United Church News Articles

Ohio Conference Ministry - 10 lessons from week 1 (October 2007)

The Case for the Conference (December 2007)

Wandering around in the woods (February 2008)

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Ohio Conference Ministry - 10 lessons from week 1

By Bob Molsberry
Ohio Conference Minister
October 2007

Grace and Peace to you, good people of the Ohio Conference. You have shown great courage in electing me as your Conference Minister and extravagant hospitality in welcoming me into that role. Our time together is going to be a great adventure, but I’m game if you are.

In my first week on the job, I’ve already learned some valuable lessons (I’m a quick learner.). Here’s my top ten:

10. I’m not in Iowa anymore, Toto. Iowa roads are laid out on a grid. Every square mile is bordered by a road. Ohio roads are twisty and squiggly. Even with GPS we got lost six times between Templed Hills and Pilgrim Hills camps. On the bright side, each unplanned detour opened beautiful new vistas!

9. On the other hand, Ohio is not so different from Iowa (or Missouri or Illinois or Connecticut or California). Once I had a tee shirt that read, “University of Iowa, Idaho City, Ohio,” and no one recognized the discrepancy. Conferences are distinct from one another, but the church is the church. Every congregation has its triumphs and challenges. Each is comprised of ordinary saints trying to live out their faith.

8. I will need to listen and learn before I can reasonably be expected to arrive at sound conclusions or make sweeping generalizations about the Conference.
In my years doing community development in Central America, I learned to keep my mouth shut, ask questions, and observe in a neighborhood or village, before jumping in with my proposed solutions. The effective community organizer always asks, “What do you want to do here? And how can I be of service?” I’ll need some time to do that.

7. On the other hand, I come with some very strong opinions about the value and role of judicatories (Conferences and Associations) in today’s church. I believe the judicatory exists to enhance the mission and ministry of local congregations. We’ll have to see how this vision plays out in the context of the Ohio Conference.

6. Don’t schedule events against a Buckeyes’ game. I learned that the first Saturday.

5. It’s about Mission. On my first Sunday as Ohio Conference Minister, I joined Rev. John Thomas, General Minister and President of the UCC, and Rev. Ruth Brandon, Association Minister for the Southwest Ohio Northern Kentucky Association, for services and conversations in Troy and Dayton.

During this whirlwind tour I felt a little like a presidential candidate, speeding between an anniversary worship service at First UCC in Troy, a lunch with church leaders, a community fair at Oak Creek UCC in Kettering, and a clergy cluster conversation at St. John’s in Dayton. We were shaking hands, smiling, mugging for the cameras, and kissing babies like there was no tomorrow.

Anyway, the clergy cluster discussion with Rev. Thomas was cordial and respectful but clearly polarized. Labels like “liberal” and “conservative” identified almost every question or comment.

But the tone of the gathering changed abruptly when we commissioned the participants who were about to leave on a mission partnership visit to Kenya. There was a smile on every face in the congregation as John prayed the group on its way. Let’s all take a lesson from that event. It’s about Mission.

4. Your former Conference Minister, Rev. Tom Dipko, gave me a warning that he said he’d received from a mentor when he had begun his service here. He was told, “Tom, you’ll never have time to read a good book again.” I can already see how that might be true.
But, between you and me, I refuse to let that happen. If I can’t stay alive and vital by reading, writing, and getting some quality family and fitness time, I won’t be much good to myself or to you.

3. On the other hand, I’m about ready to give up my plan to race in the Columbus Marathon October 21 because I’m too busy to train properly. Go figure.

2. Conference ministry apparently involves a great deal of administration. Reports and budgets and finances and personnel and meetings seem to take up a huge chunk of the day. Who’d have thought?

But the point of Conference ministry is not administration but relationship. Through Association and Conference, local congregations are connected with one another and with national and global ministries. We learn from each other and have the potential to multiply ministry.

