Prayer Life

So tell me abut your pray life?

One the questions that comes up with the Commission on Ministry has to do with ones Prayer Life. This is a question that is put to most all of the people who desire to become ordained into one of the orders, and I figures that since I ask the question of those that I am Shepard to and interview on there pathway, I should answer the question myself.

As it would be seen in the eyes of most people, they would say that my prayer life sucks, because I don't get up early, or go to bed early, nor do I have a regular routine that most people would recognize. For me, setting aside a time and place for regular pray would only be empty and wasted time. I am not saying that it is what is do is truly 100% right, but it is what I find that works well for me.

I will admit that at times when I am in a church service, I really can't get into the prayers that are going on, and will even think about other stuff. But there are times when I am in a service and I am really moved by the prayers that are occurring at the moment. I am sure that there are some who are reading this who feel that I am wrong for this, but really think about the time that you are spending in church and what you really are doing is just saying the words from your mouth, but not really saying them from your heart. What is so different about it? I am being open and honest about it.

But don't get me wrong, as there are many a time when I am really praying through my heart as we say prayers during service, but I also recognize that there are times when I am just having the words come out of my mouth.

My prayer life is something that I don't confine to just certain times and/or days, but something that I try and do at all times. Some people will look up on what I am doing as meditation in the way that that they may see me doing it, and at other times they will not even realize that I am praying. I will spend time praying at all kinds of times. You may not see my mouth moving, but I feel that prayer is something that you can do through your mind without opening your lips.

There are times that I am traveling from one place to another and am in a conversation with someone, and while we are conversing with each other I am praying in my head. Now this doesn't mean that I am not paying attention to the other person, it means that I am expanding my mind and heart to allow it to happen. I am taking those feelings of anger and pushing them aside.

Many people have written books and given lectures and sermons on what they call the proper way to pray, but to me the proper way to pray many times is just between yourself and God. What works best for people is an individual thing, not something that can really be put down on paper or spoken. Yes those books, sermons and etc can help you find what works for you, but you can't put limits upon the way that ones prays.

I really don't think that God will reject your prayers if you are sitting on an airplane looking out the window and saying thanks for the beauty of the earth. I don't think that God is going to reject your prayers if you take a quick second and ask God to forgive someone that you have heard about on the news who has done wrong. You must remember that we are ALL God Children, and wouldn't you want for that person to pray for you when you have done something wrong?

So what is my prayer life like? I pray as I travel around from one place to another. I pray as I sit and watch TV. I pray as I do stuff on the Internet. I pray at all kinds of times and in all kinds of places. Am I in constant prayer. I can honestly say that I am not. I can honestly say that I should pray more than I do. I can honestly say that I try to pray as much as I can.

So sit and think about it, what is your prayer life like?

 

It's That Time Of The Year

 Well it is coming up that time of year for most churches, that being doing the annual Pledge Drive/Stewardship Campaign, in other words, it's that time of year for the churches to start asking its members to let it know how much money that it plans to give so that the churches can pan for the next year.

 But there will be some congregations were this won't happen, which is sad. Oh excuses will be given in many of them as to why they don't, which in the long run is going to not only hurt that congregation, but it will reflect on the leaders of that congregation. Should that congregation close, in the end the people who it will reflect upon the most will be the ordained of that congregation. I know of an ordained person who told his congregation that Stewardship had nothing to do with money. I feel really sad for that person, as I know of people in that congregation who want to pledge and be good stewards who want to pledge and be good stewards, but they spend the money on other things instead.

 I was brought up in a family where being apart of the church in different ways is a tradition that goes back many generations. We have not only given our dollars to the church, but our time in other areas of the church also. They have ranged from being both Laity to ordained. They have served on Vestries, Altar Guilds, Acolytes, Sunday School Teachers, Maintenance people, and so many other things. I myself has served as an acolyte, been a thurifer, lay reader, cup bearer, provide music for services, been in the choirs, sung in folk groups, intercessor, usher, served on committees and commissions, along with a number of other things.

