Evidence of Friends, Food, and Fellowship

Friends,Food, and Fellowship

About a week ago I got the opportunity to pet sit for one of the married couples. There is separate apartment housing for the married couples that is a comfortable distance from the main seminary campus. The advantage of pet sitting was the chance to be in a living space larger then a single bedroom. They even had a real full size couch just waiting to be lounged on. The best part though was the access to a real kitchen and ultimately real food! ( To be fair the dorm food here is not that bad, but as a vegetarian there is only so much pasta and cheese one can eat.)

So for a whole weekend I had the run of an apartment which of course meant inviting friends over to cook. My hall mates Chelsea and Elizabeth ( and a few other people) came over multiple nights and we cooked, ate, talked. It was a wonderful time of fellowship which of course got me thinking.

The other day in my systematics class we were talking about the 'mission' of the Church, and what makes Church the Church. We read a variety of theologians some that defined the Church by structure of the institution, others by the service it performed. Some where caught up with 'place' the church as a place in a specific local, others took place out of the question completely.

Last year while participating in the U of O campus ministry I was able to participate in many conversations along this same line, regarding what defines the Church. One thing that came up was looking for the Church not only on Sunday mornings in a sanctuary but also other times and places.

This time of year food takes a central place in our lives and schedules. Most people find their calendars packed with food related events that they are going to attend. We gather, we eat, and talk, just as my friends and I did.

In the evenings that I spent preparing and sharing food with friends I encountered a piece of church. I shared moments of the everyday, moments of genuine fellowship with friends. We broke bread together, thanking and raising up such gifts to God. Now I am not saying that we should all skip church and just have a meal together, but let us not forget that church does not only happen on Sunday mornings, or in pews.

A Church relevant to the day, happens in the day.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Amanda

Epiphany Part II

I was at the Tuesday night campus contemporary worship service contemplating my earlier meeting with my field ed. advisor. I was looking around at my peers. The majority of us, between the ages of 22 and 35, wearing jeans, t-shirts, converse and sandals. I realized I couldn't really imagine any of us being leaders in the Church. I felt like there was some crucial step that we all were going to need to take in order to be able to stand at the pulpit.

Then all of a sudden it became clear to me. ( Jen your going to laugh at this because we have had plenty of conversations about this before) It's funny the lessons you learn, then forget and have to relearn.

I suddenly realized that I had been looking at things all wrong. Here I was holding in my mind some image of what it looked like to be a leader in the Church, an image that to say the least did not have many of the characteristics of myself and my peers. I had this image and had (particularly since getting to seminary) been trying to figure out what it was that I and my peers needed to change in order to fit into this picture.

What I realized is that it's not us that need to change. As I stood looking around I realized that we are not going to become leaders of the Church one day, we are not the future of the Church, but rather, we are the Church now. In our converse and jeans, on the younger end of the spectrum we have plenty to learn and plenty to experience but we don't need to turn into something different.

It's hard though when it feels like the Church is holding out. Waiting for you to be older, to be more experienced, to be more like the archetypal image of a Church leader that it holds so dear. I understand there are standards that the Church must hold its leaders to, but the question is are these standards serving to strengthen the Church or are they simply making people feel safe? To feel strong and to feel safe are two very different things. I worry we may be a Church that feels safe but is lacking in strength.

Needless to say, I have started looking for a church at which to do my field education. My one criteria so far, it must be a church willing to take me as I am, not as I will be one day. (That's not to say that I don't intend to grow along the way.)

hmmmm,

Amanda

An Epiphany A Long Time Coming

One of the requirements of seminary is that you do what is called field education. Field education consists of you being placed in a church as an intern where you get to experiment with and practice the different roles and skills of ministry. It can be likened to the internships doctors do or student teaching.

Students typically do their field ed. during their second year of seminary, which means that you have to start finding a placement by, oh, say, now! Yeah, by November of your first year! That's not to mention the large sum of people that already found and secured their placements by the second month of school. It can turn into quite the competition in some respects.

There are some of us though that have proudly put off the inevitable hoping that maybe some divine intervention would slow the clock. Alas, no such intervention as arrived and this last week I was left with no choice but to meet with my field ed. advisor.

Her role is, as indicated in her title, to advise me on what field placement might be best for me. Sitting in her office I had flash backs to the guidance counselors in high school where they make you take those tests and then tell you that your most suited to be a secretary, lawyer, or ice cream sales person. She wanted to know all about what I was looking for in a church, and what my home church was like and what I hoped to get out of field ed. Then came the "So, what are your long term ministry goals?" "Uh, um well, um...." Its kinda funny before I came to seminary I could have probably pretty accurately answered that question but at that moment not so much. Then came the "What churches do you think you would like to work at?" Well I had to confess that I was not one of the overzealous students here who had spent hours looking over the church statistics and had meticulously read the mission statements and after a long drawn out agonizing decision had found the one and only perfect church.

Ultimately, I answered that "I have no idea where I would like to work."

I left this meeting with a hefty list of church options to go and look over and then bring back my top few choices.

After this meeting as I was looking over churches, I was thinking. I was thinking how a part of me wanted to say that the reason I had no idea where I wanted to work had to do with the fact that I really didn't care. I don't mean in an apathetic manner, but rather I was just open to anything, send me wherever and I will figure it out. But, after some more thought I realized that was not quite it. It had to do with the fact that I didn't want to pick a place because the thought of leading a church next fall, after only two semesters of seminary was an absolutely crazy idea to me.

How was I to lead a church? I am too young, and need more education and more (experience, ironic I know) I mean I feel like a real adult only 10% of the time (and that's on a good day!).

Then I had an epiphany...

Remembering...

November is National Alzheimer's awareness month. According to the Alzheimer's Association 2009 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report, there are more than 5 million American's living with Alzheimer's and as many as 10 million family caregivers. Alzheimer's is a disease that robs the individual of their ability to remember, from simple day to day information to the significant memories of life. Little by little remembering becomes an impossible task for those affected by the disease.

I would bet if each of us thinks hard we will discover that near or far we know someone that has been affected by this disease. Perhaps take a moment to think of that person, or their family and remember on their behalf.

There are many people that I will be remembering for but one person in particular is my father. At the care facility that he is in they have these sheets of paper that you can fill out and put up in the residents rooms. On the papers it says " I remember when..." You can then write in a memory that you have of that person. They say that it helps the residents remember, but I think it just helps us as family and friends remember.

So papa this is my "I remember when..." I remember when you had that little brown car and you would round up Brent and I and take us on 'adventures'. Driving north, south, east, or west wherever you thought would be fun. Driving until the car overheated, which was when the adventure always began. We would be stuck wherever the car had overheated for at least a couple of hours. I remember the fun of wandering through book and antique stores, and stopping in local diners. I remember getting to discover new things and seeing things from a different perspective.

I remember our adventures.

Do you have a "remember when"?

To those who have suffered and continue to suffer with this disease may they not be forgotten.

Peace,

Amanda