Doug McMahon

Simplicity

I didn't think too much about simplicity until I was well into my 30's.  By the time I was 35 or 36, I began to yearn for time to do nothing.  I also wanted time to exercise, listen to music, go to a movie or to just do nothing.  As a father of two little children and a busy pastor, it seemed like life had become far too busy and complicated.  As I approached 40, I began to realize that I could control my schedule and my life again. I couldn't change all of my commitments overnight, but I realized that I could begin to build a more simple life. 

It is like trying to lose ten pounds.  You can't do it over night, but it is possible.  If I wanted to keep off ten pounds or build simplicity into your life, I needed to take stock of my schedule and my life on a regular basis.   It continues to be an up and down journey.  

Life is never perfect, and I have learned that new and unexpected interruptions find their way into my life. But I value living a more simple life.  I am learning to more often say no to commitments that make life unnecessarily more complex and busy.  Being busy all of the time is a sure way to undermine our spirituality.

When I get too busy, I take time to look at my life.  Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky write about gaining perspective as "getting to the balcony."  Getting to the balcony for me is taking time to meet with my colleagues in an accountability group that meets for five days once a year.  It also involves taking significant time for vacation with my family.  And twice a month, I meet for two hours of prayer with local friends.  These activities enable me to retreat long enough to get the balcony perspective and evaluate my use of time and personal resources.   The important questions for me during this balcony time are:  "Where is God is my life?  What is God doing?  What is God saying to me?"  

Jesus wasn't busy.  He was effective, compassionate and faithful.  He was intentional and purposeful, but he wasn't busy.  He had time for people and for prayer.  He lived a simple and beautiful life.

When I think of greatness, I think of a simple and intentional life.  I enjoy my life when I take time to reflect, rest and make strategic decisions to use my time well.  I am happiest when I am not rushing around and wasting time. Some people think of sitting around doing nothing as wasting time.  Instead, I think of wasting time as being too busy and running around in an ineffective way.  

Simplicity is beautiful.  It also helps with the other issues I am thinking about:  suffering, sharing, solitude and Sabbath.  They are interrelated.  Over the next four posts I will be writing about suffering, sharing, solitude and Sabbath. 

Forgiveness and the Real World

Whenever I speak about forgiveness in a sermon, people always look up.  For years I have noticed that people want to hear about forgiveness.  I think the mention of the possibility of forgiveness offers people hope.   People want to be forgiven and want to be able to forgive others.  Most people know the pain of being estranged from a friend or family member.

In the Lord's Prayer (or the "Our Father"), Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "forgive us our debts (or sins) as we forgive our debtors."  When I first began to really think about this portion of the Lord's Prayer, I thought it sounded like our forgiveness from God was conditioned upon our willingness to forgive others.  It seemed like Jesus was saying, "God will forgive you, if you forgive others."  What it really means, it seems to me, is that forgiveness is a way of life for Jesus.  

As we learn to forgive others, we begin to better understand that God has really forgiven us.  As we experience forgiveness ourselves we are better able to forgive others.  It is a way of life for Jesus.  Jesus even went so far as to say, "love your enemies."

In his wonderful book, God Has a Dream, Desmond Tutu, writes:   

True reconciliation is based on forgiveness, and forgiveness is based on true confession, and confession is based on penitence, on contrition, on sorrow for what you have done.  We know that when a husband and wife have quarreled, one of them must be ready to say the most difficult words in any language, "Im sorry," and the other must be ready to forgive for there to be a future for their relationship.  This is true between parents and children, between siblings, between neighbors, and between friends.  Equally, confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation in the lives of nations are not just airy-fairy religious and spiritual things, nebulous and unrealistic.  They are the stuff of practical politics.

Fourth of July

Last week, while attending my 30th Reunion at Asbury College, we visited Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, KY.  Shakertown is a beautiful place to visit. You can read more about the history of the Shakers here.

We stayed two nights at Shaker Village, and as we have before, we enjoyed another wonderful breakfast in one of the many historic buildings.  The picture to the right gives you an idea of the simplicity and beauty of the architecture and furniture made by the Shakers.

While we were visiting Shaker Village I thought about religious freedom.  The Shakers, at various times in their history, have experienced persecution or ridicule because of their views on pacifism, communal living, celibacy and some of their other religious beliefs.  It is amazing how some religious people belittle others who have beliefs that are different from their own.  Strong religious beliefs should always foster tolerance of others, not bigotry.

