Here are a few snippets from my day this past Sunday as a pastor at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York...
6:35 AM - Wake up, walk dog with James in the Bjorn8:15 - put on orange necktie; leave for church on the 1-9 train...
8:45 - small coffee at Starbucks...
8:55 - eat 2 small chocolate chip muffins for super-charged energy boost
9:00 - prayer with clergy
9:45 - gathering myself in my office, putting announcements together for my small role in the service--announcements and offertory prayer; begin to walk around the church to check in on programs
10:30 - meet a member of the congregation near the elevators who asks me, "why do you talk about the poor so much?" She goes on to explain that she thinks the poor deserve to be poor and she wants me to talk more about the rich--they're the ones who have the qualities we should endorse....
11:05 - I'm the last person in the room (again) as we pray with the elders and deacons before service
11:55 - Dr. Tony Campolo is our guest preacher.
He pretty much tears it up. He is a good speaker and sparks my conscience about the necessity of giving myself FULLY to God... Here's audio of the sermon...12:45 PM - greeting people at the door... my rabbi friends (there to see Tony), lots of hugs and kisses from people whose names I don't remember until they're past me and down the hallway, an interesting conversation about Katrina with a FEMA staff person... probably see 250 people at my door in the span of 20 minutes
1:30 - duck into the volunteer fair... so much activity!
1:45 - make short appearance at the young adult group's Sunday conversation--they're talking about service and they're in deep... duck out quietly...
2:00 - settle in for presentation by Search for Common Ground founders John and Susan Collin Marks on their peacemaking work
3:25 - interview John and Susan and fumble for good questions... come up with a few (I think)4:15 - duck next door to Chandni for a plate of vegetarian Pakistani food and a juice.. wonder why the place is so empty and remember that (duh) it's Ramadan and the heaping plates of food are waiting for sundown...
4:20 - meet someone in the church lobby who complements me on my "energy" and then shows me a box of vegetables
that he's about to deliver to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with the hope of initiating something he calls "veggie diplomacy"--no joke! I fear an international incident, but wish him luck anyway...4:45 - back in the office, writing emails and making phone calls, sorting through the hurricane that is my desktop...
5:35 - ready to go home... and see James!
Just curious, but how did you handle Ms. "the poor deserve to be poor"? That makes my blood boil, just reading her comments, so I can only imagine if I were forced to stand there and suppress the urge to drop kick her through a stained glass window. Really, how did you deal with this?
ReplyDeleteWe had a good conversation, actually. She was a wake-up call for me--a kind of a slap in the face to wake up and do a better job of leading by word and deed in this area.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, I had to admit, she was right. I'm probably more like her than I'd like to admit--I love my creature comforts, even though they make me feel guilty. She just puts her love of money right out there--I hem and haw and disown it and pretend like I don't...