We Can, If . . .
We can, if . . .
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Transforming Traditions
Yesterday I was privileged to partake in the installation service of Rev. Stuart Barnes Jamieson at Carter-Westminster United Presbytery Church in Skokie. The installation service reflected the diversity of the membership and the community. The congregation describes itself as “a rich tapestry woven out of the ministry of three congregations.” These three congregations– Westminster, Carter Memorial (an Assyrian congregation which began in the chapel of Fourth Presbyterian) and Irving Park–make up the colorful tapestry of race, ethnicity, language, and culture that was on full display on Sunday. It was summed up in the Lord’s Prayer which was spoken in four languages! (Not all at the same time!!)
Maintaining this type of diversity takes commitment. It is part of the foundation and DNA which Carter-Westminster continues to live into. In his monograph entitled, Jacob’s Bones, Gil Rendle writes about the value of carrying forward the identity and mission of previous generations. He sees this exemplified in the patriarch Jacob requesting his bones be carried into the new land. Rendle writes, “Futures are not disconnected from the past. We can carry with us the critical gifts from the past, limited in number but well chosen, that will remind us of who we are. What we choose to carry forward will be used to sustain our identity and purpose in the changed conditions that will be faced.”
Since diversity is in the fabric and DNA of Carter-Westminster, it continues to have a strong Assyrian membership. Their future reflects their past. This membership reflects the community. Often congregations lose touch with changing demographics in the community in which they reside. They become “the hole in the donut”- a solid center surrounded by a different flavor of diversity.
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Hope for 2022
Yet, I have hope in the future of the church. It is a hope not dependent upon immediate results. We are engaged in a long-term moral struggle for what is just and right. In her book, Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit quotes Václav Havel saying, “Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but, rather, an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.”
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Reading and Learning During Advent
The following are the four books I’m reading during Advent:
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. Laurence Gonzales
The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times. Jane Goodall, Douglas Abrams
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America. Ijeoma Oluo
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Advent
I am beginning my call as your presbytery executive in the season of advent. Advent is the season of waiting. During advent, we light the candles of hope, faith, joy, and peace on the advent wreath, and we end with the lighting of the Christ candle.
Advent is a time to stop and reflect on our calling in Christ. As Presbyterians, we believe everyone is called to a particular vocation. This calling challenges each of us to serve our society and the world. In her book, The Spirit of Advent: The Meaning is in the Waiting, Paula Gooder reflects on the calling of Abraham and Sarah and how their lives can guide us in our sense of call and vocation. She writes, “With God the command is both to go and to come. The ‘go’ element involves leaving behind many things; the command to ‘come’ involves knowing that God will accompany us on the journey.”
Many believe a great change of vocation is happening in the church because of the pandemic. Pastors are changing congregations, and many are leaving the ministry. I am learning that experiencing the change that comes with a call includes both grasping and letting go. What may God be calling you to let go of?
Advent is a time to believe that the God who comes to us in Jesus Christ is the God who calls us to wait. We are called to wait for the seeds of faith that have been planted in our spirit to sprout into new life. For me, as I pray about the future of the Presbytery of Chicago, I wait in anxious anticipation for fruitful congregations, chaplains, teachers, ministry partnerships, new worshiping communities, and other specialized ministries to bud, blossom, and bloom, all in God’s time. What do you find yourself waiting for during this Advent season?
Advent is a time for change. God’s change in God’s time. Change may mean letting go. It often means loss and grief. Gooder writes, “God’s call to us remains a call to change: to leaving and accompanying, to moving and changing, to growing and flourishing. It is part of human nature to yearn for stability, to put down roots, and to stay put; but it is also a rule of nature that things that do not move do not live.” What changes are you welcoming into your life this Advent?
Advent is a call to life. As we embrace the core elements of our life in Christ – hope, faith, joy, and peace–we enjoy the happiness of God through the fruit of the Spirit. Blessings to all during this Advent season as we engage the Triune God and find new life together. Amen.
Rev. Craig M. Howard
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