For centuries, our country has been a haven for many who were seeking to escape persecution--not always but for many.  Our constitution, and the religious freedom it guarantees, is something we celebrate on this Fourth of July.  The government cannot always protect citizens from the ugly nature of bigotry and hatred like the Shakers sometimes experienced. 

My prayer on this Fourth of July is that all followers of Jesus would confront bigotry and hatred and live in peace especially with neighbors whose religious beliefs are different than their own.  

The first lines of the song Simple Gifts, written by Elder Joseph while he was at the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine in 1848, follows:  

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be." (The rest of the lyrics can be found at Wikipedia.)

Gun Violence

As a new church development pastor, I have been listening to the concerns of people in our city.  Gun violence is definitely a concern.  There are way too many murders in St. Petersburg.  One is too many.  I became much more aware of this in January following our Dr. King Parade in St. Pete.  While preparing to march in the parade, a friend handed me a newsletter.  The newsletter was edited by the mother of a young man who had been tragically murdered in St. Pete last September.  I put the newsletter in my back pocket.  Later that week, I picked it up again from my dinning room table and read it.  I was moved by this mother's story and her dedication to honoring her son's memory by seeking to drive violent crime from our city.  Furthermore, her son's murder was a part of a double murder and is still unsolved.  This mom, Lisa, had begun a foundation, The Cabretti Foundation, in order to teach peace and drive violent crime from our city.

 

 

After reading the newsletter, I called Lisa and volunteered for the next Clean-Up Day in memory of her son, Cabretti.  I have now volunteered for two quarterly clean-up days.  It has been my privilege to meet Lisa and some of her family and friends.  Following the first clean-up day, Lisa agreed to meet with a small group at a local coffee shop.  We heard her story and reflected on how we might better teach the ways of peace in our cities.

In the days following our meeting with Lisa, back in April, a little girl was gunned down in St. Pete by a hail of bullets from a gang fight.  The little girl was sleeping in her bed. The little girl attended the same elementary school as my niece. It was another tragedy.  Every murder whether a little girl, a senior citizen or a teenager is a tragedy and the violence must stop.  Gun violence is impacting our city.

The violence doesn't seem to be on the the radar of most St. Pete churches.  There are some churches and civic leaders who are working to end the violence, but not many.  My prayer is that we can more effectively address the issue of violence in St. Pete.  Missional communities of faith engage the hurts and hopes of their cities including gun violence and standing with those who mourn.  We proclaim a gospel of healing, help and hope in Jesus Christ not just with words but with our action and compassion.

My College Reunion

Robin and I have enjoyed a few days in Columbus, OH, with some good friends.  Today, we are driving down to Wilmore, Ky for my 30th Reunion at Asbury College.  (Robin graduated two years later.)  The picture below is a photo that showed up on Facebook last year.  I played on the Asbury College Eagles soccer team. 

God or Church Growth?

Many church leaders say they want their churches to grow.   Leaders of declining churches often report that they want their churches to be vital once again.  They want more people to attend their Sunday worship services, especially younger people.  These are all good things.  The problem as I see it-- so much more clearly now-- is that we have to want God more.  

Leaders of a church have to want God more than they want the church to grow.  We have to want God more than we want to be a vital church again. We have to seek God more desperately than we seek new people in worship.  God must be first.

Oh, someone might say in response, “but of course we want God.”  Yeah, but.  “Is our desire for God so genuine that it is clearly visible to anyone who cares to examine the behavior of the congregation?  Too often I have participated in too many meetings where people expressed a heart felt desire to grow the church, expressing a willingness to work hard for church growth and analyzing the many problems facing the church.  These meetings, the willingness to work hard and the analysis of all the present problems seem so beside the point. 

The one question-- that is central and foundational-- is simply, “Do we want the living God to be at the center of this congregation?”  And, “Are we willing to make every decision through a process that simply seeks the will of God today?”  Really, do we want God more than anything else?

I’ve always had problems with the story of Abraham and Isaac, a story about a father who is so devoted to God that he is willing to offer up his own boy.  Especially, with Father’s Day around the corner, I shutter when I think of this story.  God does not want Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.  God provides another sacrifice.  This story is about God not wanting human sacrifice in this way.

