What Can We Say?

WHAT CAN WE SAY?

Last Spring I had the privilege of singing Brahms “German” Requiem with the Village Presbyterian Church Choir.  For years, I have heard the Requiem sung, in German, with large orchestras, and the Second Movement has often sent chills down by back.  But, last Spring, we sang the Requiem in English with a duel piano accompaniment.

We had spent about 6 weeks in rehearsal with all of the detail work that goes into the preparation of any choral work.  Mark Ball, Music Director at Village, had taken time to outline the motivation and emotion that was behind the writing of this great choral work.  I had expected that doing all the work in preparing for the performance of the Requiem, I would not have been affected by the Second Movement.

That was not the case.  An unexpected wave of emotion came over me as we began to sing words based on these passages of Scripture:

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. (I Peter 1:24) 

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. (James 5:7) 

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. (I Peter 1:25)

Chills ran up and down my spine even stronger than the first time I heard the Requiem.  I cannot explain why this happened.

Today, December 14, 2012, I struggle, as many do, to try to find words in the wake of the shooting at the Sandy Hoot Elementary School in Newtown, CT.  What can be said to the parents, grandparents, siblings, friends and all the family and friends of the 18 to 20 children who were murdered plus all those connected to the adults who were murdered?

It was not God’s will.  Do not say that God needed more little angels in heaven.  If we can believe in the words of John 3:16 (God so loved the world…), then there must be nothing but great sorrow in the “heart of God” at the murder of almost thirty children and adults.

And, yes, I use the term “murder” and not “killed” in this case.  It is possible to kill a Supreme Court nomination, or a tree or even an animal, but when a person pulled the trigger of a gun that causes a bullet to so damage a child’s body that life can no longer be sustained, that is one thing – MURDER.

Who is to blame for these murders?  The person who pulled the trigger?  Yes.  A school system that lacks sufficient procedures to guarantee guns will never be carried into the building?  Yes.  But there is a large group that carries the blame.  Remember the words from the classic comic strip “Pogo?”

We have met the enemy and they are us.

We are a society that is obsessed with guns.  Those of us who misinterpret the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution mistake ourselves for the militia.  Those of us who seek tighter gun control, in particular handguns and assault weapons, have remained silent for far too long.  Tell me not that: “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”  How many at Columbine High School, or the Colorado movie theatre, or an Arizona political rally or a Connecticut elementary school would be alive today if there were not tighter controls on handguns and assault weapons.

Recently, the Overland Park, Kansas City Council passed an “open carry” ordinance that allows anyone with a permit to openly carry a handgun.  This is 2012 not 1875.  Most of my ministry has been in urban communities.  I have confronted prostitutes that were working within 300 feet of our public charter school.  I have gone nose to nose with drunken panhandlers who caused people to avoid coming into the church on Sunday mornings.  I have responded to burglar alarms at 3 a.m. in the morning.  Not once did I feel I needed to carry a weapon.

In rural Indiana I was a sworn reserve deputy sheriff and carried a weapon only when we were on a stakeout or stopped a vehicle travelling over 100 miles per hour.

What can we do?  Some will say “Nothing.”  Others will place the blame somewhere else on someone else.  But, until we look into our own souls and allow our sorrow join with God’s sorrow will we see a day when the murder of children and their educators is no longer the headlines or the breaking news.  Not because the news media has gone on to the next breaking story, but because we have changed.

I pray that a day will come when our grandchildren, Frances and Kai, and their children and grandchildren will never have to hear of another Sandy Hoot Elementary School shooting.

A funny thing happened...

A funny thing happened…

I am aware that when ministers have been ordained as many decades as I have they have a myriad of stories about many facets of ministry.  Some of these stories have been filled with sadness and sorrow.  But, in this posting I share with my readers some of the stories that continue to not only bring smiles but rounds of almost uncontrollable laughter.  So here are a few of those stories.

One of the first stories comes before I was ordained, serving as a supply preacher from seminary.  It was the days before “Google Maps” so estimating mileage between seminary and a church was dependent on gas station maps.  In planning for a Sunday preaching event, I had underestimated the distance by some 60 miles.  My wife and I drove and drove and the time got shorter and shorter.  In addition, the gas tank was getting more and more empty while my rent on my coffee was becoming due.

We made a quick stop about 10 miles from the church where my wife purchased a few gallons gas and I made a visit to the rest room.  We hurried on to the church and pulled up in front just as the choir was lining up to process up the aisle.  Wearing my clerical collar, I grabbed my sermon, walked up the steps, took my place next to the elder who was liturgist and walked down the aisle as if it had been planned hat way.  We walked in as if I had been there for an hour.

Lesson learned: The Boy Scout motto applies to the ministry: always “Be Prepared.”

