Kevan S. Franklin

If the Church Were Christian by Philip Gulley

2012-02-10T19:11:00.000-05:00

Philip Gulley, author of the "Porch Talk" book series, has a new book out, "If the Church Were Christian: Rediscovering the values of Jesus". Gulley's simple statement about the values of Jesus is too good not to share.

If the Church Were Christian...

Jesus would be a model for living rather than an object of worship.

Affirming our potential would be more important than condemning our brokenness.

Reconciliation would be valued over judgment.

Gracious behavior would be more important than right belief.

Inviting questions would be valued more than supplying answers.

Encouraging personal exploration would be more important than communal uniformity.

Meeting needs would be more important than maintaining institutions.

Peace would be more important than power.

It would care more about love and less about sex.

This life would be more important than the afterlife.

The Last two secrets; Administration and worship

2012-02-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

The NCLI Seven Secrets

1. Understand the current situation and start where you are.

2. Be Positive and map your assets.

3. We must reclaim evangelism.

4. Reclaim our compelling Mission; "Why are we the church?"

5. Create small groups for spiritual formation.

6. Administration is Ministry: empower creative people and programs.

7. Transformational Worship.

#6 Administryation How to do it right

The title "Administryation" indicates that administration should be viewed as ministry and that whatever we do in business sessions should refelct the priority of ministry.

Michael and Carmen recommend adopting an attitude of experimentation. A motto to keep in mind is;
"If no one is going to die, give it a try".
They encourage leaders to "De- "not" your church. Which means to create a culture that is accepting of experimentation and to get rid of old policies that are not needed. Many old policies prevent people from doing the things they want to do.

1. Maintaining an accurate membership database is key. Gather contact information from everyone about everything. Visitors and potential members are especially important to stay in contact with. The rule is "Know Thy People".

Wild Apricot and icontact are two church database systems that they recommend.

2. Test your ideas.

Keep a jar in a visible place for only positive, creative ideas. In all things, foster a culture of experimentation. Consider where are the creative places in our congregation?

How are you protecting the leaders who are doing good things?

How are you incorporating them into the larger church?

Keep repeating the fact that over 90 % of all people who come to a church for the first time come because someone invited them. Find ways to remind church members to invite.

Have a public greaseboard for announcements about stewardship, mission and events so that anyone can post an announcement or begin a new group.

Experiment, pilot, and play and remember that failure is good when we learn from it.

Train people how to invite; role play, give gifts for the best answer, reward heroes and

always be consistent with the values and vision of Jesus.

Workshop on Contextual Stewardship

Studies have found that most churches have the capacity with a little work to increase their donations by 33%. Paul Tillich provided a guiding image for our work of stewardship when he said, "The church is a treasure chest just waiting to be opened."

Two Books were strongly recommended; Turning tippers into tithers" and "Not your parents offering plate".

Three closing points;

It is essential to connect spirituality with giving.

Don't be afraid to talk about money in the context of faith.

Define the word stewardship for people.

Secret #7 Transformational Worship

Worship is an experience that changes lives.

Reformation of worship is the engine that drives everything else.

Worship should always have the goal of serving its members.

Worship rightly orders the entire life of the congregation including such areas as; education, spiritual formation, pastoral care and fellowship.

Two rules guide worship planning.
"There is one God and you are not it."

"Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength and love your neighbor as yourself."

When planning worship, we have to plan as if everyone today has ADD. Everything in our culture moves so fast that we all have an attention deficit disorder. People do not tolerate pauses and silence. Services should not contain "dead air".

Remember that in our world today, one size fits some. We need to offer a variety of worship services with different styles. Don't just think about the people who come to worship, worship should be designed for those who are not there. Churches should consider the question; How would your worship change if it was designed for people who aren't there?

First, you need to identify the market you need to reach.

What is worship designed to do?

-make disciples

-promote peace and justice

-turn fear to hope

-remind people that they are servants

-express both Transcendence and immanence... hope beyond us and God within us.

-authentic expression of love for God

Worship like you mean it.

Encourage interfaith and intercultural services. Worship with congregations that have different styles.

Let's look at worship revitalization as trying to reinterpret what "Sunday best" means. Sunday best used to refer to the clothing we wear to Church. Think about putting on your "Sunday best" attitude and approach to God in worship.

Installation of Officers: 1947 Book of Worship, Evangelical and Reformed Church

2012-01-30T16:59:00.000-05:00

About ten years ago, the United Church of Christ had a large supply of the 1947 version of the "Book of Worship" of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, one of the forerunners of the UCC. I purchased a large hard copy edition and have altered and arranged services from it for worship and special occasions. This Sunday I used the "Order for Ordination and Installation of Elders and Deacons" to install our officers and Consistory members. Several people asked me after worship about it's origin so I am reprinting it here with only slight changes to the original to match contemporary positions and duties. The language has also been changed to make it gender inclusive.

(Addressing the Congregation)
My friends, these people have been chosen and called by you, as a Christian Congregation, to take part as leaders in the care and service of this Church. They have accepted your call. I therefore proceed, in the name of our Lord, to set apart each into their own office, to the work of the ministry among you and on your behalf.

(Addressing the Candidates)
My friends, it is a great honor to bear office in God's house, so it is a trust that should not be taken lightly. Although your election has been by the free choice of your fellow members, you should not regard yourselves merely as their servants, but as servants of Christ. You should therefore expand your office, and consider its duties as a service to be rendered to god and not simply to them.

(Elders in the E and R Church)
Some of you are being appointed to assist and support the Ministry of the Word and the general government of the Church. With the Minister, they form a Consistory for the spiritual supervision of the Church which is committed to their care. They are the advisers and counsellors of the Minister in the work of his Holy office; they are to be eyes and hands, acting with the Ministers and for the Ministers and representing the Church's Ministry throughout the congregation. They go before the Church as Christian examples, to watch over it, to take an active interest in its spiritual welfare, to feel a responsibility for its condition, to be available in all circumstances with spiritual aid for its necessities and wants.

(Deacons in the E and R Church)
Some of you are being appointed to assist and support the Pastor in those ministries which pertain to the more outward needs of the general household of the faith. They aid in securing the funds necessary for the support of the Church and its various activities. They are to labor among the people in making known to them the needs of the Church, fostering the principle of stewardship, and thereby cultivating a spirit of liberal and cheerful giving. In performing these duties, they must not lose sight of the true spiritual character of their office, which although it may be occupied with outward and temporal things, remains a proper branch of Christian ministry.

(To all Candidates)
Having considered the nature of the offices to which yo have been called by this Congregation, do you accept the call as coming from God, and do you undertake the work and service that is set before you in the name of Jesus Christ?

If so, please answer, "I do."

We used the affirmation of the people from the 1986 United Church of Christ Book of worship.

We gather in celebration of the joy that is ours to be partners with you in the service of Jesus Christ. We promise to love you, honor your leadership, and assist you so that together we may be a faithful Church of Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Formation

2012-01-29T19:43:00.000-05:00

The seven secrets of church re-vitalization

1. Understand the current situation and start where you are.

2. Be Positive and map your assets.

3. We must reclaim evangelism.

4. Reclaim our compelling Mission; "Why are we the church?"

5. Create small groups for spiritual formation.

6. Administration is Ministry: empower creative people and programs.

7. Transformational Worship.

#5 Spiritual formation in small groups

As a Christian we are always asking two questions; Who are you becoming? Where do you practice life? Relationships formed in small groups are essential.

Christianity is not a set of beliefs but a lifestyle...a "way". A disciple is a person who has a discipline. We need to have a place where we can practice faith. There are individual practices and there are also communal communal practices.

NCLI sees the need to find more creative ways to name this process beyond "Sunday school" or "Church School".

With so many of our institutions and families in crisis we need to find ways to support one another. One helpful method to facilitate community support for individuals that was suggested is the circle process. A good video to refer to is from the Just peace organization.

Chapter 5 – Designing Good Process: The Circle Process | JustPeace

Key areas of spiritual formation are spirituality and worship, discipleship, service and care groups

World cafe is a program where a public notice of a discussion about a timely topic is given to meet in a public space. Recently the topic of racism has been discussed in our community as a form of sacred conversations.

