God as Paradox

One of the things that I have reflected upon this Lent is the God of the Paradox. God alone is not paradoxical, yet does chose consistently throughout the pages of Scripture to use paradox as a means to continually throw humanity off and take notice.

How often have I put away thoughts or ideas with the excuse that "it's not in my giftset", "I'm not qualified", or the worn-out "and how am I to fit this into my already loaded schedule?"
As I looked through the pages of Scripture at Moses, Esther, Ruth, the Disciples, Jesus (obviously) and others I started looking at my excuses a bit closer. As I started to consider the lives of individuals such as Wilber Wilberforce, Mother Teresa, Hudson Taylor, Billy Graham, Francis of Assisi and others - I realized that none of them were prepared or equipped to do the task that was set before them initially. All had to trust God to provide them the skills, experiences, personnel and energy to carry forth the vision that had been laid on their heart.

Perhaps we (universally speaking, not from a guilt-inducing place) discount too quickly that quiet whisper of the Spirit within our inner being? There has been one project that has repeatedly come up that I long to do yet think that I still am not ready to do it - I lack the full M.Div. for credability, I've no real experience in this area, I'm not sure that others have seen a gifting in this area that confirms that I could do it. Etc., Etc., Etc. From what I hear from others - I'm not alone in this thinking.

I think the real issue is fear. Plain old "in your face" fear. Of the unknown, of failure, of falling on my tukus in broad daylight. Of being called out as untalented. Yet, it seems that these are the qualities and personalty types that God uses over and over again.

Easter saw eleven men and countless others blown away by their expectations. God lived within the man they called Jesus. The man who was dead but now again lives. The one who healed the sick, brought about miracles, made plain and alive the words of Torah. These same people, huddled together in an upstairs room eventually took the simple yet paradoxical teachings of Jesus out of their cities, to the ends of the earth.

Easter is celebrated on Sunday but is lived throughout the week. My prayer for all this Holy Week is that we too would find those dreams resurrected within us and become empowered by the Spirit of the Resurrected One to see what could happen if we say yes to the paradoxical idea.

Calling for prayer

Hi all-
It's been a tremendously busy week and I'll be posting what's been happening probably on Sunday after work.

In the meantime, please hold up my friend Jane in your prayers. I received word this week (on Wednesday) that she is very ill and the doctors are still trying to figure out what is going on in her body. At this point it is still a mystery as to the source of the infection that is ravaging her body. I've attached the latest news from a friend so you can keep her before the Great Healer:

I talked to P. Jane is still doing poorly. She has a huge kidney stone, but they can't do ultrasound, b/c the meds and position she'd have to be in would be detrimental to her right now.

They still haven't found the source of the infection.

She has septicemia, which, according to the doctor, is an improvement for her. If her condition worsens, however, she will have to go on a ventilator and life support.

One side of her heart is enlarged, and they have to give her blood thinners for possible clots.

P also said that she needs to eat and drink more for tests the doctors want to run, but she's not doing so. There is a particular liquid she has to drink, and both he and S are trying to coax her into drinking it, at least enough for whatever test to be run. He also mentioned that she's still not getting much sleep.

The biggest prayer request, P said, is that they can nail down the source of the infection.

P. is going back to the hospital later, and I told him I'd call tomorrow for another update. He said he'd tell Jane that we love her and are praying for her.

Introducing the oPod!

Our 1st through 3rd grade class has spent the past unit on obedience and making right choices. My friend, who belongs to another denomination shared that in their primary education they refer to this process as "choosing the right." It is promoted through jewelry, music, and regular classroom and family reinforcement.But what if we were to bring the concept of "choosing the right" or "making good life choices" into the technological age? What would it possibly look like?

The assignment was somewhat tricky. Our students were requested to create a product that would help them obey and make good choices. Then, create a commercial explaining this product to the public. It took a bit of time to help them understand that the product could be something no one has thought of yet - most were had a challenge moving from general answers such as "the Bible", "my parents" and "the police" as things to help them obey; although great ideas. Finally someone said an i-pod, which led to the invention of the 'o-pod' which would download all the reminders they needed to hear daily and not stop playing them until they had finished/fulfilled the request. They, they came up with scenarios that they had challenges obeying and helped to refine the script. The results? You judge for yourself!!!!

Lent for the Non-Liturgical

Gain from the richness of liturgy, even if you're "proudly steeped in free church tradition."
by Elizabeth Diffin


A colleague wrote recently how his church, proudly steeped in free church tradition, was rediscovering the Christian calendar. In particular, a little Lenten liturgy had a profound impact on a people largely unacquainted with the Stations of the Cross.

Here the Lent-informed offer a few ideas for the less liturgical among us.

Embrace symbols. Lent is a time for quiet contemplation and grievance for sin. Decorate the sanctuary with cracked clay pots and jars to symbolize brokenness. Or give each member of your congregation a small piece of burlap to tear during a time of silent confession, as they did in Bible times.


