Personal Media Inventory

A preaching proverb states that a pastor lives out her call with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in another. After two months working with an iPad, everything I read can be in one hand, but I can't completely let go of paper.

My late Granddad (a career journalist/journalism executive) and I used to check in with each other regularly about what kinds of publications we were reading, and what we observed about that particular publication. Not so much about the content, but that publication's place in journalism as a whole. Granddad would have admired the aforementioned proverb.

Without my Granddad around, I miss that check-in, but I will take my own media inventory and share it with you.

Paper Media

The Economist--
The lack of by-lines on news story analysis has always bugged me, but the columnists rate among my most valued. Lexington comes at American politics as someone invested in the American Experiment, but with enough distance for a refreshing perspective. Charlemagne is also top notch. Their iPad subscription service is cumbersome. Once my print subscription runs out, I may give it another try.

The Christian Science Monitor--
I admire how CSM shifted to weekly from daily publication a few years ago. The passing of Daniel Schorr leaves a hole in their political commentary to this day. I love how their coverage isn't completely driven by wars involving Americans. This is where NPR and most American media fails. I don't mind war coverage, it doesnt have to dominate it.

ESPN The Magazine--
A guilty pleasure--this magazine combines great writing, unorthodox sports coverage (far better than their TV sports journalism sibling) and information laid out in a variety of methods. It has an odd skateboarder/extreme sports ethos that may be distracting to some, but the writing and research beats Sports Illustrated hands down in my opinion.

From my iPad--

I love Google Reader. It's about the only thing outside of maps and search I use from Google--and I would give up the other two to keep Reader in a heartbeat. I don't use reader as a news outlet per se, but the collection of blogs serves as the topics I used to turn to in the newspaper.

I subscribe to too many blogs to list here, but here are my regulars:

Digital Ministry: Justin Wise (bedeviant.com); Church Marketing Sucks

Slices of life in Seatle: Seattle P-I The Big Blog--Sometimes local, sometimes national news, but from a Seattle perspective.

Top Seattle Mariners Bloggers: USS Mariner, Lookout Landing, ProBall NW, SoDo Mojo

Religion Dispatches, Tribal Church

iPad-specific content:

The New York Times delivers some slick content here, but most of it is hidden behind a pay wall--except for Top Stories. I find it to be the most pleasant reading experience on the iPad, and they've almost lured me into a subscription. I remember the days I had it delivered to my house in college in Lawrence, Kansas, not always arriving in tact or in good time.

Tell me about some items on your personal media inventory. What are you reading? How do you connect with the world through reading?





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:S Pine St,Tacoma,United States

Underrated in Congregational Life: Language Learning

Though I deeply appreciate the theological writings and ideas of Martin Luther, one of the things that inspires me most about a connection to the legacy of Luther is translation of the biblical witness into the language of the people. Sometimes I imagine the work of Bible translators, awestruck. I am thankful for Luther's pioneering translation work.

I love languages of all kinds. I enjoy Danish and French. I made an academic college try at Russian. I am attempting to learn Korean. I am intrigued by professional and social group lingo. I admire the dexterity in how the English language evolves. I don't like to feel foolish while I'm learning these manners of speaking, so sometimes I avoid them. It's not that I don't have the ability to learn the language, but the fear throws up road blocks. The challenge of connecting with my family and friends is stark enough; throw in the cultural differences, and I am tempted to say "why bother?" So I often give up.

Language is dynamic. We learn language often out of love for the other. Grandparents learn to use Facebook because they want to communicate with their grandchildren. An entrepreneur learns programming code because of their love for conveying a message. An adoptive parent learns Mandarin so they can know the more deeply the culture of origin of their daughter.

Here's why I think language learning is underrated in congregational life. Though we often engage in a world of dynamic language change, for some reason in congregational life, learning a new language is viewed with suspicion, or outright disdain. I think part of this is the fear and foolish factor, which I believe is modified by the deep emotional attachment to faith and congregational life. It hurts more to look foolish in matters of faith. It hurts more to look foolish in a place where we have so many and emotions and time invested in the milestones of life.

