Weekend Reflections #3
By far, the best moment of my weekend, even outplacing my soccer game (in which I scored 2 goals), was Jennifer Dymek's baptism.
She came to me earlier wanting to talk about making a commitment to Jesus Christ in baptism, and I was so excited. I was really excited about all of the people who have helped her along in her journey to this point, and it was awesome to invite them to join her on the stage for her baptism.
Awesome!
Someone asked me about the timing (during the service) of the baptism; they wanted to make sure that they got to see it (if you're not familiar with the flow of our 11:00 service, we have a pull-out children's church; after the worship songs and offering, the children are dismissed for children's church. Since Jennifer has children who would be dismissed then, I wanted to make sure that they got to see her baptism and hear her testimony and confession of faith. Plus some of the children's church volunteers have been walking this journey with Jennifer, and I didn't want them to miss out!
I want to always make sure to make something this significant in the life of the church accessible for as many people as possible. I know the Host of Heaven is celebrating, but we want the chance to celebrate as well!
I'll tell you something: this is what we're all working for. This is what it's all about!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Weekend Reflections #2
I didn't only experience death and funerals over the past couple of weeks; this weekend I had the privilege of conducting the wedding of Rudy and Maggie Alexeeff (I love putting their names together, by the way) and celebrating the 50 year anniversary of Larry and Doris Dawson with a renewal of vows.
Weddings can be really stressful. Many women have dreamed all their lives of this special day, and they want it to be perfect. And often their mothers have been dreaming of this day as well, and they want it to be their version of perfect. And then there are the grooms, who just want to be out of the tux and married!
I consider myself to have two main jobs on a wedding day: the first is the obvious one: to get the couple married. My second job is to make sure everything goes smoothly. I know there are things beyond my control (I can tell members of the bridal party to drink enough water and to flex their knees, but if they choose not to do so and end up fainting, well, that's beyond my control), but I can help everyone to be calm, knowing that everything will go well. To that end, I make sure that everyone knows that I will direct everything that's going to happen; every time they need to move, I'll tell them to do so. When they need to speak, I'll give them their cues. No need to have things memorized. I had to laugh at Rudy: right before the wedding, after he had escorted his parents down the aisle, he came out to where the guys were waiting and told me something along the lines of, "I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't remember anything from the rehearsal!"
That's why I know one of my main jobs is to make sure the wedding goes smoothly.
I loved Rudy and Maggie's wedding. Why? Because I had a stake in it. I don't know Maggie very well yet, but I knew from the day I met Rudy at the Church by Size seminar that we would be friends. It is awesome to work together. And I know how much he loves Maggie because of how he talks about her and how he respects her and prays for her every day.
This makes me think about evangelism. If we love Jesus half as much as Rudy loves Maggie, then we naturally will talk about him. I felt like I began to know Maggie just because of how Rudy talked about her, but I was encouraged to really get to know her for myself.
My favorite moment in a wedding is the moment when the bride begins her walk down the aisle. I always steal a glance at the groom, because not only is his bride radiant, but he is as well. It's a fantastic reminder of God's love for us. The Bible describes God's relationship with us like this: we as the Church are the bride of Jesus Christ. And when we "come down the aisle" dressed in our good deeds, he is beaming.
I didn't only experience death and funerals over the past couple of weeks; this weekend I had the privilege of conducting the wedding of Rudy and Maggie Alexeeff (I love putting their names together, by the way) and celebrating the 50 year anniversary of Larry and Doris Dawson with a renewal of vows.
Weddings can be really stressful. Many women have dreamed all their lives of this special day, and they want it to be perfect. And often their mothers have been dreaming of this day as well, and they want it to be their version of perfect. And then there are the grooms, who just want to be out of the tux and married!
I consider myself to have two main jobs on a wedding day: the first is the obvious one: to get the couple married. My second job is to make sure everything goes smoothly. I know there are things beyond my control (I can tell members of the bridal party to drink enough water and to flex their knees, but if they choose not to do so and end up fainting, well, that's beyond my control), but I can help everyone to be calm, knowing that everything will go well. To that end, I make sure that everyone knows that I will direct everything that's going to happen; every time they need to move, I'll tell them to do so. When they need to speak, I'll give them their cues. No need to have things memorized. I had to laugh at Rudy: right before the wedding, after he had escorted his parents down the aisle, he came out to where the guys were waiting and told me something along the lines of, "I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't remember anything from the rehearsal!"
That's why I know one of my main jobs is to make sure the wedding goes smoothly.
