Hit the Back Button to Move Fwd by Gavin Richardson

poem by Rainer Maria Rilke

You who know, and whose vast knowing
is born of poverty, abundance of poverty --

make it so the poor are no longer
despised and thrown away.

Look at them standing about --
like wildflowers, which have nowhere else to grow.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

since I returned home from missions stuff in the end of june and my change of work in july i have lost a bit of touch with the homeless folks i was beginning to know in tent city. this poem which was sent to my by a friend has me thinking of those folks & the plight of homelessness in our culture.

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the Brooks is up late playing & sporting a Mohawk. I blame his mother for allowing delinquency emerge this early

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doing a little work for the family business

I'm taking the next few days to help out at our family business, All American Pest Control. so if you want to have a chat give us a shout http://allamericanpestcontrol.com

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introducing the Mr & Mrs Boyter (and a few groomsmen)

Really excited to be a part of Andrea & Justin's wedding. They are a lovely couple and I can't imagine anything but good things for them & their future.

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when this is your second shot into a par 5 life can't be all that bad

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this rocks! a bit disturbing but it rocks!

some of the kids found the stand up Gavin and positioned him to greet everyone. too funny, way cute & a neat moment for me. thanks to my misfits, you know who you are. a definite smile on my face here

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in support of a tent city and homeless #savetentcity

today i ran into Quita, asking her "you have a few papers for me?" and she responded with a sigh and a "yes, you know what these are all about?" myself along with my buddy jason had a nice chat with her about her travels since being displaced from tent city during the flood. she had her housing voucher paperwork and said more than a few times "it's not my permanent solution." we hugged and exchanged our pleasantries and went along our ways.

in the last year and a half God has moved me around some people that brought me in touch with this community of people i was aware of but never knew. note: as a church staff person it is rather interesting that it is hard to be with people who have no home. many times they carry with them little value to the church, except a 'mission' or 'outreach' cause. many times, those are charitable in nature and hurt an eventual goal of getting folks off the streets.

as i have been finding my way these last few months and meeting folks in the homeless community i've given my support; in small acts, prayers, needed resources, and just being to the folks at "tent city."

i've done this for a reason. i believe in a process and a place. there needs to be a place that people can land when all the bottoms fall out. if the world falls out from under me i have back ups and places to go. we are richly blessed in that manner. but many do not have those options. so there is a need for a place to land.

but that place isn't the only need. there needs to be a process and the people to help getting folks back to where they want to be. as i've been around the tent city community i believe and am seeing the people who have gotten involved in bridging relationships and helping folks pick themselves up and get back into the life they dream for themselves.

homelessness is complex and this doesn't address all the needs, but a place for folks to build from is, and needs to be, an option. so that is why i support a tent city

the fundamental problem with mixing business and church

my recent & other staff's termination at my church has come as a shock to many in our church community. in listening and talking to many (congregation members and fellow staff members) i kept hearing sayings like "this felt like a business decision" or "i'd expect this in a business." it is a common saying in these scenarios and to me it is totally expected.

the methodist church is based around its committee structures and the people who make up the decision makers are laity giving their time in ministry and not ministry professionals by any mark. they are business people.. it is what they know.

as i see it though, there is a fundamental issue with bringing business practices into the church.

1. the people in your church are your consumers
2. the people in your church are your investors
3. the people in your church are your workers/employees

think about it... that cycle doesn't work in a business plan, why do we think it'd work in church?

looking at the people in your church this way has to say that a pure business practice doesn't work. yes, business practices can translate and help, but just cutting and pasting into any/many instance and some decisions are heading down a slippery slope & a bad response.

"but the church is a business!.." true in many ways, but people want it & need it to be different. i think Christ would want it that way as well.

i don't have a great solution at the moment to move away from sayings like this, but i share this little spot light on where a root problem lies so that some of you with more intelligent minds can turn this around as well.

the boy figured out he loves to swim. now he needs to learn to swim.

