Friday Five!

Friday Five: Seasons Change...

It's Labor Day weekend here in the United States, also known as Summer's Last Hurrah. So let's say goodbye to summer and hello to the autumn. (People in other climes, feel free to adapt as needed.)

1. Share a highlight from this summer. (If you please, don't just say "our vacation to the Canadian Rockies." Give us a little detail or image. Help us live vicariously through you!) Going to Ocean City with my Boyfriend. The Car ride was horrific but we survived it. Which is a good sign. There was lots of miniture golf and the beach was great. Plus it was my first vacation without the family.

2. Are you glad to see this summer end? Why or why not? Yes and no... I like going back to school and will be happy to be done babysitting. No because I love summer weather and summer activities

3. Name one or two things you're looking forward to this fall. Being back at school, apple picking, apple cider and cider donuts

4. Do you have any special preparations or activities to mark the transition from one season to another? (Cleaning of house, putting away summer clothes, one last trip to the beach) Well going back to school but I guess that won't be forever. I guess putting away my summer clothes.

5. I'll know that fall is really here when __________________________________. When the leaves change and I go to a football game in somthing other than jeans and a teeshirt

Scared

My Blogging has not been very consistent nor has it been very interesting as of late. I have realized how much school really sparks my social consciousness, my spirituality, and obviously my intellect. It kind of scares me however that it takes school to do that..... What exactly does that say about me?...

Although I do know that I can't wait to be living in my own space...

Update

Well summer is flying by there are only three and half weeks left until classes start again. I can say that I am looking forward to classes beginning. At least then life will settle into a more regular routine.

My three Sundays of summer preaching are over. The church that I am serving does combined services with two other churches during the summer with each church hosting three Sundays. So the next time I Preach will be labor day weekend. I thought my three Sundays went fairly well. People seemed to like the services. I actually received a few constructive comments which are helpful. Week 2's sermon wasn't as strong as the other two I felt, but a couple people told me they enjoyed the services so that was nice. Of course I always live in the well did they really enjoy it and did it have meaning for them or are they just telling me that because I'm the young seminary student, but I'll never know so I just move on.

I already have to keep reminding myself that I am only a part time pastor and I really need to be part time. They just seem really excited and hopeful for change. But I need remember rather I am quarter time or half time or full time I need to work with them not for them. I figure if I say it and write it enough I might actually do it.


On the personal side, my boyfriend and I are going to the beach together in three days! I can't wait it will be the first beach vacation that I have had in a few years. Then two weeks after that I spend a week volunteering at our conference camp. Something I look forward to even though it is a pretty tiring week.

Should be Writing a sermon

The kids are at friend's houses so I should be writing my sermon I did this instead...

Friday five

Friday 5- floods and droughts

Here in the UK we are struggling with floods, other parts of the world have similar problems without the infrastructure to cope with it, still others are badly affected by drought.... My son Jon is in Melbourne Australia where apparently it has been snowing ( yes it is winter but still!).... With crazy weather in mind I bring you this weeks Friday 5...

1. Have you experienced living through an extreme weather event- what was it and how did you cope? The only extreme weather situation that I have to live through are a couple of huge snow storms. We just wait it out inside the house and hope the power doesn't go out. If it does we put on lots and lots of layers

2. How important is it that we wake up to issues such as global warming? Extremely important. We only have one planet to live on. We have a strong impact on the future of this planet

3. The Christian message needs to include stewardship of the earths resources agree/ disagree? Agree without a doubt. If we destroy creation around us we will eventually destroy ourselves

And because it is summer- on a brighter note....

4. What is your favourite season and why? Summer and early fall. I love the weather and the sunshine, the food, swimming and all of the outside events that happen in the summer. I like early fall because of football and fieldhockey games before it gets to cold. Plus I enjoy being able to wear shorts and a sweatshirt. :-)

5. Describe your perfect vacation weather.... Hot hot hot! as long as their is water near by

My First Sunday

So my first Sunday serving my little country church is done. It went much better then I had expected. My original plan was to leave the service exactly as it was at least for the first couple of weeks I was there. Well that didn't quite happen. The service was about 90% the same as it had been in the past with a few minor changes. I put in a passing of the piece and my goodness it was like giving a bunch of little kids candy... they really seemed to enjoy it. The liturgist was nervous about how he would get their attention back, but it all worked out.

I received lots of positive feed back. even more then the usual that was very nice dear that I tend to hear. People seemed to really listen to the message, which was about being inclusive and welcoming toward theological and cultural diversity. During joys and concerns many joys were shared over upcoming mission projects with some of the immigrant families that are in the area. I was pleased to hear that. Right now the church has no mission budget but I am hoping to change that.

We had an administrative council meeting after church which also went well. They seem like a group that works well together. They were very open to the few ideas that i had.

I was very encouraged by a conversation that i had after church with a couple of members who said they were looking forward to fresh ideas. I keep hearing that and I am starting to believe that they really want them. I'm hoping sooo!

Sunday left me feeling really good for a variety of reasons.. one i survived my first service of the church were I'm the only pastor, two i actually enjoyed myself, the congregation seems sincerely happy to have me , and I'm excited to work with them!

Not that is was all peaches.. i left out a word in the unison prayer when i printed it in the bulletin and i knocked over my water while we were singing the third hymn right before I preached, and it was a union service with another church in the area so I have no idea if many of the people typically attend my church or the other church

Good things are to come! thanks be to God!

Friday FIve!!!.. and it's a good one!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Friday 5- looking back, looking forward

When I began work here at Downham Market a wise friend told me that after one year I would see a few changes and sense God at work- years two and three would cause me to question and to wonder why I had chosen to accept the post here and in year four I might see the beginnings of something new.And so with that in mind alongside yesterdays celebrations I bring you Friday 5 Looking back, looking forward..

1. Share a moment/ time of real encouragement in your journey of faith as scary and as acrazy as I think it is sometimes my call to ministry was that moment, because if God can Call me to do this work then he really does love me no matter how many times I've turned my back

2. Do you have a current vision / dream for your work/ family/ministry? work right now = school and my vision and dream for that is to not only survive it but enjoy it
family dream is to spend the rest of my life with the man I love and make each other as happy as possible
ministry- engergize people make them excited about their faith

3.Money is no object and so you will..... live in differnt countries for a couple years at a time then pick up and move to the next doing service projects

4. How do you see your way through the disappointments? What keeps you going? I try to
remind myself that other people face similar struggles or worse and knowing that they survived keeps me going

5. How important are your roots? they help me know everything I want adn don't want

6. Bonus= I am forever grateful for my friends whom many of I now consider family

Summer bloggin

Well my blogging this summer has been very minimal. I guess i just haven;t had a whole lot to say. I have been babysitting most of the summer and trying to wrap my mind around my first year of seminary. My first church service for the church I will serving as my internship is July 22 so I am trying to get that service prepared.

I went to a wedding and the movies this weekend. The pastor for the wedding that i was at was to say it nicely interesting. The homily was more of a sermon, much longer then it needed to be and made us all feel like it was 1950 again. And I sat through the movie (transformers) thinking about how it could be used for a children's sermon. Wow how my life has changed since I answered this call!

Best thing I've hear in this Class..

Two posts in one day what?!?!? what?!?!?!?

You need to go into church every Sunday expecting a Miracle not only in your building but out on the street everyday!- My Prof

Summer Class

So I have realized summer class is not for me! I love summer to much and even though it only meets twice a week and the reading isn't that bad it just isn't the same. Plus it's took me a good three weeks to understand how this calls was going to help me in ministry. I'm taking pastoral care and counseling, and I obviously know i need that, but this one has been very much a clinical psychology/psychiatry class. But the second half has been really good.

In other news, my new bf and I are taking a long weekend to the beach! :-)

Weekend

So I had an absolutely glorious weekend. It was Jazzfest weekend in my hometown. My parents a few of my aunts and one of my longtime friends and her parents have gone every year for the last few years and my boyfriend joined us this year.It is a wonderful weekend of eating drinking and enjoying Jazz.

I also worshiped with the congregation that I become a pastor of officially on Sunday. I met lots of wonderful people and I am I truly looking forward to becoming their pastor. Their current pastor had a wonderful liturgy all about change. He has been extremely helpful in this transition.


This is the last week of my summer class. YAY!!!

Worship

So this isn't going to be a long post it's more of a question and I know there aren't a lot of solutions but I'm asking it anyway.... What do all of you who are in ministry do about your own worship needs. My transition from simply being in worship and leading it is quickly approaching. And I know that I am really going to miss the experience of worship.. what do you all do to fill that need. when school is in session I will have chapel so that will help any other suggestions????

Friday Five!

Friday 5, books, books, books....

I've just returned from a meeting in Cambridge so I'm posting this late here in the UK (it is 3:45pm).. because I took the opportunity of a free afternoon in Cambridge's wonderful book shops... I only bought a few- and they were on sale- very restrained for me!!!

So with my head full of books I've seen and a long wish list in my mind, I bring you a Friday Five on books!!!

1. Fiction what kind, detective novels, historical stuff, thrillers, romance???? Hmm it really depends on my mood.. I like historical stuff and romance

2. When you get a really good book do you read it all in one chunk or savour it slowly? I read all in one chunk especially in the summer

3. Is there a book you keep returning to and why? I normally don't reread books but i keep returning to Gifts from the Sea. I'm not really sure what my draw is to it, but it is amazing, a great book about life.

4. Apart from the Bible which non-fiction book has influenced you the most? Nelson Mandela's autobiography it was the first autobiography that I read

5. Describe a perfect place to read. ( could be anywhere!!!) In the summer in a Park... my favorite is congresspark

Since when do we get to decide who God's people are

This is the e-mail that I got from one of my profs today if you are interested in writing a letter let me know in the comments section and I will get you the addresses. For those of you who have never heard Mark Miller he makes amazing Music that in doubt is insipred by God and made for the Golory of God

Dear class,Forgive me for interrupting your summer interlude, but I wanted to let you know of one more relevant issue to our course. My wonderful colleague and our music director, Mark Miller, is being attacked with a full press by UMAction and Institute for Religion and Democracy. According to them he is unacceptable to lead music at General Conference next year because he is a self proclaimed gay man. YOu may remember the stories he told us about General conference in the past where he has been a powerful prophetic voice. They are well funded and have mailed all the churches in the country to get a letter writing campaign going to protest the selection of Mark and his co director Marcia McFee (who will be teaching for us this summer. This makes me so sad and angry, to see someone with such a generous and loving spirit and dedication to God attacked this way. I have felt the presence of God so often in the midst of music lead by Mark. He is an incredible person and musician, and we have had to work hard at Drew to keep him from being lured away. This is what our class was about--the power of religion to destroy and do harm.IF you want to write letters of support to counteract this campaign, let me know and I'll provide the addresses. I just thought that since so many of you had been moved by Mark's presence in class that I needed to let you know.

Wow

SO this is such a new place for me to be in and it has lasted for about a month now so I'm quite pumped. I am feeling really good. My life just seems really well rounded and settled out. Maybe it has something to do with the new guy in my life, but I really think a lot of it has to do with me finally realizing that my path to the ordained ministry is well on it's way. Although having this great guy in my life doesn't hurt either. It was interesting in Bible Study on Sunday we had really great discussions and we really go into understanding the history of different texts and the different interpretations. It was awesome. People actually asked for more study. Let's hope that the church I will be serving starting this summer will want some of those same things. The discussions really affirmed how hard it is to really get clear understanding of scripture, how much unpacking there is to do. It's exacting and daunting to me. Especially because being in seminary right now it means that I do that all the time and I almost don't know how to read the text with trying to unpack it with out adding in all the context and history. Daunting because I know that in 20 minutes you just can't get it done. I am really afraid that I am bringing in all of this energy and won't have the time to use it all. Bigger fear is that it will be lost on the congregation. Right now I am going to go on living in the goodness and I'm thanking God for it the whole time.

editor's note: while writing this post the current pastor of the congregation I am serving called and I will be meeting and worshiping with the congregation this Sunday

Posting Dot Style

I thought I'd go this route since I don't have anything exciting to post about

• Summer class= not so much fun, not sure if it is the material or the fact that it is a summer class
• I am moved out of Drew Housing
• My love life is the best it has been in a long time maybe ever
  
• I am in a good place spiritually mentally
• I really need to pick up my exercise routine
• I am excited to have at least one more Saratoga Summer, but I am not looking forward to living with my parents
• I'm still dealing with the fact that soon i will not be worshiping but leading the worship and that makes me a little sad

Coming soon reflections on my first year of seminary

My first DCOM meeting

For all of you who aren't Methodist DCOM stands for District Committee of (on?) Ordained Ministry. They are the first group of people who will decided rather or not I can be ordained. So I met with them for the first time yesterday. It was just a getting to know you meeting, so I wasn't to nervous. They asked me my call story, which I managed to leave out a chunk of ( so I guess i was a little more nervous then I thought). Then they asked the typical where did you go to undergrad?, what did you major in?, etc. The last question was what do you want us to know about you? this stumped me a little and then I came up with this: That my calling really is figure out some way to help my generation create a relationship with God then hopefully with the church. I talked about loss of the feeling of community etc.

I was feeling OK about how it went. I didn't think it was spectacular or anything. Then the chair of the committee came into to my pastor's office (the meeting was held at the church I attend) to fill out some paper work and I was sitting there and she paid me a really nice complement which totally caught me off guard. However, it made me realize that I really can do this. I have been feeling pretty good lately about the whole going into ministry thing anyway, but for the first time I really understood that this really is in me. I had a conversation with one of my friends about it and I related it this way. It's like at a job interview you go out of your way to impressive to the point were you almost try so hard to be yourself that you aren't. I didn't feel that way. I really felt like just being me was enough. Gosh, I really hope that I am not sounding cocky here. The reason why I am sharing is because I have never really had this feeling before. I've always felt like my successes were someone else's. While now I have this understanding of being fully capable of fulfilling my call I know that I will always always always be indebted to and in of the people in my support system [especially my mentor cause she rocks! ;-) ] and that they are part of the reason that I am capable. Thanks y'all

Friday five

reverendmother says:
As many of you know, I have been experimenting with some severely curtailed Internet usage. I realized that I had gotten into some bad habits, which got me thinking about habits in general. I understand that a habits/random facts meme has already been going around. In the hopes that it hasn't hit too many of us yet, be as lighthearted or as serious as you'd like with the following:

1. Have you ever successfully quit a bad habit, or gotten a good habit established? Tell us about how you did it. I used to be a nail biter as a kid and I think I just grew out of it

2. "If only there were a 12-step program for _________________!" Buying music on itunes and procrastination

3. Share one of your healthy "obsessions" with us. The hallmark store, everyone loves getting snail mail!

4. Share the habit of a spouse, friend or loved one that drives you C-R-A-Z-Y. I have one friend who doesn't say good bye when she hangs up the phone.

5. "I'd love to get into the habit of ___________________." Running

Bonus: What is one small action you might take immediately to make #5 a reality? put on my sneakers and go do it

Bonus 2: Try it, and let us know how it goes in a future post!

It's official...

So I am officially going to start my first appointment as of July 1! Last week just as I was finishing up finals, i had my intake interview. I was way less nervous then I had anticipated being. I am really pumped for this. They (Staff parish relations committee) seemed really excited to have me and enthusiastic about bringing in some new energy. Of course saying it and actually being excited when I do something new are two different things, but I am going to remain hopeful. My plan is to kind of just let things settle the first few months I am there. The reason I say the first few months is because I only have to preach three times over the summer because they combine their worship with two other churches over the summer. So I'm open to prayers and advice....

Friday five

Friday, May 18, 2007

Friday Five: Big Event Edition

Did you know that the major purpose for forming a non-profit, RevGalBlogPals, Inc., was to be able to attract grant support for a large scale RevGalBlogPal meetup? My dream from the beginning has been attracting financial support that would allow as many of our bloggers to be together as possible.

RGBP, Inc. now has a planning committee, and we are in the early stages of planning the RevGalBlogPal Big Event. What, When, Where and Who are all on the table at the moment. In that spirit, I bring you the Big Event Friday Five.

1. What would the meeting be like? (Continuing Ed? Retreat? Outside Speakers? Interest Groups? Workshops? Hot Stone Massages? Pedicures? Glorified Slumber Party?)

2. When in 2008 might you be able to attend? January? Shortly after Easter? Summer? Fall? Some other time?

3. Where would your dream meeting location be? (Urban Hotel? Rural Retreat Center? New England Camp? Southwestern Fantasy Hotel? Far away from civilization? Nearby Outlets or Really Great Thrift Stores?)

4. Who would make a great keynote speaker? (That's if #1 leads us in that direction.)

5. Did I leave out something you want to suggest?

Dream big for the Big Event!!!

This is a tough one because there is so many possibilities

1. I think I would like to see half workshops half retreat so maybe 2 days of workshops 2 days of retreat

2. I'm a student so summer works best for me.

3. Well the question said Dream so I would say a tropical island, but more realistically i love be at Resort anywhere in the country. I think resort would provide workshop space and retreat space.

4. I think a female in leadership role with in the Church ie a Bishop would be great. I would love to hear Judith Craig

5. I think it would be great to have a panel discussion of women who are at different stages in their ministry.