So I'm taking this test called the "16 PF" in preparation for my 25th anniversary visit to the Center for Career Development & Ministry in a couple of months, and I come to this question along the lines of: "If you worked for a newspaper, would your rather write: a) movie or book reviews b) ? c) articles about sports or politics." So I'm all ready to check option "a" (and thinking "what a no-brainer") until it occurs to me that if I'm so keen on writing book and movie reviews, what am I doing blogging about sports and politics, both of which I write about routinely in the guise of blogging about religion?
Believe it or not, this sudden and unexpected moment of insight cast a lot of light on an earlier question too, which asked whether I would rather get my physical exercise by: a) fencing or dancing b) ? c) wrestling or baseball. Had to go with option "b" there -- since I think at age 50 I would much rather dance than wrestle (not that I'm much of a dancer); but would also prefer to play baseball instead of fencing...although it would be cool to fence too if I actually knew what I was doing, and of course by baseball I really mean softball, since there's no way I could hit real pitching any more. Couldn't really hit it that well when I was 16 either....
But what the heck is this question all about anyway? Perhaps whether I would REALLY rather be: a) some sort of 19th-century Victorian gentleman b) ? c) a red-blooded, all-American boy from the 1950's....
The most truly enlightening question of the day was #111. True or False: "Sometimes I get so lost in my thoughts that, unless I watch out, I misplace things, have small mishaps, or lose track of time...."
HELLO! Sometimes? This is my LIFESTYLE....
So now I have to wait until August to find out from my career counselor what kind of professional vocation is most appropriate for the perennially absent-minded: parish ministry, traditional academia, or perhaps something completely different I haven't really thought that much about yet (like writing a syndicated newspaper column reviewing books and movies about sports and politics)....
In the meantime, while I'm still waiting (and lost in thought), can you BELIEVE what's been going on around here lately?
First of all, God Save this (thank God) still Honorable Supreme Court, which decided 5-3 today that Baby Bush's hip pocket kangaroo military tribunals were basically illegal under whatever legal standard foreign or domestic one might choose to compare them to. The shocking part is that there were four justices (including Chief Justice John Roberts, who recused himself because he had already written an opinion on this case as an Appeals Court judge) who saw things the other way. Under the guise of playing Commander in Chief, Dubya has assumed for himself sweeping "executive" powers which mock the Constitution, and pose a far greater threat to our traditional liberties than anything some ragged terrorist huddling in a cave might possibly dream of.
I just pray that the President's God-given sense of divine right and destiny doesn't tempt him at some point simply to ignore the decision of the Court and do whatever he goddamned pleases anyway. After all, this isn't just a war -- it's a Crusade. And how can you have a decent Crusade without an Inquisition?
Which brings me to the acrimonious partisan political debate over "Cut and Run." There were some of us who thought at the time that this whole idea of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" was a bad idea [check out my April 13, 2003 sermon "A Busted Flush?" at http://eclectic-cleric-ack.blogspot.com to begin with], but we don't have the luxury now of dealing with "what might have been." Instead we have to make decisions based on the reality of "right now."
Still, it doesn't hurt to look back at how we got into this mess in the first place. After initially ridiculing the previous administration for its feeble attempts at "nation building" and declaring "I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt," Bush then ignored an August 6th, 2001 CIA briefing warning him "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US." Only one month later we were all horribly surprised when Al-Qaida launched just such a devastating attack on September 11th.
Knowing he'd been caught with his pants down (and wanting to keep that fact a secret from the rest of us), Bush vowed "to bring the terrorists to justice, or bring justice to the terrorists." But already he was scheming to take advantage of our national anger over 9/11 to settle lingering old scores with Saddam Hussein left over from his Daddy's administration, and to snatch the Iraqi oil fields for his Petroleum Club cronies in the process. And so we were all subjected to "sexed-up" intelligence about "Weapons of Mass Destruction" as the Young Pretender whipped up as much righteous patriotic anger as he could in order to mislead our nation into an unnecessary (and frankly, unjustified) war.
This is not revisionist history. This is just another "inconvenient truth" based on embarrassing facts which the Bushies would just as soon we all ignore or forgot.
In any event, our soldiers won a stunning military victory in the desert, only to see the avaricious arrogance of politicians, mercenaries, and war profiteers pervert our soldiers' triumph into the mess we have now. The President put on his costume and landed on an aircraft carrier to declare "mission accomplished," but three years later Osama bin Laden is still at large, and our army still occupies two foreign countries, where the casualties keep mounting: more than 2500 killed, perhaps ten times that number wounded, plus tens of thousands more "psychological casualties" and hundreds of billions of dollars squandered. Blood and Treasure -- the currency of warfare never really changes.
But what do we have to show for the sacrifice of our brave troops?
And where is the PLAN, at least, to bring them home again?
There's more. Our nation ostensibly invaded Iraq in order to protect ourselves from "WMDs" -- Atomic, Biological, and Chemical weapons capable of killing thousands of people in a single stroke. The United States, of course, possesses vast arsenals of all three, and essentially spends more money on "defense" than the rest of the world combined. Saddam's WMDs turned out to be little more than mere fantasy (just like the UN Weapons Inspectors said they were), yet daily now our soldiers instead fall victim to "IEDs" -- "improvised explosive devices" more commonly known as "booby traps." Rather than "fighting the terrorists there so that we don't have to fight them here," the President has in effect simply provided our enemies with convenient targets right in their own back yards, so that they no longer need worry about how to come here in order to kill us.
Incapable of distinguishing soldier from civilian (or even friend from foe), our government has created the new categories of "Enemy Combatant" and "Detainee." Yet in effect what we have really done is declare open-season on "MAMs" -- "Military Aged Males" or young men of the wrong religion and the wrong complexion who have the misfortune of being discovered in the wrong place (their own neighborhood) at the wrong time (after dark, or in the vicinity of an IED). We profile them because we don't like the way they dress or the color of their skin, and then either shoot them down right there in the street or lock them up and throw away the key. Just like we do here at home...
And then finally we are told that it would be a national disgrace to "cut and run" -- that American credibility and American honor are at stake in Iraq, and to leave without victory would be a betrayal of our troops. Yet we have repeatedly dishonored ourselves in this war: from standing by while looters destroyed the Iraqi National Museum, to "Camp X-Ray" at Guantanamo Bay and the torture at Abu Graib, the unspeakable practice of "rendition" and massacres of civilians still coming to light. Not to mention the domestic spying and the assault on due process and habeus corpus. We have lost the respect of the world community, and become instead a sad parody of the proud ideals and principles we so vocally claim to defend.
The real question isn't whether or not we should get out of Iraq. The real question is whether or not we are going to continue to follow a policy that has already failed, or instead will make the effort to think of something better. And the only real decision we have to make is whether to trust the same idiots who got us into this war to get us out, or to look instead to someone smarter to lead us in a different direction, so that America might recover the honor we have already lost.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
Open Source Philanthropy
Woke up this morning to the news that Warren Buffet has decided to join with his friend Bill Gate by donating a large portion of his personal fortune to several philanthropic organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (which is already, I've heard, the best-funded private philanthropic foundation in the world). I heartily applaud the generosity of these self-made billionaires, and share their desire to create a better world by improving the health and education of the world's most vulnerable inhabitants. Yet I also have an odd concern which is difficult for me to articulate, mostly because it still isn't quite clear in my own mind.
Bill Gates and I are about the same age, and grew up within a few miles of one another in the suburbs of Seattle. In fact, if my mother (with the encouragement of my public High School vice principal) had gotten her way instead of my dad, Trey and I might even have been classmates at Seattle's Lakeside Academy. We have a few mutual friends (most notably one of my early mentors in the ministry and his wife, who, like Melinda, are also both Duke alums), and...well, I don't want to make too much of this either. Let's just say that, like a lot of people around the world, I've always been kinda interested in what the world's Chief Geek has to say for himself, and tend to take him pretty seriously when he speaks.
So, what's my odd concern? I guess simply that despite its good intentions, a charitable organization as large as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation might somehow have unintended and unforeseen consequences regarding the nature of philanthropic activities in general. Is it just paranoia, or some sort of dark, melancholic tendency of my own to see the glass half-empty rather than half-full? Maybe. Hell, probably. But let me put it another way. If the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation does for personal philanthropy what Microsoft did for personal computing, will that be a good thing or a bad thing? Or if it turns out (as I suspect it will) to be a little of both, what can be done to emphasize the former and minimize the latter?
Not that I'll have any real say in the matter. But here's the deal as I see it. Any time there's a large amount of money up for grabs, the temptation to try to "game the system" is never far away, while the firewalls intended to prevent that abuse of trust can potentially become even worse than the abuse itself. So what can be done to prevent or minimize this problem? Transparency, obviously...along with democratization, decentralized decision making, diversification of activities...in effect, an "open source" philanthropy which builds a real partnership between "developers" (the philanthropists) and "end users" (the intended beneficiaries), and allows the "clients" of the philanthropy the maximum amount of input and control, while still recognizing that a certain number of false starts and outright mistakes are probably unavoidable. Or at least that's how it seems to me. In the meantime, congratulations to all concerned regarding this magnificent expression of generosity and compassion. And may the accomplishments prove worthy of the dream....
Bill Gates and I are about the same age, and grew up within a few miles of one another in the suburbs of Seattle. In fact, if my mother (with the encouragement of my public High School vice principal) had gotten her way instead of my dad, Trey and I might even have been classmates at Seattle's Lakeside Academy. We have a few mutual friends (most notably one of my early mentors in the ministry and his wife, who, like Melinda, are also both Duke alums), and...well, I don't want to make too much of this either. Let's just say that, like a lot of people around the world, I've always been kinda interested in what the world's Chief Geek has to say for himself, and tend to take him pretty seriously when he speaks.
So, what's my odd concern? I guess simply that despite its good intentions, a charitable organization as large as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation might somehow have unintended and unforeseen consequences regarding the nature of philanthropic activities in general. Is it just paranoia, or some sort of dark, melancholic tendency of my own to see the glass half-empty rather than half-full? Maybe. Hell, probably. But let me put it another way. If the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation does for personal philanthropy what Microsoft did for personal computing, will that be a good thing or a bad thing? Or if it turns out (as I suspect it will) to be a little of both, what can be done to emphasize the former and minimize the latter?
Not that I'll have any real say in the matter. But here's the deal as I see it. Any time there's a large amount of money up for grabs, the temptation to try to "game the system" is never far away, while the firewalls intended to prevent that abuse of trust can potentially become even worse than the abuse itself. So what can be done to prevent or minimize this problem? Transparency, obviously...along with democratization, decentralized decision making, diversification of activities...in effect, an "open source" philanthropy which builds a real partnership between "developers" (the philanthropists) and "end users" (the intended beneficiaries), and allows the "clients" of the philanthropy the maximum amount of input and control, while still recognizing that a certain number of false starts and outright mistakes are probably unavoidable. Or at least that's how it seems to me. In the meantime, congratulations to all concerned regarding this magnificent expression of generosity and compassion. And may the accomplishments prove worthy of the dream....
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Homegrown Terrorism?
Today's news concerns seven "homegrown" terrorists arrested in Miami as a result of the work of an undercover informant who impersonated an al-Qaeda operative in order to penetrate this dangerous conspiracy and bring these dangerous men to justice. Headlines are all about blowing up the Sears Tower in Chicago and "killing all the devils we can," yet even the FBI acknowledges that these wannabe terrorists were "more aspirational than operational" -- that they possessed no weapons or explosives, and that the most tangible crimes they are alleged to have committed consist of meeting (on several occasions) in a hotel room (or various other sleazy locations) with this al-Qaeda impersonator, who listened to their fantasies about creating an Islamic Army to wage Jihad against the Great Satan, accepted a wish list of desired supplies (which included machine guns, radios, vehicles, bullet-proof vests, $50,000 in cash and shoes in the proper sizes for all conspirators real and imagined), and then provided them instead with a video camera so that they could take photographs of public building they hoped someday to blow up. In exchange for use of this camera, alleged conspiracy ringleader Narseal "Prince Manna" Batiste and his six "brother" co-conspirators were asked to swear "an oath of loyalty to al-Qaeda," but despite their promises within a few months this aspiring sleeper cell began to dissolve as its more peripheral members woke up and moved on to other pursuits (like selling men's clothing at Abercrombie and Fitch). For additional details of the actual allegations of evil-doing, you can read the entire 11 page indictment here if you like.
Indictment
Public Defender Jimmy Hardy hit the nail right on the head when he commented "There's less than meets the eye here." Meanwhile, the government alleges that this really was a dangerous threat to homeland security because the conspirators possessed the intent and the desire to wage war against the United States, and had even taken steps (well, photographs) in order to carry out their aspirations. But think about this for half-a-second. I have the intent and the desire to someday spend the night with Rachel Hunter, and have even watched reruns of "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Real Gilligan's Island" in pursuit of this aspiration. But...well, do I really have to say any more?
Indictment
Public Defender Jimmy Hardy hit the nail right on the head when he commented "There's less than meets the eye here." Meanwhile, the government alleges that this really was a dangerous threat to homeland security because the conspirators possessed the intent and the desire to wage war against the United States, and had even taken steps (well, photographs) in order to carry out their aspirations. But think about this for half-a-second. I have the intent and the desire to someday spend the night with Rachel Hunter, and have even watched reruns of "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Real Gilligan's Island" in pursuit of this aspiration. But...well, do I really have to say any more?
Monday, June 19, 2006
Dogs and Cats living together....
This is the week many of my colleagues are off to our General Assembly in Saint Louis, something which in years past I have generally done myself (in fact, I even was married to my former wife at the GA in Atlanta in 1985). But more recently I've gotten out of the habit, and instead tend to spend this week trying to clean up all of the loose paper I accumulate over the course of a church year, so that at least I can begin the summer with a clean desk and uncluttered flat surfaces in my study.
I've also been reading with great interest my seminary-era friend Christine Robinson's Sabbatical Blog, and especially her observations about church growth and church size theory. LINK As the "Bishop of New Mexico," Christine is apparently exploring the issue of how best to extend our faith into the tiny towns and suburbs outside of Albuquerque. Beginning with a discussion of the differences between the "family" sized church and the "pastoral" sized church ("cats" and "collies" in the language of church consultant Lyle Schaller), she ponders the possibility of creating "puppies" -- satellite congregations of a larger "parent" church, which would be nurtured in such a way that they emerge with a different "culture" than your typical 35 member congregation.
Lots of interesting insights here, to which I would love to add some of my own.
1. There is a place for cats in the world, and even in our movement. Recognizing the inherent limitations of metaphor, one problem with breeding puppies is that you may end up raising lap dogs instead of working dogs (think Boston Terriers rather than Golden Retrievers)...which is to say that rather than creating small, independent congregations we end up with a bunch of small DEPENDENT ones. Don't get me wrong; I love Bostons (and even have one myself), and I certainly don't think that this problem is insurmountable. I just think it needs to be recognized.
2. Notwithstanding the observation above, one of the big problems I've noticed with the UUA's previous/current extention efforts is that they were mostly driven by the availability of financial subsidies, which insidiously tended to transform the REAL "mission" of the congregations-in-question from expanding their membership to obtaining (end extending) the subsidies.
3. Likewise, this in turn tends to focus a lot of attention to "bean-counting" (and the half-hearted "implementation" of various "techniques" of church growth) rather than nuturing the "soul" at the center of every vibrant faith community: a profound sense of trust, hope, gratitude, generosity, mission and service to something larger than ourselves.
