Hit the Back Button to Move Fwd by Gavin Richardson

more tired, but feeling good

as the scriptures say, "it is done." however, what is done now is the lay witness mission our church participated in. i have my issues (due in part to my own tiredness going into the weekend) and i have my joys with the whole thing, i can't deny that it wasn't a positive for our church & youth community. i won't write a long article on it, i'll suggest reading from johnathon's blog, he's got a saturday synopsis.

we just finished our evening celebration service as a church. this was the first unveiling of the KuvAnant praise team our youth have put together. they've worked really hard, practiced a ton of hours over a short period of time to get ready for this and future moments and they were wonderful. they played just fabulously, but most importantly they helped lead our congregation into a spirit of worship that we don't have too often.

like some proud dad i was at the verge of tears being present with them 1 for the joy & 2 because i know they were having fun and living up to what they wanted to be, a worship group. our congregation rocked too, they lifted them and all the other leaders from the weekend up it was great and it is my hope that this is a springboard for some even greater ministry from an already great church.

tired from ambition

the blogbatical has been nice, but it hasn't been restful. i took the blogbatical to focus energies on a myriad of tasks. as it seems, my self-proclaimed title of "ambitious slacker" hasn't fit the bill as i haven't had the chance to slack off. it's a tough time as so much is coming to finish these last few weeks. here's a breakdown.

• wedding plans are on going and sporadic in when they have to happen. we are still negotiating the house which is another thing that seems to get juggled around.
• i'm pressed to finish the video portion for the worship feast prayer station project. there was some confusion when filming and it's been a real time to get caught up. most of this week has been trying to get that finished up.
• i'm revisiting and moving forward with a emergent umc web community portal. should be rolling in july, but the organization to solicit content needs to happen in the coming weeks.
• our church is hosting a lay witness mission. as a staff person i'm supposed to just let the folks run a retreat weekend. from what people say, it's pretty powerful. however, i'm quite concerned, i don't want to have to do debriefing of the youth after wards. to note, i got an email from one of the leaders who said how the devil always tries to interrupt God anointed events by distracting people with last minute stuff. at some levels i can agree with that, but the way it was put makes me concerned. anyways, for something i'm not supposed to plan it seems like i've put a ton of effort into it. i'd like it to be over.
• speaking of youth ministry, summer is quickly approaching, quite a few details to get covered. plus people are not used to my organization process so it takes extra effort to get people informed.

what is strange to cap this day off (a day i took off from the church office to focus on the non church items in bullet-ed list) i just got done hearing the ice cream truck circle the neighborhood playing Christmas songs.

a little help from friends

i'm breaking the blogbatical for the moment because i had a request to help garner some participants for a survey by the umph. this came from retired blogger cole of the old "Christian dissent."

I am working on a project looking at young adult spirituality and this survey is about that.  There are some pretty cool projects in development and the results of this survey will have a big impact on their approval.

We need lots of responses and honest answers.  Please take the survey and then pass the link on.  Better yet, blog about it!

Thanks for your help!

Cole

blogbatical

i'm taking a blogbatical. there is much to do that needs my full attention. will return after a few days of blog rest. till then. shalom, -g

sunday photoblog: tribute to dannyg

in a quick tribute to dannyg, i'm putting up a pic of the steeple at vandy div school.

morning office

every so often i wake up singing a song. i generally have called this my morning office. it's been awhile since i can remember doing this let alone blog on one. this was my morning office for today.

Come and listen, come to the water's edge, all you who know and fear the Lord.
Come and listen, come to the water's edge all you who are thirsty, come.

Let me tell you what He has done for me.
Let me tell you what He has done for me,
He has done for you,
He has done for us.

Come and listen,
come and listen to what He's done.
Praise our God for He is good.

He has done for me,
He has done for you,
He has done for us.

Come and Listen, by David Crowder

methodist ministers coming out party

in what seems to be the largest 'coming out' action ever. 75 methodist ministers are coming out in a letter to the church leaders discerning through the sexuality debate within the umc. in an article by gay.com:

The letter released Tuesday was sent a week before the church's Judicial Council is scheduled to meet near Kansas City. Signatories hope to influence how the church interprets policy on sexual orientation.

