A Season of Celebration

At our Annual Congregational Meeting in December, we officially dismissed our Pastoral Nominating Committee. We thanked them for their service in finding and calling Pastor Jenn Frayer-Griggs to our congregation. Pastor Jenn is already bringing creativity and fresh ideas to our midst.

Our church has been through several transitions over the past couple of years, and we are so grateful for the lay leadership of our congregation, as well as the pastors and staff who have worked with us. A church culture is truly co-created by its members, their questions, their engagement, their ideas, their showing up. We have a remarkable volunteer rate of 68% -- 68 percent of our congregation (members and non) volunteer in some way. Our small church would not be thriving without our amazing congregation.  

As we enter 2026, we are grateful and excited about this new season of our church’s life: new Covenant Partners, new elders and deacons, new pastor. We’re eating a lot of cake, and we’re excited about what we’re all creating together.

Introducing the New Pastor of the Open Door

The PNC (Pastor Nominating Committee) is delighted to welcome Jennifer Frayer-Griggs as the new pastor at Open Door! We have spent the last fifteen months in discernment, listening to the needs, desires, and growing edges of our community, reading profiles and conducting interviews with candidates, watching a lot of sermons, and praying. In that time Jenn stood out to us for her gifts of contemplation, collaboration and curiosity. We believe she will meet us and love us where we are, inspire and challenge us with her preaching and presence, and listen with us for where God is leading our community. 

Jenn’s first gathering with us will be at the Church Retreat, October 3-5. Find out more and register for the church retreat here.

We look forward to the community getting to know Jenn. We welcome your questions and conversation about the process. You can approach us individually or email us at pnc@pghopendoor.org. 

- Open Door PNC
(Stephanie Bell, Lauren Burdette, Ryan Duchene, Heather Jennings, Kylie Prymus, and Lance Wolfe)

Jenn’s Bio

Growing up, Jenn adored Madeleine L'Engle, making ant farms out of baby food jars and sandbox sand, and stealing raspberries through the fence of her neighbor's backyard. Now, she grows her own raspberries in her own yard, with varying degrees of success, and could happily spend an afternoon following an ant down the sidewalk. When she's not doing that, she's hanging out with her two sons, Jonah and Levi, her husband, Dan, two cats, and a ridiculous dog, whom they named after Eliza Hamilton. She thinks that one way or another, everything points to God. In college, she thought she could make a living as a poet and writer, but her parents are grateful that she took the call to ministry instead. She has degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing, has earned an MDiv from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and is a certified spiritual director through the Pneuma Institute. She is currently working on a Doctor of Ministry in Creative Writing and Public Theology, and she still loves writing and Madeleine L'Engle. You're welcome to come up and pinch her to remind her that this call to be the pastor at Open Door is really real. 

Happy Summer, Open Door!

When Doug started the Interim Pastor blog, we realized that it might be a good way for leadership to share with the community about goings-on in the church. As we are now in the summer months, I think this blog is also a good way to put a note on our website about where we are right now in the life of our congregation.

This summer, the Open Door is in a liminal space, a between space, a moment of time when we are waiting for what’s next and also leaning into the strengths of our community. This past spring, we said goodbye to one of our long-time pastors, John Creasy, and also goodbye to our interim pastor, Doug Gebhard. Our Pastor Nominating Committee is in the middle of discerning who to call as our next pastor. We are hoping to install a new pastor this fall.

Our congregation is creative and talented and also loves to travel over the summer. So, in order to float on the ebb and flow of our summer attendance, our Worship Design Team has created a variety of forms for our Sunday worship. Some weeks are held at our usual worship space: the Neighborhood Academy academic building. Other weeks we worship at Garfield Community Farm or gather at someone’s house for Brunch Church. On weeks when too many of our congregation are out of town, we worship with our sister church instead: Valley View Presbyterian. Check out our Events page so that you know where we are and when.

Our church leadership is also active, putting together a schedule of who’s in town and able to respond to events in our community. If you’re not sure who to contact, and you need to connect with someone in leadership for whatever reason, please email elders@pghopendoor.org and your email will get to the right person!

