Sometimes I worry about Zombies.

In the film 28 days Later, a bike messenger  named Jim awakens in a coma.  When he comes out of the coma, the hospital is empty. No doctors. No nurses. No patients. Nothing.

Jim stumbles out of the hospital into a London that has been decimated.  The buildings are all still standing but there are no signs of life.  No signs of life.  Using imagery from 9-11, there are flyers posted everywhere; family members searching for the lost.

He walks the eerily abandoned streets of London until he finds a church.

In postapocalyptic London, perhaps the church will provide some answers? He walks into the sanctuary only to find a dead and rotting congregation.

A few heads pop up and then messenger is approached by a pastor vicar.  Something is not right though.

The vicar is a zombie! Jim punches him in the mouth (“sorry about that father”) and then runs for his life.  The pastor and fifteen other zombies from the church chase after him.

We showed this clip at Lockerbie Central United Methodist last night.    And had a conversation about congregations that act like zombies.

As our church has studied the book of Job this past month, we have looked at creativity and suffering.  Job might not provide us with answers about why we suffer, but the work does tell us some about how people have responded to suffering.  On this night, we looked at what happens when the church is not responding [creatively] to suffering but is actually causing more suffering.

The Zombie thread came from a blog post called “Zombie Congregations” that was posted in February. I wrote a post earlier this year called “Zombie United Methodist Church” about my experience at Lockerbie Central UMC as we struggled to transform the church.  Anyways,  the blogger, UMC pastor Dan Dick, writes

New people threaten the status quo. Zombies hang out together, and they look and act very much alike.  They only attack those who are different (i.e., those filled with life, energy, and imagination).  Many of our congregations say “we want new people” when they really mean is “we want more people exactly like us.”

It was an interesting conversation last night.  How do we make sure that we are creatively responding to suffering and not creating suffering?

Filed under: Christians, Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, Revised Common Lectionary, church, emergent church, film , 28 days later, bike messenger, church, church scene, congregation, creativity and suffering, Dan Dick, Job, lockerbie central united methodist, london, methodist, suffering, united methodist, zombie churches, zombie congregations, zombies

No more Sins By Silence. Stopping Domestic Violence in Indiana

Brenda Clubine; founder of Convicted Women Against Abus

The Indianapolis metro area has suffered through a horrible year for domestic violence.  Angela Warnock in Brownsburg.  Beth Stayer in Zionsville/Anson a week earlier. Just before Christmas, Yvonne Kretzer was murdered by her husband in Plainfield.  There were 65 deaths in Indiana last year attributed to domestic violence.  Every day 1000 people seek help from domestic violence in Indiana alone.

Last night at Lockerbie Central United Methodist and Earth House, we screened the documentary Sin By Silence and heard from filmmaker Olivia Klaus.  Most amazingly, Brenda Clubine was there.  She is featured in the documentary and it was her work and vision that created Convicted Women Against Abuse; an innmate support and advocacy group that transformed California’s Domestic Violence laws.

Brenda was serving seventeen years to life for defending herself against her abusive husband.  Last night was the 1 year anniversary of her release from prison.

There is so much to be said about the movie and last night’s gathering.  There were tears, standing ovations, and a commitment to make Indiana free of all violence.

Thank you so much for the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence for  organizing this screening and bringing Ms. Clubine and Ms. Klaus to Indianapolis.

Filed under: Earth House, Thursday Night Film Festival, community, documentary, family life, film, film review, movie review, prison, prison justice, prison ministry, rememberances, united methodist , Indianapolis, Indiana, Earth House, lockerbie central, death, united methodist, documentary, zionsville, Brownsburg, violence, domestic violence, angela warnock, beth stayer, plainfield, anson, Yvonne Kretzer, Convicted Women Against Abuse, deaths, abuse, california, brenda clubine, sin by silence, olivia klaus, Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence

You Can Have it All/ My Empire of Dirt: Johnny Cash, Creativity and Suffering

We heard from Johnny Cash in worship service tonight.   See, as the revised common lectionary  takes us through the book of Job, we at Lockerbie Central United Methodist, are taking an extended look at suffering and creativity.  

Johnny Cash was a country legend; an artist who outsold the Beatles in the late 1960s, hung out with Billy Graham, and had a raging drug addiction.  Despite not having the best voice or singing abilities, not being the best looking, and not being the most accomplished guitar player, he has become one of the greatest American artists; the only person in the songwriters’, country music, and rock n roll hall of fame.  

The  relationship between Rick Rubin and Johnny Cash made it into Rob Bell’s recent endeavor, Drop Like Stars:  A Thoughts on Suffering and Creativity.  During the last decade of Cash’s life, Rick Rubin, the famous music producer with roots in hip-hop, helped Cash find relevancy again.  

Without these album’s late in Cash’s life, starting with 1994’s American Recording, there might not have been no  Walk The Line, the Oscar winning movie about  Cash’s stormy relationship with eventual wife  June Carter, which grossed nearly 200 million dollars worldwide. 

In The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash, author Dave Urbanski tells of an encounter between Cash and U2 frontman Bono.  Bono was traveling the U.S. and had dinner with Cash at his Nashville home.  Bono was amazed at the dinnertime prayer that the legendary singer gave.  After Cash finished the prayer, he said, “I sure do miss the drugs though.”  

Johnny Cash had an empire. Had his own museum and even had his own zoo.  He was far from perfect but realized that all he had, thanks to Rick Rubin and the Trent Reznor song Hurt, that everything he had was nothing more than an empire of dirt.  

The song concludes: 

A million miles away 
I would keep myself 
I would find a wayIf I could start again 
A million miles away 
I would keep myself 
I would find a way

Filed under: Christians, Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, after pentecost, church, film, united methodist , american recording, billy graham, bono, cash, country music, country music hall of fame, creativity, dave urbanski, drops like stars, drugs, hall of fame, hip hop, hurt, johny cash, June Carter, lockerbie central, rick rubin, rob bell, rock and roll, songwriters' hall of fame, suffering, the beatles, the man comes around, trent reznor, u2, united methodist