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I am continually impressed by the many, innovative ways through which people (apparently) draw attention to themselves. I like the harmless ones. Here are some you might try in your Church: don’t shake your minister’s hand at the door, just offer your hand; don’t sit in the sanctuary, go sit somewhere unusual; if you play the organ, add a small emphasis that can’t be missed; if you sing in the choir, add your own idiosyncrasy; send your minister a birthday greeting one day late; walk past the altar during a hymn; after the service, walk out of Church twice instead of once; and so on and so forth ... OBSERVATION: How shall I count the ways? They seem endless.
I often tell a Christian joke at the beginning of a Sunday service, to lighten the atmosphere. Mostly, my jokes become the target of jokes -- but once in a while they are found to be genuinely funny. Last Sunday was such an occasion. I told the joke (it goes something like this) of two boys in the Sunday School who, as a prank, removed a leaf from the minister’s sermon notes. The minister came to the line, “And so Adam said to Eve ...” He turned the page and stared at his notes. He turned back again. He said: “And so Adam said to Eve ... There appears to be a leaf missing!”
During the course of research, one finds that one comes across certain works again and again. Many are classics, and not seldom hard to obtain. A few years ago, I made a hit-list of those works, and set myself the task of reading them all. This week, I read the last two outstanding authors on my list: Aristotle and De Saussure. I have also knocked off (among others) Capra, De Chardin, Korten, Kuhn, Lao Tzu, Lyotard, Peirce, Polanyi, Quine. And I sought to knock off certain subjects -- among them African philosophy, post-modern theology, semeiotics, set theory. OBSERVATION: By this week, I had every author and every subject in the bag -- but one book is still missing. I can’t locate it. Or rather, I can, but due to the corruption in our local postal services, no one will ship it. Curiously, many most-cited, seminal works are not required reading in one's studies.
It’s so easy to be caught napping, as a leader. While I don’t have final responsibility in the Church, I am seen to have it. I said that I was OK with a major new Church tenant (tenant no. 3 on our list of, say, ten). The next thing, the tenant had moved in. Our treasurer asked me for the “dope”, as they say. I said I didn’t know what was going on. In short, we now have a major new tenant without the approval of our Finance and Property Committee, which is standard procedure. I was caught napping because, on learning of the application, I should immediately have asked how we were going to apply our procedure: “Shall we meet? Consult? When? Where?” I am, effectively, the guarantor of procedure. In this case, I have the usual defence that I was distracted in a hundred directions. OBSERVATION: Churches usually operate on grace, not law -- and this kind of situation may test the boundary between the two. It’s easy to pounce on a person who broke the law. At the same time, if there was no ill intent (I don't believe there was in this case), one needs to apply grace. Part of the dynamic is whether people will trust God to bless such missteps, or panic. However, procedure should not be treated lightly.
This one is rated "mature". I met with a man who had several arrests and several suicide attempts behind him. I asked him where it all began. He said, "It began in my high school English class. The class was breaking up, and I was among the last to leave. I stood up at my desk. The next thing, my teacher stepped on my foot. She said, 'Hey handsome, do you want to **** me?' That ignited the rebel in me. For months, I would see her after school." (See "You Drank This!" for an incident involving the same person).
Recently I received a paper by Rev. Dr. George Malek, a former Coptic monk, essentially on the Church and sexuality. It has a long title.* I felt it worth outlining the basic idea, although I am bound to do the 40-page paper an injustice by summarising it in a few words in a blog post. The Church, says Malek, is community. Faith is not merely a “personal, private, inner matter”. Nor is the Church a community of individualists. It is not “false attempts at unity”, which may be described as “federal unions”. The Church is true community -- a “sacramental partaking” whereby the individual character is “nurtured by the character of her community”. This means that sexuality will not be treated as individual preference or right, or as part of a “democratic culture”. Sexuality will be submerged in the Church community, in the spirit of Christ whose “own self was placed as a sacrifice”. OBSERVATION: It is the first time I have come across the argument. I am not sure (yet) what to make of it. Dr. Malek (“George” to me) has assisted me on a number of occasions as consultant (see e.g. New Deputy Mayor).
* Cry Out My Beloved Church! A Response to Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Preface to In Eye of the Storm, by Gene Robinson.
Two young men walked into the Church this morning. They said to me, “Do you drive the red bike [my three-wheeler]?” I said yes. They said they knew who had stolen my camera (see Camera Gone). The thief had told them he would report a (my) lost camera to the police, but he had not done so. He had kept it, and had taken a lot of photos. OBSERVATION: Wife M. says, “It’s not going to be that easy [to get the camera back].” Watch this blog.
