By Schisms Rent Asunder

So I am currently at a retreat with the Board of Ordained Ministry and it has added a few puzzlers to me. As the church faces the future, and as she changes through time she has to renew and rethink, reapply, and re-imagine the doctrines the make up her core when do we cross the line from exploration to heresy. This is not to say that our doctrines must necessarily change but they have throughout time needed to be reinterpreted and reunderstood in the light of new information. We moved from a geocentric to a heliocentric universe which changed how we understood creation. God is still creator of all says the church, but the universe is far more storied than we originally understood.

As the story of the universe unfolds, as science lends it's voice to understanding, as history teaches and as the arts continue to lift our heads into the universe, the church will grapple with everything she has learned. However with all these avenues for revelation being open, each a six lane superhighway pushing more ideas for consideration, as what point do we lose God's voice? When do we cross that line between orthodoxy, to heterodoxy, to heresy?

A Good Rehearsal

I want to talk about finding salvation in an unexpected place. When I first arrived at Herbst I was amazed at how kind, and wonderful the people are. I am also stilled and amazed by how self sufficient they are. These people can do anything. They build, the renovate, they design with startling efficiency. They seem to know exactly what they are doing no matter what they are doing. I have days when i feel like I can't do anything right.

However, these last few months I've been taking to the stage at the Marion Civic Theater. I have to say... in many ways this experience has saved my life. It gave me a place to not be a pastor. And when I'm up there on that stage, in being someone else, I am more free to be me. I can be funny, and touching, and loving and creative all at once. I reconnect with parts of myself that have been dormant. It's a beautiful thing to have a good rehearsal, that enables you to live in all the other parts of your life.

I Dream of a Church...

Sometimes when i sleep at night, I have a dream about a church. A church where I serve as Pastor and for some inexplicable reason... I fit perfectly. I've dreamt of this church several times. I see a balcony and a procession. I see art and music. I believe that this church exists somewhere, and for some reason mysterious and wonderful God has granted me some vision. Every time I break from the dream I feel empty and lost. There is a dull ache of emptiness that permeates my soul.

It's not just a dream. I know it's out there. This place I was called to serve that will make complete sense. Everyday I serve with joy here is one day closer to this place whose dimensions I cannot make out.