Overall, this summer, I hope you all find ways to rest and renew, to participate in our community as you are able, and to play in new ways in Pittsburgh and the world.

Renee Prymus, Clerk of Session

Session Update March 2025

Session Update

On 03.08.25, the leadership of the Open Door (elders, deacons, pastors, and director of children and youth ministry) met for our annual retreat. Each committee reported on their goals and plans for the year, and we noted synergy in these goals with the themes that came out of last year’s Shepherding Report. For a small church, we are so active! Of our regular attendees and Covenant Partners, we have a 70% volunteer rate–which demonstrates amazing commitment to our community. Thank YOU for helping this community thrive.

2025 holds more change for our church: saying goodbye to John and Alyssa at the end of April, eventually saying goodbye to Doug, and welcoming a new pastor. Our exact timelines for Doug and a new pastor are unknown, dependent on external factors, but we feel hopeful about the changes ahead. We have robust leadership in our current elder and deacon boards, and a very active Pastor Nominating Committee. The PNC is actively reviewing candidates and meeting frequently–please keep their discernment in your prayers.

Our next congregational meeting is Sunday, March 30, after worship. We have two agenda items: to dissolve John's call (a formality; effective end of April) and to elect the new Nominating Committee.

The Nominating Committee will discern our elders and deacons for 2026. This committee needs at least one more member: please see Lauren Burdette or Ben Collier if interested.

June Session Update from Clerk of Session

Session met on June 13, 2024, at Valley View Presbyterian Church. We talked about all the endeavors our church has going on, as well as the “pause” that summer rhythms bring to our community. 

Endeavors: Personnel and Children’s Ministry Committees are actively accepting applications and interviewing candidates for a new Director of Children and Youth Ministries, our Pastor Nominating Committee has formed, and our Deacons have been drafting a Benevolence policy for distributing discretionary funds. Any requests for special offerings will now also go through the Deacons. Plans for our fall retreat are also underway: sign up! Over the summer, the leadership of the Open Door will also be meeting with our congregation individually to check-in during our time of transition. Stay tuned! 

At the end of May, we celebrated Alyssa Creasy’s time as our Interim Children Director, and until our new Director is hired, the responsibilities will be shared by Teresa Yoder, Renee Prymus, and Megan Shelly. We have scheduled Children’s Church through the summer, and will not have Children’s Church on Sundays 7/14 or 9/1. 412 Youth Group has paused for the summer.

Session will take a summer recess in July and meet again in early August. The Open Door has many opportunities for social gatherings and giving (volunteering) together this summer: community gatherings, potlucks and worship first Sundays at the Farm, and volunteer opportunities with Garfield Community Farm, Valley View Food Bank, and Open Hand Ministries. 

Our congregation travels a lot during the summer, and we wish everyone safe journeys, lots of play-filled rest, soaking in the sunlight (remember your SPF!), and listening to the Light. 

Stay connected through the newsletter, and you can always email us at elders@pghopendoor.org

Start with Why

“People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.” ( Simon Sinek, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action)

Tell me why / Tell me why / Is it hard to make arrangements with yourself / When you're old enough to repay / But young enough to sell? (Neil Young, “Tell Me Why”)

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John Creasy invited us last week to ask “Why” “Why do we come to worship?” “Why does Open Door exist?” Why is a BIG question. Before he disgraced himself, the comedian Bill Cosby asked “Why is there air?”

The above quote from author and TED speaker Simon Sinek speaks to my interest as an Interim Pastor. Let me rephrase Sinek: “People don't join a church for what you do; they join why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.” Philanthropic leaders tell us that people donate money to organizations who have a clear vision and mission AND which make a difference in peoples’ lives. People affiliate with a church because of the church’s WHY. And that WHY has to connect with them in real, livable ways.

Jesus wasn’t popular simply because of what he said or how scripturally literate he was. People flocked to him because of what he did and on whose behalf he did what he did. His WHY was a Spirit-inspired movement to improve lives (release of prisoners, care for poor and oppressed). WHY” As God was merciful and compassionate, so was Jesus God’s anointed.

