I wonder if this is taught in Liturgy 101

It seems that during Christmas service at a church in Long Island, someone involved in the communion service had hepatitis A. The gift jokes are endless. It was discovered that the person has hep A until after the Christmas service so the church is offered free vaccines yesterday and today. All the papers showed up and possible that hundreds took up the offer for the free vaccines. To be honest, I never thought about how to handle the situation when someone involved in the communion has a medical issue and how to react to it. The church seems to be doing a good job handling the situation. I remember when Swine Flu hit and all the hoopla surrounding the common cup. Now hep A might freak out a few folks even though its intinction, not sipping, that is the most unsanitary! One way around that might just be to have terrible tasting wine – it will keep dipping and sipping to the bare minimum.

Metrocard Math

During my trip, I missed two important New York things. Actually, I probably missed way more than two but, right now, I’ll narrow down NYC into only two things – these are the only TWO THINGS that were of any importance during the last three weeks. First, I missed snowmageddon. Second, I missed the metrocard fare hike.

So, today, I walked to the subway station to refill my card. Since I’m no longer in NYC full time, I only buy single rides – no unlimited rides for me (except for the occasional one-day unlimited pass when I know I’ll be making 4 or more rides in 1 day). There were four Metrocards in my wallet so I had to check each one to see if any money was left on them, and then went through the motion to refill my card. I got to the machine, noticed that there was no general $40.00 option on the screen anymore, and – after buying $40.00 worth of rides, I noticed that my bonus was $2.80 cents. A one way ride is $2.25. What the hell am I suppose to do with that extra 55 cents?

It turns out that one of the magic numbers for new metrocards is, currently, $39.95. Because of the 7% bonus, and the fact that everything has to be in 5 cent increments, spending $39.95 will give you exactly 19 rides. This doesn’t take into account the future “fee” where every new metrocard will cost you $1.00. Doesn’t $39.95 sound like a price from an infomercial? Honestly, I should be getting a free sham-wow every time I buy a metrocard now.

New Year’s Resolutions

A friend of mine with a newborn just made a deal with his kidling that for every resolution he fails to complete, he will give his son $100. My wife thinks that is a wonderful idea and thinks I should do the same thing except that she will get the $100 instead. And as one of my goals is to try and blog everyday (I like making resolutions that are impossible to keep), my wife now believes that everyday I fail to blog, I should give her $100. I don’t think I’ll take her up on that offer.

I tend not to make too many resolutions mostly because I don’t like using the New Year as a yard marker. Instead, I think Birthdays, the start of a new school year, and Christmas are better yard markers for some reason. I like thinking of my year as beginning when I was born and since the start of a school year is (to me) the official end of summer and the beginning of fall, I find myself to be very reflective at that time. Plus, I prefer not to make resolutions during the middle of a cold period where my desire to hibernate in my sweltering cave tends to push all resolutions that require me to actually go outside, to the curb. If I’m going to make changes to my life, I prefer to give myself a fighting chance to actually WIN.

But blogging more is something I would like to do. And I’m hoping to bust out my camera more and take pictures. One thing that I noticed during my trip to Florida (I’m back in the lovely it’s-forty-degrees-colder-than-Tampa NYC) was how, on New Year’s Eve, even though I felt happy, my eyes in all pictures looked tired and it just felt difficult to smile. I was exhausted, low on energy, and I had yet to have an opportunity to be by myself and recharge and it was obvious on my face. But I still kept pushing myself to do things and I enjoyed myself and I had a lovely time. I wasn’t unhappy, miserable, or doing anything I didn’t want to do. But my face and eyes were showing me just how worn out I was. And I’m sure other people could see it. And that is something I would like to figure out this year.

I’m not a completely introvert but I have come to realize that I am able to recharge myself better when I am alone. In a weird way, I can also feed off the energy of others and push through life but that’s not the best way for me to be at my best. And with my travels between Philly and NYC, my time at LTSP, and my field experience, I really never have time to sit and recharge. And this has been noticed by my peers and supervisors and it has impacted my work to some degree. So I’m hoping to figure out ways for me to recharge. This might require me to learn how to speed read so I can free up time during my studies. I might need to learn how to maximize the limited time I have on public transportation and just put my books away. And if none of this works, then I might just need to learn how to fake it and to keep my eyes looking as energized as possible. Face scrubs, eye creams, or ditching my contacts, might at least trick my face to appear more energized than it has in the past. If I am energized enough to still engage with people, to participate in the world, to actively plan, make goals, and do things, my eyes and face should reflect that. And as a pastor, my body language is going to need to make this change. I’ll draw the line, however, at drawing eyeballs on my eyelids to pretend to be awake while I’m snoozing. I’m not that good of an artist.