4. The two essential concepts regarding successful church growth (which one hears over and over again if you simply pay attention) are the importance of a mission-driven Vision and the indispensable role of committed Leadership. The REAL secret to creating successful "pastoral" sized churches (and then growing them to whatever size the environment allows) is the creation (and support) of effective, visionary Pastors. There's been a lot of talk in our movement lately about the so-called "Pastoral-to-Program" transition, but from where I sit the real problem tends to be the expectation that somehow large family-sized churches which are struggling against the upper-limits of that organizational style will somehow miraculously transform themselves into Program-style institutions seven times their size. But the reality on the ground is that we have a lot of congregations of 65 households (give or take, with an average attendance of about the same) who operate organizationally as if they were still 35 "families," and who need to figure out how become effective congregations with 100+ souls in the sanctuary on any given Sunday. Not "program" churches. Healthy "pastoral" churches.
5. Here's another counter-intuitive truth. Healthy "cat-sized" churches are actually much more stable, resilient, self-reliant and long-lived than many struggling "dogs," and are perfectly capable of cultivating and nurturing a deep and meaningful spiritual experience for their members and friends, as well as programming effectively in all five of the key areas of congregational life: Worship, Religious Education, Fellowship Activities, Social Action and Pastoral Care. Obviously these activities will look a little different in a congregation of 40 households than they do in a 1000 member (or a 300 member or even a 100 member) congregation. But that doesn't mean that they aren't worthwhile. It's true: Family-sized churches like to do church "on the cheap." But when confronted with an environment of scarcity, frugality is an appropriate response (and yes, parsimony an ever-present danger). On the other hand, supporting a full-time, seminary-educated ordained "professional" minister is a huge financial burden for a congregation of 100 households (even with an average pledge in excess of $1200), especially when it is combined with other "normal" operating expenses like a mortgage, heat and electricity, office supplies, and part-time secretarial, music, religious education, and custodial staff. We can talk until we turn blue in the face about "prosperity" and "abundance," the "attitude of gratitude" and "creating congregations of generous people" (and believe me, I have). But the hard reality is that there are limits, and that creating an environment of "sustainable prosperity" within the parameters of those limitations (even as we work to extend or even transcend them) is no easy task. And simply throwing outside money at the problem only makes it worse, since it creates dependency and distorts the mission of the organization by changing the incentives. And who knew that I could sound so "Republican?"
6. A better alternative would be to change the way we "train" (as opposed to educate) our clergy, and also to change the way that we compensate them. Suppose that rather than providing money directly to congregations in order to subsidize the salaries of small-church ministers (at least until they have proven themselves worthy of moving on to a bigger one), or "loaning" clergy from "successful" large churches to "marginal" small ones, we first acknowledge that the skills required to be successful in small-church ministry are DIFFERENT than those we normally reward, and then create opportunities for clergy to learn those skills and form partnerships with small congregations which assume that the minister will also initially need some sort of "outside" employment in order to earn a living. Perhaps this outside employment could be as part-time program staff at a larger church or for the district; or perhaps it is simply some sort of fairly flexible secular employment. But now the incentive becomes to increase the church budget "the old-fashioned way," in order to be able to afford more of the minister's time and attention. Denominational money might still be appropriate in areas like health insurance subsidies (paid directly to the minister) or student loan deferments, as well as building loans, free training opportunities, and perhaps even "prize" money for good ideas that can be duplicated elsewhere. But the basic dynamic needs to be that the minister makes a sacrifice in order to serve the congregation, so that the congregation becomes willing to sacrifice in order to support THEIR minister...and that as PARTNERS they share a vision of the faith community they hope to create together. And the most important aspect of this dynamic is that the minister is a real leader within the church community, and not just an outside expert there to provide expertise (of dubious value) until a better-paying gig comes along.
7. As for the so-called "Pathways fiasco," there are generally important lessons to be learned even from an experiment that fails. But you would think that one of the first lessons would be not to do it again until you understand what went wrong the first time. I'm not really close enough to that situation to comment knowledgeably (not that I've ever let that stop me before), but I do know that when I first heard the idea (at General Assembly) of starting 50 "Pathways-style" congregations a year I was pretty skeptical, and that skepticism certainly hasn't been diminished by the course of subsequent events. On the other hand, I think Christine's idea of nurturing a litter of "puppies" from a central "mother" church has a lot more merit, and might potentially strengthen both parent and offspring. So, I'll be watching for news of new birth in the Land of Enchantment, all the while remembering my own experience in the 80's as the "Bishop of West Texas" -- the only settled UU minister between Fort Worth and El Paso, Austin and Albuquerque....
I've also been reading with great interest my seminary-era friend Christine Robinson's Sabbatical Blog, and especially her observations about church growth and church size theory. LINK As the "Bishop of New Mexico," Christine is apparently exploring the issue of how best to extend our faith into the tiny towns and suburbs outside of Albuquerque. Beginning with a discussion of the differences between the "family" sized church and the "pastoral" sized church ("cats" and "collies" in the language of church consultant Lyle Schaller), she ponders the possibility of creating "puppies" -- satellite congregations of a larger "parent" church, which would be nurtured in such a way that they emerge with a different "culture" than your typical 35 member congregation.
Lots of interesting insights here, to which I would love to add some of my own.
1. There is a place for cats in the world, and even in our movement. Recognizing the inherent limitations of metaphor, one problem with breeding puppies is that you may end up raising lap dogs instead of working dogs (think Boston Terriers rather than Golden Retrievers)...which is to say that rather than creating small, independent congregations we end up with a bunch of small DEPENDENT ones. Don't get me wrong; I love Bostons (and even have one myself), and I certainly don't think that this problem is insurmountable. I just think it needs to be recognized.
2. Notwithstanding the observation above, one of the big problems I've noticed with the UUA's previous/current extention efforts is that they were mostly driven by the availability of financial subsidies, which insidiously tended to transform the REAL "mission" of the congregations-in-question from expanding their membership to obtaining (end extending) the subsidies.
3. Likewise, this in turn tends to focus a lot of attention to "bean-counting" (and the half-hearted "implementation" of various "techniques" of church growth) rather than nuturing the "soul" at the center of every vibrant faith community: a profound sense of trust, hope, gratitude, generosity, mission and service to something larger than ourselves.
4. The two essential concepts regarding successful church growth (which one hears over and over again if you simply pay attention) are the importance of a mission-driven Vision and the indispensable role of committed Leadership. The REAL secret to creating successful "pastoral" sized churches (and then growing them to whatever size the environment allows) is the creation (and support) of effective, visionary Pastors. There's been a lot of talk in our movement lately about the so-called "Pastoral-to-Program" transition, but from where I sit the real problem tends to be the expectation that somehow large family-sized churches which are struggling against the upper-limits of that organizational style will somehow miraculously transform themselves into Program-style institutions seven times their size. But the reality on the ground is that we have a lot of congregations of 65 households (give or take, with an average attendance of about the same) who operate organizationally as if they were still 35 "families," and who need to figure out how become effective congregations with 100+ souls in the sanctuary on any given Sunday. Not "program" churches. Healthy "pastoral" churches.
5. Here's another counter-intuitive truth. Healthy "cat-sized" churches are actually much more stable, resilient, self-reliant and long-lived than many struggling "dogs," and are perfectly capable of cultivating and nurturing a deep and meaningful spiritual experience for their members and friends, as well as programming effectively in all five of the key areas of congregational life: Worship, Religious Education, Fellowship Activities, Social Action and Pastoral Care. Obviously these activities will look a little different in a congregation of 40 households than they do in a 1000 member (or a 300 member or even a 100 member) congregation. But that doesn't mean that they aren't worthwhile. It's true: Family-sized churches like to do church "on the cheap." But when confronted with an environment of scarcity, frugality is an appropriate response (and yes, parsimony an ever-present danger). On the other hand, supporting a full-time, seminary-educated ordained "professional" minister is a huge financial burden for a congregation of 100 households (even with an average pledge in excess of $1200), especially when it is combined with other "normal" operating expenses like a mortgage, heat and electricity, office supplies, and part-time secretarial, music, religious education, and custodial staff. We can talk until we turn blue in the face about "prosperity" and "abundance," the "attitude of gratitude" and "creating congregations of generous people" (and believe me, I have). But the hard reality is that there are limits, and that creating an environment of "sustainable prosperity" within the parameters of those limitations (even as we work to extend or even transcend them) is no easy task. And simply throwing outside money at the problem only makes it worse, since it creates dependency and distorts the mission of the organization by changing the incentives. And who knew that I could sound so "Republican?"
6. A better alternative would be to change the way we "train" (as opposed to educate) our clergy, and also to change the way that we compensate them. Suppose that rather than providing money directly to congregations in order to subsidize the salaries of small-church ministers (at least until they have proven themselves worthy of moving on to a bigger one), or "loaning" clergy from "successful" large churches to "marginal" small ones, we first acknowledge that the skills required to be successful in small-church ministry are DIFFERENT than those we normally reward, and then create opportunities for clergy to learn those skills and form partnerships with small congregations which assume that the minister will also initially need some sort of "outside" employment in order to earn a living. Perhaps this outside employment could be as part-time program staff at a larger church or for the district; or perhaps it is simply some sort of fairly flexible secular employment. But now the incentive becomes to increase the church budget "the old-fashioned way," in order to be able to afford more of the minister's time and attention. Denominational money might still be appropriate in areas like health insurance subsidies (paid directly to the minister) or student loan deferments, as well as building loans, free training opportunities, and perhaps even "prize" money for good ideas that can be duplicated elsewhere. But the basic dynamic needs to be that the minister makes a sacrifice in order to serve the congregation, so that the congregation becomes willing to sacrifice in order to support THEIR minister...and that as PARTNERS they share a vision of the faith community they hope to create together. And the most important aspect of this dynamic is that the minister is a real leader within the church community, and not just an outside expert there to provide expertise (of dubious value) until a better-paying gig comes along.
7. As for the so-called "Pathways fiasco," there are generally important lessons to be learned even from an experiment that fails. But you would think that one of the first lessons would be not to do it again until you understand what went wrong the first time. I'm not really close enough to that situation to comment knowledgeably (not that I've ever let that stop me before), but I do know that when I first heard the idea (at General Assembly) of starting 50 "Pathways-style" congregations a year I was pretty skeptical, and that skepticism certainly hasn't been diminished by the course of subsequent events. On the other hand, I think Christine's idea of nurturing a litter of "puppies" from a central "mother" church has a lot more merit, and might potentially strengthen both parent and offspring. So, I'll be watching for news of new birth in the Land of Enchantment, all the while remembering my own experience in the 80's as the "Bishop of West Texas" -- the only settled UU minister between Fort Worth and El Paso, Austin and Albuquerque....
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Turd Blossom dodges a bullet
Karl Rove should thank God (or at least his lucky stars) that (for at least the time being) he lives in a country where due process remains the rule of law, and perceived evil-doers are still considered innocent until PROVEN guilty. The irony, of course, is that in the society Rove envisions for us all -- a world of raw, naked power and political-religious demagoguery, secret prisons and unappealable military tribunals, inactivist judges and summary justice by executive decree -- people suspected of leaking the names of intelligence operatives generally just disappear in the middle of the night, and their bodies show up a few weeks or months later down some dark alley: beaten and tortured, their hands bound behind their backs and a bullet in the base of the brain. Kinda like they do right now in Iraq. Or else they operate with impunity beyond the reach of justice, because they are protected by those for whom the acquisition and accumulation of ever-greater wealth and power is the only value that really matters and...oops! never mind....
I don't want to sound shrill and I don't want to sound naive. But we are witnessing something right now in the history of our nation which is VERY distressing, and most days makes me just want to pull the sheets up over my head and pretend I can't see it. On one level it is simply the culmination of more than a century of accidental and unintentional imperial ambition, which (like not bringing condoms on a date so it won't seem like you're "planning" to commit a sin) has resulted in precisely the consequences we hoped to avoid but found impossible to resist. And yet we also seem to be living at a Tipping Point: that moment in time where our own insatiable lust for wealth and power (and big cars and cheap oil) have developed such momentum that they have taken on a life of their own, and threatened to transform the world in which we live beyond our recognition. Believe it or not, Global Warming may simply be the most visible and tangible symptom of catastrophic glacial changes in our "environment" which are beyond our ability to contain or control -- a hard reality to face for those for whom "containment" and "control" are Standard Operating Procedure. It's no longer a matter of mustering the willpower to push an ever-bigger boulder to the top of the hill (all the while whining about the absence of a "level playing field"). The rock is loose and rolling away, ready to crush anything unfortunate enough to be in its path.
The problem with Empire is mostly economic. It makes possible the concentration of previously inconceivable amounts of wealth and power in the hands of very few people, while spreading the costs of acquiring, accumulating and protecting that wealth to those who are increasingly powerless to control their own lives and determine their own fate. And so fatalism displaces hopeful imagination, and the optimists give way to the cynics. Ordinary human pleasures of home and family and community no longer seem adequate (and become increasingly difficult to sustain); while popular culture (with its obsession with "celebrity") seeks ever greater levels of extremity in order to evoke some sort of passionate (and profitable) emotional response from its faceless, nameless mass audience. Cheap bread and free circuses for the people, so that their Masters can afford to ignore the consequences of their avarice while gorging themselves on hummingbird tongues at their secluded seaside estates.
But I ramble from the point. The combination of Absolute Power and Demogogic Populism is a dangerous cocktail. As "the people" look for ever more powerful Leaders to rescue them from their own feelings of powerlessness, society itself grows increasingly unfeeling and anti-social. Like the natural human pleasures of home and hearth, the natural human accountability that comes from authentic human community no longer seems adequate, and gives way to ever more inhumane "cruel and unusual" punishments intended to deter potential bad-acters by frightening them into compliance with the "Rule" of Law. But the realization that the Rulers themselves are above the law makes these threats meaningless and ineffective. When powerless people no longer feel that they have a meaningful investment in the larger community, they no longer have any incentive to play by the "rules." And so we are left with only the Rulers, the Ruled, and the Unruly...or perhaps more descriptively: the Powerful, the Powerless, and those who refuse to submit to the former by accepting their "rightful" place among the latter.
I wish I could say I see an easy solution to this ugly conundrum. But I don't. Yet it does seem to me that the most likely path leads in a different direction: away from the ever-greater concentration of wealth and power in the hands of fewer and fewer unimaginably wealthy and powerful people, and toward the empowerment of more sustainable and autonomous, human-scale communities which are at once both self-sufficient and interdependent. A Utopian fantasy? Probably. But I'd rather imagine something like this than simply accepting a life where a "failure of imagination" may well have brought us all to the precipice of extinction.
So maybe we ALL ought to thank God (or at least our lucky stars) that Karl Rove has dodged a bullet, notwithstanding the fact that he has also apparently (for at least the time being) avoided indictment as well. Because perhaps what this REALLY means is that there's still hope for all of us as well....
***
QUICK FRIDAY MORNING UPDATE: and now comes the Supreme Court, who in a 5-4 decision led by Bush appointees John Roberts and Sam Alito, together with long-time conservative stalwarts Antonin "Tony" Scalia and Clarence Thomas (and with the concurrence of "moderate conservative" Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote a separate opinion) have just cut the heart out of the Exclusionary Rule (which prohibits the use of illegally discovered evidence at trial) by effectively eliminating it as a sanction against police who violate the so-called "Knock and Announce" requirement when serving a search warrant. In other words, now when the police come for you in the middle of the night, you can no longer expect a knock at the door. Now they are "free" simply to kick the door in and stick a gun in your face, without necessarily even telling you who they are. Certainly a remarkable day for those who love still love liberty....
