Thanksgiving, Anniversaries, and Sweet Spots

Lory Beth Huffman

Senior Pastor

Soul Force on MLK, Jr. Day

  As I reflect on the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., while watching it snow I never cease...

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Dreaming of a White Christmas

It's long past midnight and the baby has been born. As I settle into Christmas Day during the...

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Stories to Warm Your Heart

Happy Thanksgiving Eve. As we enter into the Holiday season and make our adjustments for how we...

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What’s Happening With Worship at Boone UMC?

Happy Saturday, friends. I hope that you have a chance to enjoy the spectacular show God is...

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At Our Limit

It's taken me three weeks to write this blog. And it is my latest example of living day after day...

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A Way Forward

Real conversations on topics that are difficult, or uncomfortable, or divisive are hard to have. Avoidance is so much easier than real discussion, Partly because we are afraid of how the conversation itself will affect our community. Partly because we know some topics are so complex that there is no one answer that satisfies everyone, therefore it feels risky to talk about it because unless we all bring our “A Game” and listen well and choose our words perfectly, someone’s going to feel unheard. Someone’s going to be upset. People begin to feel like there is a right and a wrong and start seeing who’s on “their side” and who is not. I get it. Avoidance seems much the healthier option in some cases.

However, very soon, our denomination, the United Methodist Church, will have an excruciatingly difficult conversation on the topic of human sexuality. Specifically, whether or not the church will ordain people who are gay, lesbian and LBGTQ+, whether ordained clergy can perform same sex weddings, etc.

We’ve supposedly been having a conversation as a denomination every four years at our General Conference since 1972 when language was introduced into the polity of the United Methodist Church (The Book of Discipline which is our book of order and organization). Over the years, it has become increasingly difficult and painful for our denomination to discuss this globally.. In 2016, it looked like our United Methodist delegates and representatives from across the globe were going to have the same conversation in the same ugly and divisive way, but this time we called a time out. We asked our leadership to help us find a different way to try to make decisions about the complex topic of human sexuality honoring perspectives spanning multiple continents with many cultural contexts and different interpretations of Holy Scripture.

As a result, our denomination is having a specially called General Conference next year (February 23-26, 2019 in St. Louis, MO) to discuss only this one topic. At the request of our 2016 General Conference, our Bishops called for a Commission on A Way Forward to look at this request and find a different way for our denomination to respond to it compared to our sister mainline denominations that have all divided over this topic. United Methodism is the last remaining “umbrella” denomination that holds multiple perspectives all together. Our Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran brothers and sisters and several others have had this difficult conversation and ended up dividing in some way or another. Because this is a very difficult conversation.

Honestly, to say the issues simply include the ordination of men and women who are LGBTQ+, whether our clergy can perform same sex weddings and whether churches can have same sex weddings on their grounds is a simplification of complex theological and social debate with deeply, honestly held points of view on all sides.

The Commission on a Way Forward is recommending 2 Plans for consideration for our denomination and our Council of Bishops added a third option for General Conference to consider. These are 3 different ways that the church can consider as a global response to how our denomination might move forward talking about human sexuality and our church. They are the One Church Plan, The Connectional Conference Plan, and the Traditionalist Plan.

Some churches have been talking about and preparing for this conversation for a while now. Most of our churches in Western North Carolina are just now learning about what is around the corner. Boone UMC falls into this latter category. That is because this is hard for us to talk about. Our churches are not all in agreement about the best way forward. And yet our denomination is at a crossroads in which we are being asked to make some decisions and consider some possibilities that are forcing our churches to have a conversation most would rather avoid. And the truth is, no one knows how this will go in February. No one.

So at Boone UMC we are going to have 2 opportunities to have some conversation and to learn about the three proposed plans the General Conference will be considering in February. Join us on either Sunday, November 11 from 2-4 PM or Wednesday, November 14 from 6-8 PMin the Family Life Center as we practice having difficult conversations with one another and as we learn about what is going to happen next February.

I will close by saying that my prayer these past several months is that Boone UMC would be a place where we can have these difficult conversations with one another and we can go into them knowing that we will not all agree with one another on this complex topic, but that somehow we can be ok with that variety of perspectives. It is ok to disagree. How we live into that disagreement, and what it looks like may very well matter more. I pray that we can remember that our ultimate purpose is to be about God’s Kingdom work and that our mission is to Love our Community and Invite All to Discover Life in Christ. That dividing ourselves over this one topic weakens our church, not strengthens it. That before we were in any position to have to decide on one plan or another, we have worked well loving God and loving our neighbor in spite of having different perspectives within. Can we not find a way to continue to do so together. That is my fervent prayer. We will not all agree with one another. But we all love Jesus. We all love one another. And we long for community where all are welcomed because ALL of us need Jesus in our lives for a multitude of reasons.

