Sunday Salon ~ demolishing the past

CHURCH

This building being demolished was the first church I served after graduating from seminary.

Even this second photo of Forrest Avenue United Methodist Church seems barren to me.  When I was there from 1987 to 1991, green bushes grew along this street side of the building, and we regularly put something new on the sign.  The elderly people died, and the younger people mostly moved on as the neighborhood changed.  When the church closed, the homeless ministry moved a block or so away, first under the bridge (yes, ministry by the Rev. Barry Kidwell — not just the homeless people themselves) and later to First-Centenary UMC across the river.  One friend of a friend who commented on Facebook said, "The other day I looked as they were bulldozing part of it and the pulpit was still there.  They didn't even have the respect to remove it."  That's so sad.

YOGA

I started a yoga class this week with Katelyn of Plum Padma Yoga.  My new yoga mat shows the tree of life, as I move my stiff body to regain some of the flexibility I used to have.

BOOKS

I'm reading three (or four) books at once:
The Dalai Lama's Cat ~ by David Michie, 2012, fiction (India)
The South Beach Diet ~ by Arthur Agatston, 2003
Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What's Holding You Back ~ by Brooks Palmer, 2009
The Cove ~ by Ron Rash, 2012, fiction (North Carolina)

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Friday Five ~ Ubuntu and Ch-Ch-Ch-Change

Martha Spong @ RevGalBlogPals says:

"Change is hard ... change is usually a big effort.  For this Friday Five, please answer these five questions about change."

1)  Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and seen yourself with surprise?  Why?

Sure!  My eyes still think I'm 18 and thin.  Or maybe 35 and still walking with great confidence as if I expect someday to be "in control" of my little bit of the world.  Occasionally, though, my eyes "normalize" and show me what is actually reflected back from that mirror.  And ya know what?  I'm surprised to see my mother looking at me.  Or sometimes an old woman who seems vaguely familiar.  Very strange optics at my house.

2)  Have you ever witnessed a change in routine at church that upset people?  (Hahahahaha!!!!  I know you have!)

You are (hahahaha!!!!) kidding, right?  Every change upsets someone.  One "upsetting" change was when I removed the American flag from the sanctuary at my first church appointment out of seminary.  I didn't do it when I arrived, but waited years.  When I moved the flag to the church library (rarely used), it took three or four weeks before anyone noticed, but suddenly I was accused of failing to honor our brave World War Two soldiers (it was an elderly congregation).  In spite of my reasoned defense that a place of worship is NOT where we honor ourselves, in spite of my explanation that God and country are NOT the same thing, the flag eventually found its way back into the sanctuary, and I requested a new appointment.  If they weren't willing to accept new people and new ideas and ... dare I use the word? ... change, I wasn't willing to keep pounding my head against that brick wall.  Years later, the church died (I was able to attend their final service) because they could not, would not change.

3)  Have you ever been surprised or inconvenienced by a change in a public setting (not church)?

Oh, yeah!  How about all those orange-and-white barrels closing half the lanes because of construction?  They seem to be constantly moving from one of my regular routes to another, and they always pop up at the most inconvenient times, like when I'm already running late.

4)  Has the passage of time changed your understanding of something you used to think you knew for sure?

The more I've learned, the more I realize how little I know.

5)  Is there something you're trying to change, or want to change, in your life right now?

Changing the world has been a goal since my teens, but I know that's unrealistic.  So how about this?  Now I'd be happy to make the world a bit more compassionate.  I'm doing that in a small group — Jesus gathered a dozen, which seems like a good size to me — and my group tries to implement loving behaviors that make the world a better place for all of us.

My latest word for this is Ubuntu, which in the Xhosa culture means:  "I am because we are."  So I'll end with an Ubuntu story:

An anthropologist proposed a game to the kids in an African tribe.  He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told the kids that who ever got there first won the sweet fruits.  When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats.  When he asked them why they had run like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself they said:  ''Ubuntu!  How can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?'

If you want to know more about Ubuntu, read this Wikipedia article, which also has a video of Nelson Mandela explaining the concept.

Sunday Salon ~ books and church

READING LIST

Up next

Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening ~ by Diana Butler Bass, 2012, religion

Diana Butler Bass offers a fresh interpretation of the "spiritual but not religious" trend and seeks to comprehend the decline in Christian attendance and affiliation that started decades ago — and has increased exponentially in recent years.  Bass argues that we are at a critical stage in a completely new spiritual awakening, a vast interreligious progression toward individual and cultural transformation, and a wholly new kind of postreligious faith.

Reading now

Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words ~ by Brian D. McLaren, 2011, religion

Just finished

Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus ~ by Robin R. Meyers, 2009, religion, 10/10

CHURCH

This morning I attended church at St. Marks United Methodist Church, where two churches are trying something different.  The 4,200- member Christ UMC is sending a hundred of their members to work with St. Marks for a year.  This morning, the two groups (along with a few visitors like me) worshiped in the fellowship hall at St. Marks, with a band and videos as part of their worship.  Read more about it and see a two-minute video here.  Since Forrest Avenue UMC, where I was pastor from 1987 to 1991, was just down the street and closed two years ago, I would like to see St. Marks UMC continue as a community church.

