In the Shadow of Church and State

Almost exactly a month ago I returned to Fuller Seminary to both hood my last two doctoral students, as well as to have the leaving-taking that transitioning to First Covenant from Fuller during the COVID pandemic didn’t afford me. Among the many thoughts and feelings I experienced in those quick 48 hours away, was the beauty of Fuller’s campus and the surrounding area. Immediately behind Fuller’s campus are two delightful structures, Pasadena’s gorgeous City Hall (a go-to site for Quinceañera photos) and the regal All Saints Episcopal Church. In a way Fuller’s campus was framed by Church (All Saints) and State (City Hall).I found no small irony in reflecting on that, as my first introduction to All Saint’s Church was when I was still in Chicago. All Saints was then national news because of the church-state issue they were embroiled in. The year was 2004, President George H.W. Bush was running for reelection against Sen. John Kerry. The Gulf War and the “war on terror” were central themes in both campaigns that year. In that same year a controversial sermon was preached at All Saints Church, which is said to be the largest and most progressive Episcopal Church west of the Mississippi. The sermon was framed as a debate between, Bush, Kerry, and Jesus. The IRS claimed it was election interference by a non-profit organization. However, those I knew who attended there said, they could have chosen any number of sermons that year. It was finally cleared of that charge in 2007. If found guilty it would have lost its tax-exempt status. 

From Pennsylvania to Church Polity

On this Independence Day, I would like to bring attention to a very important figure in America’s history, William Penn. William Penn (1644-1718) was born in England, the son of a prominent naval officer. As a young man, he converted to the Quaker faith and befriended the founder of the Quakers, George Fox. Penn’s Quaker faith was illegal in England at the time, a quarter century before the Toleration Act of William and Mary. For his faith, Penn was imprisoned.

Once freed, King Charles II gave Penn a tract of land in the new land Britain was colonizing in North America, payment for money he owed Penn’s father. Penn wanted to start a colony for religious outsiders, such as the Quakers, to demonstrate what fair, just and independent rule might look like. This became Pennsylvania, often referred to as the “Quaker State.”

Vexing questions, faithful responses

After one of our recent worship services, a visitor introduced themselves to me with Bible in hand. This person was on a mission, and the mission was finding the Truth. The Absolute Truth. Pointing to a rather harsh text from the Old Testament requiring that the Israelites slaughter an entire people, including their livestock, and—to this person’s disbelief—even slaughter their infants, they asserted, “The Bible is full of contradictions, how can you say its true?” They went on saying that they want to know what is the True Faith, as all faiths all cannot be true. When I asked this person why they were asking me these questions, their response was that they want to know the True Faith. After all, “if someone could prove to you that one Faith was the True Faith, wouldn’t you believe it?”

I felt this person’s pain. They (and we) live is a world where the ground beneath us seems less than solid and stable. We all desire to have more sure footing beneath us, offering us more certainty, giving us more clarity, and in the end more piece of mind.

Roller Coasters

My oldest brother Don and I had—maybe still have—a love of roller coasters. Of course, we enjoyed the roller coasters and other rides at the carnivals that came through our town. But it was the at-most-once-a-summer trip to Crystal Beach, Ontario, on the Canadian shores of Lake Erie for its famous roller coasters that we loved. They arguably had the best trio of coasters at the time, or so I read in preparation for this piece. The Comet, The Wild Mouse, and the infamous Cyclone were a hat trick of coasters that was hard to match anywhere in the world. While we swam and picnicked on the beach when we arrived in late morning, the afternoon was all about the rides. Stories of these three rides were legend, and not for the weak of heart. Nevertheless, they were for Don and me, along with the other rides, an afternoon of great fun.

Roller coasters came to mind when I recently saw economic graphs of the first five months of 2025. There are steep climbs and steeper drops, twists and turns that you often come upon blindly. You get whiplash from the quick back and forth, and vertigo from the size of the vertical change, often over a very short time. But this ride is no amusement. It is now, literally, the ride of our lives. The uncertainty of the economy is not merely an abstract reality or subjective feeling. It speaks of the unstable ground on which we stand economically. For those on fixed incomes and those retired and living off savings, fluctuations in prices and in market values can have real life consequences. And for many working women and men, from social services to technology to finance, job reductions have been a reality. My prior homeland, academics, has not been spared either, so this hits close to home with many close friends affected.

"Do you know how lucky you are?"

This past Sunday, Pastor Mark Nilson asked of us if we know how lucky we are. The point of reference here was the number of children in our midst. He even shared the reflections of a friend who heard of our unexpected population explosion, and the fact that we have an active Sunday School, and asked “Is this the 1950s again?” Do we know how lucky we are?

