Tomorrow evening is the last Presbytery meeting of 2019, and so there are several items that mark the end of this fading year and plans for 2020.  It is a scheduled time of liminality, as we report on and preserve what was and consider what God has in store for us in the coming year.  I’m glad that we have a fairly comprehensive slate of candidates for new Presbytery leadership, and a budget that begins to reflect some decisions you have made recently that impact use of property and grants for innovative new missions.  We will also note some endings, while we also look ahead to new friends and initiatives, such as meeting our new regional representative with the Board of Pensions, Rev. Kristin Leucht, and we hear from Rev. Tom Erickson about New Theological Seminary of the West.

Lately the concept of “liminal space” has become popular in certain circles, especially among those who reflect on the transitional nature of society and the church, and the dismantling of old rules that makes room for new ways of being. 

Wikipedia defines liminality this way:

In anthropology, liminality is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of passage, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the rite is complete.

In addition to the manageable rites of transition such as electing new leaders, this weekend I’ve become aware of much more profound transitions in the lives of people in our community.  On Friday, a group of us including Steve Wiebe of PPC and I went to Adelanto Detention Center, led by our Immigrant Accompaniment Organizer Kristi Van Nostran.  Steve and I were moved by our meeting with a young man named Bertrand, who had been a youth organizer in Cameroon before the government decided his work empowering young people was threatening to the status quo.  He fled Cameroon at the end of February, and spent the last six months on an often perilous journey through Panama, Chiapas, and Tijuana before being put in the ICE detention center an hour and a half away from us.  What was remarkable was the faith-filled spirit Bertrand displayed, especially as he spoke of his desire to serve God and people.  Even in the detention center, he helps other inmates to acclimate people new to the system, and though he has no idea what will happen (his only connection in the United States is a relative with no financial resources, living in the Midwest), he is grateful that at least he feels safe at Adelanto.  Steve and I were amazed at the perseverance, intelligence, and spirit of this young man, convinced of the gift he would be if he is allowed to stay in the United States.  [Kristi will resume Adelanto visits in January, perhaps scheduling a trip the last Friday of each month; keep your eyes open for the new schedule, or contact Kristi at presbywelcome@gmail.com.] 

Yesterday, several representatives of San Gabriel Presbytery met with Alhambra True Light Presbyterian Church, who have been trying to figure out how to respond to the changes taken by the PC(USA).  While some will point to the decisions made about sexuality as a breaking point, there have been significant transitions made over the decades that have caused some Christians to feel we are abandoning God’s will, transitions that may seem settled for some such as reconciling the theory of evolution with God’s design for Creation, or the Presbyterian Church’s modifications of the most condemning statements in the Westminster Confession of Faith.  The permanent condition of Christians is change, as we discern whether and how to reconsider tenets of the faith in light of scientific and social changes in every generation—we call this “Reformed, and always reforming.”

In our worship tomorrow, we will focus on our relationships with indigenous peoples in our lands.  To be honest, the concept of “First Peoples” can be elusive, due to the constant migration of humans through the millenia.  For instance, we consider the native people of the Los Angeles area to be the Tongva.  Though they covered much of Southern California, they have a special connection with San Gabriel Valley, as the San Gabriel Mission became the detention center of the day for the Tongva, who are also called Gabrieliños.  What’s interesting is that the Tongva arrived here about 3,000-5,000 years ago, but ancient human-made tools from 8,000 years ago were found near Azusa, so there were people here before the Tongva.  But by the time the Spanish and later the Euro-Americans came to this area, the land was certainly controlled and inhabited by the Tongva, and they have weathered many calamities and persecution to survive today.  Consider all the peoples who have called San Gabriel Valley home over the centuries!

In the Christian liturgical calendar, this Sunday is the last Sunday of the year, and as such it marks the triumph of Christ’s reign.  The following Sunday, December 1, is the start of Advent, when we start the new liturgical year by anticipating the coming of Christ.  What is so intriguing about Christ as King is his depiction in Revelation as the lamb who was slaughtered for the salvation of the world.  So even as we foresee the ultimate triumph of Christ, the marks of his transition from humiliation to glory have not been totally erased. 

So in this time of every kind of change, may we accept the liminality of life, knowing that our transformation does not erase all of who we are, but fulfills God’s will for our new and fulfilling life in Christ.  May we pray for—and be gentle with—all who struggle through the birth passage to this new life, and all who take the initiative to seek out the promise of freedom, safety, faith, and service.