Another factor in language learning involves the theological and cultural roots of our understanding of God and change.

1. There is a very strong theological and cultural understanding that God does not change, therefore change in congregational language is considered suspect.

2. At attempt to keep language the same in congregational life may also reflect a fortress mentality. In the above link, I reference Pat Keifert, a theologian who has taught about how congregations are resistant to language change (and change in general) because the church was a "change-free zone" in the midst of a world full of change.

The variables in language learning accelerate rapidly in the Information Age, and many church leaders have rightly asked the question of stewardship of abundant information and how to prioritize usage. This burgeoning reality adds another wrinkle into how language learning choices have become more complex for congregations. Where does that conversation about language learning start? One of my favorite biblical questions from the Parable of the Good Samaritan. "Who is my neighbor?" The two things I have noticed as I drive into work: The US Military presence, and Korean language signage. I have a lot of language to learn from both communities. I cannot afford to underrate language learning anymore.

Overrated in Congregational Life: The "Summer Slump Letter"

Some people mark the changing of the seasons by holidays. Some people don't mark the changing of seasons with terms like solstice and equinox, but Memorial Day weekend, the 4th of July, Labor Day, and Easter.

Congregations can mark the changing of the seasons from the giving messages they receive via email or snail mail. You know it's autumn when you receive a letter asking for a pledge in the coming year. You know it's winter when you receive a letter to remind you of your last opportunity to make a tax-deductible donation for the fiscal/tax year. You know summer has arrived when you receive a reminder letter that congregational giving is often down during the summer months and that budget strains are acute during that time. Kennon Callahan called this the "Summer Slump Letter." Forget keeping a calendar or looking at the weather. Look at your mailbox or inbox. You'll know what season it is then. I've seen several Summer Slump letters already this summer. They're a little early this year--the economy must be bad. Slap a Bible verse or a prayer on the end of the plea, mark a season, proclaim deficit awareness, and spiritualize it. There you have the Summer Slump letter.

For many congregations, tight budgets are a way of life. Even for congregations flush with cash from a bequest or a land deal, I have yet to encounter a congregation that doesn't agonize over financial resources in some way (I see congregations flush with cash who fight more than congregations with tight budgets, but that is another story).

After seeing numerous cycles of letters and emails sent to congregational members over the years, congregational coffers should be full of donations, deeply moved and inspired by the letters they receive. These letters have probably been written for several decades. Have they made a difference (please let me know if they have)?

Why bother writing these letters?

Congregational leadership wrangles over the budget during most monthly meetings, if not all of them. Letters send a message that the leadership is not ignoring the tight budget, but doing SOMETHING. It usually makes them feel better, not to mention puffing up their own sense of accomplishment if they are giving themselves. Sometimes congregational leadership will go so far as to scold the congregational members for not giving. How well does scolding go (please let me know if you have a scolding success story)?

Callahan suggests that if there is a summer slump time in the congregation that it has to be planned for throughout the year, not addressed as a surprise occurrence each year. What might be a better approach to addressing a giving trend that is lower during the summer months?

1. Rarely will summer giving dips be adequately addressed during the actual summer months. These trends have to be addressed during the budgeting process, not when resource issues reach panic levels.

2. Some assumptions about congregational giving must be released. New members do not mean more money for a congregation, in fact, new members will probably mean resources will become even more strained. The new member + new member = more money fallacy is rooted in a notion that a congregation is the center of a given culture. With that in mind consider the next point.

3. Giving is based on a relationship. My late grandmother gave to ministries when she connected with the television preacher or Bible study leader. I didn't necessarily like how or to whom she gave, but the television ministry connected with her faithfully and regularly, more than even her own family. Even with a television, a kind of personal connection is made. How much better a connection is made when congregational leaders facilitate intentional, face to face communication with a listening posture? With a letter, nothing is learned about the recipient. A face to face meeting, though labor and time intensive, provides learning beyond measure. Face to face meetings are opportunities to learn about what God is doing through that person and how that activity can be shared with the body of Christ. Face to face communication is a high risk, high reward venture.

