A QUESTIONING FAITH

Psalm 2:1 poses a question: “Why do the nations so furiously rage together?” (KJV)  In another version: “Why do the nations conspire? …The rulers take counsel together against the Lord and God’s Anointed.” (RSV)

This seems to be a perennial question, but it can be seen as particularly germane to the present world situation. It is also germane to the Advent season which anticipates the coming of God’s Anointed One, the Messiah, into our world.

In reading through this year’s Advent lessons other questions jump out.

• Malachi is uneasy about the coming of the Messiah and asks, “Who can endure the day of his coming and who can stand when he appears? (Mal. 3:2)
  
  
• Elizabeth greets Mary’s visit with a question, “Why has this happened to me?” (Luke 1:43)  Many have echoed, “Oh God, why me?”
  
  
• The adolescent Jesus asks his parents, and by extension all who read Advent devotions, “Why are you searching for me?” (Luke 2:49)
  
  
• The crowd asks John the Baptist, “What then should we do?” (Luke 3:10) He could have answered with another question (WWJD), but he gave direct and specific answers relating to justice.

These questions allow us to wander from the Lectionary in many directions.

Reading Scripture, however, also provides many strong declarations of God’s Spirit and Jesus’s Way of Love. Affirm them even as you pose the questions of faith. Oh, yes, there is one more question to be noted in the Lectionary readings, “How can we thank God enough for you?” (I Thess. 3:9)   Indeed, as you read these lessons and commentaries, be aware and be thankful for this community of concern which seeks, in God’s love, to act for justice in a world of raging and conspiring nations.

You will discover a title page for each week of readings for the Advent and Christmas seasons. That page contains: 1) The designated Sunday Lectionary readings on which the reflections are based; 2) The name of the writer(s) for that week’s reflections; 3) A theme for the week, chosen by the writer(s); 4) A drawing by artist Jim Crane, reflective of the week’s lessons. These drawings were commissioned by the Wisconsin Methodist Student Movement in 1959 for a set of Christmas cards.

Following the readings you will find biographical information about each writer. We are grateful for their engaging work and even more grateful for their continuing witness to God’s love and the Biblical concern for peace and justice. May you be led into that concern this Advent season.

THE DATES, THE SCRIPTURES
and
THE PEOPLE INVOLVED

Week 1:  December 3 – 9, 2006

Jeremiah 33: 14-16; Psalm 25: 1-10; Luke 21: 25-36; I Thess. 3: 9-13

Don Ott lives in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, with Jan. They relate to Community UMC in Elm Grove. As the parents of two and grandparents of five, they think a great deal about the nature and challenges of our communities and world. Don was a Wisconsin pastor and state-wide leader as Conference Director and Superintendent prior to election to the episcopacy and service as the Bishop of the Michigan Area. In retirement he has been the coordinator of the Council of Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty.  His life and ministry emphases have reflected the agenda of MFSA.

Week 2:  December 10 – 16, 2006

Malachi 3: 1-4; Luke 1: 68-79; Luke 3: 1-6; Philippians 1: 3-11

Judy Crain is a member of the First UMC in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where at one time she was Director of Christian Education. She has taken leadership roles on many Conference boards and committees. Between 1988 and 1996 she was a member of the  UMC General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns. Judy has long been active in community and political activities with special interests in children and public education. In April, 2006, she was appointed to the UW System Board of Regents. Judy has a Masters of Theological Studies Degree from Garrett Seminary.

Week 3:  December 17 – 23, 2006

Zephaniah 3: 14-20; Isaiah 12: 2-6; Luke 3: 7-18; Phil. 4: 4-7

Fred Brancel was born and raised on the family farm near Briggsville, Wisconsin, where Sunday School, the Methodist Youth Fellowship and the 4-H were important influences. He farmed with his father and brothers before earning a degree in Agricultural Education from the University of Wisconsin. Fred has served as an agricultural-education missionary of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries in Angola, Zimbabwe and Zaire; directed a pilot project for the Peace Corps in St. Lucia, West Indies; was the lay-associate at University UMC in Madison; and became director-manager of Whispering Pines United Methodist Camp. He has made numerous Volunteer in Mission trips in the US and abroad, and he has traveled to Central & South America and the Middle East with educational organizations, including a trip to Iraq in 2004 with a Christian Peacemakers Team. Fred is a recipient of the 2006 WUMFSA Perry Saito Award for his “significant contribution to social justice in today’s world.”

Buddy Bell spent most of his childhood and youth in Northwest Indiana.  He credits the Catholic elementary school he attended for his concern about poverty and world hunger. Buddy's grandmother nurtured his love for animals, leading to activity with the Humane Society. That was a stepping-stone to wider political movements, and while he attended Humboldt State University, Buddy became active in the peace movement. Buddy is studying Math Education at DePaul University where he is involved with various political action groups. He is the director and a soloist for his church choir.

Delmar Schwaller is a Catholic Christian from Appleton, Wisconsin. During World War Two, he served in Africa and Europe. His working years were spent as a paper-converting mechanic. He served as an elected alderman for 10 years; and he is an avid fisherman. Del volunteers most days at the St. Vincent DePaul thrift store and St. Joseph Food Program. Dedicated to helping the poor and oppressed, Del has traveled to Central and South America on work projects ten times during the last ten years. For the past eight years he has been at the School of the Americas Watch Vigils at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Fred (age 80) invited Buddy (age 23) and Del (age 81) to join him in writing these meditations while they were prisoners of conscience serving concurrent sentences in Oxford Federal Prison.. They were three of thirty-three SOA Human Rights Advocates incarcerated in the U.S. during 2006 for between one to six months because of their acts of nonviolent civil disobedience at Fort Benning in November, 2005. That witness brought visibility to the existence of the School of the Americas and expressed solidarity with sisters and brothers in Latin America.