Give it up. The traditional Lenten practice of "giving up" doesn't have to be restricted to food or drink. Encourage your congregation to give up time or money to a local charity. Others may want to abstain from eating out or from their daily latte and donate that money to missions.


Pare it back. The simplicity of Lent can also apply to our churches. Perhaps your worship music can be sung a cappella or the sanctuary's decorations placed in storage. One congregation closes the shutters on their windows during Lent, limiting the mental trips outdoors during the service. If you're really feeling radical, limit the number of extraneous church meetings during Lent. Can the church board postpone their meeting until the 40 days are up?


Explain the meaning. For those who didn't grow up in the church or who aren't familiar with liturgy, Lent has a number of unfamiliar traditions. Use a Sunday morning service to explain the ancient origins as well as some present-day applications. Congregation members can be recruited to share their own "Lent stories."


Reach out. Lent is a time of preparation for Easter, so why not use it to invite others to the holy day? Launch a Lenten Evangelism Campaign and encourage your congregation to give Easter invitations to their friends and neighbors. The most enthusiastic can aim for 40 invitations in 40 days.


Imitate the servant. Touch your neighbors by using the Saturdays of Lent to serve the community. Paint playground equipment, feed the homeless, or do yard work for the elderly. It's a chance for all ages to help out together.


Reconcile. Lent is the season of reconciliation between God and man. But man-to-man reconciliation is also important. This Lenten season, encourage congregants to reach out to at least one person they have wronged, or been wronged by, in the past. Then they can add the person to their prayer list for the rest of the year.

Zoom Zone Talk for February - Winners and Losers

Tomorrow's Zoom Zone Event (youth group for 4th & 5th Graders) is "Gladiator Night" after dinner (thanks to our awesome parent squad), games such as "Joust", "Assault" and "Power Ball", we'll have an ending devotional about Winning and Losing. Here is the clip we'll be using from "SURF's UP" and the devotional. Enjoy!

Winners and Losers What makes a winner?

Can you tell if someone's a winner by what they look like? How they act? What they think?

Sometimes we confuse winning with being a winner. There's a big difference. We are already winners because God has created each one of us. God's given us talents and gifts that are unique to each one. They fit us like a glove.

We all like the feeling that comes with winning. We like having people pat us on the back and say "Good work." We like the feeling of doing something great. But nobody likes a poor winner. How do you help "not" getting a big head? Remember that while you won, you may lose next time. We may practice and be the best at something but we're never guaranteed to always win.

Sometimes we'll lose. Even when we've done an outstanding job. So what happens when you lose?

Do you tell yourself how bad you are at whatever you did? No

Do you blame others for messing up? Nope

Do you whine? Pout? Oh please, say no.

Do you tease or make fun of others who didn't play or work as well as you? See the answers above.

It's important to remember that God doesn't make junk. It's not cool to talk down about yourself, others think they have permission to think that way about you as well! When you're tempted to think about yourself in a way that is negative; remember how God sees you. God sees you as someone full of potential, full of talent and loves you for who you are not what you do.

It takes time to figure out what you're good at, which means, you need to take some risks and try different things. And you need to practice. No one is perfect. The NY Giants will be the first to tell you that it is practice that helps a team succeed when the challenge is difficult.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. What's important is remembering that trophies and ribbons eventually lose their sparkle. The gifts and talents inside of you shine forever.

How Do You Train?

Have you ever found yourself struggling to hang a picture or do some sort of trivial job around the house without the right tools at hand? It never seems to fail that I'm missing the right size nail, or discover I don't have the Phillips screwdriver when I need one at home. I'm prepping to finally decorate my new bedroom and decided to pull all the things that I need together in advance. It's making the jobs like hanging drapes so much easier! Imagine only drilling a hole once, because you actually had the right materials from the beginning.

I've been reading with great interest the forum on Kidology.org about how people involve teens/older students and adults in training for ministry. It's been terrific hearing how many different ways there are to provide individuals with the right tools for the job. One of the things that I thought about Children's Ministry before I became involved in it is that you get thrown into the proverbial lion's den with little training, a hunk of meat and 12 hungry lions all licking their lips! My impression came from the fact that in most of the churches that I have worked at there has been little training provided and even less encouragement. I've personally struggled with how to bring people up to speed with training or adding tools to their toolboxes. I'm still looking for ways that work with a group of volunteers whose lives are perpetually behind the wheel of a car, don't like to come out after dark and are beyond busy. What do you do to encourage this segment of your teachers?

Meanwhile, I also have a group of excited, dedicated young people in Middle School and High School. We started a new training group for them called Teens in Training or T-N-T. This group meets monthly to work on a new skills (this quarter it is on telling stories "Teaching Like Jesus") The goal is that this group will be learning and practicing their story telling skills through the Spring, and then will have a large role in our summer Children's Church services. Each month the kids will have one story to "practice" telling in front of the others using different techniques such as props, voice inflections, pictures, media and whatever other ideas pop into their little creative minds.

