Category: Church Life

Last year was my 20th High School reunion in Germany. I did not go. But a friend of mine did. We talked about it a few months later. He was astonished that most people in our graduating class seemed to still be able to call each other without using a different area code. We agreed that probably the small sample of those who actually attended the reunion was not representative of our entire class. Of course, local people come to a local gathering. Our classmates who live in the US, in South Africa, and Australia, did not show up. No surprise there. So overall I guess my graduating class is split down the middle. There are really two kinds of people:
1. dwellers, who stay local and make themselves at home where they grew up and
2. vagabonds, who move regularly, explore the world, and reinvent themselves constantly.

I am a vagabond. I left my hometown right after high school, never to return. That is the norm in the ministry. Divinity schools are usually not available where you grow up and you cannot effectively minister to people who knew you as a child. But then again, a lot of professions ship people all over the world. The military rotates you from one assignment to the next every three years, the oil and gas industry makes people follow the boom and bust cycle from one place to the next. Refugees are running for sheer survival. We vagabonds have a great example in Jesus who is famous for saying: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).

Then there are dwellers like my classmates who stay local. I envy them. They can rely on friendships they have established for decades. They can even tap into the vast network that their parents and grandparents before them created in the community. Everybody knows where they belong in the story of the town. They have their own spot carved out in their particular place. They belong. The Psalmist is famous for feeling at home like that – at home with God: “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long” (Psalm 23:6b).

The church needs to be a place for both dwellers and vagabonds. It does not belong to those who have been there for a long time. The church needs to stretch the comfort zone of dwellers. On the flip side the church cannot let vagabonds pass by without offering nourishment along the way. It has to create an oasis for vagabonds. The body of Christ needs to provide opportunities for dwellers to leave their comfort zone and for vagabonds it needs to provide opportunities to learn stability.

I practiced dwelling recently by getting a landline phone. Since I moved to the US I have only had a cell phone and kept the number wherever I went. Now there is an actual wire buried in the ground to keep me connected. I am practicing being in one place. On the flip-side I have seen dweller friends volunteer in places they had never dreamed of. When you support people that are totally unlike you, you grow in totally new dimensions. Even if you stay local you can still expand your horizon. Both takes practice: Learning to stay put and learning to get out there. Practice what you are not naturally good at! It is worth it!

If you think of church as tidy, think again! During the season of Lent we are shaking things up. Mardi Gras was an evening full of stories and pancakes. What a mess we made there: eggs and flour everywhere! That is how it is supposed to be. Lent is a season that calls us out of the ordinary. A lot of times that happens through the medium of food. Mardi Gras was a farewell party for overindulgence and Ash Wednesday was the beginning of the Lent season.

A few times over the next weeks we will gather for a “rice charity fast with prayer and communion”.
First as a lunch on Wednesday, March 8 at noon,
then as a dinner before Church Council on Monday, March 20 at 5 pm,
then again as a dinner for Bible Study on Tuesday, March 28 at 6 pm.
Everyone will get a cup of rice. The suggested donation for that is $5. You read that correctly: $5 for a cup of rice. The reason is simple. $5 is what a lot of people spend on their lunch in this country and a cup of rice is what most children in hunger-stricken countries eat for the whole day. Through our own eating we remind ourselves of our situation of over-abundance and by “paying full price” we can alleviate some of that injustice. Each time we will discuss where our donations should go to fight hunger. Following our meal we will go into a time of praying for one another and finally celebrate Holy Communion. It all begins and ends around the table.

There will be much more opportunities to eat during Lent:
All children age 4-10 are invited to join us for Spring Fun Day on the Friday of Spring Break (March 17, 9am – noon) There will be St. Patrick’s Day snacks. A more traditional Lenten feast will be our congregational field trip to the Fish Fry at the KC Hall that same evening at 5pm. A field trip on Thursday, April 6, will take us on a tour of the painted churches in Schulenburg with lunch at a local smokehouse. We will gather at St. John’s UCC for carpooling at 08:30. Once there, the cost of the guided tour including lunch is $20.95.