I loved Rudy and Maggie's wedding. Why? Because I had a stake in it. I don't know Maggie very well yet, but I knew from the day I met Rudy at the Church by Size seminar that we would be friends. It is awesome to work together. And I know how much he loves Maggie because of how he talks about her and how he respects her and prays for her every day.
This makes me think about evangelism. If we love Jesus half as much as Rudy loves Maggie, then we naturally will talk about him. I felt like I began to know Maggie just because of how Rudy talked about her, but I was encouraged to really get to know her for myself.
My favorite moment in a wedding is the moment when the bride begins her walk down the aisle. I always steal a glance at the groom, because not only is his bride radiant, but he is as well. It's a fantastic reminder of God's love for us. The Bible describes God's relationship with us like this: we as the Church are the bride of Jesus Christ. And when we "come down the aisle" dressed in our good deeds, he is beaming.
Weekend Reflections #1
This was supposed to be Monday Morning reflections, but somehow the computer ate the original. So here it is Tuesday morning, and here are some reflections from the weekend.
Actually they are thoughts from the past couple of weeks.
In just a couple of weeks' time, I have seen a lot. I conducted two funerals (during Vacation Bible School week) and suffered the tragic loss of my friend Chad and celebrated my grandmother's 99 years - a life well-lived.
It can be hard to think about death; our culture does everything we can to avoid even thinking of it, and when I started in ministry, I wondered, "How can anyone (I was mostly thinking of pastors here) deal with death so often and have it not crush them?"
I asked that question to several pastors, none of whom had any answer. Then I asked Eldon Sheffer, who was one of my colleagues at Stonybrook UMC (and is a funeral director), and his answer is something I've carried with me ever since. He told me that this is a precious time, the time when immortality brushes near our mortal lives. We are closer to heaven than any other time in life when we experience someone's death - as they enter eternity.
Though funerals are sad, they offer hope - and in every funeral service I'm a part of, I will always give the hope of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins - that we all have the opportunity to receive God's grace and take our place with Him, a face-to-face place where there is no suffering, no sorrow, no pain, no tears, no disease, a place where death is defeated, once and for all.
So that's the first part of the weekend reflections.
This was supposed to be Monday Morning reflections, but somehow the computer ate the original. So here it is Tuesday morning, and here are some reflections from the weekend.
Actually they are thoughts from the past couple of weeks.
In just a couple of weeks' time, I have seen a lot. I conducted two funerals (during Vacation Bible School week) and suffered the tragic loss of my friend Chad and celebrated my grandmother's 99 years - a life well-lived.
It can be hard to think about death; our culture does everything we can to avoid even thinking of it, and when I started in ministry, I wondered, "How can anyone (I was mostly thinking of pastors here) deal with death so often and have it not crush them?"
I asked that question to several pastors, none of whom had any answer. Then I asked Eldon Sheffer, who was one of my colleagues at Stonybrook UMC (and is a funeral director), and his answer is something I've carried with me ever since. He told me that this is a precious time, the time when immortality brushes near our mortal lives. We are closer to heaven than any other time in life when we experience someone's death - as they enter eternity.
Though funerals are sad, they offer hope - and in every funeral service I'm a part of, I will always give the hope of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins - that we all have the opportunity to receive God's grace and take our place with Him, a face-to-face place where there is no suffering, no sorrow, no pain, no tears, no disease, a place where death is defeated, once and for all.
So that's the first part of the weekend reflections.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Run for the Roses 5K
A week ago Saturday, I headed out to Lancaster to run their second annual Run for the Roses 5K, a race with proceeds going toward the Fairfield County MRDD.
I was disappointed that they didn't have any age-group awards (and they didn't even announce age group winners - that was the big thing. I don't necessarily need another medal; I want to know how I did against other people my age).
Anyway, the results are now up. My time was 21:05, and I was 14th overall, and probably 1st in my age group (depending on where the cut-off would have been).
I was disappointed that they didn't have any age-group awards (and they didn't even announce age group winners - that was the big thing. I don't necessarily need another medal; I want to know how I did against other people my age).
Anyway, the results are now up. My time was 21:05, and I was 14th overall, and probably 1st in my age group (depending on where the cut-off would have been).
Monday, June 22, 2009
A Difficulty with "Reality"
...TV that is... or social networking... or blogs...
In real reality, there are rules of etiquette that govern daily life. But in reality TV, those rules are thrown out.
In real life, when something "private" goes on, it stays private. A difficulty with this comes when something tragic, but private, happens, such as a miscarriage or finding out about an infidelity in the family.
When something like this happens, people often don't know about it and say something that seems rude, but they had no way of knowing.
Of course, on the other side of things is the attitude that seems all-too-common in blogs, on Facebook, and on reality TV.
