MBCC Blog

Inspiration From Other Marchers

The weather cooperated today, so there was a huge crowd to cheer us on as we marched in today's SF Pride Parade.  In back of us was the contingent from Glide, so we had great music to accompany us the whole time.  An ordained minister from the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination served us Communion, as no PCUSA peeps were available to do it.  Also behind us was the Lutheran contingent and their Bishop, and the Episcopalian contingent and their Bishop, to show support from their respective denomination's leadership.

What was really inspiring in our contingent was the we had a marcher using a walker the whole route, and a marcher using a wheelchair the whole route.  We had lots of press coverage, because the press wanted to show the dedication and determination of these marchers.  No excuses!  Since I was one of the Contingent Monitors who had taken the safety training, I was up in the front of our group to ensure the safety of these two marchers (we did not want the walker leg to get caught on the metal grate of the subway ventilation shafts, for example).  Both marchers easily completed the whole parade route with us.  Truly an inspiration!

March with Presbyterian Peeps

As most of you already know, unlike past years there is no separate Presbyterian contingent in this year's SF Pride Parade, but we are marching with a multi-denominational group called United in Spirit.  And right after us will be Glide UMC, followed by the Lutheran and Episcopal bishops.  (No, PCUSA does not have bishops or popes!  You thought we did/  Make them march with us!)

Join us this Sunday at noon.  We are assembling on Beale St. between Folsom and Bryant Streets. Look for Contingent #205.  Be sure to use sunscreen and carry water (no glass) because it will be hot while we are waiting our turn to march.  See you there!

A letter of thanks to MBCC

[image: sunside]*

Dear members and friends of Mission Bay Community Church,

I hope this note finds you doing well and enjoying the rhythms of the summer months.

It is hard to believe that only a year ago, I began this journey of being Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA).  For many of you who are new, you have heard about this role, many of us have made reference to it and without going into great deal again, I simply want to say "thank you" for all that you all have done to make this past year go well.

To recap a little bit, my role as moderator requires me to travel about 1/3 of the time around the US and abroad to act as a kind of ambassador for the denomination.  This is a two-year term that will last until July, 2010.   MBCC folks liken this position to being the temporary queen: all the pomp and none of the power ;-)  Part of that role for me has been to share our story with the church in ways that honor and embrace the foundations and heritage of our faith while at the same time boldly emerging into what may be. MBCC, in "sharing" me with the denomination impacts the church more than you know, so on behalf of the Presbyterian Church (USA), thank you.

And while we are a church that tries to share leadership well, I know that there have been times when my absence has been hard on staff, members and new folks trying to navigate the cultural life of MBCC.  For this I am sorry.  My hope is that during this time we will discover how MBCC will best live and breath a organization structure and leadership model that will allow us to impact the world and touch lives. 

One of the reasons that I am writing to you now is simple to check-in before a very busy travel time hits this Summer.  I will be away trying to find time for both vacation and moderator travels so will be absent from Sundays more than usual.  As new folks begin to get connected and as we continue to move forward, while I may be away physically, I am only a twitter or eMail away ;-)

Please let me know if you have any questions and I am always up for coffee, we just may have to schedule a little in advance.

Peace,
Bruce

For more info here are a few links:

• Explanation of the Moderator thing, Jan 2008
• Official denominational Moderator page
• Bruce's Moderator Blog
• Mod Squad Facebook Group

* For those of you out there that do not recognize this picture, this is a picture of what is called a "typewriter" ;-)

From the Pews to the Pulpit: Eliz Roser, "Trust in Jesus"

Last Sunday, we had the pleasure of hearing from Elder Eliz Roser on this week's lectionary texts.  For all of you who may have missed her sermon, this is definitely one to read.

