“Send lawyers, guns, and money” is a
repeating lyric in a late 1970’s song “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” by Warren
Zevon. Unfortunately it also seems to describe the current needs of our
Regional Church – the Christian Church in Ohio. Not the guns part hopefully,
but certainly legal advice, and definitely money.
I know that some of you have received
one or another email from the Chair of our Regional Church Council lifting up
part of the story. He is among those tasked with steering our Regional Church
through some turbulent times, and it won’t be easy.
Few of the details have been shared –
whether on the advice of lawyers or out of a sense of propriety - but as best I
have been able to discern from my “out of the loop” position as a local church
pastor in Akron, Ohio - the past decade or so at our Regional office has been
allegedly stained by that age old and yet always popular mixture of the misuse
of power and of money with a few other ingredients thrown in that I hesitate to
mention. I don’t share this news lightly
but sadly.
I’ll be honest – I have a whole lot of
feelings about this situation – sadness, anger, outrage, disbelief, confusion,
disappointment, and maybe even a bit of fear. Though not a member of any
Regional Council or Committee, I wonder if I could have done anything to
prevent it. I am still working through my emotions and my possible culpability.
And I know that a lot of other people are sorting through this wreckage as
well.
When such a thing happens – and supposedly
occurs not once but for years – it speaks to more than one person behaving
badly. It indicates that an entire system has failed to prevent such abuse. It
also suggests to me that the cleanup from this situation involves a much more
extensive remedy than a single staff member moving on.
I am reminded of the flooding that
occurred in the town where I live in the summer of 2003. As a result of historic
amounts of rainfall, torrents of nasty water containing some very bad things
flooded many residents’ basements not once but twice. I remember people’s
ruined carpets and other possessions piled high on the devil strip, and I also
recall scrubbing our basement with bleach to try to remove the germs and the
odor. But we had it easy – two local men, one a teenager, were killed by rising
floodwaters. None of us felt truly safe until the city redesigned the sewage
and storm drain systems to reroute the water if it ever came at that intensity.
Yet even now when heavy rains come, we check the basement just in case.
I have the feeling that a thorough
scrubbing is needed for our Regional Church – maybe more than once. And a
redesign of our structure is needed as well so that such a thing doesn’t happen
again. Yet even after a new system, I think we’ll need to check in from time to
time just in case.
What does all this mean to us at the
New Horizons Christian Church?
For one thing, it should serve as a
reminder for us to be as open and transparent as we can possibly be especially
in matters related to finances as well as other significant decision-making
opportunities. Some of my colleagues in ministry have been surprised to learn
that we publicly post our local church operating budget including salaries. I
think that people have a right to know how their offerings are spent.
As far as our relationship with the
Regional Church is concerned, our denominational structure is not a top-down
system in which our Regional or General church leaders give us orders.
Disciples of Christ have always been fiercely independent and even a bit
suspicious of authority. We participate freely with other churches because we
know that together we can create ministries that we cannot do by ourselves. Our
Regional ministries to young people and children – especially our ministries at
Camp Christian - are the most visible manifestation of our cooperation with
other churches in Ohio. It is not yet clear how the troubles at our Regional
office will impact our shared ministries, but we have been assured that Camp
Christian will be open and running once again this summer.
Ministries of the Christian Church in
Ohio have transformed my life. My experiences at Camp Christian helped lead to
my call to ministry as well as connected me to Holly. We will celebrate 36
years of marriage in a few months. And our children have also been touched by
Camp Christian as have many, many of the young people at the New Horizons
Christian Church. For the third year in a row, we’ll be sending a large group
to Camp this summer. It would be difficult to overestimate the positive impact
that Camp Christian and other Regional programs have had on so many people
especially young people.
I would ask that you keep our Regional
Church in your prayers in the coming months. We are all part of the Body of
Christ. As Paul wrote centuries ago in 1 Corinthians 12:26, “If one part suffers,
every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoice with
it.” There is no quick fix for what has happened, and it will take time for the
restoration of healthy behavior and healthy relationships. It may get worse
before it gets better. But I am hoping for some better days ahead – some days
of rejoicing ahead - even if it takes some time for those days to come.
Jim
