On Being Presbyterian: Gathered Together for…What?

I write this letter having just facilitated a training in sexual misconduct prevention, or “boundaries training” as some call it. Together in the room were 27 presbyters, both ruling and teaching elders, from Native and Anglo congregations, from rural and urban congregations, from congregations as small as 12 and as large as 1,200. We gathered together in Jesus’ name to learn how to protect our most vulnerable members.

The key truth woven into the above paragraph is that we gathered. Together. In Jesus. To do Jesus’ work. For the sake of being the blessing for which God has called us.

Our Jewish forbearers held that community was so sacred that it must extend beyond our own narrowly defined sense of family to include “the other,” especially those who in the ancient culture were diminished in their capacity to care for themselves: the widow, the orphan and the foreigner (c.f. Deuteronomy 14:29). Indeed, God’s refining fire of judgment was pointedly promised to burn against those who deprived the vulnerable of justice (c.f. Malachi 3:5).

Our Christian forbearers expressed the sacredness of being gathered together both linguistically – the Greek word for “church” is ecclesia which literally means “gathering” – and through their communal practices. Acts 4:34-35 vividly portrays their community ethic:

There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

As I reflect upon the many ways we need one another, my prayers turn toward our mission partners ministering on reservations, with immigrant communities, and with student and young adult populations. I reflect upon the ways our mission partners are changing lives for Jesus Christ through tireless effort and the grace of God expressed through Holy Spirit. They need our help! Each of our mission partners are financially fragile, and as the Israelites and earliest Christians cared for those who struggled to raise funds for self-care, so must we take the lead in providing the kind of support required for them to continue their Jesus’ work.

This stewardship season, please remember our presbytery mission partners in your congregational and personal giving. Let us join together in Jesus’ name to learn how to protect our most vulnerable members.

Grace and peace,

Brad Munroe

On Being Presbyterian: Missional, Connectional, Theological

I hear the question all the time, “Why be Presbyterian?” Oh, the question is posed in various ways, such as, “What good is GA?” or, “Why does presbytery make us do [fill in the blank]?” or, sometimes it is not a question but an exclamation, “I wish they would just leave us alone!” I often, even usually, find this exclamation humorous when I hear it because, when it is spoken to me, the nefarious “they” is actually “me,” given that I work for presbytery!

The sub-text of the question in all its variants is a reflection of our wider culture’s trend toward hyper-individualism, a movement toward embracing an atomistic identification of self versus other that bends in the direction of greater and greater fracturing of the bonds that unite us. We see it in business, we see it in politics (goodness know, we see it there!), and we are even beginning to see it in sports. We see it in the church as a kind of “functional congregationalism.”

The Reformed faith’s response to this trend toward atomizing our lives in ever more fractured expressions is to claim, first, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, to claim, second, that we are united by common bonds of theology (c.f. The Book of Confessions) and mission (c.f. The Great Ends of the Church), and to claim, third, our freedom to be who we are as individuals even as we embrace one another in community (c.f. God alone is Lord of the conscience…). Simply put: the Reformed faith refuses to turn from the Scripture’s message: we are created in such a way that we need one another.

I have been reminded of our connectional bonds of late. In de Cristo, dozens of pastors, elders and members have come out of the woodwork to support one of our churches in crisis; Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has filled the gap in amazing ways and the Board of Pensions has done what the Board always does: made good things happen. In Grand Canyon, dozens of pastors and elders have given enormous amounts of time, effort and energy throughout the year to work on Administrative Commissions to attempt the arduous work of engaging in difficult conversations with churches seeking dismissal, and doing so with grace, perseverance, the occasional “Charlie Brown scream,” and integrity. [And lest we forget, each of these churches have had their elders engaging in the same work, too.]

As I reflect upon the many ways we need one another, my prayers turn toward our mission partners ministering on reservations, with immigrant communities, and with student and young adult populations. I reflect upon the ways our mission partners are changing lives for Jesus Christ through tireless effort and the grace of God expressed through Holy Spirit. They need our help! Each of our mission partners are financially fragile; each needs us even as we need them, for they are our hands and feet that bring good news to those whom Jesus was sent to liberate (c.f. Luke 4).

This stewardship season, please remember our presbytery mission partners in your congregational and personal giving. Let us join together, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, fulfilling the Great Ends to which we are called, honoring each other in freedom even as we embrace one another in community.

Grace and peace,

Brad Munroe

Ignite the Spark!

Coming November 18^th -- In August we had a grand time with Tom Tewell at our initial Ignite the Spark! event. Coming soon to a pre-Presbytery meeting near you, specifically on November 18, will be the Rev. Ray Schulte from the Center for Parish Development in Chicago. Ray’s passion is to resource congregations for missional discernment (where is God calling us to connect with the world?) and missional ministry (how has God gifted us to serve with those to whom God has called us to connect?).

The Chicken or the Egg? – We often think in terms of “God’s church has a mission,” but is this true? I know you probably think your church has a mission; you have a mission committee, a mission statement, a mission budget. Is there anything wrong with thinking that God’s Church has a mission? Not necessarily…however, one critique of this statement can be that it begins with us (the Church) rather than beginning with God.

