Ken's Sabbatical  2007

 This account is intended primarily to help me stay focused! But I hope it also gives you some idea about what a sabbatical really means and how it will benefit St. Christopher’s as well as me!

To read this from the beginning, go to the bottom of the page. The newest entries are on the top. (For those not used to jumping around a web page:  Control-End will take you to the bottom.   Then on most computers, Control-F will bring up the search option.  Type in "June" - hit "previous".  Read that entry, then repeat the process to the next newer one.  After the June 19 entry, type in "July" to get the next ones.) Don’t be shocked if I change the format from time to time! My intention (not promise) is to update this every 3-4 days. )

<-- There's where it all happens !  (Not really.)  My office is in the upstairs of our outbuilding.    Hey!  It is a large step up for a folding table in the church basement !!    (grins !)

July 22, 2007  We are back!  Shirley and I were in Fort Worth, Texas for the conference I have been mentioning.  First, special thanks to the Diocese for providing about 1/3rd of the funding for it.   Funny thing was that when I booked on Travolocity I was sure I added a compact car rental.   But when we got there it was not on the form.  So I went to the counter hoping to talk my way into the Travolocity special rate --- to be told they could not do that but as a matter of fact I could have a Lincoln Continental or fully equipped van for a dollar a day more than the "special rate"!  Guess Travelocity has to make its money on something.

That was Shirley's first airplane ride!  She was like a little kid, enjoying the scenery, the bumps, everything!  I am NOT a good flyer so her enthusiasm was a bit much for me.   I think what she most liked was the acceleration --- have you driven with her?

The conference was even better than I hoped.  It is called New07 for National Evangelical Workshops.  WAIT !   Don't tune out yet!  I went the first (and last) time about 8 years ago when Bishop Curry was the keynoter.  I found some very practical ideas.  One of the speakers this year made my point:  eat it like fish -- take what is good and throw away the bones! 

Let me begin with some general impressions. ...... Unimportant but fascinating to an ex-city planner:  Fort Worth has LOTS of new buildings and some wonderful older buildings -- but NO people!  I was amazed at how few people were on the streets at 5:30 pm or even at noon.  Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and yes, even High Point on non-market weeks have more people walking the streets (welllll ... maybe not High Point).  I wish I had time to go talk with a city planner about this.

OK -- more important stuff --- the conference was immediately before the national conference of the Disciples of Christ so most the participants this year were "Disciples"  (The first time a speaker asked how many were "Disciples" both Shirley and I were a bit confused if they meant in a "follower of Christ" attitude.)   I learned  a lot more people are central, main line oriented than I thought!  Several speakers made disparaging remarks about the conservative verses liberal arguments.  One speaker talked about how the "Purpose Driven Life"  church, long known as extremely evangelical, was now one of the most social justice oriented churches in the USA.   Over and over again they made the focus on what really mattered.  Fascinating.

Regarding the details:   3 of the 4 keynoters were great.    Most of the workshops were extremely helpful.  I bought the DVD from the first keynote which I will send copies to our bishops.  I wish our clergy conference or convention could hear her.  Please know it is about "being church" and with the possible exception of one sentence, could have been delivered by most anyone without regard to denomination or "left-right" beliefs

Details (not in a particular order since I took notes on a couple different pads):  One speaker focused on learning approaches.  He had a couple good ideas including having "take home" material for after the service.  His example was that after a sermon on forgiveness to have something the people take home that encourages them to (don't remember exact specifics) on Monday to reflect on who they need to ask for forgiveness from or forgive, Tuesday and Wednesday pray about the situation, Thursday contact the person, etc.   His point was two fold:  first to have the sermon affect the way people live and not be forgotten before Sunday afternoon (ouch!) and second to use known teaching techniques to encourage that.  He also spoke about incorporating the children more into the service and suggested a "report back" --- have the kids say what their Sunday School lesson was about.  hmmmm ... that could work at our 5 pm especially if I could get the parents to allow the class to start at 4:50 pm.  Since several of the kids are there anyway --- hmmm. .... speaker also suggested giving a "feed back" -- "share your thoughts time" at the end of the sermon.  I have serious reservations about that from a liturgical flow point of view as well as a community functioning focus.  BUT --- finding a way to have serious feedback is important.   It helps the people feel connected and makes their attention span longer!   Think about the times a professor said:  "We will have a pop quiz at the end of this lecture" --- you paid attention!

