United Methodist Reporter Blog

Alternative-giving ministries

A story posted a few days ago by United Methodist News Service suggests several ways for local churches to get involved in alternative giving at Christmas.

We're told about Lakewood UMC in North Little Rock, Ark., where members "give of themselves" by knitting mittens and hats for children in need, entertaining at nursing homes or volunteering at a food pantry. The church also sells bottled water, with proceeds going build a well in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

But writer Barbara Dunlap-Berg's emphasis is on alternative-giving fairs—events where holiday shoppers visit booths hosted by charitable groups and non-profit organizations.

"People in dire situations all over the world ... benefit from our fair," says the Rev. Timothy Hare, pastor of Huntington UMC in Shelton, Conn. "Shoppers have helped to feed the hungry in the U.S.; they have assisted in the process of emancipating young women from sexual slavery in Asia; they have provided disaster relief to people all over the world; they have provided refugee care, medical care and more to people who desperately need it.

"As we become more attuned to the plights [of others], we build a sense of community with people whom we will likely never meet."

Read the full story at umc.org.

Easy, meaningful Christmas shopping

Instead of giving your dad another necktie or your cousin a set of salt and pepper shakers you bought on clearance, give them gifts of hope that will make a difference long after Christmas is over.

By choosing to support a project from the General Board of Global Ministries’ gift catalog, you can help vulnerable populations and support vital mission projects all around the world.

It’s a win-win because you give a gift that keeps on giving, and you don’t have to wait in long lines, fight traffic or worry about gift-wrap. You can also specifically support a passion that is near and dear to you and your family—like healthcare in Africa, sustainable agriculture and development, training church leaders or Haiti recovery efforts.

 

 

Here are some examples of what you can give in honor of someone special:

$20 offers tutoring and Christian education to at-risk children.

$50 provides anti-malaria medication to 25 pregnant women infected with the disease.

$75 buys a goat for a Haitian farmer.

$200 can provide a latrine for a family. 

And remember, with a gift through The Advance, 100 percent of your donation reaches its intended mission and ministry.

So, are you ready to find that perfect gift, finish up your Christmas shopping and enjoy the spirit of giving?

To shop online, click here, and don’t forget your free gift cards explaining The Advance projects!

Techy ways to teach your kids Bible stories

Let’s face it. There’s a point in every child’s life when Bible-based coloring books and felt-board stories lose their awe, and today kids want the computer-generated imagery seen in their older sibling's video and computer games.

Well, Creation By Design isn’t going to let Christianity lose its relevance in this age of technology. In 2008, the company introduced their first product, “My Bible Cards”—a set of trading cards that recount the “greatest story ever told” with 200 computer-generated images of Biblical characters—to Christian bookstores and comic stores across the nation.

And now, a second series of 818 Old Testament cards, featuring events and people in historical order, will be released just in time for Christmas. 

Creation by Design has also published two book series utilizing the new images. The first is a chapter book designed for ages 6-8 that features nine-year-old explorer, Xander Nash, who travels back in time to meet Bible heroes. The second book product is a line of activity books for kids that use puzzles and games to teach kids their Bible stories.

Think your Bagukan-Yu-Gi-Oh- Pokemon-loving kids could benefit from My Bible Cards?

 How do you help bring the Bible to life for your kids?

 

Pedal for Parkinson’s

Steve Quam, a music therapist and member of Saint Matthew United Methodist Church in Greenville, S.C., should be just about finished today with a coast-to-coast bicycle journey he began in July.

Mr. Quam, 64, was diagnosed in 2008 with Parkinson’s disease and tells the Anderson Independent Mail the exercise he gets from bike riding calms the tremors in his hands. So he’s been “putting that to the test by exercising for the last four months,” he says, and in the bargain raising awareness and funds to fight the disease.

He knows it’s only a matter of time before he won’t be able to balance a single bike. When that day comes, he’ll ride a tandem bike and let his wife, Jeanne, take the lead. But during this trek Jeanne stayed at home, keeping in touch with him via cell phone and GPS tracking while he rode the 4,250 miles from Washington State’s Pacific coast to Edisto Beach in South Carolina.

Read the full story at IndependentMail.com, and visit the Saint Matthew UMC site to read the trip diary (complete with photos) or to make a donation.

A day in the life of a pastor...tweeted

A police station in the U.K. recently tweeted every call they received and every dispatch they issued in a 24-hour span. Why? To prove that police work is actually more than eating donuts and “catching bad guys.”

“The reality of police work is that although crime is a big part of what we do, we do much else besides,” Chief Constable Peter Fahy of Manchester said in a message posted on YouTube. “We’re very much the agency of last resort, and a big part of our workload is related to wider social problems of alcohol, drugs, mental health and people having problems with their relationships.”

The public’s misconception of the police’s duties has inspired the United Methodist pastor Jeremy Smith to update the public on the daily happenings of a pastor. Believe it or not, pastors do more than just preach on Sundays.

Mr. Smith is asking pastors and people in ministry work to tweet every single ministry-related thing they do Wednesday, Oct. 27, and to include the hashtag of #pastors24 so people can easily find and follow the updates.

Due to Twitter’s 140 character limit, the updates will be simple, but nonetheless, the world (or at least the Twitterverse) will get a better idea of the complexity of pastoral issues and the diversity of ministerial duties.

To learn more about the Pastor’s 24 hour Twitter Project and to join the “24-hour force”, check out Mr. Smith’s blog.