What should have been private becomes public. This Jerry Springer method of dealing with private matters has simply caused gossip to go "big screen." And at least Jerry Springer had his "guests" (if you can call them that) confront one another.
Reality TV seems to always come with a camera on a participant, ready to record their private thoughts. Instead of filtering those thoughts through a trusted friend or confidant, the participant is encouraged to "unload" - often the most unpleasant things about other participants.
If you know me, you probably already knew that so-called "reality" TV is one of my frequent targets, but I'm not just picking on the wannabe-pseudo-celebrity in this post. As I point a finger their way, the other three fingers point back at us, the bloggers.
Would we say what we say about someone if we were saying it to their face instead of posting it (often pseudo-anonymously)?
In real reality, there are rules of etiquette that govern daily life. But in reality TV, those rules are thrown out.
In real life, when something "private" goes on, it stays private. A difficulty with this comes when something tragic, but private, happens, such as a miscarriage or finding out about an infidelity in the family.
When something like this happens, people often don't know about it and say something that seems rude, but they had no way of knowing.
Of course, on the other side of things is the attitude that seems all-too-common in blogs, on Facebook, and on reality TV.
What should have been private becomes public. This Jerry Springer method of dealing with private matters has simply caused gossip to go "big screen." And at least Jerry Springer had his "guests" (if you can call them that) confront one another.
Reality TV seems to always come with a camera on a participant, ready to record their private thoughts. Instead of filtering those thoughts through a trusted friend or confidant, the participant is encouraged to "unload" - often the most unpleasant things about other participants.
If you know me, you probably already knew that so-called "reality" TV is one of my frequent targets, but I'm not just picking on the wannabe-pseudo-celebrity in this post. As I point a finger their way, the other three fingers point back at us, the bloggers.
Would we say what we say about someone if we were saying it to their face instead of posting it (often pseudo-anonymously)?
Update to my post about Chad Miller
Chad's body was recovered downstream from where he and his brother died. Their funeral was back in Iowa. Here is the funeral home website with a more complete obituary for Chad.
If you go there, click on the online memorial book to read about someone who really made an impact for Jesus Christ in his short life.
Chad's body was recovered downstream from where he and his brother died. Their funeral was back in Iowa. Here is the funeral home website with a more complete obituary for Chad.
If you go there, click on the online memorial book to read about someone who really made an impact for Jesus Christ in his short life.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
How Powerful is God?
Have you ever asked that question? Of course you have. You probably haven't asked it in that exact way, unless maybe you're a skeptic and you're trying to stump a Christian who can't really conceive of how powerful "all-powerful" could possibly be.
Anyway, on my handy-dandy Google Reader is a great blog called "Stuff Christians Like" and today's post really hits a home run in the "How Powerful is God?" question.
We often get caught up when it seems like God couldn't possibly do what we're asking/needing Him to do. But what we're really doing is asking the question: is __________ more powerful than God?
Have you ever asked that question? Of course you have. You probably haven't asked it in that exact way, unless maybe you're a skeptic and you're trying to stump a Christian who can't really conceive of how powerful "all-powerful" could possibly be.
Anyway, on my handy-dandy Google Reader is a great blog called "Stuff Christians Like" and today's post really hits a home run in the "How Powerful is God?" question.
We often get caught up when it seems like God couldn't possibly do what we're asking/needing Him to do. But what we're really doing is asking the question: is __________ more powerful than God?
Monday, June 15, 2009
Constitutional Amendments #2
Here are the voting numbers from the West Ohio Conference (on the proposed Constitutional Amendments). I will form these in three columns (to the best of my ability: column 1 is the amendment number, column 2 is the "yes" votes, and column 3 is the "no" votes).
I. 697 786
II. 267 1209
III. 528 947
IV. 516 962
V. 515 958
VI. 514 816
VII. 502 948
VIII. 1299 173
IX. 1229 233
X. 520 951
XI. 518 953
XII. 523 949
XIII. 517 955
XIV. 514 943
XV. 502 957
XVI. 524 946
XVII. 848 619
XVIII. 520 948
XIX. 1006 461
XX. 522 948
XXI. 521 940
XXII. 1296 168
XXIII. 513 955
XXIV. 512 956
XXV. 519 953
XXVI. 512 958
XXVII. 515 954
XXVIII.514 957
XXIX. 513 956
XXX. 512 955
XXXI. 513 955
XXXII. 522 946
Here are the voting numbers from the West Ohio Conference (on the proposed Constitutional Amendments). I will form these in three columns (to the best of my ability: column 1 is the amendment number, column 2 is the "yes" votes, and column 3 is the "no" votes).
