Call to Shepherd
Every week I get the newsletter from Trinity Wall Street Church in New York City which shares some of the details of the mission of the church. The video sermon from the previous Sunday is also included. On April 22, 2018, The Reverend Winnie Varghese spoke on the call to shepherd and what it might mean on Earth Day and in the midst of the ongoing cruelty and injustice which is evidenced at Riker’s Island prison.
One can google Trinity Wall Street and sign up for the weekly newsletter. If one reads the one dated April 27, 2018 one will find a listing of the five strategic task forces currently exploring the nature of a living dance of faith. The groups are: Trinity Commons; Low-income Housing and Homelessness: Racial Justice; Leadership; and Capacity. Unfortunately, all of these were not explained. Most are very obvious. I know that Trinity church is committed to a working/living faith.
Obviously not all churches can enjoy such an expanded mission. Not all religious people are ready to tackle such difficult tasks as the injustice that exist at Riker’s Island. Not all can tackle the systemic reasons for the inequality in housing, or other politically and emotionally controversial subjects such as the long-term cost we may be paying for the current windfall from the gas and oil drilling which is going on in the United States.
All of us can, however, answer the call to commit to being uncomfortable shepherds. I know that if I am not uncomfortable I am not challenging myself to grow. In my profession of counseling, it is easy for me to hide behind the ever-expanding list of ethical rules, the Hipaa laws which deal with patient confidentiality, community pressure or the general fear of the litigious times in which we live. It is easy for me to justify doing all I can to maintain my license and certification. After all, how would I earn a living if I did not have my license or certification. When I served as an ordained minister there were also many explicit and implicit rules about the behavior of the pastor. It is not surprising to many who know me that nearly every Monday morning the elders of the church were on the phone to my “superiors” complaining that Reverend Pickett did or did not do this or that. It is also not surprising that their accusations were almost always accurate. While it may be true that I could have picked my battles a little more carefully, I suspect that my propensity for questioning explicit and implicit rules has not changed much in the over 45 years which have passed since that time.
Shepherding can be as simple, important and non-challenging as maintaining a food pantry or visiting the sick. Shepherding can be showing up for the peace march, challenging the belief that owning military style weapons is a moral or necessary choice, advocating the end of profit making pharmaceutical companies, lobbing for the end of profit making student loans or making it illegal to charge poor people with poor credit 23% interest. Shepherding can be demanding the closing of prisons and insuring that the staff of those prisons have the training and availability of decent paying jobs.
The Reverend Varghese challenges herself and the other members of the Trinity community to a new level of discomfort while offering an inclusive embrace.
She challenges me to avoid a comfort which prohibits growth; a comfort which obeys all the rules just because they are rules in a neat box all tried with a lovely ribbon.
Written April 30, 2018
Every week I get the newsletter from Trinity Wall Street Church in New York City which shares some of the details of the mission of the church. The video sermon from the previous Sunday is also included. On April 22, 2018, The Reverend Winnie Varghese spoke on the call to shepherd and what it might mean on Earth Day and in the midst of the ongoing cruelty and injustice which is evidenced at Riker’s Island prison.
One can google Trinity Wall Street and sign up for the weekly newsletter. If one reads the one dated April 27, 2018 one will find a listing of the five strategic task forces currently exploring the nature of a living dance of faith. The groups are: Trinity Commons; Low-income Housing and Homelessness: Racial Justice; Leadership; and Capacity. Unfortunately, all of these were not explained. Most are very obvious. I know that Trinity church is committed to a working/living faith.
Obviously not all churches can enjoy such an expanded mission. Not all religious people are ready to tackle such difficult tasks as the injustice that exist at Riker’s Island. Not all can tackle the systemic reasons for the inequality in housing, or other politically and emotionally controversial subjects such as the long-term cost we may be paying for the current windfall from the gas and oil drilling which is going on in the United States.
All of us can, however, answer the call to commit to being uncomfortable shepherds. I know that if I am not uncomfortable I am not challenging myself to grow. In my profession of counseling, it is easy for me to hide behind the ever-expanding list of ethical rules, the Hipaa laws which deal with patient confidentiality, community pressure or the general fear of the litigious times in which we live. It is easy for me to justify doing all I can to maintain my license and certification. After all, how would I earn a living if I did not have my license or certification. When I served as an ordained minister there were also many explicit and implicit rules about the behavior of the pastor. It is not surprising to many who know me that nearly every Monday morning the elders of the church were on the phone to my “superiors” complaining that Reverend Pickett did or did not do this or that. It is also not surprising that their accusations were almost always accurate. While it may be true that I could have picked my battles a little more carefully, I suspect that my propensity for questioning explicit and implicit rules has not changed much in the over 45 years which have passed since that time.
Shepherding can be as simple, important and non-challenging as maintaining a food pantry or visiting the sick. Shepherding can be showing up for the peace march, challenging the belief that owning military style weapons is a moral or necessary choice, advocating the end of profit making pharmaceutical companies, lobbing for the end of profit making student loans or making it illegal to charge poor people with poor credit 23% interest. Shepherding can be demanding the closing of prisons and insuring that the staff of those prisons have the training and availability of decent paying jobs.
The Reverend Varghese challenges herself and the other members of the Trinity community to a new level of discomfort while offering an inclusive embrace.
She challenges me to avoid a comfort which prohibits growth; a comfort which obeys all the rules just because they are rules in a neat box all tried with a lovely ribbon.
Written April 30, 2018
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