We're meeting tomorrow and I am excited to see what the response is from the kids - they are excited to be a part of the group and my goal is to pour into them now so that they will continue to grow in their gifts and ministry experience.


H

Bethlehem Village Pictures

Here are some pictures from our "Bethlehem Village" rotational event on December 23rd for Sunday School. Given our very tight budget ($250.00 total), I was amazed at what we were able to do using several donations of baskets, cans and cans of spray paint and some creativity!

Vision and Mission Statement Part Four

Theory into Practice

The above philosophy with regards to Ministry to Children is thoughtful yet without a solid backbone it fulfills no real purpose.

Current Practice/Goals 2007-2008 Academic School Year
This initial year in Children’s Ministries will be spent on these primary goals:

Relationship Building
Building strong relationships amongst Leaders, Staff and Session

Identifying key leaders in Children’s Ministries

Identifying potential leaders for Children’s Ministries

Building relationships with children and families on a first name basis

Building a means by which parents are able to communicate needs/desires with Children’s Ministries

Identification/Branding
Exploration into core values and beliefs of SRPC in general and Children’s Ministries in particular.

Identification of primary core values for Children’s Ministries

Creation of branding which reflects initial core values

Begin use of branding and phrases “under the radar” to build familiarity

Implement first tier of branding (intermediate logo and visuals, letterhead, currently @ branding, color branding for newsletter, web design etc.

Review of Spiritual Formation Program
Walk through one year of life at SRPC, noting key events, registration and ministry involvement

Review curriculum(s) for current ease of use, theological concepts, “in agreement” with core values and mission/vision of SRPC

Identification of key “rite of passage” opportunities already in place. Enriching these opportunities and building in a communication of “why” these are important experiences in the life of a child/family and in the life of the corporate body

Outreach
Identify outreach targets (new families, geographical location(s)) of high concentration demographics, values of demographics

Observe current outreach methodology and make suggestions for future use

Research successful/potentially successful outreach opportunities for community (sports, VBS, holiday functions, educational opportunities, activities etc.)

Create “in house” outreach opportunities for children and families (Coat donations, holiday experiences, missionary experiences)

Creation of newsletter to be used for information and outreach to community

Recruiting/Restructuring of Ministry
Observation and conversations on what is working within Children’s Ministries with regards to recruiting, parent participation.

Beginning to form conversations around future growth, and creating an initial implementation plan for growth

Communicating with larger congregation about opportunities to participate in ministry both in class and outside of service. Use of profiles, newsletters, email etc. to communicate excitement rather than “need.”

Vision and Mission Statement Part Three

Learning Jesus

Building a loving relationship between the young child and Jesus is a natural desire of SRPC’s parents. Yet as a recent listening process uncovered, parents struggle with how to nurture their child’s burgeoning spirituality. Parental dialogue brought up personal and family struggles such as the lack of resources to answer their children’s spiritual questions, attempting to personally answer the same theological questions that they find their children asking. For several, their childhood did not include any or an erratic religious exposure causing the parent(s) to feel inadequate in providing spiritual guidance to their children in the area of Scripture. It is not uncommon to hear the response “my children know more about the Bible than I do” when listening to SRPC parents.

There are several themes within the context of Children’s Ministries with regards to whose responsibility it is to train and nurture of a faith community’s children. One can find ministries which hold the belief that it is the responsibility of those skilled in theology to impart the truths of Scripture and Doctrine to the young child, a second holds that Scripture firmly mandates that it is the sole duty of parents to administer spiritual training thus not holding any formal spiritual training for children. SRPC Kids mission is to assist parents in their God-given task to guide their children in developing and nurturing their growing spirituality.

Spiritual Formation vs. Sunday School

The paradigm of the traditional Sunday School experience is currently under revision in the field of ministry to children. Educators such as Sofia Cavelleti and Jerome Berryman have revisited the standard model of Christian Education. In their work, they have come to an understanding of the catechesis or spiritual formation of children that includes the following key points:

All individuals are “hard wired” to know God. Children have yet to have their instinctive knowledge of God tarnished, thus they hold an innate understanding and appreciation of the mystery and awe of God found through the internalization of Scripture.

Rather than the model of the adult as teacher to children, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to impart wisdom and understanding to Scripture. This does not equate to a form of spiritual anarchy but rather a recognition that the child and God are in a constant internal conversation. Those who are blessed with the privilege of working with children are entrusted as a facilitator of this conversation within a worship experience.

Play is the work of the child. It is through the interaction of repetitive action, scripture and objects that a child discovers truths and concepts.