When teaching my ministry students over the years, I told them to plan thoroughly and well for your ministry in the coming year, but the situations that unfold will dictate what your ministry actually will be. We have been focused in these first few post-pandemic years on the reception and integration of visitors who have come to stay. And we are about to introduce a ministry to address this concern. But since the new year began (no doubt in part because of our early, kid-friendly Christmas Eve service) the number of young families and young children in our midst has increased. The plan we had for our children’s faith formation is no longer sufficient. So now we must respond to what God is doing in our midst. What an unexpected and delightful problem to have!

Spirit Baptism and Pentecost

Next week I will end my two decades of teaching and mentoring doctoral students when I hood my last two PhDs. One is a Latino Pentecostal. He argued in his dissertation that what makes Pentecostal worship “pentecostal” is Spirit Baptism that reveals itself in the congregation through the obvious manifestation of spiritual gifts, such as speaking in tongues, healings, etc.

Our church tends not to think much about baptism in the Holy Spirit, because we often think of it in my student’s terms. In other words, “It may be for them, but not for us. Those things don’t happen here.” But that is not the testimony of our scriptures. In Acts just before his ascension, Jesus said, “For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:5) We read in Matthew’s gospel that John the Baptist declared, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11) Fire throughout the Old Testament was that which purified from within, like getting impurities out of metals, while water only washed on the surface.

Taste and See…

“For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven…”

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

Propriety. What is fitting, apt, or suitable. We first learn propriety—what is appropriate for a particular time and place—by observing. If you were to hold up pictures of food to young children, they are able to tell you what season or even day it is. A big turkey dinner? Thanksgiving. Hot dogs and hamburgers with watermelon? Summer, maybe even the Fourth of July. Heart shaped cookies? Valentines Day. Chocolate eggs, jelly beans, and colored eggs? Easter.

The "We" Passages of Acts

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.We therefore set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace…~ Acts 16:9-11What you just read is an excerpt from this week’s first scripture reading . During Eastertide, Acts often serves as the first reading in lieu of a reading from the Old Testament. Acts and the gospel of Luke were both written to “Theophilus.” This was most likely the person or people who paid to have these manuscripts “published.” This was an expensive undertaking. We believe this was a Gentile person or community who were “God Fearers” or people who were drawn to Judaism, but not converts. These people had evidently heard of the movement within Judaism led by followers of Jesus called “The Way.” Their hope was to learn about Jesus and the community that his followers established. (See Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-3)

Service and Servitude

This Sunday’s gospel lesson is John 13:31-35, near the end of that chapter. John 13 begins with Jesus and his disciples sharing a meal the night before the Passover begins. During the meal, Jesus abruptly strips off his outer garments, wraps a towel around himself, and begins washing his disciples’ feet. Sign-acts like this were not uncommon in the Jewish tradition. Examples are found in the Old Testament (see Hosea 1) and in the New Testament (see Acts 21:11). This object lesson of Jesus served as the touchstone for his teaching the central tenets and values of being a follower of his that followed this action; that is, to operate first and foremost out of love.

Patience as a Spiritual Discipline

It is said that patience is a virtue, but patience is also a spiritual practice: a rehearsed behavior over time which allows the Spirit to form and reform you.

On the one hand I am a patient person in allowing things to unfold. On the other hand, I often meet my expected deadline or end date, even if it is not stated, and begin to want to accelerate things to move on. It is truly a challenge when I have no control over the process or events in question and have to trust God.

Completing One's Prayers

For this past Sunday’s confirmation meeting, Pastor Lauren and I created a review of what we have covered since January. Our confirmands were divided into two teams and had a friendly competition to see who remembered how much and what. For example, they were given a statement and had to determine if it was true or false. In that spirit, here is a question for you: “God became human, that humans might become God,” is both biblically true, and theologically orthodox; True or False? Hold onto your answer.

On the importance of Popes

My reflection this week is about the importance—not the necessity—of Popes. In particular, how important Popes have been—and will continue to be—in our interconnected world.

I was raised in a Catholic-adverse family and church, though I and my family had many friends who were Catholic. What repelled us from Catholicism (I was told) was Mary, not the Pope. But as I grew up my understanding of Christianity and its many expressions grew as well. This was especially true when I became involved in a broadly ecumenical campus ministry at the University of Pittsburgh. There I made friends with Baptists, Five Point-Calvinists, Christians from holiness traditions, as well as Roman and Orthodox Catholic Christians. This experience changed my life. It was here I discerned my call to ministry.

Easter by Frederick Buechner

When I was a seminary professor, I would often use 

pieces by Frederick Buechner as devotions to open my classes. This one is among the most memorable, as it leaves each of us to complete it.