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TITLE: Trust in Jesus
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 9:9-20, Mark 4:35-41

Many of us have probably heard this story. It’s a popular one for Sunday School. When I was asked to preach this sermon, I immediately thought “no way.”  I have had a really hard time in the last few months and have been struggling with depression and figuring out what is going on in my life. After I read the lectionary text, I was like, geez! This is a text that I need to pray over and study because it is really hard to trust that Jesus is in total control of the bad things that go on in our lives. It’s funny how that works. I don’t know much, but I do have a desire to grow in my faith and to learn how to trust God more completely and fully, and I just want to share some thoughts with you all today.

What are you afraid of?
What was a time when you were afraid?

 I’ve never been in a boat that was going through a big storm. But I was in a terrible airplane flight that almost crashed and left me fearful of flying for many years.  We were flying out of New York and the plane took off to early behind another airplane. The airplane totally dropped and turned. Everything fell out of the overhead bins and everyone started screaming. I grabbed my sister’s hand and started humming Amazing Grace to calm myself down. I really thought we were going to die. And if Jesus was just sitting in the next row sleeping, I would have been seriously annoyed!

Likewise, these disciples probably felt like it was the end. They were all expert sailors, and for them to be scared of a storm probably meant that it was a gigantic storm. The disciples really had no other option but to turn to Jesus in this situation.

Even now, I think that one of the scariest things for me in an airplane is the total surrender of control. If you’re in a plane that’s about to crash, there is absolutely nothing you can do. We have to trust fully that the pilot will get us to our destination safely. In a truly scary situation, do we really have anyone else but Jesus to turn to?

As I was preparing for this sermon I have been thinking about the challenges and tragedies that I have experienced, and that people who are close to me have experienced. The commonality that I found that in times of severe tragedy and pain, it’s usually more simple to cry out to Jesus. I know that sounds crazy – but hear me out. 

Recently my close friend called late at night – her father had just had an aneurysm, and she was coming from the East Coast to California that night to be with him before he passed. Immediately, our close group of friends went into Jesus-mode. We prayed, texted prayers, emailed each other, and really had to rely on God’s care and love for our friend in this really hard time. 

When we are faced with a major tragedy in our lives – it’s often natural to cry out in anger and fear to God – to pray, to hear that others are praying for us.  What else do we, as a community of believers, have in these stormy situations but to turn to God who loves us and cares for us? Even as I think back about other tragedies in my life, I see times where I was really angry at God. 

If we are more aware of God in these scary situations, why is it so hard to be aware of God in the more minor situations? What if we used the same desperation and crying out to God in the minor tragedies of our lives?

As many of you know, I used to be a teacher. I taught 2nd grade, and then have continued to work with children and youth workers for many years. As anyone who works with children or youth knows, transition times are often the most challenging times for behavior management. It’s usually harder, as a teacher, to get a group of kids to transition from one activity to another, than it is to actually lead that activity. My second graders were not so great at the transitions. If I was teaching a lesson and everyone was sitting on the rug, and I said, “okay everyone go back to their seats and begin the worksheet,” there would have been mass chaos. Kids would run, jump, push, and yell. We had to constantly practice how to line up for recess, how to sharpen our pencils appropriately, how to clean up from centers time and prepare for reading time. 

I don’t know about anyone else – but I don’t do so well during transition times either. It’s too hard to give up control and to not be able to anticipate exactly what to expect. Sometimes I wish there was time to practice for all of the transitions that we face. 

These transition times that we face are often, in fact, minor tragedies. We grieve what was, and are fearful of what is to come. Especially here in the Bay Area, especially during these hard economic times, especially living in a city that is practically impossible to afford, we all face decisions and have to make transitions. We transition to different jobs, different cities and states, and transition in our relationships. None of that is easy, and it isn’t usually very fun either.

If we look at this story of Jesus calming the storm as a guideline for transition time, it’s pretty clear what we need to do: Jesus says: Peace! Be Still! Peace, be still. Not what we like to hear, but often what we need to hear.

How do we know if we really trust God? All we have to do is examine our attitudes and actions. What are the real priorities that shape our living? Are we willing to step out in faith and trust that God will take care of us – that God will calm the storms in our lives?

