Where are you going with that long face pulling down?

This lyric is from Dave Matthews Band's Where Are You Going? off their Busted Stuff album and the Mr. Deeds soundtrack. Click the title to visit the Hawaiian Punch website in honor of that movie and Steve Mann, who calls it 'the red stuff'.

I have been struggling to be a leader in the church I serve. I don't actually agree with any of the choices they've made in the last seven months. April 1, their neame became First Reformed Church of Bluffton again, no longer a UCC church. Here's how I chose to pastor to them. I thought it was worth a read. This is the letter portion of my youth page in the church newsletter.

What we were, what we are, what we will be…

It may be hard to believe by my propensity to look toward tomorrow, but I am actually a great student of history. That is why I look to the future with such wide eyes, wondering what the stories will be of my times. Every year I give a talk to the seniors at church camp about ‘legacy’ and I challenge them to lead their fellow campers in such a way that is both worthy of their best selves, but also exemplary of the term Christian. And so it was that I came to look upon a history book detailing the year 1957.

In 1957 The Hamilton Company introduced the first electric watch and Wham-O Company introduced the first Frisbee. Baseball owner Walter O’Malley agreed to move the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles and Jimmy Hoffa was arrested by the FBI for bribery. John Glenn, then a Major in the US Marines, set the transcontinental speed record by flying from California to New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first satellite into space. Elvis Presley released Jailhouse Rock. The Africanized Bee was released in Brazil. The Governor of Arkansas called in the US National Guard to prevent black students from attending their newly desegregated high school. Humphrey Bogart, Joe McCarthy, and Elliot Ness died. Vanna White, Osama Bin Laden, and Donny Osmond were born. On June 25, 1957 the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Church became the United Church of Christ. First Church (an E&R church formerly called First reformed Church of Bluffton would soon adopt a new name and chart a new course, initiating a building plan for a Christian Education wing, completed in 1964.

As I read these facts I am awed. Rock and Roll was being born. The space race was in its infancy. The Civil Rights Movement was about to gather steam and gain focus. Heroes and villains of the previous generation were passing away. Heroes and villains of future generations were being born. And heroes of that time were stepping forward. There were new inventions and things newly antiquated. There was intense change, bringing with it that which comes with all change; possibility.

On April 1, 2006 First Reformed Church of Bluffton was born again. There will be many, like myself, who will see this as an opportunity to start anew, to change some things, to challenge ourselves, and envision a different future for First church. There will be others who will be more cautious, often are wiser, and will desire little change if not indeed a return to how things ‘have always been.’ I am not the one to decide which of these paths is best. I have said that if wisdom and passion could be harnessed simultaneous a powerful movement would begin. I have decided to let God lead me.

I now challenge you to reflect upon your own, our corporate, legacy. What will they say about the folks who filled the pews in 2006? Did we watch as the old guard gave way to the new? Did we see heroes emerge and causes gather focus? Did we birth those ideas that would propel our community forward and did we finally have the courage to build a legacy that reflected our best selves and was worthy of the term Christian?

Rock and Roll is now middle-aged. The space race has ended. The Civil Rights Movement galvanized a generation, but is largely dissolved. The United Church of Christ has become a vastly different denomination for better or for worse. The church at 301 West Cherry Street has survived the tidal wave. Now what?
Heroes are passing away from this world and being born right now. Heroes sit in the pews today. My prayer for this church, my prayer for my own future, even my prayer for the UCC, is that we will find the path which God has prepared. And let our legacy simply be that we had the faith to follow it.

J.D. Rose, Dir. CE/YM

So I'm confident God supplied me with the right words to say, although a large part of me wanted to simply quote the wise philospher Anonymous and say:

Sometimes the majority only means that all the fools are on the same side.

I have much to blog about, but two meetings to attend today out of the office. I'll be back with lots more in the days to come.