Yesterday I met with a mother and her teenage son. After hearing both sides, I said to her, “You are too controlling.” She said, “I do not accept your accusation. I have always done what is right.” I said, “Have you ever done what is wrong?” She said, “I have never done any wrong. Since the time I left my parents’ home, every step I have taken was right.” I read her the Bible passage: “There is no one righteous, not even one.” OBSERVATION: This had her attention. But how she did or will respond to it, I don’t know. I think this is a key to the problem.
According to Google, these are currently my blog’s most popular posts: 1. Kingdom/Reign of God (a short piece on these theological terms), 2. Tenebrae Service (how we do this in our Church), and 3. Slice of Ministry (another crazy day in urban ministry). OBSERVATION: Amatomu has a different opinion (although Google and Amatomu largely overlap). According to Amatomu, the most popular posts are: 1. BFO Metal Detector, 2. Leadership Jokes, and 3. Super Simple SONAR. Two of these are my electronic designs. Amatomu is “the South African blogosphere, sorted”. I suspect it has a "shorter memory" than Google.
I had no idea how a week of favourite photos would fare on my blog. When I began, my blog lay at tenth place in South Africa’s general Religion ranking (www.amatomu.com). It rose as high as fourth place this morning. In short, my favourite photos were well received. OBSERVATION: Now I return to reporting on everyday ministry -- and there was no shortage of action while I was busy posting photos.
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This time-lapse sequence represents the first time that I saw our Church's new, more "participatory" policy in pictures -- an expanded priesthood of believers. This sequence gives me joy, because it reminds me of a time when we could see that this was really working -- and I know what joy it gave to those who took part. The highlight on this day was T., third from left, who led our Sunday morning prayers -- all in Sepedi! She began her prayer with the words: "I'll be praying in Sepedi. But don't warry, I will be praying for yous all." Congregants still joke about it -- and T. still takes an active part in our Sunday services (mostly in English)!
I’ll be doing something different with my blog over the next week. I flicked through thousands of photos of 2007-2009, and selected the few that I thought were either exceptional photographically, or exceptional in the sense of standing out in my personal experience. I’ll be commenting on these photos as I post them, which in some cases will be quite different to the story which first led me to put them on my blog. OBSERVATION: They are not necessarily posted in order of preference.
I met today with refugee L., whose friend had acted unethically last week. His friend had misrepresented himself and intimidated one of our members -- if not more than one (see “Mistake”, last week). L. said, regarding his friend: “He panicked.” I had thought as much. I said, “He wouldn’t have panicked if he’d had faith. He wouldn’t have behaved that way at all.” L. said, “That’s true.” OBSERVATION: Just one example of the many ways in which one witnesses a link between works and faith.
I am so happy when I receive news from “old friends” whose hard times I have shared. Last night I received a call from L., who (ostensibly) was infected with HIV by her husband. As so often happens, when symptoms of AIDS appeared, she fled to Granny. This was the first time, since, that I heard from her. OBSERVATION: There are so many grannies who nurse their grandchildren to death. I have L.’s photo before me as I write -- but it would be inappropriate to put it on my blog (a beautiful young African woman, smiling, and dressed in green and gold). I said on the phone: “L., we are praying for you.” She said (sounding cheerful): “I am very glad. I need it very much.”
I mentioned in a recent post that I obtained 99.2% for the first half of my Master’s degree. In some parts of the world (including Southern Africa) this would be considered ridiculous -- impossible. Or one would think it a “Mickey Mouse” degree. OBSERVATION: But there is method in the madness. I obtained this grade/mark at Fuller Theological Seminary, one of the major seminaries in the USA. What they do is, they graph the grades/marks of the whole class, then they shift the graph upwards so that the top grade/mark touches 100%. I had the highest grade/mark (or perhaps I shared it) eight terms out of nine. Is the alternative, “absolute” standard preferable? I don’t know. Probably. To the extent that one can properly assess the right criteria for work well done.
During my fifteen years in this Church, I have experienced a marked loss of authority. I notice this as I re-enter familiar situations in the Church, yet find a different dynamic to be present. I sense that the reason for this is that I took on a fragmented and unmotivated Church, which needed direction. Over the years, I entrusted people with more, and introduced a consensus ethos. OBSERVATION: I have been gobbled up by my own ethos. It seems curious that, when I was fifteen years younger and less mature in ministry, I had more authority.
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Here’s another panoramic (90˚) picture of our Church -- this time of our vestibule (the entrance to the Church). OBSERVATION: You’ll see the tops of two pillars (framing the Church gate) on the right of the photo. It was between these pillars that a woman was seized and raped a month ago. I counselled her afterwards. See http://thomasscarborough.blogspot.com/2009/04/rape-at-church.html.
