Book 15 of 2010

No cover picture or link for this one.  It is a little booklet, called And We Came After, a history of the first 75 years of this congregation (with much more time spent on the early years--half of the book talks about pre-1925).

I like congregational histories.  They are a great way to gain some insight into the congregation.  They are also highly enjoyable reading (for the most part).

And most importantly, in finding this in the pamphlet file and looking at the dates on the cover I realized that next year marks 100 years since the PResbyterian Church was first dedicated.  Seems we may have a party to plan....

Friday Five: Clutter? What CLutter?

From RGBP:


1. What things do you like to hang on to?  Well Books of course.  ANd photos (even though I have multiple sets of unsorted photos, thye all fit into a box).

2. What is hard to let go of?  Books. And (apparently) kids toys.

3. What is easy to give away?  Old clothing.  I like the  "haven't taken it off a hanger for years" test.

4. Is there any kind of stumbling block connected with cleaning out?  Both Beloved and I have family backgrounds that include a hoarding tendency.

5. What do you like to collect, hoard, or admire?  Not really a collector of anything per se.  WE just sem to have lots of stuff--far more than we thought as we discoveredd as the kitchen was being packed up.

Bonus: Tell us about recycling or whatever you can think of that goes along with this muttering about cluttering.  I am a big fan of free-cycling, expecially of the informal variety (having never tried a more formal free-cycling system).  When we moved we offloaded a variety of outdoor toys simply by letting folks know they were available and it all disappeared.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,,,,

I have to re-read this but I think there may be something to it...

The pastoral vocation is to help people grow spiritually, resist their lowest impulses and adopt higher, more compassionate ways. But churchgoers increasingly want pastors to soothe and entertain them. It’s apparent in the theater-style seating and giant projection screens in churches and in mission trips that involve more sightseeing than listening to the local people.

ANd of course it all gets down to asking what the church is there for, who God is calling us to be.

ADDENDUM (Aug 9)
Here is a well written response to that op-ed piece.

And here is another article on clergy burnout.

Book 14 of 2010

Technically this is a re-read (I first read it about 20 years ago).  Tomorrow I am preaching on priorities and using Ecclesiastes for one of the reference points.  SInce I knew Kushner uses Qoheleth's life (as described in Ecclesiastes) as the basis for this book I thought it was a good week to refresh my memory.

I like Kushner's writing.  In fact when I wrote a paper on Ecclesiastes in first-year of seminary I had to include this book as a reference in addition to the articles that the prof had assigned.  Largely because I found it more readable and because I always like to have a Jewish POV on a book from Jewish scripture.

New Blog

Over the last few years I have grown accustomed to posting early sermon thoughts on Monday or Tuesday via the church blog.


But I am not at that church any longer and the new church has a full webpage with no need for a blog aas a communication vehicle.  Still I found those early in the week posts very helpful for getting my sermon thoughts congealing.  So there was really one thing to do.

Create a New Blog!  You can find it here

Book 13 of 2010

It has been awhile since #12.  Apparently reading time has been a bit more limited recently (what a surprise with a newborn and preparing to move....).

Anyway, as time to travel drew near I realized I wanted something less heavy to read (the next on my pile was A Secular Age and I knew that wasn't light travel reading) so I went to the bookstore and this one caught my eye.

If you like historical mystery fiction imbued with legends of the mystical/religious sort it is good.  It wasn't exactly a page-turner until the second half/last third.  But it was interesting to see how the past and present ended up being tied together.  A good read.

Getting Closer.....

12 days ago I drove to CIty-on the-Lake to put the dog in the kennel.  Whilst I made that trip (5 hours round) the movers arrived and started packing the rest of the house.  The next day they finished.  The next we left town  (9 years to the day--almost to the hour--after I arrived) to spend one final evening with my in-laws before heading West.

Next day, new month, new adventure.  4 days on the highway with a over anxious dog in the car, caravanning with our van and my parents' car, brought us to the parental abode (which is good since at this point we were technically homeless).  A 2 day pause, then North to the New Home.  2555 km from City-on-the-Lake we arrived.

Today the movers came.  And now we live in a forest of boxes. But a new beginning is in the air.  Or maybe that is just the smell of cardboard and newsprint.

BONUS:  This afternoon the Princess asked mom for a drink and mom offered grape juice "just like we have at church" (technically it was cran-grape but the child didn't need to know that).  Princess took a big drink than mom asked if it was good. "Great, now I just need some bread to dip in it!"

Ah church kids.....

ANchored or at sea?

As I think through tomorrow's sermon a number of questions come to mind:

1. when and why is it important to be anchored?
2. when and why is it important to go whither the wind takes you
3. when and why is it a hindrance to be anchored
4. when and why is it a problem to be blown around
5. what is the balance point/how is the balance point defined

You see I firmly believe that it is not a question of anchored or sailing with the wind being the one best answer.  There is value to both, and danger to both. 

At the same time I also firmly believe the there is something about human organizations that tends towards an overemphasis on being anchored, and so often the task of leadership is to encourage the raising of the sail.

But it can be so hard to find (and agree on) the balance point.  All the more so since it moves around with time and circumstance.

Communication

In preparation for moving I have been working on getting utilities lined up (thinking it would be nice to have heat, power, water, phone, internet and TV).  And what has struck me each time is how remarkably difficult it is to find contact info on the relevant websites.

In the easiest case it was still a matter of at least 5 links to get the contact info I thought would be right.  (although to give them credit the water and the gas/power folks got back to me promptly and once I made contact it was very straightforward.)

What is most remarkable is that the telecommmunication folks are impossible to get to.  The cable website gives little detailed information about packages or pricing.  ANd the first time I used their web-contact form asking about information that wasn't on the website the response directed me to the website which would answer the question (I asked about stand alone TV and the response directed me to look at bundle pricing)

THe phone company (which may also be internet and TV, depending what answers I finally get) was spectacularly bad.  The website kept giving me a phone number that was only accessible in-province (I guess they have no new customers moving in from out-of-province???) and it took 30 minutes of exploring the website and using the chat function to get a number I could call since the website was not giving me the information I needed -- and even then I had to ask teh chat tech at least twice for a number that was going to work out-of-province.  THen tonight I called that number.  AFter 5 minutes of voice mail round-abouting I got to a live person.  A live person who started by asking if I knew the current phone number at that address (just after I said I was buying a house and moving to town) and then procedded to tell me, not what was available but what was currently hooked up there.

In the end the phone company contact needed to do more research to answer one of my queries nas the info at his terminal was indeterminate, whihc is fine.  But it shouldnt have taken so much effort to get to that point.  Isn't a better service model to make it easy for prospective customers to find out how to get hold of you?  All the more so if you are a communication company??

But then I started to wonder.  Are we in the church that much better?  How do we make communication difficult?  Where do we make information about who we are hard to find?  What assumptions do we make about who might want to learn about us?  Do we do a great job of communicating all the time?

What rants are written about our churches style of communicating?

A SOng of Hope

Tomorrow we as a faith community celebrate the 85th annniversary of the United Church of Canada.  Although this piece was written for Hannukkah I think it speaks to our future as a denomination.  I plan to use it for special music (and it is hard to go wrong with Peter, Paul, and Mary)...