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Full circle

This morning my church life came full circle.  Though pastors in the United Methodist Church have our membership in the conference rather than in a church, nevertheless we must designate a local church as our charge conference.  I chose East Lake UMC, where I grew up.  I went there after retirement because I wanted to move my mother's membership back "home" where she also grew up.  By that time, she was in a nursing home, but it made no sense to leave her membership at my last church appointment.  So I moved us both back to East Lake Church.  Mother's membership ended in November 2004, when she died.  Mine ended last week, when I preached the final sermon and the congregation was no more.  (Thanks to John Shearer for this photo of worshipers before the last service at East Lake.)

The congregation at Forrest Avenue UMC also had their last service on June 27th and closed their doors.  It was my first church appointment, and I served as their pastor from 1987 to 1991.  Last Sunday, I managed to get from East Lake's 9:30 service, after a short visit with friends, across town to North Chattanooga just as their last service started.  The whole day was bittersweet for me, with my childhood church closing on the same day as the first church I pastored after seminary.

I now live in St. Elmo, in the same block as the St. Elmo UMC.  They are meeting at the Lookout Mountain Church because they lost their building in a fire last summer and the church on the mountain had lost their pastor.  It's a good match, for now.  I went down front during the closing hymn at this morning's service, and the Rev. Mark Dowell announced that I was moving my membership.  Lots of people shook my hand and welcomed me to their congregation, but one surprised me when he said, "Nobody even mentioned that we have your piano."

My piano?  It's at home.  But no, he meant the grand piano (or is it a baby grand?) that Scott Medley played for today's service.  This week, the piano was moved from Forrest Avenue UMC to the Lookout Mountain Church.  Full circle!  The Rev. Carol Wilson, who preached the last sermon at Forrest Avenue, and I, who preached the last one at East Lake, told the people that the church doesn't end when a particular congregation does.  Rather, our influence goes on, as we take the spirit of love into the community and into other congregations we attend.

Little did I know that the music would continue in this way, with Forrest Avenue's piano leading the service in my new church!

John Shearer wrote about last week's church closings for Chattanoogan.com:  Two Local United Methodist Churches Hold Final Services.  Clint Cooper wrote about the closings for the Times Free Press:  United Methodists discontinue Forrest Avenue, East Lake churches. To read all I've written about these churches, click here.

Report on Sunday's church closings

I witnessed the last services of two congregations on Sunday, both celebrating what the churches accomplished over the years.  I counted 43 present at East Lake United Methodist Church, which began in 1908 as Ida M. Bass Memorial M.E. Church, South.  That's Methodist Episcopal Church, South, so named because M.E. churches north and south separated before the war between the states.  Because I was preaching Sunday, I couldn't very well take photos during the service.  The photo above is "after church."

I dashed across town after the 9:30 a.m. service at East Lake and got to Forrest Avenue exactly at 11:00 a.m. as their service was starting.  This church, which began in 1887, was once known as Hill City, the former name for North Chattanooga.  I was pastor at Forrest Avenue from 1987 to 1991 before the growth of the North Shore area.  Here's a photo John Shearer took to illustrate his wonderful article about the final services at East Lake UMC and Forrest Avenue UMC.  This is Conley Mercer with me.

John Shearer's photo of some worshipers before the service at East Lake shows my brother's family on the second pew:  my nephew Jimmy Setliffe, his daughter River and son Sam, my brother Jim and his wife Carol, and her father Charles Moses.  River was the youngest person present and noticed when I said my mother Mildred was ten when she attended the first service in the current building.  River pointed out that she is Mildred's great-granddaughter and also ten years old when the church closed.  Betty Madewell, present at the closing service, told me she was christened at the first service in this building on Easter Sunday, April 8, 1928.  The church history says the sermon preached that day by the Rev. Jack Anderson was entitled "A House Not Made with Hands."  I used that scripture (2 Corinthians 5:1, 17-20) for the closing sermon, picking up on later verses in the same chapter to make the point that the bricks are not what's important -- we who comprise the church take the spirit of love with us, wherever we go.

Jim and Jimmy are both interested in historical items, like this bronze plaque in the foyer at the front door that dedicates the organ to those in the church who served in World War Two. The picture below shows the name of my father, William Elmer Setliffe, Jr., who came home from the Pacific after being in the Philippines and Japan.

To read other posts I've written about the two churches, click here.

Church closings

East Lake United Methodist Church
Last week I learned that East Lake United Methodist Church, where I grew up, will close at the end of this month. When I also found out the current pastor is going on a mission trip and won't be there June 20th and 27th, I volunteered to keep it open those additional two Sundays. I've been calling old friends and lining up people to come on our last Sunday, if not the next two Sundays as well. And then today's mail brought the news that Forrest Avenue United Methodist Church, my first appointment, will also close at the end of this month. I, along with other former pastors and former members, am invited back for the final service -- on June 27th.

Forrest Avenue United Methodist Church
I learned a lot in seminary, but not how to be in two places at once!  I was sad to think I'd miss the final service at Forrest Avenue UMC, but I was committed to East Lake UMC.  And then I remembered that they don't meet at the same time.  East Lake's service is now at 9:30 a.m., and Forrest Avenue's is at 11:00 a.m.  They are 25 minutes apart, but both in Chattanooga.  Maybe I can slip in a little late and make it to a second service the same morning.  I'm sure gonna try!

I took these photos this evening just before the sun disappeared for the day.