But there is a primal and ancient message within the story of Abraham offering Isaac.  Abraham desired to put God first.  Sometimes the most important things are the most basic.  I think that we need to lay before God our desire for church growth, our programs and our cherished ways of doing things.  We need to pray with Jesus in the Garden, saying now, “Not my will but yours, O God.” 

Our desire for numeric growth is actually one of the greatest obstacles to a more genuine encounter with God.  When we pray, “God’s will be done,” we need to also give up our assumptions and expectations.  We must simply ask, “What does God assume?  What does God expect?”  Our assumptions and expectations have caused too many of us, too many of the times, to turn to management techniques and more and more programs than to turn to prayerful practices of faith. 

Of course, we need leadership skills, good programs and human ability to lead a congregation.  Most of us have the skills, programs and ability.  What we need today is a greater ability to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done…” 

I think that many young people have seen through our assumptions and expectations.  They see clearly that too many churches want to grow in numbers more than they want God.  People who visit our churches don’t want to be a statistic in our numerical growth chart.  They desire God.  They want community.  They want love.

We’ve got to lay down before God our assumptions and expectations about congregational life--not in order that we might grow-- but in order that we might glorify God and enjoy God forever.  That is the prize.  God.  Then, following God, we rediscover our mission, our ministry and the keys to our life together.  Following God, we find faith, hope and love.  And the greatest of these is love.

Father's Day: A Time to Pray and Teach Non-Violence

Father's Day weekend can be a time to pray for peace and to teach nonviolence.  Back in April, a little girl was gunned down in a hail of bullets in St. Petersburg.  This tragedy saddened all who heard about it and the ongoing violence in our city has disturbed most of us.  Earlier this year, a small group of us met with Lisa Wheeler-Brown to listen to her story about the murder of her son, Cabretti. He was murdered last September. Every murder, whether a little girl, a teenager or a senior citizen, is a tragedy and the violence must stop.

As we prepare for Father's Day, I urge you to continue to do three things:  pray for the families of those who have died and also pray for peace.  Second, live and teach nonviolence in your family and in the community. Lastly, find practical ways to come together as a community to end the violence. 

In honor of Cabretti, the young man who was murdered last September, his mother's foundation has adopted 1.25 miles of road to keep clean.  The road that the foundation will keep clean is from 22nd Ave South and 34th Street South to 22nd Avenue South and 49th Street South.  The foundation held its first two clean up days in November 2008 and February, 2009.  The adopt a mile program has installed signs displaying the Cabretti Wheeler-Fortner Foundation's name.  Keep Pinellas Beautiful requires that the foundation complete a clean up once every quarter.  The next clean up is scheduled for this Saturday, June 20.

I invite you to join me on Saturday (8:00 AM) as we do our small part in trying to stop the violence.  Participating in this Clean-up Day, June 20, would be a step forward, honoring the memory of this young man, Cabretti, and calling attention to the ongoing violence in our city.  Your participation in this Clean-up Day, on the day before Father's Day, may help prevent other families from losing their children. (For more details, email me at douglashmcmahon@gmail.com)  Whether you live in St. Pete or not, this Father's Day, pray for peace and look for an opportunity to teach nonviolence.

I invite you to join me on Saturday (8:00 AM) as we do our small part in trying to stop the violence.  Participating in this Clean-up Day, June 20, would be a step forward, honoring the memory of this young man, Cabretti, and calling attention to the ongoing violence in our city.  Your participation in this Clean-up Day, on the day before Father's Day, may help prevent other families from losing their children. (For more details, email me at douglashmcmahon@gmail.com)  Whether you live in St. Pete or not, this Father's Day, pray for peace and look for an opportunity to teach nonviolence.

My Post on Johnny Cash

Back on January 13, I wrote a post answering the question, "Why did Johnny Cash wear black?"  The amazing thing to me was discovering that people around the world have visited my blog for the answer to that question.  When people google the question, "Why did Johnny Cash wear black?" my blog has consistently been the THIRD location listed on Google for the answer. That amazes me. I even received a really kind email from a reader who said she was working on a college term paper on Johnny Cash.  She explained that she was a pastor's spouse and was attending college.  While doing research on her paper, she was pleasantly surprised to find my blog.

If you have a blog, have you had any similar surprises?  I love the idea of writing about whatever I want to write about.  I especially love the experience of changing my posting status from "draft" to "publish now." Bam!  It's published!  And, sometimes, it's read by somebody on the other side of the planet.