 Why have I been involved in so many things? Because I was brought up to believe that pledging and stewardship is also more than giving money. But that without giving money to the church by pledging, the church cannot survive. How is the church suppose to pay people? How is the church suppose to pay the electric, water, gas and/or oil bills? How is the church suppose to be able to pay for the things that it uses during services? How is the church suppose to be able to pay for the buildings so that programs and events can happen? How is the church suppose to be able to even plan for the future if it doesn't know if it will have money in the future?

 If you think about it, you will also realize that doing such things like sending Missionaries out to spread the Great News of the Gospels couldn't happen. Oh I am sure that some would be happy because radio and television evangelist would vanish, but as much as one may dislike them, they are able to bring the Great News to those who are homebound, and with some people they record them because they have to work, so they watch them later.

 For some, going to church is a family event that brings the family together. We live in a world where there are so many distractions that going to church is the only family event that happens. The church is a place where many children learn discipline from others besides their parents. Church is the place where people make friends and find relationships with people who are similar in many ways to themselves. The church is the place where people come to celebrate the life of a Great person. But without money, these things can't happen, because the church would not exist.

 With some churches, they tell you how much you should pledge, and that amount is usually 10% of your income. But the truth is that the amount of money that you pledge is really between you and the Holy Trinity. I am sure that some will be told that they can't afford to pledge, or will be discouraged from pledging, but my hope is that they don't listen to the people telling them that, as that is the Devil speaking, and we all know that the Devil doesn't want the Great News to be spread out.

 But also pledge things that you will do in the church, being you join and sing in the choir, serve on the altar, host “coffee hour”, teach Sunday School, help to clean up around the place, or something of many other things that you could be doing. The church needs you involved in many ways in order to continue to spread the Great News of the Gospels to the world.

 There is a phrase that is said in different ways through most religions, that phrase being “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I was to change that praise into something that I want for you to think about. “Give Unto The Church As You Would Have It Give Unto You”

 Think about how your life would be if the church didn't exist. Would you be like you are if it didn't exist, or would you be worse off? How important is the church to you? Do you desire that the church and its people continue to spread the Great News of the Gospels to others?

 When the pledging starts, do and give what you feel is best for you and for the church in both money and time.

It's Time To Celebrate

Been trying to figure out why people are going to the Evangelic and other churches over some other denominations? What is it that they are doing that we aren't doing. I mean mainly, for the most part we are all spreading the Good News about Jesus, but why are some growing while others aren't?

This past Sunday I didn't go to my congregation, but headed out to another one to see a friend installed as the Deacon for that congregation. It was a wonderful and joyous service, and I felt really good when I left. It felt so good to sit in a congregation where I could really feel the Spirit. As I walked back to BART, I began to wonder what it was that they have that my congregation doesn't? I began to think about the other congregations that I had been in not only in this diocese, but in others, along with the non-Episcopal churches that I have been it. Suddenly it hit me earlier today.

At one time the congregation that I am in was actually growing. As I think back about it, it was doing something that it is no longer doing, and even though I an others have tried to bring it back, the big “We Can't ....” has gotten in the way and I sit and watch as those who want to either give up or simply leave.

What I had realized what the other congregation and the growing congregations are going is bring Excitement into the services. They are celebrating themselves and just sticking with the way things were. Think about it with the denominations that are growing throughout the world. We often say that we can't get the young adults into the churches, but think about the our services.

What is the first thing that we should do? Get rid of the organs. My congregation decided that the future of the music in the church would be done through a computer. When we moved over to using a computer, and even still to this day, people tell me how they are so happy to hear modern music and not the old classical stuff. That the modern stuff makes them feel closer to the Holy Trinity, where the classical bores them in many ways. If the congregation that I am in were to hold a concert that contained just classical music, only a couple of people from the congregation would show up. I find it interesting to listen as I play something modern and hear people singing along, where if I play something from the classical style they will ignore what is being played and will talk with each other. It's time to dump the organs and bring in not just computers, but guitars and instruments to put into peoples hands, with modern music that will cause them to clap and dance. Last night I did the music for a memorial service playing some songs that are somewhat modern, but still has been around for a while, and I was amazed at the number of people who sang along without using anything that had words on them. I find that happening many Sundays. When it comes to the older stuff, people need to look at the words, but not with the newer stuff. In a way it is telling me that the newer stuff is actually touching people's hearts, where the older stuff doesn't.

