God's Preferential Option For the Poor and why clergy get it wrong

When Modern Western Society was being formed, there came to be what was called "The Three Estates." In other words - there were three types of people in the world:

The Clergy - the Nobility - The Masses.

You were either, a priest, a prince, or a nobody. Life was that simple.

I think the church at that point had forgotten its roots. It forgot that Jesus was part of the third estate, a nobody, a poor person with a social agenda. I don't think we ever really got it back.

The church has always had an identity problem. It is caused by the fact that Jesus was poor and talked about helping the poor - but the church is almost exclusively made up of middle-class folks, and ruled by the societal elite.

I know we do not want to hear this - I know so many pastors, clergy, priests - who over and over claim they are just common ordinary folk.

Well. No.

Like it or not - we are different.

And I do not mean made holy and set apart by God. That is either a construct of our powerful hierarchy or it is something we say to make ourselves feel better.

I mean we are different in that we are part of the ruling elite - we are just not paid enough for it to be part of the societal elite in our hyper financialized class structure. 

Clergy are hyper-educated. Even the minority of people who go straight into the first estate have a minimum of two University Degrees. Many of us have a whole other career we trained for as well, and a huge percentage of us have more than two degrees.

Secondly - we get decision making power in a society that is really out of tune with the average jane. I can talk to the mayor about how I think something should be done - and they will probably consider it. People listen to me for advice on everything from how to bake bread to whether or not to leave their spouse. A clergy person has a scary amount of power when it comes to influencing.

People tell us their secrets. Almost everyone.

All of this, for as long as there have been professional religious leaders, has gotten us into trouble repeatedly. Think about Rasputin in the Russian Court or Richelieu in the French Court. Think about paedophile priests and native residential schools.

I wonder if it causes more problems now than it ever did.

And I wonder if this is because we pretend it is not true.

The current pandemic is changing the social landscape. I no longer think it will last long enough to change it permanently. But something else will probably happen and continue the work the virus began.

Which is the work of rebalancing society?

And what we are discovering is that the third estate, the ones we always discount as being not the elite of society, are the only ones making society function. I mean, if you take away a priest or a politician from a local community - there will still be food, and water, and fire, and shelter... as long as there are farmers, carpenters, labourers... There will still be joy and spiritual depth as long as there are still poets and musicians...

Here is the secret that everyone has always known - the third estate, the huddled masses, the poor... they are the ones who matter the most.

And when we use religious language, when we sing hymns from hymn books, when we make prayers responsive and use words that no one understands - we shut everyone out from experiencing what Religion is all about.

Greta Vosper talked about removing the magical language from religion and stop making it like we are talking to some other "being" like the great Santa Clause in the sky... and this was a good corrective.

But I think there is another step necessary here. We need to strip religion of class. That is the far more dangerous aspect of what we do - maintain a class structure that no longer serves anyone well.

We need to abandon religious trappings and become "plain" in what we do. We need to realize that the Quakers and Mennonites were the ones who best understood Luther and the whole point of the church reformation back in the early 1500's. They were trying to make faith accessible to the common person.

So no more words like epiclesis, exhortation, benediction, or sacrament. No more reading King James Bibles from the pulpit as if those words meant anything to anyone any more. No more robes and collars and ridiculousness.

If these days have taught us anything - it is that the stories of faith, the stories of goodness, the actions and language we need to use to change the world - are not ours, they belong to those who live life every single day from the gutter up.

I have a friend I have never met in Memphis - a guitar player who knows my wife - who was outside of a Walgreen's on the weekend and gave some Gatorade and protein snacks to a homeless guy... A minute later another homeless guy ambled across the street and the first one, now with a bag of groceries, says, "I got ya covered man" and hands him a Gatorade and Lunchable.

See - that is what Jesus was like. And that is what we should be like too. That is religion and those are the stories we need to tell.

Face(book)ing Depression

Everyone has their triggers. Everyone has something that annoys them.

