Wondering Presbyterian

              I’m watching a learning module series on volunteering (part of The Small Church Academy…oh my gosh, if you haven’t heard of it GO LOOK IT UP. It’s amazing.). Volunteering is such a huge part of church life. I confess as a pastor, I often have to remind myself that my expectations of volunteers need to be based on the volunteers expectations and not my own. By that, I mean I can give extra time to church because the church literally gives me a pay check. I do volunteer extra time outside of my work schedule, but this is my livelihood. For others, giving time and talent to the church is in addition to a full time job as an employee or a parent/spouse, or both.             In other words, church is not the only place people give their time and talent, and as church leaders we must do better celebrating the folks who do give their time and talents to church.             I’ve also had to rethink how I think of “church” when we think about how people give time and talents

            Today I’m wondering about a balance between two mindsets: “If we build it, they will come” and “if they come, we will build it.” In the first mindset, people build their ultimate field of dreams. In a church, this means putting together a program or hiring a staff person to put together a ministry. It looks like trusting the budget to hold and trusting that whatever you create, it will draw people to it. In the second mindset, people wait until there are definitely people who even want that kind of program. Once you know there are people interested, you can start building something around them. In the second mindset, building something without vested interest opens a church up to wasting time, talents, and treasures – all three important commodities in ministry.             There’s nothing inherently wrong (or right for that matter) with either mindset. Having been in ministry for more than ten years and involved in the life of a church for more than 30 years, I see the

                It has been an overwhelming couple of months. Between a death in the family, work-related stuff, and some other things going on personally…suffice to say, the blog has not been a priority. Now I’m trying to get back into some good writing habits and here we are! Welcome back!             My family has been going my grandparent’s house following my grandmother’s passing. It’s an overwhelming task. As we go through things I’m stuck over and over again by the stories. Where did this doll come from? What’s the story behind these pins? Where did she get this necklace from? How can there POSSIBLY be another box of pictures?!?! We’re retelling some old family favorites and learning new stories. We learned my grandmother was a sucker for pearls. We also found poetry written by my great-great-grandfather to my great-great-grandmother, which is super sweet. It’s nice to know my love of words comes from both sides of the family!             The sorting process has me thinking abou

Sometimes, I think we just want to be seen. So, I don't have a lot to say in my blog this week (and honestly, my creative energy is much lower in the winter so I haven't had much to say these past couple of weeks). But I want to share these affirmations with you based on what I know my heart and spirit need to hear. Maybe they will wrap you up in the verbal hug, too. You're amazing. Even when you don't feel amazing, you're amazing. Fearfully and wonderfully, God made you amazing. When you don't do amazing things, God still loves you. When you don't feel amazing about yourself or the world around you, God still loves you.  When people around you don't do amazing things, God still loves them, too. That's the thing about God. God doesn't show partiality. God loves unconditionally which is annoying (because it means we have to love as unconditionally as possible, too).  When someone does something amazing, you can rejoice with them. Someone else'

              I’ve been reflecting on a certain word: need. It’s not my “star word” for the year (see previous blog entry), but it’s a word that keeps coming up this week. As in, lots of people need help. And, more is needed if we’re going to break down systems that keep people impoverished or disenfranchised. And, what does this person really need when they’re asking me for help? I’m thinking about a question that I plan to ask as many people this year as possible: “What do you need from your church?”             And, a bigger question that is just weighing on my heart this week: am I helping to actually meet a need or am I enabling someone? That’s a hard question, because on the one hand people do need help and what is the church except to be the body of Christ who loves her neighbor as we love ourselves? When the disciples told Jesus people were hungry, Jesus said, “ You feed them” (Matthew 14:16). The early church in Acts had a community fund so that no one was ever in need. Ja