Outing themselves with this letter, the ministers risk being defrocked, as happened to the Rev. Irene "Beth" Stroud less than a year ago. The United Methodist Church took away her right to be a minister when it ruled in October that she had violated the denomination's ban on "self-avowed, practicing homosexual" clergy.

there are no actual pastoral names cited on the article or given with quotes, it does go on to speak of the beth stroud case. it shares a longer quote on how someone has seen the power of the church in ways of empire (my word) to hurt or keep people down. it would seem only standard thinking that there would be some protest before judicial council meets back up next week. i'd like to see the full content of this letter before i give my view on this being positive or negative actions within the church. article goes on:

The signatures were collected by the Reconciling Ministries Network, a grassroots organization that works to enable full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the United Methodist Church.

The letter reminds the church that its current policy of homophobia hurts not just gay clergy; it is hurting the church itself.

no surprise about the reconciling ministries being behind the letter. however, i checked their website and at the moment there wasn't a mention or posting of this letter. they do however mention some "witnessing" at the council meetings in kansas next wednesday.

i'd be surprised to find out things changing next week as far as the legislation. i don't see doctrine being changed over in the jc. that should be pushed to general conference. there might be a 2nd look at 1032 (i believe that is the membership decision, i get them confused at times). so it makes me wonder what the letter coming out now accomplishes? it only puts people in a spot of loosing their calling.

as i dwell on it i can see two motivations. 1. an act of protest, almost in a childish fight, to throw it in the face of the council saying "we're here, now whatcha going to do about it." 2. tiredness, a tiredness of hiding and being subversive in language to not be who one feels they are. the only recourse they can see is to be completely honest and thus face circumstances as they are now. i honestly hope that they is a whole lot more of #2 in the letter than there is #1.

so how does the church respond? with 75 clergy (assuming they are all clergy, remember no names were cited in the article) that is probably a drop in the bucket of statistical numbers. the church can proceed with legal proceedings much like they did with rev. stroud. the church will go on. but statistical numbers don't touch the lives of people in ministry and that these folks might very well be much more gifted as ministers than the counter parts they'd be replaced with after a defrocking.

i'd hope that we take a open heart approach. one in which we try to listen. put aside our concepts and notions for a second to just hear. because possibly as a church we would actually hear God within the people who are feeling tired because they are persecuted or held down to some degree. then we could respond as Christ would, not as a structural institution that we are.

unfortunately i fear. this might just lead to more banter, doctrinal thesis in blog comments and messageboards on why it's a sin and why it's not, name calling and everything that Christ was not.

update: the official umc website has an article which recognizes said letter as it talks about next weeks judicial council gathering.
update2: my favorites shane and jonathon have chimed in.

:: tip to todd ::

i guess pat was right

no wonder south dakota put a ban on abortion. seeing that a hurricane can form over south dakota. they can only assume that pat robertson was right. for the sake of civilization & God's wrath they did the right thing.

:: picture tip to eric @ wesley forum ::

blast from the past

wedding means picture slide show which means mom scanning many old pictures. first one is the family minus older bro & featuring my grandpa. the rest are from times in england with the kin folk. enjoy!

sign a legit petition

in the tornado's that hit my area two weeks ago there was a story of a woman who covered her children while the house around them was being destoryed. the injury suffered to her back from that has left her paralyzed. her husband a brentwood firefighter wasn't able to help as he was on duty some 30 miles away. there is now a petition push to get a home built for them through "extreme home makeover." they have done a number of homes that are built for people with special needs and this certainly fits the bill. it's legit, not some spam thing. as a former firefighter myself, i can't help but not support them. if you wish to sign, be warned ipetitions asks for a donation, which at the minium is $2. i don't think you have to pay it to sign up on the petition, but it does look that way.

On April 7, 2006 a tornado destroyed the home of Brentwood, TN firefighter Jerrod Hawkins.  His wife, Amy, and their two small children were inside.  Amy covered the two boys with her own body, shielding them from serious injury, however, Amy was left paralyzed when the house fell in on them. 

A petition is being circulated asking for signatures which will be submitted to ABC's Extreme Home Makeover to see if they would consider building a new home for this family.  The signatures must be submitted by Friday, April 21, 2006.  You can sign on by going to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Amy_Hawkins/ .  In addition, please ask everyone in your address book to sign the petition for this deserving family. 