When I was in college I worked at a summer camp. One summer in particular, we faced several pretty serious injuries with the campers- one camper lost a finger, another broke a leg, and a third was one of my favorite campers of the whole summer – Abby. At camp, we all had camp names. I was Ridiculiz – she was Westminster Abby. Obviously this 8 year old was much more sophisticated than me. Anyways, one day before lunch, Abby decided to explore this pretty steep hill behind her cabin – definitely an off limits area, but Abby was pretty adventurous so she went for it. I’m not sure what her counselor was doing at the time, but Abby ended up falling down the hill, face first, into the side of her cabin. Abby had knocked out 4 of her front teeth, and was covered in blood.

We got her off to the hospital and cleaned up everything – but you know what Abby did? Demanded to come back to camp! Despite her mother’s doubts, she returned the next day with gnarly black stitches all over her face. She finished out the week and had a great time doing all of the activities with the other kids. 

Would you have done that? After being knocked down  - just getting back up and trying again? I have to say that I’m not sure I have that willingness and enthusiasm to just jump in and try again.  Abby didn’t do the easy thing and just go home and be with her mom. Trusting in God gives us the confidence to carry on after hard times. With God, we can enthusiastically jump back in.

This is how Jesus wants us to live - -boldly and enthusiastically! Passionately living and trying and failing and trying again!

We know that when we are knocked down, we can get up again because we know and trust that Jesus is with us to keep us safe! What if we really lived in that way? What might happen?

Instead of taking a risk, we often return to what is comfortable. 

Are we too cynical to believe that God cares for us and trust that God will be with us? We live in such a skeptical world – we are conditioned to trust nothing we hear on the news or the gossip we hear about celebrities. We have websites that archive urban legends and Wikipedia to consult to make sure our facts are straight. And face it – we are a cynical group of people. I am a pretty cynical person. Working in urban schools, in underfunded programs with unrealistic expectations, violence in the streets, and exasperated families has drained me of a lot of optimism and idealism that I had when I graduated from college. But this is dangerous! This is not how God wants us to live!

If we don’t really truly believe that God is with us and that God is in tragic situations, what are we even doing? Honestly, we believe some pretty crazy things – that Jesus died and rose again, that God, in some way, created each living thing intricately and intentionally, that we should love our enemies. None of this is logical! So why is it so hard to believe that God is with us when we are sad? When we are devastated?

God is with us. God promises that God is with us.

All of this talk about trusting in God doesn’t mean that everything is perfect when we trust fully in God. The boat was probably pretty damaged after the storm. Likewise, when we go through hard times, even if we seek Christ and trust in God, we end up hurt or lonely or damaged.

This is why a strong faith community is so crucial. So that when we need support and repairs we have others to help us do it. I have been so blessed to participate in a wonderful small group here at MBCC. We started when we all shared the same desire to have close Christian friends, which has grown into deep friendships that I really treasure. 

In December I was really struggling with a horrible horrible job. I was working crazy long hours, and commuting to Stockton and Sacramento almost weekly. I was completely overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do. Ryan made me go to GESG one night even though I was completely exhausted. When I got there, everyone sat me down and had a little GESGervention. I ended up quitting my horrible job and finding a wonderful one. Without that community I’m not sure if I would have had the strength to do it on my own. For that I am very grateful.

The community here at MBCC has had an immense impact on me. Knowing that I have a group that cares for me – that takes care of me in hard times – that I can take care of too, has been so important in my faith here in San Francisco. I think that often we find ourselves talking to each other on Twitter or on Facebook – but the reality is that we need face to face contact and in person relationships. I want to challenge us all to be real with each other in real life – to spend time together and to care for each other.  We are Christ to people in stormy times. We are Christ to each other in stormy times.

The good thing about storms is that they have a beginning and an end. Things calm down, we mourn our losses and move on. Transitions happen but then they are over. Relationships end, but we learn and move on. 

