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So Pastor Erik’s Randomly Occuring Top Five is being resurrected also.
And in honour of randomness here are Five Random Thoughts I have had lately:
- Edmontonians don’t know what a merge lane is. I spent a year in Calgary, where merging is a necessity. But Edmontonians LOVE to stop in merge lanes, especially on free ways. Its annoying and dangerous. But the best part is when I watch the faces of drivers behind me as I seamlessly merge into traffic and the car behind me stops in the merge lane! They are like the faces of people at a magic show.
- Hockey will soon start again, and even with some great players, is it wrong as an Oilers fan to wish that they finish last in the league again? Number one draft picks are way more exciting than finishing 2 or 3 spots out of the playoffs.
- I wonder if this unseasonably cold weather is ever going to end…
- Is it weird after the summer that I am excited to settle back into the routine of programs and things happening at church? I am excited for Confirmation, Bible Study, ELW, Council and other committees and Sunday School to all get going again!
- Does Edmonton still have a CFL team? I haven’t seen one around lately, bu they appear to be letting that high school team – the Eskimos – play at Commonwealth.
Okay, so the Tuesday Top Five didn’t work… and the weekly Top Five fell off track immediately. So this segment will be simply re-named: Another Top Five.
This is one is going to be five things you didn’t know (or maybe you did)… about Lutheranism!
- Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic. Its weird to think that the guy our denomination takes is name from was not a Lutheran himself really. Of course, how can you be a member of something you start? In any case, Luther was Roman Catholic until excommunicated by Rome. But he never stopped considering himself to be part of the Church.
- Lutherans are the fourth largest Christian denomination in the Edmonton area. Roman Catholic, the United Church members, and Anglicans are the top 3. And there are approximately 30 ELCIC congregation in the Edmonton Metro area (St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Leduc, Devon, Stony Plain and Spruce Grove included). And 150 ELCIC congregations in Alberta and the Territories.
- Luther was not Martin Luther’s real name. He was born Martin Luder. In the fashion of scholars changed his name to the latinized version, eleutherius and then to Luther. Eleutherius means “Free”. Therefore as Lutherans we are “Freed Ones”.
- While often it seems that Lutherans and non-Lutherans alike find it hard to describe Lutheranism, some of the most famous Theologians of the 20th century are Lutheran or studied Luther. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Albert Schweitzer, Paul Tillich and Karl Barth (who made the cover of Time Magazine) was a big Luther scholar. Click here for a video of famous Lutherans.
- Lutherans were some of the most active missionaries of the 20th century, starting churches in Latin America, Africa, North America, and Asia. You can find beautiful churches all over the world singing the same hymns and worshiping the same way we do all over the world.
One of the big issues facing the Church today, especially the ELCIC, is the need for pastors and church leaders. Pastors as whole have a high average age, probably in the 50s. Congregations are also aging. St. John of Golden Spike, for at least a few more months, has the youngest pastor in the ELCIC. In a time when there are fewer and fewer youth in the Church, there are things that congregations, and individuals, can do to help find and encourage new pastors and church leaders.
- When you see someone who is good in leadership, who shares their faith and who seems like a pastor, tell them.
- Look around your own family, in the pews next to you and in the congregation. This is where pastors come from.
- Talk about being a pastor with your pastor!
- Consider if you are called to be pastor.
- Try leadership positions in the church, council, committees, worship leaders, ushers, readers, communion servers, cantors etc… These roles are as important or even more so than a pastor. A congregation can be a congregation without a pastor, but a pastor cannot be a pastor without a congregation.
Okay so, Wednesdays weren’t really working, so I am changing it to weekly! And since I missed last week, here are FIFTEEN!
Top Fifteen Misread, Misheard, or Mistyped Hymn Titles
- Amazing Table Grace
- A Mighty Tree Fort is our God
- Beneath the Crosswalk of Jesus
- What a friendly acquaintance we have in Jesus
- Gloria (Estevan)
- Be Thou My Vision Care Optical
- How Great is Art?
- It Came Upon a 3 o’clock Tuesday afternoon
- Stay sitting O saints of God
- Mine is the Glory
- Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Snoring
- Blessed Insurance
- We are Shuffling in the Light of God
- “The Church’s One Foundation is Cracked and this is terrible workmanship” ~ Holmes on Homes
- Jesus loves Bill
As the Olympics came to a close this week, I thought I would give a top five moments of the games… and hopefully they are not the ones you expect. I will also give a bottom five moments of the games. And just to remind everyone, these top fives are Pastor Erik’s and in no way represent the views of the congregation.
5th Top moment. Melissa Hollingsworth’s apology to Canada. It was of course touching to see Melissa Hollingsworth apologize for a 4 place finish in women’s skeleton. It was a profound moment of humanity and vulnerability, and it showed her passion for this community created at the Vancover 2010.