We need sermons that really reach into peoples hearts, gets them excited, uplifts them, makes them feel as those they have been touched, makes them want to jump up and down. Time to put an end to these really drab sermons that so many give. Time to put an end to the sermons where one has to tell stories about ones self, which many times are really unrelated to the any of the lessons of the day. The second that you realized that you have used a story many times, we frankly it is time to put that story away, as when you start to tell it people no longer paying attention to the rest that you have to say. It comes across as Boasting when one has to repeatedly talk about ones self. One of the things that I notice with the denominations that are growing and with the tv and radio people is that they bring excitement into their sermons. Their sermons excite people and reach into the hearts of people. That spend time talking about the Good News and the excitement of it. They bring something that seems to touch each and every one listening.

Here is an idea that I have mentioned before, but am changing it just a little. I say that once every 3 months that it is mandatory for a priest from elsewhere comes and does the service at each of our congregations. This would all happen on the same Sunday, and I am not talking about just the one service that Sunday, but ALL of the services that Sunday. No excuses are acceptable for it not happening at a congregation, and if it does happen, the clergy of that congregation are not permitted to do another service there until after the next shift happens.

Celebrate the people in the congregation, even better yet, celebrate the congregation. I know that there are congregations in the world that celebrate their founders on a special day. If you look on Youtube, there is a great video that I saw a few years ago of a church that held a Founders Day Celebration where they used music from different eras of the members of the congregation. As they played music from each era, the people of that era would stand up and dance the dance of that song. I wish that I could find it again, and I will have to take a look for it.

Another thing that needs to happen is that the elders of congregations are going to have to step back and let the younger folks run the church. The elders are going to have to look at themselves as advisers to then, and also not get in the way of progress. Churches need to come up to the modern times and need to be relate-able to those that the congregations are desiring to have in them.

But the churches also need to get outside of the doors. The churches need to push such ideas as Home Eucharist among members of different congregations. What this will do is to get people from different congregations to meet and talk with each other, sharing ideas and activities that each other are having. One of the sad things that seems to be going on are Control issues that some have. Some seem to want so badly to control the things that members of their congregations know that they are driving people away, not only from the congregations, but from the church itself.

One of our weaknesses is that we in the Episcopal/Anglican Church is that we don't have Bibles in the pews of our church. We have a hymnal, the Book Of Common Prayer, but it is rare that you walk into one of our congregations and actually find Bibles in the pews. I walked into St. Paul's, San Rafael, Ca, and not only was a amazed by the beauty of the place, but smiled more when I saw that they actually had Bibles in the pews. But also walk into the homes of most within the Episcopal/Anglican Church and see if you spot a Bible. Then actually open it up and try and figure out if it is one that is being used. I will admit that if you come into my place you will find a shelf full of Bibles, but one thing that you will notice if you walk into my bedroom is that I have one on my bed. You will also find a couple of that are well used sitting on a shelf next to my bed. There are many things within the Bible that are exciting, and we need to take that excitement out into the streets and into our congregations.

But the one thing that we each need to do is to bring excitement into our churches also. We can't just rely on the clergy to bring it, but we must also bring it. If some music is being played that just makes you want to clap, then clap. If it makes you want to dance, then dance. If whomever is giving the sermon says something that excites you, then give an Amen. If that sermon was great, applaud. did the choir sing something really exceptional, applaud. Let's get some life into the church.

If the churches don't start making changes and bringing excitement, the pews will continue to become more and more empty. So in the comments below, tell me, what do you think that we can do to help not only build the sizes of our congregations, but to bring excitement into the churches?