07.17.08

Tri-Cultural Windows

Posted in Ancona, church, culture, photography at 5:46 am

A friend of Marcus recently took us on a guided tour of Ancona. I’ve lived here for over two years and hadn’t ever done any kind of tourist things, and was kind of looking forward to learning some new things.

As we winded our way through some of the historical streets on Ancona, we came upon a building I had driven by, but hadn’t ever noticed. It’s very ornate, and over the years has been the home of many rich merchants. Our tour guide explained a very unique feature of the windows. First, they have rounded arches, which are very typical of Roman architecture. But they are also double windows, which are typical of Venetian architecture. But they also have pointed tops, which are typical of Arabian architecture.

Ancona has been influenced by all kinds of cultures over the centuries. The ruling power of the time left its mark on the economy, the language, the government, or in this case, the architecture.

I immediately thought of the church. Right now, we have Italians, Americans, and Romanians who are all active participants. We’ve had Irish and French visitors. Sometimes the cultures clash a bit, but for the most part they all come together and make a really beautiful thing.

A Suprising Finale

Posted in Ancona, Uncategorized, church, family, friends, photography at 4:34 am

We have a group of 15 university students from College Heights Christian Church here in Ancona right now. They’ve been a great group, really ready to dive in and experience the culture and learn about our church.

On Monday, they hosted a day at the beach. They invited people they had met and we also invited the church to come and enjoy hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill (something that few of them had ever experienced).

It rained off and on all day, and after weeks of hot, humid weather, it was cool and windy. Just about dinner time, some church members showed up, and we got the grill going.

That’s when the storm clouds rolled in. The owner of the beach let us use his outdoor seating, which had a roof. We started seeing lightning hitting the ocean near us. And then, all of the sudden, it hailed on us. Ice was bouncing off the roof and into the area where we were seated. We quickly moved the food out of the rain, and took shelter under an awning. One of our church members said he had never seen hail before! And about 10 minutes later, it all stopped. We shook our head and laughed at the horrible weather for beach day.

And then we noticed the rainbow:

I’ve never seen a rainbow so large before! It was a full semi-circle that went into the sea on one side, and up and over the city of Ancona. I tried to stitch two pictures together above to give you an idea of how big it was.

God has the best endings.

06.19.08

A New Picture of Church

Posted in church, ministry at 4:57 am

Yesterday, Jason suckered me into attending a meeting for all pastors and priests in the Marche region. Normally, I’m horrible at these things - meeting people and describing our “denomination” and mingling aren’t my strong points. But the theme of this meeting piqued my interest: the problems of youth.

For most of the meeting we were divided up into four groups discussing various aspects of youth like The relationship between youth and spirituality and Youth and secularization. There were pastors there from all kinds churches: Greek Orthodox, Catholic, The Apostolic Church, Seventh Day Adventist, and little ol’ me. At one point a young priest said that young people need “una nuova immagine di chiesa” - a new picture of church. He talked about how it’s time to stop asking the young people to fit into old models of what our relationship with God looks like. Church needs to be about community, and allowing people to “work out their salvation” and not be perfect before walking in the door.

Did you catch that this was coming from a Catholic priest?

The conversation went on and I described how we have begun to change our view of church as well. Instead of asking people to behave and believe a certain way before they can belong (be a part of the community), we switch the order. They can be a part of the community, which causes them to change their beliefs, which causes them to change their behavior.

And then another lady started criticizing the Catholic church, and the conversation stopped there while the priest dodged the arrows that were being launched at him. It was too bad, because there was a good thing going.

I’m never sure what to do with these ecumenical meetings. On one hand, I think it’s silly to think that any of us, with our various theological backgrounds, would ever be on the same page (though that’s probably not even the goal). On the other, conversations like this where we learn from each other can only benefit the capital “C” Church.

05.16.08

Massimiliano Ripanti

Posted in Ancona, church, friends, ministry at 2:51 pm

My heart is heavy and my eyes full of tears. Yesterday, around 9:50 AM, our dear friend Massi went Home.

He had been battling myelofibrosis for nearly a year, and infection finally overcame his weakened immune system. His absence will be a tangible thing in our church for a long time.