I don't want to sound shrill and I don't want to sound naive. But we are witnessing something right now in the history of our nation which is VERY distressing, and most days makes me just want to pull the sheets up over my head and pretend I can't see it. On one level it is simply the culmination of more than a century of accidental and unintentional imperial ambition, which (like not bringing condoms on a date so it won't seem like you're "planning" to commit a sin) has resulted in precisely the consequences we hoped to avoid but found impossible to resist. And yet we also seem to be living at a Tipping Point: that moment in time where our own insatiable lust for wealth and power (and big cars and cheap oil) have developed such momentum that they have taken on a life of their own, and threatened to transform the world in which we live beyond our recognition. Believe it or not, Global Warming may simply be the most visible and tangible symptom of catastrophic glacial changes in our "environment" which are beyond our ability to contain or control -- a hard reality to face for those for whom "containment" and "control" are Standard Operating Procedure. It's no longer a matter of mustering the willpower to push an ever-bigger boulder to the top of the hill (all the while whining about the absence of a "level playing field"). The rock is loose and rolling away, ready to crush anything unfortunate enough to be in its path.
The problem with Empire is mostly economic. It makes possible the concentration of previously inconceivable amounts of wealth and power in the hands of very few people, while spreading the costs of acquiring, accumulating and protecting that wealth to those who are increasingly powerless to control their own lives and determine their own fate. And so fatalism displaces hopeful imagination, and the optimists give way to the cynics. Ordinary human pleasures of home and family and community no longer seem adequate (and become increasingly difficult to sustain); while popular culture (with its obsession with "celebrity") seeks ever greater levels of extremity in order to evoke some sort of passionate (and profitable) emotional response from its faceless, nameless mass audience. Cheap bread and free circuses for the people, so that their Masters can afford to ignore the consequences of their avarice while gorging themselves on hummingbird tongues at their secluded seaside estates.
But I ramble from the point. The combination of Absolute Power and Demogogic Populism is a dangerous cocktail. As "the people" look for ever more powerful Leaders to rescue them from their own feelings of powerlessness, society itself grows increasingly unfeeling and anti-social. Like the natural human pleasures of home and hearth, the natural human accountability that comes from authentic human community no longer seems adequate, and gives way to ever more inhumane "cruel and unusual" punishments intended to deter potential bad-acters by frightening them into compliance with the "Rule" of Law. But the realization that the Rulers themselves are above the law makes these threats meaningless and ineffective. When powerless people no longer feel that they have a meaningful investment in the larger community, they no longer have any incentive to play by the "rules." And so we are left with only the Rulers, the Ruled, and the Unruly...or perhaps more descriptively: the Powerful, the Powerless, and those who refuse to submit to the former by accepting their "rightful" place among the latter.
I wish I could say I see an easy solution to this ugly conundrum. But I don't. Yet it does seem to me that the most likely path leads in a different direction: away from the ever-greater concentration of wealth and power in the hands of fewer and fewer unimaginably wealthy and powerful people, and toward the empowerment of more sustainable and autonomous, human-scale communities which are at once both self-sufficient and interdependent. A Utopian fantasy? Probably. But I'd rather imagine something like this than simply accepting a life where a "failure of imagination" may well have brought us all to the precipice of extinction.
So maybe we ALL ought to thank God (or at least our lucky stars) that Karl Rove has dodged a bullet, notwithstanding the fact that he has also apparently (for at least the time being) avoided indictment as well. Because perhaps what this REALLY means is that there's still hope for all of us as well....
***
QUICK FRIDAY MORNING UPDATE: and now comes the Supreme Court, who in a 5-4 decision led by Bush appointees John Roberts and Sam Alito, together with long-time conservative stalwarts Antonin "Tony" Scalia and Clarence Thomas (and with the concurrence of "moderate conservative" Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote a separate opinion) have just cut the heart out of the Exclusionary Rule (which prohibits the use of illegally discovered evidence at trial) by effectively eliminating it as a sanction against police who violate the so-called "Knock and Announce" requirement when serving a search warrant. In other words, now when the police come for you in the middle of the night, you can no longer expect a knock at the door. Now they are "free" simply to kick the door in and stick a gun in your face, without necessarily even telling you who they are. Certainly a remarkable day for those who love still love liberty....
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Alumni/ae Day
As I mentioned when I first started writing this blog a month ago, this past week was the 25th anniversary of my graduation from the Harvard Divinity School, and my subsequent ordination to the ministry the following Sunday at the First and Second Church in Boston. In celebration of this auspicious occasion, last week Harvard threw a big party for me and my classmates (along with several thousand other proud graduates and their friends and families), just as they do every year about this same time.
The festivities started Tuesday night with a Reunion Dinner at the Harvard Club on Commonwealth Avenue, where I had a chance to catch up a little with former FRS student intern Dawn Sangrey and former FRS interim minister Diane Miller, both of whom were also celebrating "reunion" years (their 5th and 30th, respectively). I also enjoyed a brief conversation with former HDS Dean (and longtime Nantucket summer resident) Krister Stendahl, who, while asking the blessing on our sumptuous shared meal, quoted the same Latin American table grace I first heard him use at the "Dean's Feed" for incoming students on the back lawn of Jewitt House in 1978, which has been a favorite item in my own repertoire of prayers ever since: "To those who are hungry, give bread; and to us who have bread, give a hunger for justice." Certainly something worthy of learning by heart, and repeating regularly for more than a quarter-century.
The Reunion Dinner was followed on Wednesday by the Alumni/ae Day exercises back at the Divinity School campus. Tori Murden-McClure (MDiv '89), the first American woman both to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean and to ski to the South Pole, gave a very inspiring (and humorous) talk about some of the things she learned while attempting to accomplish these difficult physical feats. After quipping that apparently she had been invited back to HDS "for my body and not my mind," Tori took her theme from a quotation by Teddy Roosevelt: "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
But the highlight of the day for me personally was hearing keynote speaker, Margaret Miles, my former Church History professor and the first tenured woman faculty member at HDS, who spoke on the topic "Living Lovingly in a Culture of Fear." Taking her inspiration from 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear," Margaret spoke about how our contemporary "culture of fear" exaggerates some dangers (like the threat of terrorism) and diminishes others (like the number of highway traffic deaths each year), while our society's obsession with "romantic love" is essentially a form of "misdirection" -- a bit of cultural sleight-of-hand which diverts attention from our true responsibilities to care for one another. Quoting feminist philosopher Dorothy Dinnerstein, who wrote, "We never feel as grown-up as we expected to feel when we were children," Margaret reminded us that (like it or not) we ARE the grown-ups, and that the appropriate response to our own experience of Privilege is NOT "denial" and "guilt," but rather "gratitude and responsibility."
Of course, there was also plenty of swag, just as one might expect at a party planned by the Office of Development and External Relations. Lanyards, pens and pencils, plastic mag lights, even kazoos...all emblazoned with the HDS imprint. But the best gift of all was a quotation from the Czech playwright and politician Vaclav Havel: "Keep the company of those who seek the truth, and run from those who have found it."
The Divinity School's own motto of "Faith Seeking Understanding" echoes these same sentiments. And the fact is, I do feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity of attending Divinity School at Harvard twenty-five years ago, and to have subsequently enjoyed the privilege of seeking (and speaking) my own truth in love for more than half a lifetime now. God willing, I hope to continue to enjoy that privilege for another quarter-century (or longer), thanks in no small part to the gracious support of those who are interested in listening, and who likewise share their journeys with me.
The festivities started Tuesday night with a Reunion Dinner at the Harvard Club on Commonwealth Avenue, where I had a chance to catch up a little with former FRS student intern Dawn Sangrey and former FRS interim minister Diane Miller, both of whom were also celebrating "reunion" years (their 5th and 30th, respectively). I also enjoyed a brief conversation with former HDS Dean (and longtime Nantucket summer resident) Krister Stendahl, who, while asking the blessing on our sumptuous shared meal, quoted the same Latin American table grace I first heard him use at the "Dean's Feed" for incoming students on the back lawn of Jewitt House in 1978, which has been a favorite item in my own repertoire of prayers ever since: "To those who are hungry, give bread; and to us who have bread, give a hunger for justice." Certainly something worthy of learning by heart, and repeating regularly for more than a quarter-century.
The Reunion Dinner was followed on Wednesday by the Alumni/ae Day exercises back at the Divinity School campus. Tori Murden-McClure (MDiv '89), the first American woman both to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean and to ski to the South Pole, gave a very inspiring (and humorous) talk about some of the things she learned while attempting to accomplish these difficult physical feats. After quipping that apparently she had been invited back to HDS "for my body and not my mind," Tori took her theme from a quotation by Teddy Roosevelt: "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
But the highlight of the day for me personally was hearing keynote speaker, Margaret Miles, my former Church History professor and the first tenured woman faculty member at HDS, who spoke on the topic "Living Lovingly in a Culture of Fear." Taking her inspiration from 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear," Margaret spoke about how our contemporary "culture of fear" exaggerates some dangers (like the threat of terrorism) and diminishes others (like the number of highway traffic deaths each year), while our society's obsession with "romantic love" is essentially a form of "misdirection" -- a bit of cultural sleight-of-hand which diverts attention from our true responsibilities to care for one another. Quoting feminist philosopher Dorothy Dinnerstein, who wrote, "We never feel as grown-up as we expected to feel when we were children," Margaret reminded us that (like it or not) we ARE the grown-ups, and that the appropriate response to our own experience of Privilege is NOT "denial" and "guilt," but rather "gratitude and responsibility."
Of course, there was also plenty of swag, just as one might expect at a party planned by the Office of Development and External Relations. Lanyards, pens and pencils, plastic mag lights, even kazoos...all emblazoned with the HDS imprint. But the best gift of all was a quotation from the Czech playwright and politician Vaclav Havel: "Keep the company of those who seek the truth, and run from those who have found it."
The Divinity School's own motto of "Faith Seeking Understanding" echoes these same sentiments. And the fact is, I do feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity of attending Divinity School at Harvard twenty-five years ago, and to have subsequently enjoyed the privilege of seeking (and speaking) my own truth in love for more than half a lifetime now. God willing, I hope to continue to enjoy that privilege for another quarter-century (or longer), thanks in no small part to the gracious support of those who are interested in listening, and who likewise share their journeys with me.
Monday, June 05, 2006
The Collateral Damage of Intelligence Failure(s)
First a confession. I've never entirely understood that strange phenomenon known as "rabid Clinton-hating." At least not until that fateful day in 2000, when President-elect Gore finally conceded that the Bushies had successfully stolen the Florida election, and I was forced to watch the young Pretender (Gee Duh-byh Shrub) smirk and gladhand his way through and out of the Texas Statehouse into a waiting motorcade of ominous black SUVs. Without warning I was suddenly afflicted with the profound, visceral realization that something was terribly, TERRIBLY wrong in the Universe...that somehow a lying, insincere and disingenuous, pot-smoking, coke-snorting, draft-dodging, incompetent, unqualified, self-serving, self-important, self-absorbed YALE man had usurped power in our glorious Democratic Republic...which was followed almost immediately by the insight that there were an awful lot of people (or perhaps should I say "a lot of awful people") in this country who felt exactly the same way about our 42nd President as I felt about the man who was about to be sworn in as our 43rd.
Notwithstanding this fleeting moment of empathetic "getting it," it still took me more than five years before I could bring myself to drink orange juice again. At first I saw a "baby Bush" Presidency as something to be endured and survived, and took comfort in the knowledge that the more time he spend on vacation at his ranch in Texas, the less real damage he could do to the country and to me personally. After 9/11, like many patriotic Americans, I tried very hard to rally loyally behind the dignity of the Office rather than giving in to my disdain for the man and his obvious shortcomings, only to feel disappointed and betrayed again and again as I watched Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld and company systematically twist and exploit our national tragedy for the political advantage of their maladroit, malapropic puppet, as well as the continued personal enrichment of their corporate cronies and the aggrandizement of the Religious Right.
The "Patriot" Act. The invasion of Iraq. That absurd "Mission Accomplished" photo op (not to mention the "Plastic Turkey" photo op that following Thanksgiving). Thousands of American soldiers killed; tens of thousands wounded; hundreds of billions of dollars squandered; crude oil at $70 a barrel and gasoline at $3 a gallon; record Federal deficits (and record oil company profits); untold numbers of warrantless searches, wiretaps, and incarcerations without trial or even benefit of counsel; gutted environmental regulations; the fiasco of Katrina; even a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as "a relationship between one man and one woman..." all the gifts of champagne soldiers and "chicken hawks" who love the sound of rattling sabers (and of course their own voices), but turn deaf ears and a blind eye to the cries of mothers whose children now rest in metal caskets draped in American flags.
Forgive me for sounding shrill, but given what we've all now seen with our own two eyes it is difficult to sound otherwise. It is difficult for me to understand how a nation, and more specifically a Congress, that was willing to impeach a sitting President for testifying evasively about receiving a blow job from a willing partner, now seems willing to ignore how profoundly this current President has fallen down on the job. How in his rush to provide tax cuts for his wealthy supporters in his the first year of his term, he ignored the intelligence warnings that al-Qaeda was planning a dramatic attack here in the United States. How he "sexed up" subsequent intelligence reports regarding the existence Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and suppressed or ignored information to the contrary, even allowing his minions to disclose the identity of one of our own intelligence operatives in order to discredit the opinions of her husband. Not only should it be obvious by now to anyone with even a half-way objective point-of-view that Iraqi WMDs were merely an extravagant pipe-dream that both Dubya and Saddam shared, it should also be painfully clear that the decision to invade Iraq in the first place was simply a foregone conclusion looking for a credible rationale: a settling of old scores from his father's administration together with a misguided attempt to control Iraqi oil; and that the war itself has now likewise gone terribly, terribly wrong...if it could ever have been said that it was right in the first place.
And along the dark underbelly of this failed policy is an even more disturbing reality. Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay. Abu Ghraib prison. "Rendition," "water-boarding" and "stress positions" (would not that which we refuse to call torture by any other name remain as brutal?). Military Tribunals. Suspension of Habeas Corpus and even rudimentary due process. The proliferation of "signing statements" and legislation by executive order, both apparently intended to expand the power of "the Decider" and undermine the constitutionally-defined separation of powers. And now, most recently, the massacre at Haditha - which many knowledgeable individuals now acknowledge is not an isolated incident.
But it seems to me that what is often overlooked in what little discussion takes place about these things is that public relations nightmares like Gitmo and Abu Ghraib and now Haditha are not the reason we are losing the war. They are rather symptoms of the fact that we ARE losing the war, that we perhaps have already lost the war. The young men and women whom we have placed in harms way are doing exactly what we have asked them to do, exactly what they have been ordered to do.. But those at the highest levels of government who have issued the orders seem incapable of understanding that this struggle for the "hearts and minds" of the world is not a struggle that will be decided by who has the better spin doctors, or who can best control the press, dominate the news cycle, even fix elections. It will certainly not be determined by military force alone. Hearts and Minds are won through Wisdom and Compassion. And this Administration is sadly lacking in both.
The Bush administration has abandoned the "real" war on terror (or perhaps I should say, the struggle against the real terrorists) in order to become state supporters of terrorism themselves. Armed with the most powerful military force in the history of the world, and in possession of vast arsenals of weapons of mass destruction, they nevertheless find themselves bogged down in a war of attrition against a growing insurgency: a war which lacks tangible war aims or even a clear definition of victory, which lacks a coherent exit strategy, which may not even be "winable" by military means, and which is rapidly losing the support of the American People.
To punish a handful of Marines for committing war crimes on the ground is to miss the point. There are bigger War Criminals waiting to be brought to justice. Yet the moral, legal and political implications of taking THAT step have very ominous consequences for the future of our Democratic Republic. And that too is something for which the Bushies are to blame.
Notwithstanding this fleeting moment of empathetic "getting it," it still took me more than five years before I could bring myself to drink orange juice again. At first I saw a "baby Bush" Presidency as something to be endured and survived, and took comfort in the knowledge that the more time he spend on vacation at his ranch in Texas, the less real damage he could do to the country and to me personally. After 9/11, like many patriotic Americans, I tried very hard to rally loyally behind the dignity of the Office rather than giving in to my disdain for the man and his obvious shortcomings, only to feel disappointed and betrayed again and again as I watched Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld and company systematically twist and exploit our national tragedy for the political advantage of their maladroit, malapropic puppet, as well as the continued personal enrichment of their corporate cronies and the aggrandizement of the Religious Right.