What is the WHY of Open Door? Has it changed over twenty years? Why new WHY is emerging?

Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC)

“The Church’s ordered ministries described in the New Testament and maintained by this church are deacons and presbyters (ministers of the Word and Sacrament and ruling elders). Ordered ministries are gifts to the church to order its life so that the ministry of the whole people of God may flourish. The existence of these ordered ministries in no way diminishes the importance of the commitment of all members to the total ministry of the church. The government of this church is representative, and the right of God’s people to elect presbyters and deacons is inalienable [emphasis mine]. Therefore, no person can be placed in any ordered ministry in a congregation or council of the church except by election of that body.” (Book of Order G-2.0102 Ordered Ministries)

“The session shall call a congregational meeting to elect a pastor nominating committee that shall be representative of the whole congregation. The committee’s duty shall be to nominate a pastor for election by the congregation.” (Book of Order G-2.0802 Election of a Pastor Nominating Committee)

“According to the process of the presbytery and prior to making its report to the congregation, the pastor nominating committee shall receive and consider the presbytery’s counsel on the merits, suitability, and availability of those considered for the call. When the way is clear for the committee to report to the congregation, the committee shall notify the session, which shall call a congregational meeting.” (Book of Order G-2.0803 Call Process)

The above quotes are to remind us that Presbyterian Christians have a unique understanding of election to office in the church. We don’t have bishops who appoint pastors to congregations. The oversight we do recognize is that of the presbytery who acts like a bishop in exercising accountability.

Once the Pastor Nominating Committee is elected by the congregation, they will have work to do before a formal search for a new Pastor begins. That work will include:

• electing officers from their own membership
  receiving orientation from the presbytery, e.g. guidelines of the presbytery, how the new Church Leadership Connection operates
  complete the church’s “information form” (now called the MDP / Ministry Discernment Profile)

These tasks usually take 2-3 months.

A reminder that the PNC will be seeking the person God is calling to be the next Pastor at Open Door. They’re not to select someone they know or like or “fall in love with.” They should ask themselves, “Will this person guide us into God’s future? Will they equip us to do our work of ministry?” (cf. Ephesians 4.12)

“The growing phenomenon of the nones, however, is not evidence of a lack of interest in spiritual life. Many today who previously fell away from their faith—or never had one to begin with—are seeking something faith-like in their life.” (Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic, April 25, 2024)

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In a recent article in The Atlantic, Arthur C. Brooks says “belief, feeling, and practice are the macronutrients—the necessary elements—of healthy faith” and while all three create a robust faith, practice sustains one in a healthy faith life.

Jesus said this in different wording. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

I’ve addressed practices in a previous blog. Open Door seeks “to live in the way of Jesus by practicing simple weekly rhythms.” My suggestion in that post was that two more practices might be useful at this time in the life of this church: hospitality and stewardship. Hospitality encompasses the invitation to share in the joy of Christian life in this particular community (aka evangelism); stewardship is the regular offering of one’s spiritual and (!) financial resources.

Why revisit practice/s? I wonder if the current Open Door practices need reformed, revisited, re-evaluated. Have the practices become ortho-praxy (right practice)? Follow these practices and you’ll attain a good spirituality.

Many have rejected ortho-doxy (right belief). “Toxic religion” has scarred many, and Open Door was, at its founding, “a church for people to recover from church.” Twenty years ago, this kind of community was a balm for spiritual wounds. But twenty years on, is this kind of church still necessary?

What would it mean if practices were re-imagined for 2024? What new practices might be useful for the future? All human practices can become “deformed” (The Dangers of Christian Practice On Wayward Gifts, Characteristic Damage, and Sin, Laura Winner) because they are… human-made.

As this community looks ahead to calling a new Pastor, may it remember the words of Soren Kierkegaard: “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

Pentecost Sunday: Prayer Stations at Garfield Community Farm

Join us May 19th Pentecost Sunday for interactive Prayer Stations.

