Happy Halloween

So my husband went with some of the other neighborhood dads to take the kids trick-or-treating while I stayed home to dole out the candy. Our neighborhood is a popular destination for Halloween. We have sidewalks and well-lit streets, so it's a great place to bring your kids. We only had a handful this year with no costumes, the rest were fun to see--until we ran out of candy. Maddie and a friend came back to our house to check out their stash. I was disappointed that Junior Mints and York Peppermint Patties did not make a showing in my daughter's treat bag this year. I always get those since she does not like mint flavored anything.

While I was handing out candy, I was listening to last week's "This American Life" from NPR via podcast, and I've never been so scared in my life. The first part of the program was about the "hell house" that is run every October by a church in Cedar Hill, Texas. I was beyond appalled and am pretty sure I'm going to have nightmares about it tonight. While I would never claim to be a Biblical scholar, I did go to seminary, and I'm pretty sure that Jesus never tried to frighten anyone into following him.

So, in spite of the fact that the roof leaks and the HVAC unit in the sanctuary is out and money is short, I'm more determined than ever to make First Pres in downtown NLR work. Not only do we need to reach people who have never had a church, we need to reach people who have been scarred by places like Cedar Hill.

But Halloween or not, this is the best night of the year. We get an extra hour of sleep. Don't forget to fall back. Wonder how many people will show up early for church tomorrow.

At Least a Wall Didn't Collapse

We made it just in time. At the church, there has been water bouncing off an awning and onto a window (with close to 100-year-old panes) and dripping down into the wall. Apparently there has been concern for awhile that the windows might break because of this water damage, but little did they know that the wall could have collapsed all together. After removing the ancient windows (none broken so far!), the able crew, under the direction of master carpenter David Murray, dug out enough rotted wood to fill the back of a pick-up truck. At one point, some brick from the exterior of the building crumbled and fell on one of the workers, who was, mercifully, uninjured. At some point, we need to get storm windows put on the outside to protect this antique glass, but that will have to come later.





If it is possible that one can spend too much time thinking about worship, I have done it this week. Between planning for Sunday worship and preparing worship leader at a conference in about a week-and-a-half, I am up to my ears in liturgy and power point presentations. I've got both my guitars out (tuned to different keys), a stack of books piled high next to my favorite chair and long shopping list of stuff I need to purchase (including gluten free bread) before next Sunday. I may be all out of creative thoughts until at least the beginning of next year.

I am a little worn out from the ups and downs of new church development. Presbytery may say it's a redevelopment, but it's really a new church in an old building. There is no infrastructure. No computer. No printer. A very worn out copier. No mailing list. No pledge drive in at least three years. No long distance service on the phone. There is wireless internet and very cool people (artists and musicians) who rent space at the church. And an ever-growing pool of people who are potential church members. The only indication that it is not a new church is one of our members who refuses to wear a name tag because she's been a member of the church for 65 years and everyone should know her name. Other than that, it's pretty much a clean slate.


This is the banner at the top of the argentanews.com blog. Our second annual spaghetti supper is coming up. This is the kind of great press you get in a community full of artists.

Fall Fun Weekend

Fun weekend of fall festivals and pumpkin carving parties. Rained all week last week and looks to do the same this week, but the weekend was gorgeous. Because I have way more to do than I can say grace over, I decided to try a new recipe. I made this fabulous pumpkin fudge that is my new favorite thing. So I took it all to the pumpkin carving party on a paper plate and left it! It is a dangerous thing indeed.

Am up to my ears in worship! Between the new church and being worship leader for a conference that is coming up, I've got songs and prayers and sermons and poems filling up and spilling out of my brain. After church was over yesterday, I declared a worship-free day just to try and clear my head a little.

Speaking of worship, I have to poke just a little fun at this. A friend of mine goes to Church at Rock Creek, and I just found out that they offer an express worship service for people who can only spare 30 minutes a week for church. You sing two songs, have a prayer and get a shortened version of the sermon. It's like the Reader's Digest version of church. I know it's one of the biggest churches in town, so they're clearly doing something right, but I'm still going to laugh about the Express Worship.