Week 4:  December 24 – 30, 2006

Michah 5: 2-5a; Luke 1: 47-55; Luke 1: 39-45; Hebrews 5: 5-10*
* This replaces Hebrews 10: 5-10. (An accidental typo proved to be a more accessible reading.)

Judy Lyons is a life-long United Methodist with a professional career as a licensed marriage and family therapist. She attended Oberlin College, graduated from Drew University and later took courses in pastoral care at Methodist Theological School. She earned a masters degree in Counseling Psychology at UW-Madison and received marriage & family therapy training from the Family Therapy Training Institute. Judy is a certified Stephen Ministry Leader and has leadership certification from the Association of Couples for Marriage Enrichment. Judy is a member of First UMC in Madison where her late husband David was senior pastor. She lives in Middleton, Wisconsin, where she pursues her career and volunteers as an elementary school tutor. She is the proud mother of two married children and delighted grandmother of four. Judy says she is “living the questions.”

Week 5:  December 31, 2006 – January 6, 2007

1 Samuel 2: 18-20, 26; Ps. 148; Luke 2: 41-52; Colossians 3: 12-17

Kevin A. Johnson is a United Methodist Elder with Honorable Location status in the Wisconsin Conference of the UMC, and he is a clergy member of Broadway UMC, Chicago. He is co-founder and pastor of Bloom in the Desert Ministries, a United Church of Christ and Reconciling Methodist Congregation in Palm Springs, California. In 2002, Kevin completed 20 years working in the Chicago business community, ultimately as vice president of marketing for a woman-owned business communications company. In February that year an opportunity fomented by the formation of the inclusive, progressive “Church Within A Church” movement in the UMC offered a breakthrough way to start a new ministry. By a unanimous church council vote, Kevin was sent as a clergy member of Broadway UMC to do ministry in the Coachella Valley and the surrounding area of Southern California. Kevin grew up in Lake Street UMC in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He  graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 1976 and from United Theological Seminary in 1978.

THE ARTIST

Jim Crane is a painter, collage artist and cartoonist who lives in Florida where for 30 years he was a professor of Visual Arts at Eckerd College, St. Petersburg. In 1963 Jim moved from UW-River Falls to join artist Bob Hodgell as a member of the Art Department faculty of what was then Florida Presbyterian College, and by 1965 Peg Rigg had also become a faculty member there. Crane and Hodgell had both been contributing artists to “motive,” a progressive Methodist monthly magazine, of which Rigg was then the Art Editor. “motive” understood the power of imagery, and during the 1960's “motive’s” message offered a vigorous blend of faith and humanism. Although Jim Crane has won numerous awards and honors with his works in painting and collage and published several books of cartoons, according to one of his contemporaries “his greatest creative work was in teaching itself…the Visual Arts program at Eckerd [being] his greatest legacy.” Jim retired in 1993, and he remains active as an artist and with the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College. When John and Ginny phoned Jim, he immediately gave permission for the five drawings initially commissioned by the Wisconsin Methodist Student Movement to be incorporated within the “2006-07 Meditations.” We are grateful for this gift.

THE EDITORS and PRODUCERS

 John Kruse is a retired ministerial member of the Wisconsin Annual Conference. He is the former director of the Wisconsin Methodist Student Movement and the Wesley Foundations at UW-O, UW-Stout and UW-Eau Claire. He has served Wisconsin Conference churches in Oshkosh, Lake Geneva, Green Bay, Edgerton and Madison and also the Eliot Church (UCC) in Newton, Massachusetts. He is active in the Madison Savoyards and Opera Props, an organization supporting the UW-Madison Opera Program. John’s deep bass voice can be heard in two choral groups and many Gilbert & Sullivan concerts; he has appeared in all thirteen Gilbert & Sullivan operettas and sung roles in “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Pinocchio,” and “Narnia.” John enjoys teaching UMW School of Missions courses and will do so again in 2007. He is one of the founders of the WUMFSA, a former MFSA Board member, a 1996 UMFSA Perry Saito Award recipient, and one of the writers for the 2003 WUMFSA Advent Devotionals.

Ginny Moore Kruse credits her commitment to peace and justice for all to the influences of the former Oshkosh Wesley Foundation, Wisconsin Methodist Student Movement and the magazine “motive.” Ginny is a children’s literature specialist with a secondary specialization in Intellectual Freedom as it relates to youth access to information & entertainment. She has formally retired from her career in public schools and the public library and as director of UW-Madison’s Cooperative Children’s Book Center. During 2006 Ginny was active in the national and international book community, adult education projects at Orchard Ridge UCC, ACLU/Wisconsin and the Fair Wisconsin campaign.

Wesley White is an Intentional Transition/Interim Ministery Specialist working in congregations with specific transition needs or conflictual issues. In his 35 years in the Wisconsin Annual Conference he has been a pastor in each of the eight Districts. Wesley has held positions of President, Secretary, and Treasurer within the WUMFSA. Among his interests is that of communication within congregations and conferences. He is a past chair of the Conference Communication Committee and has participated in international conferences on electronic communication within the church. He currently facilitates the WUMFSA website and listserve and can usually be reached at wwhite@wisconsinumc.org.