A girl can dream. A girl can hope. A girl can pray.

Grace and Peace,

Lory Beth

 

Turning Down the Volume

I have been pondering for over a week now so many reflections resulting from the public discourse of recent current events.  Being in a new appointment and not being sure if people can separate spiritual and moral conversation from political it is tricky choosing my words.  However, being a woman listening to some of the discourse and not reacting has been so very difficult given my instinctual reactionary tendencies.  Feeling the heaviness in my heart as I watched the pain and fearful discomfort of Dr. Blasey-Ford and the anger and frustration of Judge Kavanaugh discuss intimately personal details of their life was painful for me.

What I will say loud and clear is that it takes courage for a victim of sexual assault and abuse to speak their stories and I have known listened to my share of women for whom this was their reality and most were never able to tell their truth for fear of the consequences from those around them.  This is real.  This is not an assault on young men everywhere.  It is an unusual season in which women’s voices are being heard in ways they haven’t been historically.  Please, let us be people of empathy and compassion that recognize there are so many voices and experiences that have not been heard through the years because of power structures and dominance by fear and dismissal.  I am sure there are women and even some men in your very circles of life and influence that have stories they have not been able to share because they are unsure if it is safe space.

But that’s not what I really want to focus on today.  I have been keeping my own emotional temperature this past week and I do not like how it has been rising with the volume of the political and emotional rhetoric around me.  So I have been thinking about how to best personally respond to this for my own spiritual and emotional health.  This week has brought me a series of quotes that I believe begin to form a theme.  In the battle to determine who is right and who is wrong in a “he said”, “she said”,  “I believe her”, “I believe him” ping-pong public dialogue, I finally realized I had to step back and turn the volume down around me.  I know what I believe.  I know what I long to hear for in our public leaders.  I know ultimately what is right and wrong morally in the choices we make.  But I also know that at any given time, I could be wrong.

Interestingly enough our theme for this coming Sunday is on humility as part of creating healing connections within our relationships with others.  A church member sent me a reminder of a quote from Augustine that resonated with my reflections for this blog.

“If you ask me what is the essential thing in the religion and discipline of Jesus Christ, I shall reply: first, humility; second, humility; and third, humility.” (cited from Augustine’s  Letters 118)

When we dial down our own volume a bit and approach things from a place of humility, we are in a much better place to hear and be heard, I believe.  As a reminder, humility as Christ and the early church understood it was not a sense of being a doormat groveling before God or others.  Instead Dr. Roberta Bondi talks about it more as our ability to accept our limitations, imperfections and vulnerabilities while also accepting that we are valuable in God’s eyes.  We don’t have to prove our accomplishments and earn high status in God’s or society’s eyes in order to have self-worth.  With that in mind, we realize it’s not about perfection – our own or someone else’s.  We are all struggling to work life out.  I don’t know exactly what this means for Blasey Ford or for Kavanaugh and our political leaders, but I only have control over myself.  This helps me better make sense of what I am feeling, thinking and the choices I am able to make.

But the unsettled way I have been feeling this week has concerned me.  What if I digress to the level of some of the anger and rancor I have been listening to and make poor choices in my own actions and reactions to all of this?  What if I let it create a dark cloud over my heart that slowly but surly starts calcifying?  Then I stumbled across this powerful quote that reminded me of a defense that I have at my fingertips.  One of the Desert Fathers from the early Christian times shared this teaching.

The nature of water is soft, that of stone is hard; but if a bottle is hung about the stone, allowing the water to fall drop by drop, it wears away the stone.  So it is with the word of God; it is soft and our heart is hard, but the [one] who hears the word of God often, opens his[or her] heart to the fear of God.” Abba John from Sayings

Abba John’s point is that the constant trickle of Jesus over my life slowly and consistently reminds me that love is the most important thing. That God commanded us to love God and love neighbor.  If we do those two things, the rest falls into place.  When I feel anger – even righteous anger which is not necessarily a bad thing, I will not let it turn my heart to stone but will let the powerful life-giving water shape and mold me.  And when the rhetoric gets too loud, I must turn the volume down.

Dripping water carves out rock.

One of our staff members led devotions this week and he helped us think about changing the channel internally so the background noise in our life can be God’s Word and teachings.  If we let that Living Water drip constantly over our lives then we hopefully have enough stored up within to make this doable.