Thank you for your help.

who to cheer for?

tonight is the nhl season finale for the nashville predators our hometown team. like many of the fan base for the preds i too am a person who had a team that i cheered for long before the predators existed and before my move to nashville. my team is the detriot red wings, which happens to be the team that they are playing this evening.

no i never lived in detroit, but my red wings loyalties lie deep within my adolescence.

i tell people that "i did my impressionable years in the south and productive years in the north." then i tell that i am originally from birmingham alabama. born there and raised till i was about 12. it was then in the '85 that my dad's company transferred us to new jersey. from there i finished out my high school years and what i call my renaissance period as well.

as a southerner moving to the north i didn't like the north and i wanted nothing to do with it. however, as a twelve year old you want friends and you have to do what the friends are doing. what were these twelve year olds doing? they played hockey. so my brother and i played hockey. we weren't that good since we hadn't seen hockey let alone played it (this was before cable tv was prevalent and hockey on atleast every night of the week). so i played goalie and shawn played defenseman.

the one thing a proper hockey player needed was a jersey. as a southerner moving to the north i didn't like the north and wanted nothing to do with it. however, i needed a jersery but i'd be damned if i were to get a jersey like all these other northerners. so instead of the philadelphia flyers i picked out the detroit red wings and my bro picked out the calgary flames. shawn did okay, the flames just won a stanley cup and he had joey mullin on his jersey who was a star within the league. me, well... the red wings were a bottom of the barrel team and i picked greg stefan for my jersey who had only a real short stint of actual play with the red wings. he had a pretty high goals against average for that day and time.

greg didn't last too long in the league, atleast as a starter. luckily i wasn't the ridicule, but i was a regular joke with my jersey not to mention my team stunk. true to any adolscent i talked back "your murray craven jersey stinks too!" with made for more fun and planted deep seeds of loyalty.

it must have because they are the only team that i will follow anymore. luckily it's easy to do that as they've become increasingly successful winning a host of stanley cups and is always the perennial power. funny note, i am constantly called a 'band wagoner' being a wings fan. to this i grab one of my friends who is closest and tell them to share with this person how it is not possible for me to be a band wagoner.

coming to tonight though, i've become quite the preds fan. i take in games when i can, most recently last saturday night. i know the players pretty well. i love to cheer for them when they play other teams. but can i give up the team of my childhood and cheer for the preds? i just don't know if i can do that. then again, the red wings are not with me day in day out. i don't listen to their players radio shows. i only see them once or maybe twice a year at best... so i'm stuck on who to cheer for.

why why why!

i just get sick when i see or hear of stories like this. youth pastors sexual relationships with their youth. it's just wrong in every way and i can't find any explanation to it but to say that they were never youth ministers to begin with, just someone who needed to fill holes in their life that obviously hadn't been addressed.

why why why!!

i'm pissed and troubled as this isn't the first time this has happened here in tennessee. i'm sure it's happened or will happen in other places. most likely won't be the last time it happens here in tn.

where does it come from that my counter parts in ministry feel that they can cross lines that are so obvious and take advantage of such a powerful relationship with young people for their own self satisfaction.. argh!! it just pisses me off!

i feel for the families involved. this guy had children and a wife. the girl has a family who all are dealing. the church is a family that has to navigate their way through painful circumstances as well.

my self-centered self (being that i'm not being my best self right now) wants to rant on how this totally keeps this profession of youth ministry as some second tier career. even with the pastor scandals of the catholic church people took them more as isolated because the role of pastor is tried over history and tradition. however, the youth pastor is new and many want to argue as to it's place in the church. actions such as these always keep us in question and hold us under a scrutiny eye.

seeing this rant won't accomplish anything i'll leave it now... still angry... but i suppose i'll just go and pray over it all. it might help me with perspective

what a deal!

tonight erin, no not mine, but another erin whom happens to be a friend from sunday school is going to be on 'deal or no deal' tonight. she's on a special non-profits edition where what she makes gets split with the special olympics (which she works for).  it's been a fun month since she filmed now i'm heading out to a viewing party. sure there will be more later.

