MethoBlogroll Mirror Test : church life

Mine

bethquick.com — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:22:00 GMT

Some of you know that I just returned from spending a week in Cape Cod with my family. One of the best parts of the trip for me was spending time with my 2 year-old nephew, Sam. I have to say that being an aunt is one of the greatest joys in my life....(read more)

from Dan ***: "Cranky Christians"

bethquick.com — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:13:00 GMT

It's been forever since I've blogged - in the meantime I've moved from Franklin Lakes, NJ to Fayetteville, NY, to serve a church in East Syracuse, NY. I will hopefully write about my transition soon! But meanwhile, here's another great...(read more)

Farewell Party: "We're Really Gonna Miss You"

bethquick.com — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 21:03:00 GMT

Today was my 2nd to last Sunday at Franklin Lakes UMC , and also my farewell party after worship. The congregation got me this gorgeous print of a work by He Qi , who has become one of my favorite artists with his beautiful pictures of scenes from the...(read more)

Festival of Homiletics: M. Craig Barnes

bethquick.com — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:23:00 GMT

Finally getting back to Festival of Homiletics notes. Another standout was Craig Barnes , Presbyterian pastor and faculty at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. I heard Barnes lecture and preach, and he was funny, pastoral (and grounded in pastoring, rather...(read more)

Dan : United Methodeviations

bethquick.com — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:10:00 GMT

I have a problem with Dan 's blog, United Methodeviations : his posts have too much content for me to process. I am constantly bookmarking his posts because they are harder to take in with a quick scan (like I give most of the blogs I read). So I...(read more)

Harder Things

bethquick.com — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:22:00 GMT

A couple of years ago, I wrote that the hardest thing in ministry was announcing to a congregation that you were moving on to a new appointment. I can now add a little bit to that: it's even harder to do when you're leaving quite a bit sooner...(read more)

Nina

bethquick.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:45:00 GMT

Deaths always seem to come in clusters. When I started at my first appointment in Oneida, I had several funerals right away, which were the first for the congregation in a while. At my appointment in Franklin Lakes, I've had fewer, thankfully. And...(read more)

District Resource Day: Lovett Weems

bethquick.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:59:00 GMT

Last week, I attended another district resource day, this time with Lovett Weems as the guest speaker. You've probably heard of Weems around the connection because of his work with the Council of Bishops on the State of the Church Report and his work...(read more)

Sabbath Questions

bethquick.com — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 05:29:00 GMT

How do you keep the/a Sabbath? How did you start your Sabbath practices? What were your Sabbath practices growing up? When/why did they change? If you had total control over your schedule and ample time, what would be your ideal way of spending Sabbath...(read more)

Question: Announcements

bethquick.com — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:38:00 GMT

How do you share announcements during worship? At the beginning? Just via bulletin or on screen? A different point in the service?...(read more)

District Resource Day: Bill Easum

bethquick.com — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:05:00 GMT

In the interest of me actually blogging something, since I just am totally uninspired to write lately, I'm posting my basically unedited notes from today's District Resource Day with Bill Easum . The topic was “Leading Turnaround on the Road to...(read more)

One Year Later

bethquick.com — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:52:00 GMT

One year ago, (on August 29th, to be exact) I moved to Franklin Lakes, NJ, to begin my second appointment. Today is the one year anniversary of the official beginning of my appointment here. In some ways, I can't believe I've already been here...(read more)

Question: Premarital Counseling

bethquick.com — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:39:00 GMT

What's your process for premarital counseling? Or what process did someone lead you through? What resources did you use? What would or wouldn't you recommend?...(read more)

2008 Annual Conference Reports

bethquick.com — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:48:00 GMT

It's that time of year again, where my Metho-nerdiness shines through: the 2008 Annual Conference Reports are up at umc.org. (Well, many of them are up anyway.) I've skimmed through all the posted reports and noticed some common themes, and as...(read more)

An Add-on: Empowering Young People

bethquick.com — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:02:00 GMT

As an add-on to my previous post , I have to share an example of empowering young people and young leaders that I heard just the other day. I was at an area clergy gathering, and one of the pastors who was there for the first time told us about a unique...(read more)