Those interested in spiritual formation come with head and heart, embrace our incarnational natures

and expect transformation.

Formation must be real and it must also abandon church speak.

In the Bible God calls us to "be still". To listen for God's voice and allow God to become our

anchor in prayer.

It's hard to believe, but Southern Baptists started 49,000 churches last year! This movement was largely a lay movement where small groups gathered in homes. The majority of American Churches have under 100 members. Spiritual formation and intimate relationships are fostered in small group settings.

Michael Piazza continued with a workshop on leading change in worship.

We should begin to think about the concentric circles of a congregation in worship;

the community

visitors

attendees

members

leaders

council

staff

Consider how people can be moved along to grow closer to the center of the worshipping congregation.

Small growth groups are essential to worship. Michael began a renewal group within his congregation and they pledged to;

Pray twice a day

Worship Every Sunday

tithe in lent-just try it for 7 Sundays (some groups start out trying tithing for Just one Sunday a year)

Stewardship and giving is an antidote to consumerism.

Engage in hands on service projects

Study together and read a spiritual growth book together for discussion.

He suggested that Lent is a good time to begin this process.

He also suggested that we use another adjective for "contemporary" worship like "Lively" worship.

One church calls their alternative service "Indescribable".

Do good, be safe and enjoy yourself!

2011-09-24T13:35:00.000-04:00

This is a Saturday morning quick blog as I reflect on our October newsletter. Our students just began another school year and Logos will be back shortly. Tomorrow (September 25th) is the first Sunday of regular Sunday School. As soon as I am able, I'll pick up the Church Leadership reflection and post those blogs.

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “I have just three things to teach; simplicity, patience and compassion. These are your greatest Treasures.”

Through many years of parenting three boys I developed a simplified set of instructions that covers everything for each unique personality; “Do Good, Be safe and enjoy yourself.” One son needed to hear, “Be Good.” Another needed to hear “enjoy yourself.” And the other needed to hear “Be Safe.” No doubt God designs personal messages for each of us as well.

The speeches of Peter and Paul in the book of Acts are great. In one of those speeches, Peter described Jesus by saying, "You know about his ministry, how he went about doing good and healing many." "He went about doing good." This is how Peter described Jesus' life. This is also what being a Christian came to mean; you go around doing good.

Agonizing over his impending death, Jesus paused in a little town to notice the needs of one sick outcast man. Years later, his actions inspired people to say, “He went about doing good.” How often are we distracted by our own issues? We say things like, "I can't do that for you right now, I'm in the middle of something else." Scripture says that Jesus answered, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Even though we don't think about it this way, religion at its most basic level is an attempt to get God to pay attention to us. Ancient religious rituals were designed to perform some dramatic action, to get God’s attention. Are you wearing God out with your prayers as Jesus suggested? What are you doing that God will notice?

"Solomon dedicated the Temple saying, "O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart."-1 Kings 8:23

The eighth chapter of 1 Kings is the story about Solomon offering a prayer of dedication for the Temple. The building of the Temple was the focus of the hopes and dreams of people of faith for a new world of peace and justice. Some of you at Trinity may have attended the re-dedication ceremony of our current sanctuary in 1994. I hope you can join us on Sunday October 2^nd for World Communion Sunday and our Neighbor’s in Need offering. It is a fitting Sunday to also dedicate our recently renovated Sanctuary Chancel area and rededicate our mission to “go around doing good.”

The Church is Mission

2011-09-14T08:58:00.000-04:00

Over the next few blogs I am going to try to summarize the main points of the NCLI (National Church Leadership Institute) conference and highlight the key ideas they suggest for church revitalization.

The NCLI Seven Secrets

1. Understand the current situation and start where you are.

2. Be Positive and map your assets.

3. We must reclaim evangelism.

4. Reclaim our compelling Mission; "Why are we the church?"

5. Create small groups for spiritual formation.

6. Administration is Ministry: empower creative people and programs.

7. Transformational Worship.

#4 Compelling Mission: Why are we the Church?" led by Michael Piazza

In the order of service, the Call to worship and call to action should all explain the "why" question. Why are we here? Why are we the church? Following Jesus is the practice of compassion. We are all in ministry together and we learn from one another.

Worship should aim at developing the ability to put yourself in anothers' shoes.

A healthy church is a by-product of a powerful externally focused mission.

In anything that we do in the church, especially worship, we have to ask the tough question; are we just trying to maintain an institution or are we planning for Jesus' mission in people's lives?

Everything that we do in worship should be an extension of the mind and mission of Jesus.

Happiness comes from being externally focused. Despite cultural changes, our core values remain the same. We are stewards of God's grace. There are only a few things that churches must do well and there is a difference between what you could do, what you like to do, what you should do and what you MUST do.

Churches need to think bigger than they are!

In order to be a Church we must act like the body of Christ.

Is the church driven by management or by mission and vision?

The focus of church leaders should not be concerned with financial stability. The energy and faith of church leaders should be directed toward creating a vision of the mission that God has called them to. Everyone should ask, Are my decisions based on concern for institutional stability or Christ’s vision for our life together?

Who are the heroes of your congregation? Who drives the church?

There is a long list of possibilities;

creative people

leaders

managers

administrators

historians

fear-mongers

critics?

You cannot allow the 2% of critics to determine what a church does.

One Church’s Bulletin reads; "You are the body of Christ. To serve and not to be served.” Who is your worship designed to serve?

Is worship designed for those inside the church or for those outside the church?

Peter Drucker asks two questions; What business are you in? and Who are your customers?

In the corporate world consider that Sports Illustrated saw themselves as a magazine company while ESPN saw themselves as a Sports entertainment company. ESPN grew by reaching into other types of media while SI resisted the move.

What if oil companies shed the mindset that they are in the oil business and began to think of themselves as being in the "energy" business? How might they change the way they respond to legislation and how might they imagine new opportunities of doing business that is cleaner and better for the nation? Likewise, in what ways is the Church stuck in old ways of thinking about the business we are in?

Another way of getting at this issue is to ask; What business would a Martian say that you were in? When we go back to the reason for our existence, we can look at what Jesus did.

Our customers are the broken-hearted and the oppressed.

Members should not wear a bib but an apron; You are a host not a guest

You are a producer not a consumer. Worship should reinforce our core value of service. We need to be clear that the life of our church is about service.

There are many jokes about fundamentalist churches having an advantage over mainline churches because Fundamentalists have hell. What they really have is a sense of urgency.

Every church has the mission of Jesus. We have the kingdom of God and the message of grace.

Hell takes many forms. There are many people in this world today who are living in hell, the hell of poverty, war, aids, homelessness, injustice and violence. We need to be about the work of the church with a sense of urgency for those who live in the difficult places of life. This is an urgency we must speak of and we can do something about.

A sense of urgency cannot be generated by a congregation that is only interested in its own survival, institutional stability and paying the bills. We need to be about the things that Jesus was about. Turn the church upside down and find your mission. Remind people about the places that our members are serving in the world. Churches get stuck on governance instead of a vision for the kingdom of God. You must integrate service into the DNA of the church and continue in many ways to remind people what it is all about.

Pastor Laurene Bowers from Randall, Massachusetts, author of the book "Becoming a Multi-Cultural Church" led a workshop about Creating a Multi-Cultural church.

She encourages every congregation to reach out to people who historically did not feel part of the church whether those boundaries were due to gender, race, ethnicity, age, orientation, economic condition, or ability. It is important to put Jesus at the center, who is the thread that holds us all together. It is theological-we need to believe that radical inclusion of diverse people is the will of God. Diversity is good for you because it helps all of us to grow. In the new world, she says we need to practice "Sesame street" worship. Every part of the service should be limited to five minutes. There must be no dead time and songs should last no more than 3 minutes. Diverse congregations need to find ways to foster conversations and faith sharing. She suggested experimenting with a Sacred Conversations circle.

Like me on Facebook

2011-09-08T19:44:00.000-04:00

Over the next few days I am going to try to summarize the main points and highlight some practical ideas for church revitalization in the next few blogs. After attending NCLI (National Church Leadership Institute) this summer, I thought it would be helpful to list the seven secrets of church re-vitalization. Look out! Sabbatical ends Monday, September 12th.