  

Nine Questions from a Seminarian, a meme'ish

Last month, Bruce Reyes-Chow received a note from a seminarian with a few questions about pastoral leadership. On April 13 he shared his responses on his blog.  He invited other pastors to take the challenge of answering the same questions.  I, too, took the opportunity to reflect on my own ministry by answering the nine questions.  I enjoyed the time of reflection and hope you find my answers helpful. 

1.  Tell me about your conversion experience/faith journey.  Jesus said we must be born again or born from above, or born anew.  (John 3)  A long time ago I heard someone say, "I've been born again, again and again."  I like that:  we are being born anew each day if we are paying attention to God, and to everyone and everything around us.  My parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were all people of faith when I was a child.  I am grateful to God that I have always known the Biblical stories of faith, hope and love.  My Mom is a retired nurse and my Dad an electrical lineman, and my grandparents were clergy in The Salvation Army, the community of faith that nurtured me.  When I was 27 years old, I was baptized in a Presbyterian Church on the same day my infant son, our eldest son, Patrick was baptized.  The Salvation Army, like Quakers, doesn't baptize.  My sister, brother and  I were dedicated to God as infants, rather than baptized.  My wife, Robin, and I have been married 29 years and she along with my two sons are my closest companions on this journey of faith. 

2.  Why did you go into ministry?  There are so many different ways I could answer that.  When I think back to my years in college-- I was a Biblical studies major-- I was simply intrigued by the story of God in Jesus Christ calling us to follow him.  I loved studying the stories of the Bible and preparing myself to be a teacher of the Bible in whatever form that might take.  By the time I was under care of the Presbytery of Chicago I think that being a part of a community of faith working for the transformation of society was very important to me.  I felt called to be a part of the church working for peace and justice and living in a community that had Christ at the Center (as Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes about in Life Together.)

3.  What do you love the most about being in ministry?  I love the variety of the work schedule:  I am a preacher, teacher, pastor, leader, community organizer, writer, administrator, and any number of other roles a pastor plays.  During any given week I am with many amazing people and friends working together in faith, hope and love.

4.  What is the most challenging thing about being in ministry?   I naturally like to have goals and celebrate accomplishments.  But ministry, and maybe life today, isn't really about fulfilling goals and accomplishing things.  It's about faith, hope and love.  Being faithful in ministry is often difficult to measure.  Therefore, one of the most challenging things about being in ministry is knowing if what you're doing is really worthwhile.  Sometimes I just get bogged down in the details and that can be discouraging.  The most important thing a pastor or religious leader does is responding to the unexpected opportunities of ministry that he or she could never have predicted.  I want to be ready for those unexpected opportunities.  I remember hearing an actor on Inside the Actor's Studio talk about working with Jack Nicholson.  He said Jack was so unpredictable.  He said Jack had a way of taking a surprise, while making the movie, and turning that surprise into the most unbelievable moment in the movie.  He said that's what makes Jack a great talent: taking the unexpected and going to another level.  It may seem strange to compare ministry to making a move, but I think a good leader-- a good pastor-- is dealing with what's right in front of you and not what you think "should" be happening.

5.  What are the most important things to keep in mind while ministering to people?  I think it is important for me to keep in mind that I am a part of a community of faith. I don't minister as a lone individual.  I don't have to have all the answers and it gives me great confidence as a leader to know that I am a part of a community of faith created and sustained by God.

6.  How do you deal with the stresses of ministry and leadership?  I love exercise.  So I enjoy taking time 4 or 5 times a week to take an hour in the fitness room.  I also enjoy music so I listen to music while I exercise.  I also take more and more time to pray.  Most mornings I take an hour to read scripture and pray.  I think of these times of exercise and prayer as being similar to the airline announcement for parents to put on their oxygen masks first in order to help their children.  I don't mean to suggest that I think of brothers and sisters in the faith community as my children, but I do think that it is important to be as rested and well as one can be in order to respond to the many crises that present themselves in the life of the congregation.  This seems to be controversial for some reason.  I remember being about one year out of seminary and being invited back to a CPE class to address just this question.  I said to that group that I put my day off--away from the demands of ministry-- as a top priority and taking caring of myself as another top priority.  Many of the seminary students told me I sounded selfish.  I don't know how I would have survived all these years in parish ministry without these kinds of priorities.  I also take all of my vacation and study leave time every year.  I love being a pastor, but I need my rest and recreation too. 