I invite you to share your wisdom about summer slumps or any other giving season issues you would like to discuss.

Do you know what season it is in your congregation? Check your inbox or mailbox--the overrated Summer Slump letter may be there.

Overrated in Congregational Life: Mission Statements

During my final year of seminary, I became enthralled by mission statements. A colleague introduced me to the concept of a clear, memorable and passionate statement about the crux of what drives action in daily life. Laurie Beth Jones wrote about it, Tom Cruise playing Jerry McGuire romanticized it (you had me at hello), and like many other development trends, the church picked up on it 5, 10, 15 years late.

I thought mission statements could change the church. I worked on mission statements with several congregations over the years. Sometimes they were helpful, sometimes not. Mission statements have not been the variable that moves a congregation into effective ministry. The problem that I see is that congregations have used not having a mission statement, or being in the process of developing a mission statement as an excuse to not move forward with ministry and action. Then I see congregations invest hundreds of hours and dollars into mission statement development only for that mission statement to gather weeds or be doomed to a governing board manual in a binder.

Mission statements alone will not revitalize a congregation or any church organization. Mission statements cannot replace passion and an understanding of congregational assets, gifts and a strong congregational culture. At their best, mission statements give congregations focus, and a tool for discerning priorities. At their worst, mission statements become vortexes of frustration and ennui, or graveyards of theological platitudes. Also add a drain of resources that could be helping connecting people and multiplying God's grace.

Another shortcoming of mission statements is that even in strong congregational cultures, the mission statement atrophies because the mission is not employed in congregational discourse. Mission statements can be reinforced in worship, kid talks, education events, and congregational publications, to name a few opportunities.

Mission statements are also confused with creeds. Congregations feel like they need to adequately honor their particular tradition through their mission statement, so far as it doesn't offend anyone. A good mission statement reflects a particular passion that connects God and that particular community.

If you're looking to a mission statement to drive you toward a thriving ministry, a mission statement will not inspire you any more than a wrench would. A mission statement is merely a tool. A mission statement cannot replace a desire to make a difference in the world in the name of Christ and the hard work it takes to build relationships through love, forgiveness and grace.






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Location:59th Ave SW,Lakewood,United States

Underrated in Congregational Life: Accountability

Accountability is a loaded term for congregations, for both pastors and members.

It's hard to serve in a congregation in any capacity because it can feel like every member is a boss. However, ministries can go on for multiple years while accomplishing little. My wife and I have often discussed the concept that pastors (and other ministry professionals) work in a high-expectation, low-structure positions. I would argue that this is the nature of congregational life. Expectations are high, but the structure of meeting those expectations often lacks cohesiveness. People in ministry may feel accountable, but the accountability in ministry is often rooted in personal preferences as opposed to shared principles. Therefore, I believe accountability in congregational life is underrated.

Peter Steinke often says about congregations that they "tolerate too much bad behavior in the name Jesus." This applies to the entire congregation. Bad behavior in many forms is often tolerated it because supposedly it's the "Christian" thing to do. Bad behavior can take on many forms--verbal, sexual and spiritual abuse, underperformance, insubordination, destructive communication, sabotage, etc. To set up accountability structures can seem too corporate, and not becoming of an intimate family (I have concerns about the image of family in congregational life, but that's for another post). Even families have boundaries for appropriate behavior. Congregations and ministry professionals have a fear of accountability, because it can be risky for relationships in the short term, but in the long term, it allows each member of the Body of Christ the space to thrive.

Some congregations lack shared accountability. A pastor or ministry professional may act in an authoritarian fashion. A congregational leadership may deliver a list of expectations to a ministry leader without flexibility. Once a congregation moves toward accountability, a shared approach will provide stronger paths to communication, because boundaries need to be renegotiated from time to time.

