Finding My Way

    So the last few days, if judged by our expectations, would have to be deemed a failure.  We had intended to go down to Carrie’s parents and spend three full days of wedding planning so that Christmas with each family could be wedding-planning free!  It was a well thought out plan…
    Carrie still had a mountain of work before her that was due a.s.a.p. so she was working feverishly between our appointments with the pastor, a bridal shop and her dentist (not wedding related, but thought I’d be thorough).  That night she was up all night getting the paper done so that it would be in the professor’s email before 8 a.m.  She came by my room at 8:30 a.m. to ask that I would come wake her up before her appointments started at 10.  She had scheduled appointments with bakers, dress shops and florists but her mother and I conferenced for a few minutes over breakfast and made the executive decision to cancel everything and let her sleep.
    We were, in the end, still able to go see the reception site but Carolyn got some much needed sleep.  We had to cancel about half of what we intended to do during the three days, but it made the rest of the trip very enjoyable.  Carrie got a full morning’s sleep. And we’re heading to the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Springfield on our way back to Chicago.  All in all it was a great few days.  We just didn’t get much wedding stuff accomplished.

Title Photo:  With Carrie at the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield, IL.  You can’t see so much in this photo but it was decorated beautifully for Christmas but, of course it is a beautiful house anytime of year.

Last weekend I went to a wedding in Southern Missouri.  Now, first of all, I had a wonderful time.  This will seem surprising to some of you when I recount the story.  If you don’t know the couple and the context it will seem strange and unusual.

First of all, there was a hillbilly hot tub.  Andy, the owner of the camp where we were (camp, you say?  – yes, I’ll get to that), brought an old truck over by the bonfire (yes, I’ll get to this, too) lined the bed of the truck with a sheet of plastic and filled it with water.  He then setup a wood-burning stove and pump that runs off of a car battery and pumped the water out of the truck, through the stove and back into the bed of the truck.  This creates a hot tub which is the center of attention and a great deal of party fun….    I regret to admit I “forgot” my swimming suit and was not around for this photo.

So back to the wedding.  Jason and Clarissa met and grew up spending weeks of the summer at camp Taum Sauk each summer and then later both became camp counselors at said camp.  After years of knowing one another at camp they started dating as they went off to college and now, six years later, are married.  In itself this is a sweet story as their parents and friends talked about their many letters as child penpals and later falling in love.  It seems an obvious choice that they would want to go back to the camp where they grew up to get married.  But wait, there’s more.  Clarissa’s mother and father also got married at this camp which is near the small town where they live.

It turned out, though, that last weekend was cold and wet.  When I got to the camp with Carrie, I was in a grouchy mood.  It had nothing to do with the camp or the wedding or even Carrie.  No, I was crabby because through a series of unfortunately events… I didn’t get any sleep the night before (3 hours or so) and when we arrived they didn’t know where we should put our stuff or where we would be sleeping cause the cabins were unheated.  With the combination of a long drive, no sleep and no apparent accommodations (when all I wanted was a nap) I was feeling way grouchy and stressed.  Eventually they got us all settled in and I got to bed early and had a long and comfortable sleep.

Saturday was an fresh start.  I was refreshed and relaxed.  Carrie and I took a romantic walk through the woods and along the black river.  Everyone pitched in to setup for the wedding and reception.  It was different than holding a wedding in the city.  It was difficult to schlep everything to the “middle of nowhere” and there was not a hotel staff or large catering staff to take care of accomodations.

This might not be expected, but it was actually wonderful.  Everyone really felt they were a part of the wedding.  Mama Schuller would yell, “Scott, get your ass over here and lift this for me.” Btw, this is just a polite colloquialism to Lesa Schuller (mama) and the other folks at camp.

The wedding ceremony took place in a field nearby and after the ceremony the invited guests were encouraged to proceed towards the camp dining hall and help themselves to kegs of beer and hor d’œuvres around a bonfire while the wedding party took a hayride down through a horse pasture to the river for photos.

At this point I must digress.  My girlfriend’s twin sister, Katie, flashed me and all of the wedding party (and their significant others) with her boobs.  The bridesmaids were all where these strapless numbers and when she ran up from the river while taking her coat off…well…turns out the girls were “out and about” without her knowing it.

Anyway-  the only other thing I think I should mention was the amazing pig roast.  They roasted a whole hog for the guests to enjoy.  I hope you can appreciate that people (who missed the “business casual” message) were hanging out in a field, by a bonfire and taking hayrides in their suits.  It was, in some ways an odd sight but in everyway it was a wonderful way to spend my weekend.  The wedding was a complete success and all of the guests seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.