Meals at St. John’s UCC pick up again throughout Holy Week:
On Thursday, April 13, at 6 pm, the Brotherhood will provide soup & salad for our Maundy Thursday Service.
On Friday, April 14, at 11:30 am, the Guild will provide a luncheon before our noon Good Friday Service.
Everything comes full-circle on Easter morning. The eggs to which we said our good-byes on Mardi Gras come back in the form of Easter Eggs. The Easter breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt at 09:00 on Easter Morning, Sunday, April 16, remind us that life and joy have returned that day!

This Lent season I invite you to shake things up: in your eating habits, in your schedule, in your spiritual practice, in your giving, the places you go. Christ was risen to a new life for the purpose to allow us a fresh start. Start something new this season! Eat differently!

Start of German school rescheduled to fall
The German Institutue for the Southwest did not have enough registrations to start classes this week. I will meet with them to discuss a communication campaign during the summer so we can get registration for fall going. The new dates are September 16 – December 9, 2017 (no class on November 25).

Ihr Lieben,
herzlichen Dank an alle, die unser deutschsprachiges Krippenspiel im Dezember unterstützt haben. Eine große Hilfe dabei war das Team des German Institute for the Southwest. In Kooperation mit dem Institute die Johanniskirche nun Sprachkurse für Kinder, Jugendliche, und Erwachsene an.

In einem Haushalt voll von German Native speakers haben meine Kinder mit dem Deutschsprechen kaum Probleme. Lesen und Schreiben sind aber eine andere Geschichte und darum bin ich froh, dass wir dieses Angebot am Start haben. Dann denke ich auch die englischsprachigen Familienmitglieder, die gerne bilingual werden möchten. Es gibt Kurse für Kinder, Jugendliche, und Erwachsene. Zu mehr Infos und zur Registrieriung geht es hier entlag.

Für Kurzentschlossene: Heute Abend findet unser Aschermittwochsgottesdienst statt.
Für die Vorausplanenden: Unser zweisprachiger Ostergottesdienst wird am 16. April 2017 stattfinden (9 Uhr Frühstück und Ostereiersuche, 10 Uhr Gottesdienst).

There used to be a strict at our house in the mornings: “Don’t talk about anything important before I had my first cup of coffee.” I would misunderstand you. I would not be able to pay attention. Short: I would not be at my best. So it was safest for myself and everybody else to avoid human interaction before the beast was tamed by caffeine. So whenever this rule was broken that could result in a rough start for everybody involved. Coffee ruled my life.

Matthew 6:21 reminds me, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” That is a hard cup to swallow. Because it means that in effect I have made coffee the king over my morning if not over the whole day. Because in the afternoon I would need another dose. I treasured coffee to a level that I said I could not make it through the day without it. But coffee and I, we are not unique: Just today I had a lunch conversation where several people outed themselves as tea addicts. They could not even fathom giving up their ice tea that comes with every meal. I have known soda fanatics and from anecdotal evidence I think Diet Coke die-hards are the most fanatic.

So last Saturday something strange happened: I woke up early to go exercise. Now, that is not strange, that is normal for me. But what struck me was what I did not do: After the workout I did not rush to get myself a coffee. Instead I let the day go on – without the tiniest dose of caffeine. Maybe coffee does not rule my life? Maybe I can do it without the rush? Then came Sunday morning with a splitting headache and a fatigue that would last all day. Withdrawal was real and carried into Monday with general grogginess and muscle stiffness.

Today is Tuesday, day three without any caffeine, and I am okay. I am reasonably awake and attentive. It still feels somewhat funny but I am managing. In case you were wondering why I invite you so deeply into my intimate habits: That is what Lent is all about. Lent is an opportunity to give yourself a reality check of where your priorities are, what you can do without. “What are you giving up for Lent?” is not a cute question on the side. It has to puncture your very heart. It must reveal where your treasure truly is. Maybe the better way to pose the question is:
What is one thing I cannot live without?
What is one thing I wish I did not do?
Even though I started before Ash Wednesday I intend to stay away from caffeine all the way through Easter.
Can you imagine Jesus stood up on Easter morning from the grave without a single cup of coffee?

Good morning, winter!

A post shared by Daniel Haas (@revhaas) on Feb 10, 2017 at 11:43pm PST

While Houston was enjoying 80°F last week, I landed in Germany, to a freezing 32°F. A couple of days later I woke up to snow on my parents’ balcony. On my week-long trip I had the chance to celebrate two family birthdays and reconnect with old friends. I’ll be honest: It wasn’t exactly a vacation because I went from one event straight into the next and that usually after very short nights. But it was all worth it, because it allowed me to make and maintain connections that matter in my life.