update: what a fun evening. i got there late due to some parking. apparently there was a concert at the rhyman tonight, so i couldn't park as close as planned. i got there and erin had just gotten her second offer which was pretty low seeing that she had depleted many of her high money offers. since this wasn't live she came over to say hi to erin and myself then she went back to her seat as the commercial break was winding down and the tv camera's were filming her throughout the showing. erin (mine) and myself found ourselves to seating with our other sunday school friends and hung out cheering on with everyone else.

once erin 'made the deal' which was a great time to do it and probably the best deal she would get we all cheered joyously. they then wrote one of those big checks (physically and fiscally) to the special olympics. then they gave $1000 bucks to michael who was one of their friends that was there at the show for him to finish a extra room in his parents house so it could be a seperate apartment. what is a great testament to these people is that the show didn't require them to actually give 50% to special olympics, that was their decision and their decision to keep.

after the check presentation there were lots of pictures and some cheezy video shoot that is apparently being done for the show. then travis (erin's husband) got up on stage and kicked it with his band. history note: travis and his band play just about every monday night at the stage. this was the first time my erin and i have gotten to check out travis and his band. i was way impressed. they had some high energy country music sets with some varied genre thrown in.

invisible children

my friend john (who doesn't actually blog) brought this to my attention. he picked up on it at a David Crowder concert if i am correct, but he's watched & shared this story of children who are night commuters into the city because it is not safe for them to sleep at night in their own towns.

each town is asked to have a vigil, sleeping downtown. just bringing this to light as i feel it's a worth while cause even to just know about it.

going through archives

today i have a day off, which affords me some time to do a couple of things. right now i'm at erin's place of employment going through old archive files picking out pictures for our 'save the date' card. it'll be pretty darn cool when it's done, but as with other things i'm behind in getting my part done. so i'm here cruising through old photos and files, having fun with it as well. i especially liked this little graphic that my brother sent me a few years back. as a changed mac man now, i never have to look at this again.

sunday photoblog: white

online sacraments

daniel showed me this online church called "infinite church" that is completely online. it has virtual worship times, cell groups, fellowship, etc. it even had a virtual baptism. i've recently run across the "online youth group" which you pay to have a certain amount of users for a room to chat in. not sure why you would want to do that. why not just use habbo hotel it's free.

john asks about how pastors approach baptism with parents etc. i must say, regardless of how or what people do before and during baptism an online version seems a bad way to 'reach' people. baptism being one of our sacred sacraments should always be done within the context of a real 'live' (live as in living, can get hugs from them) community of people.

i have spoken very highly of the whole "web 2.0" shift and feel that people seeking out community over the internet is here and coming even faster. however, there will and needs to be a break when it comes to the sacraments. oh, did i mention the online church does holy communion.. how does that work?

yes you can talk, yes you can discuss theology, history, church, etc. but you can't evoke the spirit through the internet. if you could God would have struck me down for not claiming Jesus when i didn't forward the 150 emails to my 5 friends for good luck and 10 friends for eternal salvation.

return of the wannabe-jedi!

in the on going saga between hfumc youth and hermitage youth. the wannabe-jedi showed up at hfumc for noonday services on the most holy of days, Good Friday. we as a welcoming church brought his homeless looking butt into our hospitality only to find out later that his band of cronies had been trashing our sacred space that is our youth lounge. much to the dismay of our custodian who is quoted as saying "i worry about a church that let's their kids do things like this."

i don't worry about the youth for doing this evil act. however, i do worry that a "minister" of the faith would take such a holy day to be so evil. and to be so conniving to come into our house of worship too! now, that kind of disrespect i worry about.

to the youth of hermitage i say, thank you for the cool toy that you created in our youth room, it was fun to play with. but, be ware.. for this new leader of yours has said of me that my youth are "misguided by a charismatic yet renegade youth leader." you know me, i was with you and showed you the way of peace. you must see that and not follow down this dark path lead by some wannabe-jedi!

where is...?

hey, where is dan gates? sometime last week i noticed that he is gone from the mbr and took down his blog "rekindling methodism." we didn't agree on much, but i respected and read his point of view. anyone know?

left field right field?

this seems to have come from left field, or is it right field? can you really attack "peacekeeping?"