Though it may seem like Jesus is asleep or not around, he is. We just have to be able to take that risk, and trust in Him completely. Let us throw off our cynicism and seek to live a life of passion and enthusiasm. Let us take time to love one another and to support one another and repair each other’s boats. Let us follow what Jesus tells us in the midst of crisis, whether minor or devastating – Peace Be Still. Peace Be Still. 

Let us pray

God of love and strength – thank you for being with us. Thank you for allowing us to choose to trust in you. Give us the strength to choose you – to take a risk and step out in faith. Comfort us in our times of severe tragedy and in our times of uncomfortable transition. Amen.

March in next weekend's parade?

As you know, sadly there is no PCUSA contingent in this year's SF Pride Parade for the first time in many years.  However, I am pleased to announce that we just got a new opportunity to march this year as part of a multi-denominational contingent that has marched for over 10 years.

Through the PANA and CLGS programs at PSR, we've been put in touch with the multi-denominational group called United in Spirit.  I contacted the minister organizing that group, and we are all invited to not only march, but also carry banners of our respective religious organizations.  You can check out http://tunyurl.com/unitedinspirit which is the link to their Facebook page.  It's lots of fun, and great publicity for the participating churches, because it's the biggest parade in SF.  Parade administration expects over 200 contingents marching this year.  Contact me marc@missionbaycc.org if you are interested in marching with us.

Also, don't forget to register onto our Presbyterian team at AIDS Walk San Francisco.  We need the registrations in advance in order to get a team table assigned to us, to use as a gathering place, and alsoto use for the BBQ that our team has after the walk.  www.aidswalk.net/sanfran --> register --> join a team --> join an existing team --> Presbyterians  is the link for online registration.  There is no registration fee.  We will have a display table at Tuesday's Presbytery meeting and a representative from the AIDS Walk office will be present for part of the meeting.

ONE2ONE Ministry

New ministries are always blossoming at MBCC.  Check out new ways to connect in times of need.

One-to-One ministry provides peer support to those dealing with challenging life circumstances.  The death of a loved one, dealing with infertility, going through a divorce/separation, coping with illness and other stressful circumstances can leave us feeling isolated and alone. One-to-One provides a connection to a listening ear. One-to-One can also benefit those experiencing other changes such as moving to a new community and life/job transitions. Even if change is good, it is not always easy, and you don't need to go through it alone. If you or someone you know is interested contact Terra at tpmitts@yahoo.com

Behind the Worship: Silence

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Every once in a while, it's probably a good idea to explain why we do some of the things we do during our weekly gathering at MBCC.  While we fully embrace our time to get up and move during our "station time" and we encourage folks to Twitter - use #mbcc - as they feel called, the one part of our service that I have enjoyed greatly as of late has been our time of silence.

We started silent time during Lent this year and have committed to this practice from here on out.  There is something about listening to scripture and then simply sitting in the silence after the spoken word is heard that opens up the possibilities that God may have in store for us.  Not only does this time give us permission to let go of some of the unhelpful "noise" from the world, but it reminds of the breadth of ways that God indeed speaks to us.  

Even though the silent time only lasts 4-6 minutes - and yes, we know that it seems like a LONG time for some - we think that this is a valuable aspect of our time together.  In our time of silence it is my hope that we individually and communally listen for God's voice in our breathing, in the sounds that emanate from the city and, yes, in the mystery of God's direction that speaks without any sound at all. 

I also think this time reminds us of the importance of simply BEING still.  While we at MBCC boldly embrace our ability to be agile and fluid in our interactions, in a world that is constantly moving, a time of stillness cannot be taken too lightly.   In the stillness, as well as the energy of our lives, we also meet God.  It is in this time of silence and stillness where some of the most wonderful experiences of the mystery of God and I are had  and I hope you continue to open yourselves up to the possibilities.

Wit and Wisdom from the Pews: Biblical Marriage

In hopes of broadening the discourse at MBCC, we are inviting community members to blog.  As such, anything posted is the opinion of the writer only, but is held as a part of the respectful dialogue that goes on within our community.  