If you ask most United Methodists what “full communion” was… and they would say, “well, Scott, that is probably when the pastor gets real generous with the bread and grape juice!”  Well, I’ve had that kind of full communion, but United Methodists today should be talking about another kind of full communion.  You see, The United Methodist and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have just entered into a new Full Communion agreement after more than 39 years of dialogue (when it is an ecumenical discussion of unity between two churches we call this a bi-lateral).

The General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns of the United Methodist Church has been engaged in this work.  So often people ask me when I return home from board meetings of the GCCUIC, “What do these national agencies do for my local church?  How does that work affect me?”  The same question could be leveled at this work.  What does full communion mean and what does it mean for our churches?

Many United Methodist Churches already work with Lutheran (and other churches) in their area.  They may even have exchanged communion with pastors blessing the elements in one another’s churches.  Full communion certainly means that we should be engaging in eucharistic sharing (communion services) together, sure, but FULL COMMUNION means sooo much more.

Let’s step back a bit.  What does it mean for the church to be the body of Jesus Christ?  Well, which church?  The catholic church sees itself as THE church universal and then there is the Eastern Orthodox and many protestant churches…  Which church is the body of Jesus Christ?  I’d like to say that Christians are one church regardless of denomination or sect, but let’s be honest, we sometimes can’t sit in the same room hardly (at least this has been the case at times).  So there are many churches, yet one body of christ that, I would like to believe, encompasses and is lived out by all of the Christian churches.

Certain churches have taken steps towards unity.  Not organizational unity, at least necessarily, but theological unity.  In the case of the ELCA and UMC, the churches have discussed theology and practice and determined there are no longer any major theological understandings that should keep them apart.

The pastors of our churches may be appointed to churches of the other denomination (so long as they meet denominational standards such as taking a polity class or conforming to regulations on WHO can be a pastor in the denomination)  In other words, a gay Lutheran pastor, unfortunately, can not be appointed to a United Methodist Church.  In small communities, then, where a lutheran and united methodist church would wish to combine and share a pastor they may do so more easily.

Some of you may say, “we’ve been doing these things for years.  It sounds like the national church is just catching up to what we’re already doin’.”  This is a fair challenge, but we can rejoice that the churches have come to this agreement and that we growing in unity.  Local churches could choose to ignore this….or we can take advantage of the moment and take steps to get to know our local Lutheran sisters and brothers in Christ.

The board of the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns is meeting yet again this week.  I’ve been a member of the board for five years now and really enjoy the work.

I got into New York on Tuesday evening and after a terrifying van ride to 6th Avenue and 26th in Manhattan, I got settled into my hotel and went out for pizza with a friend.  We went to “Waldy’s Wood Fired Pizza” which was great.  Cindy, Luke and I met for breakfast.  We walked up to the 2nd Ave Kosher Deli for breakfast and I had some amazing french toast.  Enough about food, though.  When my beautiful girlfriend was in New York last week with her family  I called the second night of her trip to ask her about the trip.  She began listing all of the restaurants she had been to and food she had eaten.  I said, “Haven’t you done anything besides eat?”  I guess I had just forgotten how exceptional is the restaurant selection and food variety.

This is only my third trip to NYC so there is a newness to my experience and I am soaking in the magnificence of this city.  Bishop Park, in his welcoming remarks, spoke of his 10 seconds of welcome to the pope.  He said that he had many things with which he might have loved engaging the pope such as challenging him on ordination of women and yet when he was before the pope with only seconds to greet him, he said, “The people of New York have welcomed you and when New York welcomes you, the world welcomes you.”  I really like this.  It speaks to how crazy diverse this city is.  Every where I look I see not just an American city, but multiple cultures on each city block.  Next to the Kosher Deli there was a middle eastern store with an Arabic sign. Muslims and Jews side-by-side with other cultural stores spanning the block.  Other cities, like Chicago, have these elements but there really is an intangible quality about New York which makes it remarkable.

Enough rambling for now.

Title Photo: At the “God box” 475 Riverside Drive in New York City.  By Scott Carnes, 2009

I’ve been sitting in a meeting of Young People in the United Methodist Church.  One of the greatest concerns I keep hearing from the people is the need for more money and resources.  Secondly I hear from them that they want to be given leadership in the church.  I maybe misquoting a bit, but, of course, each person says it differently.  I feel as though these students and young people are waiting for something to happen.