The "Patriot" Act. The invasion of Iraq. That absurd "Mission Accomplished" photo op (not to mention the "Plastic Turkey" photo op that following Thanksgiving). Thousands of American soldiers killed; tens of thousands wounded; hundreds of billions of dollars squandered; crude oil at $70 a barrel and gasoline at $3 a gallon; record Federal deficits (and record oil company profits); untold numbers of warrantless searches, wiretaps, and incarcerations without trial or even benefit of counsel; gutted environmental regulations; the fiasco of Katrina; even a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as "a relationship between one man and one woman..." all the gifts of champagne soldiers and "chicken hawks" who love the sound of rattling sabers (and of course their own voices), but turn deaf ears and a blind eye to the cries of mothers whose children now rest in metal caskets draped in American flags.
Forgive me for sounding shrill, but given what we've all now seen with our own two eyes it is difficult to sound otherwise. It is difficult for me to understand how a nation, and more specifically a Congress, that was willing to impeach a sitting President for testifying evasively about receiving a blow job from a willing partner, now seems willing to ignore how profoundly this current President has fallen down on the job. How in his rush to provide tax cuts for his wealthy supporters in his the first year of his term, he ignored the intelligence warnings that al-Qaeda was planning a dramatic attack here in the United States. How he "sexed up" subsequent intelligence reports regarding the existence Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and suppressed or ignored information to the contrary, even allowing his minions to disclose the identity of one of our own intelligence operatives in order to discredit the opinions of her husband. Not only should it be obvious by now to anyone with even a half-way objective point-of-view that Iraqi WMDs were merely an extravagant pipe-dream that both Dubya and Saddam shared, it should also be painfully clear that the decision to invade Iraq in the first place was simply a foregone conclusion looking for a credible rationale: a settling of old scores from his father's administration together with a misguided attempt to control Iraqi oil; and that the war itself has now likewise gone terribly, terribly wrong...if it could ever have been said that it was right in the first place.
And along the dark underbelly of this failed policy is an even more disturbing reality. Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay. Abu Ghraib prison. "Rendition," "water-boarding" and "stress positions" (would not that which we refuse to call torture by any other name remain as brutal?). Military Tribunals. Suspension of Habeas Corpus and even rudimentary due process. The proliferation of "signing statements" and legislation by executive order, both apparently intended to expand the power of "the Decider" and undermine the constitutionally-defined separation of powers. And now, most recently, the massacre at Haditha - which many knowledgeable individuals now acknowledge is not an isolated incident.
But it seems to me that what is often overlooked in what little discussion takes place about these things is that public relations nightmares like Gitmo and Abu Ghraib and now Haditha are not the reason we are losing the war. They are rather symptoms of the fact that we ARE losing the war, that we perhaps have already lost the war. The young men and women whom we have placed in harms way are doing exactly what we have asked them to do, exactly what they have been ordered to do.. But those at the highest levels of government who have issued the orders seem incapable of understanding that this struggle for the "hearts and minds" of the world is not a struggle that will be decided by who has the better spin doctors, or who can best control the press, dominate the news cycle, even fix elections. It will certainly not be determined by military force alone. Hearts and Minds are won through Wisdom and Compassion. And this Administration is sadly lacking in both.
The Bush administration has abandoned the "real" war on terror (or perhaps I should say, the struggle against the real terrorists) in order to become state supporters of terrorism themselves. Armed with the most powerful military force in the history of the world, and in possession of vast arsenals of weapons of mass destruction, they nevertheless find themselves bogged down in a war of attrition against a growing insurgency: a war which lacks tangible war aims or even a clear definition of victory, which lacks a coherent exit strategy, which may not even be "winable" by military means, and which is rapidly losing the support of the American People.
To punish a handful of Marines for committing war crimes on the ground is to miss the point. There are bigger War Criminals waiting to be brought to justice. Yet the moral, legal and political implications of taking THAT step have very ominous consequences for the future of our Democratic Republic. And that too is something for which the Bushies are to blame.
Friday, June 02, 2006
What we gain when we give it away....
At our most recent congregational meeting, the members of the First Religious Society (or at least those in attendance) voted by a narrow margin to adopt a policy of dedicating the cash portion of the weekly offering to our Outreach and Social Action ministries. Because the vote was so close (18-12) it was the sense of the meeting that we would try this for a year as an experiment, and revisit the policy again at the next annual meeting. But as the person who suggested this idea to the Parish Committee in the first place, the responsibility fell to me to explain what I was thinking when I made the suggestion, and why I feel it’s something worth trying out.
This idea did not originate with me by the way, nor is it the first time something like it has been suggested at FRS. Many UU congregations around the country are now choosing to “give away” all or part of the Sunday offering to good causes beyond their own walls. Here in Carlisle we routinely take up a weekly Family offering of food and money for the support of the Open Pantry in Lowell, and have traditionally dedicated both our Thanksgiving and Christmas offerings to the Social Action Committee’s Outreach ministries as well.
The decision by the Parish Committee to recommend that FRS dedicate its entire cash offering to this same practice was in part inspired by the realization that the amount budgeted next year to be received through the offering (based on projections from years past) was already identical to the amount budgeted for Social Action outreach. In effect we were already doing this anyway; we just hadn’t identified it that way!
One benefit of formally linking the proceeds of the Sunday offering to Social Action Outreach ministries is that it allows folks to focus their attention more closely on the important role that gratitude and generosity toward others plays in our faith. The point is not merely to raise more money for these ministries (although hopefully that will be a by-product). The point is to remind ourselves weekly that “we live not for ourselves alone.”
A second benefit is that it compels us to take a closer look at how we take responsibility for funding the overall ministry of the church. Knowing that we are giving away the collection to others reminds us that we shouldn’t be counting on others to pay our own basic operating expenses like heat, salaries, office supplies and building maintenance.
There are also legitimate objections to the adoption of this kind of policy, which were eloquently and responsibly articulated at the congregational meeting. The most obvious question is what business do we have giving away the offering at a time when our own operating budget is painfully tight as it is. I don’t really have an answer for this, except for the earlier observation that at FRS we were already in effect doing it anyway.
A more wide-reaching concern has to do with the effect this sort of policy may have on the concept of a unified operating budget, and resisting the temptation to “earmark” other funds for other specific purposes, rather than for the support of the work and mission of the church as a whole. This is a constant pressure in church life, and I personally would be very disappointed indeed if adopting this new policy simply became “the camel’s nose” for creating separate “buckets of money” for every little pet project that comes down the road.
But in a larger sense, I also hope that adopting this current policy and trying it out for a year will give my congregation an opportunity to talk more deeply and more openly with one another about the important role money plays both in our own lives and in the life of the church. By discussing issues of responsibility and “ownership,” and developing the trust that we can count on one another to each do our share; by sharing our visions of the mission and purpose of the Church as an institution, and our dreams for its future; and by reminding ourselves weekly of the important contributions that generosity and gratitude make to our own happiness and satisfaction, I fully expect that "my people" will grow to feel enriched by this experiment. In fact, from my perspective based on the discussion at the annual meeting, we have already begun to experience its benefits
This idea did not originate with me by the way, nor is it the first time something like it has been suggested at FRS. Many UU congregations around the country are now choosing to “give away” all or part of the Sunday offering to good causes beyond their own walls. Here in Carlisle we routinely take up a weekly Family offering of food and money for the support of the Open Pantry in Lowell, and have traditionally dedicated both our Thanksgiving and Christmas offerings to the Social Action Committee’s Outreach ministries as well.
The decision by the Parish Committee to recommend that FRS dedicate its entire cash offering to this same practice was in part inspired by the realization that the amount budgeted next year to be received through the offering (based on projections from years past) was already identical to the amount budgeted for Social Action outreach. In effect we were already doing this anyway; we just hadn’t identified it that way!
One benefit of formally linking the proceeds of the Sunday offering to Social Action Outreach ministries is that it allows folks to focus their attention more closely on the important role that gratitude and generosity toward others plays in our faith. The point is not merely to raise more money for these ministries (although hopefully that will be a by-product). The point is to remind ourselves weekly that “we live not for ourselves alone.”
A second benefit is that it compels us to take a closer look at how we take responsibility for funding the overall ministry of the church. Knowing that we are giving away the collection to others reminds us that we shouldn’t be counting on others to pay our own basic operating expenses like heat, salaries, office supplies and building maintenance.
There are also legitimate objections to the adoption of this kind of policy, which were eloquently and responsibly articulated at the congregational meeting. The most obvious question is what business do we have giving away the offering at a time when our own operating budget is painfully tight as it is. I don’t really have an answer for this, except for the earlier observation that at FRS we were already in effect doing it anyway.
A more wide-reaching concern has to do with the effect this sort of policy may have on the concept of a unified operating budget, and resisting the temptation to “earmark” other funds for other specific purposes, rather than for the support of the work and mission of the church as a whole. This is a constant pressure in church life, and I personally would be very disappointed indeed if adopting this new policy simply became “the camel’s nose” for creating separate “buckets of money” for every little pet project that comes down the road.
But in a larger sense, I also hope that adopting this current policy and trying it out for a year will give my congregation an opportunity to talk more deeply and more openly with one another about the important role money plays both in our own lives and in the life of the church. By discussing issues of responsibility and “ownership,” and developing the trust that we can count on one another to each do our share; by sharing our visions of the mission and purpose of the Church as an institution, and our dreams for its future; and by reminding ourselves weekly of the important contributions that generosity and gratitude make to our own happiness and satisfaction, I fully expect that "my people" will grow to feel enriched by this experiment. In fact, from my perspective based on the discussion at the annual meeting, we have already begun to experience its benefits
Friday, May 26, 2006
Indefinite Tenure
I heard somewhere recently that the median tenure of all Unitarian Universalist ministers these days is now somewhere in the neighborhood of three years. That seemed a little short to me, until I realized that we were talking about the MEDIAN and not the "average" (or arithmetic mean); and that when I looked back at the 13 different congregations (not including random preaching gigs) I have served full or part time over the past quarter of a century, the median tenure of MY ministries is only 22 months. By way of comparison, my predecessor here at FRS has only served two churches in that same period of time: this one (from 1977 to 2001) and now (in retirement) an informal interim ministry at a nearby congregation. Combine his career with mine and the median becomes...22 months. But the average would be closer to 40....
This certainly wasn't at all what I expected when I first signed up for this kind of work. My two earliest mentors in ministry were the two longest tenured ministers in the denomination at the time of their respective retirements: Peter Raible served University Unitarian Church in Seattle for 36 years, while Rhys Williams was the minister of the First and Second Church in Boston for 40. Years, not months. And I know for a fact (because they both confided it to me) that one of the reasons Peter worked as long as he did was that he was hoping Rhys would retire first (so that Peter could pass him), and one of the reasons Rhys worked as long as HE did was that he was waiting for Peter to retire and give up!
Still, the appeal of long-tenured ministry remains alluring. There is something (I'm told) about officiating at the wedding of a child you christened, and then christening THEIR children (and, yes, eventually even burying the grandparents) which gives meaning to our work that simply cannot be found in any other way. It adds a whole new dimension of understanding to Leon Hopper's classic dichotomy about "being" a minister and "doing" ministry. At the end of the day, ministry is not about credentials, or education, or even a closet full of the appropriate clothing and a calendar crowded with "sacerdotal functions." Ministry is really about a relationship -- and we earn the privilege of calling ourselves "ministers" one person as a time, as they honor us with the distinction of calling us THEIR minister.
As someone with a fairly significant exposure to the world of academia, the difference between that understanding of "tenure" (as lifetime job security) and what I see in the ministry is striking. Settled clergy in our movement are supposed to enjoy "indefinite tenure" (in that we serve for no fixed term), but the truth of the matter is that we always serve solely at the pleasure of our people, who (over the short term at least) can often seem like a pretty fickle bunch. Yet they also hunger for the kind of community and authentic relationships that are increasingly rare in this ever more mobile, transient, "throw-away" consumer society we have managed to create for ourselves. And this is a job which can simply never be "outsourced."
This certainly wasn't at all what I expected when I first signed up for this kind of work. My two earliest mentors in ministry were the two longest tenured ministers in the denomination at the time of their respective retirements: Peter Raible served University Unitarian Church in Seattle for 36 years, while Rhys Williams was the minister of the First and Second Church in Boston for 40. Years, not months. And I know for a fact (because they both confided it to me) that one of the reasons Peter worked as long as he did was that he was hoping Rhys would retire first (so that Peter could pass him), and one of the reasons Rhys worked as long as HE did was that he was waiting for Peter to retire and give up!
Still, the appeal of long-tenured ministry remains alluring. There is something (I'm told) about officiating at the wedding of a child you christened, and then christening THEIR children (and, yes, eventually even burying the grandparents) which gives meaning to our work that simply cannot be found in any other way. It adds a whole new dimension of understanding to Leon Hopper's classic dichotomy about "being" a minister and "doing" ministry. At the end of the day, ministry is not about credentials, or education, or even a closet full of the appropriate clothing and a calendar crowded with "sacerdotal functions." Ministry is really about a relationship -- and we earn the privilege of calling ourselves "ministers" one person as a time, as they honor us with the distinction of calling us THEIR minister.
As someone with a fairly significant exposure to the world of academia, the difference between that understanding of "tenure" (as lifetime job security) and what I see in the ministry is striking. Settled clergy in our movement are supposed to enjoy "indefinite tenure" (in that we serve for no fixed term), but the truth of the matter is that we always serve solely at the pleasure of our people, who (over the short term at least) can often seem like a pretty fickle bunch. Yet they also hunger for the kind of community and authentic relationships that are increasingly rare in this ever more mobile, transient, "throw-away" consumer society we have managed to create for ourselves. And this is a job which can simply never be "outsourced."
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Why I am NOT a Unitarian-Universalist TM
I'm told that UU identity is a current thread in this corner of the Blogosphere, so I thought perhaps I'd share a few of my own ideas on the subject. Ideas, not answers. I don't really believe in "elevator speeches" although I can certainly see their utility. My own tends to focus on the historical -- that we are the direct institutional descendants of the Pilgrims who crossed the ocean in 1620 in search of religious liberty in a New World, and who during the Enlightenment rejected the doctrines of total depravity and predestined eternal damnation in favor of a belief in free will and basic human goodness, and the faith that ultimately All Souls will be reconciled with their Creator. So basically I like to think of myself as an Enlightened Pilgrim....
And then I generally say something like "Oh, but that really doesn't do us justice, since we're actually a lot different than most other churches you're probably familiar with, and you really need to experience it for yourself to appreciate it."
Of course, one can also always look to the Seven Principles (and the five, no wait, six sources), along with their predecessors: all that business about the Fatherhood of God, the neighborhood of Boston, and "the Progress of Mankind onward and upward forever." Or the tried-and-true characterizations regarding Universal Salvation and the humanity of Jesus. But does any of this really capture the spirit of who we are and what we truly stand for? And what does it say about us UUs that we have to ask ourselves this question in the first place?
Some of us still do think of ourselves as "unitarian" Universalists: liberal Christians who believe that God is a Spirit with whom we have a personal relationship, that Jesus is not just a great teacher, but OUR great teacher...that theology is an act of imaginative meaning-making which, despite it's limitations, can still cast light on an experience that is essentially beyond our understanding, and that the Gospel message that we are all God's children and heirs to God's kingdom is a good one.
Others of us are more comfortable with the notion of "universalist" Unitarianism: a form of radical, post-Christian neo-Transcendentalist Protestant panentheism which understands Religion (or "spirituality") as a basic element of the human experience, which each historical culture (and ultimately every individual) shapes in their own way based on their own particular context and circumstances. Thus the sacred can be seen in EVERY faith tradition, provided one just knows where to look.
