Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from
your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. --Matthew 10: 29-31 NRSV Most days I fail to keep up with the number of who has died from COVID-19 in the United States. Today, for some reason, I checked the total. My Google search said as of today, September 16, 196,000 people have died. Each one is a loss. Each one was created and loved by God. Each one leaves a family in mourning. Maybe it was the recent anniversary of 9-11 and the collective mourning we shared as a nation that got me thinking about the number who have died from COVID-19. 2,977 people died on September 11, 2001. 65 times that number have died from COVID-19, yet there has been no collective mourning for the COVID-19, no ringing of bells, no solemn public services. It remains a number some of our leaders refuse to even acknowledge. I don’t want to be misunderstood as if I am somehow minimizing the crimes of September 11 and the victims of those terrorist attacks. Far from it. I served in metro NYC immediately following the attacks in 2001 and came to know well widows and children of men who died in the World Trade Center. I know the depths of their pain, and I know our nation’s collective pain. I merely use it as a comparison to show how badly I believe our culture needs to mourn our dead. The comparison only goes so far. 9-11 gave us a shared enemy to hate and someone clear to blame. COVID-19 remains mysterious in its causes and the bungling of the response is multi-faceted. 9-11 happened all at once on live television, but COVID-19 happens at a daily, unending pace that only frontline medical workers witness. Perhaps the true horror of this disease is how so many people must die alone separated from loved ones. If they are fortunate, a kind nurse holds up a phone to Zoom or Facetime with family. For most of us, the terrible cost of this pandemic remains out of sight and therefore out of mind. I keep wondering if we had a way to collectively mourn the COVID-19 dead then would we stop wasting our breath over the need for masks or other precautionary measures. The human brain just can’t comprehend large numbers of casualties. We literally remain numb to them. Yet, I believe if each life is sacred to God and hopefully to their loved ones, then we pay a collective cost by not mourning, lamenting, grieving these lives lost. Our common humanity is lessened by our inability and unwillingness to acknowledge this many deaths. Jesus taught that God values each human being. God knows the name and life of each person who has died. God knows their worth. In the same way, God knows you and me. God knows the worth of our lives too. I don’t have the power to call our nation to collectively mourn, but I can offer you dear readers a chance to stop, mourn and acknowledge the dead within our midst. I found the following prayer by Jewish writer Alden Solovy, which was shared on the Sojourners web site. It expresses what I feel all of us need to express to God as we continue to walk through this pandemic. I invite you to pause, read it silently or out loud, and make it your prayer. God of consolation, Surely you count in heaven, Just as we count here on earth, In shock and in sorrow, The souls sent back to You, One-by-one, The dead from the COVID pandemic, As the ones become tens, The tens become hundreds, The hundreds become thousands, The thousands become ten-thousands And then hundred-thousands, Each soul, a heartbreak, Each soul, a life denied. God of wisdom, Surely in the halls of divine justice You are assembling the courts, Calling witnesses to testify, To proclaim The compassion of some And the callousness of others As we’ve struggled to cope. The souls taken too soon, Whose funerals were lonely, Who didn’t need to die, Who died alone, Will tell their stories When You judge Our triumphs And our failures In these hours of need. God of healing, an end to this pandemic, And all illness and disease. Bless those who stand in service to humanity. Bless those who grieve. Bless the dead, So that their souls are bound up in the bond of life eternal. And grant those still afflicted With disease or trauma A completed and lasting healing, One-by-one, Until suffering ceases, And we can stop counting the dead, In heaven And on earth. Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples
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Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:18-19 NRSV There is a classic episode of the 90’s TV show Seinfeld where the character George Costanza is insulted in a meeting. Refreshments have been served and George is chowing down on some shrimp. From across the conference table a man named Riley says, “George, the ocean called. They’re running out of shrimp.” The room erupts in laughter and George is humiliated. Driving home from work, George is running over the humiliation in his mind over and over when the perfect comeback occurs to him. He is furious that he couldn’t think of it at the moment he was insulted and has to find a way to use his perfect comeback to get back at Riley. As it turns out, Riley has taken a new job at another company, but George just can’t let it go. So he arranges a fake meeting with Riley’s new company and flies all the way from New York to Akron, Ohio to get back at his nemesis. In a new conference room in Akron, George brings in a huge amount of shrimp and begins stuffing them in his mouth. Once again Riley unleashes his zinger, “George, the ocean called. They’re running out of shrimp.” This time George looks triumphant as he stands up and unleashes his comeback. “Oh yeah? The jerk store called and they’re running out of you!” The conference room is quiet and the people around the table look, if anything, confused. Once again, Riley is too quick for George and has a comeback to the comeback, “What’s it matter? You’re they’re all-time best seller!” The room erupts in laughter. The episode ends with George driving home from the airport reliving his humiliation again and again in his mind. Then another comeback occurs to him, so he turns his car around and heads back toward the airport presumably to fly back to Ohio. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had occasions where I felt humiliated or hurt, and like George, I couldn’t let them go. I replayed in my mind the painful moment and then fantasized about how things would have been different if I had been quicker on my feet or more capable in the moment. Those memories aren’t as bad as the ones of when I was the one doing the hurting. At times, I’ve replayed in my mind what things could have been like if I had just kept my mouth shut, said less instead of more. The sad thing about our pasts is that no matter how many times we replay painful scenes in our minds, the reality of what happened never changes. There is good reason why the movies are filled with people wishing to go back in time to change their pasts. From It’s a Wonderful Life to Back to the Future to The Avengers: Endgame. Who hasn’t wished they could go back in time and do things differently? To make the perfect comeback. To take back a word or action that hurts the ones we love. I’ve learned from years in ministry that people can carry the pain of their past all the way to their deathbeds. I’ve been privileged to hear deathbed confessions from folks I’ve been with. What I’ve discovered is that rarely are such confessions scandalous or sensational. Most of the time they are run of the mill stuff that comes with living a life: not spending enough time with their children, not appreciating their parents enough, broken friendships and ordinary sins of selfishness and indifference. On most such occasions, I wondered why they had bothered to carry such trivial burdens all the way through their lives only to let them go at the last when they no longer had the opportunity to enjoy living without them? There is not a human being alive who wouldn’t do things differently, at least a little, if they had the chance to do so. Yet, those I know who seem to live the best kind of lives are people who have accepted their mistakes and the pain inflicted by others and then learned from them. The key seems to be making peace with the past and then letting the past be the past. Those unable to do so are like George from Seinfeld doomed to relive a painful past and therefore they create a painful present with no future. Maya Angelou writes, “We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate --- thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising.” Sometimes uprooting the pain of the past is not easy. People who have experienced trauma are literally stuck in those moments of intense pain. Neurological studies have shown how the brain literally gets stuck like a broken record having been unable to store traumatic memories in the normal place in the brain memories are stored. Trauma leaves a person literally unable to move on without treatment and therapy. For most of us, however, we have the power to stop living in the past. Sometimes it may take talking it through with a counselor, minister or trusted friend, but the past can indeed become the past instead of a painful present. When we find ourselves reliving those painful moments, we can stop ourselves and intentionally learn to let them go. If we are intentional about it and open to God’s grace for ourselves and for others, we can “plant forgiveness” and “seed humility.” Only when we allow the past to be the past, learning what God wishes to teach us from it and then moving on, can we live peacefully in the present and embrace the new things God has for us in the future. Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples “But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them
to be….” “… But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” I Corinthians 12:18, 24b – 26 What a wonderful Homecoming Sunday we had yesterday, September 13, 2020, with Reverend Dr. Larry Patterson! What a joy it was as he led us to remember! It was so beautiful to remember those who have gone before us and left so much history with our congregation. What a moment to think on those parts of the body, put in place at just the right time, that have led us to such an important place in our community. Looking back, we saw the great joy that filled the lives of those great saints. As we look forward to the future, isn’t it wonderful to know that God puts all of us at the right place, at just the right time. In our moment, right now, this moment of pause, we can ask ‘what part do I play’? God is bringing all of us together into one body. A body that is built to glorify Him. The joy comes in knowing that no matter what level we are able to contribute to, we are important to the body of this congregation. No matter what our limitations, the Spirit will use us to build boldness and direction toward our community. Each of us, though single in ourselves, are a part of a greater whole. And that we will succeed together as one body. As we prepare for the end of the pandemic, with our eyes always looking forward, let us hold one another in prayer and concern. Reach out to each other in this time of separation and remind each other we are stronger together. Hold onto each other as we face sorrows or setbacks. And let us strive as one body to find ways to reach out to the community around us as a beacon of Jesus Christ’s love. In our pursuit of Bold Hospitality, rejoice that we are one in the Lord Jesus Christ and all things done in His name will glorify God. Kathy Hendrix “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So,