Sent from my iPhone.. Fancy I know
www.gavoweb.com
www.twitter.com/gavoweb

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"As I Grow Older" : on with my dream

recently in my change of life i wandered to a different part of the book store, leaving the religion section behind this time. i bought a poetry collection of langston hughes. hughes i remember from my college studies as he was one writer that "i got".. (even though i'm not black or at any level oppressed.) i loved his jazz feel to his poetry & never felt it was trying to impress me with overthought just honest reflection and emotion.. maybe i'm feeling down now and a bit beaten so it works for me. today i'm sharing this poem from hughes call "as i grow older." i know contextually we're not in the same place, but it feels the same.. that's the beauty of art.

As I Grow Older 

It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun--
My dream.
And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.
Rose until it touched the sky--
The wall.
Shadow.
I am black.
I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my dream before me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the shadow.
My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun!

two letters : one result

two letters went out to our church community today. first one from me

Dear HFUMC Youth Community,

In Deuteronomy there is a really dynamic scene where Moses who has led the Isrealites through the wilderness since the Exodus exclaims that he is no longer directed to lead the tribe. He speaks to his apprentice Joshua and tells him that it is he that God wishes to lead the tribe into the promised land.

It is with that scripture in mind and a very heavy heart that I write this note to share with you that my employment at HFUMC as your youth pastor will end effective immediately. With the direction of the church my gifts and talents are not the match they once were for the ministries of the church as an employee. As tough as this is to accept, Erin & I are at peace with this and hope you find that as well. We plan to be at church on Sunday, but will not be leading any activities as we begin to identify who we are within the church community in our new roles.

Know that I love you all, have loved being in ministry, a part of your families, and seeing us all grow together. It has been my honor to be a part of your last five years. As we redefine who our family is in the midst of the church we hope that those relationships stay the same even though the nature of what brought us together has changed.

I don't know who your Joshua is but I am praying for that person and the 'unique community' that I know you to be.

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You
May the Lord Make His Face Shine Upon You & Be Gracious Unto You
May the Lord turn His Face upon You & give us peace.

Shalom
-gav

 

&:~)

second one came from our staff parish

After much thoughtful prayer and deliberation, your Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) concluded that the final necessary element in the staff reorganization was an overhaul of the youth programs of our church. Therefore, effective immediately, the positions of Director of Youth Ministries and Director of the New World Generation Choir are open. Searches will be launched to fill both positions. In the interim, Associate Pastor Brad Holliman will assume leadership of the youth division, assisted by the adult leaders and volunteers already engaged in youth ministry at HFUMC.

All previously scheduled Youth programs and activities are expected to go on as planned. If you would like to help with these programs as a leader, chaperone or driver, please contact Brad Holliman.  Any changes to the calendar will be communicated via e-mail, Facebook or the Corner website, so check in before finalizing your plans.

Our prayers go with Gavin Richardson and Tiffany DePriest, and we thank them for their contributions to our church and its ministries. Please watch the newsletter and other church communications for more information about the searches in the next few weeks.

The Staff Parish Team

moving on...

Testing out my VBS costume

See our updates at http://hfumcvbs.posterous.com

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the boy taking on his first cantaloupe

We are exploring the world of foods with Brooks. Yesterday was cantaloupe day... Seems rather successful.

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Growth in Africa outpaces decline in U.S.

NEW YORK (UMNS) — The 2010 State of the Church Report tells United Methodists something they are already painfully aware of — U.S. membership is continuing its long decline even as the denomination expands internationally. In the decade between 1998 and 2008, overall membership grew by 14 percent for those who come into membership by profession of faith and 27 percent for baptized members. At the end of 2008, the church had approximately 11 million professing members and an additional 2.5 million baptized members in Africa, Europe, the United States and the Philippines. But U.S.membership has declined every year since The United Methodist Church was formed in 1968 and dropped by nearly 590,000 between 1998 and 2008.

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