Archive for June, 2012

I have been around Holy Covenant for about 20 years, first as a visitor, than as a member, and finally as part of the staff. And while pride day is always great, every four years or so (read: General Conference years), there’s nothing like a Pride Parade to help heal the wounded soul. These are the years when we are reminded of how many of those “open doors” in our denomination are still actually closed; and the opportunity to again try and change those minds at an institutional level seems so far away.

So, yeah, by all means let’s parade and party. I have watched, marched, and “floated” in the parade for a number of years, and while I was not able to participate directly this year, I can attest to its power and joy and emotion; the mountain-moving kind. When that many hearts are beating in sync (mostly likely to a driving dance beat), it becomes quite clear that amidst all the wild revelry, there’s definitely some God stuff happening here.

We had a unique opportunity this year to give a witness to that God stuff as we, in addition to many other faith groups, received a prime location in the parade. And thanks to the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches, we were able to roll that witness into a mighty powerhouse of different faith traditions. We were there as one, marching together, praying together, singing together, holding signs for like-minded churches that couldn’t be there, lifting each other up. It wasn’t my church or your church, it was God’s church y’all. And we were deliverin’ the good word.

I have seen what the love of God and the people that embrace it, streaming through those open doors, can do at Holy Covenant. I have seen lives changed; souls blossom; hearts embraced. And to all the worn out weary folks that marched, designed, built, organized, led, preached and prayed, know that you took that love and put it out there for all to see. For 850,000 people to see. And that, my friends, is some really good God stuff.

Peace,

Andrew Collins

Get these reflections and more in our weekly eNewsletter

Sunday, June 24, 2012
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Polly Toner, preaching

Genesis 1
2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

We’ve started this morning with a story from Genesis, one of the stories of creation. It is a bit long, but it seems a fitting text for today, that we begin with the reminder and celebration of the fact that God created everything and everyone, and found that it was good, very good, indeed.

Today is Pride Sunday, a day when people across Chicago, hundreds of thousands of them (last year’s estimate was 750,000), celebrate the diversity of God’s creation. It is lively and fun, sometimes a bit rowdy – and always colorful. As a community of faith we ought to pause and remember this parade is the response to a need. Its origins are in a time when individuals could not publicly celebrate who they are. Pride parades around the nation developed as an outcry for human dignity and civil rights, and they take place because people were willing to stand up, challenge the status quo, and take risks. I will be the first to agree that dignity might not directly follow from some of the behavior that has gone on at these parades in the past – but on the whole, they are a marvelous party in honor of God’s people. Every year I feel overcome by a sense of unity between humans right out on the sidewalk – a celebration of being alive and being whoever it is that we are. In 2012 we are able to enjoy the party because others before us stood up and took action.

Before we continue, in the spirit of our summer discussion series here at Holy Covenant, I want to raise a few questions…

1.) What is ministry?

2.) Is the Pride Parade ministry?

Friday evening was the Medical Resident Graduation for our House Staff at St. Joseph Hospital. After giving the benediction, I was able to listen to story after story of how these new doctors had changed lives in amazing ways, and then about the many personal sacrifices they and their families had made in order to do so. Medical service to the community is chock full of joy, of miraculous interventions and recoveries – but it is not without a cost. It is not without some discomfort for doctors and for patients. In fact it STARTS in a place of neediness. The medical model is based on looking for dysfunction, disease, what does not work right. Most doctors do not spend their days caring for the healthy and strong. Particularly at this faith-based, nonprofit hospital in the center of many urban retirement and nursing homes, these doctors spend much of their day caring for the uninsured, and for the elderly. SJH has an award winning ministry to those living with HIV/AIDS, and a high level neonatal ICU caring for the tiniest and sickest of newborns. Whether these doctors themselves are Christians or not, they ARE participating in the Christian ministry of SJH as they care for the least and the frailest of these, honoring all of God’s very good creation even when, especially when, things aren’t going so well. In order to fix what isn’t right though, health care providers must also be attuned to what IS right. They must also look at a person’s strengths so they can identify the resources that can be used to overcome the illness.