Many Texas families trace their pedigree back to one German root or another. Most of them not as recent as mine but still: There is a vibrant and relevant connection. And since 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, I encourage you to give Germany a chance. Our friends at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Columbus are hosting a tour to Germany and Switzerland, July 10-20, 2017. The tour is going to hit all the important sites of Reformation history as well as some of Germany’s greatest tourist attractions. They have a few seats left. Please pick up your brochure at our church office.

If you cannot see yourself making this transatlantic trip this summer, maybe you’d enjoy that we are bringing Germany to Rosenberg. The German Institute for the Southwest is now registering for German classes for all ages at St. Johns’ United Church of Christ in Rosenberg. We will have a 10 Week Spring Course for Adults from March 18 to May 27, 2017 and a 10 Week Spring Camp for Children and Teenagers from March 11 to May 27, 2017. Classes are held on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. except for March 15 (Easter Saturday). For all the details and registration please visit the Institute’s website.

Finally there is another way we stay in touch with our German roots: Friends of St. John’s wanted to have their high school daughter experience a semester at a German high school. On the other side I had a fellow minister in Germany ask on behalf of a colleague’s daughter if she could find a guest family over here for a year of high school. This summer it is going to happen: the families have made their arrangements, paper work is in the process and soon we will have established another beautiful transatlantic connection. This is your church at work: mindful of its roots connecting into the future.

While I’m on the road in Germany please enjoy the travel log of our designated conference minister, Dr. Don. He wrote this about a stint to Houston in January.

Blessings, Rev. Daniel Haas

Praying for Christian Unity

Rev. Jasmine Quinerly, Houston Association Minister, Rev. Daniel Haas, St. John’s UCC, Rosenberg, TX and Rev. Dr. Don Longbottom, SCC Designated Conference Minister at the Ecumenical Service for Christian Unity, Christ Cathedral, Houston, TX on Jan 18, 2017 at 5:03pm PST

It seems like I am getting to Houston a lot lately. Sunday before last I had the privilege of preaching the morning service at First Congregational and then staying around for the evening meeting of the Houston Association Board of Directors. All I can say about that meeting was that it conflicted with the Cowboys playing Green Bay, thus showing my level of commitment to all things ecclesiastical. Do you know as Dallas was losing, they laughed at me? Apparently, the brethren in Houston don’t realize that the top of Cowboy Stadium is open so that God can watch.

Wednesday found me back in Houston for the Ecumenical Service for Christian Unity held at Christ Cathedral downtown. Prior to the service, I was able to meet with several of our local clergy. It was all valuable. Friday, I visited a couple of clergy in New Braunfels prior to attending the Slumber Falls Camp Council meeting led by our new Camp Director Jeremy Albers. Saturday found me once again in Houston where I attended an evangelism workshop led by our own Ron Trimmer. Ron did a fine job. He has an easy charm and a down-home demeanor that belies a very sharp and effective practitioner. Sadly, I was not able to get back to Austin for the march in the Capitol but did what I could from Houston. I stayed the night in Houston with my former CPE Supervisor who did the best he could with what he had to work with. Tom is married to a delightful woman named Linda who has a Native American heritage and a fascinating story to tell.

Sunday morning, I was able to attend Grace UCC in Houston where David Pantermuehl is the pastor. The service was both poignant and powerful at the same time. David has a way of weaving a sense of family throughout the service while retaining relevancy to the great issues of our time. Grace is one of the few churches I have attended anywhere that is truly multi-ethnic. We are fortunate to have such leaders in the Conference.

I listened to Green Bay being annihilated as I drove home… so sad! When you laugh at the Conference Minister’s team, need I mention America’s Team, well… Karma, baby. 🙂

Dr. Don

As a pastor in the United Church of Christ I firmly stand with our Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Disciples, and other ecumenical partners and signed with more than 2,000 religious leaders a letter supporting refugee resettlement. It reads in part: “Together, representing our various faiths, we decry derogatory language that has been used about Middle Eastern refugees and our Muslim friends and neighbors. Inflammatory rhetoric has no place in our response to this humanitarian crisis.”

