vicemodblog

The theoblogger challenge

 Last week I was invited to participate in what is called the "Theoblogger Challenge" on the Patheos.com website. This is a new website for exploring the religions and spiritualities of the world. There were six of us who were invited to take part in this process and we were asked to respond to the question, 

Who/What is God" in 100 words or less

We could respond any way we wanted - poetry, prose or images - but it had to stay under 100 words. That was a tough task! My response is below which is also posted on the Patheos website:

When I am asked,
"Who/What is God?"
I no longer give long, complicated answers.
From what I have experienced
I have a simple answer;
God is Love.

The Creator God is Love
because God created
me,
you,
and all living things.
And it's all good.

The Redeeming God is Love
because God forgave our sins
through an ultimate act.

The Sustaining God is Love
for God watches,
guides,
strengthens,
and comforts us
all the time.

So you ask,
"Who/What is God?"
I would say --

God is Love.

The project was lots of fun and stretched me to be concise as opposed to lengthy. I hope you will also have the opportunity to check out the other responders:

Christine Valters Paintner, founder and director of Abbey of the Arts and a spiritual director based in Seattle, WA

Robb Harrell, a Lutheran pastor serving as a mission re-developer at St. Luke Church (www.storyofgod.org) in Atlanta, GA

Adam Walker Cleaveland, a Minister for Youth and Young Adults at Asbury United Methodist Church in Livermore, CA. His blog is Pomomusings

Jim Burklo, an ordained United Church of Christ pastor and the Associate Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California. Jim's blog is Musings

Amy Julia Becker, a writer and a student at Princeton Theological Seminary. She blogs at Thin Places

Christine Sine, co-founder of Mustard Seed Associates, a network of followers of Jesus seeking to put God's purposes first in their lives

Thanks to my fellow University of Redlands Alumnus, Deborah Arca Moody, the Mainline Protestant portal manager for Patheos for inviting me to do this. I hope to participate again in the future!

Plug for Ecumenical Advisory Days and Transformation Conference

Hey all,

Hope you are well and getting ready for spring despite the snow/cold weather. I know that I can't wait! I wanted to bring you to your attention two upcoming events that you may want to participate in -

 The first is Ecumenical Advocacy Days, an annual event that is held in Washington, D.C. It began in 2003 by representatives of the ecumenical Christian community from various denominations and faith-based organizations whose goal is to strengthen the Christian voice and mobilize for advocacy on a variety of U.S. domestic and international policy issues through worship. theological reflection and opportunities for learning and witness. The theme varies annually and this year's theme is "A Place to Call Home: Immigrants, Refugees and Displaced Peoples." As you are aware there is much discussion around all three issues in this country. Even abroad, we hear of displaced peoples in places such as Darfur, Haiti, and Palestine. I had the opportunity to see it firsthand when I visited a displacement camp in Colombia. This issue affects all of us in one way or another and it is a chance to learn more about U.S. and International policies and what the faith-based community is doing to speak of behalf of those who have no place to call home. Last year over 100 Presbyterians joined more than 800 people who participated in advocacy, training and workshops. The dates for this year's event are March 19 - 22, 2010 and will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Crystal City, VA. For more information or to register click here.

 The second event is for all who are interested in Church Transformation (and God knows we can use it ;-)). The Presbytery of Des Moines is sponsoring "Plugged in Without Shorting Out", a conference focused on change in our churches. Topics that will be covered are the use of technology, emergent church conversation, the use of media and worship, and spiritual disciplines, to name a few. Keynote speakers are Michael Bausch, author of Silver Screen, Sacred Story: Using Multimedia in Worship (The Alban Institute, 2002); White Rabbit Group CEO Mike Wagner and Adam Walker Cleveland. Other leaders include Meredith Kemp-Pappan, Susan Phillips, Keith Robinson, and Andrew Yeager-Buckley, among others. The event will be held at the Downtown Marriott in Des Moines, IA from April 16-18, 2010. Sounds like a great conference and clink on the links above. Check it out!

Hope you will all have a great weekend and thanks for listening!

