PastorMarkCast
In this week’s episode, Pastor Mark celebrates the 50th ordination of women as elders and deacons in the Reformed Church in America and reflects on the long struggle to make it happen.
Pastor Mark is a Christian Pastor, author, blogger, and sometimes background actor. He brings all of his years of life experience to ask spiritual questions about the ordinary events of life.
Go to this link to hear the podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/pastormarkchat/872972/
Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2023 Blog #12
March 20, 2023
Fifty Years of Reformed Church in America Women Elders and Deacons
On Saturday I was part of a webinar that celebrated women’s leadership in the Reformed Church in America. I remember the battle for women to be ministers in 1979 but knew little of the history of the discussions about women elders and deacons. This happened when I was in grammar school and high school. I really did not know that this was a heated discussion. In my adult lifetime, women have always been elders and deacons. I can’t imagine a church without women leaders.
This wasn’t always so, as I found out. Many of the early women who became elders and deacons actually faced great obstacles. The male deacons, elders, and clergy were often blamed for the opposition but many women who were among the first to be ordained report that their biggest opponents were other women. The ordained women felt betrayed by their sisters who assumed would give them help and support.
Betrayal seems to be the common feeling among the early women I know as they sought ordination. They had served their congregations in various capacities throughout their lives. Even as children, many had showed leadership and the fruit of the spirit was evident within them. Despite the Holy Spirit and despite their good works, churches were telling them that they were not “appropriate” for ordained offices. They believed that God was telling them one thing and the church was telling them another. The church, in their view, had betrayed them.
Ultimately, women were ordained as deacons and elders, and twenty years later, to be ministers of word and sacrament. Many of them are the most gifted and talented officers that I know. I can’t help but wonder how many of these gifted and talented women we kept out of ministry because the male hierarchy kept women out for so many years. I can’t help but wonder if many of our churches would be stronger today if we had embraced these spirit-filled women decades before we did.
Where would any of us who are disciples of Christ without gifted and Spirit-filled leaders? Often our mothers first taught us Bible stories. Usually it was women who were our Sunday school teachers. Many of us saw women elders and deacons when we were young. They were all valuable in our own faith formation. I think that we all owe words of gratitude to these faithful women who made us what we are today.
It makes me wonder who else we are ignoring today when we evaluate future leaders. Do we base leadership on who and what a person is? There really should only be two questions that we ask: is the person full of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and has God called the person for leadership. Should we, with our internal prejudices, add to that list? What categories or attributes to we think are as important as God’s calling and the fruit of the Spirit? I hope that as we celebrate women office-holders we don’t make the same mistake of excluding people based on any other attributes.
#ReformedChurchInAmerica #PastorMarkAuthor
#BergenCounty #BergenfieldNJ
#WomenDeacons #WomenElders
#WomenMinisters #God’sCalling
To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please look at his website:
PastorMarkCast
In this week’s episode Pastor Mark discusses the many customs of the American celebration of St. Patrick’s day, both the true and the false, and pays tribute to this great saint of Ireland.
Pastor Mark is a Christian Pastor, author, blogger, and sometimes background actor. He brings all of his years of life experience to ask spiritual questions about the ordinary events of life.
Go to this link to hear the podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/pastormarkchat/863535/
Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2023 Blog #11
March 13, 2023
A Tribute to Saint Patrick
This week is Saint Patrick’s Day. In our nation we tend to celebrate with parades, songs and by consuming a great deal of alcohol. I would like to pay tribute to St. Patrick and critique some of the customs that we affiliate with St. Patrick.
Corned beef is not a food item in Ireland. American Irish began eating this in New York City as they affiliated with German immigrants who regularly ate this as a staple.
In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is less a celebration of revelry and more a sacred time of prayer held in church.
St. Patrick did not drive snakes out of Ireland. Given it has been isolated since the ice age, chances are that no snakes ever lived in Ireland.
So what is the real story of Saint Patrick? There are differing stories as to where he was born and lived. The majority of people believe that he grew up in England while a minority believe that he was originally French. Historical accounts do agree on the following:
He was kidnapped by Irish raiders and lived as a farm slave in Ireland.
Despite his slavery, he felt an affinity for the Irish people and grew to love them.
He felt called to the priesthood and vowed to escape slavery and return to Ireland as a priest.
After a long and dangerous journey he escaped, studied and was ordained a priest and returned to evangelize Ireland.
His knowledge of the creation-worshipping people of Ireland helped him translate the gospel of Jesus into a language the Irish could understand. He began to teach around bonfires as Irish pagans regularly used fire to scare away evil spirits. The common Celtic Cross that we know today was a merger of the circle which represented the world and the traditional Christian cross. This represented that Christ died for the whole world.