How we invoke our faith in response to the refugee crisis says a lot about how we see God. In their book “America’s Four Gods” Froese & Bader make the basic assumption that there are four different ways we approach the sacred. I invite you to explore your own heart in light of these four perspectives with regard to the refugee question:

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34)
This represents what Froese & Bader would call the “Benevolent God”. God wants us to help our neighbor, to welcome the stranger, to be nice and kind to one another. This implies respect and openness regardless of national origin, faith background, or any other division that the human mind might conjure up.

“Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 3:5)
This represents what Froese & Bader call the “Critical God”. We have to take care of the least fortunate or else…! There is a divine consequence that will come upon us on the Day of Lord if we do not live in accordance with God’s will. So you better take care of refugees or God will be mad at you.

“On that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, because they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them.” (Nehemiah 13:1-2)
This represents what Froese & Bader call the “Authoritative God”. Those people from foreign lands and of foreign faiths are dangerous. Remember how they attacked us in the past? It can surely not be safe to have them come here now. We have to be vigilant and protect our own. God does not want us to house people that have a bad track record.

“What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:4)
This represents what Froese & Bader call the “Distant God”. So, there are few hundred people stuck at American airports right now. What’s the big deal? Tens of thousands die every year from starvation. Thousands more die in wars around the world. If God really wanted to change that, God probably could. Certainly those problems are way too big for me little minion to solve. There is nothing I can do about it and God doesn’t seem to care much either.

Of course, these are caricatures that do not exist in the pure form that I made up here. But they give you an idea that words represent ideas. And it is clear that our response to the refugee crisis is also a response to God’s call. Maybe you want to take “The God Test” and find out what you say about God and how that shapes your response to the refugee crisis.

From Tapestry of Faith by the Unitarian Universalist Association:

Once upon a time, there was a small village on the edge of a river. Life in the village was busy. There were people growing food and people teaching the children to make blankets and people making meals.

One day a villager took a break from harvesting food and noticed a baby floating down the river toward the village. She couldn’t believe her eyes! She heard crying in the distance and looked downstream to see that two babies had already floated by the village. She looked around at the other villagers working nearby. “Does anyone else see that baby?” she asked.

One villager heard the woman, but continued working. “Yes!” yelled a man who had been making soup.

“Oh, this is terrible!” A woman who had been building a campfire shouted, “Look, there are even more upstream!” Indeed, there were three more babies coming around the bend.

“How long have these babies been floating by?” asked another villager. No one knew for sure, but some people thought they might have seen something in the river earlier. They were busy at the time and did not have time to investigate.

They quickly organized themselves to rescue the babies. Watchtowers were built on both sides of the shore and swimmers were coordinated to maintain shifts of rescue teams that maintained 24-hour surveillance of the river. Ziplines with baskets attached were stretched across the river to get even more babies to safety quickly.

The number of babies floating down the river only seemed to increase. The villagers built orphanages and they taught even more children to make blankets and they increased the amount of food they grew to keep the babies housed, warm and fed. Life in the village carried on.

Then one day at a meeting of the Village Council, a villager asked, “But where are all these babies coming from?”

“No one knows,” said another villager. “But I say we organize a team to go upstream and find how who’s throwing these babies in the river.”

Not everyone was in agreement. “But we need people to help us pull the babies out of the river,” said one villager. “That’s right!” said another villager. “And who will be here to cook for them and look after them if a bunch of people go upstream?”

The Council chose to let the village decide. If you were a villager, what would your vote be? Do you send a team upstream?

As a pastor I usually only get to attend church when I am on vacation. But last Sunday I was lucky because Pinecrest Presbyterian Church in Houston hosted a Martin Luther King Jr. Day Service. There is no better way to commemorate this anniversary than worshiping in a black church. But I must admit that I became uncomfortable on two occasions:

First, when the service starts the sanctuary is about half full. About thirty minutes into this two hour service, it is packed. Part of the crowd that comes late is a huge white man: tall and strong, a true Viking type. In most situations I would not notice him much but he stands out because he comes late, he comes all by himself, and he just does not fit in. I find myself conducting racial profiling. I keep watching him for a few minutes. Is he going to be like the crazy person who killed the worshipers at Mother Emmanuel AME church in Charleston? Am I the only one thinking and feeling this way? And what would it feel like to worship with this fear every Sunday?

