Is Sunday Still Segregated?

The answer to that question is "yes" and the "yes" is much more resounding "yes" when the church is Lutheran or more specifically the ELCA. The church needs to be less "gringo" -- okay, a lot less gringo in the case of the ELCA. The issue of integration is not only an issue in the ELCA for it is an issue that plagues the Christian church in America. Perhaps, the issue is more acute in the ELCA for we are the most segregated mainline denomination in this country -- the ELCA is 96% white. This is particularly more troubling when we are to consider the simple fact that the ELCA is the fourth or fifth largest denomination in this country. Our numbers show that we aren't integrated enough and we aren't very diverse either. Rev. Whitlock is right to challenge our churches in their lack of integration. The article from CNN, which interviews Rev. Whitlock, raises the right issue and question: "If Heaven is integrated, why not churches?" Yes, why not churches? And more especially, why not the ELCA? But, as the other report from CNN indicates most churchgoers prefer their church to be segregated. And that is an issue, an issue that churches aren't addressing enough. This is something the ELCA must address much more seriously because integration does hit at the heart of the matter on both evangelism and human sexuality -- particularly, on the issue of human sexuality, as we move forward in our acceptance and openness of our homosexual brothers and lesbian sisters. We can no longer accept our own status quo of 96% white. We, the members of the ELCA, and the leadership must challenge and push for more integration and diversity - more churches need more minorities in their leadership position. Too few people of colors are in leadership positions, particularly pastors, in the ELCA. We must get over our race issue at our churches. As Bishop Hanson said we can no longer have the heart of timidness in ministry and mission. I hope that also means that we can no longer be so segregated in our churches.

The Wrong Way vs The Right Way

The Wrong Way To Do It!

The Right Way To Do It!

As you can see it, there is no middle ground. Either you got it or you don't. And the Cowboys got nothing. O Cowboys, where art thou?

George Carlin on the American Dream

Speaking Out

Of late, all of us have been hearing lots of advice on morality from all political-ideological-theological spectrums, from both the Right and the Left camps. There is nothing wrong about “preaching” on morality or virtue. It is important that we, as a society, teach our children the value of being a morally conscientious human being, who is also gracious and forgiving. But only teaching our children will not do, because adults also need to be taught and reminded again and again on the importance of living a virtuous life. At times, adults need to hear more about the importance of living a morally-conscientious life. They need daily reminders that living a conscientious moral life is to live for the well-being of others. This means that there is a cost and the cost means that at times we must confront the evil befalling on our “neighbors.” We must speak against injustice because ultimately the judgment of our actions will be on how we treat the least among us (cf. Matthew 25:31-46).

The act of speaking out against immorality is essential if we are to confront the injustice befalling onto our weakest and voiceless “neighbors.” But, before we put our two pennies worth, it would be wise to reflect on our own past, present, and future. It is easy to forget our own propensity toward evil in thoughts and actions. We all have the potential for both evil and good. It is a constant reality that manifest itself out in our decisions, which each of us make daily, regardless of whether those decisions were made in full cognizance or not. True that most of us cannot imagine the unfathomable evil, e.g., the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, the Rwanda Genocide, Pol Pot, the Japanese Imperial Armies rape camps, as part of who we are. We cannot fathom seeing ourselves as orchestrating or assisting the demise of human beings because of their ethnical and religious background. But, at the same time, we must be completely sincere to ask the most fundamental question of “What would I have done if I was there?” That is, are we in all honesty really able to say that if we had been born white and living around the early part of the 1900s that we would protest and speak against lynching and racism? Can we say that we would have marched against Jim Crow if we were born as a White-Southerner man? Most likely not, and if we do believe that we would have protested and marched against the lynching of black bodies, then we are not being truly honest with ourselves because the question remains: what are we doing against the ugly state of affairs against our gay brothers and sisters currently plaguing our nation? Also, what are we doing against the dehumanization of illegal immigrants in this country? What actions are we taking to fight against the big-powerful financial companies exploiting the most financial vulnerable people in our country? Most of us are merely watching from the comfort of our living room. And we may raise a few voices of concern here and there, but in the end we are doing from a safe place where no ultimate consequence would befall us.