What about the Shamrock? St. Patrick used this to explain the Holy Trinity.
Whether he had exceptional speaking gifts, extra charisma, or his use of Irish tradition was effective, he moved Christianity to be the majority religion of the people on that Island. He felt love and affection for those who had once enslaved him.
How many of us would be so loving toward those who made us slaves? How many of us fall in love with people who had captured us by violence? How many of us could tailor our preaching so well by knowing our audience? I suspect not many of us have the heart and talents of Saint Patrick.
He showed courage in his escape. He showed love for oppressors. He showed ingenuity in evangelism. He is a role model for us all. May we live as faithfully and lovingly as he.
#ReformedChurchInAmerica #PastorMarkAuthor
#BergenCounty #BergenfieldNJ
#St.Patrick’sDay #St.Patrick
#Ireland #Saints
To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please look at his website:
PastorMarkCast
In this week’s episode Pastor Mark discusses feeding hungry people in Hackensack and applauds the work of Family Promise and the volunteers from Clinton Avenue Reformed Church in Bergenfield.
Pastor Mark is a Christian Pastor, author, blogger, and sometimes background actor. He brings all of his years of life experience to ask spiritual questions about the ordinary events of life.
Go to this link to hear the podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/pastormarkchat/853354/
Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2023 Blog #10
March 6, 2023
Food Insecurity
Each year our congregation supplies food for the hungry in the nearby city of Hackensack. We do this by working with an organization named “Family Promise.” This group has one mission; to end hunger. It is a very noble cause. Our congregation brings food as well as supplementing the Family Promise volunteers in distributing this food. It is a well-established mission for us and we have done this work since anyone in our congregation can remember.
This mission has changed in recent years. Formerly we needed more volunteers as we were required to staff steam tables and serve the people who either lived in the homeless shelter or in some cases, had homes but were living near the poverty edge. These meal were a good supplement to their diets. In the past, most of the volunteers had come from the churches and organizations who would supply food and personnel. Since COVID, fewer people eat in the dining room and most dinners are delivered to hotels where people are housed or passed out from the loading dock to those with houses nearby. Volunteers have shifted from being supplied mostly from contributing organizations to the majority being Family Promise volunteers.
The instructions to helping churches and organizations have been the same for years, “prepare sufficient food for 150 people.” For years some of us in our congregation wondered about amount. It seemed that frequently we had many leftovers as we had served 90 to 110 people. Yet, we continued to cook for 150 people.
Two weeks ago, we received a great surprise. We served not 150 people, but 180. When I expressed surprise at this number, our supervisor told me that two days prior to our serving, the volunteers had set a record by providing more than 200 hungry people. When I asked why there were so many more people, I received a lesson in economics.
A volunteer told me that inflation caused food prices to rise. Many people who live on the economic edge, are now priced out of buying their own food. People with surplus income can adjust shopping habits to accommodate the new prices. Those without a surplus cannot adjust. Even a small price rise can make them food insecure.
I often take my lifestyle for granted. I am not rich but I do have an income surplus and I am certainly not near the poverty limit. I suspect that many of us who have similar incomes to mine don’t realize how good we have things in life. For people like me, inflation is a nuisance but for others it is not a nuisance, it is a serious health concern that, at times, forces many people into poverty.
This is a shout out to the members of Clinton Avenue Reformed Church who continue to do what they can to give relief to those who are hungry from poverty. It is also a shout out to the volunteers of Family Promise who work every day with the purpose of feeding hungry people. I pray that more people will rise to the occasion and join in this good work.
#ReformedChurchInAmerica #PastorMarkAuthor
#BergenCounty #BergenfieldNJ
#FamilyPromise #FoodInsecurity
#Inflation #Hunger
To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please look at his website:
PastorMarkCast
In this week’s episode Pastor Mark begins his Lenten journey and reports on an encounter he had with a guilt-filled woman who he met while offering her Ashes on Ash Wednesday.
Pastor Mark is a Christian Pastor, author, blogger, and sometimes background actor. He brings all of his years of life experience to ask spiritual questions about the ordinary events of life.
Go to this link to hear the podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/pastormarkchat/843324/
Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2023 Blog #9
February 27, 2023
Reflections on Lent, Ash Wednesday and Worthiness
For several years now, I have begun my Lenten journey by distributing ashes on the outside of our sanctuary building on the morning of Ash Wednesday. I rather enjoy it. In doing so I find myself interacting with people that I would not normally interact with. The bulk of those who accept our invitation to receive ashes are either staff or parents of students at the pre-school that is housed in our building. These are people I see occasionally and know casually but have rarely had any deep conversations with. Ash Wednesday this year was a little different.