“Christmas has a large and colorful cast of characters including not only the three principals themselves, but the angel Gabriel, the innkeeper, the shepherds, the heavenly host, the three Wise Men, Herod, the star of Bethlehem, and even the animals kneeling in the straw. In one form or another we have seen them represented so often that we would recognize them anywhere. We know about the birth in all its detail as well as we know about the births of ourselves or our children, maybe more so. The manger is as familiar as home. We have made a major production of it, and as minor attractions we have added the carols, the tree, the presents, the cards. Santa Claus, Ebenezer Scrooge, and so on. With Easter it is entirely different.

Popes, Passion, and Palms

This Sunday begins Holy Week, From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday we spend a week praying through what is the largest section that all four gospels have in common: Jesus’s last week in Jerusalem. We call this story Christ’s “passion” which comes from a Latin word meaning to suffer, bear, or endure. Recently, Palm Sunday has become “Passion Sunday” which opens with a procession with palms. This is because if people come to church on Palm Sunday and then return on Easter, you have two celebrations and no Passion, no Cross.

Our Roots of Resistance

In the culture that Christianity was birthed, it was a premium to be a Roman citizen for the benefits it afforded you. To maintain your citizenship, one would often, depending on when and where one was living, have to declare their allegiance annually to Caesar. They would do this by making the public declaration that “Caesar is Lord.”

The earliest Christian creed was simply, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” a direct rebuttal to the Roman “creed.” Denial of either the current caesar’s authority or divinity, or both, could cause you to lose you citizenship—possibly even your life. Belief in Christ in the first few centuries was an act of resistance to the Roman empire, and the powers of the world in general. Because it is baked into the New Testament, resistance continues to be a core value of the gospel.

Practicing Generosity

When Pastor Todd was a young pastor in Rockford, Illinois, he was blessed to serve in a city which had a robust Police Chaplain’s Department. Churches in town would contribute to the Police Chaplain’s fund. This was greatly appreciated because when a person, couple, or family came to a church for help, they would send them to the Police Chaplain’s office. They had the human and financial resources to truly help these people while preventing people from going from church to church looking for money. Centralizing care helped more people more effectively. 

First Covenant Church is a compassionate, generous community. Some members of our community have needs to which other members of our church family have offered their assistance. But sometimes this results in some people getting more resources than they need while others may not receive enough.

Unexpected Gifts

I put a book on my Christmas “wish list” this past year. A short, light read of a book to explore on my then upcoming flight to Japan. It was a book in the “33 1/3” series of short monographs on important records from the 1950s to today. My request was for the one written on Dusty in Memphis by Warren Hanes. Dusty in Memphis was Atlantic Record’s experiment bringing British pop singer Dusty Springfield to the US to record with some of the top musicians in Memphis; the same musicians that played behind some of Springfield’s favorite rhythm and blues records. Although the album was not a huge success, save the single “Son of a Preacher Man,” it has quickly entered the pantheon of great records of the post-World War II era. I have come to appreciate the record with each new listen and wanted to learn more. A brief, breezy read for part of a long flight.

Learning about Immigration

At Julfest last December, we talked about how our church, First Covenant, is an immigrant church. Our church and our denomination were started by Swedish immigrants who came to America seeking a better life. We are not unique in this. Most Americans have an immigrant past, whether recent or generations old. 

Immigration has been intrinsic to our country’s history since its founding. And we have a longstanding belief that we are a melting pot–that we welcome people of all cultures and backgrounds, drawing them into our national identity, making us stronger through our diversity. In reality, immigrating to America has always been a difficult process, and most groups of immigrants receive a cold welcome, at least at first. It’s been especially hard for those who can’t easily assimilate into the Eurocentric mainline culture, whether because of skin color, religious difference, or cultural practices. 

A Matter of Scale

In our recent travels to Japan, Susan and I, experienced quite cross-section of that country. We started our journey in a relatively small city (160, 000) in Japan’s far south, Myakonojo. It was a place where the pace was slow and people knew each other. It is also where our son lives, and he made it seem very hospitable as he knew more than a few people in his community, and they knew him.

From there we went to Kyoto, the original capital of Japan. Though a major urban center, it was not a metropolis. The expansive menus offered by Kyoto’s restaurants, as well as its shrines, temples, historical markers, museums, and shops created a larger, richer culture than Myakonojo. But even there we found small shops with single proprietors who remembered you when you returned.

Camp Sunday

Week two of worship in the Summit building will bring even more changes to our Sunday morning routine. And they’re sure to be fun changes, since this week we’re celebrating Camp Sunday! 

What is Camp Sunday, you ask? Well, it’s a day when we celebrate our church’s long-standing connection to Cascades Camp and Conference Center. We’ll learn more about Cascades from Executive Director Rob Mohrweis (son of First Cov members Tom and Jean Mohrweis); and we’ll share the joys of the camp experience through special music, food, skits, reflections, and more.