Monday Morning Musing: I Couldn't Wait to Share!

Today, Sunday, was a significant day in the life of the congregation I serve as Senior Pastor.  By an overwhelming vote, we affirmed that we are a Reconciling in Christ congregation.  This means that we welcome everyone, period.  That we believe that everyone is beloved by God.  It is a word of public witness and affirmation to our queer and dark-skinned siblings.  We have been working toward this for over a year, with studies and book groups and conversation groups and sermon series.  I am spent this evening, but in the best possible way.  I am filled with gratitude and joy and a sense of hope. So, I'm posting this tonight, because I couldn't wait to share. Still, it's late, so it's likely that this might yet land in your inboxes as a Monday morning musing.

I know something of what it means to be told that you are somehow “less than” because of how you are made.  I was raised in the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, who believe that women are less than men.  That we are not ‘qualified’ to teach men past the age of 13 because apparently that's when anatomy makes you smarter (I really tried to say that tactfully). The Missouri Synod says that women are not allowed to be pastors.  When people ask why I, an ally, work so hard for the rights of the queer and black communities, it is informed in part from my childhood experience of exclusion.  So, in a way, telling me that I was not as valued as the boys and men spurred me on to study more about what Jesus really taught and to join others in this important work of reconciliation and inclusion. 

But I serve among a deeply faithful and courageous people.  It’s breathtaking to me how eager they are to learn more, say more, do more.  I’m also trying very hard to make sure that I’m prioritizing this Gospel centered work, and not the adiaphora (meaningless details) that threaten to take up my time. 

This is so much on my heart tonight that it’s hard to write to you in this space about anything else.  Except to say (you knew I’d find something) that I hope that you are finding meaningful ways to stand for what is good and hopeful and decent and right in the world.  Because, dear ones, this is the work that will also offer us hope. 

I had originally thought that I would write about some of the luminous writers I’ve been reading on Substack and in other places.  (I’m pondering migrating this platform to Substack….but I need to learn more about how that works.)  Let me commend to you two women, one whose writing is new to me and one who is a long-time inspiration to me, both personally and professionally. 

Connie Schultz is married to Sherrod Brown, who was a longtime Democratic Senator from Ohio.  She is a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and an absolute gem of a storyteller.  After Brown was defeated in the November elections by a MAGA candidate (which most people didn’t anticipate), Connie wrote in fits and starts but always in deeply meaningful ways, about how their family was coping.  About how they were supporting one another and leaning on one another and figuring out a way forward in a changed landscape.  I commend her writing to you.  You can find her on Substack at Hopefully Yours.  (You can also just do a search for Hopefully Yours Connie Schultz).

The other writer is Barbara Brown Taylor.  Taylor is an Episcopal priest and university professor and wildly gifted preacher.  She is the author of many books, all of which I own and all of which are dog eared from multiple readings.  She is a southerner, which means we share that particularity.  I love how she connects the holy to the ordinary in her work.  She has recently started writing publicly on a blog again and I squealed in delight when I learned of it.  Her blog is called Coming Down to Earth.

(Fun story: I once went with good friends, all female pastors, to a writer’s conference at Seattle University, where Taylor was a presenter.  We got to her talk early enough to get excellent seats and as it happened, we were the perfect row of guests with whom to make eye contact.  We were ELATED fan girls the entire time!)

Thanks for letting me leap from my own deep gratitude and delight to these two awesome writers.  They are only connected in that I am so grateful for all of the ways that goodness and hope and faith and love still live in the world and inside each one of us.   Keep sharing all of the goodness, dear ones!  It’s how we’ll move forward.

Pride clouds