Operation Narnia

Each fall, local churches, schools and businesses around the world take part in Operation Christmas Child—a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, the North Carolina nonprofit headed by Franklin Graham. By Christmas Day, children in countries devastated by war, poverty or natural disasters will have at least one reason to smile: wrapped shoeboxes filled with donated gift items from people who care.

Last year we reported on a member of First UMC in Durango, Colo., a 91-year-old retiree who participated by sewing small dresses to go into boxes packed at her church. Durango First is one of more than 7,000 United Methodist churches that get involved, many serving as drop-off centers in their neighborhoods.

This year, even Hollywood is pitching in. At OperationNarnia.org—tied in with the Dec. 10 release of Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third installment in the C.S. Lewis series—fans will learn about Operation Christmas from star Georgie Henley. Both the Operation Narnia site and SamaritansPurse.org have updated info on drop-off locations and how to pack each box. National Collection Week is scheduled for Nov. 15-22.

A new kind of job ministry

Monroe Street UMC in Toledo, Ohio has found a unique way to be in ministry during this tough economy: The church houses Suitably Attired, a nonprofit agency providing local women in need with outfits they can wear to job interviews. Wardrobe consultant Deborah Batey helps them pick from clothing donated by the community, and even provides a few interview tips. The Toledo Blade reports that starting in September, a “soft skills employment” workshop will also be offered to women waiting in line.

The Lucas County Department of Job and Family Ministries gives Suitably Attired some financial support, contracting to serve a few hundred clients per year. Then Toledo Area Ministries raises donations “to make up the difference because we try never to turn anybody away who is eligible,” the Rev. Steve Anthony, executive director, tells the Blade.

Monroe Street also houses Dress Right—a similar ministry for male job-seekers—and a hair and nail salon staffed by cosmetologist volunteers who provide basic haircuts, etc., for people referred by social service agencies. For more, read the story at toledoblade.com.

Transformers in the building

No, not the robots. These transformers are an entirely different, world-changing kind.

Today UMR had its annual visit from a group of summer interns with Project Transformation. Part of the interns' service experience includes career exploration, and as a non-profit, faith-based operation, we're always happy to show them what we do and how communication can be a ministry.

These college students, and some recent graduates, are involved with Project Transformation because they want to make a difference, and through this experience they're already seeing the impact their lives can have in the world. As I told them, they're already way ahead of where I was at their age. I stumbled through a few attempts at careers before I found a place where my deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet, as Frederick Buechner puts it. My guess is that many of these young adults will have a clearer sense of vocational direction as a result of their time with PT.

Several of us at UMR spoke about how we live out our callings through our work here, then we gave tours of the facility and hosted lunch for the interns in our break room. They left with various examples of the work we do, a list of professional associations that might interest them and an invitation to apply for a scholarship to next spring's Religion Communicators Council gathering in Little Rock.

I always enjoy talking with them during lunch. They're full of good questions, and I get to learn something new about PT's ministry every year. And, thanks to the United Methodist connection (and this time, a Church of the Nazarene connection, too), we almost always have some friends in common. Most of all, I'm grateful to meet more young people who pay special attention to discovering how God is calling them -- for some, it's to seminary; for others, it could be a path more like the one I've followed.

Check out their blog if you have a moment, or follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

Value of a musical one-trick pony?

There are some moments when I'm certain I've gotten old.

Last week was my local church's Vacation Bible School. This year's theme, Galactic Blast (brought to you by Cokesbury) featured a bright green gorilla puppet by the name of Galileo (wait, didn't the Church put Galileo under house arrest?), and lots of space-themed decorations, activities and songs. As is tradition in our congregation, the Sunday following VBS features the kids singing those songs (complete with choreography) as part of worship.

Pretty much every year, the songs deliver afresh the news that I'm old.

I understand that the lyrics, though downright goofy at times, are scripturally sound. I understand that in a culture where we receive marketing messages from birth to death, it's helpful to have a cohesive theme for Christian education.

What gets me is that these songs will only be sung for one week, one year. They're written to be disposable -- to land in the hopper with all the other old VBS curriculum that will be replaced with something new next summer.

Here's the line you've been waiting to read (hat tip to Dana Carvey's Grumpy Old Man character on SNL):

"In my day, Vacation Bible School didn't have themes! We didn't have puppets! We sang the same songs every year, and that's the way it was and we liked it! Yeah, we loved it!"

Yes, I still remember some of the songs we sang at Vacation Bible School in the 1980s. (Especially the ones involving one half of the sanctuary trying to out-sing [read: out-yell] the other half.) I don't particularly enjoy singing every one of them today, but I think singing them year-in, year-out had something to do with my faith formation. I wonder if, by switching out songs every time we switch out themes, we're losing some of the value and power of lyrics and their repetition.

I'm not trying to knock VBS themes here. I just wonder if we should hold onto a few things for a bit longer than one week.

Ordination can make you tired

Monday night I had the privilege of attending the Service of Ordination and Commissioning of the North Texas Conference of the UMC. (I say "privilege" not only because of the enormity of the event, but also because even the overflow room became so packed that they had to turn people away. Thank heaven for live web streaming and archived video!)

During the Annual Conference business sessions on Monday and Tuesday, we viewed pre-recorded speeches by each of the ordinands. I know many of the people who were ordained this year, but among all of their speeches, which were limited to two minutes, the one given by the Rev. Marc Corazao stood out:

Bishop Bledsoe and members of the North Texas Conference,

My name is Marc Corazao, and I currently serve as Associate Pastor over Outreach Ministries at Floral Heights United Methodist Church and as Pastor with the Breakfast at the Heights Community in Wichita Falls.

