesn’t our government have any ethics at all? Even most trans-national corporations look downright scrupulous compared to the State Dept. The report includes details that, in order to exist, some employees have to eat once a day and send their children panhandling and begging in the streets. It also includes a complaint from the State Dept that it cannot keep workers. No shit! Continue reading ‘U.S. State Dept Treats Foreign Workers as Commodity’

May

I’d Like to Thank …

By Rev Andy Little 1 Comment

Categories: Ethics and Uncategorized

The One and Only Bella Award

… my mother who made all this possible. She always said I should be a writer and be published (you know what moms can be like). Now, I realize this blog isn’t what she had in mind, but life can be a bugger sometimes.

Awards have always meant so very little to me. They always seemed to come with backlash. I mean, really, why should I face expulsion from high school simply because my superlative was “the most likely to die of an overdose while studying transfinite numbers”? Then I was awarded the “youngest master optician” award and what do you know, I got old. In seminary, someone dubbed me the most likely to change the world, and they’ve been blaming me ever since.

So then, when Sam at Crying in the Night awarded me the Bella Award, why should I be so touched? Is it because the Bella Award graphic reminds me of my grandmother’s couch? Maybe. Could it be that I have a weakness for Ponzi schemes? That certainly could be since the Bella Award rules say: Continue reading ‘I’d Like to Thank …’

May

A Tradition of Equality?

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Ethics and Justice & Mercy
Tags: bias, cultural competence, Ethics, history, immigration, inclusive, oppression, poverty, remembrance, Schenectady, society

The summer seems to be a great season for patriotism. It begins with Memorial Day and ends with Labor Day, well not officially, but certainly in practical terms. Both these holidays celebrate what has made and still makes the U.S. the U.S. – people. In between these holidays, of course, we have Flag Day and Independence Day. July does seem to represent the peak of summer and, I think, the peak of summer patriotic fervor, perhaps a lasting effect of the fireworks and cook-outs. Between the celebrations of people, we celebrate nationhood, freedom and this great land.

Just like a church, however, a nation does not exist without people. The land certainly does, but it is the people who make it a social, political and communal place. Freedom is an empty concept without people – the freedoms we celebrate are those that are the inalienable rights of the people of this land. But just who are these people, you know, the ones who have had this freedom? Continue reading ‘A Tradition of Equality?’

May

Love & Forgiveness – Reflections on Romans 12

By Rev Andy Little 1 Comment

Categories: Ethics, Justice & Mercy and Sermons & Studies
Tags: biblical authority, Christ, Christian, Church, conflict resolution, cultural competence, Ethics, God, group dynamics, healing, humility, IMAGE OF GOD, Kingdom of God, oppression, PC(USA), Progressive, reconciliation, Schenectady, society, Theology

Romans 12: 1-3 and 9-18

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

What is “church”? What is its purpose? How is it meant to be or act in the world?

Recently, with a small church, we had to wrestle with the intended nature of the church – what the church should be, and how it should conduct itself – both inside and outside its own structure. For churches, these questions are no less monumental than, “What is the meaning of life?” In many ways members of the congregation objected, some vehemently. There is no doubt that these are important questions for ministers. But they were equally important for the people of the church. Continue reading ‘Love & Forgiveness – Reflections on Romans 12’

May

Articulate and Thought-Provoking – Is My Marriage Gay?

By Rev Andy Little 1 Comment

Categories: GLBT & Queer Theology and Marriage & Sexuality
Tags: GLBT issues, homophobia, inclusive, marriage equality, oppression, reconciliation, Schenectady, society

Excerpts from the full New York Times opinion piece to be found at “Is My Marriage Gay?”

AS many Americans know, last week Gov. John Baldacci of Maine signed a law that made this state the fifth in the nation to legalize gay marriage. It’s worth pointing out, however, that there were some legal same-sex marriages in Maine already, just as there probably are in all 50 states. These are marriages in which at least one member of the couple has changed genders since the wedding.

I’m in such a marriage myself and, quite frankly, my spouse and I forget most of the time that there is anything particularly unique about our family, even if we are — what is the phrase? — “differently married.” Continue reading ‘Articulate and Thought-Provoking – Is My Marriage Gay?’

May

LGBTQ Young People & Risk of Suicide

By Rev Andy Little 3 Comments

Categories: GLBT & Queer Theology, Justice & Mercy and Marriage & Sexuality
Tags: bias, Church, cultural competence, Ethics, GLBT issues, group dynamics, healing, homophobia, IMAGE OF GOD, oppression, poverty, Progressive, reconciliation, Schenectady, society, Theology

From a report compiled by The Trevor Project:

Although, practically, there is no way of knowing how many suicides are completed by LGBT and questioning adolescents, reliable research on the attempt rates of this demographic group are available. In the 2005 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey (MA YRBS) concluded that lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are “almost four times as likely to have attempted suicide” and “more than five times more likely to have received medical attention for a suicide attempt” than their heterosexual peers.

The reasons for these disproportionate numbers are varied and many, but almost certainly include the lack of self-acceptance as the primary among them. In a 1995 study published in the Journal for Developmental Psychology (Herhberger and D’Augelli), the single largest predictor of mental health was self-acceptance. According to Remafedi (1991), highly feminine boys have also been shown to be at higher risk for suicide attempts because they are the ones perceived by others to be homosexual and behave outside of gender specific norms.

