Old South Spring 2007 Reporter: articles, stories, life, Old

On January 4, 2007 Quinn Caldwell and I both participated in the Interfaith Prayer Service on the morning of the Inauguration of Deval Patrick as the new Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As many of you know, the service was held in the Old South Meeting House: our former home, our ancestral home.

Gathered to pray for a new administration were Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, American Indian, Mormon, Christian Scientist, Unitarian and Orthodox. We were Protestant and Catholic, evangelical and progressive, black, white, yellow, red and brown, gay and straight.

Gathered in that space was one Cardinal, a handful of bishops, a district superintendent, a Conference Minister, a denominational president, an American Indian chief, several monks, two nuns, two Rabbis, one Imam, one Reverend Professor, one First Reader, one Metropolitan and a slew of garden variety clergy, pedestrian clergy … including Quinn Caldwell and yours truly.

Donned in our finest clerical regalia, we were a colorful sight: feathers, miters, scull caps, turbans, stoles, cassocks, albs, surpluses, Geneva gowns. We were a colorful lot. I am happy to report, we were very well-behaved.

If you had been there you would have experienced a quite wonderful, colorful expression of interfaith congeniality.

We do, however, know of at least one religious leader – an evangelical Christian – who declined to participate because he refused to share the podium with “pagans and heathen.”

As one of the organizers of the service I participated in the discussions and compromises we had arrived at during the planning phase. The first compromise was this: We agreed to present a sort of universalist religiosity, a spiritual experience devoid of specific religious expression. In other words, Mohammed wasn’t invited to this service … but neither were Jesus, the Buddha, Joseph Smith or Mary Baker Eddy. We didn’t read from the Bible, the Koran, the Book of Mormon or Science and Health. Instead, we crafted a homogenized, inoffensive, non-parochial, universalist service. Don’t get me wrong. It was a thing of beauty and of meaning.

The second compromise was this: we agreed to script the entire service. Why? First, in order to limit the potential for offense or hurt feelings … and, second, to guard against the possibility, however unlikely, of one or more clerics talking for longer than the time each had been allotted

Finally, just before the service began, all the participants were instructed – in the nicest possible way – to stick to the script and not to ad lib.

I suppose it was inevitable that at least one religious leader would go off script. It happened to have been the Muslim. It came his turn to go to the microphone and read his portion of an assigned prayer. He dutifully read the prayer that had been assigned him but then, without permission he went off script. He said he had something additional to read. He slipped his hand into the folds of his robe. I glanced at the guards stationed strategically around the Meeting House and could feel them tense. From his robe the Muslim pulled out a wrinkled, folded piece of lined paper. He placed the paper on the lectern and smoothed it out and proceeded to read.

It turns out that he had a burning need to read from the Holy Koran. Which he did… he mentioned Mohammad and he mentioned Allah. With that – with his own personal mission accomplished – he folded up his paper and returned to his seat.

His was the only breech in an otherwise well-behaved and respectful gathering of religious leaders. It was a remarkable and wonderful service. We were all there to prayer for a new administration, to wish our elected officials well, to support them in a difficult job, to bless and pray for their families, and to give expression for our common hopes for this Commonwealth. Most of us were also very pleased to participate in such a religiously diverse event.

But it was at the moment that the Muslim went off script and named Mohammed and Allah that I imagined a pantheon of religious heavyweights looking down on our little service. I imagined Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, Mohammad, Jesus, the Buddha, St. Peter, Martin Luther, John Robinson and others. What were they thinking? Were they pleased, amused, appalled?

On January 21st, all across this country, Christian churches celebrated Ecumenical Sunday. The task of ecumenism is as old as the church, but the modern, formal celebration of Ecumenical Sunday is nearly 100 years old. We honor Ecumenical Sunday because ecumenism is important and hard work.

Indeed, ecumenism is delicate, diplomatic, humbling work. It is particularly hard work – tricky work – when distinct religious traditions each claim to be the true church or the true faith.

The planners of the Interfaith Prayer Service on January 4th attempted to deflect this tendency to the claims of truth by promoting, what I like to think, was a deft and delicate ambiguity. By employing generic religious language we hoped to permit the representatives of different traditions to, in effect, translate the generic into their own specific … without getting in each other’s faces. For the most part, this worked very well.

There is another method, however, that can be employed when contesting religions come together in the same room … that is, when the true church (all of them) and the true faith (all of them) are so near as to be able to see the whites of each others eyes.

That is a technique favored by Greater Boston Interfaith Organization … an organization we honored with the 2006 Christenson Award. GBIO actually encourages representatives of different religious traditions to stand firmly, authentically, clearly, even loudly and colorfully within their own tradition.

So, if you attend a GBIO Delegate Assembly, for example, Mary Baker Eddy might well be invoked, and Mohammad and Allah and Joseph Smith and Jesus. Remarkably, they all seem to co-exist peacefully and respectfully. And more than that: GBIO delegates actually delight in such diversity. We delight in expressions of religious pluralism.

GBIO can get away with this for two reasons. First, GBIO requires religious leaders to spend one-on-one time together. To participate in GBIO one has to agree to spend time and effort in getting to know others, breaking through stereotypes, learning from each other. Second, GBIO is just not concerned with religious claims to truth … but rather with the work of justice. Nothing focuses the mind, the heart and the soul like the work of justice … which, as it turns out, has a more compelling claim on us than the “truthiness” of our own traditions.

Obviously, this was not a strategy available to the organizers of the Interfaith Prayer Service. That was a one-off event.

In his letter to the Corinthian Christians, St. Paul employs an analogy in which he compares the human body to the church. In the ancient Greco-Roman world, the comparison between the body and human society was a rhetorical commonplace. Paul did not invent it. He did, however, subvert it.