Even during the meetings through which I sat the students would ask permission about everything.  I think about groups that have wanted to have leadership in the past.  Women never asked permission to have a division of their own in the church, but when given boundaries and limits they pressed against them.

Young people in the church have spent a lot of time in the last two decades or so talking about issues and talking about being leaders and talking about being the church of today, not just of tomorrow…  Young people need to stop waiting for something to happen and stop expecting entitlement.  When I say this, I mean myself, too, of course.

How do we make something happen?  Well, money isn’t the answer at all.  When we look at the history of the church, young people empowered themselves most when they were an unfunded group.  The disciples with Jesus didn’t have major funding sources.  Young people who are exponentially growing the church in South and Central America are not doing so with the help of the mainline or Catholic church with money, they are a pentecostal movement without a structure or money.

Right now the church gives young people just enough space to feel that they are opposing the church’s current structure and aiming for change, but at the same time the church is training us young people in the ways of the institution.  I want us to think radically about what church means beyond convocations or church worship or even walls of a church building but to join with other young voices shouting for a new kind of church experience with radical expressions of love and abundant freedom to commit to “Kingdom of God works” as Jürgen Moltmann would say.

Title Photo:  Some goofing around between session of the DMYP (Division on Ministry with Young People).  By Scott Carnes, 2009

I wasn’t really sure about whether I would enjoy Jr. High Camp.  I sound like a child, right?  “Mom, NO! You just CAN’T make me go to camp.  I don’t know ANYONE!”  The truth is that I didn’t know if I could enjoy Jr. High camp as much as I did Sr. High camp.  I’ve been volunteering at Night Owl camp for the past several years and enjoy working with the high school kids and just didn’t know if I would have enough patience for the younger youth for a week straight.

The truth of the matter is that I had a wonderful time!  The youth were extraordinary and I’m still coming down off of the ‘energy high’ that I get from a week at camp.  I wonder how many people (especially pastors) are out there thinking what I was thinking, “I don’t have enough energy,” “The kids won’t relate to me,” or (this is the big one) “I don’t have enough time.”  I hope that both lay people and pastors in churches will take time to call the camping office and volunteer for one week next summer.  It doesn’t take any special skills, except the desire nurture children in christian fellowship and discipleship. In fact, each year I leave for camp stressed and wondering how I ever thought I could have time to take a week off, getting to camp and enjoying the experience, and then coming home renewed and refreshed.  It does as much for the volunteer as for the campers!

I’ve been watching the Republican National Convention and I’m startled by the contrast between it and the Democratic National Convention.

I’m watching Mike Huckabee’s speech right now and as the cameras move about the room it is predominately old white people (many men).  He stands in a room full of white people in positions of power he then talks about the evils of racism….  I guess he wasn’t talking about institutional racism and tokenism that seems to be pervasive in the Republican Party.

Now don’t get me wrong, I struggle with our party system.  Democrat and Republican party organizations have systematic problems and neither is any more perfect than the other……but when a man like Barack Obama stands up and starts talking about hope and brings a new vision of self, country, and responsibility…and he is made fun of by a bunch of [predominately] old white people I feel sickened.

In one of the video ads by the Obama Campaign “Signs of Hope and Change” one of the men on the video says, “I don’t want a country for me, I want a country for everyone.”  That is what I want.  I want a country that will take seriously the need to inspect our exclusivism, racism, sexism and hopefully one day we will begin to cope with our materialism as well!

Mike Huckabee attacked Barack Obama for going abroad.  I could have imagined (not agreed with) Mike (for) attacking him for wasting money or some other issue in relation to the European tour…but Mr. Huckabee attacks Senator Obama by sayng, “It’s not what he took there that concerns me.  It’s what he brought back.  Lots of ideas from Europe he’d like to see imported here.”  First of all, why not ‘import ideas’ that might make health care more accessible and bring better services (such as preventative care) to our citizenry.  There is an idea to laugh at!  How about ‘importing’ some ideas from countries with better economies, schools, and longer life expectancy than the United States?  There is an idea to laugh at.

Looking at the camera pans back-and-forth, here is what I see:  white Americans who have healthcare and money for good educations  LAUGHING at people who are willing to say, “I don’t want a country for me, I want a country for everyone.”

The Republican leadership in the white house have heard that there are other ways of seeing the world and we know what they do.  They Laugh.  When most of the world says, “no” to a war in Iraq they laughed and ignored them.  When their own citizen’s raised concerns they laughed and said those are just the bleeding heart liberals.  Lastly, when even the republican base withdrew their support of the war and the white house what did they do?  The laughed.