Another speaker (forget who!  sorry) spoke about having a group of the church leaders do a periodic "prayer walk" around the facility.  At each place they would pray for (e.g.) Godly Play, the choir, the office staff, the sermon, etc. etc.  I will speak to Sarah about this and see if maybe this could be a good exercise for the youth especially.  The speaker also mentioned something we have not done in a while --- Vestry prayer partners.  She suggested having the prayer partners change each month -- something I had not considered.  It also made me think that we need to be more deliberate about praying for concerns raised during the check-in time.

Somewhere the wonderful suggestion was made to have the service booklets include what I call an "instructed Eucharist".  In other words, on one side is the service and on the other is an explanation of the whys and whats.  This would work at our 5 pm where we use the service booklets.  I imagine we would not need to double the number of pages since the explanation for (i.e.) the Nicene Creed need not take an entire page.  Using a different font and print color would help set this off.   What I like is that this avoids having the explanations interfere with the flow of the service.  This would provide more specifics than our "worship at St. Christopher's" booklet we hand new people.  (hmmm .... have I ever given a copy of that to the Vestry?  Need to do that)

Somewhere in one of the talks a comment made me reflect on some of the services we have attended over the last couple months.  I have never liked the "stand up and greet your neighbor" to begin the service.  But I do appreciate that it fills a need.  Some comment made me consider the fact that this need to speak to people around us is frequently filled during the "Peace" -- a liturgically and theologically in appropriate time.  Soooooo ... maybe ..... with a proper explanation of what the Peace should be about, we could introduce the "greet your neighbor" at the beginning of the service. hmmmm .... Again, could, maybe work at the 5 pm.

Several speakers made me think about how we (I) interact with newcomers.   If their stories were reasonably accurate --- we do pretty good!  But not perfect.  When a person is new is when they want to know about commitments, expectations, etc.  That is the best time to be up front about wanting them to deepen their relationship with God.  Of course, this must be done carefully since some people have never heard that language in church.  And it must be done honestly, sincerely, to help them on their spiritual journey and NOT simply to fill a volunteer opening!!

One speaker said that the USA society is not hostile to Christianity but neutral.  I think that one was the one who said that only about 20% of Americans are in church on an average Sunday.  (Interestingly, that Palm Sunday is when you see the largest group of members.)

"Positive Change happens when we are resting in God's love, our (church's) past is in good hands, and we are excited about the future"  (I think I got that quote correct but the sense is right.)  "Conversion is not from the strength of preaching but because they heard the gospel"  (now THAT's good news!)  The key is to help people know God's love --- the gospel, and God's calls to action.  They pointed out that Saddleback, one of the largest most evangelical churches in the world, has become one of the most social justice oriented because they have read the gospels so much.

Preaching ---- (I have heard this before and remain surprised how true it is!)  Do not assume anyone knows the Bible story.  The speaker used the example of being in a church when the preacher said something about Paul's conversion experience -- but no explanation.  This speaker started a couple conversations with people afterwards about "what did that mean?" and few people could explain the reference.  I have heard that we should preach to the newest newcomer and we will be surprised how many long time members are educated.  (Actually similar to the Alpha program experience.)  BUT -- this speaker emphasized, focus on God's love and reassurance and from there you can move on.

Several times the concept of preaching series came up.  A couple people said they did it with the lectionary.  The concept is that people are more likely to remember something that is repeated several times.  Advertising people say 6-7 times.  Learning studies find a similar number.  So one way to accomplish that is to preach a series with a consistent theme.  (our gifts from God from example)  I raised the question about people who had not attended (or listened!  Or remembered) the previous week.  They said that we do need to repeat the essence but that is the point --- to reinforce the learning.  They laughing suggested to watch soap operas and see how well you are caught up on previous story lines!

Kept suggesting that we build on the past. OK --- surprise!!!   One researcher (Unbinding the Gospel) studied many main line, Protestant churches which are growing.  The shock was how many of them were over 90 years old ! (The audience demographics were also interesting.  Only a couple people said they were under 30 and many appeared over 50.)    The theory has been that only new churches have a real opportunity to grow.   BUT, she stressed, the key was a desire to help build the kingdom of God.  Not "build it and they will come" but "give them something worthwhile and they will come"  She said a key was to expect results and keep celebrating any, tiny progress.  She told about (I forget the precise numbers) going from a Vacation Bible School of 4 up to 6 the next year and celebrating the 50% increase!

