Bravo, Taylor Swift, Bravo!

 

This past weekend the Twin Cities Metro was overtaken by Swiftmania as Taylor Swift performed twice at US Bank Stadium. Minneapolis was renamed “Swiftieapolis.” Governor Walz declared June 23 & 24 as Taylor Swift days in Minnesota. Over a hundred thousand people walked into US Bank Stadium to hear her Eras Tour concert. Something very special took place. 

The concert received rave reviews. I rarely read a review of a concert. But still--I'm not used to such positivity as expressed in the two metro newspapers.     

Ross Raihala of the St. Paul Pioneer Press wrote:

“Friday, she [Taylor Swift] went the extra mile once again, and then kept on driving. With a running time of more than three hours and an audience of about 64,000, it was epic on a scale never before seen in a pop music concert. It’s easily the most spectacular stadium tour ever. Yes, I said ever.” 

Jon Bream of the Star Tribune wrote about the enormity of the event, He noted that the concert involved, 

“44 songs, 14 dancers, six musicians, four professional backup vocalists, 64,287 volunteer backup singers, three stages connected by a runway, multiple set pieces and giant video screens. The concert was Taylor Swift on steroids. 

And a bit later the clincher,

“Her show Friday may be the most fan-fulfilling show I've ever seen in 48 years of reviewing.” 

I got to view the concert through the lens of my daughter, Hannah, who went on Friday night. She was one of the tens of thousands of people who stayed on their computer last November when the tickets went on sale. She got some. And there was no way she would miss this concert.

 I can hardly express her passion for Taylor Swift. Absolutely a Swiftie. she flew from Florida to Minneapolis on Thursday on a ticket she bought herself specifically to see Taylor Swift. She wasn’t the only one. When I picked her up at the airport on Thursday night, she said that many people on the plane were going to the concert. As we were riding home from the airport, I asked her if she knew what she would wear. She rolled her eyes as only a 20-something can do for her older 50-something dad. “I decided in February!” Even though it was almost midnight when we drove past US Bank Stadium on our trip from the airport to our home, I only half-jokingly said that we should stop to see what merchandise was for sale. 

For a while it seemed like she was going on the best prom date possible. Hannah gathered at the house of one of her best friends early in the afternoon. With her other besties she they took pictures of outfits and posted them on Social Media. She sang and danced late into the night and came home well after midnight. 

But the metaphor of prom doesn’t work--it doesn't capture the passion that Hannah, her besties, and tens of thousands of others have for Taylor Swift. 

Taylor Swift speaks brilliantly to the lives of young women. I don’t understand the connection and as an older white guy I feel a bit like an intruder trying to understand it. But I’m blown away by Taylor Swift’s genius. The tens of thousands of young women who saw Swift perform received something that they don’t find anywhere else in our culture. Taylor Swift understands their angst—and speaks directly into it. Taylor Swift writes songs that speak to their spirits. And her talent goes much beyond being a song writer. Taylor Swift is a producer, dancer, videographer and much more. 

The bottom line: she connects. 

And sure, Taylor Swift is an industry unto herself that could be seen as excessive. According to Forbes her net worth is 740 million. And it’s not hard to do a mind exercise of multiplying the cost of a ticket by all the people who walked through US Bank Stadium and think, “she’s making a lot of money.” 

I spent much of the weekend trying to understand her success. I watched some of the concert on Friday live on someone’s Tik-Tok account, and started watching videos of songs from the concert on the Star Tribune web site. I read articles, watched more of her songs on other web sites, saw a hour of “Miss Americana” on Netflix and watched her commencement speech given at NYU. 

I think I have a sense of why she is so popular, but at some level it's best for me to sit back and say, “bravo!” Taylor Swift brought over a hundred of thousand people together this past weekend—most of them were women. They left happy, full of joy, with an experience they still might talk about in 25 years. No one was mad at the world or the government or were manipulated to support someone’s agenda. They screamed and sang and danced and ultimately connected. 

This is what church aims to be. We leave in a better place than when we arrive.

Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour is on to Cincinnati. Whether we attended the concert or not, we're left with many memories. 

Bravo, Taylor Swift. Bravo!

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Yes, I believe women should be ordained as pastors. Here's why

 

When the Southern Baptists debated the ordination of women last week, I thought it would be a no-brainer. I figured that for sure these brothers in sisters in Christ would vote to for their ordination. I guess I’m naïve. Last week the Southern Baptist Convention voted by a nine to one margin to expel Saddleback church and Fern Creek Baptist church from their fellowship for ordaining women to be pastors. 

The PC(USA), the denomination where I am ordained, first ordained a woman to be a pastor in 1956. Margaret Towner was her name and her picture is at the top of this blog. We first ordained women to serve on the Session in the 1930’s. My sister serves as a pastor, and I have many female friends who serve as pastors. 

I have to admit that it’s hard for me to wrap my head around the reality that ordaining women to be a pastor is still an issue. 

The Southern Baptists are not the only denomination who have made this move. My Catholic friends do not ordain women to be priests; and neither do my friends who serve as Missouri Synod Lutherans, Latter Day Saints, Orthodox Jews, and Muslims. Many non-denominational churches don’t allow women to preach. 

To me ordaining women is important for these reasons. 

First—I see congregations as representing Jesus to the world. When we discriminate based on gender, we are misrepresenting Jesus. Jesus didn’t treat people differently based on their gender. And sure I can practically read some minds when people push back by saying that Jesus called men to be his disciples. But Jesus didn’t call men to be his disciples to illustrate that only men can be ordained. It’s important to note that ordination was not even a concept when Jesus was alive. People didn’t have a “Rev” in front of their names when Jesus was alive. 