You see, in the ancient world the analogy was often used to keep members of the lower classes in their place. The argument went something like this: the body, like human society, is dependant upon an inherent, naturally occurring, hierarchical structure. There are leaders and followers, superiors and inferiors, those who are greater and those who are lesser. The equilibrium of the various parts must be maintained for good order.

In other words: stay in your place!

Paul takes the same analogy and turns it on its head. He recognizes the diversity in the body but also the necessary and beneficial interdependence of the parts. Paul urges the superior members to value the contributions and importance of the so-called inferior members. He claims that all the parts are indispensable and the whole is more and better than the sum of the parts. He claims we cannot manage without each other.

I propose that Paul’s subverted metaphor can also work for this new religiously pluralistic world in which we find ourselves. I propose that it is possible, just possible, that no one of our individual religious expressions captures the whole of God or, on its own, is in possession of the whole Truth. Perhaps we are better and stronger, more faithful and more beautiful when we are working together. Perhaps religious pluralism delights our God. Perhaps God finds difference and distinctiveness beautiful.

As I sat in the Old South Meeting House the morning of January 4th and beheld this radically diverse interfaith service – and looked out upon a multi-colored congregation – I imagined that God looked with favor upon us. I like to imagine that God delighted in the profusion of religious and spiritual expression. I imagine that from the vantage of heaven, we looked like a meadow abloom with an unruly riot of colors. I imagine we appeared chaotic but lovely, wild and yet wonderful.

And you … what do you imagine? +

Casa Myrna Vazquez
Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary
by Evan H. Shu

What can a vision and a single seed of advocacy grow in 30 years? One shining example is Casa Myrna Vazquez, which is now New England’s largest organization and provider for services dedicated to ending domestic violence in the lives of women and children. It is Boston based and is proud of its multicultural, multilingual and multiracial leadership and organization.

“What began in 1977 as a single shelter accommodating eight families,” states Casa Myrna Vazquez’s official history, “has grown into New England’s foremost provider of shelter and comprehensive services to abused women and their children, operating the 24/7 statewide domestic violence hotline SafeLink (877-785-2020), emergency shelters and transitional living houses. The agency’s range of programs includes legal advocacy services, mental health counseling, children’s services, housing search assistance and advocacy, a peer-led teen dating violence prevention program and community outreach and training on the issue of domestic violence. Guided by a vision to build a world free of domestic violence in which families and communities are healthy and safe, the work of Casa Myrna Vazquez seeks to help women and children affected by domestic violence build healthy, hopeful futures free of abuse.” (from <www.casamyrna.org>).

Back in the beginning before the beginning, to tell us some of the story behind that first single seed of advocacy is Old South member, Rev. Elizabeth (Liz) Rice-Smith who, as a minister then working at the Church of the Covenant on its Urban Ministry Team back in the mid-seventies, was always working with others to find people, allies, and volunteers, along with sources of funding to make such a shelter happen — then to establish it, and finally keep it going! First, she started within the then tiny Covenant congregation and next expanded to groups of people in the South End (where she had established community ties by previously running a pre-school, after-school, and parenting program at the Ellis Memorial Settlement House before going on to Harvard Divinity School). Liz describes that first diverse group of people as “women and men, Latino/Latina, African American, West Indian, Cape Verdean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Native American, Caucasian/ethnic.” She is always careful to deflect credit from herself as one of the founding organizers, citing the hard work of the many, many supporters who allowed Casa Myrna Vazquez to become the multi-cultural, multi-lingual, and multi-racial organization that it is. “It is truly a miracle of the Holy Spirit’s advocacy,” Liz said, not that of any one person.

A formal organization emerged out of the united concerns of this group about the destructiveness of violence within families and within their own neighborhoods. Incorporated in 1976 and buying its first shelter soon after, the group took its name and was inspired by the legacy of Myrna Vazquez, a noted Puerto Rican actress and local community activist who made her home in Boston until her untimely death at the age of forty. She inspired this group’s efforts to address domestic violence and some two years after her death, to honor Myrna Vazquez’s own efforts at community advocacy, the doors opened on Casa Myrna Vazquez (CMV), a life-saving refuge for low-income urban women.

Today, 30 years later, as the region’s largest organization and provider for services dedicated to ending domestic violence, the CMV organization estimates that more than 11,000 women and children have received residential and community-based services and some 120,000 callers have been assisted through their hotline. They state that “every day, more than 100 women and children find shelter and safety in the programs at Casa Myrna Vazquez; more than 60% of those served are children.”

Getting the organization going in those early years was no picnic. Liz recalls, “It was very, very hard. Endless hearings. Changing laws, dealing with such danger. Lots of opposition . . . One of our shelters was arsoned and burned to ruin.” But still the group persevered. Liz cites the involvement and support of “our UCC congregations in the MBA (and other Associations, too), several key Baptist congregations, Trinity Church, Emmanuel Church, Cathedral of St. Paul, the Cathedral in the South End, St. Stephen’s Church (South End), the Convent of the Sacred Heart (Casa del Sol), Iglesia de Liberacion - UCC as key. “Casa Myrna Vazquez is truly a ‘first’ to which the UCC can lay shared claim,” says Liz, “The contributions of so many congregations have been — to quote the MasterCard line — ‘priceless’ even now that CMV, Inc. is a 2 1/2 million dollar agency.”

As for her part, Liz adds that “all of us clergy on the Urban Ministry Team at Church of the Covenant were ‘part timers’ back then and had ‘another ministry’ in addition to the work we were doing to rebuild and revitalizing the ministry of that congregation in the early 70s, when there were only 30 members of that congregation. So we were paid very little for our work there and all had other work to supplement our income and carry out God’s work!” Liz devoted 22 years of her ministry directly involved with the CMV organization and now over the last ten years has continued to do a lot of advocacy for the organization.

