Life from behind a screen

There is a picture that is floating around the interwebs right now of St. Peter's square at the time that the name of the pope was announced in 2005, and again in 2013. (I would attempt to post the picture, credited to NBC news, but blogger is acting up and giving me fits today and locks me out every time I attempt to post a picture.)  In 2013, everyone appears to be recording the event from behind their smartphone.  My tremendously gifted friend Keith Anderson wrote a blog about this event, This is the world you live (and lead) in now.

I wonder if I would be doing the same thing if I was there, and I am awfully ashamed to admit that I probably would be.  I default to living life from behind a screen.  And it makes me wonder what I am missing when I set out with the intent of never missing anything at all.  Because for all of these videos that I have taken, I have never really looked back at them.  I wonder if this is merely a symptom of the discontent and impermanence that accompanies post-modernity.  Everything feels unstable and impermanent and we try to cling to anything.

Do you agree?

What you have you missed in an attempt to never miss anything?

Empowering Communities of Care

A little bit of life fighting
through an interminable season of
cold and darkness. 

This week in my Gospel and Global Media Culture class we were asked to look at the site Caring Bridge as a case study for engaging in community care by way of digital media.  We were asked to think missionally about our presence in such sites and what that means for our ministry in empowering communities of care.

Caring Bridge provides an opportunity for people experiencing a serious illness or injury to share regular updates with their communities of support. In their own words or the words of those closest to them.  It allows for a centralized location to disseminate updates so that everyone who cares about a certain individual has access to correct information, and that the person experiencing illness or injury does not have to tell their story over and over again.  It also provides a place for friends and loved ones to leave messages of support in a location that does not demand an immediate response.   In my experience in social work and in CPE, I have learned that having agency on any level with regards to one's personal situation in a time of crisis can be hard to come by.  Caring Bridge allows someone to tell their own story in their own words.  They can choose what to share and what not to share.

For all of these reasons, Caring Bridge is useful for the minister to begin a dialogue of pastoral care, but the nature of public church leadership demands that we go beyond merely keeping updated on Caring Bridge posts or occasionally making comments in the guestbook on such a site.  Ministry is tremendously relational, and as church leaders, we as ministers must take initiative to reach out to those in our communities of care.  Caring Bridge is a useful place to start conversation, but it cannot be where the conversation ends. Many people feel vulnerable and ashamed to ask for help when they are experiencing illness or injury.  It falls to the pastor to ask if this individual wants to have a visit, then, there is an option to exercise personal choice in a situation where there are so many things outside their control.  It is not possible for the average pastor to be on top of every conceivable pastoral care concern, but this is where the body of Christ comes in.  If a community knows that their pastor cares deeply about them, they will come to her/him in time of need and encourage others to do the same.  It becomes a missional activity.  Social Media is particularly advantageous in helping pastors keep abridge of what is going on with their people.  Best practices for all social media usage by minsters still apply to utilizing Caring Bridge.  But above all, Caring Bridge provides the opportunity for the minister to have a jumping off point in the caring relationship, as well as have a better idea of what the individual's larger support network looks like.  I think it is a very useful tool when utilized to enhance traditional pastoral care relationships, but definitely does not replace them.

Additionally, I received a very interesting piece of advice from a pastoral care professor about a year ago in a funeral praxis.  He suggested setting an alert in your phone or electronic calendar about one month, six months, and one year after the death or serious diagnosis of a congregation member/their close family member.  Caring Bridge sites can help you keep track of these dates.  You can just send a short email or note by mail, but having this very simple outreach can make a world of difference in a time of unbearable grief.

A New Pope and Social Media

Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

It has been fascinating to watch the news unfold this afternoon as a new pope, Francis I, a Jesuit from Argentina, named Jorge Bergoglio, was elected to lead the Catholic church.  I am not a Catholic, nor do I agree with the patriarchal structure of the Catholic Church, but I am hopeful.  This man seems to be humble and committed to social justice.  Apparently he is also pretty conservative, but the fact that he a Jesuit (never happened before) and the first modern day pope not from Europe, and didn't take a previous name, instead picked a brand new one,  gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, change is afoot.

What is even more fascinating is how the social media world exploded with this news.  It started with posts of "white smoke..."  then evolved into anxious waiting about when he would emerge onto the balcony, and when it was announced that he was from Argentina and a Jesuit and was taking the name Francis I, all sorts of exclamations about how this was hopeful.  Then once it was discovered that he was conservative, some disappointment, but it has all been followed by prayers.  I enjoy this sort of digital presence.  My friends all over the world (Catholic and non), and I am definitely doing the same, are excitedly retweeting and devouring all sorts of news.

Eight years ago, when the last pope was elected, there was no twitter, Facebook was still in its infancy, and our news still came from broadcast media sources.  But the new pope is already tweeting. In Spanish.

Easter is Coming

This is a few years old now, and I remember watching it for the first time a couple years ago, but it has surfaced again in one of my classes, and my preaching professor, Dr. Karoline Lewis, is the narrator.  I think it is worth a reminder in the midst of what seems like a never-ending season of darkness.  

Easter is coming...

Preparation for Public Ministry

The Sunday at Humble Walk
Lutheran Church when we baked bread for our
Eucharist during the service instead of singing.

I am a part of the Rocky Mountain Synod of the ELCA.  Our bishop, Jim Gonia, is a visionary leader and this morning I found this blog post in my Facebook newsfeed:

Preparing Leaders for Ministry

He raises issues that have haunted me for years about the existing process of assignment/seminary education:

1. The gifts and passions of individual leaders-while important-are subservient to the places where leadership is needed.

2. Seminaries are attempting to train leaders for ministry on the basis of the gifts recognized within them

3. There is a dilemma that occurs when the gifts and passions that a candidate has to offer don't fit with existing opportunities for ministry within the church.  Inevitably, our new leaders end up in first calls that do not allow their gifts and passions to flourish, or end up waiting a very long time for their first call.

He raises the idea that perhaps we redefine congregational "need" not in terms of an empty position, but in terms of what will propel a community of the faithful more fully into God's mission.  He suggests that we become more intentional about using the energy and gifts of newly trained leaders who might demonstrate a better understanding of and commitment to our theology than many "cultural Lutherans."

He ends the post by saying, "I've said before that the church we are being called to become is not the church we have been.  How will our preparation of leaders reflect this?"

I have felt stuck in this terrible tension of how broken the system of seminary education is and how it is breaking me.  This blog post from my Bishop demonstrates first, that I am not crazy, and second, that there are leaders who see that the church does not have to be stuck in 1955 or stuck in the understanding of what it means to be the body of Christ in the upper Midwest.  It gives me so much hope.  Because I love Lutheran theology, I love scripture, I love what the wild and rampant Holy Spirit DOES to people's lives.  I am not ready to throw out this entire thing, despite what I feel like at Luther Seminary sometimes.

It is terrifying to look beyond what we have been.  It is exciting to see what we might become.  But we cannot dig in our heels and beg and plead that nothing ever changes.  Because that is unrealistic.

So thankful today for prophetic voices.  Thanks be to God.