It was the summer of 1981. I spent many hours in the local hockey arena (which would later be called the "Ducky Dome" after a mural featuring giant ducks was painted on the back but I digress). We sang, we danced, we practiced lines, we were measured for burlap sack costumes (and oh were those itchy). And when the time came a group of us waited in the bleachers for our cue. When it same we marched over the boards and down a ramp singing "13 Mighty Dwarves" in this show. And so St. Albert Children's Theatre was born. Tonight (in about 45 minutes as I write this) in a special presentation they celebrate 30 years. And if I were in St. Albert or somewhere else in metro Edmonton I would be there for the show and to see old friends.
In hte early years SACT was a summer program. But then it grew. First a spring show was added in 1984. Then the summer show became a full camp that same year. Not only did we prepare a show we took classes in music and dance and drama. ANd by that 1984 summer the program was so popular the show was double cast (starting the summer of 1985 there were two separate summer shows, divided by age).
All in all I participated in 10 of the shows on the production history on the SACT website (although one of those was actually done as an A.R.T.S show [ARTS was a parallel program with many of the same members that was started as a leadership development program in the fall of 1982] Black Bonspiel of Wullie Macrimmon with WO Mitchell coming to meet the cast and crew). SOmetimes I was in the cast, sometimes I was on the crew. But the shows, as enjoyable as they were, were only part of the benefit.
The real benefit is that those people with whom I shared many hours in rehearsal and preparation and in post-show parties were my best friends throughout those Junior and Senior High years. A few went on to do theatre as a career but most of us didn't. But we supported each other, laughed together, struggled together. And of all the people from those years they are among the ones I wish I had stayed in touch with -- although I have reconnected with some through FB. Yes I developed skillls that a
have served me well in ministry, but the friendships were the really important part. We were a group, sometimes cliquish, but we were a group.
Not bad for something my mom thought I might find enjoyable to fill the days of summer vacation.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Sunday's Worship....
A month ago, as we were doing some worship planning, the music minister and I decided that we weren't going to plan anything for Boxing Day. After all, we reasoned, it seemed unlikely that we would have a big crowd. So we decided there would be no bulletin, no structure. People would be invited to sit up front beside the piano, we would ask for favourite carols, maybe some discussion about Christmas, coffee and tea and muffins available in the sanctuary....
And that is what happened. There were about 20 folks present. We had coffee/tea/muffins available (mind you nobody actually had any until after the service--force of habit I'd guess). We convinced people, and it took some convincing, to sit up in the choir loft chairs. and here is the order of things actually happened:
And that is what happened. There were about 20 folks present. We had coffee/tea/muffins available (mind you nobody actually had any until after the service--force of habit I'd guess). We convinced people, and it took some convincing, to sit up in the choir loft chairs. and here is the order of things actually happened:
- We lit the advent and Christ candles
- sang a carol
- a short version of the Wenceslas story was told, followed by singing that carol
- people were invited to share some Christmas memories
- a carol was sung
- some Christmas trivia question (from this test) were asked
- a carol was sung
- people were invited to share some memories of a Christmas that was less than merry/more somber
- a prayer was said
- a trip of university students sang a song
- offering was collected with some stories about special gifts told
- a carol was sung
- we broke for coffe and fellowship
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Remembering....
This Place is on my mind today. It is the day of their annual Radiothon fundraiser.
I worked at the Kottage from November 1996 (started just before the Christmas PArty) until August 1999. It was a gift. It was a blessing. ANd yes at times it was heartbreaking. ANd I still carry them in my heart (although most of the staff has undoubtedly changed by now and all the families I met there have children who have aged out of the program).
Why did folks call us? You name it: no food, housing issues, parental or sibling illness, death in the family, parental stress... And they were people who often had, or felt they had, no other place to turn. In my childhood we had close friends (in our case through the church) who could watch my sister and I on short notice if needed. In other people's stories this is what neighbours did.
But what if you are new to town and don't know anybody? What if you have no family close (or no family you trust/ are speaking too)? What if you live in an area that doesn't lead you to trust your neighbour's? Who do you call?
ANd here is a video (not the one I wanted, I wanted the whole song this one ends with) about their ministry.
So here is the question for you, fellow questers. How do we, as people who believe in children and their parents, provide support when life falls apart? How do we support the people who have nobody?