Some things I learned on my trip to Latin America

[Photo: dose.daily]

After three weeks I still have memories from a wonderful visit to the countries of Nicaragua, Colombia and Venezuela. Each country was different but I learned so much that I thought it would be great to share it with you:

1. Each country welcomed us very warmly and with open arms. From CEPAD in Managua to hotels and churches in Colombia and Venezuela we were welcomed as brothers and sisters in Christ. And it did not hurt that each place we visited had warm weather!

2. Learn to speak Spanish. Even if you know a little, the people are patient and will gently correct you. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. The other side of the coin is that if you do know some expect to be encouraged to speak more. I ended up translating for some in our group by the end of our trip!

3. Latin American Presbyterians are heavily involved ecumenically. CEPAD is a partnership that Presbyterians are involved in with Moravians, Baptists, Pentecostals, etc. The churches in Colombia and Venezuela had pastors and staff that were involved in the World Council of Churches, World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Latin American Council of Churches. People were not only members but some held high elected positions either currently or in the past. One of highlights of our trip was attending a National Week of Prayer service at a Lutheran Church in Caracas where quite a few faiths all worshiped together. It was great to know that we are connected to our brothers and sisters in Christ ecumenically.

4. I learned a lot about paramilitaries, guerrilla groups and the government in Colombia. I viewed TV reports here like the para-militaries and guerrillas were just fighting in the hills or remote jungles. Was I wrong! In reality, all these groups live among each other everywhere, cities and countrysides. And you don't know who is who because they do not wear distinctive clothing - they look just like you and I in a public place. Add to the mix the government which does not (shall I say) always have your best interest at heart and drugs, it is a very volatile mix. Although kidnappings and killings are not as rampant as they were in recent years, they still happen. As we were told again and again while were there "No one is impartial."

5. I highly encourage you to familiarize yourself with Colombian Accompaniment program of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. These are people who accept the call to accompany leaders of the Church of Colombia for safety reasons. Many of you may or may not know that church and other leaders who speak for those who are in need of justice are targeted by the government and other groups and can be seriously harmed and in some cases killed. We had the chance to meet our current accompaniers, Linda Eastwood and Carol Weaver, who just recently began their terms. Please keep them and the Church in your prayers.

6. In Colombia and Venezuela each of the churches and presbyteries have a very strong social outreach/project emphasis. Due to the social and economic situation, they have programs ranging from after-school programs, substance abuse and family counseling, and community development projects. Quite a few of the programs dealt with providing opportunities with youth. Both the IPC and IPV believe and practice that young people are the now of the church. That is no surprise when you find that the average age of church members are much younger than we are in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)!

7. Central Presbytery in Bogota, Colombia has a very unique situation. It has only seven churches and although registered as a church, a recent ruling by the city of Bogota says that they will only recognize churches that have a building. This puts Central Presbytery in a real bind because none of their congregations have a building. They meet in community centers, public places or at the Colegio Americano. They hope to build a $2 million church structure in the near future. Keep them in your prayers.

8. Keeping with the Presbyterian tradition of education, there are very strong and healthy Presbyterian primary and secondary schools in Colombia and Venezuela. We visited many of these schools and they are very well known and respected for their academic standards. They also have a very high rate of students entering into colleges.

9. They want us to say what we do and do what we say. When given our orientation to Colombian church and politics at the Universidad Reformada in Barranquilla, we were told quite frankly that there is a palpable anti-American sentiment in the country because of our government policies. The recent decision of the U.S. Congress to build more military bases was not well taken, to say the least. We were told over and over again that the churches there follow the actions that arise from the PCUSA General Assemblies and at times we were gently reminded that we need to do what we say. They knew those actions better than I did for sure. In Venezuela we were questioned as to what is our churches' response to the earthquake in Haiti. What are we doing? Why does it take us so long to act? At times our delegation had no direct answers and had to admit our ignorance. In short they held our feet to the fire. It showed that people actually follow what we do and want to see action in practice.

10. The Venezuelan church is facing conflict over those who pro- and anti-Hugo Chavez supporters. I heard from members that whole congregations and families are splitting over this issue which is destroying the church.  We were asked to pray that God's healing will be upon them.

11. Pray and support our  PCUSA Mission Workers: Nicaragua - Tracey King-Ortega, Carlos Cardenas, Doug Orbaker, Leslie Clay and Carl Agsten; Colombia - Alice Winters, Mamie Broadhurst and Richard Williams. They are doing a great work!