Because of this, feminine boys and “butch” girls are more likely to receive the brunt of bullying in school along with traditional society’s disapproval. As recent events have proven, the perception of being gay is enough to precipitate bullying and harassment, Continue reading ‘LGBTQ Young People & Risk of Suicide’

May

Justice Prayer

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Justice & Mercy and Prayers/Liturgies/Litanies
Tags: Christ, Christian, Church, Faith, Feminist theology, God, Holy Spirit, humility, inclusive, initiatives, Liberation theology, oppression, PC(USA), poverty, Progressive, Schenectady, Theology

Dear Loving Parent of us all,

As we continue to recognize your presence with us,

we pray we are not lulled into unconsciousness by our own comfortable existence.

In this time of waiting give us ears to hear and eyes to see

our sisters and brothers who need our love and care.

Give us the desire to be your hands and legs in this world Continue reading ‘Justice Prayer’

May

Leviticus – The Case For or Against LGBT – Part 1

By Rev Andy Little 1 Comment

Categories: Ethics, GLBT & Queer Theology and Sermons & Studies
Tags: Christian, Church, GLBT issues, inclusive, Progressive, Theology

[This post has been bumped by request. This is the first of a five-part series that sheds reasonable doubt on the traditional view that Leviticus labels homosexuality as an abomination. Each section is linked through the table of contents.]

ETHIC OF HUMILITY

As someone who is strongly committed to Christian ethics, especially in conflict resolution, and to theological reflection as a defining characteristic of what makes a church a church, I am committed to the process of engaging in dialogue and conversation about the issues that divide Christianity. Honesty, theological reflection (both individual and communal) and knowledge are all essential components of Christian conversation. When scriptural evidence for particular stands or opinions is argued, experience has taught me that, many times, some or all of these components may be lacking.
Continue reading ‘Leviticus – The Case For or Against LGBT – Part 1’

May

The Bread of Life I

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Economic Theology and Sermons & Studies
Tags: biblical authority, Christian, Church, Faith, Holy Spirit, Kingdom of God, oppression, PC(USA), poverty, Progressive, Schenectady, Theology

This is the first of a multi-part post on the “Bread of Life” discourse in John, chapter 6. In the lectionary, and in the minds of many, this chapter is dealt with by breaking it into five parts and trying to understand each part as stand-alone text. This is one discourse, however, that is offered in sequence for a reason – each section builds on what came before and cannot be fully appreciated as snippets of scripture. To understand, as best we can, Jesus’ meaning behind “the bread of life”, we need to unpack the whole. This is just such an attempt.

Text for this section of the series – John 6:1-21.

“When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” This was said to test Philip, for Jesus knew what he was going to do. Philip answered Jesus, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.”

Jesus tests Philip, one of the disciples. But, why? Well, in John’s gospel, the disciples have yet to get it – to actually see the light. They are still being taught and this becomes a teaching moment.

It’s not just that Jesus has been out among the people doing healing miracles, or that Jesus had turned water into enough wine for a large party, that should have clued the disciples in – but that a lesson about the bread of life had already been given. In John 4, the disciples has been concerned that Jesus hadn’t eaten, and Jesus told them that he had food to eat that they did not now about. He then explained that he was fed by “doing the will of God.”

Jesus had already drawn a distinction between food – bread for bodily sustenance – and the bread of life that feeds the soul. So now bread – food – becomes the subject of another lesson in faith. Continue reading ‘The Bread of Life I’

May

The Hero’s Journey – or, Ministry Suicide

By Rev Andy Little Leave a Comment

Categories: Ethics, Liberation theology and Personal Stories
Tags: Christ, Christian, Church, conflict resolution, Ethics, Faith, God, group dynamics, history, Holy Spirit, inclusive, initiatives, Jesus, Kingdom of God, PC(USA), Progressive, reconciliation, reflections, society, Theology, writing

When the word “myth” is used to describe foundational social or faith stories, the result is oftentimes a reaction of insult and anger. For most, that word conjures up images of fictional or embellished stories, perhaps compiled from many disparate sources – in short, myths are not considered to be truth. The word “myth”, however, is value neutral on the criteria of truth. Myths are society’s fundamental stories, usually involving heroes or major events and based on reality, fiction or some combination of the two that explain or validate traditional practices or belief patterns. Myths are the foundations of culture – every culture has them – the bedrock upon which social values, mores and norms are built.

There is, then, a tendency to romanticize myths beyond the level of ideology, adventure and chivalrous displays that already exist. Entirely common is the process of day-dreaming ourselves in the role of the mythical hero – to become so enamored with the myth, that our ability to see ourselves apart from it becomes blurred. Generally, this very act circumvents the intended message of the story, and creates a compound myth that is now approaching fantasy. Most times, this is quite harmless, but when a pastor crosses this line, faith can become a casualty. Continue reading ‘The Hero’s Journey – or, Ministry Suicide’

... or, preaching from both ends

Rev Andy Little

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That's too bad - I'm so sorry. Oh, well, just try to make the best of it. What you'll find here is a variety of essays and ramblings to do with things theological, social, whimsical and, sometimes, all three. I don't write to get famous - trust me, I've been told how futile that would be - but to express myself. I love to communicate and browbeat - ummm, I mean dialogue - about the things I find intriguing. Since you're here, and the door's locked, why don't you stay a while. There's a page bar under the header with links to information about us - I mean me. Don't forget to tell me what you think - in a nice way, I mean.