Over the past month or two, we have been dealing with the issue of changing the time of our Sunday morning service, which is relatively late at 10 a.m. The issue came up unexpectedly in our leadership meeting in April, and our leadership wanted to vote immediately for a change to 9.30 a.m. I thought this was too important an issue to act impulsively, and I asked for time. I promised that we would take a decision the following month (this month). In the meantime, I asked our intern P. to investigate how this would affect various categories of people in the congregation. I also checked our constitutional requirements (the Constitution states that "motions dealing with services" need to be put to the members). This month, P. reported back that most members were indifferent, many were in favour, and a few were reluctant. So our leadership voted in favour of the change. The next issue was how to implement the decision. It was decided to share the decision with our members immediately, as a firm and motivated proposal from the leadership, but not to push it. It would be voted on by all the members in July, and, if passed, would come into effect on the first day of Spring (Fall/Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere). OBSERVATION: As far as we know, this would be the first such change in 115 years. And some say the Congregationalists never change anything (people can be so unjust).
I suspect that ministers might see the arts a little differently to others, due to their Sitz im Leben (“setting in life”). People attend a movie, or they buy a music album, presumably for the sake of some diversion from their everyday routine. But many such diversions, for the minister, seem just like more of the same. “Classic” examples of this would be the movie “Fatal Attraction”, or the album “Jagged Little Pill”. Just like ministry!
I have fallen into the clutches of two Church consultants in my time. One taught me a critically important principle for ministry: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mat 11:30). OBSERVATION: That is, if the yoke of ministry is not easy, or if its burden is not light, then it is not Christ’s yoke, and it is not Christ’s burden. The minister should not drive himself/herself to do all the things that "should" be done. He/she should do only what the Holy Spirit has in mind. (The consultant was Rev. Jeff Williams in Sydney (Sinny, to those Down Under) -- see http://www.freedominchrist.org.au/).
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Don’t go buying an Olympus camera now. I have the brand new μ-550WP, and I’m not enamoured with it. However, here is something special that it does -- it takes panoramic photos. This is a 180˚ view, showing our Church garden (centre), our “Old Manse” to the left, which we rent out to doctors (I live in our “New Manse”), and the Church to the right. At the end of our garden path in the distance are our Church's three halls. OBSERVATION: A manse is a parsonage, or rectory (Churches have all these special names which are no longer that well known).
This week, at our monthly leadership meeting, we were discussing the printing of a new chorus book. I asked the meeting whether this should have a ring binding. A deacon said: “A ring binding? They’ll steal the pages.” Another said: “They’ll steal the ring binding!” Another said: “The first chorus should be ‘Bind us together, Lord’.” Another added: “With cords that cannot be broken!”
A few years ago, I (or we) made some relatively simple changes which broadened participation in our Sunday services. This brought about a significantly changed and re-invigorated Church. At our leadership meeting this week, I proposed that we broaden participation still further. Most significantly, this means that I shall hand over the leading of our services to others at least once a month -- as opposed to at least once every three months, as at present. OBSERVATION: The purpose of this is to cultivate the people who do it, and to enrich the spiritual input that our congregation receives. In my view, it is almost sure to have other effects. We shall see, because this is unknown territory for us. On this subject, see also http://thomasscarborough.blogspot.com/2007/09/priesthood-of-believers.html.
I was worried about tonight’s leadership meeting -- it was packed with tough issues. But I consider it a grace from God that we made it through just fine -- on the surface of it. I’m thankful that I don’t follow a leadership model such as those I have studied for my degree, or I’d have a lot more to worry about. OBSERVATION: Leadership meetings serve the purpose of keeping me ticking. In our meetings, I mark issues which require immediate attention, and our leadership gave me fourteen of them tonight: among them, be the go-between with our attorney, talk to our caretaker about revised terms, interview a doubtful Church office-bearer, prepare an evangelistic booklet, introduce proposed changes to the members -- and so on.
I made a mistake. I asked two Zimbabwean members whether I could pass on their contact details to two Zimbabwean refugees, to help the refugees with any questions as they sought to orientate themselves in Cape Town (our Zimbabwean members gave their permission). The refugees were tall, handsome young men, and very courteous. Our Zimbabwean members’ two names fell on the same page of our Church directory -- as did several other members’ names. I asked our secretary to make a copy of that page from the directory -- then I handed it straight to the refugees -- without thinking twice -- I was hopelessly over-committed, and running late. OBSERVATION: But as a result, one of our members has been pressured, if not intimidated by the refugees, who claimed to be calling on behalf of the Church. It was serious enough for this member to contact a Church elder. How far this problem goes, I don’t at this moment know.