UNBINDING THE GOSPEL  fascinating that she began with my primary point:  How do we do evangelism (helping people get closer to God) when we do not focus on fear and hell?  When so many churches have a "come here or burn" approach it is no wonder people attend!  Her study found that the south and ethnic/racial churches do a bit better than other geographic areas or pure Caucasian churches.  She studied Lutherans, Disciples, UCC, Presbyterian, Methodists, Reformed.  One of her primary points was that good outreach (evangelism) was very context dependent.  It is not a "one program works".  Also, NOT theologically specific --- liberals and conservatives do grow.  Key is for the leadership to be in love with God ... a deep spiritual life they can talk about.  Not personality driven.  Most important is to encourage people to invite others.  (Leap to another book --- it says that the reason people do not invite their friends is that they are ashamed of the church.  They do not, unconsciously, believe their friends will have a good experience.  That just as we tell people about a movie we like or a restaurant, if the people truly believe there is something good at the church, they will invite their friends.  (the author, the Rev. Kevin Martin, can be a bit judgmental about Episcopal churches -- but he frequently says important things)   This speaker interestingly spoke directly to a couple points on our  Vision statement and without a cross reference, touched on this other book, to have events specifically intended to make invitations easy.   I use the "Christmas carols around the bonfire" example -- what can be hard bout inviting someone to that!  She used "theme Sundays" --- first responders, teachers, etc.  (or maybe Kevin Martin used that specific example)   Point is -- make it easy!   Also look to other activities, what I have been calling "side doors" when talking to the Vestry --- the concert in May, or a Habitat build.

Have to think about this quote and maybe the book explains it better but she repeated a couple times that the difference between OK and outstanding churches is that in OK churches there is lots of parallel play type activities. .... We give people stones when they want bread.   (watch for those in the book)

OUCH --- Vestry members may remember the book we studied which reported that something like 70% of unchurched persons had NEVER been invited to a church.  I also wondered about that but found her research backed it up.  She told the story about a person she spoke with who had a major, painful life crisis (divorce I think)   She spoke with friends but one Sunday decided to attend a church.  There she saw several of the people she had spoken with!!!  None had invited her to church.  The question was asked:  "How would you feel if you looked over and the neighbor you never invited came to church?  Do you think they might feel as if you don't care?"

(The book has been set up as a Lenten study series.)

Jim Harnish:  great plenary speaker.   Referred us to a book:  Christianity for the rest of us which looks at the non-fundamentalist churches. .... great quote:  Christianity does not need more salespeople but more free samples ... Kept stressing that most people were looking for something in the center of tradition but we are not offering it.  (That is, we are not letting them know it is available.)  He spoke for a while about how in scripture "heart" is the central control center --- mission control in our NASA world! ..... GREAT question:  how can we be part of what God is blessing?    NOT -- how can God bless what we are doing!! ..... I think Harnish hit this but a couple speakers did ----- the issue is not that God has six billion different, personal plans for individuals.  Rather, God has a plan for the kingdom of God and we have a part in that plan.  Wow!  very different approach.    Transforming leaders have a hopeful vision and are soaked in the Holy Spirit. .... Church not willing to die for the right things and yet, dying is all the church really can do.

July 16, 2007  We have managed to arrange the funding to attend the conference in Fort Worth.  I did spend a few hours on the internet to arrange a combined air plane tickets, hotel, and car rental.   I am really looking forward to all the workshops.

July 15, 2007  A very special time !  Shirley and I went and worshiped with the Rev. David George.  David was the Deacon at St. Christopher's, then joined the Charismatic Episcopal Church where he was ordained priest.   David's intensity and sincerity have not changed.  It was a wonderful worship experience for both Shirley and I.  His small congregation was extremely welcoming.   (It was great to see Sara too and Zack has grown up!!)

Speaking of "welcoming" when Shirley and I got home on Saturday we found a .... (drum roll)  loaf of bread from Covenant UMC.   They also left some information about the church.  BUT - they missed the boat ... they do not put it in a nice basket!!  The theory goes:  the bread will be eaten, the papers lost, but the woman of the house will always know where the basket came from.