CMV broke a lot of new ground and paved the way for similar organizations to follow in those first decades. Liz noted “lots of ‘firsts’ for CMV — the first to get Department of Public Welfare Money, to get United Way Money, to get Department of Social Services money, the first to get federal money, designed the first federally funded grant to link ptsd and addiction with risk of teenaged mothers and battering, the first funded grant (and trained all the other sheltering organizations) for the Massachusetts Coalition of Battered Women’s Service Providers (now called the Jane Doe Coalition) on how to do program development and raise money.” (Also see the list of CMV's significant achievements on page 5.)

“While direct services to women and children are its cornerstone,” states the organization’s website, “Casa Myrna Vazquez is also an organization moving “beyond shelter” to create a broad response to domestic violence that includes increasing community understanding of domestic violence; creating community links for battered women; educating law enforcement, health care and human service providers; participating in the public policy process; and increasing awareness of its supportive services through outreach and training.”

The power of a single seed of advocacy, cultivated by the support and hard work of many people of all cultures and races, and nurtured by the holy spirit is truly a wonder to behold. “There is not a day, not a single day,” concluded Liz, “when I don’t thank God for the winds and justice of the Spirit which fueled the establishment and continuing effectiveness of Casa Myrna Vazquez! I do consider that work a total miracle.”

An Interview with Don Wells,
   retiring Exec. Director
   of the Massachusetts
   Bible Society
   by Michael Fiorentino

Q: When did you first enter into the ministry and was there any specific event either in your own life or in the world that led you to become a minister?

A: I was ordained in 1964 at Pilgrim Congregational Church, Cambridge. It was my first parish. I was also working on my Ph.D. in American Church History at Boston University. My call to ministry was a gradual process. There is a wonderful phrase that we now often use. It speaks of vocation as the intersection of your greatest passion with the world’s greatest need. It was along those lines that my call to ministry took place. The Cambridge-port area was a wonderful place, filled with rich opportunities for service, to have that call to ministry confirmed.

Q: How did you become director of the Massachusetts Bible Society?

A: I was the Senior Minister of a multi-staff UCC church in Melrose, just north of Boston. I had been there for some eight years and in parish ministry for over 20 years. I felt that the next step for me was to use my talents in a wider sphere, one that had a strong ecumenical framework from which I could be of service to individuals as well as to churches. The opening at the Massachusetts Bible Society (MBS) provided the right opportunity. It would allow me to plan programs and lectureships around issues of biblical literacy and biblical justice that both clergy and lay people could benefit from.

There was also the issue of the Bible being captured by the religious right and with the equally devastating fact that the religious left generally ignored it. I believed that MBS could lead the way in providing a progressive voice that could speak to the biblical issues of inclusion and justice. I feel blessed to have served as Executive Director for some 19 years. Our programs have given permission to many people and many church communities to think more honestly and creatively about the Bible and the themes of justice and reconciliation that runs through it.

Q: I’ve always admired your eloquence at the pulpit and your fervent commitment to justice, equality and equity. How have you used these talents during your
time with the MBS?

A: With the support of a wonderful Board of Trustees, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, we have helped to open up the conversation on the nature and use of the Bible. The Bible is not only a source for personal devotion but a vibrant and compelling call to God’s justice. The prophets and the Jesus movement speak of God’s inclusive kingdom (realm) where the radicality of God’s embrace is manifest. Once you start to get a handle on that, then the inequalities and injustices in our world become much more obvious. Those issues include such things as gender equality, global warming, prison reform, equitable taxation, healthcare for all, and the need to move away from violence and revenge in the solving of conflicts. So if you view the Bible primarily in personal terms you can actually miss the Bible’s broad and compelling themes.

Q: How have you (and how do you suggest we) respond to fundamentalists that feel it is blasphemy for us to analyse and question the Bible instead of simply taking it literally?

A: People are afraid and when you are afraid, you look to something firm and secure. Some look to strong leaders to whom they can give unswerving allegiance, while others look to an infallible book. The issue, at least at times, is not to argue about the Bible but rather to address the matter of fear. Our hope is in God as rock and fortress. The Bible helps point to that God. The Bible, itself, is not God. There are certainly many different understandings of God. I tend to like the statement of theologian Paul Tillich who described God as ‘the ground of our being.’ But however one perceives God, God is the One who gives life and strength even when life is fraught with pain, suffering and death. Our biblical forebearers can be of great help in the journey. So when you approach the difficulties of fundamentalism, it is sometimes best to reframe the issue and to begin to address the fears people have which often move them toward absolutes such as the infallibility of the Bible.

Q: Which of your many responsibilities have you most enjoyed during your ministry (inside and/or outside MBS)? Conversely, what have you found the
most challenging?

A: The thing that I have enjoyed most about MBS is helping to open up the texts of faith to multiple readings. For too long a ‘dominant reading’ of the text has been accepted; take it or leave it. But the texts themselves are multi-layered, some having been edited over long periods of time. We have four Gospels who sometimes include the same stories but with a different angle and who sometimes contradict each other! I think we have a long way to go on the issue of biblical literacy.

In our lectureships and study groups we have also opened up the texts to current multiple voices: Womanist, feminist, 2/3rds world (i.e. voices outside the highly developed, or 1st world nations); all those whose voices have not always been heard or, if heard, not taken seriously. The Bible belongs to the whole people of God, not just a select few. There is a richness that comes when many voices are heard. In fact, we often hear the voice of God when we listen to the voices of others. MBS has helped in this process of opening up the texts. I am very happy for that.

Q: You and Betsy would be welcome additions to any church. How did you folks choose Old South?