This is not so different from what we do as the Church. (more…)

I attended a memorial service yesterday afternoon, for my friend “Macho Man” aka Carlos. Macho Man has been a part of the family at St. Joseph Hospital for about seven years now. When we first met him, he had all four limbs intact and was just starting to adjust to renal dialysis. His journey from that day forward has been full of the obstacles that often come with diabetes. First he lost a part of one foot, then a portion of the whole leg on that side. Eventually a bit more of the remaining foot. Carlos ultimately learned to scoot around with two very short residual limbs, a prosthetic leg, fingers that didn’t bend much, and eyesight that was quite limited.

As we visited at his memorial service though, no one was talking about any of that. Instead, we all shared memories of his love of life, the twinkle in his flirtatious eyes that never seemed to go dim- no matter what the rest of his body was suffering. This self-proclaimed “Macho Man”, Carlos, is the reason I have the Village People on my iPhone. I will always remember his grin as he wheeled into the rehab gym day after day wearing one wild T-shirt after another to make us laugh. “Macho Man is here” he would say in his deepest voice. This thin, frail, very sick man was still eager to be the life of every party- even if the party took place on a therapy mat in the hospital. Each time we thought his death was near, Macho Man proved us wrong making miraculous comebacks. I confess we often wondered if it was good news that he made it through yet another week, until we saw him smile again.

Carlos had names for us, his therapists, too. We were Charlie’s Angels…which eventually morphed into “My Angels”. As three of us entered the funeral home today, ragged and hot, still in our work scrubs, we heard several people announce, “they’re here, those are his angels…” Macho Man had successfully reframed his whole scenario making it something a bit glamorous, and even fun. Better yet, he invited everyone to join him.

At the close of the service, the gathered community stood to sing a song in Spanish, I only caught a handful of the lyrics, but I was touched by the priest’s introduction to the hymn. He invited those who knew the music to stand and raise their hands in the air to God. He reminded us all that we are on this journey together, and that when it is too hard for some of us to raise our hands up, then it is time for those around us to do it for us. We are a community of love. As his family sat quietly in the front of the chapel, those who love Macho Man sang, hands raised high in prayer, symbolically holding up those who are weak from grief and years of caregiving. This is part of being the Church.

The love for Carlos lives on strong. This same love that supported Carlos for so long will get his family through the days and months ahead. I do not share this story to glorify suffering, but rather to give glory to life and to love. Carlos’ story is testimony to God’s spirit flowing in our midst in places that do not resemble a church at all, between people who are not relatives, or even fellow church members. Carlos knew life was about more than his body, and that he didn’t need his limbs to love those in his midst. He knew that he could be Macho Man even when he needed really a lot of help. Because Carlos had an authentic sense that he was loved, he was able to bless the rest of us even as he suffered. Those of us who helped Macho Man in his times of practical need will be ever helped by his example of both the giving and the taking of loving relationships. Thank you Macho Man!

Rev. Polly Toner
Ministry Associate

Get these reflections and more in our weekly eNewsletter

Sunday, June 17, 2012
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Matthew Johnson, preaching

Philippians 3:4-14

Well, friends, welcome back to the Discipleship Conversations. In the past few weeks, we’ve talked about grace being the beginning of all things … we’ve talked about this giving of God being what spawns creation and our redemption.

We talked about what the word salvation may mean. We talked about how it has comforted and injured us. And I suggested that the beginning of salvation may be described as a moment of seeing more clearly … or at least differently.

Notice that I … and a long line of people from our tradition … spoke specifically about the beginning of salvation. As in there is more to it than just seeing differently.

In the scripture we just heard shared from Paul’s letter to the church at Caesarea Philippi, Paul gives his readers a sense of his powerful pedigree … all those distinguishing marks that make him special in the church.

I was circumcised on the eighth day.
I am from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin.
I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews.
With respect to observing the Law, I’m a Pharisee.
With respect to devotion to the faith, I harassed the church.
With respect to righteousness under the Law, I’m blameless.

If he were writing today, what do you think he would list to get attention and respect (and to make his point)? If he were going to show off his laurels, what would some present equivalents be?

Yet Paul says none of this matters … it is all sewage … relative to what he has been given. Salvation by way of God’s love, Christ’s grace, and the Spirit’s presence also has the power to make us different. That new lens on life allows grace to lift us to be faithful followers of Jesus and set our sights beyond ourselves.

