A Plea for Diplomacy and Leadership in Politics

My "senator of origin" is Everett McKinley Dirksen, Republican of Illinois.  He was the Republican Leader of the senate when Republicans were chronically in the minority.  I long for his stately manner, shock of white hair, mellifluous voice, poetic rhetoric, and willingness to sit down and talk to anybody about how to get something done for the good of the country, whether or not it was in the Republican Party's best interests.  Here's quote from the Senate's obituary when he died in 1969, that catches the spirit I'm remembering:

"There are 100 diverse personalities in the U.S. Senate.  Oh Great God.  What an amazing and dissonant 100 personalities they are!  What an amazing thing it is to harmonize them."  

The people running for Senate today seem to me to be lacking in any sense of the "amazing."  They're angry, pitifully immature, and reactive.  I can't believe I'm longing for a this Republican throwback! 

Of course living in Kentucky is especially hard for this kind of sensitivity.  I know Illinois may not be that much better than Kentucky in its narrowness and racism, but I have a high view of my home state because of the politicians of my youth like Dirksen, Adlai Stevenson and Paul Simon.

Don't even get me started on another positive icon:  Paul Wellstone of Minnesota!

Conflict Workshop in Cincinnati October 30

Deborah and I are leading a one day workshop on "Hope in Conflict" for the Presbytery of Cincinnati, Saturday, October 30, 9-3:30, at Lakeside Presbyterian Church, 2690 Dixie Highway, Lakeside Park, KY 41017 (in northern Kentucky, suburb of Cincinnati).  Church phone 859-341-1963.  Directions to Lakeside are on the Presbytery and Church websites.

Registration:  $10.00 per person /maximum $25 per church. Registration fee includes lunch. Checks payable to Presbytery of Cincinnati

Register through the Presbytery Office:  Speak to Marian at 513-221-4850  OR Register through Lakeside Presbyterian Church:  by e-mail to lakeside@lakesidechurch.org.

e-mail me for more information:  dsawyer@lpts.edu.  See our website at http://www.flourishingchurch.com/

Objectives for the Workshop

1. Establish in the Presbytery an ongoing learning environment about congregational conflict using the book as a learning tool.
2. Encourage a shift in perception that conflict is expected and potentially lifegiving for a congregation.
3. Learn tools of conflict utilization that can be used by any church leader to interpret conflict and learn from it.

Festival of Faiths and The Seminary Luncheon

Two events directly related to Louisville Seminary are on tap for the 2010 Festival of Faiths with the theme of "Sacred Soil."  This is an exciting way for LPTS to connect with the interfaith leaders of the community and commit to our Doors to Dialogue Initiative.

Monday, November 8, 2010, 7:30 am to 3 pm. Kentuckiana Interfaith Community Faith Leader’s Forum ”Why Being an Environmentalist of Faith is so Hard ... and Worth It: A Morning of Prayer, Meditation, Lecture, and Discussion”

Faith leaders are invited to enjoy a complimentary breakfast, interfaith panel discussion, scholarly lecture and open discussion. The morning will be led by Dr. Roger S. Gottlieb, professor of philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a well-known scholar and author on faith and environmental issues. The afternoon will be led by Mitch Hescox, CEO of the Evangelical Environment Network, speaking about “The Creation Care Challenge.” Other visiting scholars participating in the forum will be Dr. Larry Rasmussen, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary, and Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, author of Green Deen: What Islam Teaches about Protecting the Planet.

7:30 am – Faith Leader Breakfast and Conversation
9:00 am – Dr. Roger Gottlieb: Why Being an Environmentalist of Faith is so Hard: And Worth It
10 am – An Interfaith Panel Discussion on being a Religious Environmentalist
11 am – Group Discussion, Questions and Answers
12:30 – The Annual LPTS Luncheon, “Doors to Dialog”
2 pm – Mitch Hescox: The Creation Care Challeng

You are invited to participate in all or any of the events of the day. The event is free, but reservations are required for breakfast attendance.
 
 Monday, November 8, 2010, 12:30 to 2 pm. Annual Louisville Presbyterian Seminary Luncheon: "Setting the Seeds for Dialogue"

A seminary is a seedbed for cultivating knowledge about ultimate concerns. As LPTS announces a major commitment to interfaith cooperation with its “Doors to Dialogue” initiative, faith leaders will be invited to find common ground in specific ways to become partners in the initiative. Doors to Dialogue (D2D) is a new approach to seminary education at Louisville Seminary to enhance students’ learning to prepare them better to provide religious leadership in contexts of religious difference. At this lunch you will learn more of this initiative and of ways you can partner in it.

Bring your own lunch or order a box lunch from Miss Cs', a deli located in the Henry Clay.

