Nothing like a bottle of wine to bring back memories.

It’s over a month ago now, since I wrote about returning to “the scene of the crime”, the place where we got crushed in ministry. I said then that I planned to blog about it all, but I suppose the delay indicates a certain reluctance to get into the whole thing. It’s painful and complicated. I don’t want to cause pain to the many innocent people who suffered with us at the time, or even to the folks I blame for the mess. And yet it’s all part of what I’ve learned in ministry.

God taught me, and others, some things about the church. These were valuable lessons, but the tuition was very high. It cost me and Suzanne our church and community, disrupted our livelihoods, forced a relocation, and shattered many precious friendships. And, much of what it did to us, it did to others too. It would be a shame to just let it all slip away without trying to share what I have learned. So, here are some reflections, for what they’re worth. My recollections and interpretations may differ from those of others who were there, but so be it. Everyone is welcome to comment.

In 1998, when we were called to our church in Victoria, we could see that there would be significant challenges. The congregation was deeply divided over the calling of a pastor. A significant number wanted the associate pastor to take over, others wanted to call a new senior, and most just wanted whatever was good for the church. So they set up a search committee composed of representatives of all the competing factions to try to find a solution that would suit everyone. Predictably, it didn’t work. The committee thrashed about for a couple of years, and a long and painful process finally turned up me.

Now, I’d had over twenty years experience in ministry and, though I’d been a little bumped and bruised along the way, most of those years had been happy and productive. This church had a great reputation as a loving and forgiving fellowship, so I believed that we could overcome whatever difficulties should arise.

In retrospect, there were many danger signals we should have heeded. Divisions had deepened, the search process had produced a lot of distrust and resentment, and the congregation was fatigued. – Several people confessed to me years later that they had voted to call me out of sheer frustration with the process. – And I inherited an “us and them” congregation; people who supported me because they were opposed to those who supported the associate, and others who supported the associate because they were opposed to those who supported me.

Well, after a year we still weren’t having much fun, so I went to the Board and offered to resign, suggesting that they also let the associate go and see if the church could call one pastor they all supported. The Board, however, prevailed upon me to stay for another year and, against my better judgement, I agreed. – I still think this would have been the best course for all involved, but that’s water under the bridge. It’s always easier to see what we should have done, partly because it’s so much safer than deciding what to do.

In another year the divisions had deepened beyond repair, and it had become clear that the best way forward would be to commission the associate to go off and start a new church. On the surface this may sound like a bitter split, but it really wasn’t that for me or most others in the church. I was disappointed, because I’d enjoyed the associate, and I’m still convinced we could have worked well together for many years. But there were two factions who insisted on seeing us a competitors, and they were unwilling and/or unable to work together. Our situation was rather like that of Abraham and Lot who separated, not because they were divided, but because their herdsmen were quarrelling. (Genesis 13:7)

So, what’s the lesson here?

Times of leadership transition are dangerous for any institution, and the church is no exception. At these times it’s often the most contentious people who offer themselves for leadership; the warriors, not the shepherds. These people fight to win, and leave ruins in their wake. There’s a reason why they’re called “the spoils of war”.

April Fools’ Day post on April 2. I feel like such a fool.

The psalmist declared, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’", (Ps 14:1) so I’ve always been tempted to suggest that April 1 is the founding feast of Atheism. But then Jesus came along and said “...anyone who says, 'You fool !' will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matt 5:22), so we all have to be very careful here. Jesus does have a knack for spoiling the fun sometimes.

Anyway, this idiotic battle between Evolutionists and Creationists has been going on since long before any of us arrived, and I’ve spent my ministry just staying out of it. There are serious questions about God’s existence, but these folks seldom get to them. They’re actually all about science and politics. But every once in a while the battle rises to a level of slapstick that’s worth watching.

The actor Kirk Cameron, (TV series Growing Pains and movie series Left Behind, which I always thought was a Christian show about turning the other cheek), together with his friend Ray Comfort, have been dissing Charles Darwin lately. They have a bunch of stuff on Youtube, an ongoing battle with Richard Dawkins, and recently they released a very funny bit called the Atheist’s Nightmare. Click on the link and check it out, it really is pretty funny.

