Comments on: Where God Grows

By: Christina Borel, MSW

Christina Borel, MSW — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:50:12 +0000

these are beautiful reflection, and important, hard questions, i think…i have often been simultaneously intrigued and troubled by the concept of making church spaces “more hospitable” by removing unfamiliar or challenging rituals. i know that a lot of people see movement towards inclusive language as a part of this stripping away, but that’s not what i’m after here. (in fact, inclusive language to me speaks more to the mystery of God, and that the human imagine cannot encompass the fullness of that–let alone the limits of our language.) instead, i remember being at a communion service in a church in which the table liturgy was completely eliminated. there were no words to describe what was happening, or why. instead, the bread and juice were held aloft to music, and the people invited to come forward. it was a jarring experience for me, and when i asked members of the congregation about it after the service, they indicated that it was because so many members of the community had been wounded by explicit language around Christianity that the communion liturgy had been suspended in order to make it feel more welcoming. i remember feeling shocked, and asking how some of the most inclusive actions in Jesus’ ministry are a central aspect of the stories and experiences that we share in the story of communion. wouldn’t it allow us to be more hospitable as a community to invite people into these rituals, to help them to make meaning of them, to honor and explain the rich history of them, and to continue to experiment with different forms of liturgy so that we can seem different aspects of these layers?

as you may have gathered by this point, communion is a central aspect of my faith experience. and, in one of the moments of understanding that ritual comes from a midweek service at an urban UCC church. the service is a jazz worship service and is designed to be participatory. where this comes into focus most clearly for me is that the members of the congregation are invited, weekly, to tell the story of the last supper together. phrases of different language are used according to the ones that those present remember or feel most called to, and the minister is clear that the story is not specifically a clergy story, but our common story, belonging to all of us. he invites the congregation to tell the story together, reminding us that it is part of our deep Christian history, and at the center of our faith, that he’d like us to tell the story together. and then he says something that i always find amazingly welcoming, which is, “If you don’t know this story, or haven’t heard it before, feel free to just sit back and listen, and we will tell it to you.” For me, that is such a powerful experience of welcome, and it’s been interesting to observe people come, week after week, and experience this. to me, this a way of leading people into the stories and experiences of christianity, and one that calls so deeply on my personal longing to be a part of a community, even if it is only for a brief hour of worship.

By: Lesley Brogan

Lesley Brogan — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:10:45 +0000

This is great, Jan, thanks. Good images….here I am wrestling with all the images of / for authority for this story. And wondering about bridging into Holy Week on the last Sunday of Sept…wondering. The authority piece, I figure is a life lesson…

and then, the truth is BOTH sons troubled me. I guess it hooked the mother part of me — and general fatigue. I’ve stalled for a for a while with the father responding, “What’s the deal with you boys? It’s not so hard — what I’m asking. JUST DO IT!” which makes you more pastoral in your approach with the vineyards.

AND I would love to hear about shared stories in public church spaces…

thanks for the shared wisdom and energy

By: Jan Richardson

Jan Richardson — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:17:33 +0000

Cool! Thanks for the comment and stat. Yeah, 1 in 4 seems a little high to me, too; I can think of only a few people I know who are growing veggies and such---must be lots of other folks out there who are tipping the scales. Encouraging, though. Readers---I hope you'll visit the Chapeltree blog to check out some of the ways she's contributing to that stat with her veggies and chickens. And, while you're there, click on the link to one of her other blogs, Backyard Swammerdam, for a window into her world of backyard beekeeping!

By: Chapeltree

Chapeltree — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:38:31 +0000

I saw on the news that 25% of Americans grew some of their own vegetables this year, up 10% from last year. That seems a little high to me, but I think more people are sticking a toe in the agrarian pool.

By: Steve West

Steve West — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 06:27:28 +0000

Bravo! I especially appreciate what you said about hospitality and symbol. Symbol and story is how a community lives its grace, and in contemporary life we too often go for the lowest common denominator without realizing that what people are looking for is not stale acceptance but authentic community. They want to be a part of something spiritual and powerful. The vine and branches imagery of Christ is a metaphor that helps me understand what it means to be connected to community, but even more than that, what it means to trust in God for the fruit of my life. In a world fixated on performance and functioning, succeeding and achieving, Christ’s invitation is to become part of something else. To be connected, to be grafted into a whole new identity and life, to abide in our true vine and trust God for the fruit.