A Thought

24 May 2014 Leave a comment

by Visible Unity, Inc. in Churches, Faith Communities, Spiritual Life, Uncategorized, Working and Preparing Tags: , ,

“A thought:  Just because the people around you may allow you to be less than doesn’t mean you have to be that.  Push yourself to do better and be better and always be open to learning from ANYONE!!!!!”

I put the above message on Facebook.  It was for individuals but as I was reading this book, “Building A Discipling Culture,” it occurred to me that many churches have also chosen to be less than.  They don’t push themselves, their leaders or their members to do better and be better.  They do not possess a ‘discipling culture.’  

Building off the three main ways we learn (Classroom/Lecture passing on of information, Apprenticeship and Immersion), they say that in order for churches to create or build a ‘discipling culture,’ churches have to provide the information, imitate the process and allow for innovation.  They cite many instances in scripture where Jesus modeled this process for us but somehow we have mixed things up.  We don’t realize that “If you make disciples, you always get the church.  But if you make a church, you rarely get disciples.” (Mike Breen and the 3DM Team, Building A Discipling Culture, Second Edition, Pawleys Island, SC, 2011)

For those interested in creating and building a ‘discipling culture,’ this is a must read.

People of Blessing

06 May 2014 4 Comments

by Visible Unity, Inc. in Churches, Diversity, Faith Communities, Missions, Spiritual Life, Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

This past Thursday, I attended a ‘Missional Forum’ put together by BODY | Oak Cliff.  The speaker was Fuller Seminary professor, Reggie McNeal and it turns out he and I have very similar thoughts about the state of the church today.  Two things I took away from the gathering were:

1.  As the people of God, we are to be a people of blessing.

2. We are to partner with God in his redemptive mission in the world and this means our lives are to be a mission trip – the way we live, how we treat people, who we engage, etc.

It was a good reminder for me at a time when I’ve been somewhat frustrated with churches and Christians.  Another reminder was a clip a friend sent me where they were testing to see if people would see the homeless people as they walked by.  In this clip, the ‘homeless’ people were the loved ones of the people walking by.  Yet no one noticed.  How I live my life, how I see and treat people, who I reach out to and seek to know, all say a lot about whether my walk and my talk are in sync, whether I am a person of blessing or not and whether I am partnering with God in His work or seeking to create my own.

Churches have somehow gone astray and don’t focus as much on living as Christ lived and blessing others. McNeal suggests that over the years we have some confused things and see going to church as the end point, not being the church. Being involves giving of ourselves, our time and our resources to help those in need of assistance and to reach out to those in need of a friend. So, at the end of each day, let’s reflect on whether we have been people of blessing and what more can we do the following day. Lord God, please bless us so that we can be a blessing to others and help in building your kingdom.

Hatred

10 Apr 2014 1 Comment

by Visible Unity, Inc. in Diversity, Spiritual Life

I recently received this quote by Alice Walker from Sojourners (Faith in Action for Social Justice):

“Watching you hold your hatred for such a long time I wonder: Isn’t it slippery? Might you not someday drop it on yourself? I wonder: Where does it sleep if ever? And where do you deposit it while you feed your children or sit in the lap of the one who cherishes you? There is no graceful way to carry hatred. While hidden it is everywhere.”

Wow!!!!  Examine yourself.  Who is it, what is it, why do you hate?

I don’t feel I need to say anything else.

Blessings

Diversify! Diversify! Diversify!

23 Feb 2014 2 Comments

by Visible Unity, Inc. in Churches, Diversity, Faith Communities, Hospitality Tags: , ,

And no, I don’t mean your financial portfolio.  We like diversity and variety in a lot of things.  When going out, we like to go to a variety of places, doing different things.  It might be to the movies one time, out to eat, to the park, to the museum, etc.  We like to eat different types of food.  We would complain if every day we had to eat the exact same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  We definitely like a variety of styles of clothing and even have them categorized; casual, business casual, semi-formal, formal, after five, etc.

I could go on and on about how we diversify our lives in so many ways.  So now, I would like to talk about how we diversify our financial portfolio.  We diversify so that we can have the greatest yields from our investments while minimizing the risks.  Risk and profit should be shared among a large group.  A typical portfolio will include 1) stocks, 2) bonds, and 3) short term investments.  Stocks have the highest risks but also the highest rewards.  Bonds have lower risk, so lower rewards but are more predictable.  Short term investments have the least risk (such as money market funds) and yield the least return but are the safest.

We could compare this to diversifying our congregations.  The higher risk individuals to welcome into our congregations would be the ‘other’ who is not a believer and is of a cultural group that our denomination has shunned or criticized in the past.  Those of lower risk would be the ‘other’ who is a believer yet also of a disparaged cultural group.  The least risky individuals are those like us but they are not welcoming to the ‘other.’