This past week Shirley and I were on the New River Trail in Virginia bicycling about 15 miles each day.  Very pretty area!!  Very restful.  I found it difficult to get back into the flow -- and frankly did not do much!

I have been reading a series of short articles about the unchurched people in our society.  Some fascinating comments --- especially that most unchurched people would love to be invited to attend church, but seldom are.  That finding has been duplicated in many studies.  One person said it was nice that the neighbors waved as they drove to church but it would be nicer if they invited them to attend.

I have also been collected surveys from young adults.  I have asked them to tell me what three things they wish churches would talk about and three things they wish churches would avoid saying or doing.

July 9, 2007  Yesterday Shirley and I went to two very different church services.  The first was partially to see my granddaughter Caroline in Cary!  We went back to the 1st UMC in Cary to their 11:11 am contemporary service.  While acknowledging this was still a holiday weekend I think I got a good feel for what they do, and made a good contact with their minister as we discussed resources..

Their service is interesting because it is the option to the traditional 11:15 service.  Consequently there were a number of teenagers who attended to stay away from their parents' church service!  (I asked the minister about that and he smiled and said I was correct.)  The age distribution was much younger than other services.  They did have a large, portable, wooden cross on the stage which gave it a bit of a focal point but that was on the side.  The band was in the center again.   (Boy!  We sure have the best band around!!)  The music was similar to what we do.  They do use projections for virtually everything including film clips to illustrate the sermon.  I watched the congregation and they seemed to be very much interested in the visuals.  The minister did tell me they are having  some people wanting the visuals during the primary services and other people very upset at the idea of having a screen in the church!

Sunday at 5 pm we went to NewCreation Presbyterian Church near UNCG.   It has been a VERY long time since I was in such a diverse congregation!    Economically, racially, age, health, educationally --- whatever criteria you might consider, that was included!  I enjoyed it but the lack of AC was a real turn-off!

We had communion which I had very much missed.  I also realized that the last time I had heard the sermon read was at St. Christopher's just before I left!   The churches have been reading and preaching about the OT and Epistles but the gospels not mentioned.  I suspect that is just coincidence but it was interesting.

BUT -- the most important news is that my brother (actually his fiancé's daughter) just scored us tickets to a Peter, Paul and Mary concert at Wolf Trap!!  Third row!!

July 6, 2007  For those of you who know anything about website design or graphics in general you know I am breaking one of the central rules -- do not use too many lettering fonts.  But hey!  I seldom get a chance to play around like this!

I did add the picture (above) of my work space.  It actually is fairly nice if far from fancy.  I take my cell phone up so Shirley can call me.  Funny how often the battery dies.

July 3, 2007  I forgot to add on the last entry one interesting approach to inviting people to church.  Covenant UMC has been sending an ice cream truck around the neighborhoods with FREE ice cream and info about the church. 

July 1, 2007   It  has been a while since I have written but this is not lack of efforts!  Today Shirley and I went to another church, Covenant UMC on Skeet Club.  Not a great week to pick since this was the end of their VBS and the first week for their new minister!  But it gave us that rare opportunity to truly worship and pray -- while still observing some other things.

They are a church who have focused on "equipping the saints".   They have grown rapidly -- which is NOT the goal!   Growth should always be a side effect or benefit and NOT the goal.  The goal should always be serving God.  I hear three reasons for growing the church which are as wrong as they can be:  (1) ego - I know this  church is better than your church and I will show you by the numbers!, (2) money - we need to meet the budget and to do that need more people, (3) projects or work - I am tired of doing the work so we need new people to take over!   As I like to say:   "be honest now!"  Can't we all identify, at least a little, with those statements?

Of course the opposite, and in some ways worse thinking is "why we do NOT want the church to grow" .... After all, those people will not be like us.  Those people will want to do things differently.  (NB:  St. Christopher's has much less of that attitude than any church I know!  But again -- be honest now!  Don't we all want things to stay the same?)

