Sunday Evening
All the kids made it to their units. Worship rocked! The Long walk to Ford Auditorium was worth it! The theme this week is Image. Tonight: Image Dei, which is Latin for “Image of God.” We focused on being created in God’s Image. God created all things good, especially us! Our scripture texts are from Genesis 1:27a 31a. “God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them… and God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good.” Our other scripture from Psalms 8:3-5 was, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.”
Monday
Today everyone started the day with Silly Songs in the College Chapel during morning watch. The Volleyball tournament between the units started today during free time. Journeys beat Genesis. The Missionary unit which is about serving and reaching out to others, served the Berry College today by helping move chairs and tables to help them get ready for an event on Tuesday morning. At dinner, the Shepherds staff served dinner to their participants, leaders who serve. Shepherds is our unit on servant leadership. The youth are taught not only how to be shepherds but also how to be sheep. Worship is in motion this week. The Worshiptivity unit is learning how to plan, prepare, and lead worship in locations across campus to carry worship to where the people are. So tonight we had worship in a banquet room. Our theme today is about Broken Image. We have been created in the image of God. And yet, when we look at ourselves in the mirror, we sometimes recognize that something is wrong. We are in bondage to sin, and cannot free ourselves. The image is cracked. Things are not good. We are not good. Worship tonight left us speechless. Really! We started worship with communion and being a part of the body of Christ, but left with songs unfinished, music in discord, we ended not being complete and we left worship in silence.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
AFFIRM DAILY NEWS
Affirm Blog, by Rachel Alley, Director of Youth Ministires, SE SYNOD
Friday
Staff are Arriving! We’re unpacking in the dorms! Setting up our Large and Small Group Spaces and Reuniting with Old Staff and Welcoming New Staff! We also spent 4 hours of intentional youth ministry training getting ready for our 300 kids!
Saturday
Staff worked all day in Unit time preparing for the kids! Then we all went out to the Rome Braves Game as a Community Staff Event! Go Braves!
Sunday
The staff worshipped together, made their final Walmart runs and have finished setting up registration for the kids arrival at 2:00 pm. It’s almost one and already we see kids in the parking lot ready to come to Affirm! The rest of the afternoon will be busy getting kids in their rooms, touring the kids around the Berry campus and eating dinner. This evening everything begins!
More Later!
Friday
Staff are Arriving! We’re unpacking in the dorms! Setting up our Large and Small Group Spaces and Reuniting with Old Staff and Welcoming New Staff! We also spent 4 hours of intentional youth ministry training getting ready for our 300 kids!
Saturday
Staff worked all day in Unit time preparing for the kids! Then we all went out to the Rome Braves Game as a Community Staff Event! Go Braves!
Sunday
The staff worshipped together, made their final Walmart runs and have finished setting up registration for the kids arrival at 2:00 pm. It’s almost one and already we see kids in the parking lot ready to come to Affirm! The rest of the afternoon will be busy getting kids in their rooms, touring the kids around the Berry campus and eating dinner. This evening everything begins!
More Later!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
I Need Wisdom!!!
meditation by the Rev. Dr. Beverly Wallace
“I need wisdom. The quality that will make clear to me the significance, the relatedness of things that are a part of my daily experience – this I lack again and again.
“I need wisdom. The quality that will make clear to me the significance, the relatedness of things that are a part of my daily experience – this I lack again and again.
I need wisdom to cast a slow and steady radiance over all my landscape in order that things, choices, deeds, may be seen in their true light – the light of the eternal and the timeless.”
Howard Thurman’s Meditation of the Heart
In his book, In Search of Wisdom, Dr. Wimberley (the Provost of the Interdenominational Theological Center where the Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta is housed) writes about the sources and nature of wisdom with regard to human sexuality in the black Christian community and raises the question of how the black churches’ educational ministry serves as a wisdom guide in addressing particularly HIV/AIDS and sex education. He uses this Thurman quote at the beginning of his chapter on the “Formation of Wisdom and Human Sexuality.”
