Church along our walk in Cabbagetown,
a neighborhood of Atlanta.
“In
your dreams,” you might be saying in response to this post’s title. And that’s
exactly where I found it: in my dreams.
The
morning I write this I awoke from a warm and friendly dream of being “courted”
by a small but vibrant congregation who wanted me as their pastor.
Many
of the churches I have been a part of throughout my life, either as member or
minister, have been troubled. Three challenging congregations “in transition”
as they say, had attributes that made me love them, but to counter their darker
sides with humor, I associated them, more or less privately, with classic films
or a television series.
In
one I saw parallels to director George Cukor’s 1939 comedy-drama, The Women, based on a Clare Boothe play—a
film filled with gossip, rivalries, jealousies, sniping, betrayals, as well as
fierce loyalties.
Serving
a congregation in which I followed an extremely popular pastor, I felt like the
second and less attractive and stylish and poised wife of Laurence Olivier in
Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940),
Daphne du Maurier’s Gothic tale, replete with mystery, dark secrets, homoerotic
longings, and nostalgia for a lost grand past.
Another
church was so full of surprises that I saw a parallel to a TV series I was
watching at the time, 24 (starring
Kiefer Sutherland), a series with continual twists and turns and
revelations. As with the series, each
week in this congregation I’d be amazed and disturbed, and say, “I didn’t see
that coming.”
I
have been a guest speaker for a number of congregations that seemed, on a
visit, welcoming and healthy. Though churches put on their best face for
visitors, I usually can discern trouble by speaking with a congregation’s
leaders and members, or the hosts who have welcomed me to stay in their homes.
So healthy and happy congregations are out there.
It
was this kind of congregation I dreamed about. Granted, it may have been my
brain attempting to balance the very negative dream the night before about a
presbytery meeting gone awry and vicious!
On
further reflection, however, I realized the dream was not just a wish but a
reality. That week I’d received a number of positive responses to this blog,
whose readership is the largest congregation I’ve ever served!
And
there are no board meetings, no committees, no commute, little overhead, no
buildings or plans to build one, no bills, no pledge drive, no dress code, no
conflict among members, no begging for volunteers—the list goes on and benefits
both you and me. (Of course it also means this ministry realizes very little
income—apparently those things are what churchgoers are paying for!)
Without
complaint, I can get political, critique or reinterpret Christian tenets,
explore other religions, read and talk about spirituality and the contemplative
life (you’d be surprised how many churchgoers don’t like that!), and be as
queer as I choose to be—not to say I don’t wonder “was it something I said?”
that prompts someone to “unsubscribe” or attendance to go down. You, the
reader, always have the option to skip or delete, read or respond or share my
thoughts.
I
miss face-to-face encounters, but sometimes e-mail exchanges are more intimate
and profound and informative than the usual chit-chat during coffee hour, and
they come from all over the world. And I supplement this blog community—as I
hope that you do—with other people, communities, causes, and conversations.
A
good thing about calling this “Progressive Christian Reflections” is that I can
be as progressive as I want to be, as Christian as I am, and offer my
reflections to you in the hopes they spark your own. And I am grateful I can do
this under the auspices of MCC, Metropolitan Community Churches, as one of the
denomination’s Emerging Ministries.
So,
no wonder it’s a dream job. Thanks for reading!
Please support this blog
ministry:
Be sure to scroll down
to the donate link below its description.
Or mail to MCC, P.O. Box 50488, Sarasota FL 34232 USA, designating
“Progressive Christian Reflections” in the memo area of your check or money
order. Thank you!
Copyright © 2017 by Chris R. Glaser.
Permission granted for non-profit use with attribution of author and blogsite.
Other rights reserved.
Love this one Chris!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marc! Seems like a lot of people did--1400+ visitors so far, not counting 600 subscribers! Especially appreciative comments coming from clergy, as you might guess.
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