November 21, 2004 - Baptism & Membership Sunday

To close this season of the church year, with its focus on discipleship, consider what is the call to discipleship in these stories of God’s promise of deliverance. What are you being asked to believe? What are you being asked to do?

Sacrament of Baptism

Jane Clarke: On behalf of the Board of Westminster United Church, I present the following children for initiation into the body of Christ through Baptism:

Reception of New Members by Transfer,

Profession & Reaffirmation of Faith

Jane: We now welcome into this congregation persons who are already members of the United Church of Canada and have served within another congregation or who rejoin us through reaffirmation of faith.

I present to you:  Delmar Adams, Erma Adams, Shanon Armstrong, Cassie Berkner, Sharon Clugston, Brenda Denning, Michele Gardiner, Maggie Harrison, Orrin Hungerford, Albina Jackson, Norman Jackson, Joan Kajewski, Eileen Lange, Al Piotrowski, Mary Skjenna, Dawn Skogen, Claude Skogen, Mickey Staples, Jean Whiting, Dorothy Wilkinson and Sean Wilkinson so that they may be received into membership within this congregation.

Sermon: “The State of the Union”

by Rev. James Farrell

A few weeks ago a story broke out of Ontario and into the homes of people all across the country. That story?  United Church ministers were in conversation with the Canadian Auto Workers Union about the possibility of unionizing clergy.

In some ways it was comic relief after much of the other news that was happening in the world. In another way it was simply a point of embarrassment for me and I know for many of my colleagues. The story broke just before our Remembrance service and out of respect for our Veterans, I had no intention of mentioning it on ‘a Sunday’ dedicated to the honour of the memory of all who gave what they could for our freedom…even freedom for ‘some’ to talk “union talk.”

Well, a few weeks have passed—today is a “Membership Sunday” and I would like now to go down that road a little bit because I know it is on the lips and minds of a lot of people.

At the risk of making light of the real pain of some clergy who started these conversations, a colleague and I were speaking about the Canadian Auto Workers Union and we were thinking if these folks really want to seek union membership they should be talking with the Teamsters Union! After all, the promise of resurrection has to sit pretty well with fans of Jimmy Hoffa.

Now, on the more serious side,

“The United Church of Canada has historically affirmed the right of people to organize if they wish. Our commitment to social justice and advocacy often brings the church and labour unions to the same table in search of fair treatment for all.

But being an advocate for labour fairness is not the same as clergy being union members. “Labour relations legislation was not designed or intended to regulate the relationship between a minister and the church.”

I believe that collective bargaining has helped some industries but I don’t believe you can unionize a family and a church is more a family than an industry. Our products are not tangible like cars but they are very critically important to healthy life though however intangible they may be.

You will all have your own thoughts about unions but since this conversation is very much about clergy, today you will get this clergy’s view on the subject.

Let me affirm that I know that there are clergy who have been abused by congregations and congregations that have been abused by clergy. If this whole conversation has anything to add to church life and health, I believe that it serves to remind us that we need to keep ‘in dialogue’ when things go wrong. We need to work, and sometimes work hard toward sorting them out…sound like a family?

If you are having trouble in your household you need to pull together to work out your problems. Sometimes you even have to bring in an outsider to help with that process. For the clergy in the United Church, we are actually not members of a congregation but members of presbytery and that is the body that can come in and offer help and support to clergy. Congregations also have the presbytery and the conference as resources if the need arises and there are times when congregations need to seek that help and support.

Like any family, when things go off the rails you need to be intentional about getting them back on track.

As we gather this membership Sunday we affirm what it means to be in solidarity with one another because we are all journeying together in God's love to discover, nurture and share our gifts… and we do that as we remain in relationship with one another and work together to be the best we can be as we journey.

So, while there is a grass roots endeavour of individual United Church ministers who are looking to unionize as a solution to improve their lives, it is an answer to a question that I’m not asking and, I believe, most of the ministers across the country are not asking either.

I feel for the ministers who have been disrespected in various ways, but I can’t understand how they think a union can help them with those issues. Some minister/congregation relationships don’t work…some ministers probably shouldn’t be in ministry or at least should review their ministry, their call and their vocation if they think it is like any other job that might unionize.