See you tomorrow evening at Trinity church,

Wendy

One hundred years ago today, President Woodrow Wilson issued a message on the one-year anniversary of the end of World War I.  At that time the day was called Armistice Day, and he said:

The war showed us the strength of great nations acting together for high purposes, and the victory of arms foretells the enduring conquests which can be made in peace when nations act justly and in furtherance of the common interests of men.

We now call it Veterans Day, and I hope that each of us takes a moment to give thanks for those who have served our country and the highest goals of international compassion and cooperation and service, and to pray for God’s protection on all those who are in places of danger and instability, including those in active duty and those struggling to find safe, hopeful and productive lives when they return stateside.

At times I think about calls for a return to mandatory national service.  I feel guilty about considering it since I am far from the age group that would be impacted by this.  But I have grown to appreciate the benefits of this that go beyond swelling the ranks of military forces.

That said, I do have great respect for the military in the United States.  When I served in Hawai`i, I met several people in the services who attended community churches while they were stationed there.  They told me about the well-developed programs for leadership and skills training, the great diversity of the troops (including a high number of immigrants), the humor and camaraderie, the discipline that some of them confessed they needed to grow, and the integrity that they demonstrated in their work and in their church.  Veterans also speak about the impact of war in a way that none of the rest of us can imagine.  One current concern is now that active military are “voluntary” and have fallen to 0.4% of the population, it is easier for politicians to send our armed forces into dangerous places, as so few now have direct connection to the people being sent.  (In World War II, 9% served, and over half the economy was involved in the war effort, so most if not all Americans had some direct connection to the impacts of war.)

There are stories from every generation of people who learned to be more open to diversity while in the military.  The first time I attended a church conversation on sexuality over 25 years ago, I was struck that several of the people who expressed sympathy for gays and lesbians (back then we didn’t say LGBTQ+) were seniors.  They shared that they had gay buddies when they served in World War II or the Korean War, and when you live together, eat together, and face death together, you learn that we have more in common than one’s sexual orientation.  More recently, a friend who is an Army chaplain in Korea shared how he changed his views on sexuality when the Army repealed “don’t ask, don’t tell.”  As the soldiers he counseled were able to reveal the gender of their loved ones back home, he learned that they spoke the same about love, and loneliness, and hope, whether they were gay or straight.

Several of our national leaders have shared how their military service gave them their first connections with people from different cultural or socioeconomic backgrounds.  Wealthy kids learned to respect their working-class commanders.  The young first-term representative George H. W. Bush took the politically unpopular political stance in favor of the Fair Housing Act back in 1968, which opened housing to people regardless of color, reportedly saying “I served with these men in the Pacific and they should be able to live wherever they want to.”

The military is one of the few institutions besides the church where people from diverse backgrounds are to be welcomed into very close community, bound by a shared code of conduct and ideals that are bigger than any individual.  I’ve considered how the military’s approach to creating a cohesive group from disparate individuals may have something to teach the church.  While I would not adopt the hierarchy of the military, I do believe that we church types do need to be more alert to expressing and teaching shared values and practices (and not assume that we all “just know” because we are Christian) and how to demonstrate that there are things more important than getting your way in any particular argument, or any social construct that divides us.

The restatement of mandatory military service is mandatory national service, which might include work for the public good within the US in contexts outside the armed forces.  In my narrow frame of reference, the corollary would be our required internships as part of our preparation for ministry process.  Two goals that guide the internship requirement are the importance of practical applied learning, and exposure to churches that are different from those of any individual’s background.  Our CPM takes seriously that when they help to form and certify someone ready for ordination, they do so once for the entire denomination, so it’s important that the candidates learn that there is no one standard Presbyterian church.  

Yesterday I had the great joy of preaching for the 38^th anniversary of Filipino Community United Presbyterian Church.  One of the things I noted is the number of traditions they have to encourage everyone to participate in the ministry of the church, from an early age.  One is the special anniversary offering, when they call people up by the month of their own birth to bring their gifts for the church.  As each month is called, I saw every member and little child of the church coming forward with joy, showing their love for this family of faith.  This is just one of the many ways FCUPC encourages members of all generations to practice their faith as a group, which deepens their church commitment to unity.  As FCUPC looks ahead to expanding their ministry to welcome people of all backgrounds in the Azusa community, I am excited to see how their creativity and infectious energy will grow and diversify their already vibrant church life.

