My Blog

Category: Denver, Colorado

  • Inasmuch

    Senior Warden Tom Keyse and I spent a couple of hours today with The Rev'd Lynne Butler, CEO and Executive Director of  Metro Caring, Denver's leading frontline hunger prevention organization. I was heartened by everything I saw. This is the kind of place that offers real hope to our neighbors in need.

    Just a few of the programs I learned about are: Metro Caring_Logo_color

    • Healthful Foods Access
    • Nutrition and Gardening Education
    • Seeds for Success Job Training
    • Self Sufficiency Counseling
    • Financial Literacy Education
    • Identification Document Assistance
    • Metro Caring Market
    • Legislative Action
    • Benefits Enrollment Assistance

    Saint John’s Cathedral has members who serve on the board or volunteer in one or more programs. I saw some of those members who were exercising faithful stewardship of their time by sitting with guests of Metro Caring, engaging in conversation, listening, and demonstrating genuine care. It was as if I were witnessing a living tableau of the scene described in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew:

    When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Mt. 25:31-36)

    During lunch after our tour, Lynne told us that one out of four children in this state faces hunger. She also told me that a person enrolled in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) in Colorado receives $126 per month in food stamps. That’s far less than I would have imagined. She then told me about a challenge that was given to Denver religious leaders in June. Each of us is asked to personally contribute $126 to Metro Caring and then to ask 126 more people to contribute the same amount. If even one of us did that, it would raise $16,000. The funds raised in this campaign will be used by Metro Caring to fight hunger in the following ways:

    • Reduce local food waste to ensure all have enough
    • End food deserts by going mobile
    • End hunger at its root through Seeds for Success, Metro Caring’s signature employment training program for food-industry jobs.

    In several ways, it is an awkward time to be doing this because of the start up of fall stewardship campaigns among my friends around the country. However, inasmuch as I am so impressed with the good work being done through Metro Caring, I’m going to make my contribution. If you are moved to do likewise with a gift over and above what you plan to give to your faith community, please do so. This is a personal suggestion and not a Cathedral campaign. Contributions can be made online or by mailing a check to:

    Metro Caring
    P.O. Box 300459
    Denver, CO 80203

    Everything I saw today convinces me that Metro Caring will exercise faithful stewardship over our gifts, hope will be restored, and lives will be transformed.

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Sig Blue 

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    Saint John's Cathedral
    Denver, Colorado

     

  • Let Us Pray!

    Several years ago, my vocational journey took me into interim ministry. This is a specialized form of ordained ministry in which I devote my priestly and prophetic gifts and experience to aid congregations during times of transition between settled or permanent spiritual leaders. Faithful stewardship of these transitions is vital to the health of the congregation and to its future mission under new leadership.

    As I have focused more intentionally on transition and the attendant change and transformation, I have become more conscious of the importance of prayer in helping us to be creative agents of the changes God is calling us to make instead of victims of the march of time. I don’t pretend to understand how prayer works in God’s administrative policy, but I do believe prayer matters. And I believe that prayer matters in the faithful stewardship of times of transition.

    For example, the Collect of the Day for Proper 12:

    O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

    And, the Collect of the Day for Proper 13:

    Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

    Both of those prayers presuppose the movement of the Church through change and transition and uncertain times. With God’s help, we can be agents of the changes God wants to see in our individual lives and in the life of our faith community.

    The first Sunday service in my current appointment as Interim Dean of Saint John’s Cathedral in Denver was July 10. In our lectionary, the Sunday closest to July 13 each year is always known as “Proper 10.” The Collect of the Day is a one-sentence prayer we pray near the beginning of the Eucharistic liturgy and before the reading of Scripture. The Collect of the Day for Proper 10 is one of my favorite collects in the Book of Common Prayer.

    O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

    Perhaps I like it so much because it is a prayer for discernment. To discern is to divide, separate, or sort things out. In our ongoing spiritual journey, each of us is called to sort out God’s yearning for us and then ask God to supply the resources we need to make the decisions and live our lives in line with God’s hopes for us. I’ve asked the Saint John’s Cathedral Community to pray this prayer daily during this time of transition because we have important transition work to do together. Times of transition are opportunities for amazing, purposeful, creative change and we want to be sure those changes advance God’s reign. So, we pray for divine guidance.

