welcome, rubberneckers
(establishing the west)


considering all the noise i've made here over the last several years, i guess this little blog effort would ring a pinch insincere if i didn't, at the very least, comment on the events of this morning.

for those non-huffman members (or those not in attendance today) patronizing the joint, the short version is this. the official announcement was made from the pulpit during worship that humc would be receiving a new appointment come june.

yeah, so?

yeah. that's fair. the story of a new appointment in the itinerant system that is the united methodist church isn't the story. far from it. the story, of course, is how we reached this day. those of you that have been around a while are aware of some of the peripheral mess that happened back in the fall of 2008. if you aren't from around here, you can find what i am talking about if you'd like. if you'd rather not waste your time, can't says i blame you. that's old news now.

we need something fresh. we need something juicy.

well, i hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you've come to the wrong place. listen, this much is true. i've made it perfectly clear that i have a serious distaste for the manipulation of the worship service into something that isn't about being there for worship. i get the temptation. the necessary feel for it to begin like a business meeting and then transform magically into worship. sunday morning will be the largest gathering of your membership every week. it makes logical sense that you'd feel like you need to make every possible announcement about the goings-on of the coming week sometime during the service so the most people possible are in the know. there are last minute things that come up. something needs emphasis and we forgot to bold the font in the bulletin. a last minute prayer request needs to be added. the church van needs gas. ok. we get it. i get it. let's move on. oh, and by the way, 95 percent of these announcements are also printed in front of you. a percentage close to that, if not more, you've already had the opportunity to read in the weekly mailout and on the website. pardon us, but we are going to treat you like you are actually listening right now. i digress. i really do understand the announcements portion of the program. it's the way we and every church have rolled forever. we'll all hunker down and "prepare our hearts for worship" while we are digesting 18 pieces of information together.

the show-stealers, though, come when someone is asked to or takes it upon themself to "announce" something after our hearts are prepared. past favorites have included "sing louder" or "it's not you, it's me" and things of that ilk. things that seem to dumb down the proceedings to the point where having "faith like a child" feels like an insult. any announcement concerning a personnel matter also fits in this category.

again, i get it. the tradition and routine of it all makes it feel right. here is information there is a good chance you are aware of already. if you're not? well, surprise!!! try getting your head on straight after that and feeling as though you've worshipped as you're headed to lunch. but the better chance is that you've heard it already from someone even though you're not "supposed" to have and the result feels like a ceremony. ceremonies can go one of two ways. good or bad. think of every wedding you've ever been to. there is no middle ground. you either loved it because it reminded you of yours or the one in your dreams or you hated it because "it felt too baptist" or something like that. i've never driven away from a wedding thinking, "eh. that was fine." weddings are polarizing for all involved. most proper ceremonies are.

so, this morning we had a ceremony. we announced that one pastor would be leaving and another one would be coming.

woohoo!

or boo!

or sob!

or "wait, weren't we about to responsively read a psalm? what the hell just happened?"

we had a cermony and i hated it. big surprise, right? now, read me correctly. i didn't hate the messenger. i didn't hate the pastor. i hated that it came in the middle of a worship service. and i hated that it felt necessary to disclaim that the message today was about god and not about the proxy. faith like a child, right?

the fact of this morning's passing of the torch was that the announcement didn't matter. at least, not in the context of a worship service. if it did, the above disclaimer would have never needed to be made. the "decision" (if you focus on any part of the commentary this morning, please focus on that word) wasn't made this morning. it wasn't last minute. it was premeditated and cathartic for someone i hope and a little bit selfish in my eyes.

selfish? hello, pot! my name is kettle.

exactly. my point exactly.

um, what?

nevermind. it was what it was always going to be. awkward and sad. for everyone.

as the congregation continues traveling towards our new age of enlightenment, this morning will not be the catalyst that history judges as the turning point. maybe this morning, we merely hit the refresh button and some scabs were torn off and some old, hurt feelings were remembered. maybe this morning, we began to understand the scope of the effort that still lies ahead, because the cold, hard facts are these. there are many of our members that left because they didn't like the senior pastor.

hey, that sounds familiar.

there may be more that leave because they did like this senior pastor and blame others for his no longer being a viable option for us.

hey, that does too!

again, none of that matters. here's what matters. we need good and accurate information to base our decisions on. we need more bible study. we need good attitudes. we need good and honest behavior. we need to be able to make eye contact. we need fewer secrets. fewer dramas. fewer people that think they know what's up and more people that will admit that they have no freaking clue but are willing to work on something good together. we need to follow through on our commitments. we need to decide we if are really interested in the church. we need to allow the prodigal daycare back into our arms for real and not just celebrate it when sarah tells you something good happened. we need good effort. we need more practice. we need more opinions. we need to listen. we need to stop acting like babies. we need nevermore to feel like anonymous is the best option. we need to invite somebody to church. we need to come to a softball game. we need to enjoy each other. we need to come on rainy days. we need to start talking less and loving more. we need to be a church. a methodist church. with small groups and everything.

chris, i wish you and your family well. sorry things didn't work out. good luck.

harris, you have no idea what you are getting into.

and i mean that in the best way possible.