That is the direction I hope we can go this week: into the idea of living in salvation as if it were a process instead of a moment … as if it were something we participate in as opposed to something that happens to us … as if it were something that made us desire to exchange who we are for a greater share of servanthood in God’s reign.

To take us there, I wanted to tell you a story. (more…)

Look at how good and pleasing it is
when we live together as one! (Psalm 133:1)

Emily, Libby and I had a great time last night by staying up well past our collective bedtime to watch “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” on the Great Lawn at Millennium Park. We joined our laughter with that of some great, fellow members of the Holy Covenant community, and thousands of others whom we did not know. Many of us knew the film’s script by heart and anticipated the jokes; we laughed and applauded before the lines were delivered. Many others had never seen the film before, but were quickly swept up by it and added their voices to the sea of sound that was our collective reaction. Joy moved in waves across us all as we bathed in the light of the screen and the ambience of the skyline. Taking it all in, I remembered the verse above from Psalm 133. Look, indeed. Caught up in equal parts community and urban escapism, it was a good a pleasing thing to be living together, seemingly as one.

But as the story of Pee Wee and his bike began to find resolution, I remembered that our “living together as one” was just a fleeting moment. As the credits rolled, the lawn cleared out. Thirty-five minutes later, you would have little idea that we had even been there. Pee Wee Herman, as charismatic a character as he is, doesn’t have the power to sustain us in unity.

We claim Christian community can be more than a moment, though, if God is at the center of us. And Christian community is more than a moment when we celebrate God’s grace with thanksgiving. Every week at the 7 p.m. service, we remind ourselves of this. “It is a right and a good and a joyful thing, always and everywhere …” we say as we gather at table to celebrate communion. And, when we surround the table with our hope and prayer, it is a good and pleasing thing to be a part of … not because of the moment alone, but because of where it sends us. While our leaving the film changed little about our lives, city and world, leaving the communion table, filled with the goodness of God, transforms us to live differently in our city and world.

Ultimately, what is good and pleasing isn’t about how I feel, but rather who we become. There is power in that. And while it begins in worship, it is lived after the lights go out and everyone heads back into a reality where the reign of God is breaking free. I hope that you will make time for the ritual of weekly worship this summer so that you can see and participate in that reality with pleasure. If you don’t, you are missing out on how good the faith life can be.

Peace and love,

Pastor Matthew

Get these reflections and more in our weekly eNewsletter

Sunday, June 10, 2012
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Matthew Johnson, preaching

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

We are busy folk! As the Office Administrator for Holy Covenant, I have a unique perspective on just how many events happen at and around HC in a given week. From Fun Squad movie nights to Small Groups to Committee Meetings to Community Outreach opportunities, the Holy Covenant community is a vibrant and active one.

Here’s a short guide to how to plan an event of your own, or let the greater HC community know about an event you’re participating in.

Organize a church event
If you’re interested in planning an event, there is a committee to help you do it! You can contact any of the Committee Chairs about integrating your event into our many ministries.

Then, get it on the calendar! Our church calendar is always packed with events, so email us to reserve a location at the church. It’s always a good idea to give me 2-3 potential dates and times so that if your first choice is already booked, I can book your 2nd choice date right away.

Once your date is confirmed, Holy Covenant’s communications committee can help you promote your event to the greater HC community. Fill out our Communications Request Form to let us know the details of your event. Including an image or a video link is really helpful to creating eye-catching event postings! The Communications Committee and I will post your event information to:

• the HC Website
• our weekly eNews (this one! right here!)
• the Holy Covenant Facebook Group
• the @HolyCov Twitter feed

Let us know about your event!
We’re always happy to post info on events that our congregants are attending or participating in, even if they’re not church-specific. You can email us or fill out the Communications Request Form to have your event posted to our Community Events page.

Feel free to post a link to your event on the Holy Covenant Facebook Group as well. Anyone in the group can post.

Send photos
After your event, send photos of yourself and other HC-ers having bunches of fun. We’ll post these on the Holy Covenant Facebook Page and in various locations on the Holy Covenant website to show the world what an awesome time we have together.

Now, let’s have some fun!