And then there is "Unitarian-Universalism TM" -- a brand-new "brand" of religion/spirituality competing for greater shelf space in the marketplace of religions, constantly "re-inventing" itself In Search of Excellence or to become more "user-friendly" in the attempt to gain market share. This "new and improved" style of faith seeks to be agile and customer-focused, and is driven by the eternal (and insatiable) demand for higher Value, greater Quality, and ever more efficient Service.
I have to confess (if it isn't obvious already) that when I first learned that "Unitarian-Universalism" had become a registered trademark, it made me a little sick to my stomach. It's not that I don't appreciate the need for the denomination to protect its "brand" by legal means; it's just that I lament that need and pretty much everything it stands for.
But the more interesting question for me remains this: What IS it about "our liberal movement in theology" that allows us to believe all three of these things at once in the first place?
And then I generally say something like "Oh, but that really doesn't do us justice, since we're actually a lot different than most other churches you're probably familiar with, and you really need to experience it for yourself to appreciate it."
Of course, one can also always look to the Seven Principles (and the five, no wait, six sources), along with their predecessors: all that business about the Fatherhood of God, the neighborhood of Boston, and "the Progress of Mankind onward and upward forever." Or the tried-and-true characterizations regarding Universal Salvation and the humanity of Jesus. But does any of this really capture the spirit of who we are and what we truly stand for? And what does it say about us UUs that we have to ask ourselves this question in the first place?
Some of us still do think of ourselves as "unitarian" Universalists: liberal Christians who believe that God is a Spirit with whom we have a personal relationship, that Jesus is not just a great teacher, but OUR great teacher...that theology is an act of imaginative meaning-making which, despite it's limitations, can still cast light on an experience that is essentially beyond our understanding, and that the Gospel message that we are all God's children and heirs to God's kingdom is a good one.
Others of us are more comfortable with the notion of "universalist" Unitarianism: a form of radical, post-Christian neo-Transcendentalist Protestant panentheism which understands Religion (or "spirituality") as a basic element of the human experience, which each historical culture (and ultimately every individual) shapes in their own way based on their own particular context and circumstances. Thus the sacred can be seen in EVERY faith tradition, provided one just knows where to look.
And then there is "Unitarian-Universalism TM" -- a brand-new "brand" of religion/spirituality competing for greater shelf space in the marketplace of religions, constantly "re-inventing" itself In Search of Excellence or to become more "user-friendly" in the attempt to gain market share. This "new and improved" style of faith seeks to be agile and customer-focused, and is driven by the eternal (and insatiable) demand for higher Value, greater Quality, and ever more efficient Service.
I have to confess (if it isn't obvious already) that when I first learned that "Unitarian-Universalism" had become a registered trademark, it made me a little sick to my stomach. It's not that I don't appreciate the need for the denomination to protect its "brand" by legal means; it's just that I lament that need and pretty much everything it stands for.
But the more interesting question for me remains this: What IS it about "our liberal movement in theology" that allows us to believe all three of these things at once in the first place?
Friday, May 19, 2006
All Ministry is Local
I suppose it almost goes without saying that one of the more thought provoking things about writing a BLOG (at least when I compare it to the kind of journaling I have done routinely my entire adult life) is the realization that someone may actually be reading this. I imagine many bloggers like to dream that they will eventually gather HUGE audiences of highly-appreciative anonymous readers, but I'm a lot more intimidated by the realization that my most likely readers are my friends and family, colleagues and parishioners -- people who know me, and who have already formed some sort of impression of me, which may or may not be entirely favorable, and over which I probably have very little meaningful influence, much less control. So long as my writing is for my eyes only I have COMPLETE control -- I can revise, I can edit...change this word for that one on a whim...it's all mine. But once I "publish" by making my writing public, it no longer belongs to me but instead takes on a life of its own. I'm not really sure how I feel about that. Not really sure how much of myself I honestly want to "share."
Went to a Ministers Meeting this past week, the last of the season before we all go our separate ways for the summer. It was supposed to be a picnic, but a foot of rain here in Massachusetts over the past few days pretty much washed those plans out. Never mind the Noah's Ark allusions -- just goes to show that for clergy even a picnic is no picnic. Or in the words of the Sun King, "Apres nous, le deluge." (sorry this browser doesn't support the accent). In any event, there were nineteen of us in attendance, not counting my dog Parker (who is also female): seventeen women and two men. A pretty dramatic change in demographics from my first ministers meetings 25 years ago, when the gender ratios would have typically been exactly the opposite. But that's only the most obvious difference. Lots more "second career" clergy in the room as well, which means older individuals with less time in the pulpit yet lots of different secular life experience. And the tenor of the meetings is different as well. That old bunch tended to be a pretty hard-drinking crowd, who came to these retreats to let their hair down among trusted colleagues in a very lonely and isolated profession. In this regard the model of collegiality seems to have changed dramatically - the "covenant" between us is more explicit, yet the intensity of the personal loyalties I recall from my youth seems somewhat diminished. This may simply reflect changes in me as much as it does changes in the profession. Or it may merely reflect changes in the larger culture as well. Of course, the hardest adjustment is realizing that, after a quarter-century in the pulpit, I too have become (at least in the eyes of many) an "Old Boy" myself.
I don't really mourn the passing of "the Old Boy's Network" although I do miss many of the Old Boys themselves -- my early mentors in ministry who devoted their entire lives to this strange and ancient profession/vocation/calling we share. Not a one of them was perfect, yet they had learned the hard way how to do this work despite their imperfections, and were very generous to a youngster like myself facing those struggles for the first time. When I arrived at my first settled pulpit in Midland, Texas -- the only settled Unitarian minister between Fort Worth and El Paso, Austin and Albuquerque -- my colleagues in the district informed me that there were only two rules I needed to remember: if another minister asks you to do something, the answer is "Yes" and the only excuse for missing a minister's meeting is a funeral: your own. That may still be the way they do ministry in Texas, but it would sure be a hard sell here in Massachusetts.
I actually participate in a handful of different clergy groups at the moment, at various levels of "involvement." My most faithful participation is in my informal local "cluster" -- a small group of UU clergy who get together once a month for lunch in Chelmsford mostly just to shoot the breeze and share one another's company. Although my church is technically a member of the Clara Barton district (which covers Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut), I prefer to attend the Mass Bay district ministers meetings -- both because I have many more friends in that district, and the meetings are a lot more convenient. But I also try to attend the Clara Barton meetings when I can -- generally about half the time, and never (at least not since I've been here) overnight. That's a boundary I've set for myself because of the dog: she's not often invited to the overnight retreats, and I can't really leave her alone in the parsonage overnight. Finally there is the ecumenical Concord Clergy Alliance, which I rarely attend because it tends to conflict with the Mass Bay meetings.
I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for my colleagues in ministry: as a group they possess so many amazing and diverse talents, which they use in such creative ways in the performance of this challenging vocation. There's no such thing as an "ideal" minister, yet ultimately this doesn't really matter; it is simply in the nature of the work of ministry that it will take from you everything you have to give it, and still it won't seem like enough. And yet somehow, it always manages to BE enough... (well, not ALWAYS, but that's a topic for another day). Yet as much as I admire and respect and even love my colleagues, I've also learned an even more important lesson from them over the years -- the lesson that "All Ministry is Local." Ultimately, our loyalty must be not to those who share our profession, but to our congregations: to the people who have invited us to become THEIR minister, and to the Deity we congregate together weekly to serve and worship. Rather than any academic degree or professional credential, it is "our People" who make us ministers by offering to us their trust and respect, and the privilege of serving as *their* minister. It's a privilege we earn one person at a time, and nothing in the world is more precious.
The Adorable Parker, my beloved Boston Terrorist
Went to a Ministers Meeting this past week, the last of the season before we all go our separate ways for the summer. It was supposed to be a picnic, but a foot of rain here in Massachusetts over the past few days pretty much washed those plans out. Never mind the Noah's Ark allusions -- just goes to show that for clergy even a picnic is no picnic. Or in the words of the Sun King, "Apres nous, le deluge." (sorry this browser doesn't support the accent). In any event, there were nineteen of us in attendance, not counting my dog Parker (who is also female): seventeen women and two men. A pretty dramatic change in demographics from my first ministers meetings 25 years ago, when the gender ratios would have typically been exactly the opposite. But that's only the most obvious difference. Lots more "second career" clergy in the room as well, which means older individuals with less time in the pulpit yet lots of different secular life experience. And the tenor of the meetings is different as well. That old bunch tended to be a pretty hard-drinking crowd, who came to these retreats to let their hair down among trusted colleagues in a very lonely and isolated profession. In this regard the model of collegiality seems to have changed dramatically - the "covenant" between us is more explicit, yet the intensity of the personal loyalties I recall from my youth seems somewhat diminished. This may simply reflect changes in me as much as it does changes in the profession. Or it may merely reflect changes in the larger culture as well. Of course, the hardest adjustment is realizing that, after a quarter-century in the pulpit, I too have become (at least in the eyes of many) an "Old Boy" myself.
I don't really mourn the passing of "the Old Boy's Network" although I do miss many of the Old Boys themselves -- my early mentors in ministry who devoted their entire lives to this strange and ancient profession/vocation/calling we share. Not a one of them was perfect, yet they had learned the hard way how to do this work despite their imperfections, and were very generous to a youngster like myself facing those struggles for the first time. When I arrived at my first settled pulpit in Midland, Texas -- the only settled Unitarian minister between Fort Worth and El Paso, Austin and Albuquerque -- my colleagues in the district informed me that there were only two rules I needed to remember: if another minister asks you to do something, the answer is "Yes" and the only excuse for missing a minister's meeting is a funeral: your own. That may still be the way they do ministry in Texas, but it would sure be a hard sell here in Massachusetts.
I actually participate in a handful of different clergy groups at the moment, at various levels of "involvement." My most faithful participation is in my informal local "cluster" -- a small group of UU clergy who get together once a month for lunch in Chelmsford mostly just to shoot the breeze and share one another's company. Although my church is technically a member of the Clara Barton district (which covers Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut), I prefer to attend the Mass Bay district ministers meetings -- both because I have many more friends in that district, and the meetings are a lot more convenient. But I also try to attend the Clara Barton meetings when I can -- generally about half the time, and never (at least not since I've been here) overnight. That's a boundary I've set for myself because of the dog: she's not often invited to the overnight retreats, and I can't really leave her alone in the parsonage overnight. Finally there is the ecumenical Concord Clergy Alliance, which I rarely attend because it tends to conflict with the Mass Bay meetings.
I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for my colleagues in ministry: as a group they possess so many amazing and diverse talents, which they use in such creative ways in the performance of this challenging vocation. There's no such thing as an "ideal" minister, yet ultimately this doesn't really matter; it is simply in the nature of the work of ministry that it will take from you everything you have to give it, and still it won't seem like enough. And yet somehow, it always manages to BE enough... (well, not ALWAYS, but that's a topic for another day). Yet as much as I admire and respect and even love my colleagues, I've also learned an even more important lesson from them over the years -- the lesson that "All Ministry is Local." Ultimately, our loyalty must be not to those who share our profession, but to our congregations: to the people who have invited us to become THEIR minister, and to the Deity we congregate together weekly to serve and worship. Rather than any academic degree or professional credential, it is "our People" who make us ministers by offering to us their trust and respect, and the privilege of serving as *their* minister. It's a privilege we earn one person at a time, and nothing in the world is more precious.
The Adorable Parker, my beloved Boston Terrorist
Monday, May 15, 2006
Doctor Jensen and Reverend Tim
Often when I look back at the things I've done in my life, it seems like I'm looking at the accomplishments of a different person. I'm so much more impressive on paper than I feel in real life. I think it was John Lennon who said that "life is what happens while we're making other plans," but in my life I've successfully achieved many of my lifetime goals, but I still don't feel any different than I did when I was 17. OK, maybe that's not entirely true. Hell, it's not even a little true....
In any event, apparently I'm a pretty amazing guy, but no one is more amazed by this than me. So before I try to introduce you to the "real" me, here I am on paper (along with a few explanatory comments which I hope will help put it all in context).
***
AN ANNOTATED CURRICULUM VITA
Rev. Dr. Timothy Ward Jensen
109 Church Street, Carlisle MA 01741
(978) 369-0284; (503) 816-2859 (cellular)
timothy_jensen@post.harvard.edu
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy in American History (June 16, 2001)
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Dissertation title: "The Wares: Three Generations of American Unitarians"
Earning a doctoral degree had been a goal of mine since I was a sophomore in High School. That year I was fortunate enough to have two excellent teachers, Fred Metzer for Beginning Speech and Donald Cummings for English, both of whom had PhDs, and who together profoundly influenced the subsequent direction of my life. My own doctoral studies basically revolved around two related questions: one personal, the other academic and professional. “Am I capable of writing a substantial book, and still having a life?” And the second is like unto it: “How did the Unitarian Universalist ministry come to be the way that it is today?” My answer to the first question turned out to be a qualified “yes” — provided I am willing to make the discipline of writing a significant part of that life. The second question remains a subject of considerable curiosity to me: the more I learn, the more questions I discover as well.
I usually describe my academic field as “19th-century American Religious History,” but my interests are far more eclectic, and include the history of the professions in general and their role in American society, the sociology of religion, the relationship between religion and literature, as well as more traditional themes of social history such as race, class, and gender/sexuality. My elective coursework and teaching assignments (described below) likewise acquainted me with topics such as environmental history, the history of the American West, radical labor history, even military history. Finally, much to my surprise and for the first time in my life, I was a “straight A student” at the University of Oregon — ironic, since by that point in my education the grades had stopped meaning anything to me anymore anyway, and I was at long last learning solely for the love of knowledge itself.
Master of Arts Interdisciplinary Studies [MAIS] - American Studies (March 22, 1996) (US Intellectual History, American Literature, Philosophy of Religion)
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
I enrolled at Oregon State primarily for the opportunity to study with two professors whose work I admire very much: Unitarian historian and Emerson scholar David Robinson, and New Testament scholar and “Jesus Seminar” member Marcus Borg (for whom I also worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant). Having been out of college for nearly a decade, I wasn’t certain how I was going to react to being back in school again. The answer is that I took to it like a Duck to water: in this instance, the still, deep water of a secluded pond created by a small but active colony of busy Beavers.
Master of Arts in English/Creative Writing (June 8, 1984)
Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
I enrolled in this program after first being hired by WWU to work as a Residence Hall Director (see below), because I wanted to study creative writing with Annie Dillard, and needed to be a degree candidate in order to be allowed to register for her workshop. I left the job after only a year, but continued on to complete the requirements for the degree, eventually defending my thesis the following year while working as an intern minister at University Unitarian Church in Seattle.
Master of Divinity [MDiv] (June 4, 1981)
Harvard University Divinity School, Cambridge, MA
I took all the “standard” courses every Divinity Student SHOULD take: Old and New Testament, Church History, Theology, Ethics, World Religions. I also studied (and eventually failed, although I did learn enough to pass the required language exam) two years of Koine Greek, which in retrospect has turned out to have had a tremendous impact on my subsequent ministry and theological orientation. The two professors who had the greatest influence on me at the time were Unitarian historian C. Conrad Wright, and my advisor Sharon Parks, a student of James Fowler’s who works in Adolescent Faith Development. I also took a large number of “practical” courses, in part to try to compensate for my relative youth (I was only 21 when I enrolled at Harvard; 24 when I graduated), and completed twice the required amount of Field Education. Rhys Williams, my field education supervisor at the First and Second Church in Boston, was my first and one of my most important mentors in ministry.