Children are now a part of the digital age. Their world is fast paced, noisy and image laden. What they lack is the opportunity to quiet themselves to hear what the Spirit is speaking.

It is curious to consider how one can integrate the idea of a classical catechetical model which nurtures the reflective nature of spiritual formation and the young child with the technological age in which children reside. This question is one of the primary reflections which SRPC Kids will focus on over next period. With parent input and participation, it is hoped that the following goals will be accomplished which will enhance SRPC Kids ability to nurture the spiritual formation of our children.

Reviewing and providing feedback regarding currently used curriculum; making suggestions as to possibilities of new curriculum direction.

Creating key “rites of passage” within Children’s Ministries which include Infant baptism/dedication, “first” participation in the Lord’s Supper, Third Grade Bible, blessing and acknowledgement of transition from Children’s Ministry into Student Ministry by the entire faith community.

Development of resources for parents to enrich their opportunities for spiritual formation such as web site development, communication of weekly themes for each grade/age level.

In addition, SRPC Kids is committed to reframing the spiritual vocabulary connected with our ministry to children.

Recognizing that to truly minister to children, ministry should occur within the context of families.

The concept of Sunday School no longer is applicable to the true goal of faith communities ministry to children and families, thus introducing the concept of spiritual formation both defines and communicates the role and mission of this ministry.

The child’s act of worship continues after dismissal from the larger community worship thus signifying a departure from the classical educational model found in a large majority of churches.

Vision and Mission Statement Part Two

Loving Jesus

The message and teachings of Jesus stress the concept of a spirituality founded not within an individual but within the larger Kingdom of God. Like the proverbial stone’s ripple as it is thrown into a body of water, our lives and our actions as followers of Christ stretch out into the larger world community. SRPC Kids continues to foster within our children the ethos of our own community to love Jesus, love other and love our world.

Loving each other: Reinforcing the believe that each of us are created as unique individuals possessing the image of God within, SRPC Kids holds to a foundational belief that all children are respected for the uniqueness they possess. This respect for the child translates into creating an environment where children’s needs are embraced.

To the extent possible, children’s physical, developmental and emotional needs are incorporated into the regular classroom setting. Ministry staff is provided resources needed to incorporate the child into their community.

Children are provided opportunity to respect individuals and encouraged to support and develop friendships.

Loving Jesus: As an understanding of living out the message of the gospel in our daily lives grows, children come to develop a sensitivity to how they also can influence and effect positive change in the lives of their families, peers and their culture.

Loving the world: Creating opportunities for Children’s Ministry to directly impact the community around them through projects such as Blue Star Moms, projects that impact inner city ministries such as City Impact and City Team Oakland.

Vision and Mission Statement Part One

I have finally completed my first draft/version of the Vision and Mission statement for Children's Ministry. I've placed it here to share with you some of the broader thoughts and reflections that I have with regards to the ministry to children in general, and its future ramifications.

Ministry Principle Verse:

So Jesus grew both in height and in wisdom, and he was loved by God and by all who knew him.
Luke 2:52 (New Living Translation)

Rationale:

Children are a work in progress, possessing a natural curiosity and desire to understand the world about them. Their discovery of the world leads to an acknowledgement of a great Designer/Creator God. Within a Christian context, this acknowledgement of God also includes an introduction to Jesus, the one “who holds all creation together” (Col. 1:17).

The primary goal of childhood is to discover, gain and appropriate the tools necessary for a healthy maturity. Self-care skills lead to eventual autonomy. Cognitive development prepares the way for gaining knowledge. Emotional nurturing provides the foundation upon which healthy socialization will continue throughout one’s life. While the pages of Scripture are dark as to the exact nature of Jesus’ childhood, Luke makes a point to acknowledge that Jesus himself appeared to meet and exceed these key developmental milestones. The result was a person who understood his purpose and destiny. It is the goal that this ministry to children would also allow children an opportunity to acknowledge they are the imago Dei-ones created in the image of their Creator, gifted with talents and skills both natural and spiritual which will bring glory to God.

Therefore, the Children’s Ministry of San Ramon Presbyterian Church’s mission and vision can be encapsulated in the following statement: Living, loving and learning in Jesus.


Living in Jesus

Children as Members of the Church

On the other hand, children derive some benefit from their baptism, when, being ingrafted into the body of the church, they are made an object of greater interest to the other members. Then when they have grown up, they are thereby strongly urged to an earnest desire of serving God, who has received them as sons by the formal symbol of adoption, before, from nonage, they were able to recognize him as their Father.

Institutes 4.16.9

The introduction of the young child to the Church local begins with the practice of baptism and/or dedication. While paedobaptism is a topic of some debate amongst reformed traditions, Scripture provides a firm foundation for the practice of baptizing infants/young children found in the illustration of circumcision as a symbol of the covenant between God and humanity. Circumcision in this aspect is a means by which grace and mercy is extended to the child by the covenant entered into by the parents until such a time as the child acknowledges this covenant for themselves. Whether a family chooses to initiate a child into the life of the household of faith by baptism or dedication, the act of presenting and committing a child to God in front of the community illustrates an important concept, the young child is an active member of the faith community possessing gifts and talents to both learn and serve the community and the Kingdom of God at large.