The NCLI Seven Secrets

1. Understand the current situation and start where you are.

2. Be Positive and map your assets.

3. We must reclaim evangelism.

4. Reclaim our compelling Mission; "Why are we the church?"

5. Create small groups for spiritual formation.

6. Administration is Ministry: empower creative people and programs.

7. Transformational Worship.

#3 Reclaim evangelism.

We need to remember that we have the most valuable message in the world, we offer changed lives through grace, forgiveness, mercy, reconciliation, community, connection, friends and relationships, meaning and purpose, hope and joy. How have we lost this mission in the life of the church? How can we get beyond the stereotypes of what it means be to a "Christian" and how can we differentiate ourselves from the current image that people have in their minds when they hear the word "church"?

Marketing;

1. begins at home. Mobilize the congregation. Your building is your billboard.

2. Being consistent and persistent is vital

3. Tell stories.

4. One size fits some. Move people with visual, auditory and movement.

5. Use all your tools; yellow pages, web, Ephesians 4:12

6. Think multi-level facebook, twitter streams email and touches

7. It's all about the experience.

Some online tools were suggested;

techsoup has twitter for churches.

Insight.com has help with websites on facebook.

When people come to worship have them sign in to facebook and say, "I'm in worship at Trinity". We see signs all over the place that say, Like us on facebook". Why is your church any different than other recommendations that you make to your friends? Mobile internet will replace desktop internet by 2014.

Engage people on Facebook...post questions and bring back the answers that people give during worship. Maybe you can give a prize for the best answer. Social media is a way to engage people in a non-threatening way.

It is important to have accurate databases. Get email addresses and maintain a useable database.

Some suggestions were made for website tools;

Churchmarketingsucks.com

faithclipart.com

healyourchurchwebsite.com

churchmarketingonline.com

Use youtube to get the message out.
Understand the core values of the UCC.

Don't worry as much about "members" but strive for active participants. All old school measures are descriptive . Now, "Regular participation" means that they worship one time a month. Frequency of worship attendance has declined for quite a while now.

Therefore a membership of 400 means 100 in worship. Get away from the idea that Sunday morning is all there is. Program through the week. Embrace visuals in worship whenever possible.

When you share information on Facebook and other social network sites, your audience grows exponentially. Imagine if out of 400 friends, only one percent or four of them "share" your message it could reach upwards of 1600 people. Socail networks dranaticly increase your ability to get your message out.

Kimberly Knight workshop on Social media

Kimberly is the social media consultant for the Center for Progressive Renewal. Technology is not a fad. It is an important shift in communication. Technology connects people in new ways. There are a number of growing online churches. It is not "whether" we use social media, but "how well" we use it.

Some churches meet only online.

She showed us a video about the speed of change.

Did You Know 3.0 (Official Video Edition) - YouTube

Most people searching for a church begin with the internet.

The rules about the internet are;

a good website still counts.

blogs and content management systems are more important than mailings.

email in bulk to everyone in your database using "Mailchimp" or Constant Contact"

Facebook pages and groups are essential

Grab attention

engage and interact

take action

Kimberly listed 10 suggestions to guide Church use of social media; be authentic, giving, engaging, action oriented, reciprocal, relevant, frequent, daring, flexible, Pastoral.

I'm trying to decide which picture to use on facebook; What's your vote?

Picture A.

OR Picture B?

Staying Positive with Asset Mapping and AI

2011-09-08T18:33:00.000-04:00

After attending NCLI (National Church Leadership Institute) this summer I thought it would be helpful to list the seven secrets or church re-vitalization.

The NCLI Seven Secrets

1. Understand the current situation and start where you are.

2. Be Positive and map your assets.

3. We must reclaim evangelism.

4. Reclaim our compelling Mission; "Why are we the church?"

5. Create small groups for spiritual formation.

6. Administration is Ministry: empower creative people and programs.

7. Transformational Worship.

#2 Be Positive and map your assets

Asset Mapping

Mike Piazza has broken down the process of new member growth into three simple steps.
1. get them to come.

2. Get them to come back

3. Get them to stay

A database is more important than a membership list. Increase the number of touches with your database. A "touch" can be a snail mail mailing, an email, a social media announcement, a blog or any other way that you communicate with a member.

First time worshippers are your VIP's. Over 90% of all people who come to a church for the first time do so because someone in the congregation personally invited them. Marketing, branding, communication, advertising and PR are all important, but nothing is more effective that providing opportunities for members to invite people they know.

Find out why visitors come back. What is your niche? Websites like citydata.com and persept.com can provide you with information about your community. If you average two visitors a week, times 52 Sundays is 104 people, three visitors a week is 156, 4 a week is 208. You only have to do a few things well. You have to know what those few things are and do them well. Who can your church appeal to? Why doesn't it?

Think about those who might come if they thought that they were welcome.

Know who you are and what you stand for.

How do we get people to come back? Every church thinks that they are a friendly church. Most often they are friendly with each other. Research shows that the larger the number of people who introduce themselves to a visitor increases the likelihood that they will return. Visitors respond to a friendly church, exciting morning worship with great music (and it's important to do it well), service opportunities, children and youth programs, and hope for transformation.

They come back for value.

Two things get them to stay;

1. Give them a job

2. Give them a friend

People are looking for a sense of significance and fellowship.

Do three things well; Worship, small groups and outreach.

The Cathedral of Hope has a policy that every person does something this year.

It's important to recognize and amplify your assets. All of the aspects of church life fit together and it's easy to connect the dots. Mission, evangelism, fellowship, and worship have always been what the church does. Do them well.

Michael offered some practical suggestions based on appreciative Inquiry and Asset Mapping. I have cut and pasted below a definition of Appreciative Inquiry from Wikipedia. It is the most important tool for leading change and is worth practicing. Too often when churches begin to look critically at their church they become cynical and judgmental and want to cast blame for perceived weaknesses. This is the place where much constructive change is halted. It's important to believe in what you are doing. You can google Asset Mapping or Appreciative Inquiry. There are many great online resource. I bookmarked a Case Western Reserve University site that has extensive material about AI.

Michael suggests that you arrange small group gatherings within the church to discuss those four foundations of church life and use sticking sheets with creative suggestions on them and then ask people to get up and vote with their feet and stand by the sign that they believe in strongly enough that they would be willing to put time and energy into. Nominations should be taken from the congregation. a broader group knows more people and may have a better sense of gifts and interests than a small committee. It also fosters a sense of engagement and participation from everyone.

Appreciative Inquiry is based on the belief that what you feed grows.

Here are the four phases of AI.

Discovery; Appreciate what is

Dream; What might be

Design; Determine who you should be

Destiny; Create the new vision

Keys to moving forward

1. Stay positive

2. Start where you are

3. create an atmosphere of trust

4. be honest about the challenges

5. focus on your assets not your liabilities

Wikidpedia definition;

Problem Solving	Appreciative inquiry
Felt need, identification of problem(s)	Appreciating, valuing the Best of What Is
Analysis of Causes	Envisioning what might be
Analysis of possible solutions	Dialogue what should be
Action Planning (treatment)	Innovating, what will be

Appreciative Inquiry (sometimes shortened to "AI") is an organizational development method that seeks to engage all levels of an organization (and often its customers and suppliers) to renew, change and improved performance. It has been said to be applicable to organizations facing rapid change or growth.^[1] David Cooperrider is widely credited with coining the term 'Appreciative Inquiry'.
The model is based on the assumption that the questions we ask will tend to focus our attention in a particular direction. Some other methods of assessing and evaluating a situation and then proposing solutions are based on a deficiency model. Some other methods ask questions such as “What are the problems?”, “What’s wrong?” or “What needs to be fixed?”.
^[2]
Appreciative Inquiry takes a different tack. As a self defined "asset-based approach" it starts with the belief that every organization, and every person in that organization, has positive aspects that can be built upon. It asks questions like “What’s working?”, “What’s good about what you are currently doing?”^[3]
Some researchers believe that excessive focus on dysfunctions can actually cause them to become worse or fail to become better^[4]. By contrast, AI argues, when all members of an organization are motivated to understand and value the most favorable features of its culture, it can make rapid improvements.^[5]
Strength-based methods are used in the creation of organizational development strategy and implementation of organizational effectiveness tactics.^[6] The appreciative mode of inquiry often relies on interviews to qualitatively understand the organization's potential strengths by looking at an organization's experience and its potential. The objective is to understand the assets and personal motivations that are strengths in the organization.
The following sequence is how AI supporters describe some of the distinctions between Appreciative Inquiry and approaches to organizational development not based on what they call positive potential^[7]:
Problem Solving Appreciative inquiry
Felt need, identification of problem(s) Appreciating, valuing the Best of What Is
Analysis of Causes Envisioning what might be
Analysis of possible solutions Dialogue what should be
Action Planning (treatment) Innovating, what will be
Appreciative Inquiry attempts to use ways of asking questions and envisioning the future in-order to foster positive relationships and build on the present potential of a given person, organization or situation. Research has shown that this method can enhance an organization's capacity for collaboration and change.^[8] Appreciative Inquiry utilizes a cycle of 4 processes, which focuses on what it calls:
DISCOVER: The identification of organizational processes that work well.
DREAM: The envisioning of processes that would work well in the future.
DESIGN: Planning and prioritizing processes that would work well.
DESTINY (or DELIVER): The implementation (execution) of the proposed design.^[9]
The basic idea is to build organizations around what works, rather than trying to fix what doesn't. It intends to be thought of as the opposite of problem solving. This is because it intends to focus on how to increase exceptional performance instead of focusing on remediation of skills and practices. AI assumes that this line of reasoning is motivational. This is because organizational development work doesn't stop when a particular problem is solved but leads to continuous improvement. The method draws from stories of success in an attempt to create meaning.
There are a variety of approaches to implementing Appreciative Inquiry, including mass-mobilized interviews and a large, diverse gathering called an Appreciative Inquiry Summit^[10]. Both approaches involve bringing large, diverse groups of people together to study and build upon the best in an organization or community.
The basic philosophy of AI is also found in other positively oriented approaches to individual change as well as organizational change. The principles behind A.I. are based in the science of Positive Psychology. The idea of building on strength, rather than just focusing on faults and weakness is used in mentoring programs, and in coaching dynamics. It is the basic idea behind teaching "micro-affirmations" as well as teaching about micro-inequities. (See Microinequity^[11])
AI has been used to foster change in businesses, health care systems, social profit organizations, educational institutions, communities, local governments, and religious institutions^[12].

The Church Rummage Sale

2011-09-08T17:32:00.000-04:00

I am going to try to summarize the main points and highlight some practical ideas for church revitalization in the next few blogs. After attending NCLI (National Church Leadership Institute) this summer I thought it would be helpful to list the seven secrets of church re-vitalization.

The NCLI Seven Secrets

1. Understand the current situation and start where you are.

2. Be Positive and map your assets.

3. We must reclaim evangelism.

4. Reclaim our compelling Mission; "Why are we the church?"

5. Create small groups for spiritual formation.

6. Administration is Ministry: empower creative people and programs.

7. Transformational Worship.

1 Understand the current situation and start where you are

Phyllis Tickle, in her recent book, The Great Emergence uses a friends image of church history being like a giant rummage sale. Every 500 years the church holds a giant rummage sale and decides what it needs to keep and what it needs to get rid of. The 500 year intervals fall roughly around the Fall of the Roman empire, the Great Schism between Eastern and Western Christians, the Reformation and our time during the dawning of the third millennium.

At the center of these changes is the question of where we look to for Authority in spiritual matters. The Reformation was a time when people began to question the authority of Church hierarchy and focused on Scripture and the current movement is engaged in questioning strict biblical authority and a concern for the Spirit.

The Emergent church is hard to identify. No one can determine what the church will look like when we emerge from this time of transition and rapid change, however, some key elements that we are seeing is that the new movement is; Jesus oriented, communal, and post-denominational.

Our generation has the task of transitioning the church that exists to the church that is being born. As Church leaders we have the responsibility to lead two churches.

Everyone is confused about what this means. The church is like other institutions and people are becoming less trustful of Government, corporations, economic policies and military solutions.

The Post-World War II era when everyone was civic minded is over. We live in an age of individualism. A generation has grown up with peer learning rather than institutional reliance.

We live in a time of Revivals, awakenings and reforms. What remains important in these churches is the collective impact of mission and networks of collaboration. We need to foster creativity and allow for hands on ministry on the part of creative and gifted church leaders and support them in efforts to create something new. Dramatic changes in our culture are happening at an increasing speed.

This spring I attended a workshop led by Paul Nixon whose book "I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church!" attempts to put a frame on the new way of looking at Church life. Paul Nixon is an ordained United Methodist minister who, until 2007, was director of congregational development in the Alabama—West Florida Conference. He is the founding pastor of Epicenter Church in Greater Washington, DC. Every church in the 21st Century needs to think of itself as a new church start. God invites every congregation to thrive. The future of mainline Protestantism is in the hands of pastors and lay leaders who must immediately make some critical choices, radically reframing the way they approach their ministry tasks: Choosing Life over Death, Community over Isolation, Fun over Drudgery, Bold over Mild, Frontier over Fortress, and Now rather than Later.

There is no going back to 1950. We are in the midst of dramatic changes like the world has never seen and the church must have courage and wisdom to face the challenges of our new age.

What I've Learned from Worship

2011-09-03T20:35:00.001-04:00

I only have two Sunday visits left before my return from Sabbatical to Trinity on September 18. It has been very helpful to see how different churches are responding to changes in styles and how they approach worship and I have enjoyed it very much. It's a treat for Ella and I to sit together and share a hymnal and nudge one another.

On of the things I have noticed is how important Signage is. In most cases very few members of the church es we visited spoke to us. In one church, I even had a Visitors bag in my hand and not one person spoke to me. It is important for members to be aware and watch for visitors. We should be able to rely on church members who notice when people may need help.

As I looked for signs leading to the sanctuary, I began to realize that some churches design their foyers and halls for function and others for celebration. I particularly like one church's use of signage. Over the doorway that leads to the sanctuary they had large gold letters shaped like an arch over the doorway which spelled out "sanctuary". Another church had twisted streamers leading along the hallway to the sanctuary along with a sign that read, "This way to the worship center". Functional signage is old school and reflects the institutional character of our past. Creative, colorful banners and signs are new wave thinking and help to set the tone for what happens in the worship service itself. Imagine your favorite beverage coming in a white can with generic black letters spelling out the name. Think about how products like Coke continue to change their product wrappings. Each season of the year, Coke features a different style of can art.

At Trinity we always have first time visitors who can't find the sanctuary. Part of the problem is that we think that they are the ones who have the problem. We all know where the sanctuary is and think that it is obvious, but it's not. Regardless what names do we have for worship space, Sanctuary, Worship center, etc. We need both effective celebratory signage and to do a better job of encouraging our people to step out of their comfort zone and speak to people who appear to be visitors.

Seriously ask the question; How welcome are visitors? Having held a visitor bag in my hand and no one approached me in a very large congregation, it's clear to me that every church needs to communicate to its members about hospitality.

At the NCLI leadership training this summer, Jim Powell from the Center for Progressive Renewal led a workshop on first time visitors.

He shared the idea of having people who are responsible for "Zones" in the sanctuary. Generally the sanctuary would be broken up into four quadrants and the "greeter" for each zone would be charged with approaching people they don't know being sure that they signed the pew pad and left information.

His church has a rating scale that they communicate to church members;

10 points If you smile

10 points If you Greet someone nearby

100 Points If you Exchange names

200 points If you offer an Invitation to return

1000 points For an Introduction to another person

2000 points for an Introduction to the Pastor

Your goal is at least 3200 points.

Nearly 95% of all people who visit say that they do so because someone invited them.

His church also has a note in the bulletin for people to use mobile devices to sign into facebook when they come to worship. This is a non-threatening way for friends and family to know where you worship and they will ask you if they are interested.

The Cathedral of Hope has a very simple formula for Evangelism.

1. get them to come.
2. Get them to come back
3. Get them to stay

And after they join give them a friend and a job.

About half of the churches that I attended had some sort of "passing of the peace". We do a good job of this at Trinity. Sometimes we can't get the passing of the peace stopped to get on to worship! We should be able to incorporate the first time visitor information easily into our time frame.

Some of the church buildings have been relatively new and others over 100 years old like Trinity. I'm beginning to think that this is less important all the time. I have served churches in both types of settings (Two churches built in the 1950's and two in the 1870's) and enjoy the features of both. One thing that does make a difference is the focus of the sanctuary and the design of the chancel area. On the first Sunday of my Sabbatical way back in June, the first church I attended was my home church in Henrietta. I had forgotten that pictures of Jesus are very prominent there. The classic Warner Sallman

I picked up tips and good ideas from several places and will be sharing them with Church leaders and committees this fall. I've found ideas such as; churches now have members who practice automatic withdrawal giving, and have put little cards in the pews for them to sign that they practice giving in this way. It gives them something to offer and at the same time, others in the pews can see that this is a unique way to offer to God our gifts. One church had the children come up for baptism and sing "Jesus Loves Me" while the Pastor took the newly baptized down the aisle.

My visits made me realize that there are two things we need to think through at Trinity: In each church I visited, coffee hour was 1. after worship, 2. adjacent to the sanctuary and 3. always on the same level as the sanctuary. Our building makes this difficult as coffee hour is not visible or readily accessible.

The second challenge we have is Parking. I noticed how easy it was to find a parking space in large lots directly adjacent to the other churches. Parking at Trinity is difficult at best and in downtown Wooster has only become worse recently. I don't think we realize how important accessible parking is.

The new wood flooring is installed at Trinity and I am looking forward to worshipping in that new space. The project has dramatically improved the appearance and sound projection of the sanctuary. Leaders at the NCLI conference said that we need to re-interpret the terms "Sunday Best" and "World Class". Sunday Best used to refer to the type of attire that was considered appropriate for Sunday worship. What if we understood our Sunday Best as our efforts to worship in the right spirit being aware of our need to serve others? World Class used to be a way to attract attention to yourself. What if the guiding spirit of our Church's mission was aimed at the needs of the world? What if our vision was to "Put on our Sunday Best" to provide "World Class" service?

Confront your fears

2011-08-27T21:32:00.001-04:00

Last week, I took a course from Stanley Hibbs, a well-known therapist, whose specialty is caring for people with anxiety. I chose to spend part of my Sabbatical in this way due to the large number of people who come to Pastor's with worry and anxiety. We live in an anxious world.

Dr. Hibbs offered a number of practical techniques that people suffering from anxiety can practice. Every new form of growth in our lives requires dedication and causes growing pains. Relief from anxiety is no different.

The greatest challenge in Anxiety management get people to stick with the program. Most anxiety management attempts fail because people give up to soon. The best place to begin is with a positive view of the future. What would life be like if you didn't have this problem? People should begin by developing a vision of the future and how good it would be if they could gain control over anxiety. It's helpful to list specific things that you would like to be able to do if it weren't for anxiety. What would your life be like? List specific benefits like being able to go out to an event, self-assurance, self- control, better relationships... etc. Motivational interviewing gets around resistance. You can follow asset mapping with "I wish, I want, I need" positive statements. Why do you want to be free from anxiety? What would be different?

Hibbs begins by having people memorize a three step process to overcoming anxiety. He calls them the three "C"'s of anxiety management.

Calm the body. Correct thinking. Confront fears.

Calm the Body. Anxiety is basically an emergency response system and is normal. From an evolutionary standpoint it had its benefits. When our ancestors heard a rustle in the bushes, they needed their bodies to prepare them to make a decision. Is there a threat and do I have to run? Largely, most of us don't need to make those types of decisions anymore and our evolutionary response is not helpful.

Therefore the first step in controlling anxiety is to calm your body. Three usual techniques to train our bodies when they are stressed are; breathing, relaxation and visualization. Realizing that your body is acting normally is a first step. A second step is to become aware of our bodies and learn ways to relax. Everyone should have a safe place clearly defined in their minds. It may be an imaginary place or it can be a moment in life when they felt safe and bliss.

You should always be working to observe and to handle things more effectively. You should also give homework around the "why" describe goals and benefits of an anxiety free life.

Correct Thinking. ANTS are "automatic negative thoughts". We jump to conclusions, mind read, fortune tell, think in catastrophic terms and negatively evaluate life situations. ANTS involve tunnel vision when we can only focus on the threat and not positive avenues. We can also be aware of emotional reasoning, because you "feel" a certain way it must be true.

If you think;

"People are against me" practice living as if people are neutral.

Develop and try a theory "B". Imagine that your mind is a radio station that you can determine to change if you want to. Develop your own internal positive menu channel. Experiment with new ideas.

It doesn't work to focus on avoiding negative thoughts, you must change the channel and begin to focus on positive thoughts. That's the way our brain works. Don't say to yourself, "Don't think of that negative thing", rather say to yourself, "Think about this positive thing". The Apostle Paul said, "Do not worry about anything, but in everything, with Thanksgiving make your requests known to God." Positive affirmations replace Negative thoughts.

Experiments with mice have determined that if a mouse is shocked in a white room, no matter what living arrangement he is put in no matter what the surroundings, if the room is white he will avoid it and prefer a room with color walls. And the more the mouse avoids a white room, the more the deeper the behavior is ingrained in his mind. In the same way, the more we give in to our fears, the more control the exert over us.

Confront Fears. There is a saying that if you are working through a particular problem, you should "keep driving the bus". We have to continue to work on our fears even when we feel like stopping.

When someone is going through an extreme sense of panic, it may be helpful to say to themselves, "I know that I am safe and I will wait until this feeling passes." Everyone should develop "coping statements" like this in order to confront their fears.

Social Anxiety is largely caused by excessive concern about what other people think of you. Social performances are often an attempt to control the thoughts of others. We want people to like us. When we change our mission, social anxieties disappear, when we switch our thinking from wanting other people to feel good about us to wanting people to feel good about themselves.

Turn conversations into an opportunity to get to know other people and learn about things that you are interested in. People who feel awkward in social conversations can remember a simple acronym "FOR", which stands for Family, Occupation and Recreation. People often have the impression that a good conversationalist is someone who tells colorful stories or entertain a crowd, but in fact, a good conversationalist is someone who draws out the good in others.

In order to confront our fears we have to focus on what we can do. We may not be able to fully confront our fears, so we have to work our way up to them. You may not be able to ride in an elevator, but you can begin by pushing the button, then stepping in and out, until you have de-sensitized your fears.

Dale Carnegie's three step model for worry is to think it through; imagine the worst, then accept that even your worst fears will happen and then improve on the worst. OK, so the worst thing may happen, even in spite of that, what can you do about it?

If anyone is interested in specific techniques and working through the three "C's" let me know and I can share more materials. Two good books for those who counsel and those who suffer anxiety are:

"The 10 best ever anxiety management Techniques" by Margaret Wehrenberg and "Anxiety Gone" by Stanley Hibbs.

Ella caught me practicing relaxation techniques on our recent trip to PA.

Two-thirds over

2011-08-20T21:58:00.000-04:00

My sabbatical is two-thirds of the way over. Trinity has its annual Outdoor worship service at Christmas Run Park tomorrow. I plan to attend First Congregational UCC in Hudson tomorrow and stay for both services, one traditional and one contemporary. Last Sunday I worshipped at Fairlawn West UCC in Akron. They only have Contemporary services. Trinity was the beneficiary of the New Century Hymnal when they went entirely to projection of lyrics in worship. I was surprised that they are sharing their worship space with a church which split from a United Presbyterian Congregation, called New Covenant Community Church. Both worship services were progressive in nature, but the second group used the organ.

I promise to write more about my studies when I have a chance. I've been helping a number of people in the community who are in transitions of one sort or another. Elijah has been working on a work visa to China and has a flight scheduled out of Cleveland Friday, August 26th. He'll travel to L.A. and then on to Hong Kong and then to his teaching assignment in a city in China that I always mis-spell and mis-pronounce. He will be teaching English to school children. Sam is looking at several youth service opportunities in the U.S. as well, so we have been very busy. Stephen starts Monday at Wooster High School as a Junior and Shannon moves into her dorm at the College of Wooster this Wednesday. I peeked in at the workers who are laying a new floor in the Chancel area this week. I am looking forward to the new flooring as we have struggled with buckled carpeting for several years. Thanks to all those who contributed to the renovation project.