up and rolling

making progress with our new youth website. it's been quite a journey with the web empowered church/typo3 content management system. but now that i've gotten the hang of it i'm really enjoying it. i gave up trying to the manual upload. caught up with my new tech support person sarah @ www.abundantmedia.com and she got me rolling along setting up the system for me. if anyone is looking for a kickin website and is willing to put in some time for the learning curve then get on board.

walk through holy week

i wanted to spend time this week walking though holy week scriptures and taking time to reflect on them. luckily for me and my busy week jonathon is sharing for us all.
they stormed the city on a sunday : the temple : the trap : the let down :

gospel of judas by others

i haven't payed too much attention, and certainly given little energy, to the controversy of the discovery and release of "the gospel of judas." however, i will direct those of my readers who are not familiar with Dr. Ben Witherington III to his blog where he has quite a bit of commentary going.

: part one : part two : npr discussion :

we have a home

sometime yesterday we had a counter offer to our contract offer, of course it was a bit more on the money, but not much and within our 'walk away.' so decided to accept said counter offer. they are happy, we are happy & will be moving into our new home at the end of may.

it's a historic home in old hickory village. not that close to downtown, but it's right in the middle of erin and mine's work. it's a cute neighborhood with many of the houses flipping over and getting younger. so we're excited to be there.

is it bad to have a long term relationship with the rebound chick?

more on the tornados

these pics were taken by one of our church staff people who's neighborhoods was hit. their house sustained some major damage, but nothing to what the neighborhood took. my buddy tyler up at fumc in gallatin lives next to the woodhaven subdivision which is the hardest hit area and he says that it is amazing the security he has to go through to get home at night. the tennessean has devoted quite a bit of space to chronicling the recovery efforts.  

the rebound chick

after a break up boys generally find what is coined the "rebound chick." in dealing with our recent breakup, erin & i mentioned that maybe we could romance this other home we checked out. it had some people courting it, but apparently (after we had our realtor go fishing for information) the house wasn't very interested in those people. so we've jumped into another house relationship, which i've coined as "the rebound chick."

this house is in much better shape, a little bit bigger, less of a yard & it will need a fence. but unlike the other one, we could move in immediately without issue. we'll be excited to see how this relationship pans out.

job description whoas?

i have an intern this summer for the first time ever helping me out. i've got to devise for him a job description. looking over this list of responsibilities for the youth minister, thanks to ian, i'm not sure what i should write into an interns description.

• Child Psychologist
• Theologian
• Taxi Driver
• Chef
• Negotiator
• Bouncer
• Preacher
• Trainer
• Volunteer Recruitment Officer
• A DIY Construction Expert
• A Doctor/Nurse and Ambulance Driver
• Counsellor
• Entertainer
• Teacher
• An Assembly Taker
• An Artist
• A Computer Expert
• An SMS Texter
• Fashion Guru
• A Musician
• A Committee Chair
• Film Critic
• Referee
• Caretaker
• PA and Sound System Consultant
• Housemaid
• Health and Safety/Risk Assessment and Child Protection Adviser
• Holiday Rep. and Tour Organiser!!

any ideas or add in's?

breaking up is hard to do

erin and i have been house hunting for quite some time now. first it was trying to figure out what part of the area to live in. then money, then house searching. last week we spent time looking at this historic home in old hickory village which fit the price range we were comfortable with yet had some fixing up to do, which was fun to imagine doing. we put in a contract, counter offered, and counter to the counter offer. we talked with the home owner and he seemed okay with the counter to the counter offer, but alas, he wanted more money and we are now walking away. so sad. what is funny is that it feels like i'm going through a break up process. luckily there are more fish in the sea.

muppet matrix

if you can think muppets meeting the matrix, then you'll love this, it's awesome.

:: thanx bob carlton ::

the face of...

eric has some funny posts from playing with a face recognizer. he really does look like liv tyler. i can see how i look like julio iglesias, but jessica alba? but who does jonathon look like?

a day with tornados

today our area was hit by numerous tornados. some 8 people have died as a result of the storms, possibly more. hidden in this cloud i believe is one of the major tornados. after watching this cloud formation daniel (our facilities guy, and a volunteer firefighter/emt) had his radio go off with reports of damaged cars and mass casualty.

i knew it was really bad when metro urban search and rescue's tracktor trailer's rolled by, then seeing franklin's rescue units (which is some one hour drive away) show up reinforced that too.

note: this is my church on the right in hendersonville. what you are looking at is the town of gallatin or over the shoney's is the west side of hendersonville which also got hit.

updates: as we catch up with friends we find more and more stories of survival, thank God, they are survival stories. one friend was caught in his car, when he saw one of the tornado's he drove towards a building with the intent on taking cover there. before he could get to the building his car was picked up and tossed. when he got out of his car he saw the building he was heading for and it had been completely flattened.