A friend talks about a church that he belonged to that practiced radical hospitality.  It was an imperative to them that they welcomed all of God’s creation through their doors.  Amazing!  You’ll notice that I don’t speak about the returns or rewards in regards to diversifying our congregations.  That is because our job is to welcome people in and share the good news.  God gives the increase.  God provides the return.  In the end, the ministry yield is fruitful with a variety of fruits of all colors, types, sizes, tastes, etc.

So, I say:  Diversify!  Diversify!  Diversify!

Our Call

31 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

by Visible Unity, Inc. in Diversity, Faith Communities, Working and Preparing

These are not my words but seem to fit with my recent posts.  God is doing a work.  Our you ready to answer your (our) call?

{American preachers have a task more difficult, perhaps, than those faced by us under South Africa’s apartheid, or Christians under Communism. We had obvious evils to engage; you have to unwrap your culture from years of red, white, and blue myth. You have to expose, and confront, the great disconnection between the kindness, compassion, and caring of most American people, and the ruthless way American power is experienced, directly and indirectly, by the poor of the earth. You have to help good people see how they have let their institutions do their sinning for them. This is not easy among people who really believe that their country does nothing but good, but it is necessary, not only for their future, but for us all.

September 1, 2005 – When I stand before my Maker, I would rather be judged for having my arms too wide open and welcoming as a person of faith or citizen of a nation than to have them crossed over my chest to keep people out.  Peter Storey

Rev. Dr. Peter Storey is a South African Methodist minister, former president of the Methodist Church of South Africa and bishop of Johannesburg, and former president of the South African Council of Churches. Born in 1938, Storey was raised under apartheid and became a leading voice against it as the leader of the ecumenical South African Council of Churches. He also served as the prison chaplain to jailed African National Congress leader and future South African president Nelson Mandela. He played a major role in constructing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the fall of apartheid, and he founded the Gun Free South Africa movement. He recently served as a distinguished professor at Duke University Divinity School. An outspoken peace activist, he was selected in 2009 by the TED organization to be a member of the Council of Conscience, a group of spiritual leaders selected to draft the Charter for Compassion.

Sojourner’s Email 1/31/14:

For God is not unjust; [God] will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for [God’s] sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And we want each one of you to show the same diligence, so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.  Hebrews 6:10-12

“Wage peace. Never has the word seemed so fresh and precious: Have a cup of tea and rejoice. Act as if armistice has already arrived. Celebrate today.”  Judyth Hill}

Collective Change

29 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

by Visible Unity, Inc. in Diversity, Faith Communities, Working and Preparing

In the State of the Union address, President Obama said, “We must put our collective shoulder to the wheel of progress.”  To build off of this, I say to believers and churches, we must put our collective love of Christ to the wheel of healing, reconciliation and unity because all of the issues that are dividing our nation are also dividing our churches.

These words are a good follow up from my previous post, The Will to Embrace.  It challenges me and I hope you as well.  Let’s start the conversations that need to be started and do the things that need to be done TODAY.  In my peacemaking class tonight they talked about the way to bring about deep societal change is to:

  1. Change the Stories
  2. Create the New Realities (outside of the systems of the present realities)
  3. Change the Rules

Today is the day.  Let’s search ourselves to see what our strengths and gifts are that we have been blessed with.  Then let’s seek God’s guidance on where, what and with whom we are to labor together.  Finally, let’s continually seek Christ and be Christ at all times.  Collectively following Christ and being His beloved community.

The Will to Embrace

25 Jan 2014 1 Comment

by Visible Unity, Inc. in Uncategorized

Miroslav Volf talks about the ‘will to embrace,’ where we give ourselves to others and welcome them; where we readjust our identities to make space for them.  Having just celebrated the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and his giving of himself for others, I am reminded of this call to us all and especially believers.  “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny…”  It’s a time in my life where some points are all converging to this one common theme.  I am working on a Doctorate that is looking at diverse congregations and how they can be unified through the practices of spiritual formation and reconciliation.  I am doing a program to become a Peace Ambassador to help bring peace within myself first and then throughout the world.  Through classes, reading, experiencing and sharing, I have been impressed with two action items.

1.  Become involved in healing/peacemaking discussions between Blacks and Hispanics or start one if I can’t find one.

2.  Research more the workings of reconcilers and peacemakers and see if they are having discussions with one another and start a discussion if they are not doing so.

Oftentimes, we can’t appreciate one another’s struggles because we don’t know their histories and our collective histories.  We also have a lot of media information that is incorrect, based on stereotypes; which leads us to incorrect assumptions.  Because of this, we miss out on our similarities and our collective and connective humanness.  Malachi 2:10 says, ‘Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?’  My prayer, as I look at all the conflict and oppression throughout the world, is that we humans can begin to act humane and begin to take on the challenge of the “Will to Embrace.”