The belief of children as members ultimately defines how a ministry to children is achieved. For a child to thoroughly understand their current and eventual role in the local faith community and the Body of Christ at large, exposure and acceptance of children at gatherings must be emphasized. A child learns of the importance of worship not by having it explained but by experiencing the act of worship itself. Therefore SRPC Kids places a high priority upon the inclusion of children within a variety of worship contexts – both corporate and developmentally unique to the young child. Exposure of children to “body life” provides natural moments of understanding more fully their own relationship with God. This exposure to corporate worship moments include (but are not limited) to:

Baptisms and Dedications of infants and children

Participation in corporate worship both through music, prayer and ministry

Participation in sacramental life of the body (Baptism and Lord’s Supper when appropriate)

Ministering to the local faith community through service to the local body and the local community (offering of music, dance, leading in corporate prayer, assisting in ministry tasks such as greeting, collection of offering, participation in Building Bridges service events)

Age appropriate worship experiences such as Wonders of Worship

Baptisms and Dedications
Children will be encouraged to gather in front for dedications and baptisms of infants and children, allowing them to become better acquainted with the symbols and practices of the experience. Exposure to experiences such as these allow a child to develop within themselves an appreciation of their own spiritual journey, while exposing them to key rites of passages of the spiritual journey.

Corporate Worship
The ability to worship both in music and movement is an important part of child development. It is through the use of all senses that a deeper connection to the mystery and wonder of God develops. Children are encouraged to worship God as they feel comfortable during the worship service. Their time in the larger community communicates a message that they are a part of the church now not just when they are older.

Sacramental Participation
Participation in the sacramental life of the church connects a child to the fact that they are welcomed and hold an important role in the faith community. Exposure to sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper provide a means by which children experience the fullness of discipleship. As a child begins to understand and desire to participate in sacraments, all means should be made to instruct, encourage and involve the young child in this aspect of their faith development.

SRPC Kids will offer to both parents and children opportunities to come together specifically for instruction in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. For children presented in dedication, opportunities for formal baptism instruction will begin in the Spring of their third grade year; for instruction in the Lord’s Supper, opportunities for instruction will begin in their fourth grade year, with the goal of all fifth graders participating in the Lord’s Supper by Spring of their fifth grade year as a “spiritual rite of passage.”

Ministering to the local community
SRPC Kids is committed to developing within the young child an acknowledgement of one’s developing natural and spiritual gifts. Opportunities to contribute to a worship experience include presenting music and dance for worship, leading in the reading of Scripture and corporate prayer, serving within the service as appropriate. This provides children with a sense of importance as well as reminding the larger community of the ability of children to minister to adults.

Age Appropriate Worship Experiences
SRPC Kids is fortunate to have creative and enthusiastic adults who are committed to providing children with their own opportunities for corporate worship on a monthly basis. This allows the young child to be ministered to in a larger group setting while building within them an understanding of the importance and excitement of worship.

The Day After

My first Advent at my new church was a positive experience. Four weeks spent looking at the unexpected of God breaking through into individuals lives that never expected the likes of what happened to them. The kids led the community in worship on two separate occasions - once in music on the 16th and then again on the 24th at our family Christmas Eve service. I'm blessed to have such dedicated men and women who helped to make the Bethlehem Village experience a success on the 23rd as well. We had a number of friends brought to church by our kids, and I heard many positive things from parents as well as the kids.

I celebrated Christmas with my extended family for the first time in what must be at least ten years yesterday evening. My cousins children are now grown, home and business owners and doing very well for themselves. It was great to sit back and listen to what is happening in their world. And a bit strange at the same time to realize how differently my life has turned out than I ever expected. I never saw myself preparing to enter full time pastoral ministry but that is what I am doing. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to share and teach God's word to others, yet today I am preparing to preach this Sunday (and yes I know all the jokes about "Black Sunday" and preachers!) What started out as a year that wondered where my next zip code would be has ended in on a positive note. I've been living out our Advent message of expecting the unexpected this entire year. Spirituality, Christianity in particular is a journey, not a destination. It's something that is worked out in the inner parts of our being throughout our entire life journey and really doesn't become recognized fully until that moment when we exhale in this world and inhale in the next. Yet for me, the highlight of the day was having the opportunity to connect with a dear friend in a real, authentic conversation last night.