Accountability is underrated because many congregations are often beholden to preferences and tolerant of bad behavior from pastors and congregation members alike. I hope that congregations can work together toward a shared accountability. It is a move with the risk.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Mckinley Ave,Tacoma,United States

Overrated in Congregational Life: Politics, Relationships and Moving Forward with Church Office Space

Today's guest blogger, Dr. Kirk Jeffery is a church growth consultant. He works with all sizes of congregations. He spent fifteen years in local parish ministry as an Elder in The United Methodist Church. He did his doctoral work at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey in Postmodern Ecclesiology. He also roasts and sells coffee. www.kirkjeffery.com. Follow Kirk on Twitter @KirkJeffery.

Joe Smith, in a related blog post, suggested that there is too much infrastructure surrounding a pastor’s study, and that it really has little place in ministry in the twenty-first century. I completely agree.

The pastor’s study was envisioned for a time past, when people flocked to the church, when clergy were among the best educated in the community, when the pastor was required to tote around a vast library of books and those books contained the basis for the answers the congregation and the broader community were seeking.

Today the pastor’s study seems to be more a limiting feature of ministry than an empowering one. If I had my way, I would eliminate it from the church entirely, as an outmoded, non-useful space. It seems that it serves only to have a space where a small group of parishioners can keep a watchful eye on what the pastor is up to—for if our pastor is in his/her office, then we know that he/she is working. Ug. The thought that true ministry happens within the confines of the four walls of the pastor’s study makes me sick.

However, let me caution any would-be study-tossers, especially if you are in your first five years of ministry in your local context. Let me share some valuable first-hand insights on office space.

I once served a parish that had rented out the majority of the church to a daycare facility which used the space Monday-Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. When I first got there, there was a lot of consternation by folks that felt that they had lost their space. The women’s group couldn’t use the space for their monthly mid-day meeting. It was difficult to schedule weekly mid-day Bible studies. Committees couldn’t meet until 7:00 p.m. at the earliest. The daycare always left the space a mess.

I thought I had a great solution… We would turn the pastor’s study into a dedicated classroom and mid-day meeting space. The pastor’s study was not a great space for a pastor anyway (it had sexual safety issues—no windows). I would work from home and the local coffee shop. I would meet with folks in their homes, in the coffee bars, in the beer bars! With the advent of cell phones, free internet, and my laptop computer, I felt that ministry could, and should take place anywhere. And it did.

The problem that I encountered was that I had not been there long enough to build up trust. For the twelve people who regularly popped into the church and office to do their various business and mission, it was a huge issue that I wasn’t where they could see me. And if they couldn’t see me, I obviously wasn’t working.

The key to being able to move out of the pastor’s study is trust. As pastor, you will have to build enough trust within the congregation to let them let you move out of the pastor’s study and into the community. This process is not measured in months, but rather two to five years of hard, office, pencil pushing work. Once they know that you actually work, moving out of the office will not be such a big deal. But they have to trust you first.

If you decide that you really want to move out, I suggest that you take these steps:

1) Talk with the power brokers in the church, the ones who nod yes and it happens and who shake their head no and it doesn’t. Explain to them the vision, the reason, the hopes, the dreams…. Remind them (gently) that the church is not an end in itself, but a means to an end—to create new disciples. As pastor, you are most effective out in the community building relationships. No one outside the formed community is wandering into the church anymore, unless they are seeking gas or rent money.
2) Make the move slowly. Advertise that you will be at the coffee bar from 8:30-10:30 on Tuesday mornings. Make sure you are there! If it is received with good faith, then you can progress—slowly add time away from the office and in the communty. Turtle pace is key. Don’t do too much, too quickly. You spent a lot of time building the trust by keeping lots of office hours. It only takes a couple of missteps to lose it all.
3) Keep the gossipers and the key leaders informed. Talk to them about the conversations you are having. Tell them some stories. Even if these new folks aren’t coming to church, if you can tell the stories, then they will allow you even more freedom to be in a space other than your study.
4) Don’t move your library out of the pastor’s study until someone else lays clam to, “your” space. You have claimed it, the congregation has given it to you. If you only spend one hour in there, on Sunday mornings, still claim it—until it is needed for something else.
5) After some time, begin to work to develop another, “need” for your space. If you are not using it, someone else should. Who might use that space? What mission, what ministry, what other staff person needs that space more than you?

