Bluegrass Culture and Church

I want to express my gratitude to Sierra Hull. This weekend, I was at the Mid-Winter Bluegrass MusicFestival, and was able to be toward the front of the audience when she and Highway 111 took the stage. Certainly, I appreciated her virtuosic mandolin playing, and the technical prowess and artistic creativity each of the musicians brought to the show.

More than that, though, I appreciated this one action she took in her show. In the middle of the show, Sierra Hull paused and invited a young mandolin player onto the stage to play a fiddle tune with the band.

I appreciated the fact that she took some of her stage time to give to a young player who wasn't on the billing. The thing is, though, that this is part of bluegrass tradition and culture.

Ricky Skaggs, who first started playing mandolin at age five, was able at age six to play onstage by Bill Monroe. Further, Sierra Hull herself got to play with Allison Krauss & Union Station when she was 11 or 12 years old.

It's part of the bluegrass tradition and culture for the stars to recognize budding talent and give young players a shot at a wider audience, some notoriety, and therefore a better shot at a future in music.

It also seems to be part of bluegrass tradition and culture that (whenever a group's not rehearsing or performing) anyone is welcome to grab their instrument and start playing. And the thing is, whether a person is virtuosic or mediocre or just beginning, for the most part people are very supportive of others' playing.

There's a culture of support and encouragement which (I think) goes back decades in bluegrass, and centuries in roots music. This culture continues to be perpetuated today – at least in part, I imagine, because the great players now were supported and encouraged when they were young.

I wonder what church would be like if we fostered this kind of culture ~ the kind of culture where young people and newcomers to the faith are actively nurtured and supported by those who've been around longer.

In that culture, conversations would be more important than committees; relationships would take precedence over stains in the carpet; faith would be more important than finance; and worship of the living G-d, with the whole community, would be primary.

Would it be enough for us to just decide these things are already true, and then act like they are?

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Bishop's Election, Part Four

The Rocky Mountain Synod of the ELCA is not the only synod electing a new bishop this year. I've been lurking a little bit on Facebook timelines, watching what folks in other synods are saying about their own election process.

After perusing Keith Anderson's this morning, I started to think about how we talk with one another about the work of the church, particularly as we anticipate changes in synodical leadership.

Here's what I came up with:

One issue we run in to is the fact that the Bishop of our synod has been re-elected at least twice, and has been in office for over eighteen years.

It's much more likely, when a sitting bishop is available, that she or he will be re-elected. Unless there are huge problems with current leadership, my experience is that folks assume things will remain the same. When we believe things will stay the same, we don't tend to have serious conversations about what needs to change.

This year, though, we in our synod have the opportunity to take our changing culture and society seriously. This year, we have the opportunity to elect a bishop who recognizes that the world is different than it was 18 years ago.

Business as usual circa 1993 is not appropriate for the church of 2012.

It's time in our synod to talk about what needs to change in the synodical leadership … and we probably need to talk seriously about what needs to change in the (especially mainline) church at large as well.

But when we have those conversations, they tend to be reduced to language that sounds good but doesn't really mean anything. We talk about mission and ministry without defining those terms. We say we want to develop bold leaders and courageous congregations without articulating what that means.

We wonder what G-d is up to out in the world, but we fight about what happens inside the church while we tend to ignore the world around us.

We talk about transforming the culture around us, but don't understand the culture well enough to know what kind of transformation the culture is yearning for. What we need is a conversation that moves deeper than generalized language that makes us feel good, but doesn't really mean anything.

What we need is a bishop who is bold enough to consider the truth that church culture needs its own transformation.

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Music in our Schools

My very excellent son played in the Denver Citywide Honor Band last weekend. He's in fifth grade, and so played with some of the best elementary school musicians from this city. He had a great time spending a Friday afternoon and seven hours of a Saturday immersed in music.

We stayed after his band's concert to hear the Citywide Middle School and High School bands concerts as well. It was inspiring to hear how much better the older bands are than the younger. It's obvious, but it's still inspiring.

I'm really glad my children are afforded the opportunity to play in school bands. In particular, I'm really glad that the school district has, so far, been willing to continue funding bands in schools. As I've noted before, I believe art (and physical education) is indispensable in public education.

But, since the economy has been recessed for a few years, and people seem to be less and less willing to pay taxes, school districts are being forced to cut their budgets and pare down to the bare bones … back to readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic.

I understand the dilemma ~ without enough money, do you cut the band program or the math department? Obviously, without enough money for both, the band is gone.

Colorado just received word that the state is exempted from the requirements of the so-called 'No Child Left Behind' strictures. This announcement encouraged me to look into the performance-evaluation system the state adopted that led to this exemption.

