Whoot!!!!

It's official! I have been reinstated as an EMT by the State Department of Health!

Bring it on!

Let's Get This Party Started

Tonight, Church Around the Corner's S/PPRC meets for the second time. Last month's meeting was a listening post of sorts. They talked, I listened. And if you remember from my previous post, they had a lot to say.

Tonight, I'm going to lead a Bible Study about the C/church's purpose. They are so wanting to do "ministry," but it's a shot-gun (with an open choke) approach. Just aim and fire. The pattern is way, way wide and all spread out. You can't do ministry that way ... the louder voices get heard whether or not the issues/"recommendations" they speak are truly what needs to be done.

The PPR Chair invited folks to "suggest" ways the church can be in ministry. Of course, the main concern is increasing church membership and attendance, i.e. "survival." I'm trying to tell them that if the church is healthy, then growth is inevitable. "Church Growth" should not be the main focus of ministry.

Their last Mission Statement (done about 20 years ago) is a convoluted, rambling, wordy, run-on sentence. Tonight, we're going to get started on a new one. But first, we need to take a look and listen as Jesus spells out what he expects from his disciples.

The UMC's Mission Statement is "Making disciple of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."


Our Conference's Statement is "to provide leadership, connection, and resources to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."

Our Conference's Vision is "to ignite and sustain a passionate, spiritual connection with Christ among all people in [our Conference's area]."

Our Core Value Statement: "Our core value is love: We love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. This value is commanded by Jesus, inspired by our Wesleyan heritage including to spread scriptural holiness over the land and witnessed through our integrity, accountability and inclusiveness."

Lofty words to be sure. I'm not looking for anything this profound, but tonight we will attempt to contemplate, understand and verbalize what Jesus expects us to do as CATC. It's a first step. Then we can plan ministry around what Jesus expects us to do.

Mission Statement making is not an immediate proposition. It takes time, discernment and a lot of prayer. I'm starting a "Pastor's Partners in Prayer," made up of committed prayer warriors, to cover this process in prayer. I've gotten four folks so far to commit to pray daily for the church, me and the church's leaders.

I'm really excited about empowering this church!

Serenity

God is good. Life is good.

That's all I need to say!

Fair Time and New Skills

It's County Fair time and Church Around the Corner has a booth with just about every other non-profit in our county. CATC is a little different, however. They're not out to make money - they're out to provide a presence.

With soda going for $3.00 a bottle elsewhere, CATC's booth sells a 20 ouncer for $1.00. Same with water. Popcorn is a quater a bag; 50 cents a box. They also sell double scoop sno-cones for $1.00. But, IMHO, the very best is the Cotton Candy!

I have a new marketable skill to add to my resume: Cotton Candy Spinner. $2.00 for a HUGE bag or $1.50 for a GINORMOUS plonk on a stick! See the picture above? Triple that. No kidding.

I'm really tired tonight. We had a steady business today and I worked seven hours on my feet.

It was pretty neat, too - I saw former parishioners from my appointment before the CIUS. Lots of hugs and catching up!

Church Family

Have I mentioned just how wonderful my new church family is?

The Oldest Attending Member took a header this morning before worship, making a face plant into the hallway carpet. He's lost a lot of weight lately and the combination of ill-fitting clothes and weakness caused his accident. He ended up with a very large wound on the side of his head where his fragile skin tore. The Lay Leader came and got me, alerted the church and we all got to work.

His many friends took turns holding his hands, praying over him, speaking encouraging words of love and support. Others prayed in the Narthex; one called Small Town Ambulance Service and others brought me the first aid box so I could practice my rusty EMT skills.

Ashley, who is a 21-year-old mentally challenged young woman, asked me what had happened to her "friend."

"He has a big ouchie on his head, Ash," I told her.

Ash knelt down and tenderly kissed her friend on his head. "There! That should make you feel better!" she said. Mr. Oldest Attender kissed her hand and thanked her for the gift.

That's OK!" Ashley said. "I love you!"

My heart swelled up and I choked back tears.

After the ambulance crew got Mr. OA assessed and loaded up, his church family lined their way with shouts of love and good wishes.

When it had turned the corner and couldn't be seen any more, we all made our way into the sanctuary for worship. I think God was beaming.

A Little Less Anxious

Thank you all for your support and comments! I am feeling some better this week. The CRNP at the Family Practice said to take my vitamin and calcium at least four hours after I take my thyroid medicine and see if that helps. Thanks Anonymous - I didn't think of that.

These folks are just wonderful. Of course, they have their times and their issues; but overall, they are compassionate, caring, FUN-LOVING folks. Compared to the last four years, this is heaven.

Onward and upward!

Problems with Sitemeter

For all you all who can't access blogs because you get an error message saying that Internet Explorer cannot open the page: Delete your Sitemeter! There is a major issue with it!