Looking Away from the "Brights" and Concentrating on our own Road Ahead

January 25, 2019

A risk of writing about current affairs is that things change quickly, and as I was about to hit "send" on this week's e-news, I learned that, thank God, it appears a way has been found to end the government shutdown, about which I've been writing the past several weeks.  Because the shutdown, serious as it is, is/was "only symptomatic" of larger problems we face as a nation and because bad theology is, I believe, part of those larger problems, I'll resume writing about it later.  Kelly and I are very much aware of the pain -- financial, morale, and otherwise -- this shutdown caused and will continue to cause. The ripple effects from the President's unnecessary, irresponsible, immature, demoralizing and even dangerous shutdown are only now beginning to be felt, and those ripple effects will be felt for a long time. 

But for now, for today, perhaps it's better to take a deep breath together and be glad a temporary fix has been found -- or more accurately, forced.   For now, for today, in light of this Sunday's Annual Meeting, let us focus on our life together as a local congregation. (Local, but with wider impact: see article and photos below (scroll down!) about our Haiti medical mission trip).  Here is a link to our brand new and very encouraging Annual Report. Here is a separate link to my cover letter of our Annual Report, where I share again a "driver's ed" analogy: that a common 3-5 year visionis the "road ahead" for us together, and our challenge is not to stare at or be distracted by those driving toward us with with their brights on. (Hard copies of the Annual Report will also be available on Sunday).  See you Sunday, 

John

Opening up About Shutting Down, Continued

January 18, 2019

Are you affected by the government shutdown, or concerned for those who are?  Rev. Kelly and I want you to know that on behalf of the entire Falls Church Episcopal, we would like to help. Scroll down to "a note from Rev. Kelly and Rev. John" below, for more on that.  And click here if you would like to continue reading my thoughts on the crisis of leadership which I believe is an underlying cause of the government shutdown. (I started this series last week; you can read part one here.  On this or any other matter, I'm open to your thoughts and comments: email me at johmer@thefallschurch.org. See you Sunday, 

John

A note from Rev. Kelly and Rev. John: Have You Been Affected by the Government Shutdown?

You may not be aware that we (Rev. Kelly and Rev. John) have been reaching out to all of the furloughed workers (whom we are aware of!) to check in on them, offering to meet one-on-one for lunch or coffee. We've also been encouraging people to let us know if they are furloughed from contractors or if their businesses have been impacted as well.

And while in the e-news, Rev. John is writing about the underlying causes of this problem, addressing the issue from a spiritual point of view, we also want to do something more tangible and visible.

We already planned to be less behind-the-scenes and more public in our reaching out, through some Sunday morning announcements and through the Outreach ministry presentation this coming Sunday. We think one of the roles we can serve is as a kind of "clearing house" for information about other organizations and agencies that are offering services, likely more efficiently than we could.

One idea we've heard is in response to a kind of social isolation that some people feel in this situation, and a wearing down of the self-esteem that can come from feeling their years of faithful service is being devalued. And so one parishioner is offering a luncheon at their home, hosting neighbors who they know feel cut off or isolated. Because each of us is an individual member of the Body of Christ the Church, those kinds of initiatives ARE, by definition, "the church doing something." 

But we want your ideas. No one is in this alone. That's part of the beauty of being a part of a faith community. If you're affected by the shutdown, or concerned about those who are, please make a point to attend Sunday's Outreach Adult Forum, and please make a point to reach out to Rev. Kelly or Rev. John. And please know that The Falls Church is here for you. 

Opening Up our Shutting Down

January 11, 2019

For today's and the next few e-vangelon messages, I'm trying something a bit different: writing a longer-than-normal article, but breaking it up into a short series, and, by offering some insights into current political problems (the most obvious one being the current government shutdown), allowing it to be political (but not partisan) in nature. The series is titled "Opening Up our Shutting Down." Before launching it, let me anticipate and answer some questions: Why this topic, now?  Because many people have been sharing thoughts like these with Kelly and me: "I'm upset, and even starting to feel hopeless about our government. People are suffering needlessly, and I started to pray about the whole situation, but I have no idea where to look in scripture, or what to say." "I'm out of a job at the moment and it had been slow over the holidays. I find I'm withdrawing a bit." "I can't do anything about this crazy government. Just need to tune out and withdraw."Those are important thoughts and feelings, and need addressing from a theological/spiritual context. Why a longer article than normal? Because part of our political problem (and spiritual/Biblical/theological problem!) is "reductionism" -- the oversimplification of complex and nuanced matters into gross over-generalizations and sound bites. But as you know, real life problems aren't solved with quick-fix solutions (or responsibly addressed in 280-character tweets). Real-life solutions take time and space to address.  But because of its length (and because I recognize that many of you won't be interested in reading further!) it's broken up into shorter pieces which I will just tee up in the e-news here, while providing a link to my own blog for those who want to read further. Why a political article? Why not just concentrate on spiritual matters? Isn't there enough partisanship?   The article is political because I'm writing from a theological or spiritual perspective about a political matter: the government shutdown. (Spoiler alert: I believe the government shutdown is the natural -- but preventable and reversible -- outcome of bad political philosophy, which is in turn rooted in bad theology.) But as I hope you know from Rev. Kelly's and my own preaching and public pronouncements, pointing out the political implications of our faith (which we unapologetically do!) is not the same thing as being partisan or weighing in on partisan matters (which we strive not to do from the pulpit or in any public setting). Following Jesus -- or, for that matter, obeying the Ten Commandments or observing our Baptismal Covenant -- is BOTH a spiritual or religious undertaking AND an inherently political undertaking. But that does not make Jesus, the Bible, the Book of Common prayer, or us, partisan. That's an important distinction, which (along with more on the problem of reductionism) I write a bit more about in part one, which you can read HERE. (Clicking on that will redirect you to my personal blog, "Unapologetic Theology" at www.unapologetictheology.blogspot.com.) On this or any other matter, I'm open to your thoughts and comments: email me at johmer@thefallschurch.org. See you Sunday, 

John