Bachelor of Arts in English (June 10, 1978 )
(with Distinction and Departmental Honors)
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Growing up in Seattle as the eldest son of a Dawg, I never seriously considered attending college anywhere other than the University of Washington, and the fact that I was initially “wait-listed” there proved a powerful incentive to apply myself diligently to my studies once I was eventually accepted. Since that time I have been a Duck, a Beaver, a Viking and a Crimson, but in my heart-of-hearts I will always bleed Purple and Gold. In addition to my normal undergraduate coursework, I also worked two years as a Residence Hall Advisor, wrote briefly for the UW Daily, and participated in a variety of intramural sports: touch football, basketball, softball, and volleyball. My volleyball team actually won the University “co-recreational” (mixed men’s and women’s) championship my Junior year, and I think I may still even have the T-shirt to prove it! I became an English major by accident; after completing my first two years of elective coursework, I discovered that I had already fulfilled two-thirds of the requirements for an English degree, and was invited by the Department to participate in their Honors program, which meant maintaining a certain grade point average, enrolling in two additional Honors seminars (one of which I had already taken), and writing a Senior thesis, in my case a highly forgettable, post-moderenesque commentary on Joseph Campbell’s The Masks of God. The designation “with Distinction” was the UW’s plain English equivalent of Cum Laude, although now that my alma mater is widely recognized as a “public ivy,” I think they may have gone back to Latin. In any event, it was an honor that I was not even aware that I had earned until my diploma arrived in the mail 8-12 weeks following Commencement.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Parish Ministry:
Settled Parish Minister
The First Religious Society in Carlisle
Carlisle, MA (since 2003)
Carlisle is an affluent exurban bedroom community located “over the river and through the woods” just beyond the famous Old North Bridge in historic Concord, approximately a 45 minute drive from downtown Boston. Yet it retains much of the look and feel of the rural agricultural village it was just a few generations ago. Outstanding schools and ample conservation land contribute to its attractiveness as a community. The First Religious Society occupies a traditional white-steepled New England meeting house overlooking the town common high on a hill in the center of town. I immediately fell in love with this church and its people the moment I met them, and actually turned down a more lucrative (six-figure) offer from another, larger congregation in order to settle here. I live in a parsonage next door to the meeting house, approximately seven miles (as the crow flies) from the site of Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond. A brief walk through the woods behind my house takes me to the town library, the post office, and a small country store where one may purchase coffee, muffins, hot soup and sandwiches, along with all the other easily overlooked conveniences of daily living. The school is immediately across the street; the Town Hall, Police Station and Firehouse all a brief walk across the common in the opposite direction.
The formal organization of the First Religious Society actually preceeded the legal incorporation of the Town of Carlisle by about half a century, and the congregation continues to see itself as the “heart and soul” of the Carlisle community. We engage in an active public ministry to the residents of the town, hosting an annual Harvest Fair, a Christmas Greens Sale, and a summer Strawberry Festival as well as providing meeting space for numerous community groups ranging from the Council on Aging to the Girl Scouts. We also share space with the Red Balloon Preschool (founded by church members some 35 years ago), and sponsor numerous lectures, concerts, and other programs of community interest throughout the year. We are an enthusiastic Habitat for Humanity Covenant Congregation, and support a long-established volunteer outreach ministry in Lowell.
I've been at FRS long enough now that my parishioners are starting to figure out that I don’t walk on water, or change water into wine; that I can’t be everywhere at once (or even two places at the same time); that I don’t read minds or know everything there is to know without first being told (and often reminded as well, sometimes more than once); and that no matter how hard they may pray otherwise, I personally am powerless to solve every difficult problem little or large that comes into our lives, or to create Something out of Nothing by Word alone. A few may have been a little disappointed at first (especially about the water into wine part), but I think they're starting to get used to the idea. For my own part, despite having "settled" in the congregation of my dreams, I often struggle with how spiritually and emotionally demanding this work of ministry can be, and am often pleasantly surprised by how regularly and routinely "my people" pick me up again.
Interim Minister,
Second Congregational Meeting House Society (Unitarian),
Nantucket, MA (2001-2003)
Nantucket is truly a unique (and special) place. There are approximately 8,000 permanent “year-round” residents living on the island, but that number can swell to 50,000+ on a sunny, summer weekend. The “Faraway Island” is a quaint, historical community, a playground for the wealthy, idolized for its lovely beaches and preserved open spaces, now facing the burgeoning problems of too much traffic, a serious lack of affordable housing, and sprawl. “South Church” itself is both an historic landmark and a Nantucket icon; its golden dome and clock tower loom prominently over the town, and are clearly visible from the harbor and many other places on the island.
My principle challenge and most important accomplishment as an interim minister was to help cultivate a collaborative and mutually supportive collegial relationship with the legendary and much-beloved minister emeritus, who had served the Nantucket congregation for 29 years, and continues to live on the island (where he is deservedly revered by the larger community and enjoys a very active retirement). The congregation had already experienced one “failed” interim ministry prior to my arrival, which left them feeling badly divided and fearful that they would never be able to attract a permanent candidate to settle there. My experience, however, was overwhelmingly positive. I developed both an excellent working and a close personal relationship with the minister emeritus, which both protected the integrity of his retirement and allowed him to create a new role for himself as a regular member of the congregation (and one of my strongest and most important supporters). Attendance increased, and the congregation began to feel revitalized and eager to explore fresh new directions in ministry. I was also able to establish my own presence and identity in the larger community, and to work effectively in partnership with the lay leadership of the society to strengthen their ties to the denomination and put into place a program and administrative infrastructure appropriate to the needs of a dynamic, “pastoral”-sized congregation. What was the old-fashioned secret of my success? Good preaching, plenty of pastoral visitation, respect for local customs and traditions, and a profound understanding of our historical polity and its practical applications within a contemporary church community. Oh yes, and hard work, a healthy sense of humor, personal spiritual and religious authenticity, and regular prayer....
Consulting Minister,
Umpqua UU Church,
Roseburg, OR (1/2 time, 2000-01)
I won’t claim to have “invented” Consulting Ministry, but I certainly put my stamp on the way it is practiced in the PNWD. The basic arrangement is generally one or two long weekends a month, together with a newsletter column and regular phone and e-mail contact as needed. The idea is to provide small congregations without a regularly settled minister with a consistent ministerial presence, as well as an opportunity to draw upon the minister’s professional expertise while working toward a set of pre-determined goals: typically more inspirational worship, better visitor hospitality and membership growth, and an improved every member canvass. It’s an imperfect arrangement for everyone involved, but it does frequently provide a stepping-stone to something more satisfactory somewhere down the line.
Each of my consulting ministries has been a little different, but the one factor they all share is that they required a considerable amount of travel on my part: over 237,000 miles (as registered on the odometer of my green ‘93 Ford Escort wagon) in the eight years I served as an itinerant “circuit rider.” Yet I learned things from this style of ministry that I could never have learned anywhere else, and the experience also proved a very nice compliment to my doctoral studies and my work as a Graduate Teaching Fellow.
Consulting Minister,
UU Congregation of Whidbey Island,
Freeland, WA (1/4 time, 2000-01)
Perhaps my favorite of all the congregations I consulted with (if clergy are allowed to have "favorites"), as well as the experience which inspired me to accept the interim position on Nantucket. During my tenure UUCWI purchased land, and began raising money toward the construction of their own building.
Consulting Minister,
Wy'east UU Congregation,
Portland, OR (1/2 time, 1998-99)
Because of its relative proximity to my home, this was more like a regular half-time settlement than a true consulting ministry. I helped organize a campus ministry program at nearby Reed College (a simple task, since all of the real work was done by the students themselves, including two who are now colleagues: Thom Belote and Marc Lousteau), facilitated a coming-of-age program in cooperation with the Atkinson Memorial Church in Oregon City, and also was available to attend some evening meetings during the week. During my tenure there, Wy’east applied for and was accepted into the UUA Extension Ministry program, and in the fall of 1999 they received a full-time Extension Minister.
Consulting Minister,
Olympic UU Fellowship,
Port Angeles, WA (1/4 time, 1997-99)
At the conclusion of my two-year relationship with this congregation, they entered into a half-time contract with another consulting minister, and were moving toward construction of a new building on land they already owned. The building was dedicated in the spring of 2001.
Consulting Minister,
UU Fellowship of Central Oregon,
Bend, OR (1/4 time, 1996-97)
Bend was probably the most frustrating and disappointing of my consulting ministries; it was a long, scary drive over the mountains in winter, with not much to show for my efforts once I arrived. They were all good people, but unfortunately there was very little consensus or clairty about what they expected out of the church or my ministry there, and my ability to help them suffered as a result.
Summer Minister,
First Unitarian Church,
Portland, OR (Summer, 1996)
This was a brief taste for me of what it might be like to be the Senior Minister of a large, multi-staff downtown Church. I decided that I liked it. Obviously, summer is a little different from the regular program year; my basic responsibilities were to preach, to work with the excellent lay pastoral care team, to lead a weekly staff meeting for whoever was not on vacation, to officiate at weddings, and to deal with whatever other routine emergencies happened to spring up. The excellent office administrator kept me pointed in the right direction, my sermons were very well received, and on Labor Day I returned Marilyn’s pulpit back to her none the worse for wear.
Consulting Minister,
Skagit UU Fellowship,
Mount Vernon, WA (1/4 time, 1993-95)
The first of my six consulting ministries had its genesis when I was asked at the eleventh hour to substitute for a colleague who was compelled to cancel a preaching engagement. The congregation apparently liked what they heard, so the Church President, knowing that my mother lived only twenty minutes away, suggested that I might want to visit her more often. Two years later, having already moved twice to accommodate growth, Skagit was ready to buy a building of their own, and at the same time entered into a half-time relationship with another UU minister whose actual residence was much closer than mine.
Extension/New Congregation Minister,
Unitarian Universalist Community Church,
Hillsboro, OR (1988 -90)
Despite its difficulties, the challenge of working with a “start-up” church was also exhilarating on many levels, and I remain especially proud of the fact that this congregation essentially doubled in size (from 64 to 125 members) during the first eighteen months of my ministry there. The outreach techniques I learned through my Extension training and practiced in Hillsboro I later adapted for use as a consulting minister, with equally excellent results. I also learned quite a bit about the nature of church conflict, as the "pioneers" who had first started this congregation began to resent the "newcomers" who were rapidly beginning to outnumber them, and blamed me for trying to "take over" their congregation and change everything. It was in the aftermath of this experience that I began to ask myself for the first time some of the subtle questions about the nature of clerical authority and the “professionalization” of ministry which subsequently informed my doctoral research. If it never breaks down, you never learn how to fix it.
Settled Parish Minister,
Unitarian Universalist Church,
Midland, TX (1985 -88)
Despite occasionally joking that Midland is located “in the center of Texas and the middle of nowhere,” from a professional standpoint this church was a very good first settlement for me, and in retrospect I wish that I could have convinced my wife to stay there longer than we did. At the time I compared living in Texas to living in a foreign country, yet I also tried to resist the temptation to think and act like an “ugly Ecotopian,” judging everything I saw around me by my own pre-existing liberal values rather than attempting to experience and understand the culture according to its own lights. Likewise, as the only settled UU minister between Fort Worth and El Paso, Austin and Albuquerque, my presence was certainly much appreciated by my “flock,” even if they were relatively few in number. I was welcomed as a member of the mainline, ecumenical religious community, enjoyed my work as a volunteer hospital emergency room chaplain and with other community organizations like Planned Parenthood, and felt especially grateful for the opportunity to participate in Prairie Group, and the various activities of the Southwest District.
Intern Minister,
University Unitarian Church,
Seattle, WA (1983 -84)
My internship at University Church was somewhat unorthodox, in that I had already been ordained for two years at the time I started there. But because of my relative youth, the Ministerial Fellowship Committee had stipulated that I must either complete a year-long resident internship, or else restrict myself to settlement as an assistant or associate minister before becoming eligible to be called to a pulpit of my own. Peter Raible generously offered me the opportunity to fulfill that requirement by working with him. In actual substance, my “internship” probably differed little from that of any other intern, except that I assumed some additional pastoral and administrative responsibilities for the nearby Shoreline Unitarian Church under the terms of a year-long joint operating agreement with UUC.
Field Education Student Intern,
The First and Second Church in Boston,
Boston, MA (1978-81)
I worked at First and Second Church all three years I spent at Harvard, was ordained there the Sunday following my graduation, and continue to feel a very special affinity for that congregation twenty-five years later (notwithstanding my disappointment that they have recently voted to drop "Second Church" from the letterhead). This was my first real experience in the role of “minister,” and I could not have asked for a better role model than Rhys Williams.
Intern Chaplain (Clinical Pastoral Education),
Virginia Mason Hospital,
Seattle, WA (Summer 1979)
My unit of Basic CPE was an intensive, eleven week summer internship at a highly respected acute care hospital in my home town of Seattle. In addition to this important exposure to the practice of hospital minsitry, I also learned a significant lesson about the concept of "opportunity cost." In order to complete this required internship and be certain of graduating from Divinity School in the prescribed three year sequence, I turned down an opportunity to travel through Europe that summer instead, free of charge, in the company of a truly extraordinary woman I’d been dating at Harvard, who worked for Harvard Student Agencies, publisher of the famous "Let’s Go" guidebooks. She found a more amiable traveling companion, and I earned my degree right on schedule; yet I’ve often wondered how different my life might have been, had I been willing to take the chance of making the “irresponsible” choice.
College and University Teaching:
Graduate Teaching Fellow in History, University of Oregon,
Eugene, OR (1997-01)
A large measure of the actual classroom instruction at institutions like the University of Oregon is done by Graduate Teaching Assistants, who serve as discussion section leaders for large undergraduate lecture classes. Because of my previous academic preparation, I was often pressed into service as the “utility historian;” my teaching assignments included not only HIST 201, 202, 203 United States History, but also HIST 101 Western Civilization, HIST 301, 303 Modern Europe, HIST 351 American Radicalism, HIST 240 War in the Modern World, and HIST 399 Special Studies: WWII on Film.
Visiting Scholar in American History, Aalborg University,
Aalborg, Denmark (Spring, 2000)
This was a unique opportunity which I simply couldn’t pass up. I spent the better part of a semester as a visiting doctoral student in Denmark, then traveled for a month in France, Italy and Germany before returning to the U.S.
Visiting Instructor in Religious Studies, University of Oregon,
Eugene, OR (Spring, 1998).
Shortly after advancing to candidacy, I went on leave from the Graduate School for a term in order to work as an adjunct Professor of Religious Studies, covering part of the teaching load of the program chair during his sabbatical. I taught two courses: REL 111 Introduction to the Study of the Bible, and REL 323 Modern Western Christianity.
Graduate Teaching Fellow in Religious Studies, University of Oregon,
Eugene, OR (1996-97).
My first GTF appointment at the UO was in the Religious Studies department. My assignments were REL 111 Introduction to the Study of the Bible, and REL 202 Great Religions of the World.
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Oregon State University,
Corvallis, OR (1994-96)
This was a combined appointment in English and Philosophy. I was Marcus Borg’s personal teaching assistant for PHIL 101 Intro to Philosophy, PHIL 436 Philosophy of Religion, PHIL 443 Environmental Values and Religious World-Views, and PHIL 411/511 Historical Jesus. I also taught five different sections of WR 121 Freshman English, and one of WR 214 Business Writing.
Adjunct Instructor in English, Midland College,
Midland, TX (Spring, 1986)
I took on this job as a favor to a parishioner, who needed someone to cover a class during his sabbatical. I taught one section of ENG 112 Second Semester Freshman English.
