My husband, Mike, is spending the week -- Wednesday through Saturday-- in Louisville, Kentucky, at the National Academy of Preaching.
One of his friends from Georgetown College (Georgetown, Kentucky), Dr. Dwight Moody, asked Mike several years ago to become part of a vision that Dwight had for young pastors. Dwight applied for and received a Lilly Grant insuring funding for the academy. Mike is one of the conveners for sessions in which preachers as young as 14 years have come from all over the nation to present in front of peers and receive comments. Peer groups are also part of the agenda.
Mike called last night so excited. He described the group of young men and women from many denominations including Coptic. Their energy and passion for spreading the gospel were clearly evident in their preaching and conversation. I joked with Mike that he is probably one of the "resident sages" now that he is approaching retirement after 36 years in ministry. I could tell, however, in his enthusiastic reporting that he too, was learning as much from the students as they were from him.
The Academy is held about this time each year. More information as well as tapes of those persons preaching are available at http://www.academyofpreachers.net
Anyone interested in emailing Mike about future participation can reach him at mreed@fishersumc.org or 317-849-1805. (Fishers, Indiana)
God, I thank you for the gathering of those committed to ordained ministry who are gathered in Louisville. Fuel their passion for the gospel and open the hearts of those who hear.
Amen.
Jacquie Reed
Fishers, Indiana
January 12, 2011
When do you cancel church services?
Just wondering. Has your church closed and not had Sunday services because of the weather this season so far?
Kathy
Kathy
January 7, 2011
Value of Practicing Our Faith
We had a great discussion in Sunday School. As we discussed David's desire to build a temple in II Samuel, the conversation went in an unexpected direction. We started talking about the value of church buildings. Now, you must understand all of these people are active members and many are at the church multiple times a week.
But what is the value of pouring resources into a facility when there is so much need in the world and so little money? True, we need a place to gather and worship. And we need a central home base for planning and housing equipment. But is that all? This question is especially important to us, because we are in process of raising big bucks to build. We have the wonderful problem of being out of space because we are growing.
We all know the church is the people, but it is also a place where the people can practice being the family of God. And we gather because of God, not the church. We all realize that, but living in community is different when you have to physically live together in shared space. It's the difference between sharing a room with your sister and having your own. When you share a room with your sister and get mad, you still have to share despite your feelings. When you don't share a room and you get mad, you can slam the door in her face as you retreat into your privacy.
When you share space you have to deal with things like children running in the halls (it was usually mine), juggling scheduling conflicts, taking turns cleaning up the kitchen or the yard, or even deciding if you're going to use the American flag in the sanctuary. When you get mad at people who you believe are disrespectful, uncaring, lazy, or unpatriotic, you still have to sit and worship together. You still have to share the same altar when you receive Communion.
While having a great big facility can be a blessing, it can also be a hindrance to ministry, especially in terms of using precious resources. But whichever, sharing space is one way we as a family of God can learn to practice our faith by living together. It can help stop us from acting like spoiled children, thinking our way is the only way. And then throwing a tantrum (or withholding our pledge) when we don't get it.
Understanding church this way might even help us detoxify some of our congregations.
Kathy
But what is the value of pouring resources into a facility when there is so much need in the world and so little money? True, we need a place to gather and worship. And we need a central home base for planning and housing equipment. But is that all? This question is especially important to us, because we are in process of raising big bucks to build. We have the wonderful problem of being out of space because we are growing.
We all know the church is the people, but it is also a place where the people can practice being the family of God. And we gather because of God, not the church. We all realize that, but living in community is different when you have to physically live together in shared space. It's the difference between sharing a room with your sister and having your own. When you share a room with your sister and get mad, you still have to share despite your feelings. When you don't share a room and you get mad, you can slam the door in her face as you retreat into your privacy.
When you share space you have to deal with things like children running in the halls (it was usually mine), juggling scheduling conflicts, taking turns cleaning up the kitchen or the yard, or even deciding if you're going to use the American flag in the sanctuary. When you get mad at people who you believe are disrespectful, uncaring, lazy, or unpatriotic, you still have to sit and worship together. You still have to share the same altar when you receive Communion.
