Community of Hope, United Church of Christ

These are the words Rev. Bob Lawrence shared with us as his reflection on his time as our Pastor. These words were shared during our Service of Farewell on Sunday, December 11, 2011.

As I think about reflecting on the past 2+ years of ministry among you, I find myself thinking about the word “reflect.” I believe, in this case, that is a most apt word because my life, from this point on, will be a reflection of our time together. In fact, my life has already been reflecting our time together. I am, without a doubt, a much better person, and a much better Pastor because of my time here. And for that I am extremely grateful.

As we prepare to part and each seek the future to which our still-speaking God has called us, I would like to share with you the following thoughts.

The phrase that is found most often in our sacred texts is “Be not afraid.” It was the phrase proclaimed by the angels as they announced the birth of Jesus, and it was the first thing Jesus said to his disciples when he appeared before them behind locked doors after the resurrection. It is also the phrase that you and I have in common from our similar pasts of responding to a dreaded and deadly disease called AIDS. In the midst of watching an entire generation of SF’s gay men die, I learned, just as this community learned, that sometimes all you can do is show up… sometimes all you can do is stand there like the lion in the Wizard of Oz with your knees knocking and your voice shaking as you cry out for relief. You and I know what it means to stare death in the face and to hear the still, small voice of God from deep within proclaim, “Be not afraid.” We have learned that, in the face of adversity, doing anything, even something that doesn’t work, is better than doing nothing at all. As Martin Luther King, Jr said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Say something… DO something… even if you think it may be the wrong thing. For the greatest wrong one can commit in the face of adversity is to do nothing. I hope that is how you will remember my time among you. We may have made mistakes along the way, but no one can say we didn’t try. In the face of adversity, we stood strong and boldly continued proclaiming God’s radical and extravagant welcome.

So, tonight, I invite you to remember the confidence with which you let go of your safe past and rose to meet the call of God and the call of your fellow humans in your response to HIV/AIDS. I ask you to remember that you cannot sail to distant shores without losing sight of the safety of the harbor. I ask you to remember the words of our scriptures and the words that we have lived together these past two years, “Be not afraid.”

In closing, I would like to read one of my favorite quotes from Thomas Merton.
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does, in fact, please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

Rev. Bob Lawrence has resigned as the Pastor of Community of Hope. Below are a copy of the letter that was sent to the community announcing his resignation, as well as the content of his letter of resignation.

Please join us on Sunday, December 11 at 6pm for a celebration of Bob’s ministry among us through a Service of Farewell. There will be a community potluck meal and reception following the service. Everyone who has been touched by Bob’s ministry is invited to attend.

Announcement regarding resignation

After much prayer and discernment, I have submitted my resignation as Pastor of Community of Hope UCC. My resignation was presented to the Coordinating Council Monday night and approved, with regret.

I am extremely grateful for the 2+ years I have been blessed to be your Pastor. My time with you has provided me with many opportunities for joy as well as growth, and I believe I have become a much better person as well as Pastor because of our time together. I will carry with me the stories of our lives together, full of grace and joy.

My Service of Farewell, and last day serving as your Pastor, will be Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 6pm. More information about plans for my farewell will be included in the Weekly Call. In accordance with the Ministerial Code of Conduct, I will sever my ties with this community at that time so that you (and I) may more readily grow into the next chapters of our lives.

Please know that I love each and every one of you and wish you great adventures as you seek where our still-speaking God may be calling you. This community will always continue in my prayers, and I trust your prayers will follow me.

Bud Abbott, Chair of the Coordinating Council, will be sending a separate announcement soon regarding plans for pastoral leadership after my departure.

Sincerely,
Rev. Bob Lawrence

Letter of resignation

After much prayer and discernment, I am submitting my resignation as Pastor of Community of Hope United Church of Christ. The decisions and dialogue at the recent Community Meetings lead me to believe it would be in the best interest of Community of Hope as well as myself for me to resign at this time.

I will continue in an administrative role through Tuesday, December 6 (to host the World AIDS Day event that is planned to happen at Community of Hope). During that time I will work with the appropriate individuals to ensure as smooth a transition in pastoral leadership as possible, but I will remove myself from community life leadership immediately.

I have contacted our Interim Conference Minister, Rev. Krista Betz, and asked her to assist with my Service of Farewell on Sunday, December 11 at 6pm.

My life has been enriched during the 2-1/2 years I have been blessed to be your Pastor. My prayers and love for each of you will continue.

Sincerely,
Rev. Bob Lawrence

Please join us Tuesday, December 6, for a community-wide forum as part of Tulsa’s World AIDS Day activities.

The forum is a follow-up to the film, “We Were Here”, which has been showing at the Circle Cinema since World AIDS Day. The film tells the stories of San Francisco’s early response to HIV/AIDS from the perspective of four individuals. Our forum will include a panel of four individuals who will share the stories of Tulsa’s early response to HIV/AIDS.

Whether you have been on the forefront of dealing with HIV/AIDS or are interested in finding out how Tulsa has responded, you will definitely appreciate the stories to be told.

Our evening will begin with refreshments at 6pm, with the panel beginning at 6:30pm. There will be time for questions and answers.

(This event is made possible by a grant from the George Kaiser Family Foundation.)

“They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” Acts 2

With the launch of our new 8:30am Sunday breakfast and “emerging church” worship experience, I’ve received numerous inquiries about what we mean by “emerging church” worship. As you would expect, that phrase has different meanings in different contexts.

Generally speaking, “emerging church” comes from a desire to re-connect with the worship styles used by the church that emerged after the death of Jesus. For some, it is a connection to ancient spiritual practices (labyrinths, chants, ‘mystery’ etc.), while, for others, it is an attempt to re-create the sense of community that is referenced in Acts 2:42-47. At Community of Hope, we fall into that latter category. With, of course, variations that make it uniquely Community of Hope.