:: more pictures and video ::

prayer station gone bad

not all my prayer station ideas turn out that well. there was that time that burning our confessions created quite the fire... that's another story for another time. this one mess up isn't quite as dramatic, but it certainly didn't hit the mark as imagined.

to set up the idea. we are walking through Exodus with the Israelites. the particular scriptures we were at were where God was visiting Mount Sinai in/as a cloud. soooooo, i had this dream. i pitched one of my tents in the choir loft as a representation of the Israelites (which is in the scriptures) and then created a 'mountain' above the tent. the creative element was to use a cooler with fabric to help make the 'mountain.' going even further i picked up some dry ice to mix up with some water and get a really great visual to bring out the prayer station... sounds great doesn't it?

too bad it didn't turn out that great. the smoke trickled out of the cooler for about 3 minutes and then disappeared. i had one of the youth go up the the 'mountain' to shake it and see if 'God' would come back, but apparently we put too much dry ice into the cooler that it froze much of the water we had put in the cooler. which was interesting as we filled almost half the cooler. we added more water and some smoke began again, but it quickly disappeared again.

i still like the idea of the illustration for a prayer station, but i think i'll use less of the dry ice, more water and a fan to help circulate the smoke. chalk this one up to learning curve

science proves prayer doesn't help

cnn reports on a study that was done to see if prayer helped in the recovery of those people who were having heart bypass surgery.

Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School and other scientists tested the effect of having three Christian groups pray for particular patients, starting the night before surgery and continuing for two weeks. The volunteers prayed for "a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications" for specific patients, for whom they were given the first name and first initial of the last name.

what concerns me here is not that science proved anything or not. they don't prove that God exists or doesn't exist. just that having a control group of people pray for some surgery patients yielded no measurable results. last i knew miracles, courage, peace, rest, comfort, etc were not measurable. what concerns me is why. why does science feel the need to do such a study?

The study looked for any complications within 30 days of the surgery. Results showed no effect of prayer on complication-free recovery. But 59 percent of the patients who knew they were being prayed for developed a complication, versus 52 percent of those who were told it was just a possibility.

i saw an interview of Rabbi Harold Kushner and he had said that this was the greatest favor science could do for God as he's not a spiritual santa claus but one who gives out the things we feel we need to move through troubled times. his hope, i suppose is that this might actually help people to understand prayers of intercession more appropriately.

Dr. Harold G. Koenig, director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at the Duke University Medical Center, who did not take part in the study, said the results did not surprise him.

"There are no scientific grounds to expect a result and there are no real theological grounds to expect a result either," he said.

Science, he said, "is not designed to study the supernatural."

i'm curious to see what the next scientific experiment to prove or disprove a life of faith. times like these too i am grateful for thought like that of radical orthodoxy which brings theology as the primary study above all others, science included.

:: more articles ::

rabbit space

over on beth's blog john said he doesn't care to do myspace because "I am not a 14-year old girl interested in gabbing about the cute guys at school."

well john, you don't have to talk about cute guys.. how bout some rabbit talk?

• Bunny's are Awesome
• Rabbits Incorporated

y do u kare?

so my 'refusal' to capitalize has been taken to task by greg & picked up on the wesley daily. sorry man! get over it. i don't claim to write for academia, the church, or some media. these are my thoughts and expressions and maybe for some reason i feel so simple about them that i keep them in small caps, with the only exceptions references to God, Saints, and sometimes various groups that i wish to show respect. i've been doing this for awhile, but apparently i pushed a nerve with you just recently that you've taken me to task.. why don't you talk on that

calling all nashville

i received an email today asking for volunteer help for the upcoming country music marathon. i've shared how i think this is by far the best day in nashville each year. yes, you have to get up early in the morning but it's so worth it. get involved if you are not running, you'll get caught up with the fun cheering on runners of all types, seeing the varied personalities in the way people dress. it's awesome!