Yes, Republican leadership call Obama an elitist.  They call him incompetent, inexperienced and, of course were happy to circulate the rumor that he was a “secret muslim.”  We have a man standing up with new ideas and a new direction for our country.  This young but competent man, each day, teaches our young people by example that one person can instigate change in the world.  We have a presidential candidate who has proven that he can hear the needs and views of others.  We have a candidate who has already demonstrated his intent to be diplomatic.  Most importantly, if one actually listens to Barack Obama’s acceptance speech in it’s entirety, Obama has a concrete and, in fact, ambitious agenda for this country which speaks to personal responsibility of citizens, fiscal responsibility of the government, and social responsibilities of all.

We have serious issues facing America today and we will have to work hard to address them.  Laughing at other people’s problems, dreams, and hopes doesn’t seem like an effective way to make our country a better place.  I do respect John McCain, but I hope he can find some republican leaders who don’t just laugh at problems, should he be elected to the presidency.

I lived near the Mississippi growing up and still remember the flood of ’93.  Today I took a bike ride to photograph some of the Rock River flood of ’08.  I know it isn’t quite as mind boggling as housing falling into the river (Wisconsin Dells) or entire towns underwater to their roofs (Mississippi flood of ’93), but I found the overabundance of water pretty amazing.  Especially since I now live just a few blocks from the river.

I wonder how Noah and his contemporaries felt as the water rose?  As we consider the destruction that has already occurred and consider the destruction that is still to come, we should consider God’s continual covenant relationship with us.  Over and over again God has been with us as we endured pain, suffering, loss and destruction.  Some people might need to curse and scream at God.  Fine. That can be healthy, look at Job who remains faithful to God despite all of his losses.  When we are rebuilding, however, we must also be thankful to God for the chance to start again.

Baptism is deeply connecting to creation and flood.  By the water washing over us we have symbolism of the water destroying our sins.  As we rise up out of the water we rise up to re-creation.  A new life begins.  Out of destruction can come new life and new opportunities.  We must stay hopeful for this in 2008.

Title Image: A young girl ponders the flood waters in Janesville.  Photo by Scott Carnes, Copyright 2008, All rights reserved.

Nope, we’re not Jehovah’s Witnesses or anything, but last Sunday I sent my youth door-to-door.  We didn’t hand out anything, by the way, either.  We collected stuff.  We played a well-known youth game called “Bigger and Better.”  Each group got a paperclip and then went door-to-door.  At the first house they would say, “We’re from Cargill United Methodist Church and we are playing a game called bigger and better.  If we give you this paperclip would you help us with something “Bigger and Better?”

It was  lot of fun.  This kids came back with tons of stuff including: chairs, 2 microwaves, a bench, 2 car seats, hats, toys, a clock, lots of non-perishable food and over $30.00 in cash.  Not bad for a walk around the neighborhood.  We’re going to take the stuff we collected to Echo, the Salvation Army and the Hospital thrift shop.  We are also going to take the money we collected on our mission trip to St. Louis so that we can purchase classroom supplies for the Kingdom House (a social services outreach of the United Methodist Church for low income families which provides low-cost childcare and preschool).

What would happen if we all went door-to-door 4 God?  In this case we proclaimed the name of our church, acted out our faith, and challenged others to help us.  It doesn’t have to be difficult, but it is often uncomfortable to walk up to people in this day-and-age regarding faith issues.  If North American Christianity is to survive, though, we must learn to step out of our comfort zone and take part in world-changing and attitude-changing behavior.

Take a moment to think about how you might share your faith today. Might you invite a friend to church?  Could you challenge someone to do acts of kindness for others?  What would the church look like if we all began acting out our faith and unashamedly proclaimed our love of God?

Evangelism does not have to be “in-your-face,” but it is also not “just” doing Good Works.  Evangelism is different things at different times, but I believe that it can include: Sharing our faith story with individuals or groups, Helping others in the name of Christ, showing love in our daily lives with no expectation of reward or recognition.

Sometimes I like to just pull out my guitar and strum.  No matter what I’m playing (or attempting to play), I find myself relaxed.  What is it that you do to relax?

It is important to relax.  Reading is the way that I used to relax, but now that I’m at seminary I find myself with an inordinate amount of reading and writing.  When a person spends all of their time reading theologians and Biblical commentaries it is hard to find the time to enjoy a Harry Potter book, for example.

I hope that you will take a moment to think about the last time you were truly and completely relaxed.  Don’t think of it as a luxury – but as a necessity – and make time to relax more often!