How did I get off on that ?   Anyway, Covenant has three services with the middle, contemporary service having the largest attendance of young people although the 11 am is a larger service (based on one week's statistics so I could be wrong.)  Their middle service looked a lot like our 5 pm as far as people are concerned (age & gender) -- more people but a similar mix.  We have a much more racially diverse congregation but that is not a surprise.  Their music was similar although they had a larger band.

Fascinating thing I noticed --- at both the very traditional church in Cary and the less traditional service today, the music people largely hid, or distracted from the cross and altar.  The traditional, vested choir was behind the pulpit and altar which were dominated by the choir. (visually).   It could make a person wonder what is most important?  Ever notice that in Baptist churches the pulpit is in the center whereas in Episcopal (& Roman Catholic) churches the altar is in the center?  That is because the focus on the "word" more and we focus on the sacrament more.

They also had one very fascinating place.  They had a simple table with small candles as a prayer table.  I have always seen the lighting of prayer candles as primarily a Roman Catholic tradition -- nothing wrong with that.  But I realized that to many people without a Christian/religious/denominational background the prayer candle is not so limited.  In fact, it can also be seen as fairly "New Age."   hmmmm.

I have actually begun direct research for my book:  "What is on the (God's) final exam?"   Still not sure it will ever be written, much less published!   But the research is fun.  I have been going over the Gospel of Matthew and copying every instruction Jesus gives us.  (Computers make this a WHOLE lot easier!!).  My goal is to group those instructions into categories and see where that takes us.

Usually we think of the Sermon on the Mount as "blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" etc.  But if we look, the Sermon on the Mount goes on for 3 chapters.  It is the bulk of the Gospel of Matthew -- which means I have been copying most of the Gospel of Matthew!

I continue to read Growing Spiritual Redwoods" by William Easum and Tom Bandy.  Although this is an easy read technically, it is a pain for me because they are so anti the traditional church.  If "main line established" churches do it -- they think it is wrong!  OK, exaggeration but not much.  BUT, their reasoning frequently is good.  They talk a lot about being open to God's leading by looking at the gifts, talents and interests of the people.  And they are correct, that some churches get so fixated on their structure and bureaucracy that they cannot be flexible.  The Servanthood teaching includes a wonderful process where a person announces to the church that they believe God is calling the congregation to _____.   ("sounding the call")  A group is formed to PRAY about this -- not plan, not do, but pray.  After a while they ask "which gifts are necessary to make this possible?"  For example you always need the gift of vision, of administration, and of intercessory prayer.  But if you are doing a Habitat House you need the gifts of mechanical skills.  A feeding program needs the gifts of hospitality.  You may need the "gifts" of a truck.  You frequently need the gift of generousity.  Their point is that when it is truly God's time then all the gifts will be available.

June 19, 2007  Finished the Preaching what we Practice book.   It is a challenge!  They argue that the preacher's role is not simply to announce salvation but to help the congregation understand how to achieve the kingdom of God that was promised.  "Achieve" is too strong a word -- and mine, not theirs.  They used examples such as 9/11 up against the teaching of forgiveness.   I do like the fact that they continually insist it is not the preacher's role to TELL the congregation what to think.  The preacher should be leading and instructing about a process, which could lead to multiple conclusion:.  "discerning the crises and choices we confront in light of Christian faith requires a vision of the Christian life."   They stress, as  did Paul and do most Christian ethicists, that we are to be "in" but not "of" the culture.   Jesus called us out of the prevailing culture for our lives, but to remain within the prevailing culture to guide and lead others.  tough.

     I did especially like their short discussion on worship.  They talked about how in the Middle Ages, worship became something done "to" or "for" the congregation.  Liturgical (worship) reform changed the focus back to worship being something done "by" the congregation even if with a leader.  That is why all the prayers I say include the word "we".  I cannot think of a time the priest says "I".

     The article on "Cyber Enhanced Churches" had some good thoughts, and it stressed how far I am behind the times!  I may blog but I do not podcast! Quote:  "I'll be the first person to say that podcasting is a poor substitute for church.  But it's a great supplement!"  The authors stressed how "to be church" requires personal engagement with one another.   But cyber activities can encourage and enhance those engagements rather than distracting from them.  I was especially intrigued by ... and we have seen this at St. Christopher's ... the thought that many people begin as "lurkers" or "ghosts".  They look around but do not announce themselves by signing up or anything.  Only when they feel comfortable do they take the next steps.