12. Last and least of all, be ready to get your dance on! They are fun-loving, partying people who know how to have a good time ;-)

I truly loved my time in Latin America and will keep the people and churches in my prayers. I hope to go back someday and hope you will want to go too!

Plains and Peaks Presbytery

 Last week I had the opportunity to visit Plains and Peaks Presbytery, which covers Northeastern Colorado and Western Nebraska. I was anticipating this trip because it was the first time I ever visited Colorado. Upon landing at the Denver airport, I was picked up by Sharon Cely, the new Presbytery Moderator who drove me to Fort Collins and the Holiday Inn Express, my home for the next two nights. Then I headed to Harmony Presbyterian Church where the two-day stated presbytery meeting was to take place. I had lunch with the Committee on Preparation for Ministry before the meeting. I had the opportunity to meet Larry Kunter, the pastor who has served there for 30 years. The church began as a new church development and Larry was the organizing pastor. It is a neat church that focuses on being led by the Holy Spirit. I began my time with an hour Q & A about my Vice-Moderator experiences then later on that evening I preached for the Presbytery's worship service and commissioning of their GA commissioners and Young Adult Advisory Delegate (YAAD). The meeting's theme was "The Marks of the Church: The Church is One" and I preached on Ephesians 4:1-16. After worship, I was invited to Elder and Commissioned Lay Pastor (CLP) Bob Gump's home with other CLP's, family and staff for discussion about the PCUSA and the role of CLP's in the denomination. It was a great way to wind down and relax after a long day.

The next day the presbytery meeting went until noon and two of the highlights of the meeting were the Presbyterian Praise Puppetry and a delegation from the Chawama Presbyterian Church of Lusaka, Zambia attended as a part of their relationship with Central Presbyterian Church in Longmont, CO. They led the presbytery in a great traditional African Christian song! !

 I had lunch with the staff of the presbytery at The Olive Garden. Dan Saperstein, Executive Presbyter, and I drove up to the mountains where we visited Highlands Presbyterian Camp and Retreat Center. Maria Shupe is the Executive Director and we met last year at the Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center Association (PCCCA) annual gathering in Little Rock, AR. It is a beautiful facility and I hope you have the opportunity to visit sometime. We also went through the resort town of Estes Park and headed to dinner at the Bent Fork Grill in Loveland for dinner with Dan's wife along with Nathan and Jennifer Soule-Hill, the new co-pastors of Family of Christ Presbyterian Church in Greeley. They are a great young couple pastoring a very progressive and missional congregation. I had a great time talking with them and wish them well in the new call.

The next day I preached the 9:30 a.m. traditional service at Mountain View Presbyterian Church in Loveland, CO where Gary LeTourneau is the pastor. At the same time, Associate Pastor Jim Webb leads a Contemporary Worship service so you get to have your choice of worship style. Afterward I had another Q & A session in the Sanctuary, was taken to lunch at 3 Margaritas and taken back to the airport to fly back to Raleigh.

I had a great time with the people of Plains and Peaks. They had some great stories to share and I really found out that we are a denomination of small churches - I heard about some churches in Eastern Co. - Western Nebraska that were tiny but are faithful to fulfilling God's mission. Special thanks to Moderator Sharon Cely, Stated Clerk Lynn Smit, Executive Presbyter Dan Saperstein and to Bob and Sylvia Dooling for all their help and assistance. I hope to come back soon!

Latin America Trip Part III - Venezuela

Arrival at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas.

(photo by Bethany Furkin of PNS)

Our last stop on the Latin America trip was to Venezuela to visit the Iglesia Presbiteriana de Venezuela (IPV). Our Avianca airline plane landed right over the water onto Simon Bolivar International Airport and the sight was beautiful! Upon our arrival we were met by a delegation of church leaders including Rev. Elisa Munoz de Bulmes, Moderator of the IPV and Zulema Garcia de Rojas, Executive Secretary of the Western Presbytery. Caracas is the capital of Venezuela and has a population of approximately 5 million. The whole city is in the ravine of a valley of mountains and is very modern. We were taken to the Hotel Milenio which was our home for the next few days. We met for lunch in the hotel restaurant La Fonda del Milenio by Rev. Maria Jimenez de Ramirez, Executive Secretary of the Central Presbytery; her husband Uriel; and who I call the "life of the party" Elder Loida de Valera, Executive Secretary of the IPV. We had a great conversation and even better food! Afterward we drove to the town of Santa Barbara to visit the Jubilee Center, a Presbyterian Camp and Conference center and talk with the director and a local pastor about its mission and ministry. From there we drove to the town of Ocumare de Tuy to visit Jacob's Ladder Presbyterian Church. We visited an after-school tutorial program that is run by the church and were hosted for dinner and a evening church service that featured youth participation. It was a great night and we were tired on the drive back to the hotel and had a good night's sleep.