So, I’ve finally gotten to this point of being voted on at clergy session and ordained as an elder, and you know what? I’m pretty tired…

I’m tired of watching pastors and churches cater to the comfort of an affluent constituency.

I’m tired of mission efforts that actually keep those in poverty at arm's length by drawing lines of givers and receivers, privileged and lowly, blessed and cursed, community and other.

I’m tired of coming to Annual Conference and repeatedly witnessing us being more concerned with the outcome of a vote than our sisters and brothers we run over, shut out, dismiss, and demonize to get what we want.

I’m tired of hearing us fearfully talk about our sinking ship that we supposedly need to figure out how to float again.

I’m tired of the part I have played in fostering all of this in the church today.

I’m pretty tired.

So, if I’m tired, and I go to sleep, maybe I’ll dream of something else...

Maybe I’ll dream of a people with the mind of Christ, who encounter the world with basin and towel in hand.

Maybe I’ll dream of a community that lives and works and laughs and serves together with sisters and brothers who live in poverty.

Maybe I’ll dream of holy conversation at Annual Conference that is characterized by outdoing one another in showing honor to each other.

Maybe I’ll dream of the lost, the marginalized, the outcast, the lonely, finding maybe the one place of welcome, acceptance, and counter-cultural love in their lives with us.

Maybe I’ll dream of a church not driven by the fear of self-preservation but by the calling of God to transform the world in love no matter what the cost.

Maybe I’ll dream of my own need to repent and God’s voice calling me and my family in Christ to live and love so dramatically, so humbly, so boldly, so differently, that people everywhere will ask, “What is with those United Methodists?”

And when I wake, you better believe that something’s going to change, and I’m not sitting this one out.

You know what, Marc?  I'm getting tired, too. Thanks for this prophetic word.

'Aging Well' columnist in the secular media

It's always nice to see friends get attention, and when the issue they're raising is so important, it's even better to know that the impact their work makes is continuing to grow.

Missy Buchanan, who writes the Reporter's Aging Well column, has been featured on the Spirituality page of Good Morning America's website. Her piece "Who Forgot Grandma?" is posted as the site's Weekly Inspiration.

Thanks, Missy, for answering your calling to keep reminding folks how important it is to listen to, build relationship with and care for the older adults in our lives.

Wesley had Holy Club, we have Social Media Club

He's the pastor of Church of the Resurrection's online campus, so Andrew Conard knows how to keep up with the tools and trends of social media.

Reflecting on his experience with the geography-based Social Media Club of Kansas City (which uses the hashtag #SMCKC on Twitter), he is proposing that we get a little more formal in our United Methodist social media activities. There's a good bit of conversation forming in his comment thread, including a shared list of Twitter hashtags to be used at this year's Annual Conference gatherings.

So, are you in? If so, go visit his blog and let him know. I just did.

Nursing home ministry

Missy Buchanan, who writes the Aging Well column for the Reporter, has done much to raise awareness of the spiritual needs of older adults. So when I read a blog entry by a friend of mine across the pond, I thought of Missy's ministry, too.

My friend Kathryn is a vicar in southwest England. I'm delighted to have met her in person two years ago, and it has been interesting to learn about her ministry context. She pastors two congregations, and one of them has a nursing home nearby -- in fact, the facility was once the vicarage (parsonage) of one of the churches she serves, and it recently became more receptive to the ministry she and the churches can offer.

Read here about Kathryn's most recent visit. Her stories convey the history of the relationship as well as the uncertainty and hope behind providing spiritual care for another. I believe her telling of the second experience can serve as a powerful reminder that even when we don't quite know what to do, God goes with us.

Mark Beeson keeps asking the tough questions

Several weeks ago the Rev. Mark Beeson, pastor of the United Methodist congregation Granger Community Church in Indiana, began a "Methodist Mondays" series on his blog. So far, his questions have provoked some thought and discussion. (If you need to backtrack and catch up on what's been written so far, here are his first, second and third posts.)

Today's post asks the question, "What would happen if the United Methodist Church changed the formula for placing voting delegates in the Annual Conferences?"

Having been a member of different sizes of congregations, as well as a lay member of Annual Conference, I keep seeing this topic from multiple perspectives. I'm not ready to offer comment at this point, but for those of you who are, visit Mark's blog and see how the conversation is taking shape.

Help Mark Beeson help you!

Calling all United Methodists: Today is the beginning of "Methodist Mondays" on Mark Beeson's blog. Mark is senior pastor of Granger Community Church (a United Methodist congregation), and he's going open-source with a book project. Today and the next seven Mondays, he's posting questions that he wants you to answer.*

And he's not starting out by lobbing softballs at us. Today's question: Could you give a friend a few good reasons to be ordained in the United Methodist Church?

Yikes. And there are more questions coming? That's a lot to ponder, in and of itself. Go have a look at the conversation already happening around that topic.

*If you want to answer Mark, please do so over at his place, not on the Reporter blog comment thread. It'll be more effective that way, I promise.

Real Live Preacher's new calling

The first Q&A I ever did for the Reporter was with Gordon Atkinson, the guy behind the blog Real Live Preacher. I had followed his writing before that opportunity, and I still do.

Gordon recently resigned from his job as pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in San Antonio. While he remains a Real Live Preacher, doing some guest preaching here and there, he's feeling called to direct more of his energy to his writing, and he is still exploring what that role shift will look like. If you haven't checked out his blog before, or if it's been a while, you might enjoy moseying on over there as this new chapter begins.

Plans forming for young clergy national gathering

I'm one of many people who received an email today from Jenny Smith, a seminary student I've gotten to know primarily through her work related to www.umcyoungclergy.com. She's asking folks to spread the word about a gathering of young clergy, tentatively set for October 5-6, 2010 at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan.