    Shirley said we should explain that we decided to travel after all -- to Italy, and France, and Mexico ...... via Epcot in Orlando!  Shirley's cousin lives there and we drove down for a few days.  They shop and I work -- I am OK with that trade off!  Shirley does not spend much money and I hate shopping.  The bad news is Starbucks charging for WiFi and the library charges a lot!  So that has limited my possibilities.

    While at Epcot we took the "world" ride which talks about various efforts at Disney World to improve crop production.  Then we took the "behind the scenes" tour.  That was great fun!  The tour guide talk about "air ponics", "hydroponics", drip irrigation, and other efforts.   They had a tomato plant, encourage to grow in a trellis as a tree, which had produced THOUSANDS of tomatoes.  As we were leaving I asked the guide:  "Am I right that you are demonstrating how easily we could feed all the people of the world?"  He jumped on that!  He had lots of energy in his voice when he said it was a political and not a technical problem.  Which means, it is a problem Christians could influence and largely eliminate.

     I did discover that one of the on-line courses I wanted will not be available until August.  It is about offering a web based Bible - religion study.  I really hope that works out.  I still do not know the costs to the congregation.  My class costs $100. but I suspect they will charge each student.

June 15, 2007  Guess what?  I started two more books!  Oh well, that's Ken Kroohs.  One book has a chapter on the "cyber enhanced church".  Please understand -- we will never avoid or in any way tune out people who are not "cyber focused" -- but avoiding people who ARE cyber focused would be a huge mistake.  And not using the internet to reach them is like not using a printed bulletin to reach people who can read.   Not only young people, but seniors are becoming more and more connected.  This book, along with the other new one:  Growing Spiritual Redwoods gives the church a more more difficult challenge than we are used to.  They argue that the churches role is to help people grow closer to God (my phrasing, not theirs) and anything else is subservient if not contrary to the church's real purpose.  They use the very early church as examples and models.   These authors do have a bias -- as all authors do.  They believe the main line church, and especially the main line denominations will virtually disappear over the next few decades.  They argue that individual churches without large endowment funds will fade quickly and refuse to fund the denominations as the church fades.  In summary, as I understand their rational, they see the typical church in a manner similar to the buggy whip makers in about 1910.   They still were one of the largest manufacturers in the country, but their demise was obvious.  

      WITHOUT ACCEPTING their conclusion, it is easy to see the importance of their argument.  After all, even the Southern Baptists have shown some shrinkage recently.  (Actually --- and the "anti's" hate having this mentioned --- the Episcopal Church is doing  better than most "main line" Protestant denominations!  In my opinion, we are doing poorly as far as reaching out to people -- but other denominations are doing extremely poorly!)

     Their conclusions are many and the Vestry may see the opening chapter at a meeting this fall.  But they (as many economists) see the generational divisions increasing.  The WW II builder generation has very different interests from the post WW II boomer generation.  And those in their 20 and 30's have still different interests.  Young people have little brand loyalty (NASCAR fans are one exception).   They have little patience for slow moving bureaucracy.  Their most important value is their time.  They are concerned with spiritual growth (growing closer to God) but not very  concerned with inter-denominational or intra-denominational wars.   (NB:  Obviously all of this is generalizations -- but the broad trends hold fairly well.)

    QUESTION -- Why does the church exist?  Phrased better:   "What should the church be doing within God's plan?"  THAT's what it all comes down to.  I believe the church exists to help people grow closer to God.  The people in the church and the people not in the church.  If we set that as our overarching mission, that influences every thing we do.  Just as a good business might always ask:  "How does this action help our profit margin?", the church should ask:  "How does this action help people grow closer to God?" 

>    And just as a good business will frequently ask:  "What are we doing right now to help our profit margin?"  so a  church should be constantly asking:    "What are we doing right now to help people grow closer to God?" ..... Those will be uncomfortable questions for many people since the assumption has been (Growing Spiritual Redwoods hits this point hard) that the church's role is basically to exist so people can attend out of obligation. 

    LOTS to think about !   I did rough out two chapters of my book.  The first one I titled (will almost certainly change) "being a liberal literalist --- or is it a literal liberal?"  ---- A friend said that sounded like the perfect example of an oxymoron!  The other chapter is the introduction about why all this matters.  Why knowing "what is on the final exam" is important to us.