I write this not to begin again the debate regarding the Human Sexuality Study passed last year by the Churchwide Assembly, but rather to engage in a dialogue or discussion about what is really relevant and important in the daily lives of God’s people here on earth.
I worship at the Lutheran Church of the Atonement in Atlanta. There are many hurting people and much to be dealt with regarding the health and well-being of our church’s neighbors. In the immediate community, more than 29% of the population has a medium income of less than $10,000 with 37% of the community living below the poverty level and over 10% of persons 25 years and older have less than a 9th grade education. Many grandmothers here are raising their grandchildren alone because many of the people from this community are in prison. This is not always of their own doing, but is often because of the systemic production of a permanent underclass for the benefit of the Prison Industrial Complex System . (Come take a class at the Lutheran Center in Atlanta to learn more about these issues.) And I am sure the rate of HIV/AIDS is among the highest in the city.
Atonement is an aging congregation with more than two-thirds of the membership over the age of 70, mostly retired professionals now living on fixed income. Yet this congregation is still committed and rooted in their community. Instead of forgetting about thisneighborhood, they come back to the community. Nearby is a housing development that provides transitional housing for those who are in recovery. There is a homeless shelter where more than 200 women and children reside. And Atonement engages with this community, our neighbors, through the work of its members and with the new energy and guidance of their interim pastor, Rev. Ron Bonner. There is a true desire to continue to do the work of caring for God’s people even when there are differences in understanding the nature of Human Sexuality. And there is an awareness that we are all related; called to care for our brothers and sisters.
Okay, I said I would not talk about the Human Sexuality Statement, but I kind of fibbed. It is important that we all remember that there is more to the Statement than issues of same-gendered rostered partners. There are statements about trusting relationships and educating our children about care and love. There are discussions about human trafficking and prostitution (and yes it is happening in our neighborhoods). And there are statements that call on us to show mercy, compassion and justice to the least of these. Yet we have ignored almost all of these points and issues. Dr.Wimberly, in the book mentioned earlier, writes about the role of education ministry as a wisdom guide in matters of sexuality. The cost of not having these conversations is great. (Did you know that one of the segments of our population who are contracting HIV/AIDS the fastest is the tweens and not just in ethnic specific communities?) Who cares about the children? Who cares about the elders in the congregation and the community? Who cares about this ministry and mission?
With the action taken at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, with the benevolence dollars given to this synod dropping to the lowest it has been since 2003, with funding and resources being sorely limited to assist with the children in this community and others like this, and with the focus of mission and strategy having shifted elsewhere; well, I have some concerns. An old African adage goes, “When the elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers”.
Our children are suffering and I need wisdom. Our elders are suffering and I need wisdom. Our communities are being ignored and attention is now being turned toward some more pleasant and seemingly more attractive initiatives that don’t deal with some of the hard realities of the people we are called to care for. I need wisdom. And I need wisdom to answer the question, “How do I love this church where when there are differences some people respond by taking their money and running?” or where “Instead of talking with one another; there is silence and folks are shut out?” I also need some wisdom to show me forgiveness when I’m judgmental and the wisdom to see those places within me that need change as well as forgiveness so that when I mess up (as we all do) that I can feel that there is a gracious God who will love me anyway.
And what do you need wisdom to see? What are some of the issues that this church and this synod need to begin to address instead of fighting and closing our ears to the voices seeking to be heard and closing our purses to the hungry, the poor and the naked? What is it that this synod is called to be and what is it that this synod is called to do? I invite you to engage in this discussion as well.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Synod Assembly, Sunday, June 6, 2010
Synod Assembly - Sunday, June 6, 2010
It was a short day (adjourning at noon) so this will be a short blog entry. We gathered for worship at 8:00 AM. Bishop Gordy preached a stirring sermon on the compassion of Christ and Pastor Pauline Pezzino ably presided at table.