because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” --Revelation 3:15-16 NRSV I’m a diehard Kansas City Chiefs fan, and I should be over the moon today. 2020 has been a dumpster fire of a year and pro football is back! The Chiefs win in the Super Bowl this year hadn’t happened for fifty years, and it feels like fifty years since this year’s Super Bowl parade due to this pandemic. I am thrilled the Chiefs stomped the Texans last night, but all I can think about are the boos before the game. Stop and consider for a moment that KC Chiefs fans in Arrowhead stadium last night mere minutes after the Super Bowl Champions banner was unveiled booed their own team before the game even started. The Chiefs haven’t won a Super Bowl in fifty years, and they haven’t had a quarterback this good since Lem Dawson, yet their fans booed them before they even played a down. Why? The boos began after grammy award winning musician Alica Keyes sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before the game. The song is often called “the Black national anthem” and has been a standard in the Civil Rights Movement. Here is the final verse of this amazing hymn: God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray. Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand, True to our God, True to our native land. Just think about it. These words were booed on national TV last night! After the national anthem, players from both teams came out to the middle of the field where many locked arms. On the scoreboard seven messages picked by the players appeared: We support equality. We must end racism. We believe in justice for all. We must end police brutality. We choose unconditional love. It takes all of us. We believe Black lives matter. Just think about it. These words were booed on national TV last night! Not all of the approximately sixteen thousand fans in attendance booed, but enough did to be heard loud and clear on the broadcast. After the game, players said they couldn’t hear it on the field, but you have to wonder if that was true or a careful PR move. The announcers failed to mention the boos and continued throughout the broadcast to speak of the players’ work for “social justice” and “charity” never once using the word “racism” that I heard. Nonetheless, the boos happened and everyone heard them. Some perhaps will say they booed because the NFL protests are unpatriotic and disrespectful to the American flag. Yet, last night only one player kneeled during the anthem and you couldn’t hear the boos then. You could hear the boos loud and clear after “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and the “moment of unity” when the national anthem was not playing and the American flag was not the focus. Besides, NFL players have clearly stated that when they take a knee during the anthem they are doing so for the same reason they take a knee during the game because a teammate is down and hurting. They have expanded the idea of who a team mate is to include black men and women unfairly treated by our legal system. Yet, that explanation has never mattered to their critics. Last night, the boos didn’t even come during the national anthem. It was only about race. Some will perhaps say they booed, because “Black Lives Matter” is anti-police. Yet BLM protestors and leaders--all but the a few who are most extreme--have been clear they are against police policies and only certain police who treat Black people worse than white people. Those explanations have not mattered to their critics. I believe these explanations are ignored because of racism. Some will perhaps say they booed, because “Black Lives Matter” is a Marxist movement. Yet BLM protestors have overwhelmingly not identified as Marxist--again only a few who are most extreme take that label. It’s a slanderous accusation, but critics of BLM say it anyway. I believe they do so because of racism. Some will perhaps say they booed, because “Black Lives Matter” causes riots. Overwhelmingly BLM protests have been peaceful, without violence and without property damage. It’s a normal practice of media to treat looting and burning as news while ignoring peaceful protests. BLM leaders have denounced violence and property damage--again only a few who are most extreme justify such actions. Yet, those denunciations don’t matter to critics of BLM. I believe that is because of racism. Some will perhaps say they booed because “All Lives Matter” not just “Black Lives Matter.” From its beginning, BLM has made clear they are not saying Black lives matter more than white lives, rather continuing white supremacy and white privilege values Black lives as less than white ones. The message they hear from white America is “Black lives do not matter.” I like the message some BLM supporters use which says, “All lives can’t matter until Black lives matter too.” Misunderstanding this message at this point in 2020 amounts to willful ignorance. Critics of BLM continue to ignore this clear message. I believe the reason for this ignorance is racism. In sum, any who wish to deny the reality of systemic racism in America must explain the boos broadcast to the world by Kansas City Chiefs fans last night. There is no good explanation other than racism. Perhaps you dear reader are wondering why I a white minister would write these words to a majority white church where I am only the interim minister. Why would I send it out in an email? Why would I post it online on social media? Here’s why. Over fifty years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. was accused by white critics of being Marxist, of causing violence and riots, of breaking “law and order,” of disrespecting America and its flag, of disrespecting law enforcement, and so on. One of his most eloquent writings is “A Letter From a Birmingham Jail” in which MLK, Jr. responds to white moderate clergy who say he is causing too much