June 13, 2007 (Notice the photos added to the June 10^th entry.) I finished the Barna book, Think like Jesus (see June 5^th entry). The key to the book is probably this quote: “Your response to their (world’s influences such as boss, teachers, family, government, etc. etc.) influence shapes your life. How you choose to respond to God’s existence also directs the nature of your life. .... And make no mistake about it: You do respond to God’s existence, one way or another – conscious or unconscious – intended or unintended.”

   What surprised me was the end of his book about “distinctions within the body of believers.” He writes: “However, I remain convinced that no matter what angle you approach Scripture from, if your intention is to honestly understand and practice the truths and principles God has provided to His people so that we may lead holy and significant (interesting word choice - Ken) lives of love, obedience, and service, then the magnitude of the differences diminishes. The theological or doctrinal differences remain real, but their importance is minor in relation to the big picture God wants us to grasp and live within. I am convinced that what matters most to God is not your theological purity but your holiness: Did you make each choice with the genuine desire of pleasing God and doing His will?

   WOW ! What would happen in the Anglican Communion if that attitude was accepted ? On BOTH sides of each dispute

   Actually Barna’s quote ties into a Time Magazine article, I think dated June 18^th. This is the first article I have seen from any source that does a pretty good job of explaining the background for the disputes – not the theological background but the process and procedural issues. What it alludes to but never discusses, and what makes me REALLY angry, is the anti-American aspect. I suspect that is over 50% of the reasoning if the truth be known. After all, Canada and other Anglican provinces have gone further than the US. The Archbishop of Canterbury ordained an openly gay priest. He appointed (but then retracted the appointment of) an openly gay bishop! And yet, the Nigerians and others only talk about the U.S. If you want to claim you are representing God — OK, but God does not pick and choose sides. (Just think what my tone was BEFORE I got some rest!)

June 10, 2007 Shirley and I went to Cary for the baptism of Caroline Marie Smith, my granddaughter. It was a delightful, and somewhat unsettling experience. It was the first time in a long time I was in the pew! I enjoyed the experience. The minister was kind enough to allow Mary (grandmother) and I to participate in part of the service.

   Caroline may have been baptized in a Methodist church but clearly she is an Episcopalian. She slept through the entire sermon !!

If I want to hear preaching I can wait for grandpa to visit again

Anything important going on?   Finally? No!

 – opening her eyes a couple times to check that nothing important was happening – then going back to sleep. And, I was not the one preaching!

   I also had a few minutes to talk with the clergy and laity of a church which has five services with at least 3 distinct styles. They do struggle with the challenge of not being three churches in one building but  also have recognized the strengths that such variety brings to their congregation.

   I was especially impressed that they have a stated goal of 100% participation in at least one Bible study. And they seem to be approaching that goal.

   OK — honesty in journalism time — Shirley “informed me” she only bought TWO pairs of shoes and not 3.

   New side flower garden is almost done. Found out the young couple next door had a baby girl last week. (Funny what you discover when you spend some time at home.)

June 6, 2007 I promised myself that I would spend time working around the house — which I enjoy and for which Shirley has a LONG “honey do” list! I also would be even more focused on exercise. I have been trying to get to the gym 4 or 5 times a week even if a large part of that time is preparing the next sermon on the exercise bike! But exercise helps keep me mentally focused. This summer I hope to be even better at that. Saw Ed Gurley up at Gibson Park during one bike ride.

   Several people offered to help me around the house when we first purchased it but I never had time to do more than a few minutes at a time. Now I am just trying to do one project a day. And I try to be careful on how I define a “project”. Scraping one section of the house before painting is a “project” rather than scraping the entire house. (How are the renovations going? ... Oh yeah, not supposed to think about that!)

   One major project has been setting up an office in the upstairs of our outbuilding. That is nicer than it sounds ! The previous owners had run a business from that location so it has an AC unit, insulation, power and I found that the wireless internet reaches there. We put a desk up there and are looking for a couple chairs. I moved two book cases which will take about a third of my books! I have three or four large book cases filled at the church and several boxes of other books. The scary thing is that I donated at least 3 boxes of books! Even scarier is that this is only the professional stuff. I have other box cases for recreational reading.