A: After our last parish, we knew that we wanted to affiliate with an urban church. Old South, known for its preaching, outreach ministries and music, was our choice as a place to be when I was not preaching or visiting other churches as part of my ministry at MBS. It has also been very nice to sit in a pew with Betsy and to share a hymnal, rather than always being up in the pulpit!

Q: Have you made any specific plans for your retirement or will you take it “one day at a time?”

A: The future will emerge. To use our UCC phrase, ‘God Is Still Speaking.’ I like the Rev. Charles (Chuck) Harper’s phrase (our former UCC area minister): retirement is re-engagement. Betsy and I will now have more time together. I also have a couple of writing projects to attend to and will do speaking and preaching throughout Massachusetts and New England. I will continue to be a voice for progressive Christianity, a grass roots movement emerging across the United States, encompassing both Protestants and Roman Catholics, whose faith communities strive to work on some of the issues of biblical justice and reconciliation I have already commented on. Indeed, it will be a time for ‘re-engagement.’

Q: Anything else that you’d like to share ?

A: I don’t think that many in our OSC family know that the Trustees of MBS have named a preaching prize after me. It will be awarded annually to two students (a first and second prize), from any of the nine theological schools that are part of the Boston Theological Institute, who prepare the best sermons on a biblical text that lifts up social justice themes. I am thrilled that this prize, with a nice check to go with it, will be an ongoing encouragement for good preaching in the years ahead.

For more about Don Wells' retirement after 19 years of outstanding accomplishments at the
Mass. Bible Society, please see the Winter 2007 issue of Comment Online at <www.massbible.org>.+

This past Lent, Old South Church embarked on a different kind of visioning process that utilized the discipline of Spiritual Discernment. Although an ages-old process, it was quite new to Old South Church and required new “rules of engagement.” As a way of introducing these new guiding principles, the Discernment & Vision Process Steering Committee performed the following light-hearted skit that helped make its key points.

Giving of the 6 Discernment Commandments
(with apologies to the author of Deuteronomy 5)
by Quinn Caldwell

The Muse and Steering Committee standing on stage like a Greek chorus.“Person at Table” sits at one of the front two tables. The Greek chorus speaks in unison, very loudly, clearly, and slowly so all can hear!

The Muse: And the Discernment Steering Committee called all Old South together, and said unto them: (hands the Bible to the steering committee)

Steering Chorus: Hear, O Old South, the statutes and judgments which we speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us on the mountain. The Church Council made a charge to us in October. And the Lord spoke to us and gave us commandments to order our discernment, and furthermore—

Person at Table: (interrupting) But why all these rules?

Steering Chorus: Because the Lord our God did covenant with us to—

Person at Table: (interrupting again) But we don’t need rules! We already know how to have a conversation! And what are you holding that Bible for, anyway?

Steering Chorus: Because—

Person at Table: (interrupting again) Is that one of those “talking stick” things? Where nobody’s allowed to speak unless they’re holding it? Those are a great idea; they keep people from interrupting. We hate it when people interrupt!

The Muse: And God spake unto the people, and said:

All: Thou shalt speak only when thou hast the Bible and thou shalt not interrupt.

Steering Chorus: (from here on out, we pass the Bible each time we speak.) Behold, O Old South, the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with humans, and he liveth!

Person at Table: What did you say? Oh, nevermind. You know, while you guys were talking just now, we were thinking. What if God doesn’t show up at our discernment process? Are we even sure we can hear God’s voice?

Steering Chorus: Behold, we have seen this day that God doth talk with humans, and he liveth!

Person at Table: What? Oh, nevermind. So, we were just thinking about something over here. Do you guys think God talks with humans?

The Muse: And God spake unto the people, and said:

All: Thou shalt not formulate thy thoughts while another is speaking.

Steering Chorus: And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness (for the mountain did burn with fire) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes and your elders.

Person at Table: We did not! What a dumb thing to say! We’ve never been near a burning mountain in our lives. How can a mountain burn, anyway? Seriously; it’s made of stone. Let’s discuss this…

The Muse: And God spake unto the people, and said:

All: Thou shalt not respond to or challenge what others say, and thou SHALT speak only into the center. This is not a discussion.

Steering Chorus: And the Lord heard the voice of your words, when ye spake, and the Lord said, “I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken.” So do now let us hear the words of our brethren and sistren even as does God!

Person at Table: We’d like to do some theology here, please. We’re not sure that it’s possible for us to hear each other in the way God does. If we’re humans and God is God, can we ever hope to hear as God does, and if we CAN hear as God does, doesn’t that make us God? Furthermore, we believe—and there are many others in our church who agree with us, though we can’t tell you their names—that it is just wrong to say we can hear as God does, and we call for a task force to examine in depth your theoretical juxtaposition of God and human. Theoretically.

The Muse: And God spake unto the people, and said:

All: Thou shalt speak only for thyself and shall refer only to thine own experiences, thoughts and feelings.

Steering Chorus: These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness.

Person at Table: That’s right! Because that’s how you know it’s God: when it’s real loud and there’s fire and everything. God never comes quietly . . . and certainly not in silence!

The Muse: And God spake unto the people, and said:

All: Thou shalt listen to the group as a whole — to those who have not spoken as well as to those who have.

Person at Table: OK, OK. Fair enough. We get it. We’ll behave. . . . So, we have the Bible now.
We’re not interrupting. . . We didn’t formulate this thought while you were talking. . . We’re not responding to or contradicting you. . . .We’re going to speak from our own experience, and listen to the whole group—AFTER we present our plan, which is . . .

...Old South Church should build a swimming pool in the basement because we need lots more kids and kids today like to swim. . . Also, we can freeze it in the winter and have ice skating. . . And since nobody likes old-fashioned music any more, we should tear out the organ and just use a CD player. Anybody who can’t see THAT is a fool. . . . Finally, it is obvious that the pews need to be painted purple. . . . Also, the Red Sox are the best best best baseball team EVER. Go Sox!

