Introverts

Check this out
http://www.newreflectionscounseling.com/Default.aspx?page=ENTER_TOPIC_INTROVERSION

Makes good sense to me!

The Crow Wing County Coalition to End Poverty

The Crow Wing County Coalition to End Poverty invites you to participate ina community wide event intended to generate community-led, on-going actionto fight poverty and its destructive impacts on the entire community. Please plan on attending this community conversation and visioning session to identify citizen-driven strategies for fighting poverty in our county. We
need your input!
Date: Tuesday, January 13th 2009
Time: 5:00pm-8:00pm
Location: Central Lakes College501 W. College Dr.Brainerd, MN 56401
We Need You!
Room: CLC Cafeteria
For more information about this event please contact Bridges of Hope at:218-825-7682

We had a Hope-full Sunday! Thanks to Brenda Pfeffer for put together great A/V Presentation.

Then on Monday, we had about 530 people join us for the annual Swedish Meatball Dinner!

The picture above is one designed by Brenda Pfeffer that she was not able to include on Sunday's presentation. So I get to include it here.

Church buildings

Playing around with some of the pictures I scanned and thinking of what else to scan, I started to group up some of the church buildings over the years..but I have others to copy. Thy aren't in chronological or appointment groupings (yet)

Park UMC

Clinton UMC


Beech Creek, KY

Beech Creek sanctuary

...(Red Bird Missionary Conf.) This a back view of Joy center

.Still need to add Bertha, Wrightstown, Verndale and Central as Communities of Faith Larger Parish

Manchester KY but we remodeled the front when I was there

Ortonville UMC

Ortonville

Wynot UMC Neb
Maskell Neb. I was student pastor , part time , with Wynot UMC , while at Morningside college

Osakis UMC was with with Villard

(I also served 1/3 time assoc pastor at Alexandria ( 81/82 )
while in Villard , then added Osakis

Correll ..along with Ortonville and Clinton .

Below is a picture of the TRF UMC...reflecting on the river water. This is my hometown church, where I was confirmed.

Scanner work

There was a scanner at home today so I got out the old photo albums and boxes of loose pictures. And I scanned. I had to make choices . Do I want pictures of the cars I have had over the years, or pictures of me holding fish, camping trips, church buildings, parsonages? Of course I copied the old black and white pictures of me as a baby and a toddler. Pictures of grandparents and family ! Wedding pictures too ! So consider this a warning. Pictures may become blog posts.

Commision to end poverty draft report

This morning I heard Gregory Gray and Andrea Lindgren presenting the draft report of the commission's work. Go read their findings. And yes, in this election season, you might still have time to find out where candidates stand on some of these poverty related issues. At least find out how familair the candidates are with the concerns. Read more at http://www.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/lcep/

Pie throwing

I had fun at the Pumpkin Festival at Gregory park. This was the second year of the event. It was a pleasure to see that beautiful park being enjoyed by so many families. There were pumpkin rolling races, and crafts, and cookie making, bobbing for apples, pie eating contests, and of course the pie throwing contest.
Father Tony from the Catholic church, pastor Darrell from Lord of Life Lutheran, and myself were foolish enough to have agreed to the event. We each got 4 cool whip or whipped creme pies to use against each other while staying in a marked out triangular area. I think we each got about 4 pies spread back on to ourselves. Go to the Brainerd Dispatch "spotted" section to see the pictures. http://spotted.brainerddispatch.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=502677

Teen tech Talent bank

My sister, Lynn, is suggesting a new kind of youth group project. She was listening to an elderly woman' s frustration with some computer problem. My sister suggested that she just needed to find a teenager, who could no doubt solve the problem without any trouble. When my mother in Thief River Falls needs something done on her cell phone she has been known to simply walk across the alley of her backyard, out into the park , and approach any teenagers who might be there, asking if they could do what she needs to have done.
So here is the idea. Remember when youth groups used to do service projects for church members such as rake leaves or put up Christmas lights? ( I remember doing that) Maybe this could be updated into a different kind of talent exchange. Today typical tech savvy teens could be available to set up computers, enter new software, change email accounts, enter telephone numbers or set up speed dials on cell phones In turn they might come home with home baked goodies. Anybody out there all ready doing this , a teen tech talent bank?

Poverty, local

The numbers were up again at the soup kitchen. We have seen that pattern 60, 70, 80s. I remember that the soup kitchen numbers just a couple years ago were more like 40-50. We see all ages. Based on a couple of odd conversations at my dirty dish return window I am wondering if we are seeing more people with unmanaged mental health issues. Is there a way to asses that? I recently got involved with the Coalition to End Poverty in Crow Wing County and I am impressed with the idea of local listening, learning and responding. But of this I am sure. The economic woes of the nation are happening here.

I will be at the great Pumpkin Festival in Gregory Park this afternoon for the pie throwing contest around 4 pm A chance for three pastors to throw pies at each other!

Rory Swenson

I still think we need another Star Trek TV series. At least I could learn about parallel universes , time distortions and alternate realities without having to read about physics. Remember the shows where you end up with more than one Picard or Kirk? Are there others of me? 2, 3 4?
I googled up "Rory Swenson" and found out that I am not the only one in the universe! My name is not that common so Iam not used to sharing it. There is a Rory Swenson in Saskatoon who is on facebook. Another Rory Swenson works for Franklin Covey and either that or another Rory Swenson writes on other blogs. Some other Rory Swenson is a very active Mormon. Some Rory Swenson has political opinions that are the opposite of mine! So when you are out in the cyber unverse, try to get the real me!