What we do know about Jesus is he went out of his way to honor women. Remember the story of the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus was willing to talk to a Samaritan woman. The disciples were shocked that Jesus did this. After leaving Jesus she went to her own village and testified what Jesus had done for her. Many in her village believed in Jesus because of her testimony. It sure sounds like she was a woman preacher. 

I believe that if Jesus was alive today he would lay hands on a woman as she was ordained to be a pastor. 

Second—the way we interpret the Bible is very important. I’ve read the Scriptures that people against women’s ordination have shared. It’s hard for me to believe that these Scriptures were meant to be universal statements that would be authoritative two thousand years later on the issue of the ordination of women. They were statements that Paul made in a particular time and place. To pull these out as the teaching of God seems overly forced. 

Third—I also read where Paul believed that people should use their gifts—look at 1 Corinthians 12. Paul acknowledged that there are a variety of gifts that have been distributed to people. People are called to use these gifts in service. 

Fourth—the first preacher of the resurrection was a woman. When Mary Magdalene went to the tomb two days after Jesus was murdered, she encountered an angel. The angel told her to go and tell the male disciples that Jesus was raised from the dead. Mary Magdalene followed the instruction of the angel. She shared with the male disciples that Jesus was raised from the dead. What would have happened if Mary Magdalene had followed Paul’s teaching that women are to be silent? It’s possible that no one would know that Jesus was raised. 

Five—I have great sorrow for women in the Southern Baptist convention who have gave their lives to ministry and now have been told that they cannot serve. It’s hard for me to imagine a governing body denying someone the opportunity to use their gifts because of gender.

 Six—at Chain of Lakes Church we are not a subscriptionist place—this means that you certainly can be against the ordination of women and participate in our congregation. You don’t have to subscribe to our belief that women can be ordained to be a participant in our congregation.  However we frequently have women preach from the pulpit. In fact we’ll have a women preach from our pulpit on July 2. 

Seven—I would encourage all congregations to be upfront about their willingness to ordain women. Don’t make it hard for people to learn a viewpoint of a congregation. Even if you don’t believe in the ordination of women, don’t make a person work hard to discover your views. I would like every church in the north Metro to put on their web site a statement about whether a women can be ordained in their congregation. 

As I reflect more on these decisions I vary in my own emotions from scorn to sadness to anger to bewilderment. It’s still hard for me to believe that a denomination is talking about this in 2023. 

I dream of the day when the Southern Baptists will joyfully celebrate women as preachers. I do believe that this will happen. I continue to pray that the Spirit will break down the walls that allow this discrimination to happen.

Adventures at Valley Fair

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to participate in a classic youth group ministry—going to Valley Fair. We are between Youth Directors right now at Chain of Lakes, so I agreed to help organize the activity.   

Valley Fair has a special place of nostalgia for me. I remember going there with my Youth Group from Worthington, Minnesota about forty years ago.  We went to Valley Fair the first year the park opened in 1978. According to their web site then the park had twenty rides and was on 26 acres. The big thrill was going on High Roller, their big “white” roller coaster.  Today the park has eight roller coasters and High Roller seems like an old antique. 

Valley Fair is not a quaint park. Today it has over 75 rides on 125 acres of land. The most popular part of the park is the Splash Pad. It seemed on Saturday that at least half of the people at the park were hanging out there.   

Funny how our own age can change a perspective on something like Valley Fair. When I was a teenager Valley Fair was the big time—a place where the cool kids from the Cities hung out and made an impression on my rural sensibility. On Saturday I was thinking about how everything was laid out and how well the park is run.   

Amusement Parks like Valley Fair are very big business. Cedar Fair LC owns Valley Fair. They are a company traded on the New York Stock Exchange; they own eleven regional amusement parks, four water parks, and two sporting destinations. In 2022 they took in over a billion dollars in total revenue. Valley Fair is the largest amusement park in the Midwest. 

But none of that was on my mind when the Chain of Lakes middle school group went to Valley Fair on Saturday. We were looking to have a fun time. We went on as many of the rides as we could. I like to go on rides and told the youth I would go on any ride that they wanted to try. 

The new ride for me was the Xtreme Swing.  We sit in a row and are swung ahead and behind at 60 miles per hour. The structure is ten stories tall. I don’t keep my eyes open. I’m just focusing on the experience and trying not to be scared. When I’m riding at such a high speed I’m reminding myself that many people go on this ride and the ride is inspected and safe. The experience reminded me of a comment I recently heard that when a person or organization is in stress they defer to their training. When I was traveling at such a high speed I’m reminding myself that the ride is inspected and is safe. No one has died. And that is comforting! 

I’ve always been impressed by the new rides that Valley Fair has almost every year. If I had been transported from the 70’s to the park today I would have hardly recognized the park. Every part has been changed and updated. I can’t help but think about lessons for the church, especially the mainline church. Many of our worship services and buildings don’t seem that much different from forty years ago. 

Our youth group had a blast at Valley Fair. I didn’t get to go on Wild Thing or Excalibur because a thunderstorm was moving through the area. All of the rides were shut-down until the storm went through. I had no problem with that decision. I wouldn’t want to be swinging ten stories high on Xtreme Swing with a thunderstorm nearby. 

Because the rides had stopped our group left a bit early. But it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for what we experienced. The youth in my car were soon asleep as we were driving away leaving me to wonder how many Youth Groups trips have been made to Valley Fair.