Leadership

When I was young, I didn’t go to church much. I remember attending a few funerals, and I remember getting gently scolded because I giggled at one of them - that nervous kind of laugh that meant I just didn’t know what to do with the heaviness of the moment.

Even now I’m not sure what to do with the heaviness of the moments in which we find ourselves as Americans. There is so much heaviness - in our land, and on our shoulders, as we try to meet the demands of life, work, and family.

I spent some of my life a critic of all things church, and especially what passed for Christianity from my vantage as an adolescent and young adult. Now that I am clearly a church person, I have an eye for those who are not. I entered seminary in part to look under the hood, to see how and why Scripture has been used as wedge, scold, buoy, or guide. How is it that there are billions of Christians calling Jesus “Lord” and so seldom unity with regard to practice and interpretation of the faith?

Now, twenty-six years after seminary, I’ve mingled with, cried with, ministered to, depended on, argued with, and been forgiven by varying flavors of Christians. And, I’ve done some forgiving myself! I’m glad I’m Presbyterian (USA), because we are “reformed, always reforming.” But I’m also blessed by others who find meaning and guidance from other traditions. No one has a monopoly on the truth; in fact, the truth as we know it came as a man, humble yet feisty, leading us beyond our idolatries and attempts at other-ing. Some of that following takes us through ambiguity and gray areas of uncertainty. Some of that following takes us away from places we once called home. But in Christ, we are always home.

If you find yourself at Tabor on a Sunday morning, you will find a group of people eager to learn and practice. It is place to be challenged within the bounds of acceptance; it is a people in need of spiritual sustenance, which we find in Word, Sacrament, music and each other. Our purpose is to receive, and in receiving, go back into our daily rhythms shaped by the goodness, truth and beauty we experience in worship. Worship helps us remember who we are, and in remembering, find meaning and hope in our daily lives. Our hope is quite literal - that we will serve as the hands and feet of Christ; a tall order, no doubt, but a calling that defines us and emboldens us, to be risk-takers, peacemakers, bridge-builders and life lovers.

If you’re looking for a church home, or just want to chat, we are here for you. Heaviness weighs us all down. But just when we feel the weight is almost too great to bear, we remember to share it, and in sharing, we mitigate it, and together, as the body of Christ, we find our way.