As we look ahead to the holidays, and as we take this holiday to pray for and honor those who gave years of their lives to the service of this country, may we seek to serve our Lord through our churches, without guns but with passion and integrity for the cause of Christ.

Peace and blessings,

Wendy

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.

Psalm 98:4-5

It feels like we are experiencing the change in seasons (yes, we do have seasons in Southern California), and we are making the turn towards the holidays.  A week before Thanksgiving, we will have the last Presbytery meeting of 2019, when we consider plans for next year, including the budget and elections of Presbytery leaders for 2020, as well as remembering our loved ones who have passed on to the Lord this last year.  We will also elect our commissioners and Young Adult Advisory Delegate for next summer’s General Assembly in Baltimore.  We have only one ruling elder with a submitted nomination, so if anyone wants to be an alternate, that would be nice to have just in case.  And we have heard that a young person is interested in being a YAAD, but we haven’t seen the paperwork yet, so there might be a possibility of going to Baltimore if you’re 17-23 years of age on the first day of GA, June 20, 2020.

This fall I have been preaching more than usual.  I often preach during the summer (a few churches take me up on the offer to preach for free pulpit supply, or just to hear the latest from the presbytery), but I am finding myself preaching more weeks than not, at least through November.  I’ve had the opportunity to try some different ways to proclaim the word.  I believe that we should use whatever approach helps get the word across most effectively to a particular community of faith.  At one church, I was asked to preach on 1 Kings 12, the events that led to the division of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel, which is a major challenge if the church isn’t well-versed in the Bible.  I ended up doing a history/geography lesson, with the help of maps and artwork to attempt to draw the narrative thread from Jacob and the 12 Tribes of Israel, to David, to Rehoboam and Jeroboam, to Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.  Thank God for technology!

Yesterday I preached at the Korean-language worship service at PPC.  I was happy to do this because I had always wanted to express in worship my shame and regret that the people of Korea suffered so greatly from Japanese imperialism.  After worship, I was able to hear from some of the elders how the current state of politics in Korea and Japan have revived some of these old conflicts, but we are thankful that political rhetoric does not impact personal relationships, especially among Christians, and in the United States we share a similar minority status that softens any remaining differences in our heritage.  (I also shared how some Japanese have taken DNA tests that reveal how many of us have some Korean blood, so we’re not so different after all!)

I am grateful for the music ministry of PPC’s Korean Language Ministry.  They have a great praise combo (with keyboard, guitars, trumpet, and a nifty electronic drum set that is very versatile and not as overpowering as some traditional drum sets).  We also got to hear from the children, which is always a joy.  And their Trinity Choir is excellent, having made a splash recently at the Korean Presbyterian Conference music festival.  One of the growing connections between the English and Korean ministries at PPC is when the two chancel choirs join voices. 

I appreciated the Trinity Choir especially as they sang after the prayer of confession.  The melody and their voices expressed the gracious mercy of God in a lovely way.  But I was especially happy to hear an offertory solo by the choir director, Kayla Kim, who has a transcendent voice.  I confess that there have been times when I am thankful for beautiful music to follow the sermon, so that if the gospel isn’t heard through my faulty preaching, at least the folks will experience the awe of the glory of the Lord through the music! 

The days of the “worship wars” seems to have passed away some, for which I am very glad.  I do believe that the best explanation for the conflicts over worship music is the great power of music to touch our souls in ways that words cannot.  In our rather word-heavy Reformed worship style, music is often the only times our worship reaches beyond the intellect.  For myself, I would hate to limit our worship life to any single approach to music.  Instead, as with different approaches to preaching, the music we sing must serve to support and communicate the gospel for each particular context.  Just as language helps or hinders the understanding of the gospel message, so can music take us more deeply into worship, or confound or distract us from our focus on the Lord.

As we look ahead to the holidays, I expect that many of our churches will express our thanksgiving, Advent expectations, and Christmas joy through music.  Thank God for the blessed opportunity to join our voices with all the earth, the lyre and the horn, the sea and the hills, as we sing praises to our God!

And please continue to pray for Twila French, who is working from home during her recovery from knee replacement surgery that is more painful than was anticipated.  (Karen Berns is also having this surgery, so I pray that her recovery is not too painful.)  And prayers for Mark Carlson, who lost his mother this last week.  Mark and Catharine have been visiting her in New York state, and I am thankful that he has been able to see her several times in her last years.

Blessings,

Wendy