Worship in the outdoors can always be exciting.  The church in the small rural community in which I first served decided that once a month during the summer we would worship in the town park.  We had set up for the Lord’s Supper in the Town Park shelter and begun worship just as we heard the increasing sound of a low flying aircraft.  On each side of the one road into the park there was a field of sweet corn and that was the day the local canning plant decided the sweet corn was just right for picking and canning.

Prior to the picking, the fields were aerial dusted to drive out the ear worms, which were not needed for extra protein in the canned corn.  The growing sound of a low flying aircraft was the crop duster about 6 feet above the tops of the corn with its dust dispenser on full force.  There was no worry about being dusted, but at the end of the field were two trees closer together than the wingspan of the plane.  If the plane crashed, the one road into the park would be blocked and the volunteer fire fighters would be unable to get to their favorite fire truck.  Over half the department, including myself, were at the service.

What happened?  The plane turned on one wing tip, flew sideways between the trees, flew a half loop, performed an Immelman turn (roll off the top; half loop, half roll) returned and flew again sideways between the trees.

Several years ago we were back at that church for a celebration.  Everyone remember the crop duster event.  No one, including the minister, remembers the sermon.

Lesson learned: They won’t always remember the sermon, but they will remember the corn.

As third story comes from the urban church I served for over a dozen years.  Our sons were preschoolers when we went to that church.  My wife was singing in the choir and the preacher’s sons were assigned to sit with certain members of the congregation.  One son was assigned to sit with a husband and wife who were retired teachers.  The other son was assigned to sit with two sisters who were “old maid” retired teachers.

One Sunday, in the middle of my sermon, our younger son could not decide whom he was going to sit with during worship.  Thus he was running back and forth across the front of the sanctuary, under the pulpit, trying to decide where to sit.  The congregation was getting more and more uneasy

I leaned up over the pulpit as our son ran in front of the pulpit and in a deep commanding, parental voice said: “Kirk, SIT DOWN.”  It worked, the congregation relaxed and Kirk sat down.  He does not remember the event, but today he serves as a ruling elder in an Italian/Haitian congregation.

Lesson learned:  Don’t hesitate to take charge when needed in worship.  That is the task of a worship leader.

Presbyterians have been called the “frozen chosen.”  But it doesn’t have to be that way.

-- Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.

When will we learn? - Part 2

When will we learn? – Part 2

Reflecting of the death of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin at the hands of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman I pointed to three major contributing factors – fear, God-given differences and deadly force.  I concluded that the responsibility for Trayvon’s death ultimately lies with us.  To paraphrase the infamous words of Walt Kelly in his comic strip Pogo,

“We have met the enemy and they are us.”

My first pastorate was in a small (500 people) town in rural Indiana.  Everyone in the town not only worked at their “daytime” job but also served in numerous volunteer positions.  I served as chaplain to the volunteer fire department and county sheriff’s department.  Or maybe I should say I was an ordained Presbyterian minister who also was a volunteer fire fighter and a reserve deputy sheriff.

It was as a reserve deputy sheriff that I was confronted with the reality of deadly force.  I would not wear a uniform, but did wear my clerical collar often.  I would not carry a firearm, but I did carry mace.

The sheriff’s department for the rural county of 13,000 people was staffed by a full-time sheriff and his deputy augmented by 21 reserve officers – farmers, store keepers, teachers and business people.  Most of the reserve deputies were hunters.  We were all trained in the use of firearms.  Everyone owned their own weapons.  And while I did not carry, or even own a firearm, when I rode with the sheriff or deputy there was a revolver available in the glove compartment and a shotgun in the trunk.

In the late 1960’s the two U.S. highways that cut through the county were major drug smuggling routes.  The state police held several training seminars for our department concerning the drug trafficking and what we were to do in case we saw a suspected drug runner – do nothing and call the state police.

One night, riding with the deputy sheriff, we spotted a car travelling at a high rate of speed in the opposite direction on a four-lane divided highway.  We turned around as soon as we could and set out to pursue the vehicle.  It took at least five miles before we could get close enough to activate lights and siren.  The speedometer of the patrol car was “pinned” at 120 mph.  The speeding car did pull over and stop.  The deputy got out and went to the car, weapon drawn.  I stood behind my open door with the glove compartment revolver and the radio microphone.

The driver admitted he was speeding.  He had just broken up with his girl friend in Chicago (100 miles north) and was very upset.  His foot had become lead.

Did the deputy and I feel threatened?  Yes.  Did we fire our weapons?  No.  That was not what we were trained to do.

On another occasion the department was alerted to a teen alcohol (and maybe drug) party that was to be held at the end of a gravel road in a deserted farmhouse.  The sheriff, deputy, state conservation officer (law enforcement trained) and about a dozen reserve officers set out to raid the party.  The large crowd of teens were surprised and most of them quietly accepted that they had been caught.

However, three or four of the boys jumped in a car and attempted to escape by driving directly toward several of the officers, including me, who were armed with rifles, shotguns and pistols.  As the car drove at us, own of our reserves aimed his high-powered rifle at the car and prepared to fire at the driver.  As I and another reserve noted the angle of weapon we shouted:

Aim low!

