Three is a Magic Number

Since I am at my internship site for worship on Sundays, I haven't been around my own church (NRUMC) very much.  Paul and the kids are still involved--Samuel is in Wednesday night youth group; Faith and Emilee are in Sunday school; Paul is leading a Sunday morning Rob Bell series for youth; and they all try to make it to worship most Sundays.  The view looking up. Last week, I got missing (longing for) NRUMC.  I had a lot going on in my life, and I just wanted to be around the people who have nurtured me--the people who make cookies for my kids, give me a National Geographic bag when I use a picture from the magazine in a sermon, write me notes of support, stand up for me in meetings, pick songs I like, ask my opinion on stuff that doesn't matter to me, randomly wonder about the Bible aloud in my presence, etc., etc., etc.  Mostly I just wanted someone to ask, "How's it going...

A graph I created for a class. Data from US Gallup Poll- . http://www.gallup.com/poll/1690/Religion.aspx Being at an ecumenical seminary, we talk about the mainline decline .  As bodies, the Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, UCCers, Unitarians, Baptists, and others have a certain amount of anxiety about what's happening to them.  No one can argue with the numbers, the mainline decline is real.  Some see it as a problem in need of a solution. I'm one of those people who believe that the trend is irreversible.  The ship has sailed.   Yet I still choose to stay in my denomination, knowing that God continues to work in these churches.  We still have lots of people to minister to and the finances to do it.  However, I refuse to live in fear of the inevitable collapse--I've given up on worrying about it.  Frankly, I've even stopped worrying about whether all of North American Ch...

 The view looking up the sidewalk from my office I love, love, love walking across college campuses during passing times, especially in the fall after a campus has been asleep for the summer.    Passing times look like a beehive—everyone has a place to go, something to do.   As an undergrad, I remember being in the midst of the hustle, bustle and realizing, “I’m actually a college student!”   During graduate school, I recall holding my head high as I headed to class thinking, “I can’t believe I’m a graduate student!’”   Okay, disclosure time…. After 10 years of teaching in higher education, I still find myself giddy as I walk across UW-Stout’s campus during passing times and marvel at the fact, “I’m a professor!” [Okay, technically I’m a lecturer, but this is a trifling point.]   And when I walk from class to class at seminary, I revel, “I’m a stinkin’ seminarian, for real!” Last night, I went to a book event by Nadia Bolz-Weber, a Luthe...

In a college sophomore speech class, I was asked to examine Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech" for rhetorical devices.  The very next day I declared Communications as my minor.  As the country celebrated the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington this last week, I spent some time reflecting on the profound impact listening to the whole speech had on me 19 years ago.   Tonight, I worshipped at Solomon's Porch, the place which will become my church home for the next 9 months as I complete my internship with them.  As a group, we read the Sermon on the Mount from start to finish aloud.  Before we started, the pastor, Doug, predicted it would take us about 10 minutes to read it and compared this to the amount of time it took MLK to deliver "I Have a Dream." I don't know if Doug was intentionally making a connection between the two...

Just got back from a great trip to San Diego.  Go, go, go.  No relaxing allowed.  If you want to see the pics a bit larger, you can click on one and scroll through them.  Notice the pics of Emilee with all her new stuffed animals--one at every place. Day 1 - Terrible flight (6 hours on the plane).  Terrible car rental experience (had to drive it 45 minutes south the next day to get a new one).  Terrible first hotel check-in (gave our room away).  By the time we got to bed, it was 2:00AM WI time. Day 2 - Animal Safari Park.  Awesome, huge place.   Lots of conservation stuff.  Ropes course, interaction with animals, beautiful trails, and great views from the high locations.  Extremely well run with employees who really care.  You could spend two days there, but we didn't have time.     Day 3 - Legoland.  It's good if you are younger than nine.  Just okay rid...

The Lion King is a fun movie for me.  It came out just weeks after Paul and I started dating.  His first gift to me was the soundtrack.  We have since seen Lion King: The Musical three times--it's amazing.  The song "He Lives in You" (only in the musical, not movie) captured me.  Here is a YouTube video of the song, mixed with scenes from the movie. I listen to the musical's soundtrack now and then, and several years ago, I realized that song would be great for a sermon.  (Note: this realization came long before I realized I was going to be a pastor for real.)  For Mother's Day, I did pulpit supply at a few small churches, and re-worked a sermon I did on Isaiah 43, using an illustration from Disney's Toy Story about the exile. A few weeks ago, I got asked to do pulpit supply for Father's Day, and I kind of thought, "Well maybe it's time to put that Lion King sermon together."  Toy ...