    The other prayer I’ve asked the Cathedral community to pray is this:

    Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a Dean for this Cathedral, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

    This prayer helps us be mindful that there are members of our faith community who have been charged with the specific moving through a mutual process of discernment that will result in the calling of a new spiritual leader with whom they will enter a new era of mission and ministry. As we pray, we ask for divine guidance for these representatives of God’s people in this place.

    So, whether you are trying to be a faithful steward of a time of transition in your life and the life of your household, the life of your organization, the life of your business, the life of your political party, or the life of your faith community, I invite you to be persistent in prayer. After all, the changes God is hoping to see are humanly impossible. Without God’s help, we cannot accomplish what God has in mind. There are plenty of things we can do on our own. The holy work that issues from our vocation as God’s Holy Church can only be accomplished with God’s help.

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

    P.S. If you have a copy of The Book of Common Prayer, take some time to look through it and notice how many prayers refer to transition and change. You'll be surprised!

  • A Fruitful Life

    Modern personnel practices in secular business settings emphasize the importance of performance appraisals. Some of that spills over into our perspective on our life as followers of Jesus Christ. That is not necessarily a good thing.

    Business and the economy are concerned with performance and productivity. People are useful as long as they are able to contribute to the bottom line. People easily become cogs in the wheels of commerce.

    Jesus was concerned about fruitfulness. He said, "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5).

    I recently helped a family say goodbye to a loved one. He was a renowned surgeon, husband, father, and Christian gentleman. During those last minutes of his life, they were not concerned in the least with his performance. They spoke of the wonderful life he lived and the stewardship of his gifts as a physician that allowed him to heal, save lives, give people another chance. "That was why he was put here," they said. He understood that God had made him a physician and guided his hands in God's healing work. He lived a fruitful life.

    Every life he touched made a difference to others. We'll never know how many.  Something The Rev. Robert H. Schuller said came to mind. "Anyone can count the number of seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed." Fruitful people go around planting seeds. Those seeds germinate, take root, sprout, grow, and produce fruit. And so the process continues from generation to generation.

    Here's a question: When you die, do you want someone to say about you, "He always had good performance appraisals," or do you want it said, "He lived a fruitful life"?

    Do what you have to do to earn a living, keep your job, and provide for your family. Be a top performer. But don't confuse being a cog in the wheel with living a fruitful, abundant, Christian life.

    I'll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

     

  • Red, Yellow, Black, and White, they are precious in God’s sight

     

    When I was a child, I loved attending Sunday School. I had some amazingly loving and deeply faithful teachers whose influence profoundly affected the formation of my faith in a loving God. I can see them and hear their voices now as if it were only yesterday – Mr. Frantis, Mrs. Brittian, Mrs. Baber, and others. They loved us and share their faith in Jesus with us. They reinforced the faith into which our parents were trying to guide us.RedYellowBlackWhite

    However, when I looked back on that time from the perspective of a young adult in the late 1960's, I realized something was wrong. They taught us to sing (with gusto) "Jesus Loves the Little Children." In that song, there is a line that says, "Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight." But the church I attended was 100% white. From its members I overheard conversations from time to time about the place of our neighbors who were black, brown, and yellow. When I looked back, I realized that, while Jesus loves people besides white people, my white church people didn't. Jesus might love them, but they weren't really welcome in my church. Jesus might love them, but they weren't worthy of the dignity and respect enjoyed by white people. Jesus might love them, but our behavior toward them didn't have to look like we love them as he loves us. Jesus might love them, but they had better not act "uppity."

    If you grew up in a racist culture like I did, you know what I am talking about. Perhaps for you, as for me, recognizing that something was wrong was an epiphany, a time for repentance, and the beginning of transformation. My world could no longer be all white with a little color around the edges.

    This all came to me during a time when black people were turned away from white churches. It was a struggle for one like me, who was taught that people of all colors are precious in the sight of Jesus, to reconcile that message with the actions I was witnessing. Given the rhetoric of the day, I suppose I could have rejected that message and clung to what seemed to be the majority view reflected in the rhetoric and behavior of my white world. But the security, control, and privilege of that world was slipping away. Abandoning it or confronting it could be dangerous. White people said harsh and hateful things to other white people who didn't participate in keeping non-white people "in their place." The message wasn't wrong; my white, privileged, dominant world was wrong and I couldn't live in it anymore. I had to set out on a journey toward someplace else. I'm still on that journey.