Yet all that said, I am glad that it is December 26th. It's nice to have a day where I am not having to focus on the madness that comes with a holiday like Christmas. Granted, I know that much of this 'post bah-humbug' is because I am not particularly fond of the Christmas season to begin with; yet I find for me the challenge is trying to carve time out for myself to find a way to prepare my own life and heart for what is happening. I'd have to rate myself a B- this Advent season which is a vast improvement over the past two Advents in Oregon where I was so out of my comfort zone. The added busyness of the time pushed my 'saying no' boundaries to the breaking point and I found myself more often than not putting myself on the bottom of the "take care of" list and basically neglecting myself too often. Today is being spent reading at a cafe sipping a great latte overlooking the SF skyline. Tonight it's working out at the gym and then coming home to a quiet of a candles and good music. The holiday season is over thank goodness - the challenge is taking the meaning of Christmas with me throughout the coming year.

The Unveiling

"and the word became flesh and dwelt among us."

It never fails. Each Advent I get stuck on this verse more than any other passage of Scripture that I reflect on. Why would the Creator of the Universe want to identify with humanity on such a level? I haven't the foggiest idea. It reminds me of my theology and Christology classes at Fuller, when we would get to the concept and thoughts on kenosis - God/Jesus emptying himself as he became man. The more I would read or reflect on the words, the more I find myself asking what I am sure is the million dollar question - Why?"

I wonder what it was like for Mary and Joseph, to watch their child begin to grasp the reality of who he was. When was that point when Jesus understood that he was "different" than others? When his destiny would never equal those of his peers, his family? How does one parent the Son of God? Amazing seems to be the emotion that I am experiencing this Advent season. Amazed at what God did by interrupting space and time to manifest as a child. Amazed at individuals such as Zachariah, Joseph, Mary and Elizabeth as they realized that God was stretching them beyond their wildest ideas and beliefs - forcing them to see and experience God on a level that others could never imagine. Amazed that in the midst of merchandising, Christmas specials, secularization and whatnot, the manger is still the focus of what this season is all about.

May your advent be one of amazement also.

I'm Stoked!

I'm so excited! I just got a ticket to Walking with the Dinosaurs in San Jose, CA!

Here's a video that captures some of the excitement!

"You Can Come to My Birthday Party"

Building Bridges was an incredible experience. I have never seen a group of people (both volunteer staff and our teams) work so well together and so hard. We sent out over 150 individuals throughout the San Ramon Valley to do everything from clearing trails, painting ball walls and cleaning yards to staying behind and packing care packages for troops in Iraq/Afghanistan and making lunches/cooking dinner here at church. This is a HUGE deal I discovered throughout the day. The logistics were amazing. The planning goes beyond what I was seeing/listening as we met throughout the summer and into the Fall. It really is true that you have to witness something sometimes to get a good perspective on what it really takes to pull off an event such as this successfully. There were some great moments out of the weekend. Our children had their own program at church while their parents were out serving. Our project was drawing/designing Christmas cards for the troops. And they were precious. We narrated the cards with what the children wanted to say to them. Before we had them get working on the cards we took them to the staging area where the boxes were packed, had them see some pictures of soldier whose mom's are part of the Blue Star Moms and showed them where their cards were going. It really helped I think for them to see what they were doing. Too often kids (and adults) do things in a vacuum never really understanding where their contribution fits into the entire picture. The comments/thoughts of the kids were precious. The Blue Star Moms were sharing that one of the ones that touched their hears was "You can come to my birthday party." Talk about pulling on heart strings. To a child celebrating is a part of life - and what a better wish to send to an individual in the line of fire than a prayer that they could come and celebrate life with them back stateside. It is beyond words.

We ended the weekend Sunday with a celebration service at church. The middle of the church was given tables for people to sit around and chairs were still available for those not at tables. A member of our community is currently in hospital and a giant hot pink card was passed from person to person being signed for them. There were such demonstrations of love from each of these people. You can tell how much this person-who is such a dynamic part of the community-is truly missed and cared for.

I have to say from a personal perspective, that I really think we need to consider as individuals who plan what a worship experience looks like - ways to encourage community and relationship building within church services. So much of what we do on Sunday mornings is relegated to an individualistic experience. It takes a great amount of intentionality to incorporate people communicating and talking with each other, hearing about their spiritual journeys into a worship service. What a gift we would be giving each of us if we could be vulnerable and open to both the Spirit and each other in the context of a worship experience? Coffee Hour after service just isn't the same. I saw something happen when the tables were set down. When people shared their experiences. When children and families and small groups were sitting around those tables in prayer and worship together. It was an entirely different atmosphere that rose up and took over. It was celebration, which is what we are exhorted to do throughout the pages of Scripture. What an invitation that could be - to invite people whose lives are really unknown to all but the Creator to celebrate, just as one of our children invited a soldier to their celebration. What kind of an impact could that have in the life of a church?

And you thought you've carved big pumpkins!

