The Seeds of Faith Fell Into Good Soil

The Parable of the Sower
(Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:4-9; Luke 8:4-15)

Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen.”

I am not one to quote from religious texts, but I thought I’d share how my First Central Church experience mirrors the Parable of the Sower and a bit about my spiritual journey. Although I studied scripture at church and then in college, I find that only now have I begun to really appreciate its many stories and lessons. For example, someone recently read the Parable of the Sower out loud. Now, had it been 2 years or even 5 years ago, I would have tuned out, but this time I sat quietly and truly listened to the words and message the story had for me at that moment. For me, I immediately thought of my spiritual journey as the seed, and First Central as the good soil. I have always been the one to question, doubt and explore. First Central nourished these traits, welcomed my questions, and let me explore and find my own spiritual path- no matter what. Because of this, I can say that First Central was not a stone path, which left the seeds of my faith unprotected; it was not rocky shallow ground, which left my seeds of faith without a firm foundation on which to grow, nor was First Central a patch of thorns which choked my seeds of faith before I was given the chance to grow tall. First Central’s open and loving community only fertilized and enriched my faith experience, and helped shape my values and beliefs. I can truly say that because of my supportive family and First Central that I have seen my spiritual journey develop and mature over the years. It has brought forth a deeper understanding of myself and my community, therefore increasing a hundredfold my love and appreciation for all. Posted by: Hanna W.

Broadest-Ever Surevy Gives In-Depth Portrait of Mainline Clergy

Survey show high support for activist government, growing support for LGBT equality
Significant differences across mainline denominations on religious, political measures

Leading researchers on religion and politics today released the results of an in-depth survey of Mainline Protestant clergy political engagement during the 2008 election season, attitudes on social and economic issues, and the public role of church. The Mainline Protestant Clergy Voices Survey (CVS), conducted by Public Religion Research, is the largest survey of mainline clergy in seven years, and the broadest ever in scope. Mainline Protestants, who make up 18 percent of all Americans and nearly a quarter of all voters, have been trending Democratic in recent years, but remain fairly evenly divided in their political behavior.

“Mainline Protestants are probably the most under-examined major religious group in the United States,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, President of Public Religion Research. “That’s especially surprising when you consider that they occupy so much of the vital middle ground in American politics.”

Jones said the new survey will be invaluable in helping us understand Mainline Protestants’ role in the American religious landscape by shedding light on the attitudes and political engagement of mainline clergy.

Mainline clergy are highly educated, political interested, and socially engaged,” said Jones. “They are strong supporters of church-state separation, but they are also interested in being more personally involved on social and political issues.”

The CVS surveyed senior clergy from the seven larges mainline denominations: United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, American Baptist Churches USA, Presbyterian Church USA, Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The survey found significant differences across the denominations on religious and political measures.

Among its findings on social and political issues:

• Mainline Clergy are much more likely to identify as liberal and Democratic than conservative or Republican. Almost half (48%) of all mainline clergy identify as liberal, compared to about one-third (34%) who say they are conservative. A majority (56%) of mainline clergy identify with or lean towards the Democratic Party, compared to roughly one-third (34%) who claim a Republican affiliation, a 22-point gap.
• The political disposition of clergy varies considerably by denomination. Three quarters (74%) of UCC clergy identify as liberal, compared to less than a third (32%) of ABCUSA clergy.
• Mainline Protestant clergy are broadly supportive of government’s role in addressing social problems such as unemployment, poverty and poor housing. More than three-quarters (78%) agree that the federal government should do more to solve social problems, and more than 4-in-10 strongly agree.
• Mainline clergy are strongly supportive of government action in the areas of health care and the environment. More than two-thirds (67%) of clergy agree that government should guarantee health insurance for all citizens, even if it means raising taxes. And nearly 7-in-10 (69%) clergy say that more environmental protection is needed, even if it raises prices or costs jobs.
• On a broad range of issues, mainline clergy affirm equality for gay and lesbian Americans. Roughly two-thirds of mainline clergy support some legal recognition for same-sex couples (65%), passing hate crime laws (67%) and employment nondiscrimination protections for gay and lesbian people (66%). A majority (55%) of mainline clergy support adoption rights for gay and lesbian people.
• Mainline Protestant clergy are strong advocates of church-state separation. A majority (65%) of mainline clergy agree that the U.S. should “maintain a strict separation of church and state.” Mainline clergy are more worried about public officials who are too close to religious leaders (59%) than about public officials who do not pay enough attention to religion (41%).
• Mainline clergy are more likely to publicly address hunger and poverty and family issues than controversial social issues. More than 8-in-10 clergy say they publicly expressed their views about hunger and poverty often in the last year, and three-quarters say they addressed marriage and family issues often. Only about one-quarter (26%) say they often discussed the issues of abortion and capital punishment.
  

The survey also includes findings on religious measures, including clergy religious self-identification (mainline, evangelical, born-again), their views on the interpretation of scripture, and the relative importance of evangelism and social action.

Dr. John Green, Director of the Bliss Institute for Applied Politics at the University of Akron, served as advisor to the project and supervised its data collection. Green also participated in two of the earlier studies of mainline clergy in 1989 and 2001 upon which this new survey builds.