Little Jockey

As my time in Florida nears its end, I realize I have yet to share what could be one of my “highlights” from the trip. This story could also highlight one of the reasons why I can never leave New York.

K, my father-in-law, and I went to dinner at a Thai restaurant. As we entered the small restaurant, I noticed a woman staring at me. She was eating dinner with a man and I noticed that she had been drinking. She leaned across her table slightly, believing that I would not be able to hear that comment she was going to make to her companion. The problem with her plan was that I was sat only three tables away from her. So, as I took my seat, removed my leather bomber jacket, and adjusted my cap, I heard her say “awwww. He looks like a little jockey!” She then proceeded to stare at me for the rest of her time in the restaurant.

The incident didn’t bother me too much (I have been called many different things in my life and there’s nothing wrong with being called a jockey) but it’s just a reminder of the vast gulf between the culture of NYC and Florida. In NYC, I’m one of many fashionable guys. In Florida, they’re about five years behind the times. If I ever do leave NYC, I’m going to need to plan yearly trips back to the Big Apple just to stock up on culture, fashion, and just life in general.

Christmas Present

I can never have enough t-shirts and k’s family knows that. I’m wearing one of them right now – it has Martin Luther on it. I also have socks that say “Here I stand.” I am going to be THAT kind of pastor.

Christmas has been great this year and my stomach aches in happiness after eating my weight in meatballs and garlic bread. At this rate, I am going to need to buy a second ticket for the trip home.

All day, I’ve been pondering what my future Christmases will be like. I’ll be working, writing sermons, meeting all the C&E church members, and also keeping tabs on my extended family. Soon, opening Christmas presents until 11:30 in the morning just won’t be possible So I keep wondering not only WHAT I will be doing on a future Christmas day but also HOW I will be doing it. Last night, I attended candlelight service at a local ELCA church and I noticed myself creating a mental critique of the service while it was going on. I thought the bulletin was nice but I wondered why the music wasn’t included (the lyrics for each hymn were printed however). I pondered the low church elements of the church and wished there were more vestments. I studied the sermon, the pastor’s delivery, the pastor’s dress, and went through what his entire vibe was. The sermon, itself, was a stretch and K summed up the delivery as “swarmy.” Since this was my 3rd visit to the church, I was able to see the teenage choir “grow up” and I figured out who were the divas, who were the young teenage leaders in the church, and who really just wanted to go home and open presents. And I thought about how I wanted to present my future self, what kind of image I wanted to give off, and what my future pastor persona will be.

One of the most “shocking” things for me when I go to an ELCA church outside of New York is how white the churches are. And not only are the churches ethnically white, but they are culturally white (and sometimes completely midwestern white) as well. White might not be the right term to use but I think it gives off the correct feeling. As a hispanic, it is very easy for me to walk into an ELCA church and feel like Mama Mia and Abba are as culturally wild as the congregation gets. There is nothing wrong with a church embracing who it is, where it came from, and for a congregation to reflect who its people are, but does that mean that the church needs to limit itself to only BE that? There is a difference between trying to be culturally expansive and being culturally oppressive by doing someone else’s cultural expressions poorly. Authenticity in love, in worship, and in a willingness to not be stuck in one cultural zone is easy to see no matter how well a cultural tradition is expressed. But there wasn’t even a willingness for the congregation to point out that one of their hymns had a Swedish verse in it. It was only by opening the ELW that I realized where this hymn came from, what it meant, and what type of ethnic and cultural experience it was expressing. Instead, the bulletin only displayed the english lyrics and, although it included the ELW hymn number, there was no encouragement to actually use the ELW. To me, that felt culturally limiting and a little sad.

