Bridging the Gap

My favorite season is Advent. Growing up, my family did a great job of embodying the season of Advent. We had joy as the decorations went up. We had anticipation as we did the Advent Calendar together. We had peace and longing as we lit the advent wreath before each meal together and sang O Come O Come Emmanuel.

Yet as a pastor, I've been forced to realize that many in our churches do not know the meanings behind our traditions. Do the lights remind us of the coming of the light of the world into our darkness? Do the presents remind us of the greatest gift of all? Does the Advent Wreath speak of longing for complete peace, justice, love, etc.?

In the Emergent Church, one of the marks is a reclaiming and re-appropriating of Ancient symbols. While my church is far from emergent, I've used this idea to remind me to "tell the old old story." In Advent, we must articulate the importance of our longing and the symbology of the decorations, lights, & wreath.

For the last two years, one of my congregants has made it very clear that she is angry when we don't sing Christmas songs starting at the beginning of Advent. While I find this both disturbing and sad, I have found the need to bridge the gap between those who celebrate Advent and Christmas with those who celebrate only Christmas. This year, we are doing a Hymn Sing for 10 min. before worship in order to get some of our favorite Christmas songs in. This frees us to focus more on the longing of Advent during the worship service.

So to honor the longing of Advent, we've been exploring the ways our world is broken and in need of Christ, in the future, in the past, and in the present, through us. It has been great! The longing has been a core feature.

Yet in order to bridge the gap, we have done all this through the Christmas story itself: Kings, Shepherds, Nativity (with an end times story and Christ's Baptism thrown in early on). As a pastor, I have to help interpret the story to where people are, not where I think we should be. Hopefully, through bridging the gap, we are speaking to the longing in all of us, and our empowerment through Christ to make a difference today.

Investing in Hope

One of my first favorite scriptures was Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." I quoted this scripture often before I finally thought I should really read the book I so often quoted. I then found that Jeremiah was a pretty doom and gloom kind of guy! Where was the hope filled guy from 29:11? I didn't get very far into the book.

In seminary, we studied Jeremiah, particularly Jeremiah 32. In this passage Jeremiah buys a field. He tells the people that the land will be taken from them, and then he buys land. That tangible act was a symbol of hope. After preaching over and over that their sin would catch up with them, he didn't just say that hope still existed, he invested in that hope.

I have often found myself to be the youngest person at gatherings such as UMW, committee meeting, conference gatherings etc. (that is less the case now). As such, I am regularly asked if I see hope for the United Methodist Church.

As a young person in a more elderly church, I often hear people talk with despair about our world. There is almost a hope that Revelation may actually be coming to pass because people are so saddened and upset by the state of our world. People turn to me and want to know if I think that Revelation is coming.

Though I look at our Church and our churches and see many things that are dysfunctional, sinful, and irrelevant, though I look at our world and see many things that are dysfunctional, sinful, and shocking, I believe that God continues to have plans to prosper us and not to harm us. Plans to give us hope and a future. I believe that so strongly that I too chose a tangible symbol. I invest in the future with my son Micah. Micah, along with Isabella Graves, Wesley Hanover, Nora Masland-Sarani, Declan Stuntz, Claire Van Fleet, Miriam Irwin, and all the other precious babies born and to be born this year. This is our choice, our privileged, our promise. The future holds possibilities filled with hope for this world. God's Kingdom will come, and, God willing, John and Micah and I will get to help bring that kingdom here on earth.

Change, History, and Hope

It's been a while since I started and wrote in my blog "A Young Seminarian's View." I can't believe it has been three and a half years since Seminary. Now I'm a full fledged Ordained Elder, a part of "the system," a part of "the connection," for good and for bad. So I transition from a Young Seminarian's View to a Young Pastor's view. One day I'll have to change the title again, but for now, here I am.

So who am I now? I'm Jennifer Burns: follower of Jesus Christ and servant to God, wife of John Burns (extraordinary massage therapist, servant, husband, and father), mother of Micah Glen Burns (almost two months old! Strong, expressive, and healthy), Pastor of Howard UMC Findlay, OH (relational, historic, welcoming, diverse economically, struggling financially, older with some younger families, outreach & small group oriented). I'm other things as well: daughter, sister, aunt, avid reader, sporadic gardener, globally minded with a heart for the poor, the disenfranchised, the faces and perspectives missing from our congregations.

How did I end up here? Particularly as a pastor in West Ohio? I grew up in the church and I've always loved God and had a relationship with him. Over time, I've learned and grown and wrestled with questions of faith, love, theology. When I was 16, after a year of wrestling with "what am I going to do with my life" and "could I be called to be a pastor?" God spoke to me and said "This is You." It's a much longer and more amazing story, but I'll save that for another time. I went to Ohio Wesleyan for college (BA in Psychology), and Wesley Theological Seminary in DC (Yes, I proudly call myself a Master of Divinity...LOL). I was appointed back in my home state at HUMC and have been here ever since.

What does Community mean for me? A couple years ago, I decided that we needed a young clergy network only to discover that one was already underway! I merged my husband and my efforts with theirs and Refresh was born. We as clergy families have unique needs and life experiences. I have already seen fruit from this network as comfort, support, community, and hope have been born out of connection. I am blessed and eager to be part of helping these fruit grow and expand, touching more young leaders (pastors & families) in the church. Here's to a year of deeper connections as we get to know each other better.

How about you? Who are you now? How did you end up there? What does community mean to you?