Some of the standards students should be able to demonstrate, based on the newer assessment criteria, are: creativity, innovation, communication, collaboration, initiative, and self-direction.

Colorado was granted this waiver, which allows the state more flexibility in using federal funds to assess improvement. What I really wish is that the state had more flexibility in using federal funds to actually develop these markers in students.

Here's the thing ~ I learned to play an instrument in 6^th grade. I was never, and will never be, a great musician. This does not mean, though, that my musical education was wasted. I continue, to this day, to find joy in creating music, and I believe I'm a better person because of the intangibles I learned by playing in the school band.

Mr. Richard Shaw, the conductor of the Citywide High School band pointed out the truth to us that these qualities (creativity, innovation, communication, collaboration, initiative, self-direction) are all inherent to playing in a band.

I wish the state had the finances and flexibility to actually take arts (and physical) education seriously. I wish we were raise more tax dollars to fund arts education. I wish we would recognize that even though it's difficult to measure the benefit of music to children in the short term (like we can measure improvement in mathematics), our society will benefit in the long term from teaching all children music and art.

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Bishop Election, Part Three

In the comments section of my post immediately previous to this one, someone made an astute observation. This person noted their discomfort with what they perceived as ageism in the church. This person draws an parallel between age discrimination and discrimination based on gender and sexuality and ethnicity.

You might agree with this person; you might disagree with their perspective. In some areas of our society, it certainly is true that there is discrimination based on age. In fact, through this recent economic downturn, I'm certain that some people I know had more trouble getting a job than they should have; and I'm certain the reason for this was their age.

However, it's also true that demographics are important. If we were to look around our congregations and see only women, we would recognize that we have a problem. And the truth is that we've been looking at ourselves for decades, recognizing the lack of ethnic diversity as problematic, and trying to address the white-ness of our congregations.

In the same way, it is necessary for the church to look around and see a dearth of young people. It is also necessary for the church to look around and not see young people in significant positions of leadership.

I don't see this as age discrimination. I see it as a problem that the church needs to address. I believe that people over 50 are vital to the vibrancy of the church. I also believe that no age group is more vital to the life of the church than any other.

The thing is, though, that when everyone in leadership is from the same generation, other age groups are necessarily alienated. In fact, this is one of the reasons that I've felt for years that younger leaders don't have a voice in this synod; the full-time ministry staff in the synod office are all demographically the same.

Because we don't have voices from a diversity of age groups in significant leadership positions, I'm afraid that the church is clinging to a way of existence that was life-giving in past decades, but that needs to be tweaked for our world today.

As we prepare for the upcoming election, I'm not asking that we ignore anyone over a certain age. What I'm asking for is that we consider the fact that many young adults are staying away from church, and what it would be like to seriously consider electing a 30-something- or 40-something-year-old bishop.

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Bishop Election, Part Two

As I mention here, our synod will be electing a new bishop in a couple months. So far, over 60 people were potentially nominated. Of those, seventeen potential candidates have not withdrawn their names from potential nomination.  (I say potential, because nothing official can happen until the April assembly.)

The next step in this potential process is for the remaining potential candidates to submit biographical information and their ideas about the office of bishop.

Those were published earlier this week, and I've taken a little time to glance at what these folks have written. I have to admit, I'm disappointed in what I see.

Of course I'll have to make a closer reading before too long, but the vision I see articulated by most of these potential candidates is a continuation of the status quo. “Let's do what we've been doing, let's just do it better.” And anything beyond what's always been is wrapped in church bureaucratic jargonistic language that doesn't really mean anything.

The world is shifting and changing all around us, and the church seems to be mired in a thought process that was successful at one point in history, but no longer makes sense.

Before you, my seven readers, throw up your hands in frustration, please understand that I'm not advocating that we eschew the essentials of our faith. Word and Sacrament should continue to remain at the center of who we are. Our Lutheran perspective on Christian theology is indispensable to the future of the church. The rest, though, should be up for negotiation.

See, if we don't begin to recognize that the world is changing, we'll remain stuck in the cultural trappings of the past.

What I don't see is any one of the potential bishop candidates voicing an articulate alternative to business as usual. Further, I don't hear any one of the potential bishop nominees talking about their actual shortcomings.

What we need, in my opinion, is a bishop who is solidly rooted and grounded in the essentials of our faith. What we need, in my opinion, is a bishop who is humble enough to recognize their own shortcomings, and who is willing to build a staff to fill those gaps.

