From the Pastors Desk

Many years ago, when I was in the Metro DC synod

From the Pastors Desk - May 01, 2020

Many years ago, when I was in the Metro DC synod, I was one of the leaders of our Synod’s Confirmation Camp. Basically, about a dozen pastors and 125 teen-agers were at an ELCA camp (picture where Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia converge) for a week. The pastors had the kids in the morning and evening, and they did traditional summer camp activities with the counselors in the afternoons.

We had it down to a two-year curriculum rotation. One year we were with Moses and Pharaoh in Egypt and the next we were in the last week of Jesus’ life. The kids “lived” out (acted out) these stories. I was on the committee that tweaked the what worked/what didn’t work from the previous time we used the material. We decided that for one evening, after supper and after Holy Communion (It was supposed to be Maundy Thursday) we decided that each pastor would take his or her cabin group to a quiet place for silent prayer. If you are thinking Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, that’s what we were going for. We were hoping that the urge to socialize would get the better of them and whispers and giggling would ensure and then the pastors could tell them to “be quiet, I’m trying to pray” – sort of like Jesus saying to Peter “could you not stay awake with me for only one hour.”

Later that night, as the pastors gathered around to debrief the day, we found that it happened across the board! The kids stayed silent for the 20 minutes, engaged in silent prayer. BACKFIRED! [Later in the evaluations it became the “most meaningful thing that happened to me during the week]

A number of years later, I had a Council meeting that was ending very late. That congregation always had late Council meetings. Add on to that that right before Council started, my daughter called and explained that she had just used the last drop of her contact lens solution, could I please pick up some on my way home? On my way home I stopped at Safeway. Not the store where I normally shopped, but it was on the way home. At the register, I’m not really paying attention as my thoughts were still back at the long Council meeting, when suddenly, the cashier says, “I think you used to be my pastor.” I looked at his trainee name tag and said “Yes, but I’m no longer at the congregation.” Being late at night, the store is empty, so that as he bagged my contact lens solution, we caught up a bit. He told me he has back living with his mother and they were attending the Methodist congregation that was in walking distance from the house. Then he said, “Pastor Schafer, do you remember that night at Confirmation Camp when you took us to the outdoor chapel to pray?” (He as one of my behavior issue kids so I kept him in my group rather than inflict him on a colleague). I told him that I did and his response was “Pastor, that’s what got me through my prison sentence.” Well, you can probably guess where the conversation went from there and we talked until another person walked up and he had to check that person out.

So, where am I going with this? A good plan backfired. This troubled kid found meaning in silent prayer. He used what he had gained years later in a tough situation. As we go through this whole pandemic situation, we’ve never been there before. We are not in person at church. Some of us are at home, totally alone. Sort of like my “kid” in prison. What do we have from the past we can help us in our lives right now? There is an answer for each of us. Do you know what it is for you? If not, I suggest that you go looking for it. I am glad that we can help each other with email and phone calls, but for the foreseeable future, we are going to continue to need help.