Some of those variations come from the business world, while others come from the world of education. Two of the primary theories that affect our “emerging church” worship here are the “open meeting” model, and the Sudbury education model.

In the “open meeting” model, there are two main agreements that we choose to copy into our worship format. The first agreement is that everyone who needs to be present, IS present. We find this in total agreement with a central Christian belief from Paul that the Spirit is constantly bringing together the gifts of the community to address the needs of the community, all with the aim of furthering the kin-dom of God.

The second agreement is that it is your responsibility, as a participant, to engage in activities as long as they are adding value to your life, or you are adding value to the discussion. Once neither of those is true, it is your responsibility to find another outlet for your creativity and desires. Therefore, we offer multiple, simultaneous ways for people to encounter the Divine in our gatherings. Again, this has its roots in our Christian understanding that not only has the Spirit granted individuals with gifts, but, more to the point, again according to Paul, the Spirit calls us to use those gifts in a responsible fashion to build up the community.

From the Sudbury education model, we get ideas on how to incorporate an understanding that we have different learning styles and different ways of experiencing the world. Specifically, we use our “emerging church” worship to encourage people to find their own unique way to encounter God by engaging in different options during worship. If you need to sit in a corner and pray, or stand up and walk around a bit, or work at a table full of craft supplies, go right ahead! If there is a way you need to experience the Divine and we don’t offer it, then we encourage you to find someone else to join you in creating something new.

Our typical “emerging worship” service at Community of Hope has a very broad over-arching format which allows for weekly variations:

Breakfast
Quiet time of transitioning into worship
Presentation of topic
“Table time” (share our stories and thoughts on the topic)
Each table shares a summary of their conversations
Closing comments

Our topics are suggested by those in attendance. Ideally, the topics will be suggested in advance, and whoever is leading the presentation that week (usually our pastor) will take some time to research the theological and scriptural underpinnings for the discussion and share them as part of the presentation. After the presentation, people gather into smaller discussion (or action) groups around the same tables where we shared breakfast and discuss that day’s topic (or “do” something in response to the topic). Then, we gather together again and each table shares the highlights of how they shared or experienced the topic. The presenter then uses the results from each of the discussions, as well as the theological basis of the topic, to provide some brief summary commentary and then dismisses the gathered community to go practice living what we have been discussing.

For example, at our first gathering, the topic was “what do we want to do each week during our ‘emerging church’ worship?” I spoke about the early church (Acts 2) and encouraged people to think about specific ways we could do that each week. Groups chatted among themselves and one group spent the time wandering around our Neighborhood Garden. We came back together and people shared what they envisioned in our time together. I took the highlights from each group’s discussion and drew parallels back to what the early church did in Acts 2 and asked people to keep thinking about ways in which we can live into that model.

The goal of our gathering is to be always changing, deeply organic, and responsive to the specific needs of those gathered. This means that there is no detailed planning for our worship, no specific points to be made, no pre-selected learning objectives; the people that gather that day set the agenda and, depending on the gifts the Spirit has brought together that day, also determine how we will address our individual and communal spiritual needs.

So, if you’re interested in a new and yet ancient way of being and building community; a new and ancient way of living into an understanding of the Divine; a new and ancient way of being “companions on a journey,” then we invite you join us on Sunday mornings at 8:30am.

Please join us for an important Community Meeting on Sunday, October 23rd starting at 3:30pm (in the Community Room). We will discuss plans for our immediate and long-term future as a community in light of the financial challenges currently facing us.

If you have any questions about this meeting, please contact Bud Abbott, Chair of the Coordinating Council.

Starting Sunday, October 16 and ending Sunday, November 20, we will have a special sermon series in our 6pm worship service entitled “Everything You Wanted to Know About Christianity (But Were Afraid to Ask)”.

We’ll have different people sharing their perspectives on the rich and varied traditions of the Christian faith. For example, did you know that, prior to the various Councils organized by Emperor Constantine (starting in 325CE), that there was no such thing as “heresy?” Other expressions and understandings of Christianity were just part of the mix, and none of them was considered “contrary to the faith.”

Speakers include Rev Dr Susan C Hamilton, Dean of Sancta Sophia Seminary, Dr Sara Morice Brubaker, Ass’t Professor of Theology, Philliips Theological Seminary, and Dr Joe Bessler, Robert Travis Peake Associate Professor of Theology at Phillips Theological Seminary, along with our Pastor, Rev. Bob Lawrence, and other companions.

Join us as we honor that rich tradition of simply sharing our stories of faith that was the basis for the beginning of the Christian movement.

Our first topic will be, “Where did God come from?”

Do you have a question you would like us to answer? If so, please leave a comment below and we’ll try to include it in our series.

We are excited to announce that, starting Sunday, October 16, we will begin a second worship service at 8:30am every Sunday. We will meet in our Community Room, not the worship space.

This worship service will include a FREE breakfast donated and prepared by one of our companions. We will have a different menu each Sunday of the month. This is not pot luck–you do not need to bring any food to share. Just come hungry…

Hungry for physical nourishment.
Hungry for spiritual refreshment.
Hungry for community enjoyment.

This service will be completely different from our 6pm worship service, so feel free to join us for either worship experience. Our 8:30am service will be kid-friendly and will have a post-modern, post-colonial, and liberational emphasis. This service will be a place of extravagant welcome and radical inclusivity where you are encouraged to bring ALL of who you are through the door into our shared meal and worship experience.

No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, not only are you welcome here–you are also wanted. Please join us!