Well, I’m afraid the humour was lost on Richard Dawkins and his friends (surprise, surprise), and now they are calling Comfort “Banana Man”, and spending their time teaching the actual history of the development of the banana. Interesting, but dumb.

Now, if you’re one of those who didn’t get that this is a joke, don’t feel too bad; it took me a while too. So much of the “serious” Creationist stuff is so ridiculous that it’s hard to pick out the jokes. In fact, if you’ll click on the link, Richard Dawkins’ Nightmare, Comfort, himself, admits that you really need a laugh-track to tell when a Creationist is joking.

Look here fellas – Creationists and Evolutionists alike – JUST SETTLE DOWN!!! It’s only fun till somebody loses an eye. And use your indoor voices. Some of us are trying to think.

The Bible says that God created the heavens and the earth; that’s everything, folks. But it doesn’t really say much about how he did it. It’s fun to speculate about the “how” questions, but it’s just speculation. And the “specs” keep changing.

For a while the earth was on the back of a turtle, then it was floating in water, then it was fastened to whatever, with everything going around it, now it’s fastened to nothing, with everything going around everything. People have always had theories (the dreams that stuff is made of) but they’re theories, just theories.

And here’s my theoretical contribution:

On the eighth day God got tired of resting,

so he created Evolutionists and Creationists.

Evolutionists to test our faith;

Creationists to try our patience.

THE FIRST FULL MOON OF SPRING

In recent years I have become an early riser, almost always up by 6 o’clock, and usually by 5. These morning hours have become my favourite of the day. Suzanne is the comparative night-owl now, so the apartment’s quiet in the morning. I can pray and write and think.

This morning I got up at 5 o’clock and did something that I haven’t done for many months. I took my cup of coffee and went out on the balcony, nine stories above the city streets. Still dark and quiet for another hour or so. Still cool. And what a moon! Full and bright, hanging like a batless bat-signal in the western sky just beyond the next apartment buildings. “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky”, God said, “to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years.” (Genesis 1:14) This batless-signal is there to tell us something, for this is the first full moon of spring.

Last night the Jewish side of the family was celebrating the first day of Passover, as we have for 4000 years, beginning at the first full moon of spring. – This evening Suzanne and I will lead a Passover meal at our little church on the U of A campus. – And next Sunday, the first Sunday following the first full moon of spring, we will be celebrating Easter, as we on the Christian side of the family have done for 2000 years. We will be celebrating the resurrection of the one we believe is the Messiah for both sides of the family and for all the world, while the Jewish side remains doubtful to say the least.

This is, of course, one of the great ironies of faith. But in these latter years I’ve grown to love more than the early hours of the day. I love spring, and the first full moon thereof, along with Passover, Easter and all the rest. And I love the comedy and tragedy, the story and the poetry, the symmetry and irony that tie it all together.

Did you know that March 14th is Pi Day?

Most people probably don’t know this, but the mathematical constant that describes the relationship between the diameter of a circle and its circumference is Pi, representing approximately 3.14 (actually 3.14159265358979323 etc., etc. forever). This means that the circumference of any circle is within an infinitesimal smidgen of its diameter multiplied by 3.14. Of course many of you are inwardly protesting “I KNEW THAT!!!”, and you probably did. We all “knew” that. But lately I am becoming increasingly aware of the difference between knewing and knowing. Which is, of course, why we have Pi Day. Today, and for the next few weeks, we’ll all know what we once knew about Pi. Over the next year, of course, we’ll come to knew it again, and then next March 14 (3/14) we will all know it again for a while. Education is a wonderful, if fragile, thing.

But now here’s something I’ll bet most of you don’t know, and never knew. Albert Einstein was born on March 14, Pi Day. Of course the only thing that makes this interesting is that he was a mathematician and Pi is mathematics. He doesn’t really have any more to do with Pi than you or I but, like most coincidences, it all happens in your head.

Some people say there is no such thing as a coincidence, implying that there is an unseen mind behind all of the “coincidences” they observe. And they actually have a point. Many, if not most coincidences are simply illusions, tricks of the mind. And the mind behind them is your own.

So “Happy Pi-day!” to all, and “Happy Birthday!” Albert Einstein, wherever you are. And I trust that isn’t cake beneath all those candles.