Station One: The beginning/ A Place of Silence

Today is the day of Pentecost. This important moment described in Acts 2, tells of how the Holy Spirit descended on a gathering and people were able to speak and hear the word of God in different languages. Take a moment to sit quietly. Sit in this first plot of land that began Garfield Community Farm, notice how the plants have grown, notice how the farm has grown and continues to grow. Think of times in your life you have seen God surprise you by using a small beginning to do something significant in the world.

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Station Two: Remember Your Baptism

Baptism was never meant to be kept to ourselves but to be shared. After you have touched the waters and remembered the ways you are beloved, fill a watering can, and walk through the garden slowly blessing the plants with the water of life. As you water the plants think of ways you can share God’s love in the world.

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Station Three: Taste & See

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Station Four: Communion and Offering

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Station Five: Lord’s Prayer

The significance of this day and the power of the gospel is in its ability to be translated into many languages—to break boundaries between cultures. Take a moment to listen to prayers to God through Jesus Christ spoken in many languages, and take in the breathtaking beauty of God who speaks through different people languages and cultures.

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Station Six: Labyrinth

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Station Seven: Listen & Know

We often go through life forgetting to listen to our surroundings and the people around us. Take a moment to listen. Listen to it all, the wildlife, the sounds of the city, and the people moving around you. What sounds were you ignoring up until now that you can now hear? What sounds do you normally ignore that just might be sharing the word of God to you?

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Station Eight: Tongues of Fire

Fire is powerful, wild and often scary much like the powerful presence of God. The way God works in the world often feels unpredictable and intimidating. Imagine being part of that original crowd that experienced these tongues of fire! Because God can act and speak in wild unpredictable ways, we often cut off or ignore God working in our midst. Take a moment to reflect on times or ways you are ignoring God speaking and acting in your life? Who are you ignoring, that might be speaking God’s love and redemption? What are you trying to control that was never yours to control? What have you focused your time and energy on that is unimportant to the Kin-dom of God? Take a moment to reflect, write your thoughts on paper and throw the paper into the fire. Allow God to work in wild and bewildering ways.

Wholeness and Healing

“Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.”
(James 5.16)

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
(Julian of Norwich, Anchorite nun, ca. 14th Century)

“Services of wholeness and healing are one way of enacting the church’s ministry of pastoral care. The central element in these services is prayer, calling upon God’s saving grace or giving thanks for healing received, in life and in death, in body, mind, or spirit.”
(PCUSA, Book of Order)

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In the early years of my ministry, I worked at a hospice as the Bereavement Coordinator. I made family visits, attended funerals or visitations, offered personal or group grief support. During my two years with this group, I attended close to 500 funerals, memorial services or funeral home visitations.

One of the most powerful lessons I learned during this time was this: Healing begins from the inside. Healing from grief is like how a skin injury heals. Under the visible wound the human body is doing a lot of work: bleeding is stopped, cells begin to “clear out” microbes, new tissue begins to grow, and new tissue strengthens. At the end of the healing process, it’s not uncommon for a scar to appear.

Healing from grief is a process although not as linear as some have suggested (so-called stages of grief). Healing from loss is mostly invisible. Emotional, psychological, spiritual forces are at play during a period of bereavement. Past memories, past hurts are intertwined with dreams of the future. Past, present and future collide which can cause upset sometimes causing grief to be complicated, tough to navigate.

Churches (as a body) experience grief for many reasons: loss of a pastor, loss of members, loss of identity, loss of vision. Healing from grief in a faith community means recognizing many griefs, and, since we all experience grief differently, dealing with church grief can be… complicated. But it can be done. The first step is recognizing the source of the grief. Leaning into the source is taking a stand for oneself by not allowing the source to push you down. (There’s so much more to be said about this but not now.)

Open Door will incorporate a Service of Wholeness and Healing (PCUSA Book of Common Worship) in its May 12th worship service. It’s a first step of confessing we are all in need of wholeness and healing, and that Open Door has experienced fair amount of loss during the past few years. Maybe we can say with Van Morrison, “And the Healing Has Begun.”