General Employment:
Store Manager, B. Dalton Bookseller,
Beaverton, OR (1990-93)
During the time my former wife attended Law School in Portland, I worked as a retail bookseller, beginning as a temporary holiday employee and eventually being promoted up through the ranks to managing an entire store. This is the only job I have ever held as an adult that was not in some way related to the church or academia. I learned a little bit about retail and what it is like to work for a big corporation like Barnes & Noble, and also quite a bit more about managing a business: how to hire, train, and supervise employees, control inventory and expenses, provide good customer service, and at the end of the day still show a profit on the bottom line. I am still quietly proud of that fact that, in my final twelve-months as a bookseller, I turned around a store with a prolonged history of steadily declining sales, and set an annual record for both gross sales and profitability.
Residence Hall Director, Western Washington University,
Bellingham, WA (1981-82)
I found this job through a classified ad in the local Sunday newspaper, and applied for it because I was annoyed by the MFC’s settlement restrictions (previously described), and wanted a little time to get to know my own mind. I was the live-in manager of a 225 student on-campus dormitory, and supervised four undergraduate Resident Assistants.
Odd Jobs and Youthful Avocations (1971-1978)
Ordinarily I wouldn’t include an entry like this in my curriculum vita, but in this context it somehow seems appropriate. In addition to the usual kind of babysitting and lawn mowing jobs, as a kid I also worked in a variety of restaurant positions (waiter, dishwasher, busboy, cashier — but never a cook or bartender), parked cars for tips at the local yacht club, was an umpire/referee for various youth sporting events, the official scorer for a Little League organization, and a member of a surveying crew. My High School activities included Debate, Student Government, various Junior Varsity sports (football, basketball, baseball, track...none of which I particularly excelled at), occasional articles in the student newspaper, and a small part in a student-produced play.
PUBLISHED WRITINGS, CONFERENCE PAPERS, HONORS AND AWARDS
"The Wares: Three Generations of American Unitarians." Unitarian Universalist Scholars Program Dissertation Fellowship Presentation, UUA General Assembly, Salt Lake City, UT, June 1999. This is also the title of my doctoral dissertation, which I successfully defended on May 21, 2001.
Mellon Research Fellowship, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston MA Summer 2000.
"From Mythos to Merger: a Brief Review of Unitarian and Universalist History" in Redeeming Time: Endowing Your Church with the Power of Covenant. Walter P. Herz, ed. Boston: Skinner House, 1999.
"‘Their own thought in motley…’: Emerson's Divinity School Address and Henry Ware, Jr.'s Hints on Extemporaneous Preaching." Journal of Unitarian Universalist History 24 (1997).
"Experiencing Theodore Parker as a Minister." Collegium of Liberal Religious Scholars, October 1996.
"My nonsense is only their own thought in motley;" Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Ware, Jr., and the "Nature" of "Christian Character." Masters Thesis, Oregon State University, 1995.
Unitarian Universalist Scholar Fellowship Recipient, 1995-98.
"Associational Covenant: Implicit Models of Relationship Between and Among our Congregations." Prairie Group, November 1988.
"Black Cross" and other Stories. Masters Thesis, Western Washington University, 1983.
Phi Eta Sigma academic honor society.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association (since 1979)
Collegium of Liberal Religious Scholars (on and off since 1980)
Prairie Group (1985-88)
Pacific Northwest District Extension Steering Committee (1998 - 2001)
Board of Directors, Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (1998-2005)
Editorial Board, Unitarian Universalist Christian (since 2001)
Board of Directors, Unitarian Universalist Historical Society (since 2005)
Treasurer, Unitarian Universalist Historical Society (since 2006)
Publications Committee, Unitarian Universalist Historical Society (since 2005)
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
UUA Interim Ministry Training, Cleveland OH, June 2001.
Samaritan Family Systems/Parish Leadership Consulting Group, 1989-90.
Alban Institute Conflict Management Workshop, Portland, OR, Mar. 1990.
Alban Institute Church Growth Seminar, Portland OR, Oct. 1989.
UUA Extension Ministry/New Congregation Training, Boston MA, Aug. 1988.
UUA Preaching Seminar, Chicago IL, Aug. 1986.
UUA Start-up Seminar, Palo Alto CA, Feb. 1986.
Pacific Northwest District Basic Leadership School, Summer, 1984
In any event, apparently I'm a pretty amazing guy, but no one is more amazed by this than me. So before I try to introduce you to the "real" me, here I am on paper (along with a few explanatory comments which I hope will help put it all in context).
***
AN ANNOTATED CURRICULUM VITA
Rev. Dr. Timothy Ward Jensen
109 Church Street, Carlisle MA 01741
(978) 369-0284; (503) 816-2859 (cellular)
timothy_jensen@post.harvard.edu
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy in American History (June 16, 2001)
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Dissertation title: "The Wares: Three Generations of American Unitarians"
Earning a doctoral degree had been a goal of mine since I was a sophomore in High School. That year I was fortunate enough to have two excellent teachers, Fred Metzer for Beginning Speech and Donald Cummings for English, both of whom had PhDs, and who together profoundly influenced the subsequent direction of my life. My own doctoral studies basically revolved around two related questions: one personal, the other academic and professional. “Am I capable of writing a substantial book, and still having a life?” And the second is like unto it: “How did the Unitarian Universalist ministry come to be the way that it is today?” My answer to the first question turned out to be a qualified “yes” — provided I am willing to make the discipline of writing a significant part of that life. The second question remains a subject of considerable curiosity to me: the more I learn, the more questions I discover as well.
I usually describe my academic field as “19th-century American Religious History,” but my interests are far more eclectic, and include the history of the professions in general and their role in American society, the sociology of religion, the relationship between religion and literature, as well as more traditional themes of social history such as race, class, and gender/sexuality. My elective coursework and teaching assignments (described below) likewise acquainted me with topics such as environmental history, the history of the American West, radical labor history, even military history. Finally, much to my surprise and for the first time in my life, I was a “straight A student” at the University of Oregon — ironic, since by that point in my education the grades had stopped meaning anything to me anymore anyway, and I was at long last learning solely for the love of knowledge itself.
Master of Arts Interdisciplinary Studies [MAIS] - American Studies (March 22, 1996) (US Intellectual History, American Literature, Philosophy of Religion)
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
I enrolled at Oregon State primarily for the opportunity to study with two professors whose work I admire very much: Unitarian historian and Emerson scholar David Robinson, and New Testament scholar and “Jesus Seminar” member Marcus Borg (for whom I also worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant). Having been out of college for nearly a decade, I wasn’t certain how I was going to react to being back in school again. The answer is that I took to it like a Duck to water: in this instance, the still, deep water of a secluded pond created by a small but active colony of busy Beavers.
Master of Arts in English/Creative Writing (June 8, 1984)
Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
I enrolled in this program after first being hired by WWU to work as a Residence Hall Director (see below), because I wanted to study creative writing with Annie Dillard, and needed to be a degree candidate in order to be allowed to register for her workshop. I left the job after only a year, but continued on to complete the requirements for the degree, eventually defending my thesis the following year while working as an intern minister at University Unitarian Church in Seattle.
Master of Divinity [MDiv] (June 4, 1981)
Harvard University Divinity School, Cambridge, MA
I took all the “standard” courses every Divinity Student SHOULD take: Old and New Testament, Church History, Theology, Ethics, World Religions. I also studied (and eventually failed, although I did learn enough to pass the required language exam) two years of Koine Greek, which in retrospect has turned out to have had a tremendous impact on my subsequent ministry and theological orientation. The two professors who had the greatest influence on me at the time were Unitarian historian C. Conrad Wright, and my advisor Sharon Parks, a student of James Fowler’s who works in Adolescent Faith Development. I also took a large number of “practical” courses, in part to try to compensate for my relative youth (I was only 21 when I enrolled at Harvard; 24 when I graduated), and completed twice the required amount of Field Education. Rhys Williams, my field education supervisor at the First and Second Church in Boston, was my first and one of my most important mentors in ministry.
Bachelor of Arts in English (June 10, 1978 )
(with Distinction and Departmental Honors)
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Growing up in Seattle as the eldest son of a Dawg, I never seriously considered attending college anywhere other than the University of Washington, and the fact that I was initially “wait-listed” there proved a powerful incentive to apply myself diligently to my studies once I was eventually accepted. Since that time I have been a Duck, a Beaver, a Viking and a Crimson, but in my heart-of-hearts I will always bleed Purple and Gold. In addition to my normal undergraduate coursework, I also worked two years as a Residence Hall Advisor, wrote briefly for the UW Daily, and participated in a variety of intramural sports: touch football, basketball, softball, and volleyball. My volleyball team actually won the University “co-recreational” (mixed men’s and women’s) championship my Junior year, and I think I may still even have the T-shirt to prove it! I became an English major by accident; after completing my first two years of elective coursework, I discovered that I had already fulfilled two-thirds of the requirements for an English degree, and was invited by the Department to participate in their Honors program, which meant maintaining a certain grade point average, enrolling in two additional Honors seminars (one of which I had already taken), and writing a Senior thesis, in my case a highly forgettable, post-moderenesque commentary on Joseph Campbell’s The Masks of God. The designation “with Distinction” was the UW’s plain English equivalent of Cum Laude, although now that my alma mater is widely recognized as a “public ivy,” I think they may have gone back to Latin. In any event, it was an honor that I was not even aware that I had earned until my diploma arrived in the mail 8-12 weeks following Commencement.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Parish Ministry:
Settled Parish Minister
The First Religious Society in Carlisle
Carlisle, MA (since 2003)
Carlisle is an affluent exurban bedroom community located “over the river and through the woods” just beyond the famous Old North Bridge in historic Concord, approximately a 45 minute drive from downtown Boston. Yet it retains much of the look and feel of the rural agricultural village it was just a few generations ago. Outstanding schools and ample conservation land contribute to its attractiveness as a community. The First Religious Society occupies a traditional white-steepled New England meeting house overlooking the town common high on a hill in the center of town. I immediately fell in love with this church and its people the moment I met them, and actually turned down a more lucrative (six-figure) offer from another, larger congregation in order to settle here. I live in a parsonage next door to the meeting house, approximately seven miles (as the crow flies) from the site of Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond. A brief walk through the woods behind my house takes me to the town library, the post office, and a small country store where one may purchase coffee, muffins, hot soup and sandwiches, along with all the other easily overlooked conveniences of daily living. The school is immediately across the street; the Town Hall, Police Station and Firehouse all a brief walk across the common in the opposite direction.
The formal organization of the First Religious Society actually preceeded the legal incorporation of the Town of Carlisle by about half a century, and the congregation continues to see itself as the “heart and soul” of the Carlisle community. We engage in an active public ministry to the residents of the town, hosting an annual Harvest Fair, a Christmas Greens Sale, and a summer Strawberry Festival as well as providing meeting space for numerous community groups ranging from the Council on Aging to the Girl Scouts. We also share space with the Red Balloon Preschool (founded by church members some 35 years ago), and sponsor numerous lectures, concerts, and other programs of community interest throughout the year. We are an enthusiastic Habitat for Humanity Covenant Congregation, and support a long-established volunteer outreach ministry in Lowell.
I've been at FRS long enough now that my parishioners are starting to figure out that I don’t walk on water, or change water into wine; that I can’t be everywhere at once (or even two places at the same time); that I don’t read minds or know everything there is to know without first being told (and often reminded as well, sometimes more than once); and that no matter how hard they may pray otherwise, I personally am powerless to solve every difficult problem little or large that comes into our lives, or to create Something out of Nothing by Word alone. A few may have been a little disappointed at first (especially about the water into wine part), but I think they're starting to get used to the idea. For my own part, despite having "settled" in the congregation of my dreams, I often struggle with how spiritually and emotionally demanding this work of ministry can be, and am often pleasantly surprised by how regularly and routinely "my people" pick me up again.
Interim Minister,
Second Congregational Meeting House Society (Unitarian),
Nantucket, MA (2001-2003)
Nantucket is truly a unique (and special) place. There are approximately 8,000 permanent “year-round” residents living on the island, but that number can swell to 50,000+ on a sunny, summer weekend. The “Faraway Island” is a quaint, historical community, a playground for the wealthy, idolized for its lovely beaches and preserved open spaces, now facing the burgeoning problems of too much traffic, a serious lack of affordable housing, and sprawl. “South Church” itself is both an historic landmark and a Nantucket icon; its golden dome and clock tower loom prominently over the town, and are clearly visible from the harbor and many other places on the island.
My principle challenge and most important accomplishment as an interim minister was to help cultivate a collaborative and mutually supportive collegial relationship with the legendary and much-beloved minister emeritus, who had served the Nantucket congregation for 29 years, and continues to live on the island (where he is deservedly revered by the larger community and enjoys a very active retirement). The congregation had already experienced one “failed” interim ministry prior to my arrival, which left them feeling badly divided and fearful that they would never be able to attract a permanent candidate to settle there. My experience, however, was overwhelmingly positive. I developed both an excellent working and a close personal relationship with the minister emeritus, which both protected the integrity of his retirement and allowed him to create a new role for himself as a regular member of the congregation (and one of my strongest and most important supporters). Attendance increased, and the congregation began to feel revitalized and eager to explore fresh new directions in ministry. I was also able to establish my own presence and identity in the larger community, and to work effectively in partnership with the lay leadership of the society to strengthen their ties to the denomination and put into place a program and administrative infrastructure appropriate to the needs of a dynamic, “pastoral”-sized congregation. What was the old-fashioned secret of my success? Good preaching, plenty of pastoral visitation, respect for local customs and traditions, and a profound understanding of our historical polity and its practical applications within a contemporary church community. Oh yes, and hard work, a healthy sense of humor, personal spiritual and religious authenticity, and regular prayer....
Consulting Minister,
Umpqua UU Church,
Roseburg, OR (1/2 time, 2000-01)
I won’t claim to have “invented” Consulting Ministry, but I certainly put my stamp on the way it is practiced in the PNWD. The basic arrangement is generally one or two long weekends a month, together with a newsletter column and regular phone and e-mail contact as needed. The idea is to provide small congregations without a regularly settled minister with a consistent ministerial presence, as well as an opportunity to draw upon the minister’s professional expertise while working toward a set of pre-determined goals: typically more inspirational worship, better visitor hospitality and membership growth, and an improved every member canvass. It’s an imperfect arrangement for everyone involved, but it does frequently provide a stepping-stone to something more satisfactory somewhere down the line.
Each of my consulting ministries has been a little different, but the one factor they all share is that they required a considerable amount of travel on my part: over 237,000 miles (as registered on the odometer of my green ‘93 Ford Escort wagon) in the eight years I served as an itinerant “circuit rider.” Yet I learned things from this style of ministry that I could never have learned anywhere else, and the experience also proved a very nice compliment to my doctoral studies and my work as a Graduate Teaching Fellow.
Consulting Minister,
UU Congregation of Whidbey Island,
Freeland, WA (1/4 time, 2000-01)
Perhaps my favorite of all the congregations I consulted with (if clergy are allowed to have "favorites"), as well as the experience which inspired me to accept the interim position on Nantucket. During my tenure UUCWI purchased land, and began raising money toward the construction of their own building.
Consulting Minister,
Wy'east UU Congregation,
Portland, OR (1/2 time, 1998-99)
Because of its relative proximity to my home, this was more like a regular half-time settlement than a true consulting ministry. I helped organize a campus ministry program at nearby Reed College (a simple task, since all of the real work was done by the students themselves, including two who are now colleagues: Thom Belote and Marc Lousteau), facilitated a coming-of-age program in cooperation with the Atkinson Memorial Church in Oregon City, and also was available to attend some evening meetings during the week. During my tenure there, Wy’east applied for and was accepted into the UUA Extension Ministry program, and in the fall of 1999 they received a full-time Extension Minister.
Consulting Minister,
Olympic UU Fellowship,
Port Angeles, WA (1/4 time, 1997-99)
At the conclusion of my two-year relationship with this congregation, they entered into a half-time contract with another consulting minister, and were moving toward construction of a new building on land they already owned. The building was dedicated in the spring of 2001.