Ellen Willett
Office Administrator

Get these reflections and more in our weekly eNewsletter

Sunday, June 3, 2012
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Matthew Johnson, preaching

John 3:1-17

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I would venture to guess that if you walked down the street today and asked random people to tell you what it meant to be a “Christian,” you would probably end up with a different answer from every person that you asked. “Christian” is a loaded and explosive word in our culture. People who call themselves “Christian” build bridges and while others who do the same blow them up. Some extend helping hands and others throw punches. Some speak with a kindness unmatched and other’s words strike with paralyzing venom.

The lack of commonality in our faith is incredibly frustrating for me. So much of popular faith is built on incendiary words and dogmas. We hear them, and a fire is lit within us or in a ring around us. We hear them and we remember the way they were used to welcome and harm. The way they were used to embrace and exclude.

It is frustrating, so I understand why so many give up on Christianity or never try it at all. I understand why so many become activists and dedicate their lives to a kind of faith that is consistent with the person of Jesus and his redemptive and radical love. And I can understand why so many become confused, and eventually become content to live in a religion of apathy.

For the summer, we are going to do our best to engage these words that are used to describe Christianity … to break down the context around them and give them new focus … a focus sharpened by pulling tight on what God has been doing throughout history and into today.

This will not be easy; there are challenges that come along with this. We must be willing to open our hearts and minds around things we may assume to already understand. Over the coming months, we will share in traditions from the ancient to the post-modern. We will celebrate and argue with parts of our Wesleyan heritage and future. Sometimes, it may make you feel a bit squirmy.

Which is why it is essential to not let what is presented in the worship hour be the end of the conversation. Every week, there will be multiple opportunities for you to engage in structured discipleship conversations. Please take advantage of them, and don’t be afraid to have impromptu ones with your friends as well.

And the biggest challenge this summer will bring, I believe, is that it will ask us to be more intentional about our discipleship … that goes for all of us from those who are just encountering Jesus for the first time today to the cradle-Christians and everyone in between. This will take our practicing what the Spirit does in our midst, our growing it into habit, and our putting that it into action. If we can agree on that as our covenant to one another — openness, continuance and practice — I believe we will be surprised by what happens to us all.

Can we agree to that? To be open, to continue the conversation, and to practice with intentionality?

With that out of the way, we begin today with a passage from scripture that is loaded with many of these incendiary words and dogmas. There probably isn’t a chapter of scripture that is full of more of them than the third in John’s gospel. “Born Again,” “Judgement,” “Salvation,” “Belief,” “Everlasting Life.” “For God so loved the world…”

This chapter of John has long been used to prove an exclusive faith. That a certain brand of belief in Jesus qualifies or earns one a trip on a fluffy silver cloud to an other-worldly heaven with streets of gold and devoid of all those heathens we can’t stand. It has been used to say that salvation is something that happens when you confess the name of Jesus as the name above all names. It has been used to reinforce the ideas of a burning hellfire; to deny that God can be at work in other faiths.

But what if we look at it through a different lens?

I want you to imagine a world with me for a moment. In this world, factories are closing, leaving for more profitable locations and taking the jobs with them; In this world, substandard wages and depressing conditions lead to a dramatic increase of addictions to alcohol, drugs and gambling. Both parents in a house are forced to work, leaving children to fend for themselves. Many of those kids roam the streets and fall into lives of crime. Entire populations are displaced. The jails are filled with minorities and the poor; widows and orphans rely on handouts to make it through the day. Unemployment is at an all-time high, and homelessness is on the rise. “Someone save us!” cry the people. “Someone liberate us from this world of oppression!”

This, of course, is not an imaginary world I am describing. It is our nation in the early 2000s. And it is England in the early 1700s. A visit there may give us a different way to see John’s gospel. Because on a trip there, we would find couple of preachers’ kids were struggling with this same thing. (more…)

For the conversation started in the worship service on June 3, here are a few questions to get you going.

What does grace mean to you?
Is there a moment when you experienced God’s grace?
Are there moments in your relationship with friends or family in which you have experienced grace?
Are grace and forgiveness the same thing?
Are there actions in the world that are unforgivable?

If you are interested in more information, here are a couple of books that you should check out.

Love Wins by Rob Bell
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright