Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life — Richard Rohr (Franciscan priest)

Posted on July 4, 2011 by

Now that I am firmly in the second half of my lifetime on this planet, how is the spiritual journey different?

 Q&A with the author:

 What do you mean by the two halves of life?
The phrase “two halves of life” was first popularized by Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist. He says that there are two major tasks. In the first half [of life] you’ve got to find your identity, your significance; you create your ego boundaries, your ego structure, what I call “the creating of the container.” But that’s just to get you started. In the second half of life, once you’ve created your ego structure, you finally have the courage to ask: What is this all for? What am I supposed to do with this? Is it just to protect it, to promote it, to defend it, or is there some deeper purpose? The search for meaning is the task of the second half of life. (This is not always a chronological matter – I’ve met 11 year-old children in cancer wards who are in the second half of life, and I have met 68 year-old men like me who are still in the first half of life.)

Why is the “further journey” of the second half of life especially important for people of faith who are seeking a deeper relationship with God?
I think the further journey has to be clarified especially for religious people because for the most part we’ve pushed off the journey into the next world. We’ve made the teaching of Jesus largely into an evacuation plan for the next world so we don’t have to take this world seriously, this life, this earth, what’s happening right here or now. The further journey has to happen in this world. I wrote the book because I want to say the further journey happens in this world and then you’re ready for heaven. You’re living in heaven now, you’re practicing for heaven and so heaven is not even a big change of venue. It’s a continuation of what you’ve already begun to experience.

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Mainely Speaking

Posted on July 4, 2011 by

On vacation on Maine, there is time to read, reflect and share. The photo at the top of this blog is part of our view. Here I share learnings from the summer community that is the Church of the Redeemer.

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New expressions of ministry; lay testimony; transformative leadership; magnifying the word

Posted on March 25, 2011 by

LEARNINGS TO SHARE from the Annual Conference of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes

Fresh Expressions of Ministry:

People want to talk about life not church.  If church is community and people, isn’t church life?  How do we ensure the two are one? How do we better ensure that life’s struggles can be guided and loved by the church? 

 Buildings are not church. Gods people in community are church. Lets be a part of that. We need to completely rethink how we function as a “church.”  What are we so afraid of?

At the same time, our liturgy and history is a great source of grounding and strength that gives some meaning and identity to those who are stuck in the postmodern “whatever you believe” track. Faith is real and true. 

Rector’s Preconference / SmartNetwork

We need to say things in church that we couldn’t hear on NPR.  We need to talk about our common experiences of God.  Educating people on how to give testimony strengthens their faith and strengthens their church.  Testimony of lay people on Sunday morning worship pushes at unexposed clericalism.  Testimony building brings authenticity – there may be more authenticity in the AA meeting than in the Sunday worship.  Imaginative gridlock is trying harder to solve a problem instead of asking different questions.

 Transforming Leadership

Leadership is now a circle model, not a pyramid.  The Leader’s job is to keep everyone around the table and ensuring that everyone shares information.  Letting go of control is critical in transformational leadership.  When things change, it is our job to help people grieve through the change. 

The church is no longer at the center of the community.  We need to change how we imagine mission.  This will be a change that requires strong leadership to guide congregation.  Engage parishioners, treat everyone as a leader, and develop the “Kitchen Story” – the one you tell people about your parish and it’s vision when at the kitchen table.  Be empathetic and aware of problems with change.  Increase your communication at least 10-fold. 

Magnify the Word

To effectively communicate the Word of God, you need to blow the trumpet for the Glory of God.  You need an Altar Guild of Nerds!  Use young adults and SAHMs. 

To communicate the message of your sermons, do a frequency word search on a database of sermons – take the top 12 words, then you have a word for the day with a message for a month – same theory for every other week, every week, every day.

Use www.lulu.com   and www.blurb.com to create books and calendars as gifts for donors, volunteers, etc.

Use faces with testimonials – share people’s personalities.  Also use their voices!

Anne Jolly is a student at Sewanee from Upper South Carolina and is one of four seminarians in Field Education at St. Paul’s, Downtown Chattanooga. She is a member of the Board of CEEP.

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Resources discovered at the Annual Conference of Endowed Episcopal Parishes

Posted on March 25, 2011 by

From a Report by Suzanne Smitherman, Associate Rector of Saint Paul’s Church, Chattanooga

Can anything good come out of  the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parish’s Annual Conference?

 A big ministry event in February for three representatives from Saint Paul’s Chattanooga was the Annual Conference in Chicago of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes.(CEEP)   There are many advantages to the gathering of CEEP.    We meet other people from similar parishes, mostly large, mostly urban, mostly old and established.  Creative people share ideas in conversation.  And sessions and workshops allow time to sit back and listen to presenters.  This time in session is also a huge gift of time in thought and reflection on aspects of life and work at St. Paul’s with ideas flowing and noted. 

I started with the Smart Network sessions of the Magnetic Church led by Andrew Weeks.   He was a polished presenter with hours of insights and ideas for raising the public profile of the congregation as we work to attract visitors and welcome them in to our community.  As ideas flew by I kept a list of things that seemed doable in the short run.  One criteria for my to do list was that it would cost little or no money. 

Some things that were on the list

ü   Gleaning ideas from www.messychurch.org with things we could incorporate into our  Summer Special worship on Summer Sundays.

Messy Church – Sharing the vision

 ü  Showing/advertising our uniqueness in understandable terms like mystery, smoke, chant, candles.

ü  Web resources to use:  http://youthandreligion.org/

ü  Creativity in signs, ads and signage.  Example:  Looking for a sign from God?  Here it is.

ü  Welcoming visitors

ü  Putting out church information in all of our meeting rooms used by the community

ü  Changing when we get out communications. Example:  People are much more likely to read mail on Friday and Saturday than Monday.  And more likely to turn over a postcard than open an envelope.  St. Paul’s will begin sending eChimes out later each week to focus on Sundays.

ü  Fun ways to connect.  Example:  After church youth event, Hire a teen to program your cell phone.

 Being an inviting community

Signs that are readable.  Signs that communicate.  Greeters. Keep the perspective of a stranger.

Evangelism, especially to unchurched (those who’ve left church) and nonchurched (never knew church).  We need to be aware of language and assumed body of knowledge.  Example of what they are up against would be to ask ourselves:  What do you know about Tibetan Buddhism?  They may know that little about us.

Other most interesting workshops:

Magnify the Word  – Using the Sunday sermons in many postings.  Words already written show up in many ways.  See our new postings within Facebook: search for St Paul’s Chatt or link from our website www.stpaulschatt.org    Mr. Jamie Coats Director, Friends of The Society of St. John the Evangelist:  Check out their great website: www.SSJE.org.  Also from this workshop came a great idea that worked its way into my sermon from a blogging monk.  Could you use a Lenten discipline of starting your day by being totally attentive to a cup of coffee?   Totally attentive.

Five Talents – International Microlending   www.fivetalents.org    An amazing outreach organization.

Intellectual Property Law and the Church – Overview and discussion of issues of copyright, (Churches are not exempt) , intellectual property, (Who owns my sermons?),  patent, license,  trademark (What is the Diocese of Ft. Worth? Can the breakaway church there use that name?).

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Increasing annual giving dollars by 15% or more

Posted on March 11, 2011 by

Increasing annual giving dollars by 15% or more

How to increase annual giving pledge dollars substantially? At Saint Paul’s, Chattanooga we have increased pledge dollars so far this year by more than 15%.     How?

Key points:

      Commitment to Jesus and the ministries of Christ through the parish and the   congregation’s ministries

      Financial transparency

      Setting a pledge goal to support priorities for ministry

      Asking for personal testimony

Details and examples:

  • Ø  The Annual Giving Ministry team speaks of personal commitment to our Lord and to ministries through the parish in Christ’s name.
  • Ø  The Annual Giving Ministry, together with Churchwardens, Officers, Vestry members and clergy, “speak the truth in love” so that individuals and households come to understand that their gifts of time, talent and treasure make a measurable difference in the Annual Ministry Budget – even in a parish with $10 million in endowments. Budgets are published.
  • Ø  Special Meetings of the Congregation, together with Narrative Budgets and weekly electronic newsletters and Sunday printed materials, encourage conversation and deepen understanding.
  • Ø  For the first time this year we set a dollar goal for Annual Pledges to support the priorities of our Ministry Budget. The goal is ambitious.
  • Ø  For the second year, lay leaders and other members of the congregation were asked to describe, in 100 words, “Why I love Saint Paul’s Church.”  These concise testimonies at Sunday worship helped people to get to know each other, raised awareness of ministries, and increased interest in supporting the constellation of ministries at St. Paul’s “and beyond the walls.” Some of these oral statements were published after being spoken.
  • Ø  What do we count as pledges? Some 20-Somethings and 30-Somethings will never sign a paper pledge card for a year.  When they commit to automatic online giving, we count that as a pledge.

The value of Annual Pledges has increased by more than 15% so far this year (compared to last year) in our ongoing year-round Annual Giving Ministry.

Coming soon here:   CAPE  –  Capital, Annual, Planned and Endowment-building giving as parts of our stewardship ministry, which embraces the Stewardship of the Riches of God’s Grace, including stewardship of creation, stewardship of the Gospel, and stewardship of the other resources with which God entrusts us, including our people’s time and talents, as well as their financial commitments to the ministry.

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Do you make and post Wordles of your sermon texts?

Posted on March 9, 2011 by
Sermon_February_27_2011_Chattanooga

This gallery contains 1 photo.

  Wordles of your sermon manuscript or other documents can be made at Wordle.net

Gallery | 2 Comments

Recommended reading and resources

Posted on March 8, 2011 by

Devotions for laity and clergy:

Bob Dannals brief daily E-Devotions look forward each weekday morning to Sunday’s lessons: http://saintmichael.us1.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=72813f0a5073a5973d96e0312&id=1c5a27305e

Reading:

Laypeople are surprisingly interested in Lillian Daniels’ and Martin Copenhaver’s new book This Odd and Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers. I’m giving it to our parish discernment team members. Order it here from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=wwwendowedfis-20

 Webinars:

Katherine Tyler Scott, Aspects of Leadership: Change and its Effects on Individuals and Systems  Register Now for this experiential one-hour webinar on leadership that can transform the way you train leaders in your parish.  This session is great for wardens and vestry as well as key staff members. 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, March 15.

 

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ENDOWED FISHERS: a new beginning, together

Posted on March 7, 2011 by

Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” (NET Bible, Mt 4:19)        The first disciples dropped their nets to follow Jesus. They became a new net for a new church in a new day. These days he calls us to use new nets: networks of congregations, networks of lay and clergy leaders, net Bibles, net blogs, and more.

We’re here to share news from endowed parishes – and to encourage sharing with leaders of other congregations of every size.  A starting point is the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes: www.endowedparishes.org      And become part of this new, dynamic net for sharing best practices, recommended publications, news, and more, right here. Does it make sense that we follow Jesus in the ways we do – knowing that the first disciples dropped everything to do so? Let’s talk.

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About Donald and this blog

Posted on March 4, 2011 by

I am privileged to serve as rector of Saint Paul’s Church in downtown Chattanooga — a great parish in a growing city.

I also serve on the Board of Regents of The University of the South and on the Board of Trustees of The Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes. My joys include my wife Sarah, son Allston (in Kenya at the moment) and daughter Sarah Hart (Chapel Hill).

Posted in Endowed Episcopal Parishes, Sewanee | 1 Comment