Upcoming Fall Lectures at LPTS

The Church’s vital ministries of evangelism and justice will be the focus of the 2010 Edwards-Presler Lectures at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, October 21, 2010, as two church scholars and leaders present their ideas at the intersection of faith and the transformation of the world. 

This year's lectures will be especially poignant with the recent death of George Riley Edwards, long-time Professor of New Testament at the seminary in whose honor, along with his wife Jean, the lectureship was established 24 years ago.  George was a fearless and tireless advocate of peace and racial justice. 

On Thursday evenin g, October 21, at 7 p.m. in the seminary chapel, the Edwards Lecture will be given by Dr. Milburn Thompson of Bellarmine University, a self-professed admirer and supporter of Dr. Edwards' activist ministry.  Thompson will address the Church’s response to faithful stewardship and care of the earth and creation from a Roman Catholic perspective. Initiated in part by Pope Benedict XVI's 2010 World Day of Peace message on this topic, the Bellarmine University professor will explore the Church’s environmental ethic to be peacemakers with Earth.

 The Presler Lecture will be given at 11:30 on Thursday morning, October 21, by a son of the honorees of the lectureship, Canon Titus Presler. In his lecture, Presler will focus on the shadow cast by 9/11 on Afghanistan, Iraq, and Muslim-Christian relations and how competing claims such as secularization and religious extremism affect a theology of mission. He cites the Taliban’s massacre of Christian missionaries in Afghanistan and the debate about the “ground zero mosque” as the most recent “signs of hardening stances amid many calls for respectful dialogue.”

Church as a Creative and Life-Giving Institution



Image of trash compateer rom: letsgetgreen.files/wordpress.com

 I've been reflecting on the lives of several friends who have been part of the church, mostly at the denominational level whose lives have been crushed by the organizational/personnel machine-like culture of their denomination.  Many of them (not all, of course) are still un-employed or under-employed and operating at a kind of "post traumatic stress" level as a result of the way they have been "handled" by the church's power structures. 

When we treat the human resources of the church like so many machine parts that can be removed and thrown away, the church loses its soul.

Reflecting on my own vocation, my own "quest print" I realized that my life question is How can I help the church be organized in ways that are creative and life-giving. 

Join me in committing to making whatever level of the church as an organization you have some influence over more creative and life-giving for its members and staff.  Help hold leaders accountable for policies about hiring, recognition, motivation, pay-scales that are equitable, and termination policies that are just and humane. 

Fall Bible Study--Lay Institute of Theology

Rev. John Gulden, Fall Bible Study Leader

Now is the time to sign up for Fall Bible Study which begins next Wednesday. 

“The Reign of God”



Much of the Bible pertains to the establishment of nations and governance by rulers. In fact, the one topic that is addressed by Jesus more than any other is the Roman Empire and competing claims for our allegiance. Our objectives will be to explore the story of Israelite kings, the nature of empires and their rulers, and the competing claims presented by "the reign of God", known also by many other names throughout the Bible. We will also dare to wrestle with contemporary issues of Church and State and their spiritual implications, and to grow in faith as we consider once again our citizenship in this mysterious and radical "reign of God".



DATES: Wednesday Mornings September 22, & 29, October 6, 13, 20, Nov 3;


TIME: 10:30 to 12:00 a.m.


FACULTY: John Gulden


Pastor-scholar John Gulden served as Pastor of Briargate Presbyterian Church and is currently serving as at “at home father” for his two children in Old Louisville. A member at large of Mid-Kentucky Presbytery, he also is a member of the Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.) General Assembly Committee on Representation. Other interests include baseball reading on the front porch, grilling out, attending farmers markets, and eating Graeter’s ice cream.


PLACE: Laws Lodge


COST: $40 Register online or at first class

Dates for Next Year's EQ-HR Seminar at LPTS

2010 Emotional Intelligence and Human Relations Lab (LPTS Photo)

SAVE THE DATE FOR NEXT YEAR!
Louisville Seminary's Emotional Intelligence and Human Relations Seminar
August 23-27.



Among this year's participants pictured above were ten master's level students, four Doctor of Ministry Students and ten ministers/church leaders taking the seminar as a Lifelong Learning experience.  Many of them told us what a transforming experience it was.  Rev. Steve Huston from New York said: "I'm thankful that I was able to spend a week with you at the EQ-HR workshop in Louisville." 

We've heard from others who could not make it this year but are looking forward to next year.  Thus we're announcing the date far in advance.

Tuition is not finalized for next year.  This year it was $775 for Lifelong Learning participants. 

Go to the website for the EQ-HR Center for more information:  eqhrcenter.org/

Call me for more information:  800-264-1839, ext 372.

We'll open registration next April.

David