The Muse: And God spake unto the people, and said:

All: Thou shalt hold thy desires, opinions and
convictions lightly.

Steering Chorus: Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left, that ye might listen to one another well and deeply, and that the Holy Spirit might have room to enter your discussions, and so that it may be well with you. Amen and amen.

Here are a few of the questions that the Old South Visioning and Spiritual Discernment process took up over the course of five weeks.

* Think of a story or incident to illustrate what effect, if any, Old South has had on your life & faith.

* What is God calling Old South to do to support its members to become more faithful Christians?

* What is your favorite part of the story of Good News that Old South has to share?

* Which of the challenges and opportunities could have the most important impact on our public voice?

* Through what means and to whom is God calling Old South Church to share the Good News of Jesus Christ in our own authentic voice?

* When you think about Old South’s identity and mission, what words, phrases or stories come to mind? What challenges or opportunities could have the most impact on our identity and mission?

* Who, what and where is God calling Old South to be by our 350th Anniversary in 2019?

* Of all that happens in and from this building, what do you believe most delights God’s heart? What most delights your heart?

* Which of the challenges and opportunites could have the most impact on our stewardship of the two institutions (ecclesiastical and historic) for which we are responsible?

* Given the gifts and blessings of these gifts and location, what is God calling us to do? +

At the Discernment Summit on March 25th, this "System Map" of Old South Church was presented. Please go to www.oldsouth.org/discernment.htm to see and hear the presentation and look for more feedback in coming months

OSC Welcoming Ministry of
Hospitality & Membership:
Where does the Story Begin?

by Liz Rice-Smith, Co-Chair of Membership

From its earliest years, Old South church has been recognized as a congregation with “wide open doors.” Over the past decade or so, many of us at OSC have felt infused with the help of the Holy Spirit, the good news of the Gospel, and excellent research findings with “good ideas” to extend an ever and even-more welcoming ministry of hospitality and church membership.How has it come to be that, at Old South Church in Boston, we have added an “extravagant welcome” to the warmth of our Sunday greeters, ushers, and refreshments at Fellowship Hour, so familiar over so many decades?

Encouraged by the example of Jesus, our Lord and our Friend, scripture from the Gospel of John tells us that after Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias (John 21: 1-14). In this passage, we learn that not only had Jesus risen from the dead, he was helping his disciples to bring in more fish and feeding them breakfast! We cannot help but wonder how the presence of the risen Lord has found its way to nurture an even more welcoming and friendly Christian community for “new-comers” as well as “old-timers” — for all the friends and members at OSC? How have we sighted the risen Jesus, standing by a fire of burning coals there, with fish on it, and some bread — ready to feed us?!

Some key events in this saga of our OSC Welcoming Ministry of Hospitality and Membership call out to be acknowledged. We want to remember and celebrate this together — especially since so many of us have been involved over the past decade, so many are involved now, and so many will become involved in moments, weeks, months, and years ahead!

Where does the story begin? Like so many stories, there are many genesis-points of entry from wonderfully different points of view.

Perhaps it was during the fall of 1996, when in true “congregational” practice, former OSC pastors Jim Crawford and Rick Chrisman appointed Ron Smith as Chair of a newly re-constituted Membership Committee, a committee of the Deacons that would now include other congregation members as well. This new committee was given a mandate to develop a plan to address church vitality and membership growth. Between fall 1996 and February 1997, the committee worked non-stop and tirelessly, delivering its “OSC Plan for Membership Growth: Recommendations and Time Table” to the Deacons. Senior Deacon John Weingartner led the Deacons through a careful study and began implementation of the report, which enhanced the experiences of both the Deacons and the Membership Committee.

Where does the story begin? Perhaps it was during Sep. 1997, when the Welcome Table (now known as the Visitors Table) was first set up just inside the Boylston St. church doors. Ron Smith and Janice Graves brought a “Guest Book” for the church, which visitors signed, with a column to include addresses and contact information and Janice served there Sunday after Sunday. This early ministry drew the response of a heartened letter from the clergy to the Membership Committee expressing tremendous enthusiasm across the congregation for the Welcome Table. Clearly, there was a hospitality ministry to be mined there!

Where does the story begin? Perhaps it was during that period in 1998 when Name Badges were first being implemented. There had been a previous Name Badge program with a moveable bulletin board used for keeping the badges, but the bulletin board was often “hard to find” and the badges were not widely used. Rev. Rick Chrisman and Ted Parkins (once a Deacon, always a Deacon) enhanced its use with Ted Parkins building and presenting to the congregation our first Badge Board! With pastoral support and encouragement to wear Name Badges during Fellowship Hour, many OSCers started to wear them more regularly. Members of the Membership Committee and the Deacons began to “stand by” the Badge Board, as a anchor for those who wanted a Name Badge and just beginning to get their bearings at OSC. It was unexpected but interesting to note at Fellowship Hour in Gordon Chapel that the new OSC Badge Board was becoming a meeting place for visitors and new-comers to congregate, with Betty and Ron Smith right there, Sunday after Sunday.

Where does the story begin? Perhaps it was during Jan. 1998 when the Rev. Paul Nickerson came to consult with the OSC Membership Committee at their invitation. Serving as Associate Conference Minister staffing the Commission for Evangelism and Congregational Vitality for the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ, Rev. Nickerson addressed with the Membership Committee their concern regarding a number of topics. These included growing church membership, greeting people, gathering contact information about visitors and new-comers, immediate follow up with new-comers, developing relationships with those who begin to attend worship and other events in the life of the congregation and inviting people to become members of OSC, as well as new member follow-up.