Just an update on the Ms. Tatum (who has a number of names that she uses). She showed up during worship on Sunday wanting to talk to the pastor. She's done this at Grace before and I think the plan is to get money from church members who just don't want her disrupting the service. Our folks weren't biting and told her she could wait for the pastor. When service was finished, she was gone. She did, however, call today and our church secretary passed along her number to me. She used a completely different name this time. A new one I had not heard before. As she started in on her tale of woe, I stopped her and told her that I simply didn't believe her stories and we would not be helping her with money. I expected to be yelled and/or cursed at, but she just said, "Alright then." And hung up. If only I had done that years ago!

Busy Week Expanded

I have discovered that Monday house chores are much less dreary when I download the weekend's editions of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" and "The News from Lake Wobegon" on my I-pod. They are free podcasts, so I have it set up to automatically download every week. It gives me about an hour-and-a-half of stuff to listen to while working around the house. Then I switch over to music.

When you need to increase worship attendance weekly in order to get a church back up and running, there is a bit of pressure on the sermonizing. In a normal church setting, one can expect that the preacher will have off Sundays or some sermons that are better than others. But when you really need everyone who comes for the first time to want to come back again, and you really don't have a music program, and you're worshipping in a fellowship hall, you better have a really killer sermon...every time. But when I start to feel the pressure, I remind myself that I really do believe that God has plans for this church in this community at this time and that it really isn't all on me.

My best news this week was a response from someone I had invited to church. A former camper of mine told me he'll be out of town this week, but relayed that when he told a friend that I was trying to get him back in church, the friend said that he had heard there was a younger woman preacher at that church and that people were really excited about it. Did you catch the "younger" part?

Am loving my extended community of pastor friends and Christian educators who have been great about sharing ideas about evangelism and worship and grant seeking. The Internet is a great thing.

Got to try the Jambalaya yesterday. One of the local restaurants in Argenta has a cook that makes a different soup or stew each week and he only does the jambalaya about once a month. One of our church members who rents studio space in the church gets an alert on her cell when the jambalaya is ready. I've been struggling with sinus problems all week and I believe that cleared it all up.

Am also getting ready to be the worship leader for PCCCA conference in about two weeks. I am not ready and need to get so quickly!

Busy Week

Have not blogged at all this week. It is nine p.m. and I am the last member of my family to go to sleep tonight. I figure it will take me about two minutes after I shut down this computer. Church is getting good buzz. Husband survived major presentation. Daughter thinks the church is cool and like hanging out there. Good week. Long week, but good week. More later.

Jesus and Argenta

Jesus of Argenta

Great first Sunday at First Church in NLR. We had 50 people, which I think is more than double the usual attendance. Great support from the community and from friends. There's a lot of excitement brewing. I guess we'll see just how much when it's time to turn in pledge cards!

So far, all seems well, in spite of the fact that I've totally changed the worship service and style there. The congregation is worshipping in the fellowship hall because we can't afford to replace the busted heating and air conditioning unit (yet!). And the people who have been keeping the church alive are used to gathering around a couple of tables and drinking coffee and visiting until time for a very informal worship service. Now, we've ditched all the tables, faced the room in a different direction and brought in pews and benches. No one fainted or pitched a fit, so I think we're going to be okay.

The painting was done by artist and elder Sherrie Shepherd to go along with the sermon series, "The Jesus You Should Know." It's awesome!

After a worship service, a potluck and a session meeting, I am plum wore out! Tomorrow I take a break from working on First Church stuff, but will spend the whole day working on worship for the upcoming PCCCA (Presby Christian Camps and Conference Association) conference. Wonder when the laundry will get done? I need elves.

Only in Arkansas

could you have a non-alcoholic event celebrating German heritage, but Lutheran High has apparently been doing it for years. When Maddie heard that we were going to an Oktoberfest where they didn't serve beer, she said, "Well, that's not right." It was a pleasant, well-run little festival and fundraiser for the school, but it wasn't very German. The wiener dog race was pretty funny, though.

Tomorrow is my first Sunday at the new church. Should be fun. Should be interesting. Hope everyone else who gathers for worship feels the same way.