The officer did just that.  Fortunately, the teen driver stepped on the brake rather than the accelerator and came to a halt several yards in front of us.

All the teens at the party were transported to the sheriff’s department.  Their parents were called.  And as I remember, there were no charges filed against the teens.  They did, however, have to answer to their parents, who were rather angry.

Later, as we debriefed, the reserve deputy with the high-powered rifle thanked us for that reminder to lower his aim.  The weapon could have put a round through the engine block of the car and if it had gone through the windshield there most certainly would have been a dead teenager.

There is no reason for a neighborhood watch volunteer to carry a weapon any more powerful than mace.  And there is no excuse for George Zimmerman disobeying a specific instruction from a trained 911 operator to NOT PURSUE Treyvon Martin.

Pogo is right:

We have met the enemy and they are us!

--Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.

When will we learn? - Part 1 (Florida shooting)

When will we learn? – Part 1

According to the recordings of the emergency 911 call center, it was dark and raining when an armed neighborhood watch volunteer fired one shot that killed Trayvon Martin.  There are so many problems with what happened in Sanford, Florida that it is difficult to know where to start.

Fear: From all accounts there were two people who were gripped with fear that dark night – the late Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman.  Trayvon seems to have been afraid because someone was following him as he walked from a convenience store to a home he was visiting.  George Zimmerman was afraid because Trayvon was carrying a bag of candy, a bottle of iced tea and put his hand in his waist band.  And, in addition, Trayvon was wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

Why were Trayvon and George afraid of each other?  We will never know exactly why Trayvon was afraid. But, from the recordings, it sounds as if George Zimmerman had stereotyped Trayvon as a criminal threat.  George knew Trayvon was black and wearing a hooded sweatshirt and he decided Trayvon was a criminal.

Difference: Discussion of fear leads to the reality of the differences between people.  We are all created different from everyone else.  Families may have DNA similarities, but the scientists say that even identical twins have small differences.  We can either embrace our differences or fear them.  I have always said the world would be a very boring place if everyone was alike – homogenized.

It was the late Rev. Mac Charles Jones, pastor of St. Stephen’s Baptist Church in Kansas City who said that integration should be fruit salad, not potato salad.  When we make potato salad the resulting food is all one color and texture.  But when we make fruit salad, the original fruits retain the color, texture and essence of taste.  Each fruit contributes unique properties that make the whole better than the sum on the parts.

Deadly force:  The use of deadly force is an overarching element in the death of Trayvon Martin.  George Zimmerman is a neighborhood watch volunteer, not a trained law enforcement officer.  The “911” tape indicated that the trained “911” dispatcher instructed George Zimmer NOT to follow Trayvon Martin.  The instruction – “We don’t need you to do that.” – may not have been definitive enough, but George Zimmerman’s disregard of the instruction demonstrates his untrained status.

The volunteer, armed with a handgun then confronted Trayvon Martin and fired one fatal shot.  There have been several news reports that state Trayvon was suspended from school at the time of his death or that he assaulted George Zimmerman.  Even if the statements are true, a bag of candy and a bottle of iced tea are no match for a handgun.

It was Abraham Lincoln who said:

"It is the eternal struggle between two principles, right and wrong, throughout the world. It is the same spirit that says 'you toil and work and earn bread, and I'll eat it.' No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation, and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle." [Lincoln-Douglas debates, 15 October 1858]

Lincoln, when he spoke of democracy, said,

"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy."

Who is responsible for the death of Trayvon Martin?  George Zimmerman pulled the trigger.  But the responsibility goes much further.  More in part 2 of this post, “When will we learn?”

Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.

It all begins in the pulpit – Part 4 – Fear (of response from the congregation)

It all begins in the pulpit – Part 4 – Fear (of response from the congregation)

“Can I come over and talk with you this evening?” was the question from the member of the Session (Ruling Board in the Presbyterian Church).  My response was: “Sure.” 

It was August or September of 1968 and I was newly ordained serving my first church in rural Indiana.  Even though I had been their pastor for only a few months, I knew the congregation fairly well.  I had been supplying their pulpit from McCormick Seminary during the Fall of 1967 and the Spring of 1968.  These two extended periods of pulpit supply led to being called to serve this church of some 125 people in a town of 500.

One other note of background: The Spring of 1968 was turbulent in Chicago.  Racial tensions were already high and with the death of Dr. Martin Luther King those tensions exploded into massive riots.  Billows of black smoke rose from the Westside of Chicago as buildings and cars went up in flames.  The Chicago Police would remove nametags and badges, means of individual identification, and then sweep down streets arresting anyone on the street.

McCormick Seminary students and faculty, against the orders of the administration, suspended classes in order to minister in the riot-torn city.  Along with one of my professors, I visited the Cook County Jail to bail innocent people out of jail.  We used funds donated by the McCormick Community.  The families of the innocent persons may have had the money, but they waited days to even begin the process of posting bail.  Their problem: they were black.  My professor and I are white and in suit and tie, the jail officials gave us immediate attention.  In reflection, the jailers probably thought we were lawyers.

