This week I was invited to First Presbyterian Church of Fargo to share with them the ministry of Recovery Worship and Lost and Found Ministry. It was an interesting experience, much different than Recovery Worship. The people were kind, welcoming and, in good keeping of mainline protestant tradition, subdued. I ran into a few old friends that I have known since my days as a "temporary" member of the Presbytery of the Northern Plains. They are so Scottish, as is their tradition, yet the congregation was pretty diverse. Several people of color where in attendance and, knowing this is a pretty liberal church, also a few same sex couples. When compared to Lutherans the Presbyterians seem to be doing a better job at diversity then we Lutherans, and I wonder why?
While the Presbyterian tradition is from Scotland, you would never know that by looking around their sanctuary. Except for the one picture of a bunch of men in kilts and Scottish Rite fezzes on their heads you would not have known about that tradition. However, walk into many Lutheran churches and you are bombarded with the Scandinavian or German tradition of the church. Names in the stained glass window are in German or Scandinavian; the paraments are often hardanger or quilted. The hymns are German, unless the congregation is trying to be diverse then we will sing a good African American Spiritual number that will be butchered by the pipe organ or key board. If you have ever tried to sing Shall We Gather at the River accompanied on an organ you know what I mean.
I believe we Lutherans, at least us Lutherans in the United States, will struggle with diversity as long as we cling to our Scandinavian and German roots. I am speaking of us Lutherans in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American. Missouri Synod, Lutheran Brethren and Wisconsin Synod are so stuck into their individual traditions that they will never be diverse. At least we in the ELCA are trying, but it is an uphill battle. I once had a colleague that said that "diversity is evil," if that is the predominant view of the church we don't have much of a chance.
Several years ago I had an intern serving with me from the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkley, CA. On her mid-term evaluations there was a question that asked how the intern did when dealing with racial minorities. While the Intern Committee was going over her evaluations one of the women at the table asked why that question was on the evaluation form. I tried to explain to her that some interns were assigned to areas that were racially diverse and that this was an important question. "Well" she said, "I don't know why they have to call themselves 'African American' we are all Americans." As she said this, she sat there with her Norwegian sweater, Norwegian flag pin, and Norwegian earrings on. Most of us Lutherans struggle with being diverse because we our so stuck in our Lutheran identity that we can not imagine a person not like us being a Lutheran.
Thankfully the only thing that the folks at Recovery Worship share in common is their recovery.
See you next Sunday.
Alrighty, I wrote one comment but apparently I didn't go thru all the correct navigational stuff to leave a comment. Must be a God thing. I love the commericals for Super Bowl but for years I haven't had the time or ambition to watch the superbowl. However, this year I am excited because I will be at Recovery Worship's 1st Super Bowl Sober Party. I don't get many invites to sober super bowl parties so this is great for me. I'm a busy lady who likes to have it happening in a safe, fun environment, where I know I will see fun people. House parties are great, but I won't see as many people at a house party as I would at the Church. Ok, with that said, let's see if I can get myself in trouble, even though I don't mean to. Pastor Ray, you just put it out there with no fear. I said one statement this week to a family member and all H E Double hockey sticks broke out. I simply wished they had stayed in Counsoling. But I too have a view on this. The racial stuff in my world of travels is non existant. I don't care what color, preferred sex, nationality, etc that a person is. I find other cultures very interesting. Americans would die to have to eat some bug whereas other countries eat them without a thought. They aren't wrong to enjoy them. Americans, like Lutherns, are stuck in areas and we need to reach out and investigate each others cultures to understand and to get along. We don't have to like their culture, live their culture, but we can be loving, kind, tolerant of that culture and their desire to keep that culture. However, I don't feel their culture should impede upon what has long been America's foundation. Like "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, 10 Commandments on Court House lawns, Crosses on American Soldiers graves. Anyway, that's another topic. Though the Lutherns are having a more difficult time Publically with same sex, etc. Americans of all culturals are having the same tough time, it's just not in the news. And I couldn't figure out what "Comment as:" below this box for commenting was, so I pushed Anonymous but I'll tell you I'm Bev Braseth. Man I hate computers. God Bless and God's Love Shine Upon All Of Yous.
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