While having a great big facility can be a blessing, it can also be a hindrance to ministry, especially in terms of using precious resources. But whichever, sharing space is one way we as a family of God can learn to practice our faith by living together. It can help stop us from acting like spoiled children, thinking our way is the only way. And then throwing a tantrum (or withholding our pledge) when we don't get it.
Understanding church this way might even help us detoxify some of our congregations.
Kathy
Twit, Tweet, Twitter
You know, I really do get the whole Twitter thing, but frankly, most times I simply don't want to be that connected. I even enjoy going phoneless, where I nurse the illusion that no one knows where I am and I am free of social entanglements. But then, I immediately worry if my family might be trying to reach me...and so it goes. I take my phone and make sure it is charged up.
Kathy
Kathy
January 3, 2011
Beauties of Being Connectional
Mike (my husband) was enjoying his weekly Monday lunch on December 6, with six other clergy (his wonderful accountability/support group that has been meeting for fifteen years) when his cell phone rang. The caller's number was unfamiliar, but he soon discovered it was from a friend from Duke Divinity School, who pastors a United Methodist church in Raleigh, North Carolina.
His friend told Mike about a family in his congregation who were in the process of moving to Fishers, Indiana, near where we live. The friend asked Mike to connect with the family, not only to welcome them to the area, but to care for them as soon as possible. The family had just lost twins born at 23 weeks in November. There had been a memorial service in Raleigh, but the family wanted to bury the children in Fishers. Mike copied the husband's cell phone number and continued the ministry his friend started.
Mike mentioned the family in his mid-week message, asking for meals and/or other kindnesses to embrace the family at a very difficult time. That same day, enough people responded so that the family had meals every night for three weeks. Cards and visits came for the grieving parents.
When I spent time with the family after the short service at the cemetery on December 18, they commented that they didn't even know what the church looked like, but they surely felt God's love in a new town where they knew no one. I share the story because of the way our connectional system can access easily churches and pastors in a specific area. Although there are two United Methodist churches in Fishers, finding Mike's name as the pastor of one of the churches, made a familiar connection from the beginning.
I also know a United Methodist pastor at another church who leads a support group for parent's who have lost children. When I contacted her, she mentioned that there are two families in the group who had also lost twins this year. I plan to go with the family to the January meeting, hoping to make another connection that will provide a place for them to grieve and heal.
Reflecting on the series of events I was grateful for the way God's love transferred from one congregation to another without "lost time." I truly believe that the thread that binds all congregations and pastors together worked for good in this family's life.
God, we are thankful for the way you use clergy to make connections to keep the flow of your love moving toward hearts that need your care. Amen.
Jacquie Reed, Fishers, Indiana
His friend told Mike about a family in his congregation who were in the process of moving to Fishers, Indiana, near where we live. The friend asked Mike to connect with the family, not only to welcome them to the area, but to care for them as soon as possible. The family had just lost twins born at 23 weeks in November. There had been a memorial service in Raleigh, but the family wanted to bury the children in Fishers. Mike copied the husband's cell phone number and continued the ministry his friend started.
Mike mentioned the family in his mid-week message, asking for meals and/or other kindnesses to embrace the family at a very difficult time. That same day, enough people responded so that the family had meals every night for three weeks. Cards and visits came for the grieving parents.
When I spent time with the family after the short service at the cemetery on December 18, they commented that they didn't even know what the church looked like, but they surely felt God's love in a new town where they knew no one. I share the story because of the way our connectional system can access easily churches and pastors in a specific area. Although there are two United Methodist churches in Fishers, finding Mike's name as the pastor of one of the churches, made a familiar connection from the beginning.
I also know a United Methodist pastor at another church who leads a support group for parent's who have lost children. When I contacted her, she mentioned that there are two families in the group who had also lost twins this year. I plan to go with the family to the January meeting, hoping to make another connection that will provide a place for them to grieve and heal.
Reflecting on the series of events I was grateful for the way God's love transferred from one congregation to another without "lost time." I truly believe that the thread that binds all congregations and pastors together worked for good in this family's life.
God, we are thankful for the way you use clergy to make connections to keep the flow of your love moving toward hearts that need your care. Amen.
Jacquie Reed, Fishers, Indiana
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