I will take very seriously the relationships I make around the Conference. They will be the machinery by which my ministry here will be accomplished.

1. There aren’t any windows in the Conference office. The office is located in the basement of the Highway Patrol Retirement System building. Great security but a lousy view. The search committee neglected to inform me of that fact. My skin, once tanned from the summer sun, is turning a pasty white in my new environment.

Do me a favor. When you call the office, give me a weather report from your location in Ohio. I can live it with you vicariously.

We’re poised at the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Ohio Conference. It’s a serious time in the life of the Conference—as it is for all the Conferences across the country today—because the old certainties no longer hold true.

We can’t just keep doing what we’ve always been doing and expect to see positive results. The world around us has changed. It will be a great adventure as we struggle to reinvent ourselves.

Let’s have fun in the process. Let’s laugh together at our flaws and be generous in forgiving each other’s sins. I’m convinced we can do God’s work here and still have a good time.

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The Case for the Conference

By Bob Molsberry
Ohio Conference Minister
December 2007

This is the gist of my remarks to the fall meeting of the Central Southeast Association of the Ohio Conference in late October, and to the meeting of the Eastern and Western Reserve Associations in November. It’s a message I’m sharing across the Conference as I’m getting acquainted. Once every person in each congregation has heard it, and the Conference has been revitalized, I’ll start sharing a new message.

The United Church of Christ is on a journey. Journeys aren’t bad things, per se — just look at all the journeying in the Bible, particularly the Exodus wandering en route to the promised land and the Exile longing for home — but journeys make most of us uncomfortable. Personally, though I’ve done a lot of traveling in my life, I’m always more comfortable when I know where my toothbrush is.

The UCC has been on a journey. We’re just concluding the celebration of our 50th anniversary as a denomination, and we’re rightly proud of some of our UCC “firsts.” We were the Pilgrims, who came to this land looking for religious freedom. We established colleges and hospitals and other benevolent institutions. We ordained the first African American, the first woman, the first openly gay men and women. We launched the American Missionary Movement, and we were the people of the Amistad event. We were behind the Social Gospel movement, and we gave the world the Niebuhrs and Paul Tillich.

So how has our society rewarded us for these extraordinary gifts? Are people lavish in their gratitude? Are they flocking to our churches? Are they throwing money at us? Are they inviting us to appear on Larry King Live? No. None of it. Like other mainline denominations, we’re struggling with questions of relevance and survival. People are so fickle!

Richard Hamm, former General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), writes in his book, Recreating the Church: Leadership for the Postmodern Age, (Chalice Press) that we have been hit by a “perfect storm” of factors that have shaken our foundations.

“The perfect storm that has confronted the mainline church in recent decades represents the collision of several elements including: the dramatic shift of American culture from modern into the post-modern era, the increasingly obsolete organizational forms inherited from the modern era, and the fear that has turned us inward toward maintenance and survival rather than mission.” Unpacking that statement is the stuff of many sermons and studies.

So is it all over for our beloved denomination as we know it? I hope not. At least not until I sell my old house in Illinois and pay off my maxed-out credit cards. I didn’t uproot to Ohio just for the climate!

Hamm continues, “God has not given up on the mainline denominations. Because of the core values represented by the mainline denominations, I believe that if they died today God would immediately go about reinventing them, because they do bring value to the world and to the whole body of Christ.”

What values do we bear that the world can’t live without? How do we retool local congregations and judicatories (Associations and Conferences) as well as national settings of the church to become relevant again?

I’m open to ideas here, people. Hamm lists several distinctive values in a provocative chapter titled “Why Bother?” In a time of increasing fundamentalism, our kind of church tends to hold faith and reason together. Our colleges, institutions, and curricula seek to educate, not indoctrinate. We analyze reality not only in terms of individual players, but systems. Our theology has made a place for historically marginalized peoples. And in our mission relationships, we build partnerships, not dependencies.