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This week we hear from Jeff Miner on the subject of biblical marriage.

This afternoon I asked my wife if we could have a biblical marriage.

I thought she might be excited, but instead, she got a decidedly skeptical look on her face.  Fair enough, I guess.  Our apartment is barely big enough for the two of us, so where would we keep all my
other wives?  On top of that, what about the concubines?  Plus, she’s a little too far to the left politically to be excited about the possibility of having slaves to keep house, even if you choose to over look the fact that I’d be obligated to sleep with them if she ever became infertile (and likely even if she didn’t).

All in all, it’s difficult to ask someone to be excited about the possibility of Leah-and-Rachel-style fertility contests.  And when I started to think about the possibility that I might be required to impregnate any of my sons’ wives in the event of their death, well, frankly even I started to get a little uncomfortable.

Even if we look at the gospels or the letters for our models of biblical marriage, the phrase itself, “biblical marriage,” has a lot of gender-political connotations in which an independent-minded woman like my wife is unlikely to be interested.  ‘Wives submit to your husbands as to the lord’ is only one example - there are a number of places in the letters where Paul appeals to then-contemporary understandings of marriage to understand God.  At least at face-value, these passages can only be reconciled with independent-mindedness after serious thought and a mildly uncomfortable amount of mental gymnastics.

Now, if she has her doubts about Paul, so do I.  In 1 Corinthians, Paul suggests that the unmarried man is “anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord” but the married man “is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife.”  I’m not sure how many unmarried men Paul knew, but at least in my experience it’s the single men who are most consumed with making sure their ‘worldly affairs’ are

taken care of, if you catch my drift.

Still, marriage between God and his people is an important theme in a number of places in the Bible, so if we want to talk about biblical marriage, it becomes necessary to return to the text.

Among the many metaphors used by the prophets for the Israelites, the unfaithful spouse (Hosea) is one of the more dramatic.  Even if the meaning of the image seems obvious, there remains a hidden undercurrent to these prophetic appeals, one I’ve never seen in print or heard preached.  As long as we’re talking about the ancient Israelites, we’re talking about a culture where polygynous marriage was the ideal, at least as far as men were concerned.  Not only that, we’re talking about a context in which the most powerful men (David, for example) might have a large number of concubines as a reserve set of sexual partners.

So, if God’s relationship with the Israelites was like a husband to a wife, who were his other wives?  Did he have a thing on the side with the Philistines?  What about his concubines?  If he thought Israel didn’t keep a clean enough house, would he go shack up with the Jebusites or the Edomites?

Don’t think you can avoid these difficulties simply by turning to tha tired New Testament / Old Testament argument.  We shouldn’t fool ourselves into believing that this line of thought cannot be applied equally to the imagery of the gospels.  If the church is the bride of Christ, and God is made up of three persons, isn’t the church itself involved in a polygamous marriage?  Even worse, what about that Holy Spirit?  If it really descended from heaven as a dove, we might even be talking about a polygamous marriage with intermittent bestiality!

What’s the point of all of this blasphemy?  Mostly to say that I think the best way to have a biblical marriage is not to have too biblical a marriage.  To be fair to the authors above, it’s not like Paul and the prophetic authors got it wrong, exactly.  The only vocabulary available to them for describing divinity was analogy.  The author of Hosea opted to use (among other things) the concept of marriage in his attempts to dramatize and understand the divine.  Paul did the same, but made a double move, using his then-contemporary understanding of marriage to characterize God, and then using that characterization to make prescriptions about the then-contemporary institution of marriage.

As far as the available vocabulary for describing the indescribable, our situation hasn’t improved substantially in the last 2,000 to 4,000 years.  Then (as now) using analogies carried (and carries) risks (as I tried to show above).