“The reason you can proclaim the Word is because you have it stored up within you.  It is the background noise of your life.  When the trials come you can just turn up the volume.” -Crawford Loritts

While I am craving to turn down the volume of the negative, hurtful, loud and often dismissive voices of our current times, I am reminded that if I change the channel, I can turn up the volume of the love of Christ internally.  I can sing to the top of my lungs, as I have been known to do in my car, a song of love that overcomes hatred.  I recently started a trial of satellite radio for a few months and finally set my stations from the hundreds of choices.  It is pure joy to sing the songs of the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s while dialing down the talk radio, news and noise that I realized was weighing heavy on my spirit. Through my daily devotion and Scripture reading, I can increase the volume of the best voices in my life and protect my heart and my spirit from this storm that is raging around me.

I hope that if you are feeling the weight of the rhetoric that you, too can turn the volume down and let the Living Water drip a consistent reminder of our loving Jesus into your life.  And that Jesus can remind us all how we should be caring for and treating one another- quite simply with humility and love.

Grace and Peace,

Lory Beth

PS.  For those who were at church on Sunday, “I am brave enough to…” write this blog!

How Bazaar!

First of all, this blog is not about the huge church bazaar that is taking place as I type in literally every nook and cranny of our church property explicitly. It’s more about the importance of having events and opportunities in our life that bring focus and fellowship, meaning and missional purpose. The Fall Bazaar is a perfect example of that. Now to be clear, I have never in my life seen an operation quite like this. I’ve seen large yard sales, I’ve seen large rummage sales, I’ve seen silent auctions, but nothing to the scope and scale of this thing. 250 volunteers have worked in some capacity to make this happen. I don’t have any idea how many volunteer hours. And the miracle-working I witnessed was amazing. I hauled in boxes and boxes of smelly, dirty junk on Sunday afternoon. Each day I was amazed at how our volunteers cleaned, polished, glued, displayed (and yes, wisely selected items to make their way to the dumpster as appropriate) until we had treasures priced to sell every where you looked!

But what was more impressive to me was how important this event and this week’s work is to those who make it happen. You see, this is more than a massive fundraiser for missions and debt reduction at our church. It’s more than an opportunity for folks to clean out their closets at home. It’s even more than an opportunity to provide helpful stuff to folks in our community who love or need to find a bargain.

This was also a powerful opportunity to get to know church members better. Let’s face it, when you are elbow deep in someone else’s donated shoes or clothes, you are going to have interesting conversation with the other folks assigned to your “department” for the week as you prepare your items for display. With everyone wearing name tags for one solid week at the church, people kept commenting how this was the moment they began to actually get to know the people they worshipped with all year-long. By spending concentrated time together working on the same ultimate project, everyone feels united and part of a team. And especially for those who are retired (which are most of the volunteers through the week because they have the time to give to such a massive project) it was a beautiful opportunity to see all of their various gifts in motion. Having purpose and meaning in their life when many spent years being in charge and responsible in a variety of professional careers but discovering in retirement that their roles change dramatically. It is so important to be needed. This week reminded me of that lesson.

That was my favorite part. Seeing the rainbow of gifts that God has given to all the different people who make up our church on display was magnificent. People with the gift of leadership organizing and mobilizing everyone. People with the gift of hospitality just chatting and welcoming folks onto the campus today. People with the gift of administration handling the money and the behind the scenes details that make this work like a well oiled machine. People with retail experience marketing items by displaying them so beautifully. People with the gift of helps simply offering their time and helping hands willing to do whatever was asked of them. Strong people doing some heavy lifting with picking up furniture. Extroverted people seeking gift cards for the silent auction. Cooks offering their best kitchen creations for sale (of which my husband and I are enjoying!). You get the idea. It was the Body of Christ in motion for a solid week.

So as inconvenient as it has been to not have a single meeting space to have meetings other than my office. As odd as it is to not have any of our small groups or programs this week when most churches are cranking up fall programming. As exhausting as this week is for so many of our church members and their friends as they spend far more hours at the church than they are used to! The benefits outweigh the pain. It reminds me of what our guide said while we were on Kilimanjaro. While we are on the mountain it’s hard to breathe, it’s cold, we sleep on the ground with rocks underneath us and on a significant incline, we have headaches and sore muscles but somehow after we get down off the mountain we forget all of that. We only remember the beautiful vistas, the exhilaration of the accomplishment, the beauty of nature and before long, we find ourselves on another mountain. Then we remember that it’s hard to breathe and sleep and we ask ourselves why did we want to do this? The good usually always outweighs the inconvenient. And because it is important to us, we do it all over again!

Don’t underestimate the power of having a unified purpose or cause. Don’t underestimate the power of feeling needed and valued. And in the life of the church or any organization, it’s important for people to spend time with each other getting to know one another and having fun. This is not rocket science. But it’s amazing how often we forget these basic but important lessons in community.

Maybe your church or organization needs to put on a super big project like a Bazaar! If so, I know some experts you can call that will give you some helpful tips.

Grace and Peace,

Lory Beth