Ran across this today in Henri Nouwen's Creative Ministry. See what you think. I have not tried to make the language inclusive.
So the identity of the pastor, as it becomes visible in his pastoral care, is born from the intangible tension between self-affirmation and self-denial, self-fulfillment and self-emptying, self-realization and self-sacrifice. There are periods in life in which the emphasis is more on the one than on the other, but in general it seems that as a man becomes more mature he will become less concerned with girding himself and more willing to stretch out his hands and to follow Him who found His life by losing it.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Cluster Meetings
Our Mission Design calls for the Clusters to meet at least twice a year. I know that the Ministers and Commissioned Lay Pastors in all the Clusters are now meeting at least on a semi-regular basis, and some are meeting very regularly. I, for one, don't want that to change. But what we are hoping for in the new Mission Design is for closer connections between the churches. The Cluster meetings we are calling for will be for all members of the churches in each Cluster.
Why should we meet in this way when we already have so many meetings? Here's why:
1.To meet people from the other churches in the cluster so we can have a sense of who else is in our area
2.To celebrate what is going well in our churches
3.To share difficulties we are having right now
4.To encourage each other
5.To explore how we might work together
6.To worship together
As you think about it, you may come up with more and better reasons. When you do get together, here is a suggested agenda. You will need someone to host the meeting: call people together at the appointed time, welcome them, start off the process, and bring the discussion to a close at the appointed time. I suggest that a meeting like this should take no more than 90 minutes, and that the ending time should be stated in the invitation.
1.Gather
1.Have food available as people come in. Nothing brings people together quite like eating.
2.Have name tags. Consider color-coding the tags so that people can be identified by churches
2.Open with prayer
3.Introductions; use some kind of get-acquainted activity.
4.Go around the room; each representative share one thing that they are excited about in their church. It's OK to pass, but be prepared to come back to those who pass, as someone else's sharing may trigger an idea.
5.Go around the room again; each representative share one thing they are concerned about in their church
6.Open the floor up to general discussion: how can we encourage each other? Are there things we could do together?
7.Set a place and time for the next Cluster meeting. Possibly recruit a planning team of no more than three or four people to come up with a theme and agenda for that meeting.
8.Close with a short worship service of Scripture, prayer, and singing. This is important; too often our “meeting prayers” are short and perfunctory. It's essential for us to take time to worship together.
Feel free to adapt this agenda to your own needs. For example, you may have a specific project that your Cluster is interested in and you may want to take time to present that and get feedback.
One more thing: an agenda is a servant, not a master. When we invite the Holy Spirit in, we don't always know in advance where that Spirit will take us. Be open! God is doing new things in the Presbytery of Prospect Hill, and we have a great opportunity to be part of them.
Richard Francis, Moderator, Mission Coordinating Team
Why should we meet in this way when we already have so many meetings? Here's why:
1.To meet people from the other churches in the cluster so we can have a sense of who else is in our area
2.To celebrate what is going well in our churches
3.To share difficulties we are having right now
4.To encourage each other
5.To explore how we might work together
6.To worship together
As you think about it, you may come up with more and better reasons. When you do get together, here is a suggested agenda. You will need someone to host the meeting: call people together at the appointed time, welcome them, start off the process, and bring the discussion to a close at the appointed time. I suggest that a meeting like this should take no more than 90 minutes, and that the ending time should be stated in the invitation.
1.Gather
1.Have food available as people come in. Nothing brings people together quite like eating.
2.Have name tags. Consider color-coding the tags so that people can be identified by churches
2.Open with prayer
3.Introductions; use some kind of get-acquainted activity.
4.Go around the room; each representative share one thing that they are excited about in their church. It's OK to pass, but be prepared to come back to those who pass, as someone else's sharing may trigger an idea.
5.Go around the room again; each representative share one thing they are concerned about in their church
6.Open the floor up to general discussion: how can we encourage each other? Are there things we could do together?
7.Set a place and time for the next Cluster meeting. Possibly recruit a planning team of no more than three or four people to come up with a theme and agenda for that meeting.
8.Close with a short worship service of Scripture, prayer, and singing. This is important; too often our “meeting prayers” are short and perfunctory. It's essential for us to take time to worship together.
Feel free to adapt this agenda to your own needs. For example, you may have a specific project that your Cluster is interested in and you may want to take time to present that and get feedback.
One more thing: an agenda is a servant, not a master. When we invite the Holy Spirit in, we don't always know in advance where that Spirit will take us. Be open! God is doing new things in the Presbytery of Prospect Hill, and we have a great opportunity to be part of them.
Richard Francis, Moderator, Mission Coordinating Team
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Virtual Sunday School
For the last year and a half we have had an adult Sunday school class focused on current events at Third Presbyterian Church. In January the opportunity came up for our current events class to join the other adult Sunday School class in its new study. While many in the current events class were in favor of joining the other class, they really enjoyed the current events discussion and did not want to lose those conversations. As we discussed different options for continuing our current events discussions, we came up with the idea of having a virtual Sunday school class. While we no longer have a current events class that physically meets together on Sunday mornings our discussions are continuing by blog. The current topic is emailed out to class members each Thursday afternoon. After reading the article class members are encouraged to go to the blog and post their thoughts. Now instead of having Sunday school available one hour a week, it is available 24-7.
Technology is playing a larger role in our society every day. However, many of our congregations utilize very little technology in worship and programming. What role, if any, do you think technology should have in the church today? What are the pros and cons of offering things like virtual Sunday School classes? In what ways could technology be used to better meet the spiritual needs of all the generations served by the church today? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Technology is playing a larger role in our society every day. However, many of our congregations utilize very little technology in worship and programming. What role, if any, do you think technology should have in the church today? What are the pros and cons of offering things like virtual Sunday School classes? In what ways could technology be used to better meet the spiritual needs of all the generations served by the church today? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
New Calvin Video
Just finished viewing the new video John Calvin His Life and Legacy, produced by Witherspoon Press and distributed through the Presbyterian Distribution Service (http://www.pcusa.org/marketplace/item.list.jsp), and I highly recommend it. It features a number of scholars and pastors from several traditions and institutions talking with great animation about Calvin's impact on his world and ours. Well worth adding to your church's library.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Confirmation
I'm looking for some help with Confirmation resources.
This fall I'll be leading a joint Confirmation class of 7th and 8th graders. Since Westside is a union church (PCUSA/UCC) I don't want to use denominational materials. What experience has everyone had with, for example, the Logos Confirmation materials?
And while we're on the subject of Confirmation: I've always been an advocate of a fairly short-term (8-10 week) Confirmation program, but both Vail and Westside had been running two-year programs. I did a one-year program in 2007-2008 and was pretty happy with it. What philosophies are out there in PHP?
This fall I'll be leading a joint Confirmation class of 7th and 8th graders. Since Westside is a union church (PCUSA/UCC) I don't want to use denominational materials. What experience has everyone had with, for example, the Logos Confirmation materials?
And while we're on the subject of Confirmation: I've always been an advocate of a fairly short-term (8-10 week) Confirmation program, but both Vail and Westside had been running two-year programs. I did a one-year program in 2007-2008 and was pretty happy with it. What philosophies are out there in PHP?
Thank You
Thank you to Westlawn Presbyterian Church for hosting the February 7, 2009 Presbytery meeting.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Mission Trips
With all the snow on the ground it is hard to think about summer, but summer will be here before we know it and many of our churches will head out on youth and adult mission trips. Please share your mission trip experiences with us. What was the greatest mission trip your church every took? Why? For a church looking for a mission trip what sites can you recommend. Where are you going on your mission trip this summer? Do you have room for people from other churches to join your group?
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