In Reformed faith we like to talk about how everything begins with God: “we love God because God first loved us.” If truly everything begins with God, then even our missional mind-set must begin there, too. Ray is a big advocate that “God’s mission has a Church,” which is to say that what we do is preceded by the One to whom we belong and who alone is Head of the Church. What is God’s mission? How can our congregation do our small part in accomplishing God’s greater purposes?

Preview of Coming Attractions – At the Ignite the Spark! event Ray will talk with us about encouraging a missional mind-set in our congregations and ways to explore missional possibilities. Sometimes missional ministry begins with “Ready, Aim, Fire?” and sometimes it begins with “Ready, Fire, Aim!” However we get there, God’s mission has a Church and we are it.

            To get a preview of the kind of resources the Center for Parish Development offers, please check out the following links:

·         Getting Ready Starts with God’s Mission(3 pages) 

·         Take Time with Questions (8 pages) 

·         Invitation to the Journey (36 pages) 

To register for the November Ignite the Spark! click here

Rollin’ on down the highway with Jesus,

Brad Munroe

Suicide Prevention Month

In light of the tragedy of Larry DeLong’s suicide, and in acknowledgement that September is suicide prevention month, I have chosen to share with you an article posted by the Presbyterian Mission Agency written by the Rev. Mary Robin Craig. It is a bit longer than my usual posts, but given our shared journey of grief, healing and hope, it is worthy of your time.

“Within a few days of my son’s death by suicide, a chaplain said to me, “You can’t stop people. If they are determined to end their lives, they will.”

“I could not fathom how that might be comforting news, but I was too numb to respond. Since that week, I have heard the same thing countless times. We – and that includes pastors and therapists – are loathe to give up on traditional wisdom. But such remarks do not constitute wisdom. They are not borne out by the research, and they are heartbreaking and they are dangerous and they are wrong.

“We don’t say that deaths from cancer, or heart disease, or HIV, or diabetes are inevitable. We work on treatments and cures. How could we possibly do less for those at risk of suicide?

“And we know the perfect role model in Jesus Christ. Have you ever noticed Jesus turning away from someone in need? Heard him say, ‘Can’t do anything about that?’ No, you haven’t. Even to Lazarus who was dead. Jesus showed up late, but it turned out that he had his reasons. And those reasons weren’t that he wanted to prove the situation hopeless.

“We, too, can confront the challenges in front of us. We can learn, and we can work, and we can put fear aside.

“Indeed: Do not be afraid.

“Do not be afraid to ask. You cannot incite people to suicide by asking about it. Use the word. ‘Are you thinking about suicide?’ Euphemisms won’t do it. Don’t waste your time, and theirs, by asking if they are all right, or if they have thought about hurting themselves. There are those who consider themselves to be ‘ok’ once they have made a plan, and if they are in significant pain, they may no longer think of suicide as ‘hurting themselves.’ Ask directly, and use the word. Get it out there, in the open.

“Do not be afraid to listen. Those close to death by suicide often believe that no one is listening to what they have to say about their feelings. Listen closely and carefully. Do not rush in with exclamations about tomorrow being a better day. Do not fill in the silence with platitudes. To someone who believes that no one is listening, those words will ring hollow. Depression, which probably lies behind the vast majority of suicides, is a critical and yes, deadly, illness. Illness does not respond to blithe words of assurance offered without a back-up plan.

“Do not be afraid to learn. There are signs. People talk about their despair, their sadness, their hopelessness. 

People mention plans, or their sense that others will be better off without them. None of these are idle words. Do not assume that they are, or that people ‘don’t mean it.’ Do not assume that someone who works productively all day and kisses her children good-night is safe. Do not assume that the people you love to the moon and back will not take catastrophically irreversible action.

“Do not be afraid to act. In emergency situations, call the police. Accompany someone to the emergency room. Help people make appointments and help them get there. Do not assume that they will follow through on promises to go. As a college instructor, I have dialed the number of student services, handed the phone to the young person in question, and followed up to make sure the appointment has been kept. You won’t know if you are saving a life. But you might be doing just that.

“Do not be afraid of the survivors (those who have lost loved ones to suicide) or those with lived experience (those who have attempted suicide and survived to tell the story). We are regular people. We are not unapproachable because of our connection to suicide. (And no, those we love did not ‘commit’ suicide. People do not commit cancer or heart attacks or suicide. People die of illness or injury. They die by suicide.) We are not clueless or careless parents or spouses or siblings because we did not know. And we are not “catching.” Your loved ones will not die just because ours did.

“Do not be afraid of your own discomfort. At least three individuals made jokes about suicide in front of me in the years immediately following my son’s death, two of them to my face. I know that it was their own unease speaking. Same for friends who steered the other way in the grocery store. (Yep. I saw you.) It’s ok to admit that you don’t know what to say. It’s ok to offer wobbly words that translate to ‘I’m here, and I care.’

“We in our family didn’t know, and we cannot know unless we educate ourselves. I take some comfort from a flier given to me eight years ago, that said, “If you had been responsible for this death, it would not have happened.”

“But over 40,000 Americans die by suicide every year. Forty thousand times dozens more are left to wrestle with the consequences. To say that our loved ones could not have been saved, have recovered, and have lived their lives to the fullest is to dishonor them by identifying them solely by their means of death, and to risk the lives of thousands of others.

“We may not have been able to help them, despite our deep love and best efforts. But we can change this. Do not be afraid.”

Together in Christ,

Brad Munroe