Jenny asks that anyone interested in participating fill out this brief interest form. When I replied to let her know I'd blog about her request, she told me, "I love social media. In just an hour, 45 young clergy have indicated their interest and given a ton of ideas as to how it might look."

Even as a connectional denomination, we have never had such ease of connection as we've seen develop within the last few years. It's amazing. (Every so often, I pick up my iPhone and think to myself, "I. am. holding. the. future.") This is another opportunity to take advantage of it. If you're "young clergy" or on track to become one, visit the links above. Share them with others. See what you can work together to build, for your generation and for those coming after you.

Changing the world

United Methodists, together as the church, share a common mission: "To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."

So it shouldn't be a surprise when we actually set about the work of changing the world. But I admit it got my attention when the Rev. Mike Slaughter actually called it out for what it is, right there in the title of his latest book, Change the World: Recovering the Mission and Method of Jesus.

Then there's the whole Change the World event, scheduled April 24-25 to coincide with World Malaria Day. It includes both local and a global goals: Locally, churches answer the challenge to get out into their neighborhoods and communities that weekend; globally, they work to eliminate malaria (something many of us have already been part of, thanks to Nothing But Nets).

So, I suppose we should get on with fulfulling our mission, shouldn't we?

New churches and the people who plant them

Occasionally my Twitter feed gives me a glimpse into an event in progress. Today it has been the New Church Leadership Institute being held at Mount Sequoyah Conference and Retreat Center. At least one person I follow on Twitter is there, and is sharing snippets of her experience.

Participants have tweeted quotes from the event's speakers, as well as responses to what's happening in the room and on the Twitter stream. I was happy to see a discussion on the role church planting plays in various Conferences of the UMC, particularly in regard to whether the person in charge of new church starts is someone who serves on the Bishop's cabinet, and specifically, on the appointive cabinet. (It appears to be a growing trend that the person in this role has an influence on where pastors are appointed, which would make sense if we really intend to be as aggressive with new church starts as we've been challenged to be.)

To see more, visit this link and start reading.

Clergy family, foster family: life in mission

If the Bryan household isn't a living witness to being in service to God, I'm not sure what family would be.

Andy is a United Methodist pastor. His wife teaches at their church's preschool. They are foster parents, which means their kids are foster siblings. This week is a big one for them. Here's a snippet of what he shares on his blog:

Being a foster family is the hardest thing we have ever done. Being a foster family is the most rewarding thing we have ever done. Paradox, schmaradox – it’s called discipleship. If it was easier, would it be as rewarding? If it was less rewarding, would we still do it? Neither question is worth much.

Read the rest here.

'Connections' comes through

As promised in Friday's blog entry, I was part of the crowd at Friday night's Connections "Super Hits of the '70s" concert. Mary Jacobs brought her camera and was taking shots for an upcoming Reporter feature on ways people are raising money to help Haiti earthquake recovery. The less-than-stellar pic at right is one I took with my phone. Notice the candle in the balcony, blurry but visible in the foreground; the band had someone light it at the beginning of the concert, and the Rev. Eric Folkerth (guitar, vocals) offered a prayer for the people affected by the disaster.

It was really a great evening of music and friends. The sanctuary-turned-concert venue at Northaven UMC was packed; my husband and I sat in extra chairs that had been lined up at the back of the balcony. Connections Band is a large ensemble; you can't see it in the angle of this photo, but they had their horn section out in full force, in addition to several guitars, keyboards, percussion and vocals. They placed offering baskets near all seating areas, giving folks easy access for giving to UMCOR's Haiti Emergency Fund.

After intermission, the band announced that the offering total stood at $11,900. Some folks near us in the balcony were verifying that they'd heard the number correctly. "Eleven-nine?" one man asked. "Well, they just hit twelve," he said as he walked to the nearest basket with a check in his hand.

Latest reports, with donations still trickling in, are close to $14,000. The band puts that number in perspective on their website. Go have a read.

Dessert-making and foot-washing

I never would've connected the two things, myself. But Rev. Mike Lindstrom did, in his blog entry today.

(Hint: The common thread has to do with serving.)

Nativity wisdom out of the mouths of babes

I'm generally not the best choice if you need someone to corral or entertain a room full of preschoolers. Which is one of many reasons why I'm glad people like the Rev. Andy Bryan exist. In a recent blog entry, he writes that one of the great joys of this time of year is getting to tell the Christmas story to the kids who attend the preschool at the church he serves. A snippet of his experience:

Hearing it as they do always refreshes my own love for the story, and I always hear it in a new way.

They are always appalled that there wasn’t any place for Mary and Joseph to stay, and someone often asks why they didn’t just go to the hops-pistal, and you have to explain about Bethlehem being so crowded and that there weren’t really any hops-pistals, anyway, so they just had to try the best they could, and they understand about that.

Then there’s the part about putting the newborn baby Jesus in a manger, and then you’ve got to explain to the kids that it was a box that animals ate out of, and then you reassure them that no, the animals did not eat the baby...

Read more. Seriously. It gets even better, and can teach us all a thing or two.

Coming back for seconds

"Children are members of the covenant community and participants in the Lord’s Supper.... Children of all ages are welcome to the Table and are to be taught and led to interpret, appreciate, and participate in Holy Communion."  -- This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion, page 16

We don't celebrate Communion every week at the congregation where I'm a member, but we (and many other congregations) will be celebrating it this Sunday. For a perspective on the sacrament, here's the latest blog entry from Questing Parson. It might create a little more anticipation for you, too.

Bootstrapping ain't easy

... In fact, it's pretty much impossible.

One of my most vivid memories of a college course has to be when Dr. John Farthing, a professor of religion and ordained United Methodist elder, sat down in the center aisle of the Mills A lecture hall at Hendrix to illustrate the sheer impracticality of the phrase, "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps." Imagine a 50-something man rocking around on the floor, grabbing the straps of his boots and pulling as hard as he could, just to prove he would go nowhere by doing so. It put the truth out there in vivid fashion: We can't do it all by ourselves.

I thought of that illustration yet again as I read this blog post by Matt Lipan. He addresses ministry with the poor on an individual level -- he's been building a relationship with someone who really wants to turn things around, and sees God at work in his life. But bootstrap culture makes it a little more difficult to break the cycle of poverty. Matt reminds us that if someone tells you to pick yourself up by your bootstraps, they're assuming you already have boots.

Thanks, Matt, for calling your readers to step in and be the evidence of God's grace in the world.

Something Special

I realized Tuesday night that something is growing in my house that I didn't know was there.  It's not in the kitchen sink or the laundry hamper, either.

This is my first time to contribute to the Reporter blog.  I'm one of the sales and marketing guys at UMR.  They usually don't give me the keys to the company car, so to speak.  My wife and I are both Elders in the North Texas Conference.  We are no strangers to callings, and our family is well-acquainted with ministry and things of the church.

Tuesday evening started as many in our house - chicken nuggets, waffle fries and homework - but our family routine was soon interrupted by an unveiling of our immediate connection to the work of God through the United Methodist Church.

After doling out dinner to our kids, I sat down in the study and logged on to our home computer to watch Hope 10_13, the live streaming of the Service of Commissioning for 40 new missionaries being sent to serve by the General Board of Global Ministries.  As I watched, my 8-year old daughter, Olivia, climbed in my lap and began to watch with me. 

Leadership Institute buzz

Folks attending the Church of the Resurrection Leadership Institute 2009 are sharing what's going on there. In addition, you can watch live streaming of the general sessions by visiting the link in the first sentence of this blog entry.

Steve Heyduck's recent blog entry is just one example of what attendees are saying. There are a variety of reports, thoughts and related ideas being shared out there. You can follow comments on Twitter, too, by searching for the #li2009 hashtag, which includes the substantive, whimsical and mundane all mixed together.

Church, or awkward teenager?

Full disclosure: I'm a member of a congregation that is chronologically old enough to be a senior in high school, if it studied hard. We've struggled with a membership plateau and are grateful and excited to have been selected to participate in our Conference's new Congregational Transformation initiative. For me, that work can't begin soon enough.

Sometimes when I come face to face with one of our problems, I picture our congregation as an awkward teenager. With acne and braces and glasses and a bad haircut. For some reason, that helps.

And sometimes I come across a piece of writing that lets me know we aren't alone in that awkward phase. This week it has been, once again, from Dan Dick, whose writing has occasionally appeared in the Reporter print edition. But what really drove it home this time was a blog entry from David Camphouse, pastor of St. Andrew UMC in Ojai, California, in which he linked to a post of Dan's. So read what David has to say, then click on through to Dan.

Also, in a more recent post, Dan reveals that he is an old fart. By his definition, so am I.

Young clergy are still at it...

The Rev. Andrew Conard posted about an upcoming young clergy collaboration event. I'm glad to see the momentum of this group assembled through social media. Read on:

“Give me one hundred [people] who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergyman or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth.” –John Wesley

Does this describe you? Are you under age 35 and a clergy person in the United Methodist Church?

I invite you to be a part of a collaboration of young clergy at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection on October 8, 2009 just prior to the Leadership Institute 2009.

We will continue on the trajectory set by 40 Days of Prayer and 6 Questions for The United Methodist Church and seek to raise up leaders, share stories and create next steps to renew the church.

Read Andrew's full post here.

A fond farewell...

Today is Sarah Wilke's last day as CEO of UMR Communications! We commemorated it as we always mark special times around here -- with food, lots of it, in potluck-style, of course.

And we sent Sarah on her way with gifts and laughter. It's become a tradition at the Reporter to mock up a special issue cover for such occasions. We thought this shot of Robin presenting Sarah's pseudo front page captured Sarah's reaction well.

After five years with us, she was an easy target for a little light lampooning. Robin worked just about every one of Sarah's maxims into the copy for these articles. And don't even ask about the photos we picked.

It's been a blessing for UMR to have Sarah at the helm. She begins work at The Upper Room in Nashville just 10 days from now, and we hope and expect them to benefit from her leadership as much as we have.

Sarah, you're a good egg. The best. Now, go git 'er done.

Did campus ministry help you find your calling?

Creighton Alexander, a pastor of young adults who helps with campus ministry in Kansas City, says United Methodist campus ministries are often viewed as "13th grade youth group."

But it ain't so, he adds.

To prove the point, he has helped launch a Facebook page for United Methodists whose full-time ministry was sparked through their involvement in a UMC campus ministry.

More than 700 individuals have signed up already, telling their stories of how Wesley Foundations and other UM groups on college campuses impacted their life and calling.

These folks, along with church leaders, will be participating in a "40 Days of Prayer" campaign, Aug. 17-Sept. 25, for United Methodist campus ministries across the U.S.

Creighton is writing a column about this for the Aug. 7 edition of the Reporter, to raise awareness throughout the denomination of the value of campus ministries, but I wanted readers to have a heads-up about the Facebook link. Check it out.

Career exploration day for Project Transformation

Each summer, we at UMR spend a few hours hosting summer interns from Project Transformation. Part of the interns' service experience includes career exploration, and as a non-profit, we're always happy to show them what we do and how we see communication as our ministry.

Our CEO (and co-founder of Project Transformation) Sarah Wilke offered a welcome, we had a time of worship together, and then we gave tours of our facility followed by a meal.

I was privileged to be able to share a table with four interns at lunch today, and hear about what's going on in their lives -- their colleges, their majors, what they are thinking of doing next as they map out their life's journeys. These young adults are involved with Project Transformation because they want to make a difference, and they're already starting to see the impact their lives can have in the world.

One intern I met today attends college with one of my nephews, and she told me she'll encourage him and others at my alma mater to apply for Project Transformation next year (thanks, Eva!). The intern program has been growing steadily for the 11 years of its existence, and I'm always glad to see the group come around to spend time with us.  Check out their blog if you have a moment, or follow them on Twitter.

The new, hot UMC number: 6

As the site to which I'm linking states, the UMC has 1 mission (no mention of 2 anything), 3 simple rules, 4 areas of focus (folks in the newsroom are sick of the plural "foci"), 5 practices, and now 6 questions.

6 Questions for the United Methodist Church is a follow-up to the 40-day prayer campaign spearheaded by Jenny Smith, Ben Simpson and others who have become involved at www.umcyoungclergy.com. I received an invitation earlier this week and added a few questions to the list myself. One of the people I invited has asked me how this effort is different from any other conversation we've attempted in recent years. My answer? I don't really know how different it is, but I figure it's worth giving it a try.

So, if you're curious, go visit the site, and follow its link to the list of questions on Google Moderator, where you can add new ones and vote for those already posted. You can also follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #6qumc, and become a fan on Facebook. We'll see what comes of it when the push concludes on September 30.

Observations from Annual Conference season

This is the time of year when United Methodists do lots of "conferencing." Many people attend one Annual Conference; others, for various reasons, wind up at several of them. I have two down, one to go -- and if time and technology allow, I'll post Monday's blog entry from my third Conference of this month.

Some things I've noticed so far this season:

- Rethink Church seems to be getting some traction. One comment I've heard: "The problem is that so many people think it's someone else's church that needs rethinking, not their own." We'll see if folks can get beyond that. I know leaders in my local church are constantly rethinking how we do things; soon, we'll see if we can get better at redoing -- that is, at actually making changes.

- Remember Mary's post about Holy Happy Meals? I experienced the swine-flu version of Communion with hermetically-sealed host while attending Southwest Texas Annual Conference in Corpus Christi. Yes, I get their logic. But I still was a bit put off by the sound of a thousand or more tiny cellophane seals being peeled off the tops of little wafer/juice combo packs. Frankly, it reminded me of David Letterman's 1980s gimmick of jumping into a large bowl of milk wearing a suit covered in Rice Krispies. 
    And, I feel duty-bound to share a comment I received from one of my non-churchgoing friends when I posted about that Communion experience on my personal blog: "wow. A juice cup and a wafer. If only they made them with Dora [the Explorer] on them, we'd be in business. wow. Somehow, it seems to me that breaking bread together never should have made it to this. It's like, I like you, and we're sharing in this really cool thing, but I don't like you THAT much. wow."

- I'm part of my own Conference's new Strategic Planning Team. We actually broke out into small groups for listening sessions, and even as limited as those were (70 minutes, with about 30 people each), we're receiving great feedback on our efforts to let every voice in our Conference be heard. We'll see what develops in the coming year and how we discern God's vision. We also cut the length of Conference by half a day and still got everything done, which I found encouraging.

And, I leave you with a link for your enjoyment: Questing Parson, aka the Rev. Guy Kent, is no stranger to rethinking church. Go have a read; you might want to click on a few more of his posts while you're at it.

Our UM of the Year makes news again

Remember Katherine Commale?

Just before Katherine's 8th birthday, the Reporter staff named her our United Methodist of the Year for 2008 for all the work she's done raising money to combat malaria through the Nothing But Nets campaign. (Here she's pictured with a diorama she made to illustrate the concept of bed nets protecting families from the mosquitoes that carry the disease.)

In today's Twitter feed from the Malaria Summit, I've learned that Katherine's fundraising total now stands at $92,000; that in 5 years of bed net distribution, malaria has declined by 30 percent; that 50 million pregnant women contract malaria each year; and plenty of other facts and challenges.

Something I've been aware of all week, but haven't yet acted upon, is that tomorrow is World Malaria Day. You can mark the occasion in many ways, but one simple action is to visit www.nothingbutnets.org and give $10 for an insecticide-treated mosquito net. Skip a lunch, send a net, save a life. Most of our readers can afford that, even in this economy.

Now I know somethin' about birthing babies

I had the privilege yesterday of witnessing a childbirth for the first time in my life. After the last few weeks of waiting, waiting, waiting for the call, Mackenzie finally went into labor.

She wanted all of her family and some close friends alongside her in the birthing room -- she'd joked beforehand about needing to set up bleacher stands.

Less than 24 hours after the big event, I'm still smiling BIG. I don't know that I'll ever see anything quite so amazing. I'm just grateful I was invited to be there and that I actually made it on time for the last two hours of Kenzie's labor and delivery.

Yes, I watched the whole thing, and am glad I did.

Religion's impact on poverty: CBS special coming soon

Watch this program. Or DVR it, or something.

“Poverty: A Time for Sharing,” will air April 26 on the CBS network. Check your local station for the exact time. United Methodist Bishop Thomas Bickerton, the denominational spokesperson for the Nothing But Nets campaign, is among those featured on this interfaith television special.

Bishop Bickerton encourages the church to partner with secular organizations to address global health issues. Last year at General Conference, he challenged delegates to make a difference even while we were sitting there surrounded by meetings and minutae. What began as an impromptu offering turned into a friendly competition among delegations, and ended up raising almost $430,000 to provide insecticide-treated bed nets to fight malaria. For this first-time delegate, it was one of the high points of General Conference.

I'll be watching the special, and I hope lots of other United Methodists will, too. We're making a difference, and we can make an even bigger one as we learn more and keep putting our faith in action.

Full story from UMNS here.

Exactly where is the process broken?

"I get a sense that I'm a part of a broken system."

Those were the words of one person at my District Committee on Ministry meeting earlier today. A number of people nodded in agreement. 

Many others could say the same thing, and quite a few of them wouldn't phrase it so politely. Some of them just get fed up and walk away.

What I find particularly intriguing lately, and what I named in a discussion today, is that no group thinks its own portion of the ordination process is the one that's causing the problems. I have friends at all levels of the convoluted journey -- candidates, mentors, committee chairs. I find it easy to understand their points of view as they're explaining various stages of the ordination process. But when you put it all together, it's still broken.

What's more, we need change faster than we seem to be able to get it. Making incremental changes in the Book of Discipline every four years at General Conference isn't going to get us far enough.

It does vary in the particulars from conference to conference, but the problems are similar enough that I think they could be tackled if we could just agree upon an approach. But where's the point of agreement when everyone is trying the best they can and really believes they're doing the right thing?

We certainly didn't get it solved in one conversation this afternoon.

Will Deuel reached a point of frustration with his own ordination journey last week and laid it all out on his blog. As a counterpoint, read Matt Judkins' recent post, in which he admits to having had a good experience with the Board of Ordained Ministry.

I'm far from alone in pointing out problems with this system. But I've also been part of some day-long conversations that have resulted, ultimately, in that half-inch of movement via a General Conference petition.

I don't know where to begin, but we need substantial progress -- and soon.

Chastised by the senior pastor

I saw the headline in the Methoblog feed: "Conversation with My Senior Pastor." It was a post from an under-35 ministry candidate's blog. I felt a knot in my stomach. Here's what I saw when I clicked:

Actually, he was scolding and chastising me. I guess the better word is lecturing.
And to be honest with you, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It took me a couple of minutes to register what was really being said to me. I didn’t know how to react. I just started chuckling.
He asked, “what’s so funny?”
And I replied, “This conversation!”

Of course this could sound really bad.
But it wasn’t at all.

Joseph was on the receiving end of this lecture because he hadn't taken any vacation time yet, and his senior pastor was insisting that he do so!

This type of attitude is encouraging. Pastors especially need to recognize the importance of Sabbath time, and help those in the next generation learn to value it, too.

But seriously, Joseph. You got me. I'm still trying to get the knot in my stomach to dissolve.

More Updates to That Ol' Time Appointment System

Earlier this month I blogged about some Conferences that are changing their approaches to appointing pastors. Last night Mike Holly commented on that post, and included a link to a new announcement from North Alabama, including video from Bishop Willimon and district superintendent the Rev. Ron Shultz. (You might want to keep your speakers off for the intro music. You've been warned.)

Seems that transparency is the new hotness in the realm of making pastoral appointments. You won't hear me complaining. (Although I do think it's kind of creepy that they call conferring with three DSes "The Triad Process.")

Thanks for the link, Mike!

New Approaches to the ol' pastoral appointment system

Thanks to some fellow Methobloggers, I've become aware of some emerging new approaches to appointment-making in several conferences this year:

Today is the deadline to tell your district superintendent if you're interested in any of these Central Texas Conference appointments, writes Bishop Mike Lowry. (hat tip: Steve Heyduck.)

A new-yet-old approach involving house churches in the Kansas Area, from Bishop Scott Jones and his crew (ht: Andrew Conard). I notice the deadline for that move is in 2014; as impatient as I am to see how we can effect fruitful change in the UMC, I sure hope it can get rolling sooner.

Richard Heyduck (Steve's brother) shares that Bishop Huie and a couple of district superintendents announced a new approach to appointment-making in the Texas Conference at a recent gathering.

Sure, we don't yet know how any of these efforts will pan out, but it sure is nice to see some more open conversation and different approaches. I know I'll be interested in the outcomes.

Want final exam material? We're here for you!

Now and then we get an e-mail that stands out in the crowd. Yesterday was one of those times: we received a note from Ted Campbell, Associate Professor of Church History at SMU's Perkins School of Theology. Dr. Campbell attached a document and sent the following comment:

"Thought you guys might want to see my final exam (given in December) for my UM History course -- all of these essay questions were based on quotations from the 2008 United Methodist Reporter."

So we're not just a newspaper and Web site -- we're also a textbook! Thanks, Dr. Campbell, for letting us know how you're using the Reporter in your work and teaching.

Methoblogger/Twitterer meetup in Nashville

I'm at Congress on Evangelism, which this year had a lot to do with Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Bishop Robert Schnase's book.

Here's the group of Methobloggers, Twitter types, and friends who met up Wednesday night at Congress On Evangelism. Gavin has more pics and a good roundup of our discussion, which went on for more than 3 hours. Thanks, Wayne (TNRambler), for suggesting the meetup in the first place, and thanks to everyone else who jumped in, especially Bishop Schnase, one of the newer bloggers in the group that gathered. (Others pictured include Mid-Life Rookie, Reverend Mommy, Jay Voorhees, RileyByrd, Erin Richardson, and Amy Shanholzter.)

