View from the Chancel: Church-related Writings by a Pastor
By Lowell Uda
()
About this ebook
View from the Chancel: Church-related Writings of a Pastor collects four e-books I have at Smashwords for free: Sweet Corn from the Pastor, At the Chancel Steps: Talking to the children of the Congregation, Two for the Chancel, and Ol’ Zak, After the Angel: A monologue. I will be charging for the convenience of the collection, but each of the four items can still be downloaded for free.
Sweet Corn from the Pastor: On July 1, 1998 I began my pastorate at the Olathe United Methodist Church on the western slope of Colorado. Barely settled into the parsonage, I began hearing about the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival, how on the first Saturday in August the town expected 25,000 people to descend upon the community park for free "Olathe Sweet" sweet corn which grew in the fields around the town. The one-day event featured food and drink concessions, craft booths, music by local performers all day long, and a rock and roll concert by the Kansas Band when the sun went down followed by a fireworks finale.
My first reaction was: Twenty-five thousand people! That many people in this small town? I found it hard to believe.
But I became a believer that first Saturday morning in August, as I watched the cars parked every which way on Highway 50 and people--young and old, whole families with children--streaming into the park to sit on the grass before the bandstand and eat the delicious roasted and boiled sweet corn. It was then that I got the idea for the name of my pastor's column for the church newsletter: "Sweet Corn from the Pastor." This collection includes a number of articles I wrote for "Sweet Corn from the Pastor." It also includes excerpts of sermons as memoirs. I have always been interested in memory, especially in our memory of God, and I have long thought of my sermons, for better or worse, as memoirs.
At the Chancel Steps: Talking with the Children of the Congregation: As a pastor, I love to sit with the children of the congregation on the chancel steps and have a conversation with them. I try to recognize each child by name, to look into their eyes, to listen to and to learn something about her or him. I try to be spontaneous in responding to what the child brings forth. I also try to be responsive to the child within myself. This book contains some of the strategies I have used in talking with children at the chancel steps.
Two for the Chancel: Easy Button: The serpent tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and to share it with Adam. Their eyes are opened, and Eve plans some improvements to the Garden. The serpent brings an Easy Button to the couple, and they fight over it. But in order to cover themselves before God arrives, they also learn to divide the work, though they each want to possess the Easy Button. Four Drumsticks: At dinner time, Alice, 12, brings up what she’s learning in science class as the family tries to meet everyone’s demand for their favorite part of the chicken. The three children and the father each want a drumstick. There are, of course, only two.
Ol’ Zak, After the Angel: a Monologue: I have a degree from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a degree from The Iliff School of Theology. Zechariah is struck dumb by an angel, in Luke 3: 7 - 18. His loss of voice becomes a metaphor for me, of forgetting that all things are possible with God. As I entered into ministry after graduating from Iliff, I wondered what would happen in my writing life. Would I doubt the birth of something new and suffer a long period of voicelessness as Zechariah did?
Lowell Uda
A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, I have taught English at the U. of Hawaii and the U. of Montana, and worked in Montana state government. After that I became a United Methodist minister, pastoring churches in Colorado and Montana. My short story, “The Cherry Tree,” won first prize in the 2011 Common Review Short Story Prize contest. Stories, poems, and creative nonfiction of mine have appeared in literary and other magazines, including The North American Review, the Hawaii Review, the Chariton Review, and, most recently, A River and Sound Review, Written River, The Whirlwind Review, 5x5, Assisi, In Our Own Voice, Divide: Journal of Literature, Arts and Ideas, Poems Across the Big Sky, Moonrabbit Review, and The Other Side.Sincerely yours,
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View from the Chancel - Lowell Uda
View from the Chancel:
Church- related Writings of a Pastor
by Lowell Uda
Published by Rice Universe Publishing at Smashwords
Copyright Lowell Uda 2013
Cover Design by Lowell Uda
Cover Photo by Lowell Uda
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Dedication
To the United Methodist I’ve met along the road
who have taught and nurtured me to become the pastor that I am.
Introduction
View from the Chancel: Church-related Writings of a Pastor collects four e-books I have at Smashwords for free: Sweet Corn from the Pastor, At the Chancel Steps: Talking to the children of the Congregation, Two for the Chancel, and Ol’ Zak, After the Angel: A monologue. I will be charging for the convenience of the collection, but each of the four items can still be downloaded for free.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Introduction
Sweet Corn from the Pastor
Dedication for Sweet Corn from the Pastor
Introduction to Sweet Corn from the Pastor
Take Time to Experience the Journey
Is the Moon Dead or Alive?
Waiting for God
Waiting with God on a Gurney
Exhaling Forever
Do You Love Me?
Dances with God
Stewardship as Clowning for God
Therefore, Evangelize!
The Trees in my Life
Consider the Hermit Crab
From Shoulder Stand to Plow
Abiding in His Love
At the Chancel Steps: Talking with the Children of the Congregation
Dedication for At the Chancel Steps
Introduction to At the Chancel Steps
Again and Again
The Mad Mouse
The Bite That Turned into a Kiss
Joan's Garden
A Secret Place
Like Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree
Boss of Me
The King Who Loved Orange Juice and the Prophet Who Loved Sugar Cookies
Ready, Set, Wait, Part I
Ready, Set, Wait, Part II
Agnes Day, Lamb of God
Agnes Day Sings Again
Agnes Day Is Sad, then Happy
Agnes Day Finishes Her Song
Meeting Joe
Appendix
Two for the Chancel
Introduction to Two for the Chancel
The Easy Button
Four Drumsticks
Ol' Zach, After the Angel: A Monologue
Epigram
Introduction to Ol’ Zak, After the Angel
Ol’ Zak, After the Angel: A Montologue
Brief Bio of the Author
Other Books by Lowell Uda at Smashwords
Where to Find Lowell Uda Online
Sweet Corn from the Pastor
Dedication for Sweet Corn from the Pastor
To the members of the Olathe United Methodist Church
for the wonderful years you embraced me as your pastor
Introduction to Sweet Corn from the Pastor
On July 1, 1998 I began my pastorate at the Olathe United Methodist Church on the western slope of Colorado. I was initiated into the Olathe community, an agricultural town of about 1500, rather quickly. A week after I arrived I had a funeral service to do, and then another, both for old-timers so I had quick exposure to the community. Then, barely settled into the parsonage with my dog Ipolani, I began hearing about the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival, how on the first Saturday in August the town expected 25,000 people to descend upon the community park for free Olathe Sweet
sweet corn which grew in the fields around the town. The one-day event featured food and drink concessions, craft booths and music by local performers all day long. The big draw beside the free sweet corn was a rock and roll concert by the Kansas Band when the sun went down followed by a fireworks finale.
My first reaction was: Twenty-five thousand people! That many people in this small town? I found it hard to believe.
But I became a believer that first Saturday morning in August, as I helped to judge floats in the Sweet Corn Festival parade and watched the cars parked every which way on Highway 50 and people--young and old, whole families with children--streaming into the park to sit on the grass before the bandstand and eat the delicious roasted and boiled sweet corn. I sat with them, too, and learned to eat sweet corn dripping with butter and peppered, not salted.
Where did all these people come from? I wondered. It was then that I got the idea for the name of my pastor's column for the church newsletter: Sweet Corn from the Pastor.
This collection includes a number of articles I wrote for Sweet Corn from the Pastor.
It also includes excerpts of sermons as memoirs. I have always been interested in memory, especially in our memory of God, and I have long thought of my sermons, for better or worse, as memoirs.
Sweet Corn from the Pastor
Taking Time to Experience the Journey
Thomas Keating, in Intimacy with God, summarizes Evelyn Underhill's understanding of the spiritual journey:
... the spiritual journey is like a migration of English sparrows, each weighing about an ounce and a quarter, who twice each year take off into the