Having lived through the Chicago Riots in the Spring of 1968, it was no surprise when, during the Democratic National Convention, Mayor Richard J. Dailey’s police once again removed their identification and plowed into demonstrators in Lincoln Park.  A week or two after the Convention Riots, this lectionary preacher felt the scriptures speaking out against the violence as we had seen in Chicago. 

The problem was that one of the leaders in the rural church I was serving had been an alternate delegate to the convention and said the police brutality never took place.  She was there, she said, and on the buses between the hotel and the convention venue, she had seen none of the violence.  As I remember, she claimed the news media reporting the violence had probably staged the event or fabricated the story to discredit the National Democratic Party that was under the firm control of Mayor Dailey.

And so the church Elder sat down in the living room of the manse and said: “I know that the Book of Order (governing rules of the Presbyterian Church) does not allow me to say this, but there are some church leaders who do not want you to reference events such as the Convention Riots in your sermons.”

I thanked the Elder for his visit and agreed with him, that in the Presbyterian Church, the content of the sermon is one of the five areas of worship that are at the sole discretion of the preacher.  I did not cease then, nor have I ever feared the congregation when I believe the Scripture needs to speak through the pulpit on critical issues.  And as a lectionary preacher, I hope and pray that I have avoided the danger of using the pulpit as a personal “soap box.”

The controversy in 1968 was not the last time I received negative input from the congregation about a sermon.  There were some who took issue when I raised doubts about the integrity of television preacher Jim Bakker before he was indicted for mail fraud in 1988.  Another time was when, in speaking against racial and sexual discrimination, I asked: “If we are all created in the image of God, then what must God look like?  I don’t know.  If I could describe God, then that god would be too small.  My God is much greater than that.”

If the preacher honestly believes the Scriptures and the Spirit are speaking, then there should be no fear of congregation, community or government.  The Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, President of the College of New Jersey (Princeton University today), preached against King George and the British Parliament in May of 1776.  The Rev. John Rankin, Presbyterian abolitionist preacher in Ripley, Ohio, is said to have carried a pistol into the pulpit because the slavers had placed a bounty of several thousand dollars on his head.  Read the fearless words of Dr. Martin Luther King the night before he was assassinated.

None of us, I hope, seek to be martyrs.  But no preacher should fear when they are truly preaching the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

--Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.  

CNN wasn't there...Creationism - Religion or science?

CNN wasn’t there…

and neither was David Coppedge.  I heard of David Coppedge on National Public Radio this morning (March 12, 2012) and I was amazed and amused at the same time.

A little background: David Coppedge is a scientist/engineer who was working on the Cassini mission to Saturn at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in California.  The JPL is operated by Caltech and is well known for the operation of many of the United States explorations into space.  Recently JPL reported that the Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched in 1977, has reached the edge of our sun’s heliosphere – the region influenced by the sun’s magnetic field.  They do not know when – a few months or years – Voyager 1 will cross the boundary and enter interstellar space.

In April 2010, David Coppedge was dismissed by JPL as a part of budget cutting caused by a reduction in the California State budget.  David Coppedge has sued JPL claiming that he was dismissed because of his religious views – which he shared freely with his co-workers to the point where they complained of harassment.

What are Coppedge’s religious beliefs?  He is a creationist, claiming that because of the complexity of all that we know, there must be one intelligent creator.  Creationists turn to the Bible to prove their “science” citing the opening chapter of the Book of Genesis as their “proof.”  The creationists begin their argument with these words from Genesis:

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,.

However, there is the second creation story from Genesis that begins:

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up--for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground--then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

And then there is the creation story from the Book of John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

In 2000 when I ran for the Kansas State Board of Education, because the creationists – or intelligent design theorists – were working hard to have creation theory taught in high school science classes along with evolution theory.  They argued that creationism is as much a science as evolution theory is with equal, if not more credibility than evolution theory.  I received 39,000 votes, but lost because of my political affiliation –Democratic Party.

In the year 2000, creationists such as David Coppedge, argued that creationism was science.  A dozen years later, David Coppedge and his lawyers are arguing that he was dismissed from JPL because of his religious beliefs – creationism.

It is time that this charade be ended.  Evolution theory is science, not religion.  Creationism is religion, not science.  In reality, no one can say, for sure, how everything we know came into being. CNN wasn’t there with cameras and reporters.

A challenging book to read that explores reality is David Eagleman’s Sum: Forty Tales of the Afterlife.

--Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.

Equal Rights in 2012

Equal Rights in 2012

On February 10 Heartland Presbytery passed two overtures to the 2012 General Assembly by a sizable majority.  The vote was taken by secret ballot and there was little debate before that vote.  The Overtures both involved same sex unions/marriages.

