The Vestry Hand-Off
by Richelle Thompson on May 23, 2013
Incorporating new people into leadership in a methodical, regular way is important, and most of our churches elect new vestry members each year.
The problem, I’m discovering, is that most congregations don’t have a methodical, regular way to pass along information about the decisions of the vestry over the past few years.
Let me explain: We know training for new vestry members is helpful. And The Vestry Resource Guide developed by the estimable Episcopal Church Foundation is a fantastic start. It is a fantastic resource about what it means to serve on the vestry, the roles and expectations of leadership, and how to navigate transitions and conflict. But it doesn’t (and can’t) explain a particular vestry’s decision about replacing the roof or adding a part-time administrator or ending involvement in a particular program. That’s because this information is specific to each congregation and vestry. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less important.
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Leadership, Vestry
Prayer Fatigue and the Search for Hope
by Tim Schenck on May 23, 2013
Some weeks it’s tough to keep up spiritually and emotionally with all that swirls around us. In the last couple of days we’ve seen images of devastation coming out of Oklahoma. We continue to be pummeled with disheartening world news and violence in our communities, even as many of us are still trying to process the Boston Marathon bombings, the explosion at a fertilizer factory in West, Texas, and the collapse of a clothing factory in Bangladesh.
As people of faith, our first response is prayer. Upon hearing about the latest tragedy or disaster we get down on our knees and pray. Or at least close our eyes for a moment at the next stoplight or post a prayer on Facebook. Sometimes we pray because we know it’s what we’re “supposed” to do; sometimes we pray because we can’t thing of anything else to do; sometimes we pray because it’s part of our ongoing and life-long conversation with God; and sometimes we pray because we know it matters.
Yet it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed to the point of “prayer fatigue.” We’re bombarded on all sides by tragic news, horrific images, and interviews with the bereaved, all of which contribute to an overall feeling of helplessness. As many of us are discovering, there’s only so much capacity the human brain has to respond to grief, sadness, and traumatic events. We could become hermits and spend all our days in prayer and, still, it wouldn’t be enough. We’d just be scratching the surface of the world’s needs. As we seemingly face crisis after crisis it’s easy to feel that prayer doesn’t matter or that it doesn’t change anything.
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Pastoral Care, Prayer & Reflection
Where is God?
by Richelle Thompson on May 21, 2013
Some places are supposed to be safe.
It’s no surprise when we’re battered at the office, late hours, hard work, difficult colleagues. It’s not unexpected when we encounter frustration at the car repair shop or long lines in the grocery store express lane.
But some places are supposed to be safe.
The images from Oklahoma are wrenching, but none more than the pictures that show what isn’t there. Two elementary schools are obliterated, reduced to smoldering piles of splintered wood and broken concrete.
When you send a 7-year-old to school, you’re not supposed to have to worry if she will make it home alive. It doesn’t seem right to read that students still clutching math books huddled in hallways, clinging to life.
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Prayer & Reflection
Communicating Inside and Outside
by Jeremiah Sierra on May 20, 2013
I was in Washington DC this weekend visiting a friend who is a chaplain at a psychiatric hospital. It was Pentecost, and he preached about being understood and understanding each other, as the disciples were able to with the help of the Holy Spirit. This was especially poignant in a place where many of the congregants are severely mentally ill and where the chaplains must speak and listen carefully and with tremendous compassion.
Speaking with compassion means thinking not only about what you mean to say, but about how others might hear you.
It’s easy to get caught up in our own talking points and jargon (and even quoting scripture), especially for those of us who work and volunteer in the church. These can be useful, of course, for talking with our friends inside our church community. But Pentecost reminds us that we are called to get out of the upper room and speak to those outside our doors. We must be careful to move beyond the language of our community and speak to those who may never have read the Bible, who might not know, much less care, whether we are a missional church or what our atonement theology is.
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Communications, Evangelism
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