February 2008 - Posts
i am currently searching out for some candidates to help out as a summer intern with our youth ministry. if you know of a young adult who would be up for hanging out with us at hendersonville first umc i...
i took this hemeneutics quiz thing. i scored out as a "progressive" with a total of 75. that is higher than dan kimball.. does that make me more emergent than him? tip to phil
i am so stoked to hear that "rabbit" john is going to be having their first child. awesome! and in true blogger form he has a poll to name future child.
admittedly, i feel like this guy on the couch often. yet i act more like the psychologist. probably time to unplug for awhile. tip to revmom, hope you are feeling better
Native Americans in the United Methodist Church gathered to lay the groundwork for a Native American School of Evangelism during the 2009-2012 quadrennium.
Bill Fentum has the report on the unique challenges they face.
During Bishop Will Willimon's recent visit to First United Methodist Church of San Diego, Kim Edwards spoke with him about blogging, General Conference and the church at the grassroots level.
project365:57 - lunch stop Originally uploaded by gavoweb. finally got around to updating my project 365.. or i guess it is project 366, but why get difficult
i thought this was interesting.. views from the outside on the methodist church. some will make you scream, both in agreement and in disagreement. one thing, i'm not sure these folks are as smart as they think they are..
a church member sent me an email correspondence of his. this lady was doing some asking about Darfur. he knew enough to know something. her response At least you are aware. I asked three people today what was Darfur. One...
Michelle over at 33 Names of Grace has
a really beautiful post up about how we love congregations, and how congregations love pastors, and about how both can continue to open their hearts to love again when their is a change of pastoral appointment.
She writes,
"Whenever anyone says to me, "I'm glad you are here" they pretty much say immediately after that "But I loved my previous pastor, too." I usually just listen but would it help if I said this: I loved my previous church too. It is a strange thing to be a pastor, to have a job that invites you to love a people and then be ready to leave them, and to leave them completely enough that they can connect to the new person whose job it is to love them, and so on. It is privileged and odd work, and it is the work to which I have been called.When I became Zane's mother, I was once going on to my spiritual director about how completely he filled my heart. "I can't imagine having another child," I said. She smiled that wise smile at me and said, "You don't split your love with another child. Your heart expands." I didn't believe her. Then Theo came along. Hoo boy, I could never have imagined this expanse of love inside me before I became a parent, and of two children."
I, too, of late, have heard from folks in my previous appointment about how much they enjoy their new pastor. Of course, this is what I told them would happen, even though it was hard to see as I was leaving! God created us out of love and to love one another. Sometimes we surprise even ourselves with our capacity to love again and more and in differently.
It's a lesson I'm learning myself, even as I share it so confidently with others. I, too, wondered if I could ever have the same relationship with a new congregation as my old congregation. And the answer is both yes and no. I will never have another first appointment, and I will never have the same people in my congregation or be in the same community. So no, I can never have the same experience twice. But can my heart hold in it love for another community of faith? As I journey through Lent with my new congregation, even in the midst of struggles of many kinds, I can confidently answer, "Yes."
continuation in some of my on going thoughts on technology & church.. prior post linking content items & church website it came up at our staff meeting on tuesday this great site in "surveymonkey." to this, the children's minister, our...
Originally uploaded by gavoweb. today started out with snow, but in true tennessee fashion, it is all pretty much gone now. still, it was enough to close all the schools and suspend church activities tonight, which i wasn't all that...
Folks in the U.S. are changing religious affiliation in substantial numbers according to a Pew research study released this week. As the headline in the NY Times put it, we’re living a “fluid religious life.”
While the Pew study doesn’t attempt to offer an explanation, it documents churning as people move in and out of religious [...]
Art McClanahan asks readers to consider viewing the season of Lent as a tithe-offering of our time and attention.
As a young clergywoman, Meredith Gudger-Raines has noticed that people tend to treat her differently after they learn she's a pastor, which means making new non-church friends can be difficult.
More Posts
Next page »