I. 697 786
II. 267 1209
III. 528 947
IV. 516 962
V. 515 958
VI. 514 816
VII. 502 948
VIII. 1299 173
IX. 1229 233
X. 520 951
XI. 518 953
XII. 523 949
XIII. 517 955
XIV. 514 943
XV. 502 957
XVI. 524 946
XVII. 848 619
XVIII. 520 948
XIX. 1006 461
XX. 522 948
XXI. 521 940
XXII. 1296 168
XXIII. 513 955
XXIV. 512 956
XXV. 519 953
XXVI. 512 958
XXVII. 515 954
XXVIII.514 957
XXIX. 513 956
XXX. 512 955
XXXI. 513 955
XXXII. 522 946
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Another Good-Bye
On the very first day of my very first seminary class, I met him. Many of my colleagues had told their various horror stories of seminary Greek - they waited as long as they could to take it, but being a contrarian by nature, I set out to take it first.
I entered the classroom and scanned the scene, and found the seat nearest the back left corner (by the chalkboard). The corner seat was already taken by a blonde guy with as big a head as I have. Maybe even bigger. His name was Chad Max Miller, and we became instant friends.
As Greek class went on, we found out that it was really pretty easy. Bordering on simple, actually. Especially if you had been a foreign language major in college. As Chad and I had both majored in German in college, we found that we were simply tasked with memorizing new word endings and vocabulary. Thus the back corner of this particular Greek class resembled the back of another classroom.
Chad and I were instant friends, not just because we were good at Greek. We had a lot more in common than that. We played pick-up soccer frequently - besides a couple of people I knew from being in class with, pretty much everyone I knew in seminary was someone I played sports with. Chad was no exception. We could always be found playing soccer together. He used to joke that when we started playing pick-up soccer, he was one of the best players, but by the time we graduated, he was one of the worst. And through that time, he had improved his game a lot! It was just that the level of competition went through the roof during our time there.
Chad was an intense guy. We lifted weights together in the seminary's (sad little) weight room - when the sewer backed up and flooded the (downstairs) weight room with raw sewage, Chad and I brought all the equipment upstairs and washed it thoroughly. We stuck a nametag on the door of the (old) weight room naming it "The Outhouse Basement." But here's a little picture of Chad's character: When the student life people tasked one of their employees to move the equipment back downstairs (and were paying her to do so), she came in and asked for some help doing it (there was no way she could do it on her own). We told her the situation and about the smell in the downstairs room, and the student life people decided not to go through with the move. But the woman who was moving it was unhappy: she was hoping for the extra money... to buy her medication. Chad asked her how much student life was going to pay her, and promptly gave her $40 out of his wallet. That was just Chad for you.
Anyway, I was going to tell you about his intensity, not his generosity. We would push each other hard in the weight room, always with the threat of shame if one of us would back down. It was all about honor and shame in the weight room.
One summer Chad and I worked for "Bob" - who was dismantling his house and reconstructing it. We were mostly in charge of taking the brickwork off, because "Bob" wanted to save the bricks (if he used new bricks, he would have had mismatched brickwork). It was ridiculously slow, but it was fun working with Chad. We started the first day wearing long pants and sleeves and so forth, but by the third day, we were wearing shorts and shoes and nothing else. I ended up so tanned that in my Asbury directory picture that next year, I just looked like a smile.
We would be up on the roof with Sir Mix-a-Lot blaring from the system in Chad's rockin' Hyundai or 80s music playing (he was shocked and awed by the speed at which I was able to identify a Ray Parker Junior song - not Ghostbusters), cracking on "The Colonel" who lived next door, laughing at Bob's son (who got fired that summer, yes, by his dad), and idolizing the "real" construction workers who came in and did the real work.
There are too many awesome stories about that summer to tell, but once Chad left a hammer on top of a ladder, and it fell right on my head. Another time I dumped a whole bunch of brick and mortar chunks off the scaffold on Chad. We were tasked with digging a basement under the house and given a jackhammer for the day: Bob told us we could have a steak dinner if we got down 6'. By the end of the day we'd gotten down 1 1/2 feet. Yeah, he had to get some of the real construction guys to do that job (with a backhoe and a Bobcat).
Like I said, too many stories to tell.
Chad took an unconventional path. He was one guy who I believed when he told me that God had spoken to him verbally. That was part of his conversion story. Chad was baptized on the day he graduated from seminary.Chad's seminary job: bartender at my (hands-down) favorite Lexington restaurant. The others in the restaurant knew him as "the missionary." Which was what he was.