“This survey adds significantly to our knowledge and understanding of mainline clergy,” said Green. “Scholars of religion as well as journalist and interested activists will benefit from the information and insights it offers.”

The survey, which was conducted by mail, contained over 250 separate questions and generated 2,658 respondents with a response rate of 44%. The Mainline Protestant Clergy Voices Survey was funded by the Evelyn and Walter Hass, Jr. Fund.

Questions? Contact: Peter Montgomery at pmontgomery@publicreligion.org or check out the Public Religion Research website at www.publicreligion.org. For more information on this survey, follow this link: http://www.publicreligion.org/research/?id=167

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Commentary: A Sightings article by Martin E. Marty, "Mainline Clergy "

While the number of Americans coded as “Mainline Protestant” has gone down (almost) twenty percent in (almost) fifty years, still (almost) one in five Americans and (almost) one in four voters are part of this often (almost) invisible cohort which receives (almost) no prime time or front page media and even (almost) no slot when pollsters interview and rank voters. You will see and hear more than usual about them, thanks to a Public Religion Research survey released Friday, entitled Clergy Voices: Findings from the 2008 Mainline Protestant Clergy Voices Survey. Robert P. Jones and Daniel Cox present their findings, which are active enough, but in their own way.

Until around 1960 this cluster dominated much public discourse, as it does not today. Happily, Jones and Cox don’t waste any of their thirty-five pages revisiting the overdone analysis of reasons for their relative decline in size, status, and noise. Old stuff. The new stuff here is their set of findings about clergy voices and actions today (as of last August, that is). While the mainliners have enemies, mainly among conservative Protestants and think-tanks on the right, they go about their work in thousands of vital congregations and more struggling ones. Those enemies like to portray them as ideological leftists; Clergy Voices does not find them so. The word “diffuse” shows up in the reports. They have voices in public affairs, but rarely and mildly try to project or enforce social justice “dogma.” Some see their limits as a result of lay reaction to leftism, but current members are not massively assaulted with radical preachments and policies.

Politicians who would organize and exploit them, as they do some other religious groups, would have difficulty doing so; constituencies vary too much by denomination, region, social class, and height of boundaries that might be used to keep members in and others out. Their members may have strong social justice commitments, but they blend them with those in other religions or in the secular order. Yes, half call themselves “liberal,” because they are not afraid of the label, but a third are “conservative.” Over half are Democrat-“leaning” and one-third “claim a Republican affiliation.” No surprise here: More than three-quarters want the federal government to do more on the social problems front, especially in respect to environmental and health care issues. They fall into the “church-state separation” camp, and far more are worried about public officials who are too close to religious leaders than about those who are too far.

Four out of five speak up on hunger and poverty issues but—and this fits the stereotype—only one-fourth “often discussed the issues of abortion and capital punishment.” They are friendlier than not to gay and lesbian people, and a majority supports their rights. Clergy? Ninety-three percent are still white, eighty percent male, only twenty-nine percent believe in biblical inerrancy, almost eighty-percent say they are strongly interested in politics, but most don’t preach on specific legislative or candidacy themes. They and their members pitch in on other than directly political causes and prefer broad-based works of mercy through voluntary associations in church and beyond it. On the large screen, most “are firmly opposed to the war in Iraq and most think Israel has to make greater concessions to achieve Middle East peace. " That, in our reading, is the solitary issue that prompts editorial and talk-show talk. They are generally for control of guns. Maybe that’s a clue to the reasoning of those who attack them: Taking on guns, they attack what may be America’s real religion.

For more information on Sightings or Martin E. Marty, please follow this link: http://divinity.uchicago.edu/martycenter/publications/sightings/

Checking Our Balance

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted …(Ecclesiastes 3: 1-2)

How about these improvisations on this familiar text about the “seesaw” of life:

A time to break down our budgets – at home or church -- in new ways, and a time to build them up by asset mapping. A time to weep for recession, unemployment and homelessness, and a time to meet doomsayers with humor and hope. A time to mourn for the time-famine of contemporary families, and a time to dance with our faithful volunteers. A time to embrace generosity, and a reminder to refrain from embracing consumerism. A time to keep – recycle, re-use, renew – in church and home -- and a time to throw away responsibly. A time to tear our clothes on a mission trip with teens, and a time to knit prayer shawls in the parlor. A time to love our children enough to teach them stewardship, and a wake up call whenever and wherever they learn hatred for themselves or others. A time-out for war, and an always time-enough to work for peace … a peace for every season that blesses God’s purpose under heaven.

It is March – the month of balance. Life isn’t like Daylight Savings time – we cannot “make” hours or resources or energy or sunshine. On the other hand, the Spring Equinox is a true teaching moment. We even use the word “balance” financially. The “balance” is what we work with, give with, use to care for ourselves and others. Financially, emotionally, and spiritually, as individuals and as communities of faith, this is the season to commit ourselves to balance.

This UCC stewardship message is brought to you by: Maren C. Tirabassi, Pastor of Union Congregational UCC of Madbury, NH. Her most recent book is God in My Life: How and Why We Share Faith Stories.