trouble. His response is a resounding criticism of white people who say they support equality for all people but do not want protests. In one of his most damning paragraphs, he writes the following: I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. He wrote those words 57 years ago and they resound today. Every white Christian in America who claims to love her or his neighbor should be outraged at the boos at last night’s Chiefs game. Yet, most will merely shrug and many will be glad they occurred. The only difference between our time and MLK, Jr.’s time is that the white church still had cultural influence. Today our children and grandchildren have left the churches they were raised in en masse. One of the leading reasons for this exodus is the recognition of hypocrisy on the part of the church when it comes to race. They see it for what it is--one cannot claim to love one’s neighbor and remain moderate when it comes to racism, much less remain racist. So they have left. As a white male clergyman, I confess having done far too little to combat racism. My learning curve has been steep and painful when it comes to racism inhabiting all areas of our culture. What drives me to do more and not keep my mouth shut is that I must face my children and grandchildren. As they learn the extent of racism in America they have already begun asking, “What did you do to change things for the better?” My prayer is that MLK, Jr.’s ever-relevant words will not apply to me: “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.” Grace and Peace, Chase Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained
angels without knowing it. --Hebrews 13:2 NRSV I am a big fan of the TV show The Office, the American version that aired on NBC 2005-2013, about employees at a paper company in Scranton, PA. (I enjoy the earlier British version too.) I watched it occasionally when it originally aired, but I really got into it when it came to Netflix and I could binge watch it in a relatively short amount of time. Apparently, I’m not alone, because it has become popular again with younger generations who also stream it online. It’s recent popularity has given rise to a podcast where Jenna Fischer (who played Pam the receptionist) and Angela Kinsey (who played the accountant Angela) re-watch the series and tell behind the scenes stories about what it was like making the TV show. In a recent podcast episode, the former stars of The Office shared about a TV show episode from the third season when a character named Phyllis married Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration (you have to watch the show to get the joke). They shared that the church where the wedding took place is First Christian Church of North Hollywood Disciples of Christ. If you pay attention during the wedding reception filmed in the church’s social hall, you can see a banner with the Disciples of Christ red chalice on it. This congregation is located near many TV and film studios and is often a filming location for a traditional-looking church with colonial architecture. The church web site reveals FCC North Hollywood was the family church on the TV show 7th Heaven and has appeared in dozens of TV shows, movies and commercials. While listening to the podcast and hearing what it was like to film at the church, at first I thought, “What a cool bit of trivia that an episode of The Office was filmed at a Disciples of Christ church!” Then my ears really perked up when I heard the TV stars talk about their own experiences of the congregation. One of the production staff on the TV show was married at FCC North Hollywood. Angela Kinsey who is one of the hosts of the podcast and an actor on the TV show described how she was looking for a church to attend on Easter Sunday and she chose to attend FCC North Hollywood because she had driven by it on her way to work. She reported having a great Easter morning experience. Kinsey went on to share that she took her children to preschool there as well. (Co-host Jenna Fischer is Roman Catholic and didn’t have any experience with the Disciples congregation.) In a nutshell, what was described on the podcast is how most people relate to a church—if they connect to a church at all. Perhaps they were raised going to church and when the big holidays of Christmas and Easter roll around they randomly pick a church to attend with their family. Maybe they wish to be married in an attractive church sanctuary. Perhaps they have a need that a church can fill such as childcare or in this case an attractive location to film a TV show. We don’t have much demand for that last one, but PHCC knows what it’s like to have weddings in our building because it has an attractive sanctuary and basketball practice in our life center, etc. In sum, most people encounter a church because either they were raised in the church and return for a major holiday (or a wedding, funeral, etc.) or they have a specific need the church can meet. As demographics continue to change, fewer and fewer people will be raised being a part of a religious community. They will not have memories from childhood to draw them back in later years. More likely, if they ever encounter a church it will be when they have a need such as childcare, a group like AA or a community group that meets in a church building. This means that if church folks want to meet people who actually know their church exists, they must show hospitality. Folks who enter their sacred space must be treated as honored guests rather than interlopers. Each interaction is an opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ. Any time a non-church member enters the church building and is met by suspicion or a lack of welcome that is a lost opportunity to show Christ’s love. Any church that wishes to have a future in a culture which does not value church attendance