Working with established churches to change is difficult and time consuming work. But they are willing to change if you are willing to help them change slowly. No matter how big or how small your congregation, you have to think of your congregation as a aircraft carrier rather than a speedboat. The turns have to be planned months and years in advance, otherwise they will never happen.

Overrated in Congregational Life: Office Space

Office space for a church is overrated. This has not always been the case.

There are several images of how a pastor invests time. The hub of those images is the "Pastor's Study." This is the room where you walk in and see shelf after shelf of biblical commentaries, theology, church history, congregational leadership, and pastoral care books. This is where the pastor swigs coffee and mines the Greek and Hebrew texts for preaching wisdom. The Pastor's Study is the place where people can stop by during office hours to ask the pastor any kind of question--a theological/relational/church pre-Google of sorts. The Pastor's Study is also a place where someone comes for pastoral counseling, a place where spiritual and emotional wounds discover a path to healing.

More recently, the Pastor's Study is the place for a computer. Congregations invested in a desktop computer. The computer helped the pastor access colleagues and information and produce publications for the congregation.

The Pastor's Study, depending on the size and scope of congregation, also serves as a nerve center for the education and fellowship life of the congregation. In a mid-sized church (150-250 in worship) Pastor's Study is where programs are planned with office or program staff and volunteers. In larger congregations, the Pastor's Study becomes a CEO-type office where collaboration, visioning, and community building with ministry specialists takes place.

Over the years, congregations have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in labor and money in facilities to house the concept of the Pastor's Study in its varying and evolving forms and functions. The problem that stems from this investment is usually one of two (possibly both).

1. The church invests much their history and money in their Pastor's Study, that with that investment carries an expectation that's where the pastor is supposed to be--at the beck and call of expectation of any congregation member. Whether this is true, I find that as a captive perception in congregational life.

2. In order to accommodate the expanding understanding of Pastor's Study, congregations often invest in larger facilities. That investment is financed by loads of debt, sometimes in the millions of dollars.

The problem with each of these investments is that with financial investment comes emotional investment. Each of these investments places an albatross on ministries, weighing down both pastor and congregation, choking ministry opportunities. This misappropriation of resources takes investment away from connection in the community and going where the people are and places it in maintaining unmanageable images of the Pastor's Study.

I am not a detractor of church buildings or the Pastor's Study. I am saying office space is overrated. Most of the time I spend in a Pastor's Study in this day and age can be better invested in the public square and learning about what God is doing in the community. In the church, we may hope that our church buildings are public, but they often aren't.

With all of this in mind, I'm looking to rent out my Pastor's Study. Some ministry partnership may be harvested there. I am learning how to travel light in ministry. I think Jesus taught something about that. The Pastor's Study is not dead, but it's preventing the church from traveling light in ministry.

I also wonder who holds the Pastor's Study sacred cow. Is it the congregation? Or the pastor? This is my food for my thought today, while i take in some food during study at the local bagel shop today--with free wi-fi.

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Location:91st St SW,Lakewood,United States

Classic Sports Discourse, Revisited for the Church

I am currently working on a series of blog posts in the coming week or two using a framework often used in sports, but I am trying it with the life of the church. What is overrated? What is underrated? Sports people in radio and in the business attempt to stay away from overvalued athletes (unless you're the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox) and maximize undervalued athletes. The church should probably stay away from looking at people and ministries as commodities, yet it is important to understand the dynamics of public discourse and what receives our attention.

What do you think? When it comes to the life of the church: what is overrated? What is underrated?

Here are the examples I am currently addressing in my thoughts that will turn into blog posts in the series:

Overrated: Office space. Mission statements.
Underrated: Grace. Accountability.

I would not pin this framework on Jesus' thought processes and ministry. However, Jesus is doing something to this effect during the "blessings and woes" teaching in Luke 6. It's overrated to be full and rich. It's underrated to be excluded and hated because of an association with Jesus. It's underrated to be hungry and weeping. What do these statements mean? What does it say about human aspiration? What does it say about who we value as people? The underrated/overrated framework is a discussion piece about where we put our attention in public and congregational discourse.