Entrance gate to the Jubilee Center

Youth participation in evening church service

(Both pictures courtesy of Bethany Furkin of PNS)

The next morning we woke up early and traveled to the cities of Guarenas and Guatire to visit Presbyterian schools that served low income students in elementary and secondary grades. The secondary school in Guarenas, Unidad Educative Colegio Presbiteriano El Buen Pastor was a huge school of 600 students and the building was five stories high. We talked with the administration about the offerings of the school and the progress of the students.

The elementary school in Guatire had cute and smart kids that greeted us in English. In between we visited a Presbyterian community center that had a large auditorium and a dental clinic. Traveling back to Caracas, we had a great lunch at the beautiful campus of the Colegio Americano de Caracas with staff of the school and synod. Both Presbyteries (Western and Central) gave a presentation on their mission and ministries and then we entered into a discussion about the Presbyterian presence in the world especially in regards to the United States. It was a very frank discussion that I will talk about in a future post. Our night ended with our attendance at a ecumenical prayer service for National Week of Prayer at a Lutheran Church in Caracas where we were all introduced by Loida. Early the next morning we boarded our plane and returned to the States.

To say I had a great time on this trip would be a major understatement. I was blessed to be invited to share in the lives of the Presbyterian Church and its partners and I learned so much. I will always treasure the people that I met and experiences encountered. In a future post I will give reflections of the top things I learned on the Presbyterian Church in Latin America. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for that blogpost!

Latin America Trip Part II - Colombia (cont.)

Our delegation in Barranquilla on Sunday Morning

Left to Right; Drake Watson, Richard Williams (PCUSA Mission Worker), me, Bethany Furkin, Leila Abdul-Karim, Maria Arroyo, and Charlie Summers. 

After Bethany and I treated our church guests to lunch at Piko Riko, our delegation met up again at the Colegio Americano de Barranquilla, a Presbyterian School which serves students from Kindergarten - High School. It is a wonderful institution that has an enrollment of 2,000 students and is very modern as we toured the grounds. Afterward we met with representatives from the Reformed Synod of the IPC as they told us of their mission and ministry throughout Colombia, especially in the south with indigenous people. We had a very good meeting and they expressed their intent to help and support the PCUSA in any way possible.

That evening we had a farewell party at the home of Rev. Vilma Yanez Ogaza, the pastor of the Ninth Presbyterian Church and the current Moderator of the North Coast Presbytery. Staff from the Presbytery, Synod and Universidad Reformada with their families attended and we had great food, drink and plenty of Cumbia dancing!

Partying Barranquilla Style!

The next morning we woke EARLY and flew to Bogota, the capital city of Colombia to visit Central Presbytery. Bogota is a very pretty city and is nearly 9,000 ft. above sea level, making it the third-highest capitol in the world. As opposed to Barranquilla it was much cooler (70-75 degrees) and has a population of 7.3 million. We rode a van from the Bogota airport to our hotel, Hotel Caviar and met with the staff of Central Presbytery for lunch at a great restaurant named Sopas de Mama y Postres de la Abuela. Afterward we were given a tour of the city where we saw and visited points of interest.

View of Bogota from the north

The Legislative Building in the Plaza de Bolivar

After the tour, we visited the Colegio Americano de Bogota where we met with the staff and pastors of Central Presbytery and staff of the Colegio. We had a great discussion about the history of the presbytery and the school as well as the challenges of presbytery. The highlight was the folklore dancers and the trick played on us by Marta Munoz (Moderator of the Presbytery) who secretly asked the dancers to have us dance after a great dinner. How could we say "no?" 

