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I love Bill Nighy

Ministry on Spec

Contractors build on spec all the time. They invest time and money into a home, planning that they will eventually turn a profit when the house sells.

Perhaps this will the new model for re-building churches that have experienced decline.

It's worked at Pulaski Heights Presbyterian Church in Little Rock. Not being able to call a full-time pastor several years ago, they called a well-qualified pastor who came in at well below the "going rate" because he had family reasons for wanting to be in Little Rock. Three years later, the leadership of this skilled pastor has brought the church to a place where they can install him as a full-time pastor.

I have taken another under-funded position at First Pres in Argenta, believing that this is the right time for this congregation to be re-born. The idea of it going under without having a chance to give it one last try with a regular (if not full-time) pastor was just not acceptable. Plus, I have a husband with an income.

Now our denomination has halted their program for church transformation--meaning aid for existing churches trying to make a comeback. So other than local Presbytery money, there will be no place for churches who can no longer afford a pastor to get financial assistance. It's a chicken and egg issue. How can a church transform without a pastor and how can a church in need of transformation afford a pastor? So maybe the Spec Pastor is the answer.

But how many pastors are out there who can actually afford or even want to work "on spec"? Unlike the contractor, you never actually recoup your initial investment (you don't get back pay). The best you can hope for is that one day, the church will be able to sustain a full-time pastor. Most pastors come out of seminary owing money on school loans. Others are supporting a family on a single salary. The potential spec pastor population isn't nearly large enough to serve those churches who do indeed have the potential to make a come back.

Perhaps that could be a new program for our denomination. To match churches who seem to have a chance to be re-born--meaning the potential to be self-sustaining in a few years if only they could afford a full-time pastor--with pastors who have the kind of entrepreneurial spirit to help bring a church back to life. And then supplement the pastor's salary on a descending level over a period of three-to-five years. Not only might it serve to bring churches back to life, it would also demonstrate our denomination's appreciation of our pastors' skills and our churches' witness.

Lenten Discipline

This year, I decided to adopt my friend Jon Arnold's "invention" of disposing of a bag of stuff each day of Lent. 40 bags of stuff in 40 days. It can be stuff to be thrown away, recycled, donated or gifted to friends. These are plastic grocery sack-size bags--not garbage bags. I suppose if you have a serious hoarding problem, the garbage bag might be in order. But for folks like me, who are merely disorganized, a grocery bag is do-able and helpful.

Thus far, I've gathered a bag of trash (expired medicines, make-up and sunscreens, along with empty bottles of lotions and potions) from the bathroom, a bag of books, a bag of linens, a bag of magazines (to be recycled) and a bag of kitchen stuff.

My daughter wanted to know what my bags have to do with church and God. I reminded her how much time I spend looking for things and how stressed out I get when I can't find things. "Do you think that's really how God wants me to spend my time? Don't you think God has better plans for me? And that maybe if I spend less time looking for stuff, I could spend more time doing the things God would like for me to do." She seemed down with that. Although I think she doubts that simply removing 40 bags of stuff from the house will keep me from loosing track of things.

Time will tell. Hope everyone is having a transformative Lent.

Polity Exhausts Me

Boy, I've really let this whole blog thing slide, huh?

Just got back from a two-day Presbytery meeting and am really worn out. I try really hard to get it, but I just don't.

We talk about change and revitalization in our churches, but when we gather as a Presbytery, we worship like it's 1952. Wouldn't such gatherings be a great time to model new and creative worship experiences? But no. That's not what we do.

And at a time when so many of our smaller churches could really benefit (and potentially grow) from having a full-time pastor, we boast about not tapping into more than 5% of our endowment in order to make the budget, rather than accessing some money to give struggling churches a boost or to plant new churches. And if you're not big on new and growing churches, don't we have some responsibility to help those in need during these tough economic times? Shouldn't we pull out a little more in this particular year to help the least of these? What exactly are we saving all that money for? Is that really good stewardship? Have we not all read the parable of the talents?

And I'm not even understanding the rationale behind what we do spend our money on. Maumelle, Arkansas is a booming community and we still don't have a Presbyterian presence there. For years, several folks have been trying to get an NCD out in Ferndale and were shut down. Now the Methodists are tearing it up just down the road from our Presbyterian camp. Yet, everyone seems very excited about a new church development in Northwest Arkansas targeted to the Hispanic population. If I understood the report today, it began in 2006 and they now have 30 members. Is that really what we're shooting for? Four years and 30 people? I feel like I'm just missing something.

I am, however, a big fan of our new moderator, Debbi Freeman and our new General Presbyter, Bill Galbraith. I really want to be hopeful about our denomination, but I'm having a hard time getting there right now.

What Three Women Can Tell Us

Three women have owned the pop culture media coverage over the past six months--Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Sandra Bullock.

Beyonce and Swift forged a connection at the MTV video awards after that now-famous incident in which Kanye West stormed the stage during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech and announced that Beyonce had "the best video of all time." Later, Beyonce turned over her acceptance speech time to Taylor. The Grammy awards were just a back-and-forth between the two women. The song of the year was the much-imitated and spoofed "Put a Ring on It". My daughter's spring dance recital routine is choreographed to the version of that song that the "Chipettes" recorded. Swift's songs are all about what you might think songs written by teenager would be about--heartbreak and young love. I think her song Fifteen should be required listening for every girl in America before she enters high school.

Bullock has rocked the world of every cinema snob in America, as her portrayal of an evangelical Christian mom in "The Blindside" has won her the Golden Globe, the SAG award and an Oscar nomination. The movie is even up for a Best Picture Oscar.

All three of these women have reputations for being nice people who are easy to work with and gracious to those around them. They don't throw tantrums. They all appear to be a little overwhelmed by the attention and grateful for the success they enjoy. The songs of Beyonce and Swift tell stories--about hearts broken, young love, strong women and getting even. We like these songs because we've lived them. They speak to us. And they are catchy and easy to sing. "The Blindside" sucks us all into the true story of a woman and family who changed the life of a young man. It encourages us to believe that we, too, can make a difference. That we, too, have to power to change lives.

What the soaring popularity of these three women and their stories tells me as a pastor is that now is not the time to preach sermons on the doctrine of predestination or the theology of atonement. Now is the time to tell stories. Those stories from the Bible that touch is because we realize that the people in them are like us. They are faithful, but flawed, people. We like these stories because we think that if God could use them, perhaps God could use us as well.

Now is not the time to plan a massive Bach Cantata for Easter, but to sing the songs that those who always been churched have known forever and to teach new songs that are easy to sing and to understand for those who have only recently joined the party. This is not a "dumbing down" of the Gospel. I really dislike that term. How can you dumb down the message that God loves us? It's not all that complicated to begin with, although many people work very hard to make it seem that way.

The last year has been a difficult one for many people in our country. Good people who tell stories that seem like our stories are our champions. We have chosen heroes who look like us and make us believe we might be able to take part in saving the world as well. If that can't clue us in on how to be the church at this particular place in time, then we just aren't paying attention.

Are Your Kids Signed up for Camp?