The first Overture seeks to edit and refine the Directory of Worship to make its language gender neutral. The second overture is asking the General Assembly for an Authoritative Interpretation regarding pastoral care in states that have approved same sex marriage.  Both of these overtures involve providing equal pastoral care for members and friends of PCUSA churches.

Eight days later I worshipped with the Mayflower United Church of Christ congregation in Minneapolis.  Our older son and his family have become involved with this congregation since moving to Minneapolis.  As a part of the worship service they celebrated joys and sorrows.  The death of a longtime member was the sorrow shared.  The adoption of a baby was the joy of the morning.

Most notable was that Jameson Sophia Wright-Rhodes was born on February 13^th and adopted by Sonia and Patricia Wright-Rhodes on February 15^th.

I am sure that when the Overtures from Heartland Presbytery are debated at the General Assembly the people opposed to the overtures will suggest that if these overtures are adopted the PCUSA will be violating Biblical teaching, destroying the sanctity of marriage and upsetting the social order – and offer many more self-assured arguments.

Well, here are some reflections from a longtime PCUSA preacher who grew up in an era when even father and son embracing could be interpreted as having sexual overtones.

The most complete discussion I have heard of the Biblical teaching on same-sex marriage/relationships was by Dr. Jack Rogers.  Rather than attempt to summarize Dr. Rogers’ analysis, I refer the reader to his writings.

Arguments against the Heartland Overtures:

It destroys Sanctity of marriage.

 We do not choose whom we will love.  We also do not live in a time when third parties arrange marriages, at least generally in the United States.  In the successful British drama set in the early part of the 20^th Century, “Downton Abbey” deals with arranged marriages, as one of its many story lines.  The patriarch of Downton Abbey attempts to control who one of his daughters will marry, but she has fallen in love with the chauffeur and they are going to move to Ireland.

The sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of my marriage is in no way diminished by the love and commitment of the couple adopting the newborn in Minneapolis.  The most damaging element to marriage is infidelity.  Whether it leads to divorce or not, when one of the partners in a marriage is unfaithful, it damages the sanctity of marriage.

In the late 1700s the Attorneys General of the Commonwealth of Kentucky gave three reasons why it was acceptable to own slaves in the United States. 

• First they stated that black men and women were better off on the plantations of the United States than in their native Africa risking hunger and inter-tribal war.
• If one did not accept that argument, then they argued that freeing the slaves would upset the social order.  In other words, freeing the slaves would lead to interracial marriage.
• If that argument was rejected, then slavery was a Biblical mandate.  The Chosen People of Israel had slaves and, since the United States was the new chosen people, it was allowed to have slaves.

Do any of those arguments sound familiar in the opposition to same-sex marriage?  They should.

When I was ordained in 1968 I would not have performed a same sex marriage.  Today, I cannot perform same-sex marriages because neither the State of Kansas nor Missouri have legalized such marriages.  Neither does the Book of Order, the PCUSA rulebook, allow me to perform same sex marriages.

But these restrictions may change within my lifetime.  If that happens, I will still be able to refuse to officiate at marriages based on my own assessment – same sex or opposite sex.  I will also have the authority to officiate at marriages I believe are decent and in order – same sex and opposite sex.

--Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.

It all begins in the pulpit – Part 3 – Time and effort

It all begins in the pulpit – Part 3 – Time and effort

The preacher must keep current.  I wrote earlier of Dr. Elam Davies, Pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago during the 1960s.  On the Palm Sunday following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Dr. Davies preached a sermon that challenged the socially/economically elite of Fourth Church to own the endemic racism of America and take concrete actions to overcome that racism.  Dr. King died on Thursday evening, April 4, 1968.  Dr. Davies preached his sermon on Sunday morning, April 7, 1968.  There were very few hours between the two events making advance planning impossible.

Seldom is the preacher challenged by such short hours between a major event and Sunday morning, but the preacher should always practice the Boy Scout motto: “Be prepared.”

The preacher must keep up with what is happening in the community, the nation and the world.  This task used to be more difficult before the Internet.  But in 2012, there are a multitude of resources available to “keep in touch.”  I speak of only two.

First, there is Facebook.  Individuals and organizations are using Facebook.  While there are many who are critical of Facebook, we cannot allow the abuses of this social media to taint the positive qualities of the medium.  There was a recent news account of a man in Europe who developed an inappropriate relationship with a young girl in the United States through the use of Facebook.  From the content of the e-mail messages, the authorities determined that it was likely that the man was attempting to create an inappropriate liaison with an underage girl – in other words the man was a sexual predator.  As the authorities were tracking the e-mails, they found a series were coming the United States.  They tracked the communications and found the man had come to the United States on vacation.  He is now in jail awaiting trial.

Does this incident negate the positive and creative communication that Facebook provides.  No, absolutely not.  I can see picture of my four and a half-year-old granddaughter and her 10 year-old brother who live in Minnesota.  I can keep in touch with my 92 year-old friend in Australia whom we met on our trip to Egypt.  Preachers should use Facebook well and keep abreast of privacy issues.