I worked at the Kottage from November 1996 (started just before the Christmas PArty) until August 1999. It was a gift. It was a blessing. ANd yes at times it was heartbreaking. ANd I still carry them in my heart (although most of the staff has undoubtedly changed by now and all the families I met there have children who have aged out of the program).
Why did folks call us? You name it: no food, housing issues, parental or sibling illness, death in the family, parental stress... And they were people who often had, or felt they had, no other place to turn. In my childhood we had close friends (in our case through the church) who could watch my sister and I on short notice if needed. In other people's stories this is what neighbours did.
But what if you are new to town and don't know anybody? What if you have no family close (or no family you trust/ are speaking too)? What if you live in an area that doesn't lead you to trust your neighbour's? Who do you call?
ANd here is a video (not the one I wanted, I wanted the whole song this one ends with) about their ministry.
So here is the question for you, fellow questers. How do we, as people who believe in children and their parents, provide support when life falls apart? How do we support the people who have nobody?
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Book 20 of 2010
I enjoyed it, but then I fully expected to do so. Not much in the way of new concepts for me, more of a nice summation of a non-literal (and also non-debunking) look at the Christmas stories.
I am thinking of a book study using it in November of 2011.
Friday, November 19, 2010
A Christmas Challenge
Fellow Residents of Grande Prairie:
In just over a month Christmas will be here. And so we are in the midst of the annual advertising blitz encouraging us to buy buy buy. On our TV screens, through our radio speakers, in pop-up windows on-line, and in the mountain of flyers within the folds of this paper each day we get told of the great deals just waiting for us to make our choice and put our money (or likely our plastic) down.
There is, of course, nothing really wrong with wanting to buy gifts for family and friends. But the Christmas commercialism blitz has gone over the edge. In the US the Friday after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. Originally this was in reference to the fact that the holiday season is what puts many retailers in the black for the year. But for some of us it has a darker meaning.
What does it mean to buy so much stuff that we really do not need? Is it good stewardship of the world's resources to amass more stuff when so many people both near and far struggle to have life's basic necessities? Is that really the best way to celebrate the season?
Several years ago we determined that it wasn't. And so I am sharing with you a challenge I made to myself. For the last 4 years I have committed to donating at least half as much (often closer to 100%) as we spend on Christmas gifts for our daughters to charity. I challenge all of you to make the same commitment. Imagine the benefit to our favourite charities if every family in Grande Prairie gave a Christmas gift this way each year!
In just over a month Christmas will be here. And so we are in the midst of the annual advertising blitz encouraging us to buy buy buy. On our TV screens, through our radio speakers, in pop-up windows on-line, and in the mountain of flyers within the folds of this paper each day we get told of the great deals just waiting for us to make our choice and put our money (or likely our plastic) down.
There is, of course, nothing really wrong with wanting to buy gifts for family and friends. But the Christmas commercialism blitz has gone over the edge. In the US the Friday after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. Originally this was in reference to the fact that the holiday season is what puts many retailers in the black for the year. But for some of us it has a darker meaning.
What does it mean to buy so much stuff that we really do not need? Is it good stewardship of the world's resources to amass more stuff when so many people both near and far struggle to have life's basic necessities? Is that really the best way to celebrate the season?
Several years ago we determined that it wasn't. And so I am sharing with you a challenge I made to myself. For the last 4 years I have committed to donating at least half as much (often closer to 100%) as we spend on Christmas gifts for our daughters to charity. I challenge all of you to make the same commitment. Imagine the benefit to our favourite charities if every family in Grande Prairie gave a Christmas gift this way each year!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Book 19 of 2010
THe novel tells the story of a Religious Studies professor at a small US college. One sub-plot revolves around a young woman who is struggling to find a theological home between the liberal and progressive Christian worlds. The main plot follows the professor as she wrestles with an invitation to consider a yearlong appointment at a seminary.
Borg describes this as a "teaching novel", mainly (he says) because he couldn't see how to write any other type of novel. ANd his theology bleeds through it. Is the book great literature? PRobably not. But it is a good read and a good way to start discussion [note to self, put this one on the next list of potential book studies]. And given a chance I would be happy to take a class from Kate Riley.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
On Bullying and Shame
I didn't wear purple on Wednesday (primarily because the only purple garment I own is short-sleeved and the weather on Wednesday precluded such a wardrobe choice) but I understood the sentiment behind Spirit Day.
