Blog: From the Pastor's Desk

​From the Pastor’s Desk:  
​Grace loves a show called Bluey. It follows the adventures of a family of anthropomorphic dogs in Brisbane, Australia. The show primarily follows sisters Bluey (6 years old) and Bingo (4 years old), and their parents. The episode,“Bumpy and the Wise Old Wolfhound,” opens with Bingo in the hospital asking Mum when she will be able to go home, and the doctor telling them both that they need to stay for a while longer. Mum and Bingo are both saddened at the prospect, but they brighten up as they receive a video made by Bluey, Dad, and extended family and friends. 
In the video, they’re all wearing purple underpants and act out a story about Barnicus (Bluey) who wants to have a child (puppy). One day, she wakes to find Bumpy (played by her baby cousin, Socks). Barnicus is overjoyed, but is soon heartbroken when Bumpy becomes sick. She begins a quest to heal the puppy. She eventually is lead to the Wise Old Wolfhound (her aunt Trixie). Barnicus bemoans the unfairness of Bumpy’s illness and pleads that the Wolfhound would hear her. The Wise Old Wolfhound tells her that the only way to heal Bumpy is to receive a pair of purple underpants from someone who has never been sick. Barnicus goes to all of the other characters. They are willing to donate their underpants, but time and time again they admit they, too, had been sick at one time or another. This leads Barnicus to the realization, “Everyone gets sick sometimes, not just Bumpy. Getting sick is a part of life.” The episode ends with a montage of Bumpy getting better and the family saying, “See you at home Bingo.” 
 
I love this show for a lot of reasons, and not just because it sneaks in a lot of dad humor and it is entertaining for both Grace and me. It tackles tough problems for young ones, such as death, loneliness, sickness, aging loved ones, and past trauma. This particular episode has sat more strongly with me as of late: the children’s struggle to understand why Bingo is in the hospital, the pain and worry that I am sure Mum and Dad were feeling, and how stories and shared experiences can help us to cope during difficult moments. I don’t fully agree with the show’s conclusion that Bumpy or Bingo’s illnesses aren’t unfair, but it does a wonderful job of showing that they aren’t journeying alone. 
 
Before May 20th, I didn’t realize how many people had walked a similar path as my family’s. I didn’t even know that I have an older cousin who is with my daughter this day. Over and over again, people told me their stories of loss, babies born still, children whose earthly lives lasted mere hours or months, and even those who lived for years but still preceded their parents in death. It is all terribly painful and terribly unfair. 
 
We often turn to or away from our faith in these moments. We take comfort in God’s embrace, or we scream at the Creator for putting us in such terrible positions. You’re allowed to do both—at least, I did. I cried and asked God to hold me up and I screamed at God, “It’s not fair,” and, “Why her!?” I didn’t expect a Job-like response, an opening of the heavens and God in a whirlwind showing me the cosmos and explaining that my view of justice and righteousness is too limited to understand all the whys and wherefores. But I can say that I wanted some answers. I received those answers through the many voices, notes, and gestures by others. I also experienced it through some encounters with God’s birds and flowers. 
 
I want to thank you all, for your prayers, actions, and kind words. For those who cried with us for the pain we were experiencing and those who cried as memories of past losses were relived. I don’t have a good answer as to why such things happen, but I know that it is through community and faith that we can find the strength to stand and walk forward into the future. 
 
As for my sweet Sophia Arden, I’ll see her at home, though it may be decades before I get to walk through the door and be greeted by my little girl. For now, I’ll walk this life understanding a bit more of how precious every person is and how we all walk with stories of Love and Loss. May God bless you in your journey and may you always feel the love of the Divine and those who await your coming home.​

 
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​​Polity: How to organize a Church
 
Learning about our Brothers and Sister Denominations

The Church, just like every other group of humans, has had to create structures that govern faith and assign authority to make organizational decisions.

We don’t know exactly how the Early Church was setup. It appears that the Apostles and James the brother of Jesus held a great deal of influence and were often looked to for guidance (Acts 15). However, they were sometimes ignored, even by other church leaders (1 Cor. 10:25). It appears that the authority to decide who was a member and who wasn’t was in the gathering of each congregation (1 Cor. 5:3-5).

Currently we have a plethora of styles that denominations and congregations use, here are 3 of the most basic:
 
Episcopal: Authority in matters of Faith and Organization rest in Leaders at the or near the Top and filter down to the People. This comes from the Greek epískopos, meaning ‘overseer.’ 
 
Roman Catholicism is the most recognized denomination in this style, with the Pope at the top, then authority filtering down through the Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, and then the People. Anglicans and the United Methodists also follow this format, however, the Authority lies in the Bishops and not those above them. What marks an Episcopal style is that there are single people who are able to make decisions for the group. 
 
Presbyterian: Authority in matters of Faith and Organization rest in Groups of Elders called out by the People. This comes from the Greek word presbyteros, meaning ‘elder.’ The authority here rests on groups (councils/synods/commissions…) of people choose for their spiritual maturity by the people. This group still has some top-down authority. There may also be Bishops or District Ministers, but their ability to lead rests in the group of elders. 
 
The Presbyterian Church is the most notable who use this system, however some groups, like the Anglicans in the US, have a Presbyter system that shares authority with the Clergy. Many Congregational groups (like the CoB) also have a Presbyter like system to handle certain tasks within the group.
 
Congregationalist: Authority in matters of Faith and Organization rest in Congregation and/or the Individual. This is us, as a Congregationalist we may elect councils or participate in denominational meetings, but the decisions of those groups are generally unenforceable. Instead, much like the Early Church, it is up to the individual believers and congregations to choose how to (or not to) follow those rulings. 
 
These are just broad brush strokes on polity, you can find a great deal of variation in each group. Not to mention a lot of mixing, such as a congregational church whose pastor acts as the single authority. 
 
What do you think? What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of each group? What do you think best reflects Jesus’s ministry, the Early Church, or the Church that will need to meet the modern world?

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