One aspect of Rev. Nickerson’s consultation with the Membership Committee that was so important to this team was the recognition from the wider church that what they were working on and hoping to accomplish for OSC was/is important, easy and fun to do, and a meaningful dimension of ministry. This encouragement was both inspiring and edifying to the Board of Ministers and Deacons and to its Membership Committee. One result from the consultation with Rev. Nickerson was the first introduction later during 1998 of the use of Fellowship Pads during worship on Sunday mornings. A report “Evaluation of the Fellowship Pads after One Year” was prepared, dated Jan. 27, 2000, showing the fruits of using the Fellowship Pads and recommending both continuing and expanded use of this resource.

Where does the story begin? Perhaps it was during a period of Mary Hunter’s leadership of the Membership Committee from 1999 - 2002, during which time the Annual OSC New Members Dinner was started, an occasion to which all new members who had joined OSC from any given June to June would come together, share a meal, play “The OSC History Game,” and begin to know one another better. As Senior Deacon, Ely Pierce was supportive and constructive in furthering nurturing these efforts.

Where does the story begin? Perhaps it was during the fall of 2002, when our Associate Minister Rev. Lael Murphy Atkinson championed the first OSC Picture Directory as a project of the Membership Committee. During this period of profound and staggering pastoral transition in the life of OSC, Ron and Betty Smith were appointed by the Deacons to co-chair the Membership Committee, leading in this effort of welcoming ministry and membership at OSC. From 2002 to 2003 with Betty and Ron Smith at the Membership Committee helm, ”Faith Faces Forward” Rev. Carl Schultz came aboard as Interim Senior Minister affirming an intensified effort of welcoming ministry and membership growth. Rev. Shultz and Rev. Jennifer Mills-Knutsen offered clergy staff support to the development of our Welcoming Ministry of Hospitality and Membership. Rev. Shultz encouraged the Membership Committee to engage in a program of study, in which Membership Committee members paired up to read and then present to each other the findings from such varied resources as <www.ucc.org>, <www.churchtoolbox.org/ sharingthree.html>, <www.ucc.org/evangelism/index.html>, Rerouting the Protestant Mainstream by C. Kirk Hadaway & David A. Rozen, Make Your Church More Inviting by Roy Oswald, The Inviting Church by Roy Oswald, More Than Numbers by Lois Mead, In Search of the Unchurched
by Alan Klaas, and Welcome Tools and Techniques for New Member Ministry by Andrew D. Weeks.

Also, early in 2003, the Membership Committee began to regularly host New Member Brunches after church on specific Sundays with the purpose of especially welcoming those who had just entered into the covenant of membership at OSC, easing new members in making friends at OSC.

Where does the story begin? Perhaps between 2003 and 2004, when the Membership Committee began to shape the fruits of its study into a program “Friendship Evangelism: Making Old South Church an Even More Inviting Congregation!” with the goal of developing our ministry of welcome, encouraging everyone at OSC to become more comfortable talking with family, friends, and co-workers about what they really like at church and inviting them to come to worship or to participate in a special event. With leadership and support from our ministers Carl Schultz and Jennifer Mills-Knutsen, the Membership Committee developed an intentional plan for this new intiative to enlist the whole church in making Old South an even more inviting and welcoming congregation. Expecting that this new initiative would reach all members of OSC, Membership Committee members set out in teams to present our program to all standing committees as well as fellowship groups and educational constituencies (including the OSC Church School Convocation) for discussion and participation. Each OSC committee’s input and participation was and is viewed as vital to the long-term success of this new effort. Five Elements were identified as key in a Faith-Sharing Conversation: Listening, Bridging, Permission, Brevity, and Closure.*

When did this story begin? Perhaps it began in 2004 during one of the Membership Committee meetings when Rev. Mills-Knutsen stated to the Membership Committee, “You may not be aware of this, but at this time, you are the only committee at OSC that starts each meeting with greetings to one another, sharing some of who you are and what you care about.This is very important, especially in terms of the Friendship Evangelism efforts you are working to promote as part of your membership efforts.” Marc Gaucher, Kate Silfen, Deacon Peter Boyle, Deacon George Delianides, and Chloe Ford were key in this effort. And in presenting this program of Friendship Evangelism: Keeping Faith with Your Friends to every committee and constituency in the church, the Membership Committee pointed out the importance of several key factors: a) Deepening of Faith is a process; b) Begin with those closest to you; and c) Pray with Constancy.*

Where did this story begin? Perhaps it was during 2003 - 2004, when teams from OSC began to attend MACUCC and MBA-UCC ”God is Still Speaking” events being hosted at congregations and other UCC locations. Interim Assistant Minister Kate Layzer was actively involved in these efforts during 2005, and we began to have increased “God is Still Speaking” sign-sightings: in the Narthex, on placemats during OSC New Member Brunches, just outside the church building — hoisted onto the portico, and on MBTA buses and the subway as well! “Our faith may be 2,000 years old, but our thinking is not,” “You think it’s hard to get up to go to church on Sunday, try rising from the dead!” and of course, “God is Still Speaking!” Bill Adams chimed in with this aspect of the Welcoming Ministry and came aboard the MemberShip Committee with gusto.

Perhaps it was when Dick Yeo, Membership Committee member, began to serve as a resource in leading the committee in a consideration regarding what it means for us to authentically invite newcomers and friends of OSC to become members. What it means for us to engage friends and members more fully in the life of the congregation. And what it means for us to sustain membership. 75 new members every year to stay on course. At least 75 new members.