Two weeks ago, I spent some time with Luke in Springfield, Illinois and this past week I was in Pittsburgh taking a course in Counseling people with anxiety. It was very good and offered practical exercises for working through worry.

While I am gone, listen for Mission committee members as they promote the new UCC Mission One program which runs from 11-1-11 through 11-11-11. If you're ambitious, look for more information at ucc.org.

On my way to the Hall of Fame

2011-08-01T10:06:00.001-04:00

I always knew that someday I'd be on the road to Cooperstown. That's where I'm headed today for two days before the Center for Progressive Renewal's Leadership retreat in PA. On Sunday, July 31, we worshipped with the congregation of Zion UCC in Tonawanda, NY. They recently returned from a West Virginia Mission trip and worship centered around that experience. The Pastor's message focused on the UCC's "Mission1" objectives linking the idea with the feeding of the five thousand story. When the disciples asked Jesus to send the people away, he responded by telling the disciples, "You give them something to eat." We like to think that poverty is someone else's problem. Jesus made it clear through words and actions that we are to be about the work of restoring dignity to those who keep getting sent away.

Our signature reveals a lot about us. When I graduated from high school, they asked us how we wanted our diploma's and announcements to read. I thought that including my middle name would make my signature too long and I didn't want to lose my middle name altogether so I simply went with the initial "S." Through the years, I kept the "S". It stands for "Sanborn". In school I had to explain to the other kids why my middle name is not "William" or "Lee" or "John" or "Edward". I received my Paternal Grandmother's maiden name. Her family came from Western New York state where a town is named "Sanborn" after Rev. Ebeneezer Sanborn (my Grandmother's Great Grandfather). We spent some time with distant cousins in Sanborn who actually had hand written notes from that generation. The also directed me to the graves of my Great Grandfather and mother Charles G. Sanborn and Helen Goff Sanborn.

I can't post pictures from the road, but will add them when I return to Wooster next weekend. We plan to stop at a park near the finger lakes today and then on to Cooperstown.

Center for Progressive Renewal

2011-07-28T14:56:00.003-04:00

Here is a brief overview of the Center for Progressive Renewal and the "Seven Secrets" workshop that I will attend next week.

This past year, the Center for Progressive Renewal (CPR) team assembled an unprecedented portfolio of leadership and church development resources that includes:

A proven process for assessing, recruiting, training and coaching church leaders, with more than 3,500 people engaged in the process.

A team of the nation’s best leadership and church development consultants, coaches and trainers dedicated to working with conferences and congregations across all denominations.

An online learning center offering seminary course work, workshops and more than two dozen webinars.

An innovative business management and executive skills program to equip church leaders with critical business skills.

A national database of more than 4,000 prospective church leaders representing more than 20 denominations.

The fourth annual New Church Leadership Institute, offering training to a record-breaking audience of church planters and renewal specialists.

The mission of The Center for Progressive Renewal is to renew Progressive Christianity by training new entrepreneurial leaders, supporting the birth of new liberal/progressive congregations, and by renewing and strengthening existing progressive churches. The name Progressive Renewal is the articulation of a vision that our organization exists to service the progressive church in a systematic/progressive way. We understand Progressive Christianity as a faith that believes God’s family includes all people; God’s people are responsible for caring for the environment, the poor, sick and vulnerable; that education, health care and civil liberties are vital to abundant life and therefore the desire of God for all people; and that truth is found more often in honest grappling with the questions than in absolute hierarchical pronouncement of the answers. We further believe that this is the type of faith for which millions of Americans hunger.

Revitalization Track
Re-Branding and New Identity
Mastering the Media
Building Your Database - Grow your Church!
Fundraising and Stewardship
Re-imagining for Renewal
Building/Transforming Your Church through Spiritual Practices
New Spiritual Appetites

Center for Progressive Renewal

Main Sessions

Assets - Beginning Where You Are: Through processes like Asset Mapping and Appreciative Inquiry each individual and church discovers their unique strengths, passions, competencies, and assets. This must be the starting place on the journey to vitality.

Change – Preparing to Follow the Spirit: Having identified our unique strengths we now move to preparing for where the Spirit is leading us. By seeing and accepting the changes we need make, we retool our church for growth.

Mission – Turning the Church Inside Out: Having discovered our strengths and seen the future our church could have we begin the process which moves a church from being internally to externally focused, from a program and management orientation to a service and missional orientation.

Communication – From Identity Formation to Market Saturation: Learning to be “as cunning as a serpent and as innocent as a dove” in terms of branding/re-branding and effectively communicating the values and vision of the church in a way that is irresistibly attractive to those who need its message and ministries.

Connection – Creating Transformational Community: Creating transformation connections by practicing extravagant hospitality. Recognizing the new kinds of connections such as Facebook, the church must offer opportunities for authentic community to in which people are changed

Administration – Managing for Mission: Shifting from managing for maintenance to creating systems and structures that support and enhance the ministry of the church and its mission in the world. Managing data is more important in today’s culture than managing money.

Transformational Worship – The Heart-beat of Vital and Vibrant Church: Any church that offers 52 energetic, relevant, and transformational worship services a year will grow. The community gathers for an authentic experience of God and an hour or so later scatters to be the Church.

Ghosts of Gettysburg

2011-07-27T10:53:00.001-04:00

On our way back from DC last week, Ella and I stopped at one of my favorite historic sites, Gettysburg. We always try to stay at the Colton Motel because of its location and value. It is located on Steinwehr Ave. alongside the National Cemetery.

When we checked in, the host told us that our room, number 27, is haunted. This is a great sales technique for hotels. It turns out that this corner room is the closest hotel room to the Cemetery in Gettysburg. According to the hosts, a Union soldier comes at night to tell you to stay down and out of harms way. Great local color for a hotel! If you ever go to Gettysburg, you'll see that on every street corner someone is offering a "ghost walk" around town. Ghost Guides in period clothing lead groups of twenty or so curious tourists around by the light of an old lantern, spinning tales like "blue boy" and "Lincoln's Ghost train". Supernatural tourism is very good business. Sam and I once took a trip to Granville, Ohio to spend the night in the Buxton Inn because it has made it onto a number of TV shows about the supernatural. It's always good business to add a ghost to the list of amenities for any hotel stay.

We walked into town that evening for dinner and on the way, right outside our hotel room, is a momument to the 55th Ohio regiment from Norwalk, Ohio. My Great Great Grandfather Jerome and his brother Edmund Franklin were both conscripted into that unit earlier that year and fought at Gettysburg. My Grandfather, a World War I veteran himself, used to tell tales about his Grandfather in the Civil War and the effect that it had on him, but I had never been able to find the monument on past visits. The 55th Ohio were stationed right at the bend in the infamous "Fishook" defense of the Union Army and saw continuous action throughout the three days of battle. We can only wonder how these coincidences occur in life. Carl Jung called it "Synchronicity". It means basically that there are many things in life that go beyond our human understanding. This should be obvious to us, but we like to hang on to the notion that we can explain everything. Life holds many mysteries.

In the top photo you can see the motel in the background.

You can also see the iron National Cemetery fence behind the monument.

The second picture is to prove I was there.

Someone had left a buckeye on top of this monument.

I put my hand on it when I reached up for the picture.

I sleep like a rock and wouldn't have known if we had an otherworldly visitor anyway. But, it was a good excuse to sleep with the light on just in case... I still keep my ancestors close to me.

How Wide is Our Welcome?

2011-07-26T15:38:00.000-04:00

An Association staff member shared with us in worship last fall about how impressed they were with our inclusion of people with disabilities at Trinity. The remark surprised me a little because I feel that we are always being challenged to find ways to be inclusive. The UCC is taking steps to support congregations with resources designed to help local churches understand the special needs of our members and friends. Trinity has a history of caring, which stretches back to the days of Leo Keil and the house christened after him. David Kiewit is the current Hope Homes director and he will be at Trinity on August 7th. David tells the story about how his father began the Hope Homes project with a $5 gift from a concerned mother who wanted the church to find ways to care for her child when she was no longer able.

In partnership with the church's Disabilities Ministries, the Mental Illness Network will present the second national Widening the Welcome II: Inclusion for All conference Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the Doubletree Inn in Columbus, Ohio. I hope that several of you will attend with me. This is a National event and we are fortunate that it is taking place so close to us. Mental Health issues affect each family. Widening our welcome in understanding the challenges faced by those who suffer is an intentional act leading to our goal of radical hospitality.

The conference – which drew 235 people to its debut event last fall in St. Louis – aims to educate about these disorders and disabilities, as well as help congregations develop Accessible to All (A2A) covenants and mental-health ministries. National statistics indicate that at least one in four families is affected by mental illness, brain disorder or other disability.

"At the St. Louis conference, the whole committee realized that we could not simply stop at one gathering," said the Rev. Kirk Moore, Widening the Welcome web administrator,"We sensed that a movement was beginning and wanted to build on our experience to help make a widened welcome a reality across our denomination.

"This year's conference builds on the close relationship of the UCC, its Disabilities Ministries and Mental Illness Network. It seeks to show how Widening the Welcome weaves those ministries, and really, all ministries, of the UCC together."

Keynote speakers this year are: Thomas E. Reynolds, associate professor of theology at Emmanuel College and author of "Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and Hospitality"; Carolyn Thompson, whose concentration is on raising awareness and understanding of disability and access issues in congregations and larger church bodies; the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, UCC director of Publishing, Identity and Communication who has been nominated to become executive minister of UCC Local Church Ministries; and Christine Guth, program director for Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADNet), a disability advocacy organization affiliated with Mennonites and related denominations.

This year's slate of speakers, preachers and workshop leaders will bring considerable experience to the conference, says an enthusiastic Johnson. "In a variety of ways, they have been affected by these issues personally and have worked in this field of inclusion. We seek to invite, and even urge, congregations to take up leadership in this vanguard ministry."

Kathi Wilson, chaplain at Emmaus Homes in Marthasville, Mo., took part in last year's event and plans to be in Columbus in September. "I was particularly thrilled because of my call and background to see a conference such as Widening the Welcome come to fruition," she said. "I see it as a concrete work in our desire to put the faith of our heart into the living way of Jesus." Emmaus Homes' mission is to enhance the quality of life for all people with cognitive, intellectual and other brain disorders.
Throughout its 54-year history, the UCC has highlighted, approved and enacted resolutions related to disabilities and mental illnesses/brain disorders.

Please consider taking part in this important form of Christian Hospitality.

Streets of DC

2011-07-25T14:33:00.001-04:00

On a stroll through the crowded streets of Chinatown in DC, while Ella and I were hunting for my favorite meal of fried rice, I glanced to my left and saw Dennis Kucinich weaving his way through the crowd. His gray pinstripe suit looking a bit out of place on a day that nearly topped 100 degrees. By the time I could say anything he disappeared into the throng. He walks fast. I wonder how often congressmen and women walk through those places.

During my two days of free time, I had the opportunity to see most of the Smithsonian (at least the parts that I have never been to), Ford's Theatre, (where as luck would have it we witnessed a lively discussion between three authors who were each experts on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln) and the UCC's Justice Witness Ministries offices which are located just across the street from the Capitol and next to the Supreme Court.

On Monday, I attended a prayer vigil in front of the capitol organized by a number of ecumenical partners. They are praying each day at 12:30 for a just budget which recognizes the least among us. The above photo is from the National Council of Churches website.

Jim Wallis summarized the movement like this;
"In the face of historic deficits, the nation faces unavoidable choices about how to balance needs and resources and allocate burdens and sacrifices. These choices are economic, political—and moral.
As Christians, we believe the moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare. We look at every budget proposal from the bottom up—how it treats those Jesus called “the least of these” (Matthew 25:45). They do not have powerful lobbies, but they have the most compelling claim on our consciences and common resources. The Christian community has an obligation to help them be heard, to join with others to insist that programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation and around the world are protected. God is calling us to pray, fast, give alms and to speak out for justice.

Our goal is simply this: Whenever a new budget or deficit reduction proposal is put forth, somebody should ask how it will impact the poorest and most vulnerable. This is a biblical question, a fair question, and a question of justice."

Also, attending the prayer vigil was Paul Sherry, who I have known for 25 years. He is from Illinois and became General Minister of the UCC in the late 1980's and served for about ten years. Paul is now working with Kim Bobo and the Interfaith Workers Justice organization on the issue of unemployment. Paul is a good leader and worked for many years in Chicago for Community renewal.
Here is a link to his work;

IWJ - Public Policy - Employment

Future Blogs include; Widening our Welcome, Catholic in the UCC, and Center for Progressive renewal.

I leave Friday for the CPR training. The paragraph below summarizes their mission;

Today, many of our mainline churches are declining and in need of intentional revitalization. These churches were built in and for an age that has now passed away. They are good, strong churches who have served their communities faithfully. But they were designed to serve a world that no longer exists. We believe that many churches can make the transition into this new age. CPR Congregational Consultants are passionate about coaching your church towards new life in an age of social networking, shifting demographics and declining attendance.

Native American Ritual

2011-07-19T11:02:00.002-04:00

Photos of the exterior of the recently opened Smithsonian American Indian Museum.
What a difficult task it is to recount for you everything I have learned about Native American ritual! Practically all Native Americans today consider themselves Christians, especially those in North America. Whenever Christianity enters a culture the indigenous understandings of the world and God become woven into the faith and practices of the church. In the UCC, our predecessor denominations were concerned about the treatment of native Americans and organized missions on Indian lands. Great stories are told of the Congregational missionaries living in North Carolina with the Cherokee people at a time when the government forced them to march to an Oklahoma reservation. The Congregationalists accompanied the Cherokee along what has become known as "the trail of tears" because so many died along the way.

In the late 1800's, Congress passed a law that Indians were not allowed to practice native rituals and in many places their religious objects and drums were confiscated and destroyed. The population of Native Americans, South, Central and North has been estimated at 300 Million at the time of the discovery and conquest of the late 15th Century. Diseases for which the Indian population had no resistance is responsible for a 70% loss of life among their population. This is one of the significant untold stories of world history. An estimated 210 million Indians died from a variety of illnesses contracted through contact with European settlers between 1500 and 1800. A number of written accounts detail European settlers stumbling upon entire abandoned, uninhabited native American cities. Similar accounts come from South America, where Indians tell the story of not being able to keep up with burial practices due to the large number of losses to diseases and people succumbed to their illness rather quickly.

A number of factors make recovery of indigenous religious beliefs and practices difficult. I have just spent three days immersed in the history, ritual and beliefs of Indian culture and have only scratched the surface of what that reality must have been like for them. Much of what I learned though can be beneficial for those of us who respect their approaches to spirituality. It will take several blogs to begin to lay out its implications. This is especially important as we stretch ourselves to understand where God is still speaking in the life of the church. Hymnals, pews, organs and steeples have been symbols of "church" for a relatively brief time in Christian history and we don't know yet what the future holds as we seek renewal in our time.

For this first blog concerning Native American ritual I want to set out a few essentials;

1. The essential foundation for Indian spirituality is "respect". Paying attention to what you eat, how you interact with nature, and who you treat others is central to everything that they do. Life is divided into three realms, the middle world in which we live, the lower world of the spirits of the earth, and the upper world from which comes wisdom and guidance from God and our ancestors. All of these realms must be treated to with respect.

2. Transcendence is very important in Indian ritual. Drumming is a technique whereby the leader sets the tone for the ritual. Rituals are performed to explore these realms and to ask questions, to receive power, to restore ones soul, and to find healing. Singing, dancing and drumming are consistent features. This is also prominent in African Christian worship and Trinity has a couple of Ghanaian drums from Rev. Ledo's time with us.

3. Sometimes when we here stories about animals bringing messages and teaching lessons we may think that this is similar to Western society where we understand and write in metaphors. But, for the Indian, these are not metaphors, this is real. The essence of a bear can teach us much about ourselves because all nature is one. The transcendence of worship lifts you to a place where you experience these things in new ways.