Folklore dancers at Dinner

 

Our delegation with the dancers

(NOTE: All photos in this post are from Bethany Furkin of PNS)

That ended our short time in this great city. We had a FABULOUS time in Barranquilla and I wish we had more than 24 hours in Bogota. The people were very warm and inviting. I ask that you definitely keep our brothers and sisters in the Colombian churches in your prayers as they face various challenges. But as they tell us, it is only God that keeps them going. Before I leave this earth I want to visit again!

If you are interested in what is happening in Colombia, here are a few links:

http://www.calledtocolombia.org - This is the blog of Mamie Broadhurst and Richard Williams, our two mission workers in Colombia. You can also follow our other mission worker Alice Winters at http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/wintersa.htm. I encourage you to link these to your blog and read regularly!

http://www.pcusa.org/worldwide/colombia/ - This is our national church's site on Colombia. There is also a link for financial giving for projects and mission.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pcusa_colombia/ - If you have an interest in Colombia, you can contact others who share the same passion. This group comprises of presbyteries, synods and other individuals who work together to support the Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia (IPC).

http://www.presbypeacefellowship.org/colombia - This is the website for the Colombia Accompaniment Program. Gives you much more information!

Next post will be on another GREAT visit - Venezuela!

Latin American Trip Part II - Colombia

[image: vamoscolombiatour]

After leaving Managua with a change of planes in Panama City, Panama Leila, Bethany and I arrived in Barranquilla, Colombia with Maria Arroyo, area coordinator for South America and the Caribbean. Barranquilla is the fourth largest city in Colombia with a metro population close to 2 million people and is an industrial city on the Caribbean coast. As soon as we cleared customs and security, the four of us had the pleasure of being welcomed by a delegation led by the Presbytery of the North Coast with PCUSA Mission Workers Mamie Broadhurst and Richard Williams. We took a nice bus ride to the Hotel Majestic, a beautiful classic looking hotel in the downtown area. There we met up with two of our other group members, Charlie Summers, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Richmond, VA and one of his elders, Drake Watson. 

Our Colombian welcome party (left to right) : Jackelin, Mamie Broadhurst, Diego Higuita, Gloria Ulloa, Gina, and German Zarate. Picture taken by Richard Williams.

That same night the city was alive with pre-Carnaval activites. Barranquilla is known for its large and popular Carnaval and they will tell you it is second only to the one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We were taken to a neighborhood street party where they were practicing Cumbia dancing (see the picture at the beginning of this post). We had a great time!

The next day we walked to the Universidad Reformada, a Presbyterian College and Seminary where the offices of the Presbytery of the North Coast is located. We toured the offices and met with representatives from the Synod of the IPC (Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia) which has three Presbyteries - North Coast, Uraba, and Central. We heard about the mission and ministries of all three presbyteries as well as the political and social history of Colombia. We also met Alice Winters, one of our Mission Workers who has taught at the Universidad for many years.  I have to say that almost everyone had strong opinions and beliefs about U.S. involvement with Colombia and it was a real eye-opener. Later on that day we traveled to the city of Galapa to meet with representatives of a displaced community to hear their stories and concerns. That was heart-wrenching to hear how their land was taken away without many ways of recourse. But they do have hope that God is on their side and I keep them in my thoughts and prayers. We ended that day back in Barranquilla with dinner at El Merendero restaurant and a debriefing period.

On Sunday our group was split up into three smaller groups to attend various churches. Bethany and I went to the Soledad community where I preached at the Ciudadela Metropolitana new church development. This was a congregation that worshiped in the house of the sister of the Moderator of the IPC and the service was on her front porch. Since my Spanish was not the greatest I had German Zarate translate for me. Bethany and  I were well received and after service we had a round-table discussion Q & A with the members. The congregation is an offshoot of the Ninth Presbyterian Church and they were very proud to have a Presbyterian presence in the neighborhood. Afterward went to lunch with the pastor, Apollinar Escobar, his family and others. Apollinar is a student at the seminary and is from the Presbytery of Uraba. He is doing a great job as pastor of this growing and enthusiastic congregation! 

 

 

Preaching at the Soledad new church development.

(Photo taken by Richard Williams)

 

I have much more to report about Colombia so look for the 2nd part soon!