and church membership must take every opportunity to demonstrate bold hospitality. The church building must be seen as a tool to demonstrate the love of Christ and not an idol to be worshipped or a treasure to be hoarded for a select few. When those blessed interactions occur, community members who encounter the church and its people have seeds of welcome planted in them. Later on, when the inevitable struggles of life occur, the Holy Spirit will remind these folks that there is a place they have experienced where they would be welcome and accepted—that place is Park Hill Christian Church. The PHCC board has laid out a vision called “Bold Hospitality,” and by simply being open to outside groups using our building, God is bringing new groups our way. That simple act of openness is all God needs to lead people to PHCC where they can experience Christ’s love. All PHCC needs to do is be open to where God is already working and welcoming of whoever God brings our way, and the Holy Spirit will do all the difficult work of changing human hearts and lives. We may not have film crews knocking on our door but we have plenty of other people who are and will. God expects us to open the door and offer welcome. Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. --Galatians 5:14-15 NRSV In your scrolling on social media, perhaps you’ve the meme that looks like this: Love your neighbor who doesn’t look like you, think like you, love like you, speak like you, pray like you, vote like you. Love your neighbor. No exceptions. When I’ve seen these memes (I’ve probably shared ones like them), I must confess that in my own spiritual arrogance I have thought the message “Love your neighbor. No exceptions.” was for others. Maybe it’s for the person who refuses to acknowledge systematic racism and sports an #AllLivesMatter on their profile picture. Maybe it’s for the person sharing conspiracy theories about Muslims trying to impose “sharia” law in rural America. Maybe it’s for the person posting they “love the sinner but hate the sin” when it comes to equality for LGBTQ people. The message is for anybody else but me, right? It’s for “them” or at least whoever I’ve decided “them” is today. But the pretty rainbow-colored graphic says, “Love your neighbor. No exceptions.” So, maybe my mind’s propensity for creating a new “them” to look down on, to set myself against, to ignore our common humanity doesn’t line up with the idea of “Love your neighbor. No exceptions.” I really hate it when the Gospel of Jesus Christ condemns me along with everybody else’s shortcomings. It’s so much more fun when I get to be the one looking down on others. This past holiday weekend I had the joy of getting together with old friends. My wife and I met in college, and blessedly we have a group of about twenty friends from those days. Each Labor Day weekend for twenty-five years we have gotten together to catch up, tell old stories and have fun. Many of the folks in this group of friends don’t share my particular religious or political beliefs. That makes for interesting and sometimes heated conversations. Even when I’ve lost my cool, because I can’t believe they don’t have the same beliefs I do (mine are the correct ones after all!) these friends, who really are like family, have accepted me and loved me anyway. Our annual get togethers and our contacts in between remind me of my deep love for these people regardless of whether or not we believe the same things about God, vote for the same party or think the same way about social issues. I love them with no exceptions, and I thank God they do the same for me. In the age of social media and partisan cable news, one of the most common questions I get as a minister is how do I stay in relationship with the family member or friend who believes differently than I do? It can be difficult when we are all firing off emails and posting comments without giving it any thought or even taking a breath. Things can get nasty and personal real quick. I know because I have gone there and regretted it. I recommend that each of us get in the habit of never posting a quick reply to another person’s comment with whom we disagree. This is truly difficult for me. I can’t think of a time I’ve done so and felt good about it later. If something someone has posted or shared really bothers you, take a day to think about it and then message them. Maybe you need to type something out to get your feelings on screen. If you’re like me, once you get your feelings out, you realize there is no real need to send that message on. Sometimes you may need to adjust the settings on your email or social media to “mute” a certain person’s messages. They don’t have to know you aren’t reading the stuff they are sharing and forwarding to you. You can spare yourself and them the awkward discussion of why you “unfriended” them. Other times you may have to take the hard step of “un-friending” someone or maybe just letting that person know you need to communicate with them in other ways besides social media or email, because you can’t keep your emotions in check. I’ve had to make this move with some family members and even some close friends, because what they share or post provokes a reaction in me I don’t like. I’m pretty sure the stuff I share and post has caused that same kind of reaction in them. I’m definitely sure that what either of has posted has never changed their mind or mine. Finally, there are those people who share such negative and personal things that it may amount to emotional abuse. In such cases, setting firm boundaries is necessary for your own well-being and health. Loving your neighbor can only happen from a safe distance with some people. Remember the biggest companies with the smartest minds are working non-stop to keep you glued to your phone, tablet and computer. They make money—lots of it—the longer you keep using their app or watching their channel. The easiest way to keep you making money for them is to keep you outraged. There are genuine things to be outraged about in the world, but few of them are ever changed by a shared Facebook post or a forwarded email. Our culture does not reward maintaining relationships with people different from ourselves. It rewards outrage and remaining in your own bubble. Yet, if we are really going to “Love our neighbor. No exceptions.” it has to cut both ways. Nobody ever said this Christian-thing was easy. Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not