Here are some pics that I snapped last weekend at the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin festival. I remember going to this when I was a kid and just loving the experience. A few weeks ago I saw a documentary on "Giant Pumpkin Growing Contests" on PBS which totally fascinated me. I guess that is what you get when you watch PBS when you are bored on a Sunday afternoon. Anyway, it made me remember about the Pumpkin Festival and the fact that they were having the weigh in contest for the great pumpkin the monday before the festival began. I didn't make it to the weigh in on my day off but I sure did have fun on that Saturday!


As usual, there was traffic congestion on the freeway out there. However what is normally around a 45 minute to an hour trip took over 2.5 hours to get there.



The scenery was beautiful - look at how the huge trees create such a canopy to drive under. We had three days of rain which for Northern California is a lot at one time at this point in the season. Yet Friday evening the skies began to clear up and the weekend was incredibly beautiful and warm. Didn't even need a jacket at the coast as I thought I would.



Almost there - the longest 2 miles that I remember.


The pumpkin fields and stands begin to show up just outside of Half Moon Bay. Boy where they festive!



Here are some pictures of the "great" pumpkin that came in at 1543 pounds and this guy who carves two giant pumpkins each year at the festival. This is the one that he was nearly done with as of 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Missional Mazes

This weekend is "Building Bridges" at the church where I work. It's premise is simple - do the most you can to those who ask for assistance. Be their friend. Be their assistance. Be Jesus to them. We're celebrating our 5th year of Building Bridges and let me tell you, it is one incredible project. My first meeting was literally the first Sunday that I came to work - mid May. Since then we've had numerous discussions, seen a major corporation sponsor via a grant this years' endeavor and watched as the projects have rolled in. It appears that this year our projects range from clearing trails in the local East Bay Regional parks, to painting at local elementary schools, installing new smoke alarms for seniors, and doing the tasks of cleaning out over-crowded homes and over-grown yards.

The weekend begins on Friday with a time of worship and going through the next day's activities. Saturday work day begins with breakfast, teams gathering at the church and then going out to their assigned projects with lunches either going with them or teams coming back to eat before moving onto another home. Saturday night is a celebration dinner and Sunday morning the entire church gathers together to process through the experience. I found out last week that this means our children will be in service as well - we have approximately 30 children who will be with their families directly serving their community and another 4-10 staying here at church doing their own service project!

This experience has led me to consider what it means to be a missional people in a post-Christian world. Anyone can be a part of a community event and there are plenty of them. Runs/races for cancer, HIV/Aids, homelessness. Marches to show solidarity for our troops, against the current Iraqi occupation, human rights. Telethons to assist natural disasters, terrorist tragedies. Picnics, festivals, parties to celebrate heritage, seasons, community life all abound. What makes what we who are Christ followers different?

I think it is community. I talk on or about this alot, probably nauseating some people who know me. Some would hypothesize that my discussion of this topic is a glaring demonstration of my need for community. At first I was offended by this comment and yet realized that they are right. I am in need of community. I am in need of a group of individuals who know me, accept me for my limitations and my gifts. Who will laugh and encourage, cry and exhort. I need a community who will kick back and watch LOST or Ugly Betty with me, cry when the Giants again miss the playoffs or cheer when USC is beaten by anybody - especially UCLA!

The reality is that we all are in need of a community. When the church is firing on all cylinders this is what we do best-we connect people to others and to God through relationships. In the past missional approaches from churches seemed to follow a traditional formula of offering a program, a speaker, an event and having individuals come to the church. Or perhaps the traditional visitation appointment. These may still work in certain cultures or geographical locations but the reality is that we must cast out a larger net in today's world. And we need to use different bait.

For Children's Ministry this means thinking outside of the box. It means that I spend time at the schools where my kids attend. At last count that is 14 schools throughout the year. I am doing yard duty or reading groups at 2 elementary schools which the majority of our kids attend. We send "thank you" baskets at Christmas to the teachers of our children's schools in appreciation of what they do for the children of our community.

It means expanding our families' horizons. And their comfort zones. In the future we will be going to homeless shelters as families and serving meals or passing out backpacks and clothes throughout the year. It means having desserts for parents only where you can relax and enjoy the company of other parents while honing your relationship with your spouse - after all family ministry begins with parents. Sports clinics such as baseball/softball, rock climbing and soccer are on the calendar for this year. And going out to local tournaments to pass out water or snack bars donating back the funds raised to community sporting events. These are ways over the next two years that we hope to make a broader impact in our community.

Will all of these cause large impacts in our community. More than likely not. Each one will cause a ripple that moves out from the center further into the community than we would experience if we stayed behind the stucco walls of our building. Yet the goal in all of this is not to boost numbers on the church roll. It's not to tell others about our church. It's to invite people into a community and into relationship with individuals who daily try to live an authentic life. It's an invitation to be the individual that God has created us to be when we are truly authentic.

