must read

by and about our own Mary Alice Birdwhistell

http://www.academyofpreachers.net/2011/02/23/my-journey-as-a-prissy-preacher/

famous quote

I'm famous...or something...



http://michellemalkin.com/2011/01/26/obamas-sputter-nik-moment-cash-for-education-clunkers/



While on Trenton's City Council, I presided over a case within the Trenton Board of Education. Some students at an alternative school received grades made up out of thin air. Literally, some administrators gave students grades. A teacher blew the whistle on this.



That teacher, a recipient of New Jersey's History Teacher of the Year, was forced into retirement while the administrators were on paid suspension for over a year. The administrators were verbally admonished but remain on the payroll, either through active duty of full pensions. The Superintendent under whose nose this took place left before this mess came to light fled the state, refused to admit testimony to the Council and is on faculty at an Ivy League school. The students who were affected by this did not graduate on time and most did not therefore attend college.



It was around this subject that filmmakers of the documentary The Cartel asked me to speak, which led to my quote, now picked up by a very conservative commentator.



My comment certainly applies to Trenton public schools. WISD seems of a different order--for which I give thanks.

green sheets

Every year, Truett students receiving scholarship aid from the BGCT have to get a green form signed by a pastor acknowledging that they are of good character and have participated in the life of that church. It's good accountability.





Last year about this time I was inundated with these green forms coming at me like crazy. Most came after Worship while others were dropped off at the church. Some of the names I knew; some of the faces I knew. Some I didn't. Being caught unaware, I signed them all trusting the integrity of my signature to the integrity of the requestor.





Not this year. This year, those that want my James H. Coston will have to fill out an application for it. I had one request come to me via email; a student was graciously going to drop it off at the office and pick it up later. I replied informing him of the new way of doing this business and even attached an application. That was some days ago and I have heard nothing since.





Will this reduce the frequency of the signatures? That's not the point, but probably. The point is that if scholarship students make a commitment to participate in the life of a local congregation, they must live up to that. This small measure of accountability is meant to affirm that.





The application is reproduced below:

Calvary-Truett Scholarship Attestation Form

Spring 2011

Name:

Address:

When did you start your work at Truett?

Are you a member of Calvary?

If not, where is your church membership?

When did you begin attending Calvary?

Briefly describe all aspects of your involvement in Calvary’s worship and work.

Please list two Calvary member that may serve as references for your participation at Calvary.

1.

2.

Please fill out and return to the office in person or send to Becky Olson (bolson@cbcwaco.com).

missions

An interesting, and thorough, website dedicated to missional churches:



http://www.gcpn.org/missional_formation.html

braddock, pa and sanger-heights

A great read from the New York Times magazine:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/magazine/13Fetterman-t.html?_r=2

worship conversation #1

Below you may find notes I took from Calvary's first congregational conversation on worship, led by Emily Snider and Terry York. Some folks were frustrated that there wasn't more 'conversation.' We need to remember that, though some of us have had these discussions heretofore, not all Calvarians have spent time diving into the what and why of worship. Paramount to our ongoing conversation is the desire and willingness to listen to one another. Everyone will have their say; but as much as we speak, we will spend the majority of time hearing.

One note about the notes, two community needs interrupted my participation. Those places are indicated within the notes.

1/30/11 Worship Conversation #1

Dr. Terry York led.

To facilitate discussion of worship, we need a common vocabulary and common concepts. He has led these conversations for other churches; he speaks and then leaves.

A generation ago, worship and preaching were synonymous. Now it’s worship and music. Task now is to fit preaching into worship.

Exodus 20.1-4 tells Israel to worship. Worship is like a kernel that has all kinds of expectations and agendas; the kernel becomes wrapped in papier-mâché until it becomes almost unrecognizable. Worship unites but agendas separate. It’s hard to peel away the papier-mache to get back to the kernel. Life and work of church is energized by authentic worship.

John 4.23-24. Sometimes we lose control and that conflicts with agenda. Scripture does not detail how to worship. Psalm 66 says to make a joyful noise. Habakkuk 2.20 says enter into the Lord in silence. Worship happens in midst of dynamic tensions: noise/silence; individual/corporate; entering God’s presence for worship/God with us always.

Worship is hard to define. We can usually describe it but we cannot define it. There are things seen as rivals, seeking pre-eminence with God on Sunday: worship & evangelism, worship & church growth, worship & anything else. We aren’t equipped to talk about this in the midst of church.

What is worship to accomplish? Accomplishment itself has red flags. Sunday mornings seem good place/time to display ministry agenda. Where must agendas stay so that we worship no other gods but God in spirit and truth.

Worship is first work of the Church. Worship & puts something on par with Worship. Marva Dawn says don’t break the back of worship [by putting other agendas on it].

TY talked about a monastery in California where the monks would share everything gratis except Communion. They were not intending to be exclusive.

[At this point I missed about two minutes as we had someone needing assistance at the side door.]

Church can’t be all things to all people. What is our identity? What is our giftedness so we can act on that? Goal is to be Christ-like, not church-like. Body of Christ has position and focus and can be repositioned and refocused every Sunday, unless agendas get in the way.

Some common worship vocabulary: traditional, contemporary, and blended.

[At this point, Mallory and I missed about 10 minutes as we had another community member arrive needing assistance.]

There is typically , , , and in a worship service. Preaching is to take deeper into the Gospel. Gospel points arrows of worship into same direction.

How do we worship and confess or deal with a specific issue? Do those worship & bow before the throne or are they focal points? We can’t cover it all on a given Sunday.

When worship works, it is connected to all of life.

How does church find its voice? Start calm conversation and peel papier-mache that is not worship.

Music can move us beyond words. Preferences does not mean unreconciled voice. Preference does not equate to capacity to hear God or to worship God before all other gods. Taste and preference matters. Keep things in perspective. Help each other live the question.

TY does not like blended worship [he was quite emphatic on this point].

Next conversation will take place on February 27.

china & the lariat

From Agnes Tang:
http://baylorlariat.com/2011/02/01/1879/

congregational health

This from Kay Dunlap [thanks Kay!]: http://columbiapartnership.typepad.com/the_columbia_partnership/2011/02/who-or-what-is-driving-this-congregation.html

There are a number of tie-ins to Calvary. Perhaps most pertinent concerns our Mission Plan and how serious we are about living up to it.