Today I got the news that Chad and his brother, Christopher (who I really only knew from meeting him once - he came out for a visit and played soccer with us. He was really good - oh, and I knew him from his picture on Chad's fridge. I spent a lot of time in Chad's apartment) died in a kayak accident.
His church is honoring him tomorrow (Sunday) morning. 
My heart is broken at the loss of a friend. I miss you, Chad. Godspeed. Say Hi to Mike Yaconelli for me. And give Jesus a hug. I'll be along in what - in the face of eternity - will seem like a twinkling.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
UMC Constitutional Amendments
There seemed to be some confusion about the proposed constitutional amendments from the General Conference. Simply put, these amendments must be ratified by 2/3 of all voting United Methodists (not simply 2/3 of annual conferences).
Our conference has entered our votes...
I. that all persons shall be eligible for church membership (No)
II. that all organizations shall adopt ethics & conflict of interest policies (No)
IV. X. XXIII. XXVI. that we would create "regional" conferences (No)
III. V. VII. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XVI. XVIII. XX. XXI. XXIV. XXV. XXVIII. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXII. that we would change language in the Discipline to reflect the change above (regional instead of central conferences) (No)
VI. would create a platform for the establishment of representation for newly created conferences on a less than proportional representation. (No)
VIII. adds "gender" to protected status (against discrimination) (Yes)
IX. ensures a minimum basis of support for the election of bishops. (Yes)
XV. defines laity and clergy membership without going through the process of changing the constitution (No)
XVII. allows lay members of the Conference Committee on Investigation to vote on matters of Ordination, character, and conference relations of clergy (Yes)
XIX. enables associate members, provisional members (who have completed their educational requirements), and local pastors (who have completed the course of study or have an MDiv and have served at least 2 years) to vote or to attend General/Jurisdictional Conference (Yes)
XXII. Allows Bermuda to be listed as part of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference (where it has effectively been for some time) (Yes)
An editorial note: I was slightly upset at the lobbying efforts by those in favor of issue I; they were at all of the entrances of Hoover Auditorium, wearing buttons and handing out "information" which was no more than an ad for their issue. This kind of lobbying doesn't help the unity of the conference; I don't care which side you're on. Leave that garbage at home.
As it was, the votes ALL went as I voted. I'm thinking these yes/no votes reflect that they didn't "pass" - that they didn't get the required 2/3 from our Annual Conference. The numbers will soon be posted on the Conference website.
There seemed to be some confusion about the proposed constitutional amendments from the General Conference. Simply put, these amendments must be ratified by 2/3 of all voting United Methodists (not simply 2/3 of annual conferences).
Our conference has entered our votes...
I. that all persons shall be eligible for church membership (No)
II. that all organizations shall adopt ethics & conflict of interest policies (No)
IV. X. XXIII. XXVI. that we would create "regional" conferences (No)
III. V. VII. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XVI. XVIII. XX. XXI. XXIV. XXV. XXVIII. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXII. that we would change language in the Discipline to reflect the change above (regional instead of central conferences) (No)
VI. would create a platform for the establishment of representation for newly created conferences on a less than proportional representation. (No)
VIII. adds "gender" to protected status (against discrimination) (Yes)
IX. ensures a minimum basis of support for the election of bishops. (Yes)
XV. defines laity and clergy membership without going through the process of changing the constitution (No)
XVII. allows lay members of the Conference Committee on Investigation to vote on matters of Ordination, character, and conference relations of clergy (Yes)
XIX. enables associate members, provisional members (who have completed their educational requirements), and local pastors (who have completed the course of study or have an MDiv and have served at least 2 years) to vote or to attend General/Jurisdictional Conference (Yes)
XXII. Allows Bermuda to be listed as part of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference (where it has effectively been for some time) (Yes)
An editorial note: I was slightly upset at the lobbying efforts by those in favor of issue I; they were at all of the entrances of Hoover Auditorium, wearing buttons and handing out "information" which was no more than an ad for their issue. This kind of lobbying doesn't help the unity of the conference; I don't care which side you're on. Leave that garbage at home.
As it was, the votes ALL went as I voted. I'm thinking these yes/no votes reflect that they didn't "pass" - that they didn't get the required 2/3 from our Annual Conference. The numbers will soon be posted on the Conference website.
Blogging from Annual Conference #2
Due to an unforeseen computer issue (with the demise of the hard drive of this computer - the second time that happened to me since Holy Week), I missed out on a day's work. Thanks to my brother-in-law Saint Tim, who rebuilt my computer as well as it could be rebuilt...
Anyway, back to conference. One of my highlights has always been running with my friends. Each morning we gather at the Dock to embark on a run. The conversations that happen during those runs are pretty awesome. Sometimes intense, sometimes very personal, sometimes challenging, but always good.