As the pastor, it’s my job and my priviledge to stay strong for the family and to be a source of strength in a difficult time. Yesterday I was reminded how thin the facade is. As I was walking Rosa back to the waiting room after one last goodbye with her already-cold fiancée, the facade cracked. I found myself in the hallway with Jason. The door to the waiting room clicked closed, and the tears came. We tried to save ourselves the embarassment of emotion (masculinity is a funny thing) by hiding in separate corners. And just as quickly as it started, the crying stopped and we went back in the room.

I miss him already. His funny Senigalliesi accent that took me months to get used to. His weekly phone call at the exact time Life Group was supposed to start, telling me he had just left and was on his way. His suspicious looks when we served something American, and then watching him take a second and third helping. Our awkward conversations in the hospital towards the end, when we both talked about everything but the obvious. But more than anything, his faithfulness until the very end. He loved God with all his heart, soul, and mind.

A dopo, amico…

04.12.08

Missionaries tell the best stories

Posted in church, friends, ministry at 3:21 am

We just had the pleasure of hosting two missionary friends of our who have been serving in Germany for over 30 years. As we talked over coffee and meal times, I was struck with the number of amazing stories that they had to tell us. Crazy things like almost getting arrested in Naples. And great things like finally seeing fruit after many years of labor.

It got me to thinking. Why does any missionary go through these crazy things? We’ve only been here just under three years, so our supply of stories isn’t near what these veterans had to tell. But we’ve had our share of times when we look back and wonder what on earth just happened, and how God got us out of it!

A lot of missionaries have an adventurous spirit, and so they stay on the field just for the love of new experiences. I think some like to create things and see them grow. But I don’t know if those things are enough. Every missionary I know (that has made it for the long haul) feels a strong sense of calling. That God has asked them to be where they are. And it’s funny what you’ll endure when you know you’re where you’re supposed to be.

But calling isn’t reserved just for missionaries. I think He calls all of us to be somewhere or do something. There’s lots of contentment that can be found when you’ve wrestled with the call in your life and planted yourself where you’re supposed to be.

So where are you called to be?

04.07.08

We never start church on time

Posted in church, culture, ministry at 4:21 am

Our Sunday morning service starts at 11 AM. Well, it’s supposed to start at 11 AM. Yesterday I looked at the clock and around 11:30 we were sort of starting to think about getting things started. I used to get kind of annoyed by this. Italians are definitely less punctual than Americans, but not excessively so. Why is it that every week it was such a struggle to start at 11 AM?

And yesterday, I got it. As people arrive and start kissing and hugging and greeting one another, the noise level in the room grows. There’s laughter. There’s catching up. Yesterday there was even some crying as though people couldn’t wait to get in the door to unload. This place, or more accurately, these people, are a refuge from the day to day grind. So in a way “church” does start at 11:00. The part of church where people take care of each other. The singing and the preaching …. well, we get around to it eventually. It doesn’t make us lazy or sloppy or mean we don’t know how to tell time. I think it means we know what is important and what people really need more of.

02.10.08

Is there space for both of us?

Posted in Team, church, ministry at 3:41 am

Our team just finished its twice-annual planning retreat. I look forward to these times together, and always love to see how God is going to direct His church here in Ancona.

I have a teammate who is pretty much opposite from me. He’s a thinker, a philosopher, loves reading books with unpronounceable authors, and is more liberal that I am in almost every area. And I honestly wondered before this retreat if I we could ever get on the same page. I like reading, sort of. I really don’t like the philosophical ping-pong of ideas. And I’m pretty conservative in my thinking. So is there space for both of us on this team? Are we doomed to frustration and irritation? Will he constantly see me as this stuffy, boring, uptight guy who needs to be free? Will I always roll my eyes at him, thinking he needs to grow up a little and be a little more disciplined - and for heaven’s sake tuck in your shirt?

I have to confess that the answer really surprised me. We never did come to blows. We never argued, in the negative sense of the word. There were times where I had to stop and pinpoint where he was coming from. And there were times when he wanted to explore the outcome of my way of thinking. We may have scratched our heads a couple of times at each other, but at least I was able to learn something in the process. And I think our team (and the church) is better off for it.