We are all product of our particular time and place. Thus, it is easier to speak out against lynching because many of us find such practice beastly horrifying. It is always easy to make a stand and speak out against evil when it is safe to stand and speak out against evil. We can all speak out against racism because we know that in large society sees racism as evil. But, can we be sincerely honest with ourselves so as to say that we could and would fight for interracial marriage during the 1920s? Could we have stand and fight against the mob as they prepare to lynch a black person? Could we have stand and fight against the genocide of Native Americans during the 19th century? It is easier to speak out and protest against immorality and evil when we are confident that there is no real cost in standing against injustice. The cost of standing against injustice has a tremendous price tag because there is no such thing as free justice. This may give us reason to stay quiet or to stay on the side line, but such stance is much more costly because it robs us of our humanity and it also shackles us to the chain of fear. By doing nothing, we become nothing – that is, we become less than human or no longer human. We also become slave, bound to fear and to merely living life. True freedom is the empowerment to live for life and not merely living life. Our silence in times of injustice silences our humanity, thus we become a bit less human by becoming enslaved and not free. And, in the end, we become no different from those who are pushing for inhumane, unfair, and injustice policies in this country and in the world. When we are silent against injustice, we speak for injustice.

An Asian Lutheran, that got to be rare!

Friend sent me this sermon, the quality of the sound is a bit poor, and it took me by surprise. First, it was an interesting and very stimulating sermon with lots of hidden sublime messages. The ending was a bit weak, but then this guy was apparently preaching in a Lutheran congregation (ELCA). Second, this is an Asian guy and by his last name he maybe Korean. Third, as a Korean, I am not sure why he is not pursuing ordination within the PCUSA denomination.

Still, the sermon is quite good. He has great potential. But, I do wish him the best of luck in a very racist denomination. C'mon, honestly, with 96% white demographic one can't but think this is a racist denomination. I know that not all of them are racist but merely biased preference toward white color. I know that the ELCA is doing lots of work to attract Hispanics, but with all honesty what denomination is not trying to court Hispanics. The Hispanic demographic is the fastest growing demographic and every mainline denomination knows that without the Hispanic demographic the mainline church will keep on dwindling. So if you are Hispanic and you speak Spanish, all the denomination will be courting after you so play your cards right.

It is still hard to believe that the ELCA is close to 97% white. Rural America is more diverse than that. The ELCA and all of the other Lutheran sects have the lowest number of minorities. I know three Asians, who have left the ELCA and one left the LCMS, because they couldn't get a first call and after three years they were asked to reapply to the whole process of entering the ELCA call process, apparently that is the rule in the ELCA - not sure what the rule is at the LCMS. So, they all left the Lutheran traditions and went to other denominations and in their first year they all found churches to pastor. So, I really want to wish this guy the best. But my advise to him is to start looking for another job because if one is not white or Hispanic, one will have a real hard time getting hired as a pastor. The only other possibility is if this guy has some amazing and incredible background like living among the poorest in the world or fighting against oppression to the point of being endangered to lose one's life or being eccentric-punk for Christ or a guru for the "emerging" denomination or some other stuff. This is a very exclusive denomination; they are quite "gringo." He has a better chance to become Scandinavian than to become an Asian pastor in the ELCA.

http://www.pmlc.org/files/prestonmeadow/files/Sermon%202010-10-2.mp3

He really needs to change denomination. Be an Episcopalian, you have a better chance at becoming a priest than becoming a pastor in the ELCA. And with all honesty, we, the Episcopalians, are always looking to steal good candidates from other denominations and traditions (e.g., 'Father Oprah').

George Carlin on the Ten Commandments

The Decline Membership

Because of my job, I get to travel to different parts of our country, which also means that I get to visit different Lutheran churches - that is if I have to stay over the weekend. In my very brief time spent in these different Lutheran churches in the ELCA, I hear a common grunt of displeasure and uneasiness. The displeasure arises from the recent vote of the ELCA to openly accept homosexuals and lesbians in the office of Word and Sacraments; the uneasiness arises from the fact that a good number of churches are leaving the ELCA. Nothing alarming but at the same time the numbers aren't to be taken lightly either. Now those grunts of displeasure and uneasiness could be understandable if our current decline in membership could be directly attributed to our current stance on human sexuality. Those grunts of dissatisfaction could also be understandable if our current decline in membership could be directly attributed to the so-called "liberal" agenda.

