Category: Focus Columns

A few years ago a storm dislodged a number of tree branches which fell into our backyard.  My family hauled arm loads of branches to the front yard, where they were cut and piled to be picked up by city services.   A bright sound caught our attention.  We looked up to see a smiling Katie, age nine, walking toward the front yard holding a single, tiny green branch high above her head, thrusting it into the air to emphasize her words, saying, “Hosanna!  Hosanna!”

Do you wonder where she learned that? Each year on Palm Sunday our children help lead the congregation in a litany of blessings, praising God and repeating after the worship leader, “Hosanna!  Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!  God save us!  God saves all people!  The Red!  The Black!  The White!  The Yellow!  The Gay!  The Straight!  The Rich!  The Poor! All People!  God save us!  Hosanna!”

This year in preparation for Palm Sunday, Laura Andrew was asked to invite us during the context of worship to consider giving money toward missions and new church starts in the USA and around the world.  She shared with us in worship that she had been wrestling with what to say and how to express herself. She told us that the night before she had been sharing her concerns with her family.  Suddenly her 10-year-old granddaughter Sarah left the room.  Sarah returned a few minutes later and handed her grandmother a small notebook with a poem she had just written to be used as the invitation to faithful stewardship.  After Laura read the poem to us in church, we were so moved you could have heard a pin drop.  $379 was donated over and above our tithes for the Easter Offering. Here is Sarah’s poem, transcribed as originally written:

“The poor

the pain of the loving humans

they shall suffer

they go trew many times of pain

diying of the few

no water no food no health

scrapes of clothing.

They have poor shelter

Let us help the poor

together we can change this

a beautiful land.

Donate monny to help the poor.

God bless you.” –Sarah Bowman, 10

Do you wonder how where she learned that? You will not be surprised when I tell you that Sarah is being raised in a loving family who love God and Christ’s Church.  There is a direct connection between being raised in a Christ-centered environment and learning how to feel and express empathy and serve with compassion.

Just before our Palm Sunday worship service started, Paul Brown informed me he was planning to join First Christian Church of Decatur.  Yes!  I asked him to write in letters large enough for me to read exactly what he wanted me to tell the congregation about him.  After the sermon, I issued an invitation for anyone who was so moved to come forward and join the church by transfer of membership, confession of faith, or by renewal of the vows of baptism.  Paul and Mark walked forward. (Mark is an active church member and Deacon.)  Paul handed me his note card.  I read his introduction silently and decided to share it aloud.  He wrote and I said, “Paul is the Partner of Mark Ranney.  He’s already saved, was kicked out of his former church in the past, and wants to reclaim his calling to his faith and to the church.” After sharing this with the congregation, I told Paul that we have all been hurt; therefore we are Christ’s hospital of healing and hope.  As I extended to him the right hand of Christian fellowship, I offered that we look forward to growing in faith and mission alongside him and his partner Mark and especially to hearing them sing together in the Chancel Choir on Easter Sunday.

Meanwhile, the following conversation was held in a church pew between the Rev. Daphne Reiley and her daughter Amelia, age 9-and-a-half.  Amelia asked, “Why did they kick him out of his church?”  Daphne responded that most likely it was because he is gay.  “Oh,” Amelia responded, “why would they do that?”  Amelia was fairly incredulous that a church would kick somebody out for who they loved.

Do you wonder where she learned that? As always, First Christian Church of Decatur, I am delighted to be your pastor.  Shalom, James L. Brewer-Calvert

“Through prayer, meditative reflection on scripture, and community worship,

we as Christians discover the paths of our faithfulness.”

– David and Kaye Edwards, Fellowship of Prayer, 1994

On February 2, 2011, in the Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Christian Egyptians formed a wide circle and held hands, facing outward, to protect their Muslim neighbors as they knelt in prayer.  Four days later, when Coptic Christians held a mass in the same square as a show of solidarity with the antigovernment protesters, the Christians were protected in like manner by Muslims.

Last autumn a pastor in Gainesville, Florida made plans to publicly burn the Qur’an.  The international protests that were sparked ignited local Christians and Muslims to begin to meet in interfaith gatherings.  They prayed together, pleaded with the pastor to cease and desist from his plans, and, as a long term result, formed a coalition of 25 faith communities to study the Scriptures, share meals, and sponsor a Habitat for Humanity build.

Praying together works.  Study your Holy Scriptures and you will see that no matter what your walk of faith, it is our Creator who teaches us to pray.  The One who created and creates wills for us to communicate with the holy and with one another.  Unlike any other form of communication, the act of praying has the power to connect us with God; prayer has the unique capacity to connect us with each other.

This week in the Christian Century we read, “People who attend religious services regularly and build friendships within their congregation indicate higher levels of satisfaction with their lives, according to a Faith Matters survey of American adults conducted from 2006 to 2007.  Strength of religious convictions and private religious practices such as prayer do not by themselves indicate higher levels of satisfaction.  What matters is a strong sense of religious identity and belonging and the forging of friendships within one’s faith community.  ‘It is neither faith nor communities, per se, that are important, but communities of faith,’ report the authors of the study.  ‘For life satisfaction, praying together seems to be better than either bowling together or praying alone.’” [American Sociological Review, Dec. 2010)

Prayer draws us together with God.  Julian of Norwich put it best, saying, “Prayer oneth the soul to God.” Prayer draws us together with one another.  There is nothing haphazard or accidental about the fact that our church gatherings begin and end with prayer; that our worship services are interspersed with prayers spoken and sung and offered in silence; that for the next three months we are going to meet in triplets (groups of three) ten times for the sole (soul!) purpose to pray.

At Emory University, Professor Tom Long preached a sermon that pointed out a difference between receiving counseling from a secular therapist and a pastor.    When a session is over, the therapist will pull out a calendar to set up the next appointment, while your pastor will pray with you, invoking the presence of God to watch over you while you are apart, one from the other.

As always, First Christian Church of Decatur, know that you are in my prayers and that I am delighted to be your pastor.  Shalom,

James Brewer-Calvert