Second, I use Twitter on a regular basis.  I may follow less that 100 “tweeters” but I have chosen them because they open a whole area of the world I would never read about in the “Kansas City Star” or even my wife’s favored “Wall Street Journal.”  Between the University of Cincinnati, CNN and a local television station I get the headlines of the hour.  I can then choose to investigate further those headlines on my own.  I am flattered that there are several dozen people who follow my few tweets.

Third, fourth, fifth and  on – there are many sources for preachers to keep informed about the people in their community – locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.  College, university and seminary faculty may be allowed to so concentrate on their field of study that they miss the latest news, but preachers must be aware of the world their congregations live in everyday. 

Note: I use the word “aware.”  They are no experts on everything.  Preachers should not deny their own particular interests.  Personally, my personal interests include aviation and the fine and performing arts.  But, I also have some knowledge of the fortunes of University of Missouri at Kansas City basketball team.

Previously, I wrote of the need for preparation and planning in preaching.  The sermon is neither a Bible study from the pulpit nor the preacher’s personal “soap box.”  It is taking the story of God with God’s people – the Bible – and leading the people of God in the 21^st Century to find their own story as God’s people.

Preaching is not an easy task, but it is unique to the church.  Preaching is a gift to the preacher from God.  Preaching is an art.  Preaching is a skill that needs to be continually sharpened.  Preaching is filled with effort, reward and FEAR.

Fear – that’s the next chapter in this blog.

Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.  

It all begins in the pulpit - Part 2 - Is anyone listening?

It all begins in the pulpit – Part 2 – Is anyone listening?

Note:  As I planned this posting, I thought it would be a single "chapter."  After writing the first part, it became evident that I had more to write on this topic than I could expect anyone to read in one "sitting."  Therefore, my reflections on preaching are in six parts.  The following is Part 2.

It is essential that the church, as a whole, place preaching at the center of its life.  Examine closely the various organizations of the 21^st Century and I believe it will be found that preaching is the one function that sets the church apart.

The story is told that, at the time of the American Revolution, a Church of England preacher mounted the pulpit in his clerical robes and preached against the oppressive government of King George and the English Parliament.  As the preacher ended his sermon, he said it was time for the colonies to take a militant stand against British tyranny.  He removed his clerical garb to reveal the uniform of a chaplain in the Colonial Army.

In the middle of the 1960s, as the pulpits in the United States spoke out against the Viet Nam War and racial discrimination, there were many who suggested that it was inappropriate for preachers to address such subjects from the pulpit.  Censorship, in the church or secular society is unacceptable.  Oscar Romero preached against the tyranny of the government in El Salvador in the late 1970s and was silenced only when the bullet of a sniper cut him down as he was officiating at the Lord’s Supper.

Is there such preaching in 2012?

I was recently speaking with a colleague about the number of hours clergy in the Presbyterian Church are expected to “work.”  My colleague said that when discussing the parish ministry with newly ordained clergy he warns them that there is no such thing as a 40-hour workweek.  Of the time the preacher spends in the practice of his or her profession, how much time is devoted to the crafting of the sermon?

There is the old, old story about three preachers who were comparing their sermon preparation practices.  The first preacher states that the sermon is completed by Thursday evening.  This allows time to practice the presentation.  (This is my process.)  The second preacher explains that since it is quiet around the church on Saturday afternoon, this is the time set aside for sermon preparation.  The third preacher, somewhat perplexed, asks: “So what do you all do while the choir is singing the anthem?”

I believe it is essential that the preacher spend at least 10 hours a week in preparation for Sunday’s sermon.  This time includes the actual “keyboard” writing time, research to assure the accuracy of facts and editing/oral practice of the sermon.  This can, and probably should include, additional time in thinking about the sermon while engaged in other activities, such as driving to make hospital/pastoral calls.

Congregations must understand the time necessary for the preparation of quality preaching.  In my opinion, to stand in the pulpit, randomly open the Bible and say the preacher is going to allow the Spirit to put words in her and his mouth is simply being lazy.  Harsh judgment?  Indeed!  However, historical evidence indicates that the great preachers a century ago paid particular attention to preparation.

No matter the theological position, if the church wishes to be an important part of 21^st Century American culture, then preaching must be at the center of the church’s life.  If preaching is central to the church’s life, then preacher and congregation must provide the resources necessary for quality sermons and one of those resources is time.

--Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.

It All Begins in the Pulpit - Part 1 - Basic Training

It all begins in the pulpit - Part 1 - Basic Training

Note:  As I planned this posting, I thought it would be a single "chapter."  After writing the first part, it became evident that I had more to write on this topic than I could expect anyone to read in one "sitting."  Therefore, there are six parts to my reflections on preaching.