Bullying is a blight upon many of our lives. Many of us live daily with the scars of it. Some do better than others, some have healed, some still have raw open wounds in their souls.
I was a bullied child and teen. My Junior High years were horrid. And I bore those wounds (now healed-ish scars) well into my adult years. The voices that told me I wasn't worth much at all kept me from growing until a counselor finally helped me put them to rest.
This morning I preached on the balance between pride and shame (I describe the balance point as realistic, honest humility). Bullying is about lack of that balance. The bullied victim is pushed to a place of shame. And shame cripples, shame weighs us down, shame gutters the light of God that is within us. In point of fact, shame can kill. That is what Spirit Day was all about. It was about standing shoulder to shoulder to those who have been told to be ashamed of themselves, in particular because of their orientation on this occasion.
But what do we do about bullying? I really don't know. The reality is that I was a good victim (and got to be a better one as the bullying continued and I became more pressed down and less sure of myself). My counselor, as he pushed me to stop taking responsibility for what happened kept asking "where were the adults?". This ties in well to the belief of school systems that they can enforce a bully-free environment in the school. They can't. All my bullying was school and schoolyard based and really there is only so much that can be done. Most bullies aren't idiots after all, they know how not to get caught through a combination of timing and threats.
What we do is that we as children of God ensure that the people in our lives all know that they too are children of God. We ensure that they know this makes them special and worthwhile and that they have no reason to be ashamed of being who they are. In the end this is more important than the necessary disciplinary actions we take towards bullies. We break the cycle of victimhood. That is the only way to fight the bully.
And sometimes it means we hold a different mirror up. When I took CPE my supervisor had been minister in my childhood church when I was 11. Often during that unit she would say "this is not the person I knew, this is not who you are". No I didn't believe her at the time. But it was what needed to be said. When we see people bearing the wounds of bullying we all have to say those things. We all have to remind people who they really are.
May God help us to do so.
Amen
PS> as a lead in for this sermon I read You Are Special for children's time, and re-read the climax of it during the sermon. The prize line is that "the stickers only stick if you let them". As a bullied child I never would have believed or understood the wisdom in that sentence. But now I do.
Bullying is a blight upon many of our lives. Many of us live daily with the scars of it. Some do better than others, some have healed, some still have raw open wounds in their souls.
I was a bullied child and teen. My Junior High years were horrid. And I bore those wounds (now healed-ish scars) well into my adult years. The voices that told me I wasn't worth much at all kept me from growing until a counselor finally helped me put them to rest.
This morning I preached on the balance between pride and shame (I describe the balance point as realistic, honest humility). Bullying is about lack of that balance. The bullied victim is pushed to a place of shame. And shame cripples, shame weighs us down, shame gutters the light of God that is within us. In point of fact, shame can kill. That is what Spirit Day was all about. It was about standing shoulder to shoulder to those who have been told to be ashamed of themselves, in particular because of their orientation on this occasion.
But what do we do about bullying? I really don't know. The reality is that I was a good victim (and got to be a better one as the bullying continued and I became more pressed down and less sure of myself). My counselor, as he pushed me to stop taking responsibility for what happened kept asking "where were the adults?". This ties in well to the belief of school systems that they can enforce a bully-free environment in the school. They can't. All my bullying was school and schoolyard based and really there is only so much that can be done. Most bullies aren't idiots after all, they know how not to get caught through a combination of timing and threats.
What we do is that we as children of God ensure that the people in our lives all know that they too are children of God. We ensure that they know this makes them special and worthwhile and that they have no reason to be ashamed of being who they are. In the end this is more important than the necessary disciplinary actions we take towards bullies. We break the cycle of victimhood. That is the only way to fight the bully.
And sometimes it means we hold a different mirror up. When I took CPE my supervisor had been minister in my childhood church when I was 11. Often during that unit she would say "this is not the person I knew, this is not who you are". No I didn't believe her at the time. But it was what needed to be said. When we see people bearing the wounds of bullying we all have to say those things. We all have to remind people who they really are.
May God help us to do so.
Amen
PS> as a lead in for this sermon I read You Are Special for children's time, and re-read the climax of it during the sermon. The prize line is that "the stickers only stick if you let them". As a bullied child I never would have believed or understood the wisdom in that sentence. But now I do.
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