The Reverend Paul Nickerson returned, once again, to OSC for consultation with the Deacons regarding the development of the Welcoming Ministry at OSC. Ron Smith served then and continues to serve on the MACUCC Commission on Evangelism and Church Vitality and, in 2003, invited Betty Smith and Liz Rice-Smith to join him in attending these meetings to benefit from trainings and consultations offered by the wider church at the UCC Massachusetts Conference Center in Framingham. Later that year, when Betty was anticipating becoming Senior Deacon, she resigned as co-chair of the Membership Committee and appointed me to serve as co-chair of the Membership Committee with Ron.

With Betty’s vision and Membership Committee support, the Deacons invited and launched expanded teams of Greeters, Ushers, Visitors Table Staffers, Hosts/Contributors of food for Fellowship Hour refreshments and hospitality. Fish and bread by the Sea of Tiberias? Counters were recruited to “click” the counter to actually “measure” the numbers Sunday by Sunday.

Where does the story begin? Perhaps it was during the Spring of 2004 when Peter Southwell-Sander, then an Associate Member of OSC, offered a “Bible Study With a Purpose” Sunday morning weekly series, inviting participants to reflect on such passages as “The Parable of the Sower” to deeply consider the challenges, responsibilities, and joys of Christian hospitality right here at OSC. Over the next year and a half, advocating for a new team of “Welcomers” who would actively greet visitors and new-comers — on the sidewalk outside the church, inside the sanctuary before and after worship, and during Fellowship Hour — Peter Southwell-Sander also designed new “signs” which OSC “Welcomers” would wear (in addition to their Name Badges) to indicate that the congregation is expecting visitors and new-comers! That we are ready to welcome them, to worship together and make friends, as well as to invite them to become members. Bill Adams, Rick Norcross, and many others were invited to serve as Welcomers, and this precious ministry persists.

Through the trials of his illness, Peter was unremittingly ebullient in his faithful efforts to “fling wide the gates,” to welcome each and every new-comer, to welcome athletes on Marathon Sunday, to celebrate the success of the Red Sox and the Patriots, and to tenderly welcome each beloved pet at OSC’s first ever "Blessing of the Animals" in May 2006.

With OSC ModeratorJeff Makholm, Peter lovingly designed and built a necessarily larger Badge Board which now hosts each and every OSC Badge — positioned alphabetically for old-timers and new-comers alike to find and to wear during worship, Fellowship Hour, and events in the life of the congregation. This part of our story of the OSC Welcoming Ministry of Hospitality and Membership resounds Sunday by Sunday before church, with the ringing of the OSC bell with new bell wheel built by Moderator Jeff Makholm, installed and dedicated to the Glory of God and Peter’s memory during September 2006 to ring welcome throughout the streets of Boston, well into eternity and beyond.

Where does the story begin? Perhaps it was during 2005, when Senior Deacon Betty Smith convened the group of Hospitality Coordinators to chart out the complex scheduling of the 80 to 100 volunteers who extend the welcoming ministry of OSC each Sunday and through out the week, as well. Quarterly, friends and members of OSC are invited to sign on for specific responsibilities of hospitality. And whenever we need more people to sign up, the Membership Committee gets busy with the phone and e-mail messaging to invite even more friends and members of OSC to climb aboard. Each Sunday when new members join OSC, before the service of worship, the OSC Deacons “vote them in” in response to a motion read by the Membership Committee co-chairs. And as part of their welcome, the new members are warmly invited to a New Members Brunch and to participate in the Ministry of Hospitality, if they aren’t already engaged in these efforts of extravagant welcome.

Where does the story begin? Perhaps it starts when Ted Parkins photographs each and every new member at OSC, just after they are “voted in” by the Deacons. And perhaps it starts when Deacon George Delianides is present with his cameras at just about every OSC event, watching with a keen, humourous, faithful and attentive eye to see what we are seeing when we are seeing it — to see what we are work-ing at or celebrating or pondering in our life together as a congregation! Those photos, those montages — our faces. Our lives together. How generous. How extravagant a wel-come, time after time after time. Faith facing forward. Truly.

And there are those continuing Membership Committee efforts to move forward the hosting of Inquirers Classes and New Member Brunches. And there's the annual festive event to celebrate new members, changing during 2006 from the “Annual New Members Dinner” on a mid-June Wednesday night (started when Mary Hunter was Membership Committee chairperson), to a mid-June “Annual New Members
Luncheon” held Sunday after church.

Where does the story begin? Perhaps it was during 2005 -2006, with Membership Committee duties (by Deacon Peter Boyle, Kate Silfen, Bettina Blake, Ron Smith and Kevin Pitcock) of calling and sending e-mail messages to visitors and newcomers. With Membership Committee duties of meeting one-on-one with new members to begin to know each other better. During the Spring of 2006, with the embracing of the calling and the work of the OSC “Welcomers,” the table and tasks fomerly associated wtih the “Welcome Table” became known as tasks and location of the ‘Visitors Table.” With Membership Committee duties of meeting one-on-one with new members to begin to know each other better.

When does the story begin? Perhaps it was during the Spring and Summer of 2006 when the Membership Committee, undergirded by stalwart Church Administrator Helen McCrady embarked on the second OSC Picture Directory, which was prepared during the fall and has recently been distributed for our use! Or during OSC Inquirers Classes led by our ministers Nancy Taylor and Quinn Caldwell, at which people have “holy conversations” and learn even more about the covenant of membership in the ministry of OSC and the wider church.

Where does the story begin? So often, in our lives of faith, the beginnings and endings of stories entwine in remarkable ways. Perhaps it was during the late fall of 2006, when Ron Smith decided it was time to complete his twelve year tenure as chair, member, and co-chair of the Membership Committee. And Betty Smith, in preparing to complete her three years as Senior Deacon in February 2007, appointed Bill Adams as co-chair of the Membership Committee with Liz Rice-Smith, effective that same month.