Second, as the service continues and I eventually overcome my wrong suspicions that are based on outward appearance. The music is really energetic. Everybody jumps up and claps their hands for a song of joy. I just go with the flow of the moment and pick up my son and put him on my shoulders, bouncing up and down to the rhythm. And again it strikes me. Now I am that white man. Or actually the little white boy above them all, tall and higher than everyone else. My poor little son has no idea but in my mind, in that moment he was white privilege incorporated. I dance him down without making a scene and make sure to blend in better.

A band comes up to lead us in “Let it shine! Let it shine!”. We are asked to use the flashlights of our cell phones. So once I have permission to play with my phone during church I cannot resist to check my emails. I come about the invitation to be on stage at the 4th Annual Ecumenical Prayer Service during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Of course I say yes, since I have been on their planning committee for years. This year I was even able to secure the participation of our UCC Conference Minister. And here it strikes me. This is where God calls me to action in the spirit of Martin Luther King Junior: We are two white men. That does totally not represent what this evening or the United Church of Christ are all about. So I decide to step back and invite our Association Minister to be on stage, a black woman. This is what the people of God look and act like in truth and in spirit.

The service continues and I finally put my phone away. A high school student reads the “I have a dream” speech. I have loved this piece since I went to high school in Germany. As a matter of fact it may be one of the main reasons I fell in love with the USA. MLK’s speech truly represents America at its best. The way this young man recites it, sends shivers down my spine.

I hope you had a similarly meaningful experience this MLK weekend. And if you want to expand on it please make sure to join Houston denominational leaders from across the city for an evening of music, worship and prayer as ecumenical groups gather to pray for Christian Unity in Houston and around the world. It happens Wednesday, January 18, 2017 6:30 PM, hosted by Christ Church Cathedral, 1117 Texas Ave, Houston TX 77002.

When we gather for worship at St. John’s United Church of Christ the form changes all the time. Sometimes the choir will put on a cantata or we have will guest musicians come in. Sometimes we keep the kids in the sanctuary and have some extra fun. Sometimes we mix different languages. Finally the order of worship is radically transformed on the first Sunday of every month for Holy Communion.

There is no right or wrong way to worship. Styles and orders evolve, and ours comes from a unique set of historic connections. Over the next few weeks we will explore the elements of our worship service. The adult Sunday School class will touch on lessons that speak to the focus that we are going to practice any given Sunday during worship. This is an experience in blowing things out of proportion.

On January 15 our theme will be “Praise the Lord!” The Sunday School will work on lessons around Doxology and Praise. Then follows a so-called “contemporary service”. No bulletin. Songs projected on the wall and no liturgy. It’s gonna start with a long period of upbeat worship and praise. There will be prayers and a biblical message but the main focus is on praise.

On January 22 we will be back to bulletin and an almost normal service. The theme “I believe” sends the Sunday School into the ancient creeds of the church. In traditional worship the creeds were the response to the sermon, the congregation’s assent to God’s spoken Word. Since this Sunday is also our election of church officers, we will especially focus on the priesthood of all believers that is so central to our Protestant faith.

On January 29 we will unearth a thing that we tend to shove to the side: Looking at our sinful nature. The Message is: “You are forgiven” But forgiveness can only be received after the confession of sin. We limit this practice to communion Sunday. In traditional worship this is how every service starts: Humbling yourself and allowing God to pick you back up. Sunday School will focus on the sacraments that are signs of forgiveness and restoration.

On February 5 I will be leading Confirmation Camp at Slumber Falls. The Rev. Jennifer Veres-Schrecengost has agreed to come back and lead this service focused on Holy Communion.

On February 12 I will be visiting family in Germany. The Rev. Marilyn Fiddmont will focus on stewardship and giving. The worship element to highlight is obviously the offering.

On February 19 our theme is “Be blessed”. This is about receiving and being a blessing. For Sunday school it’s about the Benediction.
When we step into worship, we don’t walk into a place that we own. Most of it may feel familiar, but when we dig deeper into different parts of the service we are drawn into a much richer reality. Let us grow over the next few weeks as we stretch our hearts and minds in worship.