I wonder how much my feelings in this regard are attached to my own experience as a minority or is my desire for the ELCA churches to be more culturally expansive and to take risks tied to my just being young. Maybe a little of both. But I personally find churches that see themselves as a part of something much larger, and expresses that in their worship, to be the type of churches that I want to be a part of. Will that be a liturgical change that I will need to bring to the future churches that I am called to? Or will I only be called to churches that already have that flavor and spice to them? And, in either case, how can I get them to move forward and actually participate in the body of Christ instead of limiting themselves to seeing themselves as THE body of Christ? And if my assumptions based on the church I went to last night is completely wrong, then why don’t I see that expansive view in their very expression of worship, especially worship tied to a specific event in a culture that is not anywhere near our own?

It seems that, at the moment at least, the ghost of Christmas present is completely influencing my ghost of Christmases yet to be. It would be nice if Gonzo was there to narrate it and if Rizzo could provided some comic relief. I think I’ll munch on a few ginger bread houses and ponder these thoughts will jelly bean and marshmallow dreams.

Hark the Hearld Angels Sing!

Christ, by highest, heav’n adored, Christ the every lasting Lord,
late in time behold him come, offspring of a virgin’s womb,
Veiled in flesh teh God-head see! Hail, incarnate deity!
Pleased as man with us to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel!
Hark! The herald angles sing, “Glory to the newborn king!”

Cross
St. Mark’s od Dunedin in 2008. I went to their Christmas Candlelight service tonight for the 3rd time in a row!

Is It Christmas? YES! Many blessings to all of you out there in internet land!

Men men men men Men men men men

This morning, I experienced my first men-only ministry.

My father-in-law invited me to attend the early morning men’s group at his church. The meet weekly at 7 am. I was then told that there would be food. I said “I’ll be there.”

We drove up and I entered into the massive complex of buildings and was directed into a fellowship room. The breakfast was catered by a local restaurant. There was bacon, sausages, biscuits, gravy, eggs, pastries, pancakes, coffee, and orange juice. And it wasn’t half bad. I met a few of the men (I was the youngest guy there I think), sat down, and ate. It seems that the group has been working through a book about being a man but today was all about having some food and some fellowship. The conversation at the table my father-in-law and I sat at circled around food (I feel that some of those men are more weight conscious than me), gentle ribbing at each other’s expense, and when the head pastor sat down, we chatted about feet and minor surgeries. And by “we chatted”, I mean I kinda sat there and listened. I was asked some questions about seminary (they seemed to already know who I was) and I talked about the weather quite a bit. All in all, it was very normal.

After a very very very brief devotional, each table began a prayer circle. People shared prayer requests for healing, and then each man said a brief prayer. Then we ended the breakfast with a chat about Glen Beck and his Mormon faith. My favorite comment was “he seems so well read and researched – you think he would know better.”

It’s interesting finally seeing men’s ministry in action, to some degree. I know that the idea of men’s ministry is trendy right now – it seems quite a few churches are shocked that more women go to church than men and I can see how church traditions that emphasize male leadership would need to get men back into church – and I have never been a church where men’s ministry was actively promoted (again, if the church is androcentric then male ministry is always implicitly promoted). And I can see that this type of male ministry is designed to ground relationships into the community and it probably is working. They told me that it seemed, overnight, they tripled their active members in the group. But I would be curious to see how this male ministry tackles theological issues and questions and how/if the ministry brings the men into worship. Basically, how does this ministry integrate the men into the church community or is it really working on forming the men in their relationship with God? Basically, it would take me many more visits, time, and theological study to figure it out. Why theological study? Because I don’t speak their traditions language.

One thing that I did notice, however, was that – while I did not feel uncomfortable while there – if my father-in-law had not been there, I wouldn’t have know what to do. I never seen a prayer circle like that before. Was it because people just assumed I already spoke the language, was it because people just assumed my father-in-law would fill in that role, or is there a wider issue of connecting new folks into the ministries that already exist in the church? One thing I have learned while at my time is Advent is the power of intentionally including folks, pushing them into new ministries while at the same time not abandoning those people and letting them flail about. And that intentionality is something that is on my mind right now. I am wondering how to create that intentionality, or latch onto it, in a brand new ministry area. This is the type of thing they don’t teach you in Christian History sadly.