It has been a year now since the Journal of Social and Clinical  Psychology published a study saying that Facebook leads to depression. Other studies have come to a similar conclusion and it may not be limited to Facebook as a platform.

In my way of seeing it, there could be many reasons for this link. First off social media presents a lot of the world in an easily digestible form. Therefore I end up knowing and hearing all too often that the polar ice is melting, whale carcasses are washing up, mass murder is going on, death, destruction etc... All of the things that would normally depress us are amplified. Then there is the whole comparative factor where I get to see my contemporaries who are enjoying their hot tubs and SeaDoos while I am trying to decide if I can afford to get a coffee at Tim's this morning.

Last but not least there is the way that it somehow makes us lose our faith in humanity. I blame this mostly on the comments section. It is as if we gave all the crazies who used to write letters to the editor (and get weeded out) free reign to instantly publish their diatribe to an audience of millions. Thus anti-vaxxers and climate emergency deniers, evolution protesters and, well, mean people, seem to be getting a louder and louder voice. 

I have my own problem that combines the two of these things. Triggers, depression, and "fake news."

It all started when I went to seminary yet continued my unabashed love of storytelling and movies. I watched a lot of movies. There are religious people in a lot of movies. They are by and large Catholics. I remember saying to anyone and everyone who listened that this was a pretty one-sided view of the church and clergy.

Then the Millenium brought to the forefront the wackadoodles, which is the official term, who thought that the world was ending.

But now... Now... I cannot turn to Facebook and scroll without seeing religion portrayed as some abomination. Whether it is people talking about Trump and therefore the conservative right-wing church in the states, or anti LGBQT+ propaganda, or, well, anything.

We have created a world where the wackadoodles get top billing and the moderates or liberals are left shaking their heads.

The thing is, I am depressed because this is becoming the way most people understand the church. Understand me. And I more than ever think we need the opposite.

I know I am over-educated, I know I am liberal and left-wing, but seriously... how can anyone believe some of the rhetoric of these people who have stolen Christianity and made it so narrow and hateful?

Jesus and his followers were exactly like me. left-wing, lovey-dovey, radical protestors who talked about the hippy ideals of love, peace, and understanding. That is not an opinion, that is not a guess, it is historically and accurately portrayed in every facet of not only the Bible but of Roman history. That is why he was killed, as a traitor to the Roman government, for inciting rebellion, in the name of peaceful civil protest for equality.

It is just not really debatable. "Love everyone," said Jesus... and no matter what anyone else said - "you don't mean Romans? Slaves? Blacks? Jews? Samaritans? Cops? Politicians? Sick People? Poor People?" Jesus said, "Did I stutter? EVERYONE!"

But I turn to Facebook and there is a priest supporting Donald Trump. There is a pastor saying gays are going to burn in hell. There is a sociologist blaming the church for racist political agendas.

And I have been forced into the place of an apologist (for those who do not study church history - I mean that academically as the type of Christian writer who writes about the faith for non-believers in order to point out that it is actually a pretty cool thing).

And it is hard. It is what made me take a break from ministry for a while. It is what keeps me up at night. I don't want to be associated with the wackadoodles. But they seem to be multiplying.

Even in the progressive and left-wing United Church of Canada we are becoming more and more conservative and literalist. Both of which are SO not Jesus like that I cannot believe people are not seeing it.

I don't know. Maybe the psychiatrists are right and the only thing I can do is abandon social media.

But then again - someone has to keep trying to present the other side. 

The Clergy Problem

There are two sides to every story... Although true, this is inaccurate, there are as many sides to any situation as there are participants. So I am going to ask you to take this post with the potential grain of salt that comes from knowing that it is based mostly on the ruminations of my mind and not on hard data.

That being said, I started writing this blog to say out loud what the last few decades in the church have made me think deeply about from an institutional point of view.