It’s the beauty of this crazy kingdom that God is setting up here.

01.26.08

Watered-down Communion

Posted in church, culture at 10:04 am

Last night was the final night of the Ecumenical week of prayer that I mentioned earlier. The service included a lot of singing, some prayer, some short messages by area pastors and priests, and communion.

Well sort of. As an area pastor’s wife sang a beautiful, self-translated version of Adonai, we all came forward to receive a tiny cup of water. The program explained that the water was a symbol of the Holy Spirit, of Jesus who takes away our thirst, and of baptism.

But you see, it wouldn’t be possible for all of us to take communion together. The Catholics believe that the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ. The Protestants believe it’s a symbol of Christ’s body and blood. And some Protestants don’t feel like we should share communion with Protestants from other denominations. So what’s the end result? Communion that … isn’t.

Which I think sums up some of my problems with ecumenicalism in general. We pray for unity, we listen to carefully-worded messages imploring unity, we sing songs about being bound together. But we’re not. And I think most of us are to stubborn to shift our beliefs so that we could have actual unity. Or at least feel comfortable watching others live out their beliefs, even if they differ a bit from ours.

01.24.08

Ecumenicalism

Posted in church, culture, ministry at 10:18 am

So we’re in the middle of Ecumenical Week here in Ancona. The Catholic churches are hosting protestant pastors from all over so that the Catholics can get to know us crazy Protestants.

Tuesday night our church was invited to head to Numana, about twenty minutes away. It was a normal prayer service, with a question and answer period in the middle. The people were generally nice, and asked basic questions like, “Do you submit to the pope?” and “Can your priests get married?” But I couldn’t help but notice the slight edge on the questions. They were more like, “I heard you don’t submit to the pope, and if not, who do you submit to?” or possibly “Well I heard, that your priests get married!”

Jason & Josh politely answered their questions. Some people even agreed with our stance on things and publicly stated that the Catholic church needs to change and do what we’re doing. But the thing that struck me, and that I hadn’t noticed before so strongly, is how ignorant people are here about Protestantism. There was a level of suspicion because it is such an unknown. In America that’s not an issue. Most people have some level of understanding of Protestant beliefs, and even a flawed view of the Church is something to go on. But here, we’re completely outside day to day living. And unfortunately, when we don’t understand something, we tend to make it scarier than it is.

I haven’t been terribly excited about these meetings. I sincerely hope they are more than surface-level “Christian unity.” But I do appreciate that they help average people to put a smiling face on Protestantism, which makes it a little less scary. As I told a friend after the meeting, “I hope that we were able to put a face on the enemy.”

12.16.07

You do believe me … right?

Posted in church, culture, ministry at 4:51 pm

A friend of ours recently called and asked if she could talk with Jason and I about some things that had been going on in her life. We arranged for a casual dinner the following night. As soon as she arrived and began explaining her situation, I quickly realized that I was in unfamiliar territory. I took very few counseling classes during my time at Bible college, but I doubt that they would have offered the class that I needed. The subject was the occult.

We’re dealing with this issue more and more. Seemingly harmless things like horoscopes and palm readings have woven their way into the culture here, and we’re left with a nasty mix of post-Catholic, superstitious, and mystical spirituality.

Our friend wasn’t involved with any of these things. But she was placed in a situation where she had to deal with some very real and very scary things: evil presences, fear, even some other strange physical signs that not all was right. I was struck at a certain point during our time together when she looked right at us and said, “You do believe me … right?” I think she really was afraid we would think she was a nut case. And the look of relief that I saw in her face when I told her that I absolutely believed her really taught me something.

I didn’t have a lot of wise counsel for her. I was very thankful for Jason and the different perspective that he brought to the table. But it was interesting to me because I think about 50% of what she needed was practical things she could do to get out of this situation. And the other 50% of what she needed was just to be heard and know that she wasn’t alone.

As I get deeper into this culture, and find more and more how deeply these occultish things have woven their way into even a strong Christian’s life, I think I’m going to have a lot more conversations like this one.