St. John's UCC

I walked into the living room this morning. This time of year the entire space looks like a winter wonderland. There is not a square inch that is not filled with Christmas decorations: a collection of ten nutcrackers, five Christmas stockings, two trees, hundreds of lights, five advent calendars, and all kinds of knickknacks, wreaths and evergreen everywhere. The one collection that stands out most though are our currently 18 nativity scenes. They range from tiny candle holder to children’s toys to finely crafted olive wood straight from the Holy Land. We have amassed them over the years always looking for the perfect one. In the process we found out that there probably is no perfect one because we really love having this museum of variety in our living room.

Remember how I walked into the sanctuary last week?
There you will find a similar collection of nativity scenes. There are 26 of them currently. Some display the stable with child-like naivete. Some create a royal palace around the divine child. They come it all shapes and sizes.

Both at home and at church I am very diligent at making sure to take Jesus out of the scene where possible. The baby simply does not belong in the manger until Christmas. If he is glued in or otherwise attached I will not break the piece but a removable Jesus will be removed. That is good Christian practice to me because it sends a powerful message: Advent is not Christmas!

Advent derives from the latin adventus and means “coming”. Christ is still in the process of coming! He is not born yet. Our job is to be here tensely waiting. There is no fulfillment yet. There are no gifts yet. Expectation is building up. Advent wreath and calendar serve as countdown clocks to tell us: It is not Christmas yet! And there is great reward in expectant waiting.

The Stanford marshmallow experiment showed how important delayed gratification really is: Psychologist Walter Mischel placed a marshmallow in front of series of children and left them alone with it for 15 minutes. Before he left he told them that they would get a second marshmallow if they did not eat the first one while he was away. Wait 15 minutes and add 100% – sounds like a great deal. In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores, educational attainment, body mass index, and other life measures.

Christ is in the process of coming. The baby has not hit the hay yet. There are no shortcuts.

In the Greater Houston Area we usually don’t have much of a chance to experience a white Christmas but the holidays can be very festive around here anyway. A lot of cherished Christmas traditions are of German origin and St. John’s United Church of Christ in Rosenberg has offered German Holiday Programs for three years now. On December 4th at 10 a.m. they will have a bilingual Christmas service that also incorporates German language readings, prayers, hymns, and for the first time a Christmas Pageant. “Habt keine Angst! Do not be afraid!” yells the little angel.

Following the service there will be a time of fellowship and German holiday treats. The German Consulate General Houston has been gracious enough to sponsor musicians and singers to perform traditional German Christmas and Advent music during that time. Sing along is strictly encouraged!

Under their German name “Johanniskirche United Church of Christ” they provide church events and pastoral services in German language. Over the last few years they have seen numerous weddings and baptisms that were celebrated in bilingual ceremonies. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey you are welcome here.

I walked into the sanctuary this morning. It’s Monday morning and I wanted to see how the Advent decorations looked this year. I wasn’t around to help set up the afternoon before. But I can tell: Everybody knows exactly what they are doing. Everybody knows exactly where each piece goes. It looks gorgeous – like every year. Then I started checking for the little things that are sometimes off: No, the tree is not crooked. No, the extension cords are in place and actually long enough. All is well. All is as it always has been.

I find that comforting. I like it when tradition keeps me grounded. I think it is healing in an ever more hectic and divided world that there is this bastion of togetherness and grandeur that just falls into place year after year. There is beautiful stability in knowing what’s going to happen: The smells, the bells, and all those little things that make the holidays merry and bright.

As I am floating through the sanctuary I lay my eyes on the dozens of nativity scenes that are neatly arranged along the windows. My mood changes. All of a sudden I find myself bored. It is kind of same old same old. How is the gospel of Jesus Christ supposed to come alive for a new generation, for a new day and age when we keep everything exactly the same year after year?

But that’s how a liturgical church works. Repeating rhythms come with opportunities and limitations. The paraments are also the same as every year. One shows the Alpha and the Omega, a reference to Revelations where the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Wow! There is the promise of newness in the same old same old. That’s why we do this: Because the new needs to be birthed out of what came before.

That is also reflected in the other parament with its Isaiah reference: “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” That old kingdom of David is coming to new life and new fruition in an entirely different shape, form and context. Out of an ancient flower grows the cross of Christ. May this Advent season surprise you with its openness to an entirely new future and may its traditional same old symbols guide you into something fresh. It worked for me this morning in the sanctuary.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. The story goes that the pilgrims thanked God for sustaining them in a strange and dangerous land. They had just escaped another grave set of dangers from their nemesis King James of England. Walking through the four centuries since then we discover a few kings that did not turn out so well.