One woman in particular stood out for me. She was nervous about accepting Ashes. She asked me a few times if she would be allowed to receive ashes. I assured her that she was. She told me that she had not been to church recently. I assured her that she this was fine. She could still receive ashes. She told me that she had not recently been to confession. Again I told her that she could receive ashes. She told me that she was of Roman Catholic background. Once more I pointed out that this was not an obstacle.
Finally her pre-school daughter walked over to me and asked for ashes. “Of course,” I said and afterward remembered that I should have asked her mother for permission. I looked at her mother who smiled and nodded. Her mother pulled the girls hood back and I gave the little girl a blessing and ashes for her forehead. Of course, her mother followed her and was now willing to receive this blessing. There were tears in the mother’s eyes as she received ashes and my prayer for her.
I can’t imagine how many people are outside of our church walls and, like this mother, believe that they are too badly tainted to receive grace and a blessing. Many, if not most people, don’t know that grace is a gift that is not earned. I for one have never lived a good enough life to be worthy of the grace that I have received. I don’t know why people feel that one must be pure in order to receive God’s grace but that surely is not the message of the church of Jesus Christ. We teach that it is the most tainted that receive the most grace and mercy and they are obligated to live lives of gratitude forever after.
I feel badly that this woman did not learn the lesson of grace. Hearing this woman’s doubts about herself give me a little bit of guilt and shame. How many other people need to hear the teaching of grace but are waiting for us, the faithful, to leave our sanctuary buildings and teach these lessons on the street corners.
Rather than giving up something for Lent this year maybe it is time for us to add something for Lent; regular trips outside our walls to hear these words of doubt and anxiety in the street corners near where we live.
#ReformedChurchInAmerica #PastorMarkAuthor
#BergenCounty #BergenfieldNJ
#Lent #AshWednesday
#Ashes #Repentence
To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book: https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/
PastorMarkCast
In this week’s episode Pastor Mark celebrates Rev. Sally Azar who was the first Palestinian Christian woman to be ordained in Old City Jerusalem. He also prays that this new event will be the beginning of positive changes toward peace in the Holy Land.
Pastor Mark is a Christian Pastor, author, blogger, and sometimes background actor. He brings all of his years of life experience to ask spiritual questions about the ordinary events of life.
Go to this link to hear the podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/pastormarkchat/833102/
Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2023 Blog #8
February 20, 2023
Some Good News From Old City Jerusalem
Just a few weeks ago our news media were full of stories of an uprising of violence in Israel and Palestine. It was sad to read about the attacks, the killings and incarcerations between these half- brothers and half-sisters.
Even though I don’t believe that the violence will help the Palestinian cause, I can understand the rage of the Palestinians, especially those living in East Jerusalem. In East Jerusalem, Palestinians are forced to use license plates of a different color to distinguish them from their Israeli neighbors. They pay taxes but are not given the right to vote. In short, they are treated as second class citizens in a nation where they and their ancestors have lived for thousands of years. My guess is that any violent outbursts from Palestinians against the authorities of Israel or its citizens simply results in harsh reactions from the Israeli military.
In the midst of this turmoil, I heard some very good news from the Old City of Jerusalem. Rev. Sally Azar was ordained as the first Palestinian Christian Woman to be ordained in the Holy Land. Rev. Azar grew up as a Palestinian Christian in Jerusalem. She completed her theological studies at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon and was ordained on January 22, 2023. She is now an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan, the Holy Land and for all Christians in Palestine.
We in the Reformed Church in America ought to feel especially happy over this ordination. One of the most influential instructors in Rev. Azar’s education was one of our Reformed Church missionaries, Rev. Peter Ford. He and his wife, Betty, have been missionaries in the Middle-East since the 1980’s. By coincidence I was present in Rochester and saw his senior exams for ordination.
Now we see the fruit of his work in the ordination of Rev. Azar. There have been times when we wonder if our mission work and our financial contributions will ever bare fruit. I imagine that all of us have wondered if our faithful efforts are worth it. I haven’t seen Rev. Ford in forty years but I imagine even he wondered at times if he his efforts were in vain. Now we see the reward for his labors with this new “first” for this region.
I can only hope and pray that this is only one of new “firsts” for this region. Will other new things come? Will Israel grant full citizenship for Palestinians? Will new settlements in the occupied lands cease? Will Israel return the occupied lands to Palestine? Will Israelis and Palestinians learn to respect and love each other as the half-siblings that they are? With this new event in Old Jerusalem, one can only hope that this is only the beginning of better things.
#ReformedChurchInAmerica #PastorMarkAuthor
#BergenCounty #BergenfieldNJ
#Mission #PeterFord
#RevSallyAzar #WorldMissions
To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book:https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/
Pastor Mark Author 