Now it is true that the ELCA lost members because of our more "open" and "welcoming" stance on human sexuality, but to say that our current stance is the sole reason for our decline in membership is an inaccurate portrait of the ELCA - and to attribute our decline solely on the so-called "left" agenda is really to vilify those on the left. Those in the left are no more righteous than those in the right; and those in the right are no more biblical than those in the left. As the ELCA reported since 1987, the ELCA has only two years of growth, and even those two years are debatable if we look at the data much more closely. The ELCA has been loosing members long before the take over from the so-called "liberal" agenda. The real reason in our decline is much more to do with our birth rate, particularly white birth rate in this country. There is no longer a high numbers of Germans and Northern Europeans immigrants coming to this country - and even those who are coming aren't Lutherans. Also, in light of our demographic make up, the ELCA is close to 97 percent white - in the early 70s, the Lutheran tradition was close to 99 percent white - which means that our current white birth rate in the ELCA can't support any numerical growth if we are solely to depend on birth rate and immigration as we have been depending on for a very long time.

God has nothing to do with our decline, it is solely mathematics. If the number of birth given by white people decrease, the number of membership in a 97 percent white denomination also decrease. This is elementary math. There aren't enough white people to go around for the ELCA to grow. Thus, we can either demand our members to birth more white children, as some white-racist fearmongering do, or we can truly be a church that has been baptized into one body, one faith, one Spirit, one Lord, and one God. To do this, the ELCA must shed our "gringo" preference in theology and in leadership. Too many of our leaders look like me, white, we need more diverse leaders in our churches and Synods. Too few people of colors are serving in the office of Word and Sacrament. And, honestly, how can one of the largest congregation in the ELCA not have one person of color as a pastor? Okay, I am not sure if Mount Olive Lutheran Church is in the ELCA, but if they are still part of the ELCA, then we must seriously wonder how can this church not have any minority in their pastoral staff? Are you seriously telling me that there is no minority where this church is located? This is a common issue throughout many of our largest churches in the ELCA, yes, there are few expectations but those expectations aren't enough to make any difference in our current trend.

We are making some progress in our Hispanic outreach missions. But, we are also ignoring many people of colors already in our system awaiting first call in the office of Word and Sacraments. I know of three who have been waiting for a very long time for their first call. I also know two minorities, who aren't Hispanic, that left the ELCA because there were no churches for them to minister after three years. Both of them have gone to the UMC and they are currently serving churches (they waited less than a year). If the ELCA is serious about making the ELCA much more diverse, the ELCA must seriously address the current lack of diversity in its leadership office. We must stop complaining and mourning the loss of members in the ELCA for the days of growth through birth and immigration is no longer viable, and thank goodness for that, the ELCA must reach out beyond its "gringo" preference and go to the borderlines, where Jesus himself spent most of his time ministering. The face of our leaders must also reflect the diversity we find in our country. Too many of our leaders in our churches and the bishops in our Synods look like me, a white-male. The leaders of our churches, the bishops of our Synods, and our current Bishop need to do more to challenge the silent racism plaguing our community. The decline in membership will most likely continue, even if we are more diverse, but keep in mind that the Gospel is much more offensive than many churchgoers assume to be and also we must keep in mind that the-power-that-be crucified Jesus for his political message of God's Kingdom breaking in? The offensive nature of the Gospel has been replace to the simple conviction of personal sin in need of salvation to escape eternal damnation. There is nothing offensive, nothing challenging the-power-that-be, because it is all about personal-private reality that has no demands to change public-reality as Jesus did with his ministry of words and deeds. It doesn't shake the-power-that-be because it doesn't confront the systematic evil in our political-economical system. The Gospel does confront and that message is very treating to the-power-that-be because the Gospel has a truly and completely radical political-economical system that would upset both the Right, the Left, and the Centrist.

Addressing the lack of diversity in our denomination does not mean that the ELCA will grow numerically. But numerical growth is not the reason to address the issue of race and sex. We are to tackle these issues because they are human issues and we are human beings. The ELCA can't keep on tiptoeing around critical human issues. Thus, we must do something about our lack of diversity in our churches.