Taylor Burton-Edwards reminded me a few weeks ago that there needs to be a distinction made by the Call to Action and all of the proposals that have been issued forth. It think that it is helpful to see the CtA as a sort of vision that has been cast but that does not necessarily include specific proposals.…
The Body of Christ
we are the church
GC03: Restructuring and the Four Areas of Focus
Over the past few months, conversations, posts, articles, videos, etc. have been flying around about the Call to Action and the Interim Operational Team proposals for restructuring. As a reserve delegate for General Conference, I probably won’t be someone voting on this, but I’m still going to be there. I am meeting with my delegation…
GC02: Fruits vs. Roots… or the Call to Action vs. IS3
An interesting counterpoint to all of my general conference focused discussions on the Call to Action has been my involvement on the local level with the Iowa Safe and Supportive Schools (IS3) grant. One afternoon as I was pouring over survey data and statistics and numbers and practices for the IS3 grant, I asked myself…
GC01: Call to Action Study – Part 2
As I mentioned in Part 1 of this post, I am going through the Call to Action Study put out by the Council of Bishops with my congregation. In our first session we covered sections 1-3 and in the second session we examined 4-6. The call to grow more vital congregations. My folks noticed that the…
Feasting, not fasting…
Mark’s gospel is known for its haste. Jesus is here and then there and everything is so urgent and busy. We spent four weeks in Epiphany just in chapter one because everything happens in such a short span of time. Life is all crammed in and there is no time for details. That could also…
Excuse me, Pastor…
I make mistakes… Often. The latest incarnation of mistakes came this past Sunday. I have a lot of big ideas, but I am not always good at figuring out the details… how things will ebb and flow. And so, I set in motion a plan to help my congregation discern their spiritual gifts during worship.…
Breaking down walls through humility
In the midwest, and especially in rural, german, blue-collar Iowa, pride is a big thing. We refuse to talk about our problems. We are quick to help others, but hesitate to accept help from others. We serve those who are less fortunate, and are not willing to speak of our own brokenness. And that is a problem.
GC01: Call to Action Study – Part 1
I know that the declining numbers are not the problem in themselves, but merely symptoms of larger “spiritual and systemic issues.” But I wish that this study guide and in fact, the Call to Action in general, would talk more about those larger spirtual and systemic issues and less about the numbers.