 

The “Church” and The People of God

27 Oct 2013 Leave a comment

by Visible Unity, Inc. in Diversity, Faith Communities, Uncategorized

After I moved back to Dallas, I joined a church that had become diverse by merging 3 congregations (White, Black, Hispanic) because of the community changing but they had not really prepared for the merging.  It ended pretty badly.  Some people not only left this church but “church” in general; having had one too many bad experiences in the “church.”  For way too many believers, the “church” is no longer the place they want to belong to and share their lives.  I will include myself in that number.  After this church fell apart, a few of us created a faith community where we meet regularly, do Bible study, take Communion and share our lives.  We are somewhat diverse – Black, White, men, women, younger, older.

Earlier this year, I went to a conference entitled “What is Church” and there were a few other people there from faith communities.  Since then, I have emailed a couple of different people in my denomination and had conversations with people about the “church” and denominations.  I was inquiring about the “church” having some discussions about incorporating, including and making space for faith communities but I have not gotten positive reception nor been able to make any progress.

I was doing my devotions this morning (I am reading a little booklet by David Platt – What Did Jesus Really Mean When He Said Follow Me?) and wanted to share the following passages.  Platt writes about people not in the church.

“So many sit back and say, ‘Well, what other people do is between them and God.  Their sin is their life, their decision, and their responsibility.’ (He is suggesting that because people are not participating in the life of the church that this is what they say.)  Aren’t you glad that God pursues us despite our sin and pulls us away from that which destroys us?  And don’t we want people in our lives who will love us enough to look out for us when we begin to walk down a road of sinful destruction?….  Being a member of a church means realizing that we are responsible for helping the brothers and sisters around us to grow as disciples of Jesus.  In the same way, they are responsible for helping us.  We desperately need each other in the daily fight to follow Christ in a world that’s full of sin.” (Platt p. 37-38)

I agree with him that we don’t need people to just sit back and abdicate their brotherly and sisterly duties to one another as this is not what is required of us.  God does pursue us.  My difference from what Platt is saying is that the “church” should also pursue others while being mindful of how the “church” has harmed people.  The “church” should expand its thinking and be more open and welcoming to people involved in faith communities and provide space for these brothers and sisters.

Our faith community did have more people that were participating but as we shared our lives and welcomed them in, they were able to be healed and have since rejoined with a “church,” although not the same “church” as before.  Faith communities can be a place of healing for some.  I feel that I am called to be a part of faith communities and help people who have been hurt by the “church” to heal and rekindle a relationship with Jesus and to reconcile with Christ and then others.  Diversity, relationships, reconciliation can be found in faith communities and they are not in competition with the “church” but another place for God’s people to share in the great work of God by loving God and one another so that the “world will recognize disciples of Jesus by their distinct love for one another .” (Platt p. 40)

Mission Leaders Conference 2013

23 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by Visible Unity, Inc. in Diversity, Faith Communities, Missions, Uncategorized, Workshops Tags: , , , ,

I went to an excellent conference for Missions Leaders here in Dallas, September 19-21, 2013.  The theme was Stand and the four general sessions focused on Stand Up, Stand Together, Stand Firm and Stand Fast because “The Great Commission is too big for anyone to accomplish alone and too important not to try to do together” (Missio Nexus).

As an African American woman, it was great to feel welcomed, included and valued.  It’s not often I get to experience this from my white brothers and sisters and it came at the perfect, God-ordained time.  I didn’t realize how much I needed that.   Also, the conference was a good reminder for me to maintain my relationship with Christ; keeping my soul connected to his.  I will remember to ask myself and others – “Is it well with your soul today?” (Ruth Haley Barton)

A couple of things to share:

  • A ‘discipling culture’ exists when we have high invitation and high challenge (Mike Breen).  It is not enough to just issue the invitation, we have to go a step further and usher new converts (and even old converts) into the challenge of being a child of the kingdom.
  • Challenges for us today
    • Relational disciple making not programmatic discipling
    • Transformational ministry not church activity

 Feel free to use the outline below to develop a missions culture in your church.

African Americans and Hispanics in Missions

Reasons not involved in missions

  1. Lost culture of missions due to oppression and struggles  within own country to focus on
  2. Not educated, informed and know own history of minorities in missions
  3. Not necessarily the resources to fund missions within individual churches
  4. Not credible, respected or viable risk for funds from white churches

Recommend

  1. Begin or increase missions education and information
    1. Approach 18-30yr olds – in colleges, on Facebook, etc. to be missionaries
    2. Address denominational leaders for partnering and support
    3. Address congregational leaders for partnering with other churches for support
    4. Speak at churches and community organizations for support
    5. Have a missions conference for Blacks and Hispanics
    6. Create partnerships among churches to share missions

Pam Fields

02 Sep 2013 3 Comments

by Visible Unity, Inc. in Uncategorized

Dedicated to helping equip others in building diversity for growth and infusing reconciliation for healing.

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