Health Care Reform – A Name And A Face

So much of the current “debate” about health care policy and insurance reform in our country seems to me to be little more than a grade school playground shouting match – a lot of noise, but not much substance. It also seems to be a conversation in the abstract…all about policy ideas and political ideologies, but not about the people who need health care…which is all of us.

Today I’d like to lift up one person and their story as a very limited way of connecting a name and a face to this important conversation…as a way of making the abstract nature of the debate thus far a bit more real.

Seth is the 28 year old son of some very dear friends. I’ve known him since he was three. Seth is a college graduate, living in New York City. His passion is music, and he is a very talented singer-songwriter. To support his love for music, Seth works about 50 hours a week for a large international corporation; paid by the hour, he has no benefits…including no health insurance.

Early last week Seth’s gums began to swell and bleed, then his jaw tightened up, and the joints in his hands became extremely sore, and his feet became very tender and also swelled. As you can imagine, his parents were deeply worried. They kept urging him to go see a doctor before his situation became even more serious. Seth repeatedly refused their pleas, saying he couldn’t afford a doctor’s visit with no insurance. As Seth’s condition deteriorated, however, he couldn’t go to work or play his music. Finally his parents prevailed, and Seth visited a “free” clinic where it cost him $150 to see a doctor and an additional $65 for lab work. He was diagnosed with a strange virus and given a perscription, which he was luckily able to fill for only $10. But after nearly a week away from work, and the extra medical expenses, Seth is now not sure how he is going to pay the rent. Though we didn’t talk about it, I imagine buying food this month will be a challenge as well.

I don’t want to pretend that the problems with the health care system in this country are simple, or are easily fixed, or that potential solutions don’t come with a big price tag that will affect us all. But I do know that the millions and millions of our fellow citizens who are under-insured, or who have no health insurance at all, are our friends and neighbors and fellow children of God; real people with real and painful stories. As I sit in my office and write this post, Fitch Parlor is filled with fellow Lafayette residents seeking a small amount of financial help with their rent or a utility bill. I imagine that many of these folks do not have health insurance either. Like Seth, they are not an abstract statistic. They are someone’s parent…someone’s child…someone’s spouse…someone’s loved one!

Jesus spent a lot of his time caring for the tangible needs of those he encountered; and he expects us, as his disciples, to do the same. Now, certainly to care for the tens of millions without health insurance in our country is more than we can do as individuals or as a congregation or even as a denomination. But there are still important things we can do in this larger conversation. We can expect and tell our elected leaders to find real solutions to real problems, instead of yelling at each other like children in the schoolyard. We can expect that the possibility of health care for everyone will mean some kind of change for all of us…and that we can choose to embrace and deal with change as it comes, instead of being afraid today of the unknown. God invites us to live in hope, not fear. We can pray for Seth, and for the millions and millions like Seth – that God will watch over them and help us be good and faithful neighbors to them.

John Buchanan, the pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, and a former pastor of Bethany Presbyterian here in Lafayette, is also the Editor of the journal, The Christian Century. In a recent editorial on the health care debate, he said something that really caught me. Buchanan said that all the fear-raising talk about rationing health care was really a false argument, because we already ration health care in America…we ration it according to income level!

As of this past Monday, Seth was doing better and planning to go back to work on Tuesday! I continue to pray for Seth…but I also know that I need to get busy and do a lot more for all the Seth’s out there.

See you in Worship this Sunday…

Stepping Into Vision

In January of 2008, while on a Saturday planning retreat, the Central Session began talking about the need to review and rethink the vision guiding the mission and ministry of Central Presbyterian. At that time, the most recent vision work for Central had taken place in the late 1990’s, and did not reflect the many transitions in the congregation, including changes in Session and pastoral leadership, that had occurred in the intervening years.

In good Presbyterian fashion, Session created a Vision and Strategic Planning Task Force, comprised of four Elders and Central’s two pastors, to lead the Vision effort. Since January ‘08 this group has labored to: identify the issues needing to be addressed in a vision process; seek information from the congregation on a variety of topics; be in conversation with the Session and congregation about learnings and evolving ideas; be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit through constant prayer and careful listening; and to begin putting thoughts and ideas and possibilities on paper.

Session has now endorsed the fruits of all this labor, a Vision and Strategic Plan for Central, and it is time to share this work with the members and friends of the congregation and the larger Lafayette community! The sharing begins with this blog post, and also includes the September sermon series – Disciples Are…Visionaries, a bulletin insert that will be available each Sunday in September, training sessions for Clusters and Ministry Teams, and posting the entire vision document on the church web site (see the link below). Session hopes that the vision document will be read and pondered and prayed over and commented on by many. The comment section of this blog is a great place for sharing thoughts, as is communicating directly with members of the Vision and Strategic Planning Task Force — Dennis Savaiano, Barb Tyner, Alison Donaldson, Willie Burgess, Jeff Cover, Bill Smutz.

Now a vision document only becomes valuable to Central as the words on the page begin to guide and shape the ways that Central members and friends think and serve as disciples of Jesus Christ. The move from thought to action includes the development of measurable objectives and actions steps; some of which are described at the end of the vision document, with others still to be clarified. Session believes that this Vision and Strategic Plan must be a living, breathing, evolving document if it is to serve Central well.

I am very excited to be at this point in our vision process!!! I believe that an important part of our discipleship is following God into God’s unfolding future. Central’s new vision document is an important way for all of us to heed God’s call to the future.

As a way of whetting your appetite and encouraging you to go to the church web site and read the entire vision document, I want to share just a little of it with you:

Summary of Vision and Strategic Plan

Central Presbyterian Church -Changing Hearts to Change the World

As a Great Commission Outreach Church, Central Presbyterian takes seriously Christ’s dictate – to be and make disciples for Christ (Matthew 28.18-20). In fact, this challenge has long been used as our mission statement. Over the past two years, the Session has reviewed Central’s mission with the aim of developing a strategic plan that will guide our decision making for the next few years. Input from the Congregation through a series of questionnaires helped the Session identify areas of strength, challenge, and opportunity and use this information to develop goals that will drive Central’s future directions.

Historically, CPC members have energetically supported mission in our church, in our neighborhood, and in our world. We believe that Central is a welcoming community of believers, energized by worship, scripture, prayer, study and service. Key identifiers of Central are our diverse theological beliefs and our commitment to action. We believe that faith is a verb. Our faith in God and the model of Jesus’ life and teachings compel us to work in the world. As we grow in relationship to Jesus Christ, we welcome others to join us in transforming our community and our world through loving service in Christ’s name. The theme of this strategic plan reflects this call to action and transformation as we heed God’s call — we are changing hearts to change the world.

Goals

Central’s large vision can be broken down into three primary goals:

Goal 1: Changing Hearts: Strengthening Connections to God

We strive to grow closer to God through worship, education and spirituality, with the realization that a close relationship to God leads us to action in the world.

Through vibrant and diverse worship we will connect our congregation more deeply with God. We will provide a rich variety of educational opportunities for people of all ages and stages of growth as disciples, focusing on Bible study, theology, current issues, spirituality and arts and culture.

We will spiritually engage our members in deeping their prayer lives, in learning to discern God’s leading and in service to others.

Goal 2: Changing Hearts: Strengthening Connections to Each other

We strengthen and grow as a community of faith by caring for one another through ministries of care, communication, connection, integration and evangelism.

Through robust outreach and welcome ministries, we will share the love of Jesus Christ with others, while providing ministries of caring and compassion that address the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of our congregation. Through energetic ministries of caring and compassion for each other we will demonstrate that we are the body of Christ to one another.

In our patterns of communication and by their variety we will keep our congregation well informed and in active conversation about our common ministries and directions.

We will invite others into this dynamic community with the love and good news of Jesus Christ. We are one in Christ.

Goal 3: Changing Hearts: Changing the World

Through thoughtful ministires that challenge the people of Central to put our faith into action, we will change our world. Our faith compels us to serve as the hands and feet of Christ as we are called to action, partnership and reflection.

We will partner with other congregations and organizations in the Lafayette community to address the tangible needs of our fellow Children of God.

We will regularly reflect on how our actions in the world have impacted us and how the Holy Spirit is calling us into deeper relationships with God. Disciples are formed by both action and reflection.

The following pages provide detailed descriptions of our vision for the future, who we are, and what we believe and value. We look forward to working with the entire Congregation to match Central’s activities with these goals in a way that enhances our relationship to God, the community and the World through Jesus Christ.

There is so much more to read and ponder. I hope you’ll follow
this link to the full vision document and do just that!

See you in worship this Sunday my fellow visionaries!

Space And Communication

I love walking into one of our buildings here at Central, and finding different groups of people participating in an activity or class or just enjoying fellowship with one another. All the laughter and singing and talking jumbles together to make a ‘joyful noise unto the Lord’! So much activity in one place just feels right.

Church buildings are meant to be full of life and used extensively…and I think we do a pretty good job of using the buildings here at Central…for our groups, and for groups from the larger community. There are those times when we do have to turn down a building-use request, because the desired space is already occupied or because we can’t provide adequate security or custodial coverage. Our desire is to be as hospitable as possible, and we try to keep such occurrences to a minimum.

Scheduling our buildings as tightly as we do requires a lot of communication. The church staff must communicate with each other to make sure rooms are available at particular times and are prepared for their intended use. Members and friends must communicate with the church staff, so that we are aware of your desire to use a particular room at a certain time. It takes even more communication with an outside group that will be using a space in the church.

Central’s Office Manager, Laurie Kuhn, is the hub of communication for building use. She is the keeper of the master calendar, and tries very hard to make sure people get the space they want, without being in conflict with another group. There is nothing more frustrating than showing up to the room your meeting is suppose to be in, and finding another group there!

When you are planning a meeting or group event at Central – no matter how large or small – please make sure you give Laurie a call and calendar the space you want. It is always best when you can offer more lead time. Laurie will make every effort to schedule you and your group in the room you want. But also know that there are times when more than one group wants the same room, and that your second-choice space may be the only option.