Probably for the first time, I said running is "one" of my highlights, not "the" highlight. This is because of the nature of worship at Conference. Maybe for the first time, worship has included worship in my language. The Ginghamsburg worship team came to lead us in worship, and yesterday I was literally in tears, getting to worship in my heart language right there in Hoover Auditorium. The internet cafe is awesome, but not for worship; you just have to be there.
The big deal Tuesday was around consitutional amendments - there was a lot of discussion about the amendments and we were actually given a page to convert Roman numerals to Arabic numerals so we could follow which amendements they were talking about. I can't make this stuff up. One of my colleagues wondered if those who can't convert the numbers from Roman to Arabic should really be voting...
As it was, we were instructed to fill in a sample ballot (provided in our packets) so we could quickly fill in our ballots when we received them. I will elaborate on the amendments in a later blog post.
Yesterday's events included a ministry fair and games - our kids were way too tired to participate this year. There was also a great dance party - I hung around for a while but ended up deciding to spend time with my wife and with some friends from the NK church instead.
This morning we worshiped with the Ginghamsburg worship team again. Their worship leader is not only a talented musician and great singer, but he simply oozes charisma. He is an awesome showman (which isn't to say that his worship leadership even seems like a show - it's just that he knows how to use his body language, his posture, his energy to lead worship).
Mike Slaughter was our speaker this morning. Instead of "preaching" this time was a teaching time, a time to give us some concrete tools for leading a missional movement. Two highlights were as follows:
Due to an unforeseen computer issue (with the demise of the hard drive of this computer - the second time that happened to me since Holy Week), I missed out on a day's work. Thanks to my brother-in-law Saint Tim, who rebuilt my computer as well as it could be rebuilt...
Anyway, back to conference. One of my highlights has always been running with my friends. Each morning we gather at the Dock to embark on a run. The conversations that happen during those runs are pretty awesome. Sometimes intense, sometimes very personal, sometimes challenging, but always good.
Probably for the first time, I said running is "one" of my highlights, not "the" highlight. This is because of the nature of worship at Conference. Maybe for the first time, worship has included worship in my language. The Ginghamsburg worship team came to lead us in worship, and yesterday I was literally in tears, getting to worship in my heart language right there in Hoover Auditorium. The internet cafe is awesome, but not for worship; you just have to be there.
The big deal Tuesday was around consitutional amendments - there was a lot of discussion about the amendments and we were actually given a page to convert Roman numerals to Arabic numerals so we could follow which amendements they were talking about. I can't make this stuff up. One of my colleagues wondered if those who can't convert the numbers from Roman to Arabic should really be voting...
As it was, we were instructed to fill in a sample ballot (provided in our packets) so we could quickly fill in our ballots when we received them. I will elaborate on the amendments in a later blog post.
Yesterday's events included a ministry fair and games - our kids were way too tired to participate this year. There was also a great dance party - I hung around for a while but ended up deciding to spend time with my wife and with some friends from the NK church instead.
This morning we worshiped with the Ginghamsburg worship team again. Their worship leader is not only a talented musician and great singer, but he simply oozes charisma. He is an awesome showman (which isn't to say that his worship leadership even seems like a show - it's just that he knows how to use his body language, his posture, his energy to lead worship).
Mike Slaughter was our speaker this morning. Instead of "preaching" this time was a teaching time, a time to give us some concrete tools for leading a missional movement. Two highlights were as follows:
- To get to a goal, you have to first have a picture, then make a plan, then practice the plan.
- For building a momentum team, one has to have a board who is qualified to lead. The board makes the ceiling for the congregation: this is the top that you can expect the church to become. To qualify, one must be engaged. The board member must be active in front-line ministry, doing ministry. One must be inspired by the vision God has given the pastor. One must be informed on the nature of the church in the 21st century and willing to be trained and educated. And one must be invested in the church. If they don't tithe, they should not be serving on the leadership team.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Blogging from Annual Conference #1
After a late arrival on Saturday night (in which our kids practiced their "No Sleep 'til Lakeside" attitude) and a Sunday of fun and relaxation, it's time for Conference.
This morning I met Daniel and Rob for a run - and we got to see the beautiful Lakeside sunrise before the run.
After the run and cleanup, it was time for the Conference. I showed up at Hoover for a while, but I decided that the Internet Cafe would be a more comfortable place in which to experience much of the morning's agenda.