If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, let me know. Or, if you have some input on possible topics, let me know! What do you think?

Imagining small church mission

What does it mean to be part of a small church?

This week, I began service as the pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Lakewood, Washington. St. John's is a gathering of approximately 40 people in Sunday morning worship. By almost any definition, St. John's is a small church. My small church experience is a small portion of my life with congregations.

1. I served an interim ministry at New Life Lutheran Church in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, a community at the time of about 40 people in worship.
2. I served an interim ministry at a three-point parish in Lyman County, South Dakota. One of the congregations was distinctly small in Kennebec, the congregations in Vivian and Presho could be large enough to classify differently.

From experience, observation and study, here are the small church thoughts in my mind.  I am taking an inventory of small church experiences. It should also be noted that as an interim pastor, I never lived in a small church community. There was always an understanding that I had relational access to people's lives, yet remained an outsider.

Congregational size is not the only variable of consequence. Region, denomination, judicatory, education and other variables can enter the discussion, but the focus of this reflection involves what I have gathered about small churches.

1. Often the small church is described with a sense of "plight." The small church is depicted in church circles as suffering or in disarray. Both seem to be associated with suburban migration of the mid- to late- 20th century; a migration that dwindled the size of both urban and rural congregations. The plight is that resources to fund urban or rural congregations fades as people leave, much like other urban and rural social institutions. Small churches can still thrive, I believe, but it also depends on the shared definition of what thriving means.

2. Power in small congregations must flow through the matriarchs and/or patriarchs of the congregation. Several decades ago, Arlin Rothauge published a short book on congregational size dynamics and named the 0-50 worship attendance congregation as a "family" church. Rothauge's observations have been parsed in congregations and church leadership circles for the better part of three decades. In this size of congregation, the members are often highly invested and see pastors come and go for many different reasons (see #3).

3. Pastoral leadership in small congregations often exists in a state of flux. Small congregations often cannot afford a full-time pastor, or an experienced pastor, because the salary levels cannot support clergy with a family living at home, or a pastor carrying large amounts of student loan debt. With pastors coming and going quickly, congregations develop a pattern of behavior where they can "wait out" the pastor and all of that particular pastor's ideas for ministry if they don't care for them.

4. In a small congregation, everyone knows everyone else. So the proverb goes--but I think this is a bit of a myth or euphemism for an intimacy that cannot be assumed. There may be a higher degree of familiarity among members/worshiper in small congregations than large congregations, but that does not necessarily reflect a depth of relationship.

5. What a small church needs is to replicate what is done at a large congregation. Reading a favorite blog, Church Marketing Sucks (CMS), I was reminded of how easily the replication notion is perpetuated. Large churches have the resources to share their experience, wisdom and knowledge with others. They share that information with pastors and congregations, and the small congregations often end up feeling inferior about what God is doing among them. As someone who has served both small and large congregations, this is not intentional, but it still goes on. Frustration continues to mount about good leadership resources for small congregations. The blog post from CMS reminded me about small-large congregation leadership dynamic.

In the end, what seems to matter is that people in a congregation can imagine a unique sense of mission independent of the aforementioned factors. This does not mean God's mission is lived in a vacuum. On the contrary, I think the question related to the Parable of the Good Samaritan is operative, "And who is my neighbor?" We need to know something about our neighbor in order to share good news in Christ.

Who is God? What is God doing? Who is my neighbor? I still have much to learn about small churches and the small church I am serving, but I need to remember these questions, and I look forward to addressing these questions with people in the community.

La pièce de résistance

How are we humans supposed to respond to resistance?