    Events of the last week and year have brought me to the sad truth that many of my fellow white people are still trapped in that world. It is even sadder that they seem to be completely unconscious of it. They say and do things that are blatantly racist yet are oblivious. I know it's true because I've been there and I still find myself trying to overcome some of those prejudices that were planted in me long ago. People of color who loved me enough to point out the harm, sometimes hatefulness, of my words and actions stuck with me until I began to understand where they were coming from and how my words and my behavior affected them. Many of those people are still in my life. I give thanks to God for them. I've sort of been their lifelong project and I'm still not finished. They patiently continue on the journey with me. And as we travel, we sing that song hoping our rainbow beliefs are evident in our lives. Maybe the colors of our rainbow are still a little bit pastel, but we hope they are growing stronger with each step we take together. Together.

    So, what I wanted to suggest today to my friends of all colors, races, religions, genders, and nationalities is that it might help heal our fractured, hurting world if we would sing this song and test ourselves to see if our words and actions show that we really believe it is true. Whether you believe that Jesus is God Incarnate, a wise prophet, or just a very gutsy nice guy, could it be true that he loves all the children of the world? Are all of us – red, yellow, black, and white – really precious in his sight? If I am one of the Jesus people, shouldn't they be precious in my sight as well? How do I love and treat people who are precious in Jesus' sight? Who are precious in my sight?

    This isn't a final exam! It's a pop quiz to monitor progress in a lifelong course. I invite you to take it with me and see if we can be the difference we'd like to see in God's amazing, changing world.

     

    I'll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    Saint John’s Cathedral
    Denver, Colorado

     

  • Let’s get started!

    Today is my first Sunday as Interim Dean at Saint John’s Cathedral. I’ve spent the past week getting acquainted with the staff, setting up my office, attending meetings, learning which keys open which doors, finding my way around Denver, talking with the Bishop, and signing documents pertaining to my new location. It’s been an intense and busy week, made so much easier by those who have lent a hand.

    In addition to the usual duties of a Dean, an intentional interim is trained to help the congregation clarify its history, discover its present identity, equip its leadership, strengthen its ties to the wider church, and prepare to make a commitment to a new day in mission when the next dean is called. There will be numerous opportunities for members to tell their stories and I've already heard several remarkable ones. People have told me about how they were invited to be a part of this Cathedral community years ago, how they came to be married here, how they raised their family here, how they provided leadership during other transitions, and how the people here shepherded them through difficult times.

    Fr. Patrick Malloy has guided some remarkable transition work in the last year. I am stepping onto the journey where he stepped off and looking forward to completing the remaining tasks. There will be a lot of work to do during this phase of transition. In light of that, I'm appointing a group of people to be in charge of fun. They will remind us from time to time that the Christian life is characterized by joy and help us avoid taking ourselves too seriously.

    The top priority of my ministry here is to provide leadership that will help Saint John’s and their next Dean to have a fruitful ministry together. We are off to a very good start. The key ingredient to fruitful ministry is common prayer. For Christians, transitions are always times for prayerful discernment. Our prayers have results beyond our imagination or control. Our prayers let God know we are receptive to divine guidance. Our prayers help us watch over one another in love. Our prayers make the work of transition sacred work.

    To that end, I’m distributing cards containing two prayers for daily use. One prayer is for the Cathedral community, asking God to help us to know and understand what things we ought to do, and to give us grace and power faithfully to accomplish those things. The other prayer calls upon God to guide the minds of those who will choose a new Dean, asking that we may we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for God’s people and equip us for our ministries.

    Please pray these prayers and check in from time to time to see what kind of epiphanies God is giving us as our eyes are opened to behold God’s hand at work among this faithful flock. Jesus promised his followers that they would do even greater works than he did during his brief earthly ministry. I truly believe that. Our time together may be short, but it will be in the hands of our God who can do more with us than we can do by ourselves. There will be signs and wonders!

    Let’s get started.

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean

  • In Response to the Racism and Violence of This Week

    The deaths of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana have shocked the fabric of human community. I returned to my home last night to see and hear the news that one or more snipers have killed five police and injured another seven in Dallas, Texas. In the violence of the last two days, seven human beings will never go home. They will never embrace their family, friends, spouses, and children again.