We finished our elections, (Elections Committee Chairperson Pastor Joel Emerson made his reports a pleasure to listen to with sly one liners and self-deprecating remarks) we heard a few more reports (Mission Investment Fund, Synod Disaster Preparedness Task Force), attended workshops and installed newly elected persons.
Assembly 2010 is finished, but the work of the Synod goes on and on, not in an office in Atlanta, but in the 171 congregations and 50,000 plus Evangelical Lutherans whom God has placed where they are most needed. May we continue to serve our Savior with joy and enthusiasm, sharing with others the grace and love that have been showered upon us.
Delmer Chilton
It was a short day (adjourning at noon) so this will be a short blog entry. We gathered for worship at 8:00 AM. Bishop Gordy preached a stirring sermon on the compassion of Christ and Pastor Pauline Pezzino ably presided at table.
We finished our elections, (Elections Committee Chairperson Pastor Joel Emerson made his reports a pleasure to listen to with sly one liners and self-deprecating remarks) we heard a few more reports (Mission Investment Fund, Synod Disaster Preparedness Task Force), attended workshops and installed newly elected persons.
Assembly 2010 is finished, but the work of the Synod goes on and on, not in an office in Atlanta, but in the 171 congregations and 50,000 plus Evangelical Lutherans whom God has placed where they are most needed. May we continue to serve our Savior with joy and enthusiasm, sharing with others the grace and love that have been showered upon us.
Delmer Chilton
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Synod Assebly - Saturday, June 5, 2010
"Harmony", "Mission", "Humor" were all important words on the second day of our 2010 Southeastern Synod Assembly. The Assembly adopted a resolution presented to us by SESLYO, (Southeastern Synod Lutheran Youth Organization) which called upon us to seek harmony and unity in the midst of diversity and disagreement.
Mrs. Sally Kee, wife of Bishop Terry Kee, punctuated her husband's presentation with a reminder to us that it was Lutherans in America who brought Christ to Singapore and she challenged us to a rekindling of that passion and commitment to mission in our own backyard. Mrs. Key serves as the Lutheran World Federation as Regional Expression Coordinator for Asia. The Rev. Terry Kee is bishop of our Companion Synod, the Lutheran Church of Singapore,
The day was filled with good humor as the Assembly laughed often and easily as we moved through the day's agenda of reports and resolutions, worship and workshops, elections and electrical failures.
We heard from our Churchwide Representative, the Rev. Stan Olson and from Bishop Terry Kee, who also addressed the Global Missions Breakfast and preached powerfully about the church in motion at our noon Eucharist. We also had a Skype video conference with The LaCrosse area Synod, our sister synod in Wisconsin. (One of the highlights of that was the fact that it actually worked.)
We elected Doris Underwood of Messiah, Montgomery, AL as our Vice-President for a four year term. Other election results will be posted on the Synod E-News by early next week. We adopted the Synod budget and the Compensation Guidelines and dealt with resolutions.
We ended our business early and dispersed into Greater Chattanooga for dinner and fellowship. As for me, I'm off to a baseball game! Pray for us as we conclude our elections and other business tomorrow by noon.
Peace,
Delmer Chilton
Mrs. Sally Kee, wife of Bishop Terry Kee, punctuated her husband's presentation with a reminder to us that it was Lutherans in America who brought Christ to Singapore and she challenged us to a rekindling of that passion and commitment to mission in our own backyard. Mrs. Key serves as the Lutheran World Federation as Regional Expression Coordinator for Asia. The Rev. Terry Kee is bishop of our Companion Synod, the Lutheran Church of Singapore,
The day was filled with good humor as the Assembly laughed often and easily as we moved through the day's agenda of reports and resolutions, worship and workshops, elections and electrical failures.
We heard from our Churchwide Representative, the Rev. Stan Olson and from Bishop Terry Kee, who also addressed the Global Missions Breakfast and preached powerfully about the church in motion at our noon Eucharist. We also had a Skype video conference with The LaCrosse area Synod, our sister synod in Wisconsin. (One of the highlights of that was the fact that it actually worked.)