live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. --Acts 17:24-25 NIV In last week’s newsletter, I wrote about the difficulty churches have remembering that the church and the church building are two different things. Confusing the building with the church leads to dying congregations who have lost sight of what it means to serve their communities. It is possible, although less likely these days for churches to have very nice buildings and yet function as deeply unhealthy churches. Park Hill Christian Church is in a better situation with its building than many—maybe even most—churches today. It’s building has been well-maintained, and beyond the normal costs of maintaining a building this size, it is in good shape. For PHCC to position itself well for a vibrant future, the PHCC Board has identified the need to pay off the remaining mortgage on the Patterson Family Life Center. On September 13, Rev. Dr. Larry Patterson, former minister of PHCC, will return, and this is a good occasion to complete the work begun under his tenure. The purpose of paying off the mortgage on the PHCC building is not an end in itself. Rather, it is a necessary step to focus on the building’s intention—a tool to serve the community around PHCC. This is why the PHCC Board has identified “Bold Hospitality” as a goal for the congregation. “Bold Hospitality” means maximizing the church building for service to the people around our church. Currently, PHCC has begun renting space to another congregation which does not have its own building yet. They are paying rent to us, but more importantly we are reaching across lines of denomination and helping to advance the work of God in our community. We have also begun talking with two groups that serve mentally challenged adults who are in need of a place to meet. The connection with these two groups was made by a church member who knew of their need. Groups like these who help underserved people that can afford to pay rent will do so, but those who cannot will be given space as a part of our ministry. The rent money is important for the maintenance of our building, but ultimately, we are not a real estate leasing company but a church. The ultimate goal is serving children of God who are in need. This mindset of “Bold Hospitality” involves letting go of the idea that the church building is our club house existing only for our needs. Just as no Christian exists to satisfy their own needs, no church exists to care only for itself. This is why the PHCC Board has asked church members to be open to groups doing good work in our community that need a place to meet and with whom we can partner to improve the lives of others in our area. Bold Hospitality comes with the benefit of raising awareness of PHCC in the community. Our best advertising is good word of mouth. The main benefit, however, is we get to live out our calling of serving others in Jesus’ name. Look around for where God is already at work in our community, and I feel confident God will make clear the ways we can use what we have to benefit that work. Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper is the pastor of Judson Memorial Baptist Church in New York City. This historic church has an immense building facing Washington Square Park in Manhattan. The church’s building has not been bought by developers for condos, as is the case with many churches in New York City’s crazy real estate market. Instead, they have found ways to share their building with their community. Schaper wrote about the changing uses of church buildings and threw out some examples of how congregations might rethink how their buildings are used. It sounds a lot like “Bold Hospitality” to me. Here are her ideas: What if we gave free childcare and a candlelit meal every Friday night to beleaguered working parents of young children? What would that signal about who owns our buildings – us or the community we hope to serve? What if weekdays our internet and copying machines were used by people doing startup businesses? People could work out of a chair in our Sunday School Rooms. They could also take coffee breaks with the church staff. What if we had worship services for opioid users on occasions when the congregation wasn't using the sanctuary? Or early morning sober dancing for people who can't risk a bar anymore? What would you add to her list of ideas? Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples P.S.-- If you are planning on being present on Sunday, September 13 to welcome back Rev. Dr. larry Patterson, please send in your R.S.V.P. (Church leaders and Rev. Dr. Patterson fully understand that many who wish to be present cannot do so because of the risks of COVID-19.) Also, now is the time to make your contribution to paying off the mortgage for the Patterson Family Life Center. Unlike your usual contribution to the church’s operating budget which pays for staff, maintenance and outreach, 100% of funds given toward this goal will be applied to paying off the mortgage. |
AuthorWe're Park Hill Christian Church in KC MO. We seek to follow Jesus by praising God, loving those we meet and serving the vulnerable. Archives
June 2021
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