Un-offical ecumenical movement

Today the 56 year old Lakota woman whose funeral service I had on Tuesday was buried out in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. She was going to have a traditional Lakota ceremony for the burial. I also noticed that the burial place was in a Catholic cemetery. When we were planning her service the family said that she and the family had not been particularly religious but when they had had gone to church it was with the Methodists. For her service here in Brainerd the family wanted a religious service with time to share stories. So that is what we arranged. At first we started in a smaller room with the chairs in a circle near the open casket but the numbers soon crowded the seating arrangement so we ended up with a few rows. Several shared stores. Indeed the person had not lived a traditional religious life and was described as a rascal and a rebel. Yet I also heard of her humor, her love for the outdoors, for family, and of her hospitality as a place where many of them had been able to "just go and crash there." She had worked with social service and tribal agencies, worked for welfare reform, loved Indian art. When we got to the sharing of those memories and stories I felt like we had entered the deeper part of the service. Talking about someone's life is sacred work. Clearly (to me) she had some attributes in her life that would be called "spiritual." I am glad that some Methodists got to be part of that along the way in some small influence at least, and I assume that she had been baptised in a Catholic church, yet had been coming home to her Lakota spirituality as well. She probably never made much of an impact on any official church membership rolls, but it sounds like she had a calling and a ministry with some folks that we just don't see in the churches. Maybe it took an "ecumenical , inter-faith movement" to pull it off: Catholic baptism, Methodist Sunday Schools, Lakota spirituality, and some mysterious mix of God's rebellious, "rascally" Holy Spirit. Maybe there is more of that going on than we know?
Rambling on

"Whats new?"

Sara got back from the Neil Young concert in the Cities and said she was writing about it on facebook. Well that left me out so she kindly posted it on her blog so I could get at it too. But it was enough to motivate me to set up a facebook page. Thats what is new. My first thought was that it wants me to be a lot more extroverted and chatty than I usually care to be. But I will give it a try.

She had a great time at the concert, had no troubles getting to Hamline and then back to Duluth. Since she put some Neal Young music on my ipod I think I will finish my day with that music.

The Laramie Project

Beth and I just got back from Central Lakes College's production of the Laramie Project, the story of Matthew Shepard's death and the awareness that it raised. Our son, Nick, played the part of the bicyclist who found Matthew on the fence. A powerful piece of dramatic literature, well done. Go see it! better yet.. hear the message.

Today's Vision Statement from the Upper Room

WORLDLY ORGANIZATIONS spend most of their time and energy worrying about tomorrow. This worry is manifested in strategic planning, financial predictions, five-year goals, and vision statements, to name just a few. … Jesus, on the other hand, knew that God would lead and guide him in his life and work. The path of his activity would be laid out for him day by day, week by week, and there really was no need to worry about tomorrow. This was especially true because for him, and therefore for us who claim to be the church, his vision statement was simple and clear: follow God.
- Daniel Wolpert Leading a Life with God: The Practice of Spiritual Leadership
From p. 142 of Leading a Life with God by Daniel Wolpert. Copyright © 2006

What's going on?

Last week I got busy with a funeral on Monday for Jessie B, and with a wedding on the weekend so it felt like I was trying to press everything else in to the middle of the week. Brainerd had a community homecoming celebration on Saturday and Nick and his tuba got to march in the parade wearing the parade uniforms for the first time.
Sunday was a nice CROP walk in spite of some light rain. Now I am thinking this could be more of a normal week, but what is that?

I sometimes think the image of the plate spinners describes parish ministry.Gotta keep the preaching plates going, plus a few people looking for a home visit. Today it was two hospital visits in Brainerd plus one in Crosby, (none of which I knew would be on my schedule today) And I needed to get some preparation done for the confirmation class orientation tomorrow. Then a few other emails, phone calls and visits arrived in the office. But I got a start (maybe) on the Sunday service planning! Actually it felt like a rather slow and easy day. So maybe I should worry ahead to next week because its is looking busier.


Tonight I plan to watch the debates and the "spin" that follows and check in on the latest Wall Street juggling. I have thought about trying to do some thoughtful, informed blogging on the banking crisis and the ethical issues but since I have never done anything of that much depth in my "ramble' it might be easier to go read the thoughts of others.
Or maybe that's just more of the cultural plate spinning!
Have we become a nation of plate spinners? When does being amazing and talented become trapped and ridiculous? *(see PS) Why did this get started and how do you stop and catch the plates without the breakage? Seems to me you can't stop unless there is someone next to you , who is not spinning the plates, so you can toss them to that person. How many non-plate spinners do you know?
Maybe some of it needs to just stop?
Ok, I'm off for a walk. The maple leaves are gorgeous. Didn't Jesus say "Consider the lilies how they grow: they neither toil nor 'spin'...

Rambling on, ending this entry before it spins out of control?
*PS now read this: posted on inward/outward

By Jim Wallis
Most Americans feel that they are “just getting by.” No matter how much they have, they continue to protest, “We’re barely keeping up with the bills.” Most are up to their necks in credit card debt. Even if they wanted to get out, it would take years. They are, indeed, trapped. Or, in more biblical language, they are in bondage.
The people who have more money and goods than any people in the history of the world spend most of their time worrying about not having enough. We have come to hold all the values of the consumer system without recognizing our subservience to it—the most perfect form of slavery.
Source: The Call to Conversion

From Today's Verse and Voice of Sojourners.
Feeling that morality has nothing to do with the way you use the resources of the world is an idea that can’t persist much longer. If it does, then we won’t.
- Barbara Kingsolver,Backtalk

That comment covers a lot of ground
such as the banking crisis, and Wall Street, and global warming, and energy policy (both the national and my personal energy policy)....and the book that I am reading with some clergy colleagues...Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster...or the stewardship emphasis that will happen in Park church this month..and ...and ....and...
maybe I will stick to a smaller piece of ground!