Our morning's speaker, Rev. Junius Dotson (who gave a shout-out to his West Ohio Facebook friends) brought a message about including touching our struggle for relevance. He opened talking about coming from Houston to Kansas and the difficulty he had with the weather. He came dressed for Houston and got... cold. This was a great transition into this statement:
Many of us are dressing for where we were 15 years ago? if we don?t get our act together, we are going to freeze to death, and the church is going to get left behind.
We'll see how things go from here...
This morning I met Daniel and Rob for a run - and we got to see the beautiful Lakeside sunrise before the run.
After the run and cleanup, it was time for the Conference. I showed up at Hoover for a while, but I decided that the Internet Cafe would be a more comfortable place in which to experience much of the morning's agenda.
Our morning's speaker, Rev. Junius Dotson (who gave a shout-out to his West Ohio Facebook friends) brought a message about including touching our struggle for relevance. He opened talking about coming from Houston to Kansas and the difficulty he had with the weather. He came dressed for Houston and got... cold. This was a great transition into this statement:
Many of us are dressing for where we were 15 years ago? if we don?t get our act together, we are going to freeze to death, and the church is going to get left behind.
We'll see how things go from here...
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Baccalaureate
I vaguely remember my high school offering a baccalaureate service when I graduated, but I didn't go. I didn't know what it was all about - I knew it was a religious service and I knew it was voluntary. That was enough for me. And (to my memory) that was the last I'd heard of a Baccalaureate service.
But our community offers such a service, as 15 years ago it was revived after a 10-15 year absence. So a few months ago, I started looking over the notes left for me about what was supposed to happen for the service to take place.
After many calls between me and Pastor Steve Bush (who is pastor of the Millersport Covenant Church) and some others, we had the vision fully in place:
This service should be a real gathering of the community, which all of the local churches having a stake in it. It should celebrate what God is doing - the One God who is God of all of our churches.
One of the ways we attempted to reach that goal was to have a combined musical group to lead worship. The band members came together on Tuesday, four of us from four different churches (I met one of them last winter and another last week, and the last one I met on Tuesday). We worked on the songs and got them prepared for the service. On Wednesday evening, our two singers (representing two more churches) were able to be with us (I had never met either of them before)... and they blended wonderfully.
It was a fantastic service. We invited Pastor Tom Keene, who was instrumental in restarting the service 15 years ago (and was pastor here at Millersport UMC then), to come and be our guest speaker, and he delivered a powerful message about asking the right kind of questions (as opposed to the wrong kind). I'll blog about those later, because I left my notes elsewhere.
As far as I could tell, the music went wonderfully. The two singers (who hadn't been able to make it to the rehearsal) had fantastic voices and blended well. I didn't really notice how the congregation participated in the worship because I was mostly just worshiping and playing my bass!
It was a really neat service, and I was glad to be a part of it!
But our community offers such a service, as 15 years ago it was revived after a 10-15 year absence. So a few months ago, I started looking over the notes left for me about what was supposed to happen for the service to take place.
After many calls between me and Pastor Steve Bush (who is pastor of the Millersport Covenant Church) and some others, we had the vision fully in place:
This service should be a real gathering of the community, which all of the local churches having a stake in it. It should celebrate what God is doing - the One God who is God of all of our churches.
One of the ways we attempted to reach that goal was to have a combined musical group to lead worship. The band members came together on Tuesday, four of us from four different churches (I met one of them last winter and another last week, and the last one I met on Tuesday). We worked on the songs and got them prepared for the service. On Wednesday evening, our two singers (representing two more churches) were able to be with us (I had never met either of them before)... and they blended wonderfully.
It was a fantastic service. We invited Pastor Tom Keene, who was instrumental in restarting the service 15 years ago (and was pastor here at Millersport UMC then), to come and be our guest speaker, and he delivered a powerful message about asking the right kind of questions (as opposed to the wrong kind). I'll blog about those later, because I left my notes elsewhere.
As far as I could tell, the music went wonderfully. The two singers (who hadn't been able to make it to the rehearsal) had fantastic voices and blended well. I didn't really notice how the congregation participated in the worship because I was mostly just worshiping and playing my bass!
It was a really neat service, and I was glad to be a part of it!
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
New Blogroll
In a day when Facebook has overtaken blogs (and in which I am certainly guilty of not blogging much), I'm glad that there are some people who still blog!
I mostly read my blogs on Google Reader (on my igoogle homepage), and it's been a LONG time since I updated my blogroll (on the right sidebar of this page).
So today I finally did it. You can check out the blogs I read along the sidebar: but here are some highlights of the series:
The first four blogs haven't changed: they are my family members' blogs (my sister, my brother, my mom, and my brother-in-law).
Then is Nathan Howard, my running buddy and seminary friend.
