events

For Those Working with Struggling Churches

It’s a burden, isn’t it? It’s hard not to feel like a failure, when your church is struggling and you don’t seem to be able to do anything about it. You know that you shouldn’t feel that way; you know you shouldn’t feel responsible for saving the church. You tell yourself that your people already have a savior, and it isn’t supposed to be you. But still.

This is a presentation I made for the 2021 spring meeting of the Prairie Association of the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ. It’s about eighteen minutes of prayer, song, and reflection, written especially for those working with struggling churches.

Adam2021-09-11T16:20:40-05:00May 20, 2021|0 Comments

Shameless Self-Promotion: Live Events

This week, I’m afraid I haven’t created very much in the way of new content for you. Instead, I’ve been working on some shameless self-promotion. It involves live events—events where I participate as a speaker or entertainer or (best of all) both. I love doing live events. They bring in a bit of money—and, after all, one must eat—but there’s more to it than that.

The writing I do is wonderfully rewarding, whether I am making a song, an essay, a poem, or a whole book. It feels like a co-creative act: I feel that God is helping me make something new, and rejoicing with me when it comes out right. But sharing what I’ve made is an equally amazing experience, and it’s a good way to counterbalance the isolation of writing. When I stand up in front of a group, I am able to transcend my reflexive shyness and be dynamic and outgoing. Such sharing is effortful for me because, like many pastors, I’m a compensating introvert. But I find that doing live events is entirely worth the effort. The blessing of creating something doesn’t feel quite complete until I share it in person.

Well: but looking at my calendar, I see that I have only one live event scheduled between now and the end of the year. (That’s not counting Sundays, of course. Any time you’re in Clare, Michigan, you’re welcome to come and participate in my regular “live event” on Sunday morning!) So, I’d like to drum up a few more gigs. What I did this week was to create a “speaker page.” It advertises my availability as a speaker and entertainer. I also filmed a short promotional video to go with it. It’s here:

Please check it out, and let me know if you have any comments or questions. Who knows? Maybe someday, I can meet a few more Merry Mystics in person!

Adam2016-10-23T21:05:38-05:00October 23, 2016|0 Comments

Event: The Gathering

I will be performing for “The Gathering”, the annual retreat of the UCC Women of Michigan, at the Kettunen Center in Tustin, Michigan, on June 12, 2015. My playlist is still undecided, but I’ve promised to do “The Buddha Kicked My Butt!” It’s a weekend event; my concert will Friday evening.

Contact Sallie Anderson at (989) 732-9001 for more information about The Gathering.

Adam2014-09-26T16:53:23-05:00September 26, 2014|0 Comments

Event: Illinois Conference Celebration

The annual Celebration of the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ will be held at the Double Tree Hotel in Oak Brook, Illinois on Friday, June 8th and Saturday, June 9th. I am an “energizer” for the conference—yes, really—and as such I will be leading a workshop at 10:15 on Saturday morning. It’s session B-3.

Here’s my description of the workshop:

Surprise! Our God is a still-speaking God, a God of surprises, a God who says, “See, I am doing a new thing.” When people come to the door, this is an aspect of the Spirit that is moving in their hearts. No door is fully open if it is not open to surprises; no extravagant welcome can be complete if it does not say, “God’s surprises are welcome here.” We use music and dance in creative ways, in liturgy and in preaching, to help extend this spirit of welcome.

Well, that’s what I said I was going to do. But the truth is that I’m not sure yet. I’ve written a hymn for the event, and I’m trying to think up something else surprising (and perhaps even energizing) to do on the day. We’ll see.

To register for the Illinois Conference Celebration, see the Illinois Conference web site.

Adam2012-05-24T14:53:21-05:00May 23, 2012|0 Comments

The Song Of God

For the last five years I have been in an ordination process under the supervision of a denominational committee. That committee is called the Ministry Team for Authorized Ministers; it’s a committee of the Prairie Association of the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ. In a meeting on March 29^th, 2012, the committee concluded that I have now met all their requirements, and they voted unanimously to recommend me for ordination.

There still remain three final steps to my ordination process. First, there will be an Ecclesiastical Council, a meeting of the whole membership of the Prairie Association, where they will vote on whether to authorize me for ordination; this meeting is scheduled for June 10^th. Those attending this meeting will be able to question me on my ordination paper (or anything else they choose!). Here’s a copy of that paper, “The Song Of God“. Perhaps it isn’t the most elegant thing I’ve ever written—I wrote it with committee members’ questions in mind—but I’m a bit proud of it anyway.

After the ecclesiastical council, I’ll need a job offer for an ordained ministry—typically, a chaplaincy or a pastorate. (The United Church of Christ tries to minimize central governance and maximize the authority of local congregations; in that spirit they view the calling body as a partner in the discernment of a candidate’s call to ordination.) Then, finally, there would be a formal ceremony of ordination.