It will take teaching. And sharing the vision and God's passion about building into our children and community the reality of Micah 6:8. And along the way we will continue to move towards being more creative in maneuvering the missional maze.

Welcome to the Ministry!

To a dear friend who just started her first "official" week as Children's Ministries Director at her church -

Congratulations and God's Best! I know that you will do well in your ministry, and see God's hands in this adventure.

Buckle your seat belts - it's going to be a great ride!

Catching Up...

I looked at the calendar this morning and it said "October 4th." What happened to the rest of September? And ack - someone the other day said that there were only 86 days until Christmas? NOOOOO - you can't do that to me yet! These are the days and months that I personally wish that God might stretch out time a bit like oh I don't know the sun stopping for Joshua perhaps?

The past two weeks have been incredibly productive. With the school year kick off done, and some leadership and management skills in place that I've been focusing on this summer I'm finding that I have moved into a predictable, orderly pattern of ministry once again. Here are some highlights of the past two weeks:

The entire church staff collectively used our Monday day off to come in and work on areas of the church that we normally don't get to. My friend/coworker Tina and I worked on the resource room - boxing up about 3 years of curriculum and storing it freeing nearly two lateral file cabinets for materials. We now have a resource room for teachers and children's ministry staff that is being filled with things like props, musicals/videos/DVDs/tapes, books, games and extra toys and art materials. And there is room for future growth. Complete with a table and other things we have a place where people can come in, browse, read without having things fall on them. We also were able to pull together the larger storage closet later in the week. I am amazed at what we own in the ministry! Enough materials to dress plenty of kids in biblical costumes and Christmas programs, extra materials from parties, VBS' etc. that are wonderful. Sports equipment like high quality tumbling mats, plenty of ball pit balls, carnival items etc.

I finished the recruiting for the Fall this week and will be filling up the last holes by tomorrow it looks like. Yeah God! This week I'm ordering curriculum for the winter and beginning to get that ready for my prep teams even earlier than before! I ordered our Christmas Sunday special curriculum for Sunday School - we're doing "Bethlehem Village" and will be gathering the event team to start working on that as well!

The nursery is up and running - we were this close to having closed circuit television for the services in the room and found out when we moved the tv from the toddler/2's space to the nursery 4 feet killed the reception so a tech guru from church is working on the problem. This week we had 3 babies in the room so mom's are slowly working at becoming comfortable with letting the babies go during service.

This week is "Crazy Hair Day" at church. We're celebrating how we are uniquely created by God and wearing our hair in a wide variety of ways - also a great excitement and community building event with little outlay. I think I spent $6 bucks on hair goo and stuff. The preschool through 3rd grade are coming with their hair decked out and the 4th/5th graders are doing their hair (and mine!) in class.

WoW begins again this Sunday after a two month hiatus and we're looking forward to it! The team has expanded by 2 people and I can't wait to see what God does this year.

God has brought a group of people forward who want to resurrect Bible Quiz Bowl and some sort of music for the children on a more regular basis. I'm so blessed that everytime I begin to pray for an individual for a ministry, someone shares their passion and we connect them into ministry! THIS is the lesson that I learned from past experiences and now that I have built some more intentionality and focus through mentoring experiences I am seeing the fruit begin to blossom on the vine. It's a blessing - I know that it will pay off in the long run for this ministry.

Last week was a swim party for our tween group Zoom Zone - we had a patch of really cold (by No Cal standards) couple of weeks and temps dipped into the low 70's with a day or so of rain - what my Texas friend would call "spitting" but rain for Californians. I told the kids they better start praying and they did, congratulating themselves and God on pulling a warming trend with near 90 degree weather last week letting the swim party go forward! We have a small group of kids so the numbers we had were a good sign - about a 40% class turnout of kids who didn't have practices or games. Tonight is our first monthly meeting "Game Night." We start with dinner for the first hour (tonight is "spaghetti a la MJ" ) and then will be doing group games such as Human Bowling, Cookie Monster (eating oreo's off of an upright surface), blanket races, cup stacking introduction. We'll end with a devotional that I haven't finished yet so no posting until then! I received an email from a parent this morning as follows:

Jeanette,
Well, you have done a great job of promoting Zoom Zone, because ____ was distraught at the thought of not attending this month's meeting. We've agreed to give him a "pass" on soccer practice and allow him to be there. That level of motivation to attend a church function should be rewarded!

Nice email to come into the office to I might add!


And finally, we're focusing on raising more awareness on our missions projects. We're raising $250 by Christmas to purchase livestock (goats) for Macedonian Outreach and then a quarter towards Heifer project (chicken and bees) and finally the last quarter towards water for a well - a new development per a connection I found out about yesterday. In three weeks the children have purchased one goat and are about 12.00 shy of a second one. It's rewarding to see them once again excited about this and having a growing understanding about tithing.

Well, that's it for now. Pics of the pool party and crazy hair day coming!