New Practices Are Needed

“[Jesus] looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them, for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.’”(Luke 21:1-4)

“The session has [the] responsibility and power to… [encourage] the graces of generosity and faithful stewardship of personal and financial resources…” (PCUSA, Book of Order)

Years ago, a colleague from the Mon Valley told a story about Stewardship Sunday at his church. It was the custom at this church for members to come forward during the offering and place their yearly financial pledge cards in a basket which lay on the Communion Table. My friend said he noticed that one of the older members (one of the most faithful donors) slowly walked to the front of the church from “her” pew in the back but didn’t place anything in the basket. He knew her well enough to ask after worship if everything was OK. The woman replied, “We’ve had a tough time with finances this year so I couldn’t make a definite financial commitment for the coming year.” The Pastor told her she didn’t need to get out of her pew to walk all the way down the aisle for nothing. She replied, “Oh, I still made a pledge. I recommitted my whole life to God.”

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Charitable giving to the Church took a real hit during and after the pandemic. Some estimates say churches experienced 30% less income during this period. Open Door has seen a similar drop: in 2018 there were approximately 60 donors and in 2024 there are approx. 40 donors. The financial status of the church will be a topic of discussion at the gathering after worship 4/28.

It’s clear new practices must be put in place to counter this trend. Financial stewardship should be emphasized not as a way to “pay the bills” but as an expression of faithful commitment to ministry and mission. “The road to Hell is paved with god intentions” goes the adage. A new practice is needed.

And along with a stewardship practice there should be the practice of hospitality–welcoming and inviting people to Open Door who are not in formal covenant. Israel and the Church are commanded to care for the stranger, the immigrant, “non-church” persons. Intentionally seeking connections with the larger community beyond Open Door should be a practice, a habit developed through regular activities.

Every morning I read a devotional from Fr. Rich Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation. Note the title and sequence of words. Action precedes contemplation. “Go and serve the Lord.”

EarthCare

“For God so loved the cosmos… [original Greek of New Testament]…”
(John 3.16)

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Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord, All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings.

To you alone, Most High, do they belong, and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,

especially Sir Brother Sun,

Who is the day through whom You give us light.

And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,

Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,

In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,

And fair and stormy, all weather’s moods,

by which You cherish all that You have made.

Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,

So useful, humble, precious and pure.

Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,

through whom You light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,

Mother Earth

who sustains and governs us,

producing varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon for love of You and bear sickness and trial.

Blessed are those who endure in peace, By You Most High, they will be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,

from whom no-one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.

No second death can do them harm. Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,

And serve Him with great humility.

Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon, St. Francis of Assisi

Does Practice Make Perfect?

“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others.” (Luke 11.42)

“The Spirit is the reason we can build a church
and have confidence that we will get it at least a little bit right.”
(Lauren Winner, associate professor of Christian spirituality at Duke Divinity School)

In her book The Danger of Christian Practices, Lauren Winner “explores the damages [Christian] practices have inflicted over the centuries.” Winner provides numerous and powerful historical examples of how the Church’s practices (esp. sacraments) have been misused and distorted. Baptism gone wrong: forced conversion of non-believers. Eucharist gone wrong: persecution of Jews who were blamed for tainting Communion. Prayer gone wrong: slave-owning women who prayed for enslaved people to obey their masters.

The premise is in line with what Martin Luther called simul. Humans are simultaneously saint and sinner capable of good and evil.

We all develop habits or practices. Many are quite benign (which side of your mouth you begin brushing your teeth, which foot you put your shoe on first) and others, perhaps innocent, but which might be actually less benign when examined closely (late afternoon snacking, extended screen time on your computer).

Now consider your faith practices. Does prayer bring deep communion with God or is prayer a “to-do list” for God? Is your worship “something we I just do” or a yearning to experience God in the company of other saints and sinners? How do you see your financial giving? As a requirement to help pay the church’s bills or a spiritual exercise helping to build the Kingdom of God?

We all run the danger of having our practices become deformed or distorted. My hope is that during this “in-between time” (interim season) you will examine your practices and the practices at Open Door so they don’t become rote but instead are done intentionally leading to love of God and neighbor.