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!! We are in need of volunteers at the Start Line for the 7th annual Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon... Volunteer at the START LINE, and come be a part of Nashville's growing tradition!! The 7th annual Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon will take place on Saturday, April 29, 2006. With the event's popularity continuing to grow, we are anticipating 23,000 runners to participate, and a total of 4,000 volunteers will be needed to successfully stage the event. The event not only gives Nashville positive national exposure, but it also raises millions of dollars for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through its Team In Training program. For their time and effort, every volunteer will receive a Race Crew T-shirt, goodie bag and free ticket to the Phil Vassar and the three finalists from Nashville Star post-race concert to be held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center on Saturday, April 29, 2006. In addition, each volunteer's name will be entered into the Race Crew Appreciation Drawing with a chance to win two round-trip tickets to any Southwest Airlines destination AND a two-night stay at a selected partner hotel. This is a great volunteer experience and a good way to give back to the community. We are confident that everyone will enjoy his or her volunteer experience. If your group is interested in volunteering, simply
· Click this link
· Fill out the contact information for each person
· Scroll to Saturday, April 29
· Select your desired position under the "Start Line" location
· Scroll to "Group Volunteers" and type in your group name
· Read over the waiver and check the "agree" box at the end of the application
You will then be contacted with details regarding your specific volunteer area. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at 743-3128 and/or Ashley Jordan at 743-3125.
We are looking forward to the 7th Annual Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon and hope you will be a part of it!
Thank you,

i'm bummed i cannot be there for the full day with a church event scheduled, but i'm hoping to catch up on some of the morning action.

sacraments according to bono

the episcopal church in it's progressive nature is changing the book of common prayer to a new hymnody for their eucharist, a u2 eucharist. okay, they are not changing the bcp, but in some special services they've ditched the suggested hymns for the eucharist for u2 songs.

The Irish rock band's songs and lyrics are being used by the Episcopal Church in "U2 Eucharists" as a means of exploring the Christian faith in the context of Bono's social activism, reports the Scotsman newspaper.

The newspaper reports that in parishes from California to Maine, worshippers are flocking to hear U2 classics such as Beautiful Day, Pride and Peace on Earth rolled into a service of prayer.

The U2 Eucharist was devised by the Rev Paige Blair, a parish priest in York Harbor, Maine, and it has since spread through word-of-mouth and on clerical websites.
...
While U2 songs are not yet listed in the Episcopal Church's authorised hymnal, Ms Blair believes it is only a matter of time. She said: "I seriously think the day will come. There's a gift they have in speaking to the human soul."

:: full article ekkelsia :: pittsburgh channel ::

competitive youth ministry model: revisited

with the news of a youth pastor kicking a kid many raised their voices saying "he deserves whatever he gets!" i however say, take the perspective of the youth pastor. as a youth pastor i've been abuse many times by kids and have wanted to lash out. i'm glad there is balanced journalism to bring to light the abuse of the local youth pastor. we are a voice that is always pushed to the top floors or balcony of the church, never to be truly listened too.

Cruelty to youth pastors has always been a quiet part of church life, under the guise of job preparation and "training a servant's heart," but some youth pastors are speaking out and saying the hazing has gone too far.
    One youth pastor in Kentucky was forced to cold call local youths and invite them to "Awesome 1:22" meetings from a small storage area full of moldy Chick tracts. He developed allergies and "ministry malaise."

:: thanx john c ::

the agencies weigh in on "Y-Guy"

"Young People's Ministries has been saddened by the antics of two of our top area youth ministers and the mistreatment of Y-Guy.  Y-Guy is a symbol of hope and faith of the youth of the United Methodist Church all over the world and this situation must not be tolorated nor taken lightly." says Jay Clark, Manager of Faith Formation and Leadership Development with Youth of the Division on Ministry with Young People of the United Methodist Church.  "I believe in the youth of both of these churches- I also believe Y-Guy will unite these groups in a way that has not been seen before.  Revenge is not the answer!"  In related news, reports have surfaced that the United Methodist General Conference will look at a new addition to their Book of Discipline on the mistreatment of Y-Guy in May of 2008.

article submitted by jay clark

sunday photoblog: meet with me