5th Bottom moment. Melissa Hollingsworth’s apology. The moment was at the same time very saddening, saddening at the disappointment of being 4th AT THE OLYMPICS!!! I hope that Melissa knows what she accomplished and that her self worth is not based on the precious metal hanging from her neck.
4th Top Moment. Seeing athletes play together, both in the moment of competition and outside of competition. There were several instances when athletes from different nations were truly excited about each other doing well. Most notably the Canadian and American Ice Dancers. They were genuinely excited to see each other doing well, and that is what the Olympics are about.
4th Bottom Moment. Competition getting the better of athletes and media. CTV coverage was great, CTV announcers not always so much. I remember thinking during the opening ceremonies, “Why is this guy telling us that this nation is not expected to medal?” I also remember seeing a few athletes rejoice in the misfortune of others, skiers and bobsleighers especially, during dangerous crashes. And other athletes pouting when things didn’t go their way, Dale Begg- Smith as a prime example. The final disappointment was the Canadian Cross country ski coaches choosing not to allow Brian McKeever to ski… sport should not come before people, not matter how much money we put into Own the Podium.
3rd Top Moment. Nations standing shoulder to shoulder around sport. It was great to see Iran and Israel walking in one right after another. Maybe it was a mistake, but a least for a few days enemies were able to live together, even North Korea!
3rd Bottom Moment. When the Georgian luger died on the first day, I was saddened to see how the Media managed to exploit the very sad moment into hype about the safety of the track. Its like if a car looses control on the ice and the driver dies in a crash, and then everyone wonders if the a car that can go 150km/h is the biggest issue. No the tragedy of human life is the issue, and sport needed to take a back seat that day and maybe the whole two weeks. Maybe a fitting tribute would be having no medals being awarded at these games, and instead all prize money being given to Right to Play.
2nd Top Moment. The media respecting Joannie Rochette’s request not to be interviewed. I was pleased that the media tried its best to respect the figure skater’s privacy and grief.
2nd Bottom Moment. The media totally failing at not exploiting the tragedy of Joannie Rochette’s grief. I heard comments like “Its unimaginable what happened, but we need to get past this”. As someone who deals with families in grief, getting past it, pretending it didn’t happen is not healthy and its not reality. Joannie needed to deal with reality, she didn’t need the media to turn her grief into a moment of national sentimentality. And the saddest part of all, we all watched her face as she struggled with exactly this, and eventually succomb, when named flag bearer at the closing ceremonies. She needed space, not media attention.
Number 1 Top Moment. The amazing experience community Canadians in the midst of the highs and lows of the games. Despites the highs and lows of the games the biggest stars were the volunteers and crowds. There were 25,000 blue jacketed volunteers at the games and they were probably the nicest human beings on the planet. The community created was incredible, even viewed through a tv. To a put a religious term to it, it was the joy of the body of Christ.
Number 1 Bottom Moment. The “I Believe” slogan. The unfortunate slogan of the games tricked us all into thinking that the Olympics were a religious experience. We literally had some kind of belief in it. Whether it was the belief we would win, or as the song suggests the “power of you and I (or correctly me)”. There was a self worship aspect to these games that either I didn’t notice in previous games… or shows that sport has become the new North American religion. Talking heads are calling it “tribalism”, but really its misplaced religiosity.
As a Christian, a theologian and a pastor, I am deeply saddened that we have mistaken sport for faith. Sports can great past times, good exercise and even a powerful community experience. But they do not answer those bigger questions of who we are, where came from and where we are going… and who is behind it all.
I hope I haven’t put too much of a downer on an amazing experience, but I think a dose of reality is needed before he get too far from the games.
Last week my top five was fairly serious, so this week, we will go with a less serious one.
Top Five not serious Reasons to come to Church
5. There isn’t much on TV Sunday mornings, except lots of church services. Why not see one live?
4. Sitting down and standing up is good exercise. Plus those hymnbooks can add extra weight!
3. Its a great cure for insomnia. Staying awake during most is amazingly hard…
2. You get to sing your favourite hymns of the 1800s. And 1700s, 1600s, 1500s etc…
1. You get free coffee. If nothing else, there is free coffee after the service, as long as you are will to listen to the pastor’s bad jokes.
I am starting a new segment. Every Wednesday I hope to post a top five list, sometimes serious, sometimes not.
This week is a gut reaction to pastors at last week’s study conference asking why young people don’t come to church. So… here are my top five reasons why young people (at least the ones I know) DO come to church.
1. Their parents brought them from age 0-18, and brought them to worship.
2. Their parents and families were involved in the life of the church… Many church leaders point to families being so busy. Its not about being too busy, its about making church a priority, about church leaders providing space in the congregation for that to be worthwhile.
3. They had friends at church because their friend’s parents brought their friends to church.
4. They were involved in organizations beyond the congregation: camp, bible school, student movements, youth gatherings, mission trips, and others.
5. Their church community cared about them, this maybe included the pastor, but way more importantly, the older folks at church cared that the young folks were there, they helped the young folks get involved and take leadership.
Have your say!