Several days ago a clergy colleague announced that he was
“honored to be a part of” the annual “Winter SolstiCelebration” that takes
place in Dallas each year. When I first
saw the post on Facebook, I was a little taken aback, because I was under the impression
that the Winter Solstice was a pagan festival, but I thought that perhaps this
was simply a secular name for a winter program.
When I investigated, I discovered that the “Winter SolstiCelebration”
was indeed a celebration of a pagan festival.
So I want to ask this question: When did it become okay for a United
Methodist Clergyperson to take part in a pagan worship celebration?
I find it deeply troubling that a United Methodist
Clergyperson would think that this is appropriate. The only possible reason to be involved would
be as a Christian presence, but the two songs that he is singing have no
references to God, much less Christ. The
song that is being sung at the “energy climax” of this pagan festival says “I
can find peace within the very heart of a song.” I thought that as Christians we found peace
in Jesus – see John 14:27.
The theme of the Winter SolstiCelebration this year is “Our Human Journey” and asks the
following questions:
Can
we guide our evolving humanity?
What
are our choices for the future?
Are
we doomed to endless war, social injustice and environmental degradation?
Or,
is it our epic destiny to live in peace with prosperity for all?
Join
the journey to the
future we choose
at Winter SolstiCelebration.
future we choose
at Winter SolstiCelebration.
The Bible is pretty specific about the problems of choosing
our own future and about what happens when we try to guide our lives without
reference to God (and by God I mean the God we know in Jesus Christ through the
power of the Holy Spirit). At the end of
the book of Judges, the people of God are in a horrible mess. They have been involved in murder, rape, and
fratricide; they have degenerated to the point where they no longer resemble
the image of the holy God of Israel. And
the reason? As it says in the last verse
of Judges (Jdg 21:25) “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what
was right in their own eyes.” The
New Testament has something to say about that as well in Romans:
Romans
1:21-25, 28-32 “ . . . though they knew
God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became
futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became
fools; 23 and they exchanged the glory
of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or
four-footed animals or reptiles. 24
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the
degrading of their bodies among themselves,
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped
and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!
Amen. . . . 28 And since they did not see fit to
acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should
not be done. 29 They were filled with
every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of
evil, rebellious toward parents, 31
foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32 They know God's decree, that those who practice such things deserve
to die-- yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice
them.
Far from solving the problems of war, social injustice and
environmental degradation, this focus on making our own choices and guiding our
own humanity, particularly in the context of “alternative spirituality” will
lead to a further descent into misery.
In contrast, Jesus offers a vision of the reign of God that
offers us hope and joy. We learn from
Jesus to pray for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done “on earth as
it is in heaven.” We learn from Paul
that the fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” How can we improve on this by “guiding our
evolving humanity?”
The Winter SolstiCelebration is clearly and unapologetically
a spiritual event that includes pagan, Wiccan, and Shamanic traditions. I might be uncomfortable with one of my
parishioners participating in this festival, but I would accept it and engage
them in conversation about how these traditions differed from
Christianity. However as United
Methodist Clergy we have covenanted to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus
Christ as found in the Bible. We do not
have the freedom to engage in alternative religious practices, even as a
musician. We must be unapologetically and exclusively Christian and we can’t
separate parts of our life.
I believe it is wrong for United Methodist Clergy to
participate in pagan festivals. I am
writing this post because I think that silence implicitly condones such
behavior. I want to be clear that I do
not and that I think we need to stand firm in our faith. I call on other United Methodist Clergy to
join me in saying no to alternative spirituality and to return to the gospel
. Paul said it well: “When I came to
you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you
in lofty words or wisdom. 2 For I
decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”
1 Corinthians 2:1-2
In Christ,
Martha
Check out the following links and decide for yourself if
this is an appropriate venue for a UM Clergyperson.
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