Thank You Danny Kahneman

“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want,
but I do the very thing I hate.”
(Romans 7:15-20)

“They say the left side of the brain / Dominates the right / And the right side has to labor / Through the long and speechless night”
(Paul Simon)

"Our decisions are shaped by the noise in our minds,
more than by the signal in the information we receive.”
(Daniel Kahneman)

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In a recent sermon, I referenced Daniel Kahneman who is considered the “father” of behavioral economics a field which posits that people do not act as rationally in financial decisions as is generally assumed. Specifically, I spoke of Kahneman’s work on loss aversion which says that the emotional pain of losing $100 is twice as strong as the joy of gaining $100. Negative ads are so effective because they tap into our fearful emotional responses. Regrading church dynamics: people don’t fear change; they fear the anticipated loss that change might bring.

Danny Kahneman died March 27th. He was 91 years old. Kahneman was professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University's Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. His book Thinking, Fast and Slow was published in the same year and became a best seller. The Economist listed him as the seventh most influential economist in the world.

I bring Kahneman and his work to your attention because there’s a connection between interim ministry and the cognitive biases Kahneman identified in his book. Cognitive biases are systematic patterns of deviation from norm and/or rationality in judgment, e.g. implicit bias is a negative attitude (one we’re not consciously aware of) against a specific social group. (Stay with me.)

Interim ministry training stresses understanding congregations as systems. Congregations are composed of many, different people, yet they often act as one body (cf. Paul’s “body of Christ” analogy). Congregation members are interdependent. When there’s conflict or significant change in the congregation, Interims have been trained to look at the reactions and response of the whole system (church), e.g. When a conflict upsets a church involving the Pastor, it is rarely the case that the Pastor is the only cause or source of conflict. (Still with me?)

Kahneman’s work offers another way to look at congregations and that is through the lens of cognitive biases. Some examples: anchoring (tendency to rely too heavily on one trait or piece of information when making decisions); confirmation bias (tendency to search for, interpret, focus on and remember information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions); loss aversion (see above); ingroup bias (tendency for people to give preferential treatment to others they perceive to be members of their own groups).

Perhaps you can see how using Kahneman’s work to understand a congregation’s dynamics could be useful examining the congregation during the transition. Yes, the church is a system but at its core the church is a community of persons who operate on unconscious levels in so many areas.

I’ve been greatly influenced by Daniel Kahneman. His other notable book Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment explores how “noise” (unintended variables, e.g. prison sentences are affected by the time of day the judge hands down the sentence) influence decision-making. But that’s for another time.

Telling Stories

“Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.”
(Deuteronomy 6.6-7)

“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”
(Anne Lamott)

“Therapy is telling your story ’til you get it right.”
(Bob Ezell my homiletics professor)

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I once heard someone say that humans live for stories. (Or did they say humans are alive because of stories?) The stories we tell define us, shape us. “Our” stories are our reality. The proliferation of conspiracy theories and lies are alternative stories that provide easy answers in tough times. When the Israelites made the golden calf, they had lost faith in the promise (story) of Moses that they would eventually have a new home. The hardship of the journey was too much so why not try another story?

Congregations tell stories, too. While there are many variations of “the story” (because there are numerous congregants), there is usually a unifying narrative. “We started because…” “We are a church that…” “We value…” Claiming a common narrative (story) provides sense of cohesion, identity and belonging. My favorite anecdote about this is from my home church, a story told in one sentence by a long-time member. “I don’t believe in organized religion. That’s why I’m a member here!”

Some stories are told as alternative narratives. “The real reason that happened…” (The “real” reason being the perspective of the story-teller.) “And did you know…” (This borders on gossip which is usually a power play but gossip tells a lot about the source.)

Congregational stories change because congregations are people and people change. Congregations grow, mature, experience birth and death. Everything about human life shapes the story of the congregation. The story of Jesus is about his very human joys and struggles. His divine nature is revealed in his human personhood. Ditto with congregations. The holy people of God are nonetheless people so the story of this holy people will change over time.

