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    View from the Chancel: Church-related Writings by a Pastor
    View from the Chancel: Church-related Writings by a Pastor
    View from the Chancel: Church-related Writings by a Pastor
    Ebook125 pages1 hour

    View from the Chancel: Church-related Writings by a Pastor

    By Lowell Uda

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    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?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRice Universe Publishing
    Release dateFeb 2, 2014
    ISBN9781310960321
    View from the Chancel: Church-related Writings by a Pastor
    Author

    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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      Book preview

      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

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