We elected Doris Underwood of Messiah, Montgomery, AL as our Vice-President for a four year term. Other election results will be posted on the Synod E-News by early next week. We adopted the Synod budget and the Compensation Guidelines and dealt with resolutions.
We ended our business early and dispersed into Greater Chattanooga for dinner and fellowship. As for me, I'm off to a baseball game! Pray for us as we conclude our elections and other business tomorrow by noon.
Peace,
Delmer Chilton
Friday, June 4, 2010
Assembly 2010 - June 4, 2010
Assembly 2010 - Friday, June 4
"Gratitude is more attractive than worry" said Bishop Julian Gordy in his report to the Assembly. He was quoting Chaplain John Tirro of Tyson House, the Episcopal-Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Chaplain Tirro observed that when the students stopped worrying about low numbers and an uncertain future and started focusing on thankfulness to God for what they had and worshipping together as a grateful community, their numbers grew.
After listing several things that have made our work together as a Synod difficult in the past year, Bishop Gordy invited us to learn from the students at UT and to be joyful, thankful people. Though there is much to worry about, there is also much to be thankful for, and "gratitude is more attractive than worry."
On this day we are grateful for women in ministry, as we celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Ordination of Women in the Lutheran Church. We are very grateful that God gave Pastor Evon Flesberg the gift of preaching as our Assembly Chaplain stirred us up with a rousing sermon on God's gift of grace.
On this day we are grateful for the many women and men who have served this church as rostered leaders (pastors, diaconal ministers and associates in ministry). We celebrated them by recognizing those celebrating significant anniversaries, in particular our former bishop, Pastor Jerry Troutman, in his fiftieth Year of service.
On this day we are grateful for the many people who have served on synod committees and task forces and on synod council. We recognized all of them and especially Mr. Wesley Crenshaw who has served for eight years as the Vice-president of the synod.
On this day we are grateful that Lutherans are known around the world as people who care and people who do. Pastor John Nunes of Lutheran World Relief reminded us of the many good things we have done and are doing and challenged us with a call to continue to go into all the world serving "the least of these."
Pray for us who are assembled here in the Chattanooga Convention Center that as we move through Saturday's business agenda, we will remain full of gratitude for God's Grace shown to us and through us.
Delmer Chilton
"Gratitude is more attractive than worry" said Bishop Julian Gordy in his report to the Assembly. He was quoting Chaplain John Tirro of Tyson House, the Episcopal-Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Chaplain Tirro observed that when the students stopped worrying about low numbers and an uncertain future and started focusing on thankfulness to God for what they had and worshipping together as a grateful community, their numbers grew.
After listing several things that have made our work together as a Synod difficult in the past year, Bishop Gordy invited us to learn from the students at UT and to be joyful, thankful people. Though there is much to worry about, there is also much to be thankful for, and "gratitude is more attractive than worry."
On this day we are grateful for women in ministry, as we celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Ordination of Women in the Lutheran Church. We are very grateful that God gave Pastor Evon Flesberg the gift of preaching as our Assembly Chaplain stirred us up with a rousing sermon on God's gift of grace.
On this day we are grateful for the many women and men who have served this church as rostered leaders (pastors, diaconal ministers and associates in ministry). We celebrated them by recognizing those celebrating significant anniversaries, in particular our former bishop, Pastor Jerry Troutman, in his fiftieth Year of service.
On this day we are grateful for the many people who have served on synod committees and task forces and on synod council. We recognized all of them and especially Mr. Wesley Crenshaw who has served for eight years as the Vice-president of the synod.
On this day we are grateful that Lutherans are known around the world as people who care and people who do. Pastor John Nunes of Lutheran World Relief reminded us of the many good things we have done and are doing and challenged us with a call to continue to go into all the world serving "the least of these."
Pray for us who are assembled here in the Chattanooga Convention Center that as we move through Saturday's business agenda, we will remain full of gratitude for God's Grace shown to us and through us.
Delmer Chilton
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