Sometimes my job is very loney. Maybe often. I spent two hours at the church yesterday, mostly printing the bulletin, setting up the altar, and then stalling/wasting time. I didn't talk to a single person. Not on the phone, and certainly not in person. I ended up talking to myself by the time I was done. Not that I don't do that anyway, but it was ( Read more... )

Monday night was the mega meeting night I'd been planningWe had 18 people, which for our congregation is really good turnout to a meeting night. We gathered for dinner at 6 (next time if we do it in the evening, we will start at 5:30, because families with kids need to eat earlier and we all needed a little more time). After our meal, at around 6: ( Read more... )

Despite my earlier post about the stresses of it, I actually do think I like Easter better than Christmas. At least, I definitely liked this year's Easter better than the most recent Christmas.

You will, of course, remember that Christmas 2007 was less than stellar. You may also remember that I have been thinking about Easter and ways to make it ( Read more... )

My Maundy Thursday Service last year was made. of. awesome.

Seriously, it was way cool.

I mean it.

So, everybody say it with me, okay? You don't have to outdo yourself. It's okay if the service this year is pretty much the same. If it ain't broke, for godssake don't make yourself crazy trying to fix it.

A total note to self for my next appointment. I had a great meeting with the Lay Leadership Team today to reorganize and brainstorm. I was very underprepared and not especially optimistic. As usual, the outcome was not what I expected. Maybe that means it's not all about me...

( New models in church leadership )

Having navigated through my technical woes (and consumed some liquor-laced hot chocolate), I feel much better, and ready to share about my past couple of churchy things.

Two new sermons are up, this week's and last week's, at my sermon archive. They may not bring down the house, but they're not bad ( Read more... )

But nothing we didn't already know. Nearly half of Americans have switched religious affiliation/denomination. Oh, and that's not good news for the UMC.

With respect to my earlier thoughts about Easter, I read this in Borg and Crossan's The Last Week, which, about three pages from the end now, I highly recommend ( Read more... )

I've been dragging my feet, sermon wise, for the past few weeks, just not feeling it. I was worried that this, the last sermon before a week's much-needed vacation, would be another disappointment. I had switched to next week's lectionary to make it easier on myself, and still was having difficulty with the text. Too many ideas ( Read more... )

On an only slightly related note, gotta love this guy for representing the UMC.

(and, check out when the camera takes a wide shot, how *few* WBC protesting idiots there are.)

Click to view

Alright, YouTube lovers, do me a favor if you would.

Watch a video or two by Father Matthew (here's a decent one I found), and then reply to me and tell me what you think could make an idea like this better, more relevant, more interesting, and so on. I for one think he can be a little cheesy because he's trying too hard to be funny ( Read more... )