    Today the challenge is to put up a closet rod so I can hang my vestments up. (House closets are all full!) (For some reason this poor male mind does not understand, Shirley needed to purchase 3 more pairs of shoes while we were in VA) I will also try to finish rebuilding on of the doors. I need to borrow some furniture clamps from a friend so may not get that done today.

    Also today will try to finish some gardening. I have planted a LOT of flowers on the front. But our neighbor has gone out of their way to make their driveway look good. That’s the side of our house no one but our neighbor usually sees so not much has been done with it before. I hope to construct a flower bed and plant a couple dozen flowers – but the high temperatures may slow that down!

June 5, 2007 For people who don’t know me, I usually have 2 or 3 or more books and journals being read at the same time. (Not literally !) Right now I have on the table: Original Blessing by a great author, Matthew Fox. As with most of Fox’s books this is a tad heavy - but readable. I did have to look up a few words! Fox’s premise is that western Christianity (I may try to discuss this with Bishop Michael from our Eastern Orthodox neighbors) ... western Christianity focuses too heavily on “original sin” whereas the Bible focuses on “original blessing” – i.e. creation and God’s love. He does not deny the existence of sin although he argues that our understanding of what happened at the Garden of Eden is very unlike the way it was/is understood by the Jews and other Christians.

    Think Like Jesus by George Barna. Barna is better known as the George Gallop of Christianity. Barna Research does many studies of beliefs and actions by Americans. He does need to be read carefully because his personal, fundamentalist beliefs greatly influence his writings. In his studies he does clarify those biases, but if a person only glances at the summaries they could easily miss the central points. For example, in this book he essentially defines away or ignores about 95% of all Americans. Still his thoughts and findings are interesting, as well as informative if understood with those limitations.

     In this book Barna is raising the extremely important question of what it would take to “think like Jesus”. More importantly, to act like Jesus. He contends, and I agree, that we all base our decisions on some underlying “world view” that we probably are not aware of. For example, in the classic movie line “greed is good” the character is expressing their world view. If money and power are what matter than all our actions are based around that. If family is at the top, we get a very different set of actions.

    Barna asks what it would mean to have God at the top of our world view.

            Portraits of the Divine Presence by our neighbor and my friend the Rev. Dr. Glenn Busch at St. Mary’s. Starting with a reflection on “Our unanswered prayers” Glenn gives us a great deal to consider, and enjoy. I look forward to the remaining essays but will not say much about them because I will “borrow” some of Glenn’s thoughts for future sermons !! (with full attribution of course)

            Scientific America Reports: Special Edition on Astrophysics: No, I am not understanding most of what I am reading! But it is kind of fun to get my science brain struggling again! I just saw this on the shelf at B&N and decided to give it a try. It is especially fascinating since the other books discuss what we can learn about God by studying the universe.

June 4, 2007 Shirley and I had decided that we needed to mark the beginning of the sabbatical by getting away for a day or two. We decided to go the Virginia Creeper Bike Trail in Damascus, VA (right where NC, VA, and TN come together).

    This is a great place we have been before. The trail is an old railroad bed. (Unfortunately NC decided to ignore this opportunity and did not extend it into our state.) The trail is named after the railroad which had to creep up the hill. Now, you can take a van ride up to the top and basically coast 17 or 18 miles to the bottom!

   OR – you can be really dumb and decide to test your legs by riding UP HILL. Guess which one Shirley did and which one Ken did. Guess who is less sore the day after!!

   Unfortunately tropical storm Barry hit on Sunday so we just packed up from the B&B and left. Actually that worked out because on the way home we learned that Shirley’s ?1?cousin, ?once? removed was in Moses Cone. (I never have understood those southern relations!) So Monday we went to the hospital to visit for a few minutes.

June 1, 2007 Wow ... it really has arrived! The craziness of the building renovations, the temporary “office” (i.e. folding table), and the need to move things out of my old office before I left made it seem impossible I could leave. Patti & Fred caught me at the office a little after 5 pm - the time I had given for my deadline. Then Sid, Charlie and Ron caught me in the parking lot at 7 pm still loading books in my car. But, I DID leave.

All kidding aside, I love what I do and am dedicated to growing God’s kingdom through St. Christopher’s. So I will miss it and wonder what is happening. But I will try very hard to avoid focusing on it!