    We grieve with Diamond Reynolds for the senseless death of her boyfriend Philando Castile, with Cameron Sterling for the murder of his father Alton, and with the families of the police officers who were slaughtered while performing their duties. We grieve for ourselves, for our tolerance of and complicity in the growing racism and gun violence in our nation. We grieve for the divisive and immoral behavior that fosters such violent outbursts. We grieve for the refusal of our elected leaders to take reasonable steps to turn back the tide of terror that threatens to destroy us.

    We are called upon to pray about this culture of racism and violence and for those who are the victims. And we must do that because our prayers matter. But let us pray, as we will this Sunday, that God will guide us to know and understand what we must do and then give us the grace and power to faithfully accomplish those things. We must seek and find ways to change things for neighbors like Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, five dead police officers, and their families. We must also change things for people who are our own neighbors, colleagues, family, and friends whom we cherish. We must be mindful that we are responsible for creating the culture that will be the legacy we bequeath to our children and the generations that follow.

    The people of Denver and of Colorado know all too well that this is not just about Louisiana, Minnesota, and Texas. Liberation theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez writes, “All injustice is a breach with God.” This is about the injustice of violence and racism, sins that strip us of our humanity. We must repent, turn away, not only from our personal complicity, but from the systems of injustice that dehumanize our brothers and sisters.

    So, let the message of peace and mutual respect, of liberty and justice for all, and for God’s peaceful reign to be established upon earth as it is in heaven be proclaimed from the Pulpit of this Cathedral and Pulpits across the land in the hope that those who hear that message, starting with ourselves, will act to change the social structures and all the influences that have allowed racism and violence to grow. May we become instruments of the answers to the prayers we pray.

    O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
    through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
    human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
    infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
    unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
    confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
    your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
    harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
    our Lord. Amen.              (Book of Common Prayer, page 815)

     

     

    Faithfully yours,

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    Saint John’s Cathedral
    Denver, Colorado

     

  • Why Blue for Advent?

    The Season of Advent Advent Starry Night 2

    The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin Adventus, which means “coming” or “arrival.” It is the season of preparation for the celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ, God’s Messiah. Advent has been observed in the Western churches, since about the fifth century C.E.. Advent begins the liturgical year and includes the time from the fourth Sunday before Christmas, until Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent is always the Sunday nearest the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, November 30th, and always falls between November 27th  and December 3rd.

    The Color for the Season

    For centuries, the season of Advent was observed as a penitential season. Sometimes, it was even referred to as the “Little Lent.” And, following the pattern of Lent, the designation of the four Sundays of the season were Sundays “in” Advent rather than Sundays “of” Advent. Also, as in Lent, the color violet or purple was the seasonal color. 

    During the ecumenical liturgical reforms of the 1960’s and 1970’s, a strong consensus emerged that Advent should be a season of hope and anticipation, rather than penitence. As the new lectionaries were developed, the Sunday readings reflected those themes. Many churches sought a different seasonal color. Liturgical leaders were drawn to the color blue, which was used in the ancient Sarum rite (Salisbury, England). In subsequent years, use of the color blue has become widespread during Advent. Blue symbolizes hope, confidence, anticipation and expectation, all adjectives that describe the season of Advent.

    The Advent Wreath Candles

    Use of the Advent Wreath entered our observance of the season during the last century. The wreath 4_blue_candles_by_blood_huntressconsists of four candles, one of which is lighted on each of the four Advent Sundays. As the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer, we light more candles until we celebrate the birth of the Light of the World on December 25, symbolized by a larger white candle in the center of the wreath.

    When purple or violet was the seasonal color, that was the choice of color for the hangings, vestments, and Advent Wreath candles. However, rose, a lighter shade of purple, was often used on the third Sunday.  Rose was thought to be representative of a less penitential theme for that Sunday, on which the first word of the Introit was “Rejoice.” Now that Advent is no longer observed as a primarily penitential season, the candles are blue and there is no need for a rose candle to suggest that we  “lighten up.”

    I invite you to take time in this season of Advent to prepare your heart and mind in new ways for the news of the birth of Jesus Christ, God With Us.

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue