Two Years Ago

Two years ago this week, I decided that it might be interesting to do a blog about those things that I encounter day by day. In some ways, it has become a spiritual journal and certainly an exercise of contemplation and communication. Knowing that this is being read by others has meant that some things have been left unsaid. Other times, I have chosen to risk letting the reader know that my thoughts are not always Myrtle Beach mainstream. But, most importantly it has forced me to reflect on a number of topics and to seek enlightenment about many of them. With each blog post, I am able to give my daily experiences a second look and in some way or another wonder if or how they are part of my faith journey.

I have discovered that writing also involves listening to what is going on around me and that by doing so I am drawn closer to God, neighbor and self. (Mark 12:29-34). Knowing that my life is defined by what I pay attention to on my journey, I realize that I am growing in my faith. This deeper awareness has allowed me to find grace and direction as I look for the signs along the way.

Of course, I am grateful to those who have participated in this experiment by reading and responding to my blog. Thank you for your insight and thoughts. Even though I have 401 posts, I think there will be new thoughts to be shared in the days to come.

VBS Time

The VBS volunteers met tonight to prepare for this special summer happening at First Church. What a wonderful creative, dedicated group! Alex and Janna's organizational skills are making this all come together with purpose and order. Although I am quite pleased with our VBS, I often wonder if something is missing. I think that Diane Butler Bass's blog titled "The Sock Puppet Church" might have given me a hint. Maybe we should re-think the VBS in a can approach that we have all bought into during the last decade or so. Seems like this is a topic that we should include in our evaluation. In the meantime, our folks are sharing their talents and lots of time in preparation for Cokesbury's "Lift Off" I look forward to a great week!

Bottled Water

Issues that challenge our society often create personal conflict in interesting ways. The case in point for me involves drinking water. In recent years I have put aside my Diet Cokes in favor of water. For good health I have also tried to increase my water intake and this means that I buy lots of water in plastic bottles. ( I just can’t enjoy water from a drinking fountain as I am convinced too many germs live there.) However, Ron and our son, Robert, understand the environmental issues that surround this popular habit and join a growing movement to curb this practice. I am slowly beginning to realize that I need to change my ways. I will now try to recycle my bottles with tap water. I think a good Thermos bottle may be in my future.

Check out Ron and Robert’s blog posts.

Internet and the Church

I am fascinated with the possibilities of the Internet, especially as it relates to the church. Many persons use Web pages, blogs and podcasts as primary sources of information and often without discernment of credibility. I know because we hear them quoted in Bible studies and Sunday school classes. Therefore, a recent United Methodist News Service commentary by Matt Carlisle caught my eye when I read:

Today, the Internet is impacting religion as Johannes Gutenberg did with his invention of movable type printing and the publication of the Gutenberg Bible in the 15th century.

There are more than 211 million Internet users in the United States, or 69.9 percent of the population. (InternetWorldStats.com, March 07)

This and other statistics that Carlisle includes in his commentary seem to uphold my argument that we need to pay more attention to our church Website and use e-mail, text messaging etc. for more effective communication. The time has come to get serious about this.

The ABC Prayer

Sometimes the well is dry when I go to prayer and that is when I revert to the ABC prayer. I think I first learned to do this as a teenager at church camp. It is amazing how the thoughts and words begin to flow when triggered by focusing on the use of the alphabet. The gift of this happens when it is not used frequently lest one uses the same words. I will admit that “x” is something like (e)xtra and “z” is zeal or zealous.

Awesome God, be with me and call me this day to faithful living. Even when I know you, I confess that I have fears of that which is before me. God, have mercy upon me. I pray that I may be an instrument of justice and peace and may be known as your servant. Lead me and let nothing distract me from opening my mind to you. Prepare me and quicken my heart to faithful living. Help me to reach out to those who are seeking you. Thank you (u) for the many blessings in my life. Let me share your vast love with patience and wisdom. With (e)xcitement let me care for your creation and live into today with zeal. Amen.

A Pious Nation?

Tom Krattenmaker says in a recent USA Today editorial -

"Though the United States is considered a deeply religious country, a glance at America today reveals a society divided by wealth and poverty, tainted by violence and often oblivious to the common good. A country of believers? Perhaps. But saying is one thing, doing quite another. "

I find a lot of truth within this editorial, but encourage others to read and reflect on it.

The Green Grass of Summer

What a joy to see William and Ethan enjoy rolling in the green grass! It certainly brings back a lot of wonderful memories of my childhood. My soul is lifted and I discover that as in most of us there is still some childhood left.

Home Run!

Ron and I went to see our church softball team play the other night. Sorry to report that there were few other fans there to see them win their game. However, as always the Booths were there to cheer for the team. It was great seeing the guys having fun and I especially enjoyed that our team was intergenerational. It obviously brings together some folks that would probably never know one another otherwise. Our Duke intern, Nathan, is also playing with our team. What a great way for him to connect with these folks! A big thank you to Jim Magann for organizing this activity each year.

The Middle Doors

According to Robert Schnase, Bishop of the Missouri Conference of The United Methodist Church, names five fundamental practices critical to congregations that fulfill their mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. In his book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, he entitles them as radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk-taking mission and service, and extravagant generosity. Each one of these generates thought and reflection. However, it is his comments about “The Middle Doors” that especially interest me.

“The pastor and staff soon realized that “the front door” was working well as people felt invited and welcomed. But they were slipping out “the back door” because they were discovering too many of “the middle doors” were closed tight.” p. 66-67

Schnase goes on to say that after being warmly welcomed, new members found the classes, organizations, choirs, studies and groups within the church to be cliquish and uninterested in welcoming new members. They didn’t feel needed. New members need to find meaningful connections in small groups beyond the worship experience.

Are our church’s “middle doors” open?

Nature Deficit Disorder

This morning I opened my e-mail to find this message from my sister. With her permission, I share it.

This morning I began a new book. I have been looking forward to reading Barbara Kingsolver's new book Animal, Vegetable and Miracle since first knowing of its existence. So this morning I treated myself to opening the front cover and commencing to read. Though I have only read a very small portion, I recommend this to you. While at Janet's the other evening I voiced a thought concerning how we could try to connect our children to the earth through a summer gardening project (possibly as a different way to teach love of earth and creation). Barbara's latest book confirms this as something we should be doing. Everywhere I turn I am reminded that this is a focus we are missing. I read my brother-in-law's "Earth Focus", I hear my nephew's thoughts concerning grazing on the family farm, I have seen the pictures of young children working a community garden, I see the gas prices skyrocketing, I see the bulldozers indiscriminately reshaping the land, I see fertile farmland being subdivided or covered with black top, etc. What I don't see is the church taking a very proactive stance to protect and guard God's beautiful earth and teaching our children stewardship of God's earth Recently I have really been hit over the head and am feeling nudged and/or clobbered with this as a focus for some exciting teaching opportunities. I am not sure of the the hows and the wheres etc. but I am sure this is something we should be pursuing. The night the children came to my home for our end of the year party, I was delighted to see their utter enjoyment of having an open green space in which to run and frolic. I fear their experiences with the joys of nature are too few. Enough preaching. Please ponder. Mary

I also recommend Last Child in the Woods-Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. This is in our church library.

Garrison Keillor

My resident environmentalist shares a lot of interesting information and conventional wisdom with me. Today's offering comes from Garrison Keillor.

"You look at the Amish and you see the past, but you might also be looking at the future. Our great-grandchildren, faced with facts their ancestors were able to ignore, might have to do without the internal-combustion engine and figure out how to live the subsistence life. Maybe someone will invent a car that runs on hydrogen or horse manure, or maybe people will travel on beams of light like in old radio serials, but the realist in you thinks otherwise."

The Last Day

Annual Conference concluded yesterday in a flurry of activity. Election of delegates to General and Jurisdictional Conferences consumed much of our time. Ken will be going to the Jurisdictional Conference in 2008 at Lake Junaluska. [In the United States, the UMC is divided into five areas or jurisdictions: - Northeastern, Southeastern, North Central, South Central and Western. These provide some program and leadership training events for constituent Conferences. Every four years the jurisdictional conferences meet to elect new bishops and select members of general boards and agencies.]

The budget for 2008 totaling $16,995,194 was adopted. This is a 2.8% increase over the previous year. This includes our World Service apportionment and other designated funds. Conference reports including the one from The Council on Finance and Administration are on-line.

As always, the fixing of appointments is the last act of Annual Conference and this is done in the context of worship. Ken, Scarlett and I will be at First UMC for the coming year. The Bishop’s sermon text was John 13 (foot washing passage). She very effectively reminded us of our call to servanthood in this sending forth service. In fact, I have ordered a tape of this sermon and will be glad to share it.

The 2008 South Carolina Annual Conference will meet in Florence on June 1-4.

Resolutions and Other Matters

As often happens at Annual Conference, a simple matter becomes cumbersome and time consuming. As I had predicted, there were questions and concerns about The Methodist Oaks now being marketed as The Oaks, a United Methodist Community. The Executive Director and Trustee Chair made a compelling case for the change. In reality this is a decision that the Annual Conference can only question, but cannot reverse. Once again we forgot the role of our Board of Trustees of our various institutions.

A resolution to require churches to have Safe Sanctuary Policies was passed after listening to those who don’t fully grasp the necessity for this. It is hard for me to understand that anyone would question the need for this in their churches.

The resolution about asking our State Legislature to remove the Confederate Flag from the State House grounds generated passionate debate, but did pass. I am glad that a resolution to support the UMC Global Aids Fund passed without debate.

It is interesting to note that there were no resolutions about environmental matters. Our Environmental Stewardship Committee at First UMC needs to consider submitting one or more resolutions another year to increase awareness and action in our churches concerning these issues.

Worship, Bible study, election of General Conference delegates and other agenda items were also part of our day. Being a lay or clergy member of Annual Conference requires lots of patience and the ability to endure fanny fatigue. One more day….

A Great Day of Service

Wearing yellow t-shirts, United Methodists were a visible presence across the City of Florence today (Tuesday). This afternoon members of the Annual Conference could be found participating in a variety of service projects. From yard clean-up and home repair to visitation and letter writing, we became the hands and feet of the Gospel. I was part of a group that visited an adult day care center and am glad that we spent this time reaching out to others. May we do this each day wherever are.

As usual, Annual Conference is a special time for being with those who have been important parts of our lives through the years. I have especially enjoyed seeing friends from Columbia and Lexington and to hear what is happening in their congregations and personal lives. It is a joy to see some of the new members finding their identity within our conference and beginning to shape who we are.

I was pleased that Russell Davis was recognized for his ten years of ministry with our camps and retreats. He has assumed a camping ministry position in North Georgia. I will miss working with him. As a strong advocate of Asbury Hills, I hope that the Conference heard his gentle words about the opportunity we have been given to touch lives with Jesus through our camping ministries and beautiful properties. We need to take care of these gifts.

Annual Conferenc 2007

With the theme- “To Serve the Present Age”- the 2007 South Carolina Annual Conference is meeting in Florence this week. Bishop Taylor continues to lead us into new and different ways of doing things beginning with the site of this event. We are at the Florence Civic Center instead of Wofford or Claflin campus. All seems to be going well with this location to this point. Of course, some of us love the idea that it is only an hour and a half from home.

Another break with tradition was that the ordination service was on Sunday evening. This includes the licensing of local pastors, commissioning of probationary elders and deacons, and the ordinations of full elders and full deacons. I was especially pleased to see my friend, George, licensed as a local pastor. He will serve Poplar UMC. It is hard to believe that I was ordained a deacon ten years ago.

Today we began electing delegates to 2008 General Conference. The lay members have already elected their first delegate, Carolyn Briscoe. As this process unfolds, it is interesting to see which names come to the forefront. Right now most leaders among the clergy are middle-aged white male elders. I hope we represent ourselves in a more inclusive way.

It is almost impossible to reflect on tonight’s worship with an open mind as First UMC was responsible for it. Ken preached a dynamic sermon and Tim assembled an amazing choir from the area and led them in music that celebrated the 300th anniversary of Charles Wesley’s birth. Both Scarlett and I were liturgists. We believe that we offered a meaningful worship experience and it certainly warmed our hearts. It will be an important part of our personal memories for a long time. Thank you, Bishop, for inviting us.

Rain, Rain!

As Longfellow wrote, “Into each life some rain must fall.” Today, I understand this reality. The earth is parched and the plants are suffering. The dark skies (and the Weather Channel) predict relief. Although I could use this as a metaphor upon which to reflect, sometimes what is literal is more important. Let the rains fall.

This connection and concern for the earth probably had its beginning in seeing my father, a farmer, watch the skies for much needed rain. In recent years, the writings of Wendell Berry have kept me sensitive to stewardship of the Earth and all of God’s creation. Currently, I am reading his book of essays, What Are People For? I think Berry is a prophetic voice and his works need to be read by more people. This rainy day would be a good time to start.

God's Signs

I recently read a blog about church signs that seems like a good thing to share on Friday. The slide show with commentary is worth viewing. They truly are signs of the time and could be a good catalyst for some interesting discussion.