Showing posts with label pastor stickman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pastor stickman. Show all posts

Thursday, October 01, 2015

whose names do you not mention?


a list of people whom we cannot name as our brothers and sisters. drawing by rob goetze

Whose names are not mentioned in your church? Of whom have you never heard it said, "they are our brothers and sisters?"


Consider this from Brian McLaren:
The vestiges of Imperial Christianity are not always as obvious as this inscription in stone. But they are no less present in most of our churches. Racism, colonialism, exclusivism, elitism, and other members of the hostility family often hide camouflaged in songs and hymns, devotionals and prayers, sermons and Sunday School lessons. And it’s not only what is said that aids and abets hostility: it’s what is left unsaid. For example, I remember preaching in a predominantly Tutsi church in Burundi. After I made an appeal for the Twa people, the nation’s oppressed minority, someone came up to me and said, “The word Twa has never been spoken before in this church. It is as if the Twa didn’t exist. Thank you for reminding us that the Twa are God’s children.” I thought of how many real-world hostilities around the world are similarly protected through avoidance and silence in churches today.

Brian D. McLaren, p.168, in Why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road? Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World


I spoke up at a church meeting a few years ago, and talked about wanting the church to be a place that is welcoming of our gay brothers and sisters in Christ. Later I realized that I had never heard anyone use the expression "our gay brothers and sisters in Christ" at our church, ever. Perhaps that was the first time it was even said there....

Perhaps it reminded some that this isn't an issue to be debated and ideas to be objected to, but that there are real people involved....

 Hopefully, some who never thought about it might begin to consider the breadth and width and depth of God's love and of the body of Christ.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

words you can't say in church


words you can't say in church. drawing by rob goetze.

How do you understand Pastor Stickman's silence?

Is he silent because not even he is allowed to say these words?

Or is it because he believes that all words, all topics are open for discussion, and thus there is nothing for him to list?

Monday, November 05, 2012

cycle of 21st century life



Paul Brandeis Raushenbush writes in LGBT Rights -- Getting on the Right Side of History:
A vivid religious example is the United Methodist Church, which recently reaffirmed the idea that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. They did this while formally apologizing for the denomination's support of segregation and the oppression of native peoples in the past. Oh, the irony!

At the same time the Methodists throw one group under the bus, they extend a hand towards the groups that still have tire tracks on their backs. Of course, we know what comes next. In a few more decades, the Methodists will be having rituals of repentance for how they treated LGBT people.

Here's an idea. Why don't we just skip the "more oppression" part and move straight to the reconciliation and full communion? (source and full article)

Friday, August 17, 2012

special number


Pastor Stickman has invited a friend to be part of the worship service. An unexpected friend.

If you attend a church, what do you think would happen if this took place on a Sunday morning? The parishioners might be unsure how whether to applaud or not. Some might be shocked or outraged. And some who have read Bad Girls of the Bible might be quite pleased to meet Rahab in person.

But in general, while many Christian have heard Rahab mentioned in sermons, we don't expect her to be a hero if she showed up today, especially if announced as a prostitute. Now to be fair, there is some debate as to why she is referred to that way, considering that she was an innkeeper and likely made fabrics (based on the quantity of flax on her roof). But the Bible is full of stories of God using unlikely people to further His kingdom, so why not?

Why not indeed?

While I don't know of any Old Testament characters known for singing (aside from the woman in the song of solomon, perhaps), you can imagine what kinds of names might have popped into people's minds when the pastor first started speaking. Moses, Abraham, Sarah, Naomi, and other familiar ones. But today, the visitor is Rahab who protected the spies when they came to her city.  And because of what she did, she and all who were in her household were spared.

What might her song be?

Can you hear it?

Monday, August 06, 2012

love. period.


Pastor Stickman's first sermon, his first Sunday after inadvertantly outing himself. Quite a contrast to some of the things which he said previous to that point in time. Now he can be more open, more honest.

Love. Period.

What do you think? Is there something more to say?

Do you want to qualify love in some way? Put conditions or limits on it?



Previous pastor stickman cartoon

Monday, July 30, 2012

just as we are


Last time: Pastor Stickman, at the first Sunday service after accidently outing himself, was unsure of what to say. A parishioner gave the traditional greeting of "The Lord be with you", and Pastor Stickman responded with "And also with you".

Somehow – and frankly, I don't know how – he is still the pastor! Many pastors in similar situations have been fired and blacklisted in their denominations. In his case, half the parishioners have left the church, but that's to be expected.

Those who have stayed have been encouraging him. Perhaps a card, or an email. Maybe some fresh muffins dropped off at the house. And he begins to understand more deeply that even in this the worst of times, God loves him. No longer the proud leader with all the answers, he needs the body of Christ that meets in this building. They need each other. We all need each other.

Monday, July 09, 2012

the Lord be with you

Amazing that the pastor is still in the pulpit. In the typical elder-ruled or vestry-run church, he'd be long gone, dismissed via a secret meeting to which he was not invited. After all, he confessed his sin publicly, didn't he?

But somehow, here he is, albeit unsure of himself and of what to say, the Sunday after having inadvertantly outed himself in front of the entire congregation. And it is reasonable for him to be unsure. Many of his previous sermons had an anti-gay tone or message. He hasn't been fired ... yet. And now he finds himself at the mercy of the congregation. Well, at the mercy of those who have stayed, anyway.



But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
I Peter 2:9 NIV
And here we have this verse played out, with a parishioner initiating the greeting with which a priest usually starts the eucharist (Lord's supper) in many liturgical churches. How fitting... a parishioner taking seriously hir role as a royal priest, using a phrase from the Lord's table at which all are welcome, the table of the Lord Jesus who broke stigmas and social rules and generally made the religious people of his day angry.

The Lord be with you.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

oops


Some members of the congregation absorbed the pastor's previous messages well – too well – and now that he has inadvertantly outed himself, they have outed themselves out of the church.

But some people have stayed. Perhaps they have not bought into his public views about homosexuality. Maybe some believe in full inclusion like the "church down the street." Perhaps they value relationships over facts and sexual orientation. Maybe some of them also understand where he's coming from. Or they've heard God's call to love one another.

How would you respond in such a situation?