A. Fight through it.
B. Embrace it.
C. Avoid it.
D. Persuade it.

Does it matter who or what the resistance is? Sometimes the resistance is looking right at me in the mirror. Other times the resistance is a well-organized part of an institution. Other times the resistance is diffuse, yet omnipresent

Seth Godin invests a significant portion of his book Linchpin in the concept of "the resistance." Godin associates this concept with the portion of our brain that seeks comfort at all costs--survival mode or the status quo. In sociological terms, the resistance resembles a drive in organizations toward homeostasis--a calm center. It doesn't matter if the system is in decay, the resistance wants familiarity and peace.

In reading Linchpin, it's hard not think of Jesus' telling of The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). Why do some of the servants/slaves take risks where one does not? What variables are present?

Explicit variables:
+Degree of fear
+Willingness to take risk
+Ability

Implicit variables:
+Knowledge of the market
+Strength of relationships

The thread linking all of these variables is the resistance. There are theological terms that serve in relationship to the resistance, some might call it sin. Lutherans might call it "old Adam (others?)."

The interesting proposition is that the Parable of the Talents, and numerous authors, preachers, journalists, columnists and psychologists place all kinds of effort into addressing the resistance. Through shame, finger pointing, fear mongering, brain analysis and story telling (remember "Who Moved My Cheese?), the resistance receives a lot of attention.

These days, I'm leaning toward embracing resistance. According to Matthew, avoidance never works in the long term, and leads to weeping and gnashing of teeth. I will invest more time in the Parable of the Talents and Linchpin in my first year at St. John's Lutheran Church because the resistance is what confounds congregations and pastors and causes them to bury their talents in a hole, much like in The Parable. It doesn't take much searching among sister congregations and colleagues to see and hear weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Location:Bridgeport Way SW,Tacoma,United States

Creating: A Good Way To Start

Genesis poses several challenges to Bible readers.

For some, Genesis represents a lens the natural world: a 6,000 year-old Earth where the words in Genesis trump any scientific discovery. For others, the idea of a talking snake conversing with the first humans delegitimizes any claim the Bible makes. Placing these perspectives on a continuum, I imagine that many Bible readers fall somewhere in between the two aforementioned poles.

I'm reflecting on the creation stories in Genesis today because I'm beginning a ministry that is new to me. God has been here in Lakewood and at St. John's Lutheran Church long before I got here. But In Genesis, God engages humanity to join in the creative action of God. Creation is an ongoing activity, initiated and supported by God--I'm glad I get to take part.

The challenge of the day in light of Genesis is actually creating. Creating was a first person activity for our parents and their parents. It was not only part of survival, but essentially cultural: our ancestors cooked from scratch more often, created their own tools and crafts, fixed their own household items. This is not meant to glamorize the past, rather give us perspective on where we are.

In an information age, passive intake is a default operation for many cultures. I don't wish to return to glamorized days of yore, but I do want to recognize that creation takes intentional action. Any of us can execute our survival primarily on consumption. From Internet, to social media, to ordering a pizza on a smart phone, to streaming movies on a tablet, we can navigate our days without much intentional thought. I am thankful for all of these tools, but creation can easily be lost from day to day living.

Maybe the view of "be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28)" can be expanded from bringing children into the world to creating in a sense that makes life better for living.

Seth Godin's book Linchpin has challenged me to reconsider my participation in creation. What am I sharing with the world? What steps am I taking to give life in the world? In encouraging moments, Godin encourages me with all the gifts and talents I have, at other times reminds me how often I waste time spinning my wheels on social media and Web surfing.

Today provided me one of many choices; writing provided me a good path to start a ministry that is new to me. Creation is a good foundation for any day of life.

Location:82nd St SW,Lakewood,United States

A story from an introverted parent

Today's post is rooted in thanks to colleague and fellow Mariner and Huskies fan Adam McHugh.

I appreciate his invitation to write as guest blogger on McHugh's website, Introverted Church. If you want to explore in depth regarding introverted spirituality, I commend McHugh's book to you.

Parenting as an introvert is not any more challenging than any other parenting point of reference, but the approach and reflections are different. I will be doing less parenting at home in the coming months, and Adam provided me an opportunity to reflect on the changing seasons of parenting and vocation in my household. I am thankful for the opportunity.