A Preamble - First, be sure that the following reflections and observations are not aimed at any of my dear colleagues and friends at Village Presbyterian Church.  Tom, Meg, Jarrett, Dwight and Jay are all good preachers.  To date, I have not heard the newest member of the staff, Cynthia Holder-Rich, but I have confidence in her skills in the pulpit.

With the previous qualifiers stated, I have to wonder why it is that the following appears to be true: At the beginning of the 20^th Century, the most gifted, influential platform communicators were preachers, especially in mainline denominations.  But at the beginning of the 21^st Century, so very few of my colleagues could be counted as gifted platform performers.

On what do I base my comments?  In high school, I preached and led worship both in the Sunday morning “adult” worship services and the Sunday evening Youth Church.  My college training included a minor in speech and communication at the University of Cincinnati plus professional work in radio and television.

At McCormick Seminary in the mid-1960s there was a strong emphasis on the skill and art of preaching.  The preaching faculty was composed of three adjunct professors who were practicing preachers.

George “Gibby” Gibson was pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  He would travel to Chicago in order to teach the classroom portion of Senior Preaching.  It was said that the last sermon “Gibby” preached at Kalamazoo before retiring was so challenging that several of the long-time members of the church were infuriated afterwards.

John Fry was pastor of First Presbyterian Church on the Southside of Chicago.  John’s work with the notorious Black Stone Rangers street gang earned him a trip to Washington, D.C. to appear before the Senate Committee on Un-American Activities.  John taught one half of the preaching practicum.  John’s evaluation of student preaching seemed to feel as if the student had been hacked with a machete and left bleeding on the chapel floor.

The third member of the adjunct-preaching faculty was Elam Davies, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.  A Welshman, Elam is still remembered at Fourth Church as one of its eminent preachers who inspired a major mission thrust of Fourth Church that is continued today.  His sermon on the Sunday after the assassination of Martin Luther King pointedly spoke of the turmoil of the 1960s caused by racial prejudice.  In the congregation were some of the wealthy “shakers and movers” of Chicago.  Elam’s evaluation of students’ sermons felt as if a skilled surgeon had operated and sewed the student up so they would completely heal.

This was my training ground for preaching. 

The first element in preaching excellence is training.  It is important that seminary students be trained not only by excellent “classroom” scholars but practitioners who work weekly in the craft of preaching. 

In addition to learning the craft of preaching in the seminary setting, the students should be encouraged to practice the craft in local churches.  One of the advantages McCormick Seminary in Chicago had was its location.  Presbyterian and other mainline churches would “hire” seminary students to fill their pulpits for one Sunday or months at a time.  Some of those Sunday morning treks were up to 170 miles one way.

The students were apprentice skill level, but they had the opportunity to preach and lead worship in the real world of Sunday morning.  And for the congregations, they were exposed to some of the current theological teaching in the seminary and the energy of young preachers. 

Exceptional skill begins with exceptional training.

--Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.

Blockbusting Revisited

Note:  I hesitated to make this posting on the first day of my blog, however, the activities of the last week in Orlando, Florida have inspired (no really pushed) me to offer these reflections.

In the 1960s, as integration was becoming a reality, certain real estate agents engaged in the practice of blockbusting.  They would convince one minority family, almost always black, to move into a community.  Then the real estate agents would go from door to door attempting to convince neighbors they should sell their property and move to a “better neighborhood” where those new people would not be their neighbors.

During this period, the Kennedy Heights neighborhood in Cincinnati, where my in-laws lived, was under attack from the blockbusting real estate agents.  Dick and LaDonna Avery were both natives of small towns in Indiana.  Dick taught is a suburban school district and LaDonna worked at the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Dick and LaDonna could have moved out of the community when “those other people” began to move in.  But they made a decision to remain in the community and welcome their new neighbors, even though they were “those other people.”  Dick, the avid fisherman and skilled do-it-yourselfer made a special effort to develop friendships with their new neighbors.

Currently, there is a move by some of our Presbyterian sisters and brothers to form a new denomination.  I am sorry to say that the movement, known as the Fellowship of Presbyterians or Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians, has very loud echoes of the “blockbusting” of the 1960s.  How is that?

First, the Fellowship or Order is deathly worried that “those other people” are going to be moving into their neighborhoods/churches.  “Those other people” are different than the Fellowship/Order group.  This time it is not the color of their skin, but their sexuality.  No matter how much they proclaim they “hate the sin but love the sinner,” the reasoning is the same.  “Those other people” are different and we don’t want to sit next to them in the pew, on the session or at the presbytery.

At the 1976 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S. (Southern), a college age young woman stood up in a meeting considering reunion with the United Presbyterian Church (Northern) and stated that her church would never work with the church on the other side of the square in her town.  The “Southern” church was all white and the “Northern” church was all black.

In response, the Rev. Lawrence Bottoms, first black moderator of the “Southern” General Assembly said: “Young lady, God did not intend for you to decide who is sitting next to you in the pew on Sunday morning.”