Consulting Minister,
UU Fellowship of Central Oregon,
Bend, OR (1/4 time, 1996-97)
Bend was probably the most frustrating and disappointing of my consulting ministries; it was a long, scary drive over the mountains in winter, with not much to show for my efforts once I arrived. They were all good people, but unfortunately there was very little consensus or clairty about what they expected out of the church or my ministry there, and my ability to help them suffered as a result.
Summer Minister,
First Unitarian Church,
Portland, OR (Summer, 1996)
This was a brief taste for me of what it might be like to be the Senior Minister of a large, multi-staff downtown Church. I decided that I liked it. Obviously, summer is a little different from the regular program year; my basic responsibilities were to preach, to work with the excellent lay pastoral care team, to lead a weekly staff meeting for whoever was not on vacation, to officiate at weddings, and to deal with whatever other routine emergencies happened to spring up. The excellent office administrator kept me pointed in the right direction, my sermons were very well received, and on Labor Day I returned Marilyn’s pulpit back to her none the worse for wear.
Consulting Minister,
Skagit UU Fellowship,
Mount Vernon, WA (1/4 time, 1993-95)
The first of my six consulting ministries had its genesis when I was asked at the eleventh hour to substitute for a colleague who was compelled to cancel a preaching engagement. The congregation apparently liked what they heard, so the Church President, knowing that my mother lived only twenty minutes away, suggested that I might want to visit her more often. Two years later, having already moved twice to accommodate growth, Skagit was ready to buy a building of their own, and at the same time entered into a half-time relationship with another UU minister whose actual residence was much closer than mine.
Extension/New Congregation Minister,
Unitarian Universalist Community Church,
Hillsboro, OR (1988 -90)
Despite its difficulties, the challenge of working with a “start-up” church was also exhilarating on many levels, and I remain especially proud of the fact that this congregation essentially doubled in size (from 64 to 125 members) during the first eighteen months of my ministry there. The outreach techniques I learned through my Extension training and practiced in Hillsboro I later adapted for use as a consulting minister, with equally excellent results. I also learned quite a bit about the nature of church conflict, as the "pioneers" who had first started this congregation began to resent the "newcomers" who were rapidly beginning to outnumber them, and blamed me for trying to "take over" their congregation and change everything. It was in the aftermath of this experience that I began to ask myself for the first time some of the subtle questions about the nature of clerical authority and the “professionalization” of ministry which subsequently informed my doctoral research. If it never breaks down, you never learn how to fix it.
Settled Parish Minister,
Unitarian Universalist Church,
Midland, TX (1985 -88)
Despite occasionally joking that Midland is located “in the center of Texas and the middle of nowhere,” from a professional standpoint this church was a very good first settlement for me, and in retrospect I wish that I could have convinced my wife to stay there longer than we did. At the time I compared living in Texas to living in a foreign country, yet I also tried to resist the temptation to think and act like an “ugly Ecotopian,” judging everything I saw around me by my own pre-existing liberal values rather than attempting to experience and understand the culture according to its own lights. Likewise, as the only settled UU minister between Fort Worth and El Paso, Austin and Albuquerque, my presence was certainly much appreciated by my “flock,” even if they were relatively few in number. I was welcomed as a member of the mainline, ecumenical religious community, enjoyed my work as a volunteer hospital emergency room chaplain and with other community organizations like Planned Parenthood, and felt especially grateful for the opportunity to participate in Prairie Group, and the various activities of the Southwest District.
Intern Minister,
University Unitarian Church,
Seattle, WA (1983 -84)
My internship at University Church was somewhat unorthodox, in that I had already been ordained for two years at the time I started there. But because of my relative youth, the Ministerial Fellowship Committee had stipulated that I must either complete a year-long resident internship, or else restrict myself to settlement as an assistant or associate minister before becoming eligible to be called to a pulpit of my own. Peter Raible generously offered me the opportunity to fulfill that requirement by working with him. In actual substance, my “internship” probably differed little from that of any other intern, except that I assumed some additional pastoral and administrative responsibilities for the nearby Shoreline Unitarian Church under the terms of a year-long joint operating agreement with UUC.
Field Education Student Intern,
The First and Second Church in Boston,
Boston, MA (1978-81)
I worked at First and Second Church all three years I spent at Harvard, was ordained there the Sunday following my graduation, and continue to feel a very special affinity for that congregation twenty-five years later (notwithstanding my disappointment that they have recently voted to drop "Second Church" from the letterhead). This was my first real experience in the role of “minister,” and I could not have asked for a better role model than Rhys Williams.
Intern Chaplain (Clinical Pastoral Education),
Virginia Mason Hospital,
Seattle, WA (Summer 1979)
My unit of Basic CPE was an intensive, eleven week summer internship at a highly respected acute care hospital in my home town of Seattle. In addition to this important exposure to the practice of hospital minsitry, I also learned a significant lesson about the concept of "opportunity cost." In order to complete this required internship and be certain of graduating from Divinity School in the prescribed three year sequence, I turned down an opportunity to travel through Europe that summer instead, free of charge, in the company of a truly extraordinary woman I’d been dating at Harvard, who worked for Harvard Student Agencies, publisher of the famous "Let’s Go" guidebooks. She found a more amiable traveling companion, and I earned my degree right on schedule; yet I’ve often wondered how different my life might have been, had I been willing to take the chance of making the “irresponsible” choice.
College and University Teaching:
Graduate Teaching Fellow in History, University of Oregon,
Eugene, OR (1997-01)
A large measure of the actual classroom instruction at institutions like the University of Oregon is done by Graduate Teaching Assistants, who serve as discussion section leaders for large undergraduate lecture classes. Because of my previous academic preparation, I was often pressed into service as the “utility historian;” my teaching assignments included not only HIST 201, 202, 203 United States History, but also HIST 101 Western Civilization, HIST 301, 303 Modern Europe, HIST 351 American Radicalism, HIST 240 War in the Modern World, and HIST 399 Special Studies: WWII on Film.
Visiting Scholar in American History, Aalborg University,
Aalborg, Denmark (Spring, 2000)
This was a unique opportunity which I simply couldn’t pass up. I spent the better part of a semester as a visiting doctoral student in Denmark, then traveled for a month in France, Italy and Germany before returning to the U.S.
Visiting Instructor in Religious Studies, University of Oregon,
Eugene, OR (Spring, 1998).
Shortly after advancing to candidacy, I went on leave from the Graduate School for a term in order to work as an adjunct Professor of Religious Studies, covering part of the teaching load of the program chair during his sabbatical. I taught two courses: REL 111 Introduction to the Study of the Bible, and REL 323 Modern Western Christianity.
Graduate Teaching Fellow in Religious Studies, University of Oregon,
Eugene, OR (1996-97).
My first GTF appointment at the UO was in the Religious Studies department. My assignments were REL 111 Introduction to the Study of the Bible, and REL 202 Great Religions of the World.
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Oregon State University,
Corvallis, OR (1994-96)
This was a combined appointment in English and Philosophy. I was Marcus Borg’s personal teaching assistant for PHIL 101 Intro to Philosophy, PHIL 436 Philosophy of Religion, PHIL 443 Environmental Values and Religious World-Views, and PHIL 411/511 Historical Jesus. I also taught five different sections of WR 121 Freshman English, and one of WR 214 Business Writing.
Adjunct Instructor in English, Midland College,
Midland, TX (Spring, 1986)
I took on this job as a favor to a parishioner, who needed someone to cover a class during his sabbatical. I taught one section of ENG 112 Second Semester Freshman English.
General Employment:
Store Manager, B. Dalton Bookseller,
Beaverton, OR (1990-93)
During the time my former wife attended Law School in Portland, I worked as a retail bookseller, beginning as a temporary holiday employee and eventually being promoted up through the ranks to managing an entire store. This is the only job I have ever held as an adult that was not in some way related to the church or academia. I learned a little bit about retail and what it is like to work for a big corporation like Barnes & Noble, and also quite a bit more about managing a business: how to hire, train, and supervise employees, control inventory and expenses, provide good customer service, and at the end of the day still show a profit on the bottom line. I am still quietly proud of that fact that, in my final twelve-months as a bookseller, I turned around a store with a prolonged history of steadily declining sales, and set an annual record for both gross sales and profitability.
Residence Hall Director, Western Washington University,
Bellingham, WA (1981-82)
I found this job through a classified ad in the local Sunday newspaper, and applied for it because I was annoyed by the MFC’s settlement restrictions (previously described), and wanted a little time to get to know my own mind. I was the live-in manager of a 225 student on-campus dormitory, and supervised four undergraduate Resident Assistants.
Odd Jobs and Youthful Avocations (1971-1978)
Ordinarily I wouldn’t include an entry like this in my curriculum vita, but in this context it somehow seems appropriate. In addition to the usual kind of babysitting and lawn mowing jobs, as a kid I also worked in a variety of restaurant positions (waiter, dishwasher, busboy, cashier — but never a cook or bartender), parked cars for tips at the local yacht club, was an umpire/referee for various youth sporting events, the official scorer for a Little League organization, and a member of a surveying crew. My High School activities included Debate, Student Government, various Junior Varsity sports (football, basketball, baseball, track...none of which I particularly excelled at), occasional articles in the student newspaper, and a small part in a student-produced play.
PUBLISHED WRITINGS, CONFERENCE PAPERS, HONORS AND AWARDS
"The Wares: Three Generations of American Unitarians." Unitarian Universalist Scholars Program Dissertation Fellowship Presentation, UUA General Assembly, Salt Lake City, UT, June 1999. This is also the title of my doctoral dissertation, which I successfully defended on May 21, 2001.
Mellon Research Fellowship, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston MA Summer 2000.
"From Mythos to Merger: a Brief Review of Unitarian and Universalist History" in Redeeming Time: Endowing Your Church with the Power of Covenant. Walter P. Herz, ed. Boston: Skinner House, 1999.
"‘Their own thought in motley…’: Emerson's Divinity School Address and Henry Ware, Jr.'s Hints on Extemporaneous Preaching." Journal of Unitarian Universalist History 24 (1997).
"Experiencing Theodore Parker as a Minister." Collegium of Liberal Religious Scholars, October 1996.
"My nonsense is only their own thought in motley;" Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Ware, Jr., and the "Nature" of "Christian Character." Masters Thesis, Oregon State University, 1995.
Unitarian Universalist Scholar Fellowship Recipient, 1995-98.
"Associational Covenant: Implicit Models of Relationship Between and Among our Congregations." Prairie Group, November 1988.
"Black Cross" and other Stories. Masters Thesis, Western Washington University, 1983.
Phi Eta Sigma academic honor society.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association (since 1979)
Collegium of Liberal Religious Scholars (on and off since 1980)
Prairie Group (1985-88)
Pacific Northwest District Extension Steering Committee (1998 - 2001)
Board of Directors, Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (1998-2005)
Editorial Board, Unitarian Universalist Christian (since 2001)
Board of Directors, Unitarian Universalist Historical Society (since 2005)
Treasurer, Unitarian Universalist Historical Society (since 2006)
Publications Committee, Unitarian Universalist Historical Society (since 2005)
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
UUA Interim Ministry Training, Cleveland OH, June 2001.
Samaritan Family Systems/Parish Leadership Consulting Group, 1989-90.
Alban Institute Conflict Management Workshop, Portland, OR, Mar. 1990.
Alban Institute Church Growth Seminar, Portland OR, Oct. 1989.
UUA Extension Ministry/New Congregation Training, Boston MA, Aug. 1988.
UUA Preaching Seminar, Chicago IL, Aug. 1986.
UUA Start-up Seminar, Palo Alto CA, Feb. 1986.
Pacific Northwest District Basic Leadership School, Summer, 1984
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Old Dawg, New Tricks
Nor was the pulpit itself without a trace of the same sea-taste.... Its panelled front was in the likeness of a ship's bluff bows, and the Holy Bible rested on a projecting piece of scroll work, fashioned after a ship's fiddle-headed beak.
What could be more full of meaning? -- for the pulpit is ever this earth's foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is the storm of God's quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is the God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favorable winds. Yes, the world's a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow. -- Herman Melville, *Moby Dick*
***
Once upon a time, more years ago now than I care to recount, my sweetheart and soulmate of the moment said to me: "Jensen, sometimes I wish you were a book, so that I could enjoy your companionship whenever I liked, and then put you back on the shelf when I'd had enough." I'm not sure it was really meant as a compliment, but for some reason her words have stuck with me all these years. Decades later, she also told me that she has saved every letter I had ever written her in the too-brief time we were an "item," in the expectation that someday I would become a famous writer and those letters would be valuable. That hasn't happened either, of course; but the real irony is that I have saved all of her letters as well, and have carried them with me from Seattle to New England and back, and then down to Texas, back to Portland Oregon and now here to New England again. I'm not really certain why, except that perhaps they are a talisman and a touchstone of a more innocent time in my life, when I truly believed in love at first sight, and that love can conquer all.
But you won't be reading any of those letters in this BLOG. At least not any time soon....
Rather, I'm starting this BLOG because in less than a month I will observe the twenty-fifth anniversary of my graduation from the Harvard Divinity School, and my subsequent ordination to the Unitarian Universalist ministry at the First and Second Church in Boston. And then on October 22nd (God willing) I plan to celebrate my 50th birthday: a nice "round" birthday (as they say in Denmark), marking the conclusion of my first half-century on the planet, and an important milestone in my lifelong pilgrimage to a wise and sagacious maturity. Of course, the fact that I still haven't really figured out what I want to do (or is it be?) when I grow up remains a bit of a problem, especially since I have already done (and been) so much in the process of trying to figure it out. But what the hell -- we're all just "acting our age" anyway. Young at heart yet wise beyond my years...that's always been pretty much all that I've aspired to. To be "intimate with the moment." To stay hungry and foolish. To count my riches in proportion to the number of things I can afford to let alone.
And then there's the Book: the diary (I hesitate to glorify it with the name "Journal") I've kept semi-religiously since I was a sophomore in High School, and Dr. Donald Cummings assigned it as a requirement for my English class. (Oh Dr Cummings, if only you knew the demon you'd unleashed!) It's a manuscript I've scribbled on almost every day of my life since I was 14 years old, but have never had the nerve to share with another soul, and only rarely found the courage to read again myself. "My life has been the poem I would have writ, But I could not both live and utter it" a former resident of this neighborhood once wrote (probably first in his own journal). But in many ways my life has been just the opposite -- so much of it devoted to putting it down on paper that perhaps I haven't lived quite as much of it as I might have otherwise. I know there's no going back. But because I have taken so many notes, at least I'm in a position to give it a good going over. Edit. Revise. Rewrite. It's no way to live. But the reason Truth is stranger than fiction is that someone is responsible for fiction.
And finally, a Word about God. I don't really think of myself as much of a theologian. I share the opinion of the American philosopher Charles Saunders Pierce, who once observed that "metaphysics is a subject more curious than useful, the knowledge of which, like that of a sunken reef, serves chiefly to enable us to avoid it." And yet, in my current line of work, I often have occasion to speculate about the Ground of Being and matters of "ultimate concern." It is sometimes said that Unitarians pray "to whom it may concern." Personally, I still aspire to "pray without ceasing" -- to transform my life into something worthy of God's faith in me, as a humble act of gratitude for the undeserved and arbitrary gift of life itself. It's true: none of us asked to be born. But thank God that we were, and now enjoy the privilege and the opportunity of wondering what in the world it all may mean, and how we best fit in: a (small) part of the whole, and yet whole within ourselves, connected to everything that was and is and is to be, yet alone in the solitude of our own self-consciousness until we take the profound step of reaching out to others in a relationship of intimacy and trust. And there you have it: the Gospel According to Me. Or at least a first draft....
Here is the place where I now work.
The First Religious Society in Carlisle, Massachusetts
Founded in 1758. Universalist & Unitarian since 1829.
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