One of my Gonzaga professors wrote a journal article with the title above. He observed that SARS arrived in China and news of it became texted everywhere despite Chinese government efforts to suppress the truth. From that moment on decision-making became radically democratized. Everybody got into the act of passing on and judging both actions and information. Texts and words go viral in a blink of an eye. 

Social media has made possible the participation of millions in the great movements of our day. In response, those in power seek ways to block social media and suppress knowledgable activists and whistle-blowers. As the Arab Spring has demonstrated, however, those in power are on the losing side of history. Our current American efforts to suppress whisteblowers may prove no more successful. 

I confess that having too many people involved in what I believe is my personal province leaves me uneasy. When I awoke from a groggy post-surgery sleep, looking like heck, and found one doctor and a dozen students surrounding me and discussing my case, I felt pretty uncomfortable. I understood the need and virtue of this development; I just didn't like it one bit. It left me feeling powerless. Yet it is a feeling to which more than one of us will need to become accustomed. We live in too small of a world for us to hold our health or our opinions as our private domain. The more controlling we are, the more we acknowledge this development with chagrin.

Years ago I served a church as an associate pastor. It boasted a newsletter entitled "Steeple To People." After one particularly rancorous session meeting, an elder suggested that we needed a mechanism for congregational feedback: He recommended that we call it "Pew To You." These things come full circle. When the Protestant Reformation began, sermons were interactive events. The preacher would preach and people would respond with comments, affirmation and arguments (to their credit, many African-American churches still hold this level of congregational worship involvement to be a core value) . It is said that one person asked John Calvin during one of his sermons what God was doing before creating heaven and earth. "Creating hell for over-curious people," Calvin responded, perhaps reflecting his own discomfort with too much audience participation. No wonder Presbyterian worship services became so subdued.

After a long period of silence, the crowd is back. Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs like this one keep us knowledgeable of everything from the sublime to the ridiculous, from earthquakes to emerging pimples. I am told that conference lecturers find themselves surrounded by walls of Smartboards that deliver listener reactions in real time. Calvin may have been equipped for such an eventuality, but the thought of Smartboards being the next new worship craze leaves my colleagues and me quivering. Nevertheless, Calvin's vision of the Reformation has become reality: Preaching, teaching, serving, sacraments and much else invite the rest of us (you) into participation in ways Calvin never could have foreseen.

In the spirit of this brave new world I inaugurate this Blog. I thank Lara Marsh for her effort to get it up and running, and training an old war horse like me how to handle it. Although Lara and I are its editors, this is our Blog: hers, mine and especially yours. So, how about those Cubs? As if I needed to ask . . .  

Dear sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ our Lord:                 
                       
The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.                    
                       
We have received word from the Office of the General Assembly that Amendment 10-A to the Book of Order has been approved nationally by a majority of presbyteries. This means that those congregations and presbyteries that wish to utilize the gifts of gay and lesbian persons who are either single or in committed relationships as ordained deacons, elders, or ministers of word and sacrament may do so. All other ordination standards remain intact. We might recall that our own session endorsed a form of this overture over a year ago for approval by our presbytery. Elders Lara Marsh and Steve Schomberg were advocates to the 2010 General Assembly for both this overture and one favoring permission for same-gender marriage.                        
                       
For those who anticipated excitedly the day when gay and lesbian persons might be permitted to serve as ordained officers (elders, deacons, and ministers of word and sacrament), that brave new day has come. For others, this day is unsettling. Let us pray for continued dialogue and compassion as we, the PCUSA, continue to seek the realm of God in our midst.                   
                       
If you have any questions that I can try to answer, please feel free to reach me between now and June.        
Love and blessings, your pastor,
Sam             
                       
P.S. For more information go to http://oga.pcusa.org/ and click on Read More to get the full text of the document.

On Sunday, May 1, a basket will be passed behind the stewardship plate. In the basket will be packets of vegetable seeds and flower seeds. Attached to each packet will be a coupon for a $10 bill. Larry Bruner and Ken Miller will redeem the coupons after church for the $10.00. Participants in this challenging and rewarding activity will then have the summer to develop a project to illustrate that God provides “more than enough.” This fall you will be asked to make a poster for the fellowship hall telling about your project, and 2 or 3 participants will be asked to give a brief project description at a Sunday morning Worship Service. Suggested projects would include:

1. Growing vegetables, buying a container and taking it to the crisis center.
2. Along with the vegetables, give the money or buy more food for the crisis center.
3. Grow some flowers, buy a nice container or containers and take them to a shut-in or nursing home.

In any case, part of the project would include giving something of yourself by spending some time with the
recipients, learning what they do and maybe helping or visiting for awhile.

We are really only restricted by our imagination.

The Friends of Pasrur are excited to announce that the goal of raising $45,000 for scholarships for the 100 Christian girls living in the dormitory of the Presbyterian Education Board school in Pasrur has been met! Many thanks to all who have contributed! Getting an education will be a lifechanging experience for these young women. Only through education can they hope to break out from the cycle of poverty that was facing them and their families.

Another exciting announcement is that Friends of Pasrur is able to provide additional scholarships for five young women who have recently graduated from the Pasrur boarding school and have elected to enroll in the new extended two-year program (like a junior college) that has been established on the Pasrur PEB campus. These scholarships for $750 each cover room and board, tuition, etc. The graduates will have even better opportunities for successful careers. Again, many thanks to all those who have made this possible.

Live Healthy Challenge at First Presbyterian    

What is the Live Healthy Challenge?
Live Healthy Iowa has a track record of helping more than 169,000 people to get fit and shed 698,410 pounds over the past 10 years.*  The program encourages Iowans to form teams of up to 10 people who will work to lose weight and get fit by exercising for 100 days a year.  This year, the Health Ministry Team is organizing teams from First Presbyterian, starting on January 20 (you can still sign up after the program starts).  Registration is $20 a person, and HyVee is offering a $5 coupon that would reduce the fee to $15.  Participants get a training T-shirt, weekly motivational tips, an online personal tracking page with a daily journal and unlimited access to recipes, workouts, and health information.  You can find more information at www.livehealthyiowa.org.

How do I sign up?           
Each team will have a captain, who will collect the registration fees and register the team.  If you would like to be a team captain or member, you can sign up on Sundays or contact Mary Jo Keith, Parish Nurse  or Rhonda Barr, Health Ministry chair.  Scholarships are available through the Health Ministry Team.

Let’s get out and support each other in meeting our health and fitness goals.  Be well!

*Des Moines Register, Jan 12, 2011