If you want to figure out how to relate to God, you could pick worse books than the Bible and worse analogies than a marriage.  If you want to figure out broadly how to relate to other people (including a spouse), the Bible provides a compelling set of principles to work with there as well.

On the other hand, if you go looking for specific pointers and/or rush your reading, you are (in one man’s humble opinion) likely to miss the forest for the trees.  If (to pick only one hypothetical example) you are participating in the democratic process and considering how to set social policy, you’re better off with a census in your hand than one of the minor prophets.  I wouldn’t read Thessalonians if I were trying to unstop my toilet, after all.

If you want to figure out how to relate to your actual partner, you might get better returns from listening to them than from paging through the good book.  Speaking of which, I’m hearing her say that it’s time to get to bed.

Staff transitions at MBCC

Dear MBCC Members and Friends,

Greetings.  We hope you are doing well.

We wanted to write to you today to let you know of some recent developments regarding the MBCC Pastoral Staff Team.  Effective June 15, 2009 Tiffany will no longer be serving as Pastoral Assistant for Music here at MBCC.  Tiffany has been on staff at MBCC for a few years now and has served with great care and devotion after the departure of our previous Music Pastor.  At this point however, due to our fiscal realities and Tiffany's own workload, we have agreed that this is a good time for a transition in this aspect of our ministry to take place.  Over the summer, Tiffany will take well-deserved break from direct leadership as she too transitions into what God may have in store for her ministry here at MBCC in the future.

Again, we are thankful for Tiffany's ministry and hopeful for where God may be leading us all in the future.   If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Bruce or Katina.

Peace,
The MBCC Session

Meet a Peep

Last week, we brought you the dish on one of our youngest, and this week, we bring you the dish on one of our tried and true, who has been with MBCC since its days in Java on Ocean… Marc Jung.

Marc serving communion in his capacity as elder.

vital stats…
profession: current- Office Manager ; previous- Auditor
neighborhood of SF: Sunset
how long you have been a resident of the city: Grew up here (yay Lowell, and SFSU!)
how long you have been presbyterian: Cradle Presbyterian, actually raised at OAPC, isn’t that funny?
how long you have been an elder: A long time… Did you know I used to chair Presbytery’s Bills & Overtures Committee (they handle changes to the Book of Order, which is like the church’s constitution) I’m termed out this year, so now I’m on the Presbytery’s Healthy Congregations Committee. Our church is healthy, right?

the details…
favorite place in SF: Ocean Beach on a sunny day
favorite thing about MBCC: I like how MBCC is very much a part of PCUSA, yet we obviously have our own unique style of doing things, like round tables instead of just pews, or rotating the location of the communion table, or having whoever is preaching on Sunday facilitate interactive discussion.
quirkiest thing about presbyterians: Too many committees (and I guess I’m part of the problem since I’m on a Presbytery committee)
what gives you hope for SF: Churches join together for AIDS Walk San Francisco… Have you registered yet?
what breaks your heart about SF: Everything’s so expensive here
what you want to see changed in SF: Muni (need I say more?)

for fun…
favorite color: Blue
favorite beverage on a hot day: Sierra Nevada
favorite beverage on a foggy day: Cappuccino (When do we get an expresso machine at MBCC?)
preferred method of transportation: Muni
if you were an animal, you would be: A beaver
because: I’m always busy doing something somewhere, you know, stuck in meetings and stuff like that
if MBCC were an animal, it would be: An octopus
because: MBCC is everywhere! We’re at AIDS Walk San Francisco (you did say you already registered, right?), SF CROP Walk, SF Food Bank’s Food Pantry, Excelsior Festival, Chinese New Year’s Parade, SF Pride Parade, Excelsior Action Group, Presbytery, plus even Facebook and Twitter. Hmm, who did I forget to mention? Oh well, you all will get your friends and family to register on our AIDS Walk San Francisco team, yes? Register—> Join a Team—> Join an Existing Team—> Presbyterians.

Get to know Marc by participating in the AIDS walk this year.  It is sure to be a good time...