I am thinking of joining a union. There is an option, Unifaith - a community chapter of Unifor.

The reason for this is that I no longer hold any illusion that the United Church of Canada as an institution is looking out for or interested in the clergy. It has become a "keep the church open at any cost" type world where standards of education and practice are becoming lower and lower... It is becoming a world where I am expected to work full time for part-time wages and apologize for the fact that I am highly educated and seasoned to the point where I cost more money to hire because I have more experience.

The church wonders why there are not as many people becoming clergy. The obvious reason would be to say that people are not religious anymore, so why work for the church. Which is both true and too simple? So let's look at some other factors.

Money is a real one. Not only because it is necessary to survive - but also because it is a measure of value...

There are only four real comparable careers in terms of education. Doctor, lawyer, and university professor. (I know, there are thousands of others and variations, but I am using the easiest to understand)

Average salaries in New Brunswick for each look like this: $223,000 for doctors, $60,000 for a lawyer, and university professor is $86,000

After 25 years as a minister, my yearly salary is 45,000. I have 12 years of university education as well.

Not only that - but at almost every meeting of every church board, it is made painfully clear that my salary is breaking the bank so to speak.

When this imbalance began it was made up for in terms of perks. People brought clergy everything from vegetables to furniture. Car companies and YMCA gave us massive cuts in terms of what we paid. We got free housing, free heat, a free ride. Clergy paid almost no tax and were treated with respect everywhere. So in other words, the horrible pay was made up for by the simple fact that almost everything we needed was provided. Today I'm lucky to get some extra zucchini in the summer from someone's garden.

Ok, so let's say I am in it for something else besides the money. let's assume for instance that I am religious. Well - no one who goes to church actually cares. That might seem harsh, but it isn't, it is a reality. There are very, very few people who want their faith to impact them outside of Sunday morning. Most people will not engage in studying the scripture or their faith unless it is made SUPER convenient. And most people balk at the idea of paying any more than a couple of bucks a week to keep a church open. So you are going to end up being the ONLY person who cares about the faith in the way you thought everyone would.

Both of the above are disheartening - and would be bad enough, but the next two truths are actually more to blame with why no one wants to do this and very few of us stay doing this...

First, every single person you meet thinks they can do it better. The hymns you chose, the language of your prayers, even the way you schedule your days and vacation are subject to each and every person voicing their opinion. And it is not only about work... how you dress, what you eat, where you go, whether or not you are seen in a bar or at the liquor store. Everyone has an idea about how you should live and what you should do. And no one wants to hear that you have any problems.

Last but not least in this weeks tirade is something I call cumulative pain. I may have made this term up. But here is an example of what I mean. I started out in a church in Quebec and every four or five years I have moved. Not only have I never seen any of those people from any of those churches again - but most of them are dead.

Where you might go to two or three funerals that really affect you personally, I have buried hundreds of people I genuinely loved and cared about. I have also buried murderers, victims, loners, and street people. Beloved grandparents and teenage suicides. I have sat with a mother who did not even know their son did drugs till he overdosed and died. I have known and buried people drowned by friends, hit by snowplows, and who dropped dead suddenly while shaving.

I have performed over a hundred weddings and there are like two of those couples who are still together. I have baptized over a hundred babies who as adults no longer attend church.

I have watched congregations dwindle and buildings close all the while feeling the people's eyes on me asking the unspoken question as to why I personally cannot save the church.

Who in the hell can do this for a lifetime?

The answer is two types of people... The majority, unfortunately, are those that are so needy that they absolutely cannot leave it all behind. The lesser variety of which I count myself one are those too stubborn to let go of the dream that someday, in some way, this might make a difference.

But if you want to know another side of what is wrong with the church - this is it. Clergy are devalued and dehumanized. Constantly. I am going to give my life ad soul for a community you all seem to just barely care about in order for me to end up poverty stricken and alone... That seems to be the idea... and it has to change.