What we need, in my opinion, is a bishop who recognizes the reality that the world is shifting and changing all around us, and who is willing to push the church into the future ~ not simply for the sake of change, but because the roots and foundation of our faith has an important Word to speak into the changing world.

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Waking Up in the Winter

morning beckons,
calling from
beyond the down and
patchwork of
sewing scraps & history

thick down and a
heavy quilt
hours ago tucked tightly
under my feet and shoulders
have loosened overnight

creating the security and
comfort of warmth, which
despite a beckoning morning
my nearly-awake self
will not vacate

Bluegrass Jams and Church

As my seven readers may know from looking at my profile, one of my identities is 'mediocre musician'. One of my favorite things to do, musically, is to go to bluegrass jams. Basically, what happens at a bluegrass jam is that people sit or stand around and play bluegrass songs. By and large, anyone can show up at a jam ~ doesn't matter whether you're a great player, or just starting on an instrument.

I'm not a very good bluegrass musician, but in the years that I've been going to jams, I've gotten good enough to be able to at least keep up in most circles. So I felt a little bit off balance last week when I went to a jam and felt like I didn't completely fit in. It took me a little while to figure out why, but here's what I think.

I showed up to the jam just as it was starting, and it was obvious that everyone else who was there knew each other. They were calling one another by name, talking about their life beyond that night, and asking about mutual friends. Even as other people showed up, it was obvious that everyone there knew everyone else, that they saw each other regularly in that venue, and that they interacted with one another in other settings as well. Out of probably 12 to 15 people who were there that night, there was only one who I thought might not be a regular … and she was the only person who said anything to me all night.

Once the jam started, the group was mostly playing songs I didn't know. I'm competent enough to be able to keep up with the chord changes for new songs, and confident enough to know that if I can't play the song, I'll sit it out. The thing that bugged me, though, was that I know plenty of songs (just not the ones they were playing). I would have been happy to call, and lead, one of the songs I do know. But in that circle, no one invited me to suggest a song, and it didn't feel like anyone cared that a stranger might have something to offer.

It felt to me like this group held a jam so that they could see each other, and the music was of lesser importance than their already-established relationships. I felt like an outsider for the whole night, and I felt like they didn't care whether I was there or not. The only thing anyone said as I was leaving was, “He's not coming back, is he? I'm going to take his chair.”

I'm not too bent out of shape about this experience. This jam happens in a town that I hardly ever get to, so it's not likely I'll be going back. Plus, there are a few other jams that I get to which are much more friendly.

The folks at the jam I frequent most often go out of their way to welcome new people. Beyond just welcoming, they do whatever they can to involve everyone fully, no matter who they are. When someone new shows up, everyone introduces themselves. The leader (jam host) makes sure the new person has an opportunity to receive communication about what's happening in the future, and the leader makes sure everyone has something to drink and a place to sit. Other than that, the leader is no different from anyone else in the circle.

Essentially, it feels like everyone is there because they love playing music, and the folks at this jam go out of their way to encourage others to be part of this jam because they love what happens there.

From what I can tell, there's one critical difference between this group and my recent new-jam experience. In my regular group, people are happy to see friends, but they're there to play music ~ and if new people show up to play music, they're immediately equally part of the group (whether they're beginners or experts).

The other night, I stumbled in to a place where people who happen to play the same kind of music like to hang out together and play that music. If someone else who also likes that music happens to show up, they can join in the playing. But since it felt like the primary reason to be there was for people to see their friends, there was no real reason to be excited about new people (who aren't their friends) happen to show up.

There's a huge difference between being excited about seeing friends, and being excited about the activity. There's no reason to invite or welcome strangers into a circle of friends; the stranger is, by definition, not part of the circle of friends. But when a group is motivated by the activity, they're more likely (without even thinking about it) to want to get anyone and everyone to participate in that activity.

This one simple experience is changing, and reinforcing, the way I think about church. Too often, it seems like church is about doing something with friends. When we get together, we're happy to catch up with people we know. It's usually fine if others show up, but we don't tend to go out of our way to make sure they're fully able to participate, and it's usually months before we invite them to share their gifts.

When we talk about church being a 'family', and when we concern ourselves primarily with the programs and activities which are geared toward people who are already here, we necessarily become insular, self-centered, and unwelcoming. I wonder how many people walk away from our congregations like I did from that jam the other day ~ feeling like an outsider, ignored and undervalued.

When what we're doing becomes more important than who we're with, we can't help but to want others to participate. We can't help but to invite people to show up with us. We can't help but to open the circle a little wider, because we want everyone to be able to have access to this thing (whether it's music or Gospel) that we love so much.

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