Leading Ideas: Lattes, Ashes, Prayer, and Conversation | Old Habits Die Hard - Lewis Center for Church Leadership - Wednesday, 26 February 2014 - Leading Ideas Lewis Center for Church Leadership
Lattes, Ashes, Prayer, and Conversation by Yvi Martin
Traditionally, the Ash Wednesday service in my church has been in the evening. People come for confession and repentance, carry the sign of the cross on their heads for 30 minutes, then go home and wash it off. Last year, inspired by one of my seminary colleagues, I announced to the congregation that I would set up shop at a nearby coffee house from 6:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for anyone who wanted to begin their day in prayer and with the marking of ashes. We wanted to give them the opportunity to be marked throughout the whole day with a visible sign of Christ’s redemption of our mortality.
At 6:00 a.m., the first person walked in the door, a high school student from the church on her way to a before-school practice. I sat toward the back of the coffee shop with my latte and a bowl of ashes. I handed every person who came a card with a prayer of confession on one side and an explanation of Ash Wednesday on the other side. I asked them to consider the prayer for a moment. They could pray it out loud. Or they could pray it silently. They could add to it. When they were finished praying, I marked their foreheads with ashes in the sign of the cross, saying “Sin and death are constant struggles for us in this life, but you are marked by Jesus Christ, and by his power, we live.” I did this with most people individually, but I had a few groups who sat together and a few families who prayed together.
We do not typically think of Ash Wednesday as a day to evangelize. So I was concerned about this seeming ostentatious or showy. But I learned that the conversation that comes from a cross made of ashes is not a showy conversation. It is an honest conversation that often leads to more questions. It is a door-opening conversation because it deals with death and our human condition — issues with which every person wrestles.
Although we didn't advertise beyond our congregation, some of our members invited others. By the end of the morning, 75 people had come to the coffee shop, making the owner happy. He sat down and talked with me for awhile about what we were doing and ended up asking me for ashes for his own forehead. A local news station even showed up!
The people who participated really valued the experience because they were challenged not to hide Jesus or be embarrassed about what they believed. Also, they carried the mark with them all day and therefore were drawn back to prayer several times throughout the day. It was a new and meaningful way for us to begin Lent together.
Yvi Martin serves as associate pastor at King’s Way United Methodist Church in Springfield, Missouri. She is a participant in the Lewis Center’s Lewis Fellows leadership development program for young clergy.
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Old Habits Die Hard by Lovett H. Weems, Jr.
I grew up working with my parents in our country grocery store. Those were days before the advent of large drug stores with hundreds of over-the-counter medications and dozens of customized variations of each of them. With limited alternatives available, we sold Bayer aspirin as a cure for virtually any ailment, from headaches to arthritis. Most bought small “tins” containing twelve aspirin. Each package contained a sheet of cotton to hold the tablets in place. Larger packages also included cotton.
The practice of putting cotton into aspirin containers dates to 1914 or 1915, about the time Bayer began compressing aspirin powder into tablets. The cotton served a vital purpose. Aspirin tablets could pulverize by rattling around in a tin or bottle. In 1980, however, Bayer created a coated tablet, meaning it would hold up without padding. Yet Bayer only removed cotton from their packages in 1999. “We concluded there really wasn’t any reason to keep the cotton except tradition,” a Bayer spokesperson said. “It’s hard to get out.”
What might be the connection with church leadership? A pastor used the first year in a congregation to ask the church leaders as each activity and project came up on the calendar, “Why do we do this?” Once the leaders understood that the question was in no way a criticism, since it was asked about everything, they took it as an opportunity to think through many endeavors that may not have received careful thought for many years. Once churches have been around for a while, it is likely they are still putting lots of cotton in bottles well after the need has passed.
Practices, routines, and programs arise to meet specific circumstances at the time. Often the actions continue once the circumstances have changed. It may be that the church treasurer still passes out a monthly budget report and goes over each line item to explain and receive questions, even after the budget has gone out as an email attachment well before the meeting. And members have already come prepared for questions and discussion. When I was growing up, I thought 11 a.m. on Sunday was a biblically dictated time for church. It turns out that 11 a.m. became a common pattern for worship because most of the United States was rural, and farmers needed enough time before church for their chores, with time left to travel to church by walking or by horse-drawn wagons. It could be that choir practice time was set years ago to accommodate a choir director’s secular work schedule but continues a decade after that director left.
Not only is it silly to do things that meet a need we used to have; it is also costly. The tradition of continuing to use cotton in the aspirin containers once it was no longer needed cost money to Bayer and their customers. Continuing unnecessary activities or practices costs money, time, and energy. All three of those resources are in short supply in most churches. Every resource the church has to offer should be dedicated to one purpose alone: fulfilling God’s mission for our church faithfully in our time and place. Keeping the cotton in the bottles may reassure us that everything is how we remember it, but there is a world outside our church doors crying for attention and the love of Christ in new and vital ways.
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., is professor of church leadership and director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary. His latest book (with Tom Berlin) is Overflow: Increase Worship Attendance & Bear More Fruit, published by Abingdon and available at Cokesbury and Amazon.
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Quotable Leadership:
Church members fear the pain of change more than they welcome its benefits. by Jeffrey Bullock
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Early-bird Registration Discounts for Engaging Local Schools Conference End Monday
Saturday, March 22, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Washington, DC
Engaging Local Schools Conference
For many congregations, local schools are the new frontier of mission. Schools, perhaps more than any other institution, mirror the needs and hopes of every segment of our community. The Engaging Local Schools Conference will guide your congregation in considering questions that are critical to the success of a school-focused service initiative. Register through March 3 for early-bird discounts.
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The Right Question
Leaders do not need answers. Leaders must have the right questions.
The late Bishop Gerald Kennedy told of someone who suggested that the question he would have to answer at the Last Judgment was:
Well, what did you make of it?
Want more Right Questions? Check out “Right Questions for Church Leaders: 2013 and 2012 Collections.”
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Editors: Lovett H. Weems, Jr., and Ann A. Michel. Production: Carol Follett
Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary.
4500 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20016 United States
(202) 885-8757
lewiscenter@wesleyseminary.edu
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