I would add to his list our defense of doubt in the pursuit of faith (as opposed to the drive for certainty that we often see around us) and the sophisticated level of scholarship we tend to bring to biblical interpretation.

In spite of statistics that indicate an overall decline in mainline denominations, we all know of pockets of life and vitality out there. There are congregations among us that apparently didn’t get the memo that they are supposed to be in decline. They go right on thriving as though they didn’t have a care in the world. Some have turned themselves around from the brink of near extinction. What’s going on there?

That, my friends, is the new role of the judicatory and national church. We need to recognize the success stories and share the good news. We need to enhance what is happening in local congregations and network local ministries and mission with each other.

Even though our own resources are more limited than in the past, we can broker resources among ministries and congregations. The day of the vast structure for programming at Association or Conference level may be gone, but Conferences and Associations are not going away. Not on my watch. Not if I have anything to say about it. Our role is just evolving.

Let’s talk. I’ll be recommending some common reading material across the Ohio Conference, and I’ll be starting with Hamm’s book referenced above. Ohio is unique among UCC Conferences in terms of history, influence, and structure. Perhaps we can make it unique in terms of growth, vitality, and re-creation as well.

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Wandering around in the woods

By Bob Molsberry
Ohio Conference Minister
February 2008

Lent is a powerful, productive season for the church. And let me just say, for the record, that I really appreciate the fact that the church drags its members—sometimes kicking and screaming—through the various liturgical seasons.

If it weren’t for these seasons of the spirit, all we’d have would be swimming and skiing seasons, school term and summer break seasons, birthdays and the Fourth of July. Not much meat for the soul there.

The journey through the church year, on the other hand, leads us from lament and confession to awe and wonder, from grief to joy, from hunger to fulfillment. You won’t find such honest highs and lows anywhere else.

Lent is upon us, a period of forty days of thoughtful confessional reflection preceding Easter. This is the darkest, most somber time of the year for Christians. We’re reminded of Jesus’ sacrifices and suffering on his obediential journey to the cross—and ultimately to the empty tomb.

But why bother? I mean, who wants to go to church to wallow in gloom? There’s plenty of sorrow to go around during the week. Why would anyone come to church to be reminded of it? Can’t we just jump to the good stuff, like comfort and joy, praise choruses and tips for living our “best life now?”

Most of us, in fact, do just that. We go to church on Christmas because that’s a great celebration. Who doesn’t love carols and candles? We come back on Palm Sunday because sometimes there’s drama and pancake breakfasts, and maybe even a donkey procession (I did that once: we had a donkey lead the parade up the center aisle. I don’t recommend it, and I certainly won’t do it again!). And then we’re back for Easter because we like the music and glory.

The crowds are noticeably thinner, however, on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Lent is a pilgrimage through the wilderness that exists between those rare moments of clarity and joy. It’s a necessary trip, because the peaks of human experience are less meaningful when you fail to take into account the valleys in between.

Wilderness is a common symbol in the Bible. Moses led the Hebrews through desert wilderness for forty years while their character and identity were being molded by God. Jesus was led into the wilderness for forty days where his spirit was tested.
The Old Testament period of Exile was a time of fruitful reflection during which much of our Hebrew scriptures were written. Wilderness time can be a valuable time for clarifying purpose and direction.

Many commentators say that the church is in a wilderness time today. We’re wandering around without a GPS unit in an uncharted land between a known paradigm and an emerging one. And it’s making many of us very nervous.

Older members of our congregations remember when the pews were full on Sunday mornings because church was the place to be. Shopping and soccer practice didn’t compete with worship, prayers were recited in school, and there was no shortage of money sent from local congregations to Conference, National, and Global ministries.

In many ways, it was a glorious time for the church, because religious, cultural, civic, and political values were all mutually reinforcing. You knew the score back then.
That world is gone. Analysts agree that the institution of Protestant religion in America is in decline. Today we seem to be adrift among new patterns for doing church. Old assumptions no longer hold true. We’re deep in the woods and we have no idea when we’ll emerge into the light again.

