The Adam-Shawn Dialogue - A Voice at the Table?

For Shawn's reflections please visit http://westmanpreacher.blogspot.com/

Shawn:

You said,

" if the United Church of Canada is the INCLUSIVE entity it believes itself to be, if the United Church of Canada is EVEN close to living an apocalyptic welcome, why then I am I left standing OUTSIDE staring in ????? IF we are truly inclusive there should be a place to make me feel welcome, and after the last three years of journeying in the United Church, I feel ANYTHING (and everything) BUT welcomed ..."

Over the past few years I have grown accustomed to living on the margins of this United Church of ours. For the most part, the establishment of the seminary doesn't like me; the old guard that has control of Presbytery, Conference, and the General Council don't like me; the young people this old guard are rearing to take control of their church when they die don't like me; but, at the same time, I do have a plethora of people within this Church whom I can reveal my soul to. The Church is a dangerous place - a war in fact. I believe, however, that the war we are fighting just happens to be the wrong one. We have been fighting over theological ideologies for decades and never has that born much fruit. We have been using this war to put forward different candidates for ministry with like-minded ideals and ideologies; we have been attempting to use what white liberals call "minorities" and/or "racialized" peoples as leverage for why Side A's ideology is better than Side B's and vice versa; I'm sure that money gets doled out disproportionately to groups associated with whatever special interest groups currently control the Church. The politicking that goes on leaves many of us baffled. But I have realized over the course of time that I seek not a voice at the table on the national stage of the United Church of Canada. I have been called to pastoral ministry at the local level - to fortify and flourish the Church of Jesus Christ.

Before the United Church of Canada at the national level knew who I was I was invited to sit at table by a bunch of former Moderators at 2005's Arnprior Assembly.

I was elected by London Conference in 2006 as a Commissioner to the 39th General Council in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

After General Council that year I was invited by just-elected Moderator Rt. Rev. David Giuliano to sit on his Advisory Committee.

I realized that it was powerful to be part of such groups in the Church, and was a way of stroking my own ego; however, this has led to major dissatisfaction on the deep, spiritual level of what it means to be Christian. I have learned over time that in the pastoral charge (parish or local congregation) there is opportunity to speak and listen to people who are more like me than I could ever admit, and more people unlike me than I could ever admit. We get to talk about every-day issues and how it relates to being Christian that the national church could ever know.

At the end of June while I was training my travelling VBS staff (we criss-cross the Niagara region running VBS's for a different church each week) I had a teenage staff member, who is also a member of Pelham Community Church, where I am serving currently, say to me, "You know that guy who drove by the church during the Sr. Youth sleepover at the end of May?" I was like, "Ya!" "Well," he says, "he came back and yelled, 'WHITE POWER!' again." I turned to him and said, "Steve, next time he comes back invite him to church; we'll see if he likes the preacher."

Even though I have had many opportunities to serve the national church, I have also been rejected by our national church many times, and been rejected by some of our congregations - I think that much of that has to do with me somehow refusing to submit to the blasphemy of being labelled a liberal or conservative Christian. I don't like my worldview being formed and informed by Jesus Christ (mainly because I don't want to carry a cross anymore than anybody else does); but I think the alternatives are much, much worse because they offer no creative choices beyond war, bigotry, and hate-mongering, and death without resurrection.

I think that whether we have a voice at the Conference or the General Council or within United Church associated institutions and corporations is truly irrelevant to our integration within the Church. The real question is whether we have a voice at the table of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We determine that when we realize that we have left everything to follow Jesus - even our own lives. Amen.