As effective as blogging can be at building relationships, being in the same room makes an immeasurable difference. I have tons of notes on the lectures and workshops, which I'll eventually distill into a Reporter article, but that evening session that wasn't on any official agenda is the one that meant the most to me as an individual.

Now, off to the last sessions of the event, and back to Dallas this afternoon. Hope your weekend's wonderful. (Saturday morning I'll be helping to lead a workshop at my local church on the first of the Five Practices discussed in the book: Radical Hospitality. Yet another reason I'm glad I came.)

Is UM social media too little, too late?

When I attended my very first Igniting Ministry event as a church staff member in 2001, the Rev. Sammy Hargrove got up on the platform and announced with great energy, "I'm here to tell you that the United Methodist Church is on the cutting edge of 1968!" It was one of those classic it's-funny-'cause-it's-true moments.

So, how far have we come since then? Have we hit the '80s yet? Sometimes I wonder.

Here's a bit that a couple of fellow bloggers (including the co-author of the resource it promotes) have highlighted recently:

A discussion has ensued over at Gavin's post (confession: I weighed in rather snarkily as my after-hours blogging alter-ego) about how the denomination is doing with social media. The consensus: not well enough (even admitted by one of the Discipleship honchos in the comment thread). Gavin mentioned there's fear associated with reluctance to have free, or even user-generated, content out there to create buzz. So, does it really boil down to getting us to admit that we're just a denomination full of control freaks?

Christianity not all it's cracked up to be

The sentiment existed well before Ghandi's remark: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."

It continues to be explored today in works like Dan Kimball's book They Like Jesus But Not the Church.

And it really hits home when you know someone who feels so burned by the church that leaving Christianity seems like the only option.

I have no commentary on this situation. But it's newsworthy, and prayer-worthy.

"New media" evangelism

The United Methodist Church is launching a pilot in Pittsburgh of its new media campaign that incorporates text messaging and outdoor advertising in an effort to reach a younger audience between the ages of 18 and 34.

Some of the text message ads incorporate text shorthand—for example, "God is F2T. CW2CU Xmas" (translation for anyone over 30: "God is free to talk. Can’t wait to see you Christmas."

That's a shift in ad strategy from the "Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors." television and billboard campaign that targeted 25- to 54-year-olds. The nationwide campaign will launch in spring.

Meanwhile, here in Dallas, a newsroom staffer alerted me to a local billboard campaign called "I Am Second," initiated by a coalition of local nondenominational churches, that is also using outdoor advertising and an interactive Web site.

The campaign features celebrities (Brian Welch of Korn; actor Stephen Baldwin) as well as local pastors and churchgoers who tell their story (they've all learned that Jesus is first) and invite others to chat about such issues as sexual addiction, fatherlessness, the drive to be a success above all else -- and then offer the opportunity to find help and healing.

Young people can connect with a live person by phone, e-mail or chat 24 hours a day, or join a group or even find ways to serve others.

It's all good.

If the UMC canonized people...

Yesterday evening I witnessed a model of hospitality, grace and courage.

I had the privilege of visiting the home of my friend, the Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball, who entered hospice care last week. She and her family are opening their home at set times to visitors who want to say their goodbyes. "She is trying to balance her need for rest with her need to remain very connected with others," wrote her husband, Bill, in a Nov. 20 e-mail.

Yesterday, that balance included baptizing 20 babies ("It felt very papal," joked a close friend of hers who watched parents bring their infants to a seated Rev. Baskin-Ball); hearing a performance of her church's youth choir in her home; and welcoming visitors for "an hour" -- which, judging by the line still going out the door at 10 minutes after the allotted hour, looked like it was shaping up to stretch into at least triple the time planned.

Tell me about your Animal Blessings!

Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St. Francis, that saint who, among other distinctives, is known as a friend to animals. I've seen a few announcements for animal blessings this weekend, but the one I know of that's nearest us isn't at a time we can be there. Angus, our Australian Cattle Dog, has never been to a formal blessing, and I'd like to take him to one this year if possible. (At certain moments, one might argue he needs an exorcism first, but by and large, he's a pleasure to have around.)

Last fall, I took my now-departed German Shepherd mutt to a blessing service in a suburb further north. Held in a church parking lot where people and animals stood in a circle together, it was simple and meaningful. It was the only time I ever took her to one, and I'm so very glad I did.

Anybody know of animal blessings scheduled for this weekend? Anybody leading one? Got a story of a blessing service past? Post 'em here in the comments.

"The church is not a building..."

"...the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people."

"We Are the Church" is number 558 in The United Methodist Hymnal. (I know someone who had a hand in that effort: Mary Brooke Casad served on the 1989 hymnal revision committee and advocated having it and other children's hymns included.) As elementary as the tune is--which, I suspect, is the reason it's not an all-around favorite--this hymn carries deep theological meaning. It's a teaching hymn. It's a crucial reminder of who we are.

As the congregation where I'm a member begins to move into its long-anticipated new facility this week, I keep thinking of that hymn.

Worth our attention

Some thought-provoking posts I've seen recently:

• Gavin just did an analysis of his youth ministry numbers, relationships and resources. (Result: new year, same struggles. What can we do differently?)
• Allen's new church start had a Random Acts of Kindness day on Saturday.
• A friend posted her sermon, and as I read it Sunday night I found myself hollering snippets of it to my husband. Good stuff. Great closing line.