And then, presumably, a rest cure in an asylum of some sort…

Adam2012-04-15T23:24:50-05:00April 15, 2012|0 Comments

Concert Video: “I Don’t Believe In You Any More”

Here’s some more video from the concert I gave on November 12, 2011 at the Sycamore United Methodist Church in Sycamore, IL. (Thanks to the staff there for providing this footage.) My brother Ben helped me with some of chords and voicings in this song. He’s a jazz genius.

I wrote this song for a homeless veteran I met, a man who told me that he didn’t believe in God — and told me why. God bless you, friend, wherever you are.

Adam2011-12-30T16:18:15-06:00December 30, 2011|2 Comments

Concert Video: “Prophet’s Lament”

Here’s some video from the concert I gave on November 12, 2011 at the Sycamore United Methodist Church in Sycamore, IL. (Thanks to the staff there for providing this footage.) The song is my “Prophet’s Lament”.

Adam2011-12-26T10:16:55-06:00December 26, 2011|0 Comments

Just One String

Those who made it to my December retreat at Pilgrim Park received drafts of the first three chapters of my new book. The title of the book is Seeker, Skeptic: Christian Spiritual Practices With (Almost) No Strings Attached. It opens with this greeting:

“Yeah, they figured, being a priest, you was gonna slip ‘em the old routine. Personally, I’m for giving you a break, and what I says with the gang goes.” —Tony Scaponi to Father O’Malley in the 1944 film Going My Way

You never really know what to expect from a religious book, no matter what it says on the front and back covers. It might well turn out to be preachy, pushy, or condescending. It might turn out to be the literary incarnation of that guy who sits down next to you in the bus station and asks if you know Jesus. So thanks for taking the chance—I appreciate the nerve you’ve shown in reading this first paragraph, and I hope you’ll find the rest worth your while.

Here’s a joke that was going around my seminary a few years ago (as it was told to me by a Unitarian classmate). Question: what do you get when you cross a Jehovah’s Witness with a Unitarian? Answer: someone who rings your doorbell—for no particular reason. In a way, that’s what I’m doing with this book. I do have a few beliefs about God, and I have many conjectures, but this book is not intended to get you to adopt them. If you’re not sure what you believe about God, that’s okay; neither am I. If you’re not sure what you believe about Jesus of Nazareth, I’m right there with you. If you don’t trust institutional churches; if you have problems with various parts of the Bible; if words like missionary and evangelism make you want to pretend not to be home when the guys in the suits ring your doorbell—well, I promise you, I’m in the same club. (And would you be surprised to learn that quite a few people who were in seminary with me are in the same club too?) This book is for you, for us, the people on the margins of the Christian tradition.

But to be honest, I am ringing your bell here for a reason; I do have an agenda; and here it is. I believe in God. I believe that all people are connected to God. I believe that there are many people, both churchgoing and otherwise, who would be happier if they were more attuned to this connection. Some of the following chapters teach simple practices from the Christian tradition, practices that can help us to be more aware of our connections to God. Other chapters explore the barriers that may discourage us from engaging the Christian tradition at all. It is my hope that you will find something here that will help you experience your connection to the holy in a new way. If you are intrigued by any topic, there is some suggested further reading at the end of each chapter.

But that’s my whole conscious agenda; that’s the only string attached. I am not going to slip you the old routine. I don’t care whether you go to church, or tithe, or read the Bible daily, or believe this rather than that. I am only concerned to help you be more aware of your connection to God. It’s my belief, God takes care of the rest.

That’s what ministry is all about, for me. The next retreat at Pilgrim Park is February 12. I hope to see you there.

Adam2010-12-23T09:54:59-06:00December 22, 2010|0 Comments

A Blessing of Snow

My retreat day, “Practicing the Presence of God”, was an amazing experience for me on December 4.

We had a lot of snow the night before, six to eight inches. I drove around early in the morning, cursing and grinding my teeth, until I found a way to Pilgrim Park that was actually plowed. Then I called all the participants to tell them how to come. And, amazingly, they did! There was only one person who canceled because of the weather; the 14 other people who had signed up all struggled out in the still-falling snow, carpooling and helping each other dig out, all to spend the day there at Pilgrim Park with me. Even Stephanie Crumley-Effinger made it, and all the way from Richmond, IN, driving with her husband the night before. I was so amazed and grateful.

The first person to arrive after me was Susan Hale. She greeted me with a big smile and the observation, “Isn’t this snow a wonderful blessing?” I have to admit that I hadn’t been thinking of it as a blessing until that moment. The chapel where we met is an intimate octagonal building in the woods with floor to ceiling windows all around, and the view of the woods filling up with snow was just amazing. Meagan Johnson took some great pictures—she has an album of them on Facebook.

Well, we started late, and I had to change my plans for the day, and I was pretty stressed out and tired at the beginning of it, let alone at the end. But it didn’t matter: it was a blessed day anyway. My thanks to all of you who were there to share it with me. And tell your friends: the next retreat is February 12.

May you have a blessed Christmas, friends!

Adam2010-12-12T17:51:50-06:00December 12, 2010|0 Comments