God has blessed us abundantly with beautiful, functional, large, and well-maintained buildings at Central. Let us help one another and the larger Lafayette community take advantage of and enjoy this abundance by communicating, communicating, communicating!

I’ll have some exciting new vision information to offer in next week’s blog, so please check back!!

See you in church this Sunday…

Detours!

I can’t seem to go any place around Lafayette these days without running into a detour related to some road construction project. Certainly the better roads that result from all the work will be nice, but wow is it tough to get around right now! My normal route to the church is torn up and closed. The alternative route is open but messed up by long lane closures. Roads that don’t normally carry a lot of traffic, and aren’t designed for much traffic, are the posted detour routes and really slow. Just this week it even became difficult to cross Columbia Street to get from the parking lot to the church.

With all my extra drive time, and while I’ve been sitting in traffic, I’ve begun to wonder if there is something more than frustration hidden for me in all these detours; some divine commentary on my direction in life, some deep theological message for me. Nothing much has come of this pondering so far…but I did recall a biblical story that involves a major detour.

The story of Jesus’ birth in the Gospel of Matthew contains the story of the Magi or Wise Ones coming to visit him. Being polite out of town guests, the Magi stop by Jerusalem and check in with the local king, Herod, to see if he knows where they might find the newly born king. Herod is not excited to learn that he may have competition, but he is a smart guy and helps the Magi figure out that Bethlehem is the place they need to be. As the Magi are getting on their camels to leave, Herod comes to say goodbye and slyly asks them to come back and see him after their visit to the new king. He wants to go meet this other king too and they can help him find the way.

Well, the Magi do find Jesus, but before they leave him they are warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, because Herod really wants to kill this newborn king whom he fears as a rival. The text says the Magi ‘went home by another way’. They took a detour!

I wonder what this detour offered the Magi? Certainly they got to travel through some new territory, where they met people they wouldn’t have met if they had taken the planned route home. The detour may have taught them something about the great lengths that people, especially kings, will go to attempting to protect their power. Their detour also saved Jesus and his family…which is no small feat.

Maybe all the detours I’m experiencing these days aren’t such a bad thing. They force me out of my routine and allow me to see new people and places. The detours help me view our community from a different perspective. If I let them, these detours may even open me up to God in new ways, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead me into God’s future from a direction I could not imagine and would have never taken on my own. Though I’ll probably still grumble some about all the extra time, ‘going home by another way’ is beginning to seem like a good thing!

What might the detours of summer 2009 offer all of us? What new and needed perspective are they providing us? Let us pray we use these detours wisely.

See you in worship this Sunday…but you may want to allow some extra time to get there!!

Talking Through Differences

It was there on the floor, having been slipped under the door, when I returned to my office following the 11:00 a.m. service this past Sunday. I don’t know if the note came to me via the offering plate and the Trustee who puts the offering in the safe and gives me prayer requests and other notes…or if the author had slid it under the door him/herself. The note wasn’t long. It began as a compliment of the sermon I had just preached…but as I read on, it became apparent to me that it was a back-handed compliment. The author of the note liked the sermon, because it was better than what I normally preach. When I got to the end of the note, I discovered it was not signed, so I crumpled it up and threw it away. I don’t deal with anonymous compliments or complaints.

After 20+ years of serving as a pastor, I know that I will say and do things that members of the congregation I’m serving don’t like. It is the nature of the calling, and the nature of sharing life in community. I wouldn’t be a very useful pastor for Central if my only goal was to make people like me.

Life in the community of faith is hard, because we all have different likes and dislikes, we all see things from our own particular perspective…which has been conditioned by our own unique life experiences, and we all approach the same tasks in very different ways. How we handle our differences is both the challenge and the opportunity of sharing community.

In my experience with my family, and with my friends and co-workers, and in the churches where I have been a member or served, the most healthy approach to dealing with differences is to talk about them. Talking is different from yelling. Talking is different from drawing a line in the sand of a particular issue and announcing that no other view will be considered. Talking is different from being polite while in the presence of the one or ones with whom you disagree, and then criticizing them to others when you are not.

Talking involves sitting down with the one or ones with whom you disagree, and clearly and civilly stating your concerns…and then listening with an open mind and heart to the response of the other. In the church, talking always means being open to the Holy Spirit, who is always at work around and within us, helping people see new perspectives and consider different possibilities. The Holy Spirit invites us to trust God more than our comfort zones!

I’m probably as big a fan of constructive criticism as the next person…meaning that it is not my favoritie thing. And yet, I have learned much in life because people have invited me to think and see from a different perspective. I know I am a better person, a better pastor, and yes, a better preacher, because folks have caringly encouraged me to see and ponder new possibilities.

I hope the person who wrote me that note will write me another note that they are willing to sign. Or, better yet, will call or email and say, ‘let’s talk…I have something I’d like you to think about’. I may not like what they have to say, and I may ultimately not be willing or able to change in the ways they would like me to…but I can guarantee that I will listen!

See you in church this Sunday!