Bryan Bucher follows (From Bryan's Office): a friend I met through the blogoshere and then finally in real life at the clergy session (in which I pulled off the pratfall of the century).
After that comes Brian Eberly, who is only one or two degrees separated from me, though he's west coast and we've never met. I've been reading his blog for years. Literally.
Ben Simpson is next: I've only recently been reading his stuff, but he's a sharp guy. He was the one who spearheaded the 40 Days of Prayer (for the United Methodist Church).
Joseph Yoo comes next - I've only been reading his blog for a short while, but I love the way this guy thinks!
Becky Piatt is a pastor in Westerville and is a friend and colleague.
Perry Noble! If you read one pastor's blog, it should be Perry's. Really.
Jennifer Kay Smith is another one who I've just recently started reading. She is a young United Methodist with a lot of energy and good ideas about the future of the UMC.
Wes Ellis is a guy who Rudy and I met at the National Pastors Conference in California this February. Great guy, deep thinker. Doesn't match up with my theology 1:1 but stretches me.
Stuff Christians Like: This is a really funny blog. You need to read it.
Stuff Christian Culture Likes: just as funny as the blog above, but with a bit more bite.
Jesus and Java (Dan Browne) a youth pastor with a really cute little daughter (who has had a rough little life)
Faded Cap (Heath) is an internet friend from Utherica, a faraway land a long time ago.
The Zeray Gazette used to be Locusts and Honey and is written by John the former Methodist. Good guy, hurt by the church. :-(
Parish Perspectives: another UMC blogosphere friend whose blog I've been reading for several years.
A Long Obedience... (Ashlee) a UMC campus minister in Kansas whose blog I've recently stumbled upon.
1000 Thoughts (MB) another friend from Utherica (who I actually have met in the "real" world)
Beth "Humbug's" Life - a third Utherican on the blogroll.
Dillon Bock: the Blog is from Dillon, a friend from my previous life in New Knoxville
The Methoblogger Roundup is really Allan Bevere's blog: he's an East Ohio clergyperson who also compiles a list of Methodist blogposts. I used to be included, but I think I stopped writing enough theological posts.
I mostly read my blogs on Google Reader (on my igoogle homepage), and it's been a LONG time since I updated my blogroll (on the right sidebar of this page).
So today I finally did it. You can check out the blogs I read along the sidebar: but here are some highlights of the series:
The first four blogs haven't changed: they are my family members' blogs (my sister, my brother, my mom, and my brother-in-law).
Then is Nathan Howard, my running buddy and seminary friend.
Bryan Bucher follows (From Bryan's Office): a friend I met through the blogoshere and then finally in real life at the clergy session (in which I pulled off the pratfall of the century).
After that comes Brian Eberly, who is only one or two degrees separated from me, though he's west coast and we've never met. I've been reading his blog for years. Literally.
Ben Simpson is next: I've only recently been reading his stuff, but he's a sharp guy. He was the one who spearheaded the 40 Days of Prayer (for the United Methodist Church).
Joseph Yoo comes next - I've only been reading his blog for a short while, but I love the way this guy thinks!
Becky Piatt is a pastor in Westerville and is a friend and colleague.
Perry Noble! If you read one pastor's blog, it should be Perry's. Really.
Jennifer Kay Smith is another one who I've just recently started reading. She is a young United Methodist with a lot of energy and good ideas about the future of the UMC.
Wes Ellis is a guy who Rudy and I met at the National Pastors Conference in California this February. Great guy, deep thinker. Doesn't match up with my theology 1:1 but stretches me.
Stuff Christians Like: This is a really funny blog. You need to read it.
Stuff Christian Culture Likes: just as funny as the blog above, but with a bit more bite.
Jesus and Java (Dan Browne) a youth pastor with a really cute little daughter (who has had a rough little life)
Faded Cap (Heath) is an internet friend from Utherica, a faraway land a long time ago.
The Zeray Gazette used to be Locusts and Honey and is written by John the former Methodist. Good guy, hurt by the church. :-(
Parish Perspectives: another UMC blogosphere friend whose blog I've been reading for several years.
A Long Obedience... (Ashlee) a UMC campus minister in Kansas whose blog I've recently stumbled upon.
1000 Thoughts (MB) another friend from Utherica (who I actually have met in the "real" world)
Beth "Humbug's" Life - a third Utherican on the blogroll.
Dillon Bock: the Blog is from Dillon, a friend from my previous life in New Knoxville
The Methoblogger Roundup is really Allan Bevere's blog: he's an East Ohio clergyperson who also compiles a list of Methodist blogposts. I used to be included, but I think I stopped writing enough theological posts.
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