Some will resist the narratival shift; it’s too uncomfortable, too unrecognizable. But the shift will occur. The story will change. Some may try telling an old story trying to stave off the change. Others will embrace the new story.

THE greatest story ever told is the Easter Sunday story. The women went to the tomb looking for a body but there was none. Jesus had flipped the script. He was out in the world telling a new story.

Shifts of Power/Leadership Changes

“When the pastor leaves, there is often a time when persons who have been in leadership rethink their commitment and determine whether or not they want to continue in leadership positions. Other persons often find the interim time an opportunity to take leadership roles. This is an opportune time to empower those who are out of power and to welcome leadership gifts from all parts of the congregation.”
(Loren B. Mead, Critical Moment of Ministry: A Change of Pastors)

"Don't follow leaders, watch the parking meters”
(Bob Dylan, “Subterranean Homesick Blues”)

“… whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.’”
(Matthew 20:26-28)

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If you watched the HBO series “Succession” you witnessed the twists and turns and ruthlessness that passing on leadership can entail. While fictional, the power plays that accompany the passing of the torch can, all too often, be very real.

Transitions in congregational leadership are not (usually!) as messy or dramatic but transitions in leadership do bring to the fore human dynamics worth consideration. People are people whether they be saints or regular folk, and people–while thinking beings (sapiens)–are still animals who act irrationally more than we might want to admit. Congregants can act selfishly especially when the social group is in flux.

Pet projects of the former pastor may seems less important when they are gone. Some people, whose voice dominated discussions when the Pastor was there, may be more quiet during the interim. Others, sensing an opportunity to be an influencer, raise their voice during the transition.

Interim work is attuned social biases and the human tendency to sin. Listening to only one voice, only one idea, only one agenda isn’t helpful when discerning leadership needs in a congregation. We Presbyterians have historically claimed that the voice of the Spirit is best heard when many voices are heard.

Shifts in power or leadership provide opportunities for people to be heard who may not have spoken or been heard previously. Somewhat paradoxically, leaders listen first and speak later. Kinda like Jesus leading by serving.

Who Are You?

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
(Matthew 16.13-15)

Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) /
I really wanna know (who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
(The Who)

Something quite interesting (from my perspective as the Interim Pastor) happened at a recent “listening session” held by the church Session/council. We invited people to give us feedback on a Vision Statement, Mission Statement, and a description of the current church logo (Celtic knot with the church name).

The “interesting” thing was the reaction to the logo. It wasn’t the description of the logo that was the center of the reaction–the description tied the church’s ethos to Celtic spirituality esp. Earth-care). The reaction was to how the logo was or wasn’t adopted by the congregation. It seems (to this outsider) that there was no “buy in” on the part of the congregation. Someone made a decision without congregational input. 

As the conversation ensued, I discerned that the reaction wasn’t really about the logo. We were talking about identity. As one person commented, “This isn’t how we do things here.” When I made the comment that I thought we were talking about more than a logo, many heads nodded in agreement. “Now,” I thought, “we’re getting somewhere.’

Interim ministry means you often step in a pile of poo… unintentionally! We are temporary shepherds and shepherds walk through fields of poo because sheep… poop. So do people (flock of God). Interim work doesn’t avoid the hot mess but invites the congregation to figure out how THEY will deal with… identity, dashed dreams, unfulfilled promises, broken pastoral relationships.

The Open Door is going through what all congregations go through during the transition. Questions about identity are normal and healthy. Who this congregation was (20, 15, 10, 5 years ago) is not who it is now. That can be celebrated as spiritually transformative or resisted as “changing who we are.” The only thing that doesn’t change is a thing that’s dead. And Open Door is NOT dead.

By the way, manure is used for rebuilding soil and plant growth. Who knew about poo?

Vision & Mission

“Kindle in our hearts, O God, The flame of that love which never ceases,
That it may burn in us, giving light to others.”
(St. Columba, 6th Century CE Irish abbot, credited with spreading Christianity in Scotland. He founded the abbey on Iona.)

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At its recent retreat, the Open Door council (session) adopted the following as it prepares to enter a season of discernment regarding the calling the next Pastor.

Vision Statement
Creating pathways to God, others, and the world in the way of Jesus.

Mission Statement
The Open Door Church is a community with shared practices whose life in Christ and through the Holy Spirit strives to cultivate authentic, creative, vulnerable, and diverse spaces for connection and transformation.

We seek to live in the way of Jesus by practicing five simple weekly rhythms:

• Listen to God

• Learn from God

• Eat with others

• Encourage others

• Give ourselves to the world

Logo
The Open Door’s logo is a triquetra, an ancient Celtic symbol showing an unending line with three interconnected loops. This represents the triune God, in separable, distinct and eternal. The Celtic Christian tradition has valued embodied spirituality, a connection to the goodness of Creation and the belief that all people are created in the image of the triune God.

Being Church Without A Building

“The [other] Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But [Jesus] was speaking of the temple of his body.”
(John 2.20-21

“A temple is a landscape of the soul.”
(Joseph Campbell)

The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE when the Romans put down a Jewish revolt. After the Temple’s destruction, synagogues (“meeting places”) became centers of Jewish teaching and worship.

In the period following 70 CE, Jews claiming Jesus as messiah who was co-equal with God, were expelled from the synagogues.

John’s gospel is believed to have been written ca. 90-100 CE. The Temple (and its destruction) are fresh and painful memories.

Now, hear this passage with all this in mind. How are the faithful to make sacrifice without the Temple? Answer: Sacrifice isn’t needed. Where do faithful go to experience holiness of God? Answer: Jesus embodied all holiness.

As an Interim Pastor, I often ask congregations, “How would you be church if your building was gone tomorrow?” The answer comes from the witness of the Christian New Testament: a Church is a mystical body, a manifestation of the body of the risen Christ. To be church in the 21st Century is to be like the Church in the 1st Century. We are an incarnation of the mystical body of the risen Christ.

So, what does this mean for Open Door, a church without a building? As your Interim, I can’t ask the usual question “How would you be church…?” because you don’t have a building. The question of how to be church is still relevant, though. How do you embody the risen Christ? How do you act like the Acts of the Apostles? How do you feed the lambs and sheep?

Just asking for a friend!

Practices Matter

“So whenever you give alms… And whenever you pray… And whenever you fast…”
(from Matthew 6)

“…Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing;
they can only get us to the place where something can be done.”
(Richard Foster)

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The Lenten practices of prayers, fasting and almsgiving (giving to those in need), are derived from Jesus instructions in chapter six of Matthew gospel. Jesus is concluding his teaching to the disciples on what’s expected of them in the Kingdom of God. He’s embodying this good news in his ministry and his followers are expected to embody good news in their own life.

Praying, fasting and sacrificial giving prepare followers for their work and, in the context of Lent, prepare all followers to understand his passion and the mystery of the resurrection. By understanding the passion Jesus had for the least and lost, his followers are to continue his compassion for the oppressed, hungry and hurting.

I think Lenten practices can also help a congregation for the calling of its next installed Pastor.

The interim or in-between time of transition might be compared to Israel’s exodus and wandering in the Sinai for 40 years. A congregation in transition “wanders” with a temporary shepherd (Interim Pastor). The “wilderness” metaphorically is that in-between time. Through intentional practices, the congregation will be prepared to embrace a future with new leadership and (hopefully) new direction.

The Lenten practices can prepare the people through…

Prayer… deepens and strengthens the individual and corporate relationships with God who is permanent Shepherd and guide. Listening in prayer is most important.

Fasting… helps a person prioritize what matters as they reject anything that doesn’t feed body, mind and spirit. By fasting, we resist the temptation to be exclusively fed by the past.

Sacrificial giving… assists us in accepting new patterns and possibilities that emerge during the transition. Congregants can “give up” personal agendas seeking new ways of being church which can benefit the common good.

To excel at just about anything, one needs to practice. Even people of faith need to practice, not to excel for personal agin or status but to be more like Jesus who came to serve not be served.

Challenge: Choose one Lenten practice (prayer, fasting, almsgiving) and commit to working at it for one week. Let me know your experience.