I once climbed a volcano on an island in a lake in Nicaragua. Climbing a volcano isn’t exactly rocket science, but coming down again in the same place you started from can be a real challenge. Since you can’t always see beyond the trees and brush to get your bearings, you can get turned around and come down the exact opposite side of the volcano from where you began. They lose tourists all the time off the back side of volcanoes.

The church is on the backside of its own volcano today, seeking a way through the wilderness. We’re beginning to wonder if such a path even exists any more.
But don’t panic. Church tradition, in its wisdom, recognizes the value in this time of uncertainty. It’s wilderness. Like Lent, it’s a season of confessional reflection. Sit with the anxiety to see what it might teach you.

Look around. You’ll notice pockets of vitality everywhere. We are surrounded by congregations that are striving toward excellence in their ministries, that are finding themselves growing and thriving as a result. Many congregations are rediscovering why they were called into existence by God in the first place—to make disciples and to share God’s love—and they are finding that God blesses their efforts as they focus on this mission.

Sit with the discomfort of uncertainty for a while. Maybe our problem is that we have been too certain for too long. Comfortable in our cultural patterns and relationships, we in the mainline church thought we had it all figured out.

Maybe we need to rethink our purpose and our role in society. Don’t rush back to former certainties or jump prematurely to new conclusions. Above all, do not be anxious. That’s one of the Bible’s primary admonitions. God is with us, even here.

My friends of the Ohio Conference, I pray that this Lenten season might be a time of renewal and enlightenment for you personally, and for your congregations, your Associations that make up the Ohio Conference, and for the United Church of Christ and the Church Universal.

Remember that not all who wander in the woods are lost. Some of us are just knocking around enjoying the environment.

Lenten blessings,
Bob Molsberry

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March 15, 2008

Brothers and sisters, colleagues in ministry:

The United Church of Christ has been the focus of media attention in recent days, and much of the attention hasn’t been favorable.  Our colleague, the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, candidate Barack Obama’s pastor, has been the subject of intense scrutiny.  The media has pored over years worth of videos of his past sermons and presentations, and has uncovered some moments that appear challenging, to say the least.  People are beginning to ask us about them and are forming unfounded opinions about our denomination.  How might we respond?

Here’s what I’ll say, if asked.  And I intend to volunteer even if not asked.  First of all, those segments of Dr. Wright’s sermons were taken out of context.  God forbid the press ever get hold of some of what I’ve said in particular moments in particular contexts from the pulpit.  I would be very slow to form judgments about brief statements I witnessed on television without knowing who the speaker was addressing and what the context was.  Most of us would reject the practice of lifting scriptural texts out of context to prove a point the way the media has lifted five-second clips out of 30 years of faithful preaching.

Second, this article from www.ucc.org gives some background for the broader ministry that Trinity United Church of Christ has provided consistently and passionately over the decades, a ministry that has inspired many pastors and church leaders across the country for years.  We should all be so dedicated to the needs and gifts of our members and neighborhoods, and so connected with global issues of oppression and justice.

Third, some people who are not familiar with the UCC are asking what sort of denomination we are if these video clips represent us.  This is where we need to be assertive in sharing the good news, the courageous witness, the unparalleled value of the mission and ministry for which the United Church of Christ is known.  For your benefit, here is a letter that was quickly penned (and approved for dissemination) by Rev. Arthur Cribbs, former Executive Director of the UCC Office of Communications.  Feel free to inscribe your own inspirational testimony about your church and share it with local media.

This is a challenging moment for our church, but also a moment ripe for opportunity for us.  The nation is talking about us.  It’s too bad that much of what they’re saying is negative.  But at least they’re talking.  Without being defensive, by keeping a positive message in front of our people and the nation, let’s tell folks what they’ve been missing.

Bob Molsberry

Ohio Conference Minister

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