This past winter, anticipating his time of “release” from formal Deacon-appointed duties over twelve years as Chair or Co-Chair of the Membership Committee, Ron Smith mused,

“I’ve been very happy that so many people who are leaders in the congregation have been an important part of the work of the Membership Committee in the past. For example, Dwight Crane, who is now a Trustee. Maggie Mode, who chairs our Christian Outreach Committee. Jan Monsma, who chairs the Congregational Care and Support Committee. Evan Shu, our Communications maven! Jim Monsma, our OSC Treasurer. Dick Yeo, heading up the Leadership Committee now. And Kevin Pitcock, continuing to serve on the Membership Committee but also a newly elected Deacon. So many more, but these immediately come to mind. And so many of the former as well as current members of the Membership Committee are involved in our OSC Welcoming Ministry of Hospitality!”

In saying farewell to Ron Smith as Co-Chair of the Membership Committee of the OSC Board of Ministers and Deacons during a special committee meeting on February 26, 2007 in Gordon Library, committee members — past and current, Quinn Caldwell, and Nancy Taylor, all joined together to express our gratitude for years of work which, in many respects, have no beginning and no end. There was singing. There were pictures. There were good stories and best wishes. There was abiding faith. And like those disciples at the Tiberias shore, there was fish and there was bread.

When does the story begin? For each of us, the genesis, the starting point of receiving and extending the welcoming ministry of hospitality and membership is both shared and unique.

When does the story begin for you? At a sacramental moment of sharing bread and cup? Witnessing adult baptism? Hearing the Word? Participating in Bible study? Being welcomed with a wide smile and a warm hand shake on the front steps of OSC? Signing in the Fellowship Pad, “This is my church”? Having a Welcomer make your first stick-on Name Badge with a promise that next week there would be a permanent one for you? Receiving a handwritten note from one of the ministers after your first visit? It goes without saying, the stories of the Welcoming Ministry of Hospitality and Membership at OSC are anchored in the arrival of both Nancy Taylor and Quinn Caldwell, serving as our pastors and undergirding every gesture and event in our life together!

The key events detailed here of Old South’s welcoming ministry tell only a part of a story of the very, very good news of our Gospel ministry in the name Jesus, our Lord and Friend. These events call out to be acknowledged only inasmuch as we invite one another to become part of this, experiencing all this can mean to us in any moment and over time. For each of us, the question is an important one — where does the story begin? Like so many stories, there are many genesis-points of entry, from wonderfully different points of view. It’s what makes our OSC Welcoming Ministry of Hospitality and Membership such a joy. If you have joined in, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, consider this an invitation to you! For an hour, or for a lifetime ... for eternity and beyond.

Five Elements were identified as key in a Faith-Sharing Conversation:

1. LISTENING: a most important aspect of this effort. Listening affords us the opportunity to hear another's hopes, pains, dreams, and questions.

2. BRIDGING: moving from conversation to a faith sharing conversation with a welcoming quality. For instance, someone might ask you, "How do you manage with so little spare time?" Your reply might then include remarks about the importance of prayer as well as the OSC worship service and community life as sources of strength, resourcefulness, and courage.

3. PERMISSION: a helpful suggestion and an essential courtesy. Before answering a question with reference to your own faith, ask your listener if they would like to hear about it. This may set a climate
of graciousness and ease.

4. BREVITY: If the occasion arises for you to tell your "story," do so in four or five sentences (practicing this makes it possible to do ...).

5. CLOSURE: injecting the conversation with possibility. Finish your chat with, a specific invitation, perhaps, "Let's talk again," or "Would you like to meet me at church?," or "We'll be having a
special program of music at our church..."

.. and in presenting Keeping Faith with Your Friends to every committee and constituency in the church, the Membership Committee pointed out the importance of several key factors:

1. REMEMBER THAT A DEEPENING OF FAITH IS USUALLY A PROCESS: Think of yourself as influencing another person towards faith in the presence and ministry of Jesus Christ. Think of yourself as one link in the
chain of the life of faith where sometimes you will be one of the first links in the chain, sometimes one of the last. You don't always have to be the final link in order to be an effective friend and witness!

2. BEGIN WITH THOSE WHO ARE CLOSEST TO YOU: family, friends, and business associations/colleagues. It is always easier to understand and to be understood by those with whom we already have credibility, than with total strangers. In this way, we will be able to have an influence on others not only by what we say, but also by who we are and by the relationships we share.

3. PRAY WITH CONSTANCY: Genuine deepening faith is the work of God's Spirit alive in someone's life. Pray that you will discover, recognize, and know those to whom God is leading you; that God will
graciously enable your own words and the other person's understanding; and that you will come to recognize the opportunities God provides. Pray for the courage to speak.

One of many greetings which was sent to Ron for this occasion came from the Reverend Paul Nickerson, to publicly acknowledge Ron's contributions at OSC and in the wider church:

Dear Ron,

I was delighted to hear through Liz Rice-Smith that you are being honored for your wonderful work at Old South Church. My only disappointment is that I cannot be there in person. Ron, the ministry you have led at Old South has been remarkable. You have raised the awareness and practice of radical hospitality that is the hallmark of the United Church of Christ. You have such an engaging spirit that anyone you recruit at Old South could hardly turn you down and any newcomer would know immediately that the Spirit is alive and well at Old South. Ron, you have brought that same kind of vision and energy to the Evangelism and Congregational Vitality Commission of the Massachusetts Conference and you have helped to move
many congregations towards new life.. I and so many others are indebted to you for all your efforts. So I hope on Monday, February 26, 2007, that you will celebrate richly this past decade of faithful service and that you will feel the warm embrace of so many of us who are fortunate enough to be your friend. Well done, Ron, and may God continue to bless your ongoing ministry.

Faithfully yours,
Paul Nickerson