We were given a song sheet with ritual songs. Indian songs remind me of the Psalms, the songs found in the Bible that ancient Israelites used to sing on special occasions. Indians are encouraged to write their own song of their life. This form of self-expression can be very healing. There are songs for every occasion in life. An example;

Behold, the time has come.
The time has come to unite as one.
Behold the time has come.
To encircle the Earth with our love.

The circle is also important in Indian ritual because it symbolizes that we are all the same and each of us has a place on the earth.

In the next blog, I plan to discuss some of the specific rituals that we participated in. I also had an opportunity to visit the new American Indian Museum which is part of the Smithsonian Museum. I would recommend a trip to see it when you're in the DC area.

Back in Ohio for awhile

2011-07-11T16:30:00.004-04:00

Someone asked me about an idea from a recent blog and someone else said that they couldn't find a way to let me know that they were following what I was writing. You can ask questions or make comments at the bottom of each blog. Simply click on "comments" at the bottom of my entry and it will give you a box to type in and post after my blog. Don't worry, if it's offensive or unhelpful I can delete it or respond without others seeing what was written. There is also a link called "follow" where you can be notified whenever the blog is updated via email.

While we were in Florida, Sam and I had an opportunity to visit two holocaust museums. One is located near Orlando in Maitland and another in St. Petersburg. We have been to the Holocaust museum in D.C. several times and I would recommend it to anyone planning to travel there.

The events surrounding World War 2 teach us that misinformation and persecution of groups of people no matter what their differences can lead to terrible consequences. My personal interest in the subject is to be sure we recognize oppression as its happening and not in hindsight. My father was one of the first American soldiers on the scene to liberate the Concentration camps, so I compare his memories with the accounts in the museums. Both museums had on display letters that have been written by the KKK which deny that it happened.

Both museums we visited continue to be active in their communities to teach about injustice and prejudice in the world today. The Maitland museum has a community program to counter bullying.

The UCC also has very good resources and anti-bullying initiatives and I would recommend that you look over this page on the ucc website; http://www.ucc.org/justice/children-and-youth/what-can-we-do-to-stop.html

The State of Florida passed legislation in 1994 that Holocaust education must be taught in public schools as;

An investigation of human behavior

An understanding of the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping

An examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful person for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic values and institutions by offering intensive training programs, curriculum materials, resources, and sustained support.

Florida's tie to World War 2 is the journey of the S. S. St. Louis.

On November 9-10, 1938, Nazi troops destroyed hundreds of synagogues, as well as 7,000 Jewish-owned businesses and homes. Kristallnacht was the real beginning of the Holocaust.

From 1933 to 1938, half of Germany’s 600,000 Jews remained in the country, because they believed that anti-Semitism would soon diminish. After Kristallnacht, they understood that they had to emigrate. Tens of thousands flooded foreign consulates throughout Germany for visas. The problem was that few countries were willing to accept them.
The S.S. St. Louis was part of the Hamburg-American Line. On May 13, 1939, six months after Kristallnacht, 937 men, women, and children, boarded the S.S. St. Louis for Cuba. 930 of them were Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution and were among the last to escape from Germany’s tightening restrictions on emigration.
The ship arrived near the Havana harbor two weeks later. The passengers were unaware that Cuba’s government had changed just a week before the ship had sailed and the new government would not honor their visas. The new administration ruled that only 28 passengers held valid passports and could enter the country.

Complicating the process was Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbel who had decided to exploit the case of the S.S. St. Louis and its passengers for his own purposes. Knowing that Jews would be coming into Cuba, Goebbels engineered an anti-Jewish hate campaign there. He spread misinformation that these Jewish immigrants were criminals and would be a threat to Cuba. In fact, because of Goebbels propaganda, five days before the S.S. St. Louis left Hamburg, 40,000 Cubans took part in a demonstration against Jewish immigration to Havana.

The ship stayed in the Havana harbor for one week, while officials tried to gain the admission of the rest of the passengers.
Now that the ship could not dock in Cuba, Captain Schroeder sailed it to the Florida coast. There he hoped that the United States would admit the passengers. Desperately trying to avoid a forced return to Germany and certain death, the passengers – more than 400 of whom were women and children, and many of whom actually had quota numbers to eventually enter the United States. The State Department sent word that it would not interfere in Cuban affairs and refused to allow the passengers to come ashore. In fact, even as the ship was entering Florida’s territories, the Coast Guard had fired a warning shot in its direction. There was no choice but to turn back toward Germany.
Sailing up and down both coasts of Florida, the St. Louis was shadowed by a Coast Guard ship to prevent passengers from swimming to freedom in the United States. Passengers recalled being able to see cities like Miami from the liner, but were unable to go that short distance to freedom.
Passengers pleaded with world leaders to give them asylum so that they could avoid going back to Germany. The Joint Distribution Committee and other agencies did manage to persuade four countries to admit them. They were Belgium, Holland, France, and England. Within a year, however, the Nazis occupied the first three of these countries and most of the passengers eventually died in concentration camps. Only those in England were saved.
For Hitler, the case of the S.S. St. Louis proved that, in spite of the protests of the Allied leaders to the contrary, they didn’t want Jews in their countries any more than he wanted them in his. In fact, when a Canadian official was asked how many Jews fleeing from Nazi Europe could be admitted to Canada, he responded: “None is too many.” which eventually became the title of a book, describing Canada’s disastrous refugee policies.
Unfortunately, our own government succumbed to the anti-Semitic and conservative pressures of the State Department and placed severe restrictions on the refugee quotas.

The Florida Holocaust connection reminds us how we view history through the lens of our place in life. Let's hope that people of goodwill will have the courage to do the right thing when the times demand. It's a call to keep our ears open to the world's need. If you're in the St. Petersburg area, it's well worth visiting the Florida Holocaust Museum.

The Day after Synod

2011-07-06T11:31:00.000-04:00

A little local flavor; the Tampa Convention Center is surrounded by a "riverwalk" area where people are able to dock boats and sit and watch the river. Between breaks yesterday, someone claimed to have seen a dolphin in the bay. I spent some time watching, but other than a couple of lizards who played among the palm trees and a few waterfowl, nothing made an appearance in the water. A large brightly colored sign that says, "Caution Manatee area" hangs over the opening of the bridge to the bay. When I was in Maine I didn't see any Moose either.

The last day of business was packed full of more resolutions than I can remember. In an effort to save money, a proposal was considered which would change the frequency of Synod from every two years (odd numbered) to 3 or 4 years. This was defeated. The representatives asked that the Synod planning committee could consider ways to cut costs for future Synods.

Two significant resolutions passed by substantial margins; A resolution to "Counter actions of hostility against Islam and the Muslim Community" was ratified by a 729-10 vote. Another resolution, "International human rights related to sexual orientation and gender identity" passed by a 757-9 vote. A church in Worcester, Massachusetts operates a rescue mission for LGBT people who are escaping persecution in their homeland. Four young people spoke about the physical abuse that LGBT individuals suffer around the world. There are currently thirty-five people in the program. More information is available at www.lgbtasylum.org

Other resolutions that were affirmed;
Affirming Health Care Coverage for Clergy and Lay employees
Mindful and faithful Eating
Support of the release of Puerto Rican political prisoners
A Covenant for Youth Ministries (written largely by Sharon Nelson from Orrville) -Ask Melissa for more information
Reflection and advocacy on behalf of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Tracy Hughes spoke to our women's group about the issue.)
The Rights of Lesbian, Gay and Transgendered parents and adoption
Forming a Theological commission for the UCC
Common agreement on mutual recognition of Baptism (I wrote about this earlier.)

Video of these discussions can be found at www.ucc.org/synod/

I'll offer more reflections later. In these last two days we plan to see the Florida Aquarium located here in Tampa, Busch Gardens and Universal Studios in Orlando and then return late Friday night to Ohio.

Thanks to those of you who are stepping up to cover duties while I am gone.

Fireworks

2011-07-04T23:48:00.000-04:00

Fireworks were enjoyed by Synod Goers this evening over the bay in Tampa. Ruth and Lori Tisher, Ella, Sam, Shannon and Stephen watched from a nearby patio.

Fireworks also dominated the business of the day surrounding the issue of unified