One of our members wasn’t in Church for a few Sundays. I ran into him again at the back of the Church before a service. I said, “Where have you been?” He said, “I’m very upset! That sermon you preached. It was all DEATH, DEATH, DEATH! I couldn’t sleep! I’m depressed.” I said, “Don’t worry yourself. The death part doesn’t apply to you.” OBSERVATION: Actually, the sermon was about death and resurrection (Eph 2:1). Our member got stuck on the “death” part. I don’t worry too much about such reactions. That’s what sermons do. Apart from this, the sermon was warmly received.
I replaced my (stolen) Samsung camera today with a “budget” Olympus. It’s a cursory comparison so far. For the money, the Samsung was excellent. The new Olympus has the obvious advantages of being waterproof, and of being able to take extreme close-ups and panoramic pictures. At the same time, it is not as “friendly” as the Samsung. For instance, there’s a separate battery charger (two hours’ charge), a flap to open before plugging it in to a USB port, and so on. For its real performance, watch this blog! OBSERVATION: Son M. just said, “That thing’s waterproof? It’s full of holes!” So it is, but we’ll trust the manual!
One of our congregation had been persistently ill for some time, and was worried about it. She asked me to pray for her, which I did. She told me that the next day she was well. She gave the Church a generous donation as a gesture of thanks, and asked that a fifth of it be given to me personally. OBSERVATION: I feel a bit embarrassed about the fifth of it, although I’m very grateful for it. I don’t refuse gifts, because one honours people’s generosity and acknowledges their gladness by accepting them.
I drive an open-sided pickup. This morning, in our suburb, I drove over a bump, my camera jumped out of my pocket, bounced on my vehicle’s running board, and into the street. I pulled over immediately, and pulled the handbrake -- but by the time I left my vehicle and walked back, my camera had already been stolen. OBSERVATION: This is typical for our suburb. People are not just opportunistic, but aggressively opportunistic. I've seen it before. Besides having lost some good photos, I used my camera (of all things) as a backup for hundreds of pages of research. This includes sketches of future academic papers.
A young man in our congregation tested HIV-positive. He called me on the phone -- he was so upset that he could hardly breathe. But six months later, he went for a follow-up test. He tested HIV-negative. I met him in my vestry. I said, “How could they make such a mistake?” He said, “I don’t know! But now I have two certificates. Here, and here [he placed them on my desk]. I can use each one to good advantage.” OBSERVATION: I wouldn’t dare. I’d think I were tempting God -- or something!
This year, our Church has been humming. Apart from financial uncertainty, our big sanctuary has been comfortably full many Sundays. Yet the longer it has been full, the more tense I have been. I see this as an all-too-common trap that is exemplified by words of leadership author Viv Thomas. Thomas considers that the various “systems” of the Church -- relational, spiritual, financial, managerial, and so on -- cause “complex feedback” and “considerable difficulty and blurring of focus”, therefore “considerable attention has to be given to everything taking place”. The trap is to think like Thomas. OBSERVATION: Thomas’ idea of ministry is, in my view, precisely the opposite of what ministry ought to be. It is God’s Church, and it has nothing to do with “considerable difficulty” or “considerable attention”. So I am seeking to refresh my faith perspective, which is: breeze in, breeze out, because this is all of God. That’s my spiritual struggle at the moment.
While I’m in a paranoid frame of mind ... when I attended seminars in the USA, I stayed at the theological seminary’s official guest-house. One of the staff reacted a fraction of a second too soon when I entered the lobby. I asked her how she had picked me up. She said, “See there? That’s a camera. I see you on a screen.” This had my attention. I already knew they had a camera at the front door. I looked around me, and located six other cameras between the front door and my room (an easy stone’s throw). This further aroused my suspicions about the e-mails I was sending from the guest-house. I penetrated the system, and discovered that everyone’s e-mails were being copied and archived as read-only files. OBSERVATION: Seminaries are not the way they used to be!
I have received many invitations to join Facebook, but haven’t felt quite comfortable to do so. It is Facebook’s small print that discourages me. Quote: “Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources ... you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States". OBSERVATION: One wonders what is meant by "other sources", or “personal data”, or who is receiving one’s consent, and so on. Perhaps I should be a more trusting soul -- yet I can’t see how Facebook’s small print reassures one. For an example of something more solid (a South African example), see “Privacy” under http://www.kalahari.net/help/terms_conditions.aspx.