Second, the Fellowship/Covenant sounds echoes of the blockbusting of the 1960s stating that, if they can’t keep “those other people” from living next to them, they are going to take their assets and move elsewhere.

I am reminded that the belt buckles of the German Army in World War One held the motto “Gott mit uns.”  I would not begin to claim “Gott mit uns” but at the same time neither should our Fellowship/Covenant bothers and sisters.

In every congregation I have served I have offered the following invitation: “ All the perfect people can leave.”  No one ever left.

Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.

Preface

Whose blog is this?

In December of 2011 I celebrated the 30^th anniversary of my 40^th birthday.  I was born three days after Pearl Harbor.  In the maternity ward, the woman in the next bed said to my mother: “Our sons won’t go to this war, but they will go to the next one.”  It was not true.  I was eight years old when the Korean War broke out.  And while I was in Air Force R.O.T.C. in college, I was one of the lowest classifications of the draft for the Viet Nam War – IV-D.  This was the classification for clergy and seminary students.

My grade school and junior high years were in Northern Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati.  Those were the days of “reality” segregation.  We moved across the Ohio River in 1955 and my Kentucky classmates suggested I would have trouble with the black minorities in my high school.  The one black student in my class was a good friend.  Twenty-five percent of my high school was Jewish – a minority that generated no friction as I remember.

The early 1960s at the University of Cincinnati were relatively calm.  The worries of the day revolved around missiles in Cuba, was the assignation of John Kennedy a mob conspiracy and the bad call that cost the Bearcats the NCAA Basketball title in 1964.

Donna and I were married in 1964, after graduation from the University.  We packed up a trailer and headed off from McCormick Seminary in urban Chicago.  For four years we lived 100 yards from the “L” on the near Northside.  Donna completed her Masters in Mathematics at Northwestern and went to work editing math textbooks.  I received my Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Education in 1968.

Changes were everywhere in the 1960s, including accepting a call to a small church in a town of 500 in rural Indiana – quiet a difference from urban Chicago.  Our older son was born in that town and I learned “reality” ministry as a solo pastor.

A move in 1970 took us to the western shore of Lake Michigan with long winters or snow and ice.  We were indeed lucky if summer came on Sunday.  Our younger son was born there on one of those summer Sundays.  On staff of a larger church, there was even more to learn about “reality” ministry.

We thought in 1973 that our move to Kansas City would result in a short tenure of five or so years.  Thirty-nine years later, we still live in the first house we ever owned.  We raised our sons here, hosted an AFS exchange student from French Canada and sponsored a Chinese piano student.  Our sons are now married to lovely ladies and we are blessed with a granddaughter and grandson.  Our older son, wife and children live in Minnesota.  Our younger son and his wife live in Kansas City.

In 1985, after four years of study, I received my Doctor of Ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary.  My thesis is titled: “Television: A Practical Tool for the Local Church.” 

My ministry has included longer than expected tenures are three very different churches.  The expected five years became over thirteen years serving the oldest continuing institution in Kansas City – Westport Presbyterian Church founded in 1835.  I was asked to take care of Christ Presbyterian Church (Italian) temporarily and retired from there 17 years later.  I joined the staff of Village Presbyterian Church as Parish Associate to help out for a year and completed that work almost three years later.

And so I am H.R. (Honorably Retired).  Or as one member of Village Church added H.R.A. (Honorably Retired Again).

Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.

Why write a blog.

Why should I write a blog?  Answer:  Out of boredom.  Not my boredom, but the probability that my wife may become bored with my continued sharing of opinions on various topics including politics, society and, most of all, the church.

Another reason to write a blog is to keep my own creative skills active.  After over four decades in active ministry, most of which has been in the pulpit, retirement has left few opportunities to set my thoughts and opinions into coherent pieces.

An additional reason to write a blog is to offer an additional voice to many of the discussions that take place on various topics.  Letters to the editor have a low percentage of being published.  Even self-publishing has a limited audience.  But, writing for the world of electronic communication can have a far greater audience from people in our neighborhood to friends on the other side of the globe.

There are two obvious advantages to writing for electronic publication.  First, it is environmentally responsible.  No trees were destroyed to publish this blog.  This blog did not even require any recycled materials.  Second, it is not time bound.  I have the flexibility of writing at anytime of day, any day of the week.  The reader – I hope more than one – has the flexibility to read these words at anytime of the day, any day of the week.

A not so obvious advantage involves the multi-language nature of our world.  I may have studied French, Greek and Hebrew; but English is the language on my thoughts and words.  But with tools such a Babel Fish, language is not an insurmountable barrier to communication.

So, here begins the blog of a son, brother, husband, father, preacher, teacher and, as one of my colleagues called me, “the quintessential Grandpa.”

Oh, yes, there is one other advantage.  For one who flunked spelling in the 7^th and 8^th grades, the spell checking and correction functions of computer programs are absolutely essential.