7.  How would you define your leadership style?  I enjoy leadership.  I like working with people to accomplish the things God has called us to do and be.  If we are on a journey of faith, we face decisions along the path and leaders help the group discern God's will in order that we can be faithful.  I think being bold and generous is key to being a leader.  The Sunday after Easter I preached a sermon on Acts 4.  I found that Will Willimon wrote that Easter makes possible "true generosity and bold living."  Leadership is about being bold and generous.

8.  How would you define your leadership techniques?  I prefer the words practices and skills.  There are certain practices that we need to learn and refine as leaders.  Artists, athletes, and most professions require a set of skills in order to be an artist, an athlete or doctor.  Leadership in the church is no different.  We need to build on the education we received before ordination and continue to sharpen the tools of ministry.  The ability to deal with our own anxiety and fears is, also, key.

9.  What are the things people do that make you feel most supported and loved as a pastor?  I have been blessed in this way.  Many people over the years have prayed for me, encouraged me and found ways to say, "Thank you."  This may seem so basic and simple but just a few Sundays ago, as I was walking into the sanctuary as a guest preacher in a friend's church, an usher turned to me and said, "I'll be praying for you."  That meant so much to me.  I felt supported and cared for as a leader.  Although all eyes were on me during the sermon, I didn't feel like a lone ranger.  The sermon wasn't about me, rather a community of faith was seeking God's Word on that particular Lord' Day.  When ministry is among people who feel that way about the tasks of ministry, like preaching, and prayerfully participate together in ministry, I feel loved and supported.

Poverty in Florida

Bruce Reyes-Chow has invited us to write a post on POVERTY in order to build awareness of ways the Presbyterian Church (USA) communities address issues of poverty AND to offer ways to mobilize efforts.

I live in Florida and recently friends of our new faith community visited Immokalee, a farming community in South Florida.  On Palm Sunday, we traveled to Immokalee to begin Holy Week with farmworkers and the leaders of Mision Peniel, a part of the work of Beth-El Farmworker Ministry, a Presbyterian mission.  We visited the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) offices, drove around Immokalee, and then worshiped God at the store front offices of Mision Peniel with a group of farmworkers.  We prayed together, sang songs and heard the Palm Sunday story.  That story of Jesus' humble ride into Jerusalem never made more sense than it did a few weeks ago in the presence of these new friends.  

During the worship service, we shared "joys and concerns."  One man, let me call him Carlos, shared a joy: his daughter had turned 15 years old.  He told us, through English translation, that the whole community had recently come together to celebrate-- the whole town celebrated his daughter's 15th birthday. It was a beautiful day and Carlos was so pleased that he could provide this party for his daughter.  And then, we realized that this didn't take place in Immokalee, but back home.  Carlos has not seen his daughter for six years.  She was 9 years old the last time Carlos celebrated a birthday with his daughter.

I give thanks to God for Beth-El Farmworker Ministry in Wimauma and and Mision Peniel in Immokalee. Along with Beth-El, I am supporting the efforts of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to ask Publix Super Markets to work with the CIW to ensure fair wages and conditions for farmworkers.  You too can help by writing a letter or card with the following:

Mr. Ed Crenshaw, CEO

Publix Super Markets

Corporate Office

PO Box 407

Lakeland, FL  33802-0407

Dear Mr. Crenshaw:

I am writing to ask Publix Super Markets to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to ensure fair wages and conditions for the farmworkers who pick your tomatoes.

Florida tomato pickers are among this country's most exploited workers:  they earn sub-poverty wages, lack most standard rights and benefits and have not received a significant raise in 30 years.  At the current rate, one must harvest over 2.5 TONS of tomatoes to earn minimum wage for a 10-hour workday.  In extreme cases, workers are held in modern-day slavery rings.  In December 2008, four people were sentenced in federal court in a case that involved beating, chaining, and enslaving tomato pickers who worked on some of Florida's  major tomato farms.  

Yum Brands, McDonald's, Burger King, Whole Foods and Subway have all reached precedent-setting agreements with the CIW to improve wages and enforce a code of conduct for fair conditions in their tomato supply chains, including zero tolerance for modern-day slavery.

As a conscientious consumer and supporter of the CIW's Campaign for Fair Food, I urge Publix to work together with the CIW to ensure human rights and fair wages for those who harvest the tomatoes sold in your stores.  

Sincerely, [Your Name Here]