1600s
King James is not the king. The pilgrims sure did not want to live under him. These separatists did not want to be a part of the king’s church so they preferred to risk the journey across the Atlantic instead.

1700s
King George III is not the king. The american colonies declared boldly: “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”

1800s
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels is not the king. He may have brought the first German settlers to Texas but along with the Adelsverein he did not make good on many of his promises: free land, safety and plenty of opportunities. A lot of it did not come to pass for many early settlers.

1900s
Adolf Hitler is not the king. He demanded worship for himself but the confessing church denounced him declaring: “We reject the false doctrine that beyond its special commission the State should and could become the sole and total order of human life and so fulfill the vocation of the Church as well.”

Jesus Christ is the king. This week the church celebrates Christ the King Sunday. The last Sunday of the liturgical calendar puts all of creation, including all of history under the lordship of Jesus Christ. No matter how terrific or horrific our leaders, past or present or future may be, their reign is subject to Christ’s reign. And their service will not be judged by how great they are but by how humble they are: “But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:43-44)

Besides our own Helper you should consider subscribing to the newsletter of the South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ. Here is the latest weekly reflection from Rev. Dr. Don Longbottom:

Sunday morning, I drove through dense fog and showed up to preach at St. John’s Church in Burton, Texas. St. John’s is another of our congregations of Germanic origin and grounded in the solid “can do” ethos of rural Texas. I had a wonderful experience, and the fried chicken was enough to melt a former Baptist’s heart however it did not do much for my diet.

Pastor Glen has served St. John’s for 35 years with grace, distinction, integrity and humor. My sermon followed a children’s message delivered by Glen, and I have to tell you we could have taken an offering, pronounced a benediction and called it “church.” All in all, it was a warm and engaging worship service permeated with laughter. I especially appreciated the acapella singing that reminded me of my time among the Mennonites.

It would be a mistake to think in the case of St. John’s that rural means out of the loop. The service itself was a winsome mix of traditional and contemporary music. The makeup of staff includes Pastor Risa, a young Latina coming to the ministry through the congregation’s heavy emphasis on discovering and developing lay persons for licensed ministry. The people themselves were so welcoming and authentic that I wanted to move in like the boll weevil. Thanks folks for making my day. Hard to believe that I get to do this for a living. Please don’t tell the Board of Directors.

Early Monday morning, as is my daily practice, I opened up the internet. Someone had sent me a 7-minute video of our government’s response to the happenings at Standing Rock in the Dakotas. The situation is deeply disturbing to me and should be to all freedom and earth loving Americans. The indigenous peoples in the area are trying to obstruct construction of an oil pipeline that will threaten their water supply and the desecrated ground they hold to be sacred. The video shows non-violent protesters confronted by police dogs, pepper spray, armored vehicles, and snipers armed with high-powered telescopic rifles, and soldiers or police but who can’t tell the difference. Frankly, the video looks more like life in East Berlin before the wall came down than the home of the free and the brave.

As a people of faith, whose moral compass is the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth I do not believe that we in good conscience can remain silent. Several of our Conference Ministers from across this nation are traveling to Standing Rock to give non-violent witness to a Christ who calls us to go in harm’s way for what is right and just. Tim Wiersma and husband Donnie from Cathedral of Hope are coordinating a group to go to Standing Rock to witness. They are planning on arriving November 5 and leaving on the 10. If you are feeling called to action, please contact Tim via email or by phone” 214-288-6221.

Whether you are from Louisiana, Texas or Arizona my home state, this much I know. We are a freedom loving people who will not sit idly by and watch injustice have its way. It matters little whether we are Republican, Democrat or any space on the political spectrum… we are Christians first. Followers of Christ to not flee from injustice in fear. According to II Timothy God has given us a spirit, not of timidity but courage. Let us be courageous and faithful in our witness as this time of testing has come upon us. Our nation’s soul hangs in the balance.

Peace and Honor,

Dr. Don

Houston Saengerbund German Christmas 2014

In the Greater Houston Area we usually don’t have much of a chance to experience a white Christmas but the holidays can be very festive around here anyway. Usually we have one Christmas pageant and that happens during our Christmas Eve service. That will also be the case again this year, of course. But celebrating the birth of Christ abundantly we will have two Christmas Services this year: One on December 24th and on December 4th will be our bilingual Christmas service that also incorporates German language readings, prayers, hymns, and yes – for the first time a Christmas Pageant.

This is an all-hands-on-deck operation. It takes a whole lot more than just Mary, and Joseph – think angels, and shepherds and inn-keeper and many more. All children are welcome. You don’t have to be able to speak German. Some parts don’t have words, others are simple enough to sound out. We will have three rehearsals on three Tuesdays in November: 15, 22, 29 at 5pm. Please have your little ones there to join the fun!