Some congregational dynamics may make it necessary to seek facilitators that can help the congregation act more appropriately with their clergy. The good news is that we have, as a church, many resources available to us that can help us do just that. The CAW or the Teamsters can do nothing that will help the relationships that have led some ministers to seek union conversations.

Let’s face it…as the press waits for Carolyn Parrish’s next faux pas news needs to come from somewhere and anything that involves church is always a good hit. Besides, as one elderly united church woman put it, it is good for us to take the spotlight off the Anglicans for a moment or two.

The truth is, we are in covenant relationship with one another. Much like a marriage. Sometimes in a marriage you annoy one another, disagree with one another, even hurt one another.

The good news in being in a covenanted relationship is that while these things will happen, the very reality that the covenant exists means that we promise to one another to try to work it out…not to turn on our heel and disappear from the relationship but to work to be the best we can be in relationship. And like some marriages there are times it simply doesn’t work and health can only be restored through a change in relationship.

Ministry is like no other calling…it is a dance that, by definition invites people to be in relationship in ways that other professions do not. I am the first to admit that it is a dance to offer leadership, take and give encouragement …walk the tightrope that is suspended over tricky decisions on one side and the struggle to offer theological nourishment for life’s big questions on the other.

Ministry is isolating by nature…all of the prophets understood that…it puts clergy folks at the mercy of the hearts of congregations and congregations at the mercy of clergy ideas about all manner of things, theology being only one.

None of it is easy, but much of it is very rewarding as we work together to honour each other in respectful ways and to discover God's leading as we do.

I feel for the colleagues in other parts of the country who feel the only way to be heard is to seek the help of an autoworkers union. I propose that there are much greater issues at stake that need their attention if they feel that such connections are the only way they can address their hurts, disappointments or injustices.

Ministry is not a job but it does have some job functions. It is hard to balance those two things and still hold on to the “philosophy of call” or “calling” but in the community of the church it is a balancing dance that is carried out on a day by day basis in community with others. I can’t imagine the autoworkers understanding that. I don’t believe many colleagues in our church will expect the autoworkers to be able to understand that and for that reason I don’t see a future for any Union within the United Church of Canada.

What is ‘the state of the union’? As folks commit and recommit themselves to work together in community to be the church, as we do here today, I know that the church is strong and I’m glad to be able to work with such a fine group of people to discover what God has for us at this point in our life and journey together.

I am delighted nearly every day by the people that minister to me, offer me a thought of reframing that I am able to take to heart and I suspect that you have been touched by the God in our midst who has, on occasion, been pleased to use my gifts as a instrument of encouragement or instruction for you.

That is our covenant relationship in action. I don’t expect Buzz to understand that and I won’t be asking him to try. “Trade unions can and do work for good in society, but they are not a good fit for United Church clergy.”

Now, as for the ongoing conversations that leave some uncomfortable…me included, they are really to be encouraged because they provide an opportunity for members of The United Church of Canada to examine their ministry of caring for all who are associated with the church, ministers and congregations alike. If we can examine where our joint ministry is deficient and affirm where it is effective we can be more faithful on our journey.

I want to conclude today with the words of our moderator, Peter Short, whose full comments you can read on the United Church of Canada Website. Rev. Short says, “Sisters and brothers, we must not turn from addressing the hard challenges that face our leadership. We must be brave in the face of difficult issues. We must be faithful to Jesus Christ in finding a way forward. We must move with insight and compassion beyond the familiar territory into a new land where our ministry will be equipped and sustained for the good work that lies before us - the good work of the gospel.” And to that, I say, Amen.

Turn with me please in your hymn books to #918 and join me as we share together,

A New Creed

We are not alone, we live in God’s world.

We believe in God: Who has created and is creating,

who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new,

who works in us and others by the Spirit.

We trust in God.

We are called to be the Church:

to celebrate God’s presence, to live with respect in Creation,

to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil,

to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us.

We are not alone.

Thanks be to God.