St. Martin 2015

November will have another cherished German holiday tradition. On Saturday, November 12th, St. Martin is coming to St. John’s on horseback. We start at 5pm making paper lanterns with the kids. Please bring your own supplies. Who ever needs help with that please contact Rev. Daniel Haas. After a hot dog dinner at 6pm we will follow horse and rider into the street for a lantern procession. Great fun for young and old!

Under our German name “Johanniskirche United Church of Christ” our congregation has offered German Holiday Programs for three years now. All events are also intended for English-speaking family members. Usually they are offered in both English and German. Johanniskirche United Church of Christ is available to all who are interested in church events or pastoral services in German language. Over the last few years we have seen numerous weddings and baptisms that were celebrated in bilingual ceremonies. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey you are welcome here.

You can download and share our 2016 German language invitation here.

On All Hallow’s Eve in 1517 Martin Luther raised concerns about what he saw as abuses in the Roman Church of his time, by making public his 95 theses. 2017 is the 500th anniversary of this key event in the reformation movements that marked the life of the Western Church over several centuries. This event has been a controversial theme in inter-church relations in Germany over the last few years. The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) has been building up to this anniversary since 2008, by focusing each year on one particular aspect of the Reformation, for example: the Reformation and Politics, or the Reformation and Education. The EKD also invited its ecumenical partners at various levels to help commemorate the events of 1517.

After extensive, and sometimes difficult, discussions, the churches in Germany agreed that the way to commemorate ecumenically this Reformation event should be with a Christusfest – a Celebration of Christ. If the emphasis were to be placed on Jesus Christ and his work of reconciliation as the center of Christian faith, then all the ecumenical partners of the EKD (the Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Baptists, Methodists, Mennonites and others) would agree to participate in the anniversary festivities. From this context emerges the strong theme of the 2017 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: “Reconciliation – ‘The Love of Christ Compels Us’” (2 Corinthians 5:14). It will also be our theme at St. John’s United Church of Christ this week.

As the Great Reformation started on the Eve of All Saints Day we will combine these two themes in our service on Sunday, October 30th, 2016. The reconciliation that God works covers the living and the dead. A special candle will be lit as a symbol of our hope for resurrection for everyone who died since last year’s service. Following these highlighted individuals everybody may come forward to light a candle for anyone they may miss dearly.

We celebrate the reconciliation that God provides and from there we also acknowledged that we were given the ministry of reconciliation. A lighted candle is a deeply human symbol: it enlightens the darkness, creates warmth, security and community. It symbolizes Christ, the light of the world. As ambassadors for Christ we will carry this light into the world, into the dark places where fighting, discord and division impede our united witness. May Christ’s light effect reconciliation in our thoughts, words and deeds. Receive the Light of Christ and carry it into the dark places of our world! Be ministers of reconciliation! Be ambassadors for Christ!

Written by John Dorhauer

On Saturday, October 9, I gathered with a number of UCC members and clergy, including Southwest Conference Minister the Rev. Dr. Bill Lyons – to demonstrate for immigrant justice.

Every time I see the wall on our southern border, it shames me.

I have said before it stands as America’s greatest monument to white privilege. At almost 2,000 miles long, with a cost to build and maintain it at almost $1million a mile – it is our largest and most expensive such monument.

Largely white immigrants who entered the U.S. at our east coast from Europe saw the Statue of Liberty – a universally recognized symbol of welcoming the stranger in our midst. Bearing the words of Emma Lazarus at its base, it asks the world to send us their poor, huddled masses, the tempest-tossed yearning to breathe free. The nobility and grand scope of that sentiment has always made me feel proud to be an American.

And then I show up in El Paso, or Nogales, or Tijuana and see the wall. It shames me.

White immigrants have a statue and a poem welcoming them.

The first nation tribes who lived here have either disappeared or were forced onto reservations.

Many African Americans are descendants of slaves imprisoned by the conquering white immigrants to these shores.

Many Asian peoples were brought here to lay the lines for the early railways, or mine for our gold, silver, and copper – only to be hauled into internment camps during the Second World War.

And for the brown people to our south we have erected not a statue with a poem that inspires and invites, but a wall, an armed militia, and angry citizens posing as vigilantes.

As a white male for whom America has laid out a welcoming mat, silence in the face of this oppressive power is not an option. Nor is an unchallenged acceptance of all this privilege affords me.

My voice stands in solidarity with those crying for justice.

My feet walk in accompaniment with those agitating for justice.

My ears hear the cries of those who can no longer live under these conditions.

My eyes serve to witness both to the trauma inflicted on people and land because of this wall and all it represents, and to the machinations that must be orchestrated in order for whites to maintain and distribute their unearned privilege.

My heart aches, and in the aching compels my feet, my hands, and my body to act.

In this election cycle, pay close attention to how the immigrant is portrayed. Don’t accept the rhetoric of politicians who conjure and broker fear for political gain. Come to the wall; see with your own eyes what America has become. Meet those whom our government is teaching us to fear.

Then ask yourself what your privilege costs.

John C. Dorhauer is General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ.

“History repeats itself”, says a comforting adage. It means that what we do and what we don’t do, how we vote or speak really doesn’t matter in the long run. Things will sort themselves out like they always have. Sounds nice, right?

Phyllis Tickle challenged that view. She discovered a pattern in history, or at least in the history of the church that does not repeat but progress. Roughly every 500 years or so happens a major milestone that fundamentally changes how we do church and how we see the world. A good starting point is the year 1,000 BCE. Around that period the united kingdom of Israel and Judah experienced its peak consolidation of power under king David. Up to that point tribes had been fighting each other but now there is unity in the land. 500 years later, the people of God found themselves in the Babylonian exile. Here they learned to live their faith without any institutions: No king, no temple, just shared practice of Sabbath and circumcision. Again 500 years later came Jesus Christ and the beginning of the church. Now emerges a new community that is no longer from one ethnicand cultural group but spreads to the Gentiles as well. Around 500 CE the church has taken hold of the Roman Empire and ultimately shapes the thinking and culture of the “Western World”. 500 years later the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox split in the Great Schism, separating the church into warring factions. The Protestant Reformation starts around 1500 CE and challenges the institutional church by stressing the Bible as the ultimate authority for the teaching and practice of the church.

Around the year 2,000 CE, we are living through what Tickle calls “The Great Emergence”. Once again, everything is challenged, nothing stays the same. At the end of our 500-year-cycle the church will be vastly different from what it was before. For three Sundays in October I will explore three themes that deal with being the church in the Great Emergence:

October 9th, 2016: The Decline of Christendom. The church is once again not at the center of political and cultural power and influence. We have to grapple with our existence on the fringe of postmodern society. We have been there many times before. How is this one different?

Oct 16th, 2016: The Emergence of Justice
Emergent Christianity is profoundly shaped by justice work. The church of this age is in the business of doing good. How can the church become a louder advocate for those on the margins? How can you learn to make noise for those who cannot speak for themselves?

Oct 23rd, 2016: Postmodern Prayer
Spirituality is stronger than ever and people have more choices now than they have ever had before. Also prayer is more individualized than ever before. How do we shape our shared worship and corporate prayer in a way that connects with the need for individual devotion?

There ain’t no turning the clock back. We are emgerging. Let’s make the best of if!

“All who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.” (I Cor. 11:29)

The first Sunday in October is designated as World Communion Sunday, which celebrates our oneness in Christ with all our brothers and sisters around the world. Paul tells us that we are to “discern the body” when we partake of Holy Communion, mindful that we note our relationship to all our brothers and sisters in Christ in the celebration. One is not to go hungry while another is drunk! (I Cor. 11:21). This is scandalous behavior opposed to the Way of Christ. Thus it is appropriate that World Communion Sunday is also a time when we receive the Neighbors in Need (NIN) Offering as a way of continuing the ancient Christian practice of sharing what we have with brothers and sisters in need.

World Communion Sunday (originally called World Wide Communion Sunday) is a gift of the Presbyterian Church to the larger ecumenical church. The first celebration occurred at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1933 where Dr. Hugh Thompson Kerr served as pastor. Donald Kerr explained how the idea of World Communion Sunday spread from that first service to the world wide practice of today, “The concept spread very slowly at the start. People did not give it a whole lot of thought. It was during the Second World War that the spirit caught hold, because we were trying to hold the world together. World Wide Communion symbolized the effort to hold things together, in a spiritual sense. It emphasized that we are one in the Spirit and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

St. John’s United Church of Christ will – as part of their World Communion Sunday observance – receive the NIN offering on October 2, 2016. Through the Neighbors in Need offering, the church expresses a common commitment to justice and compassion throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. One-third of the offering undergirds the work of the Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM), including much-needed financial support for 20 American Indian congregations in the UCC. Two-thirds of Neighbors in Need supports program initiatives and direct grants offered by the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries. Small but essential grants are made throughout the year to congregations and organizations engaged in community organizing, public policy advocacy, and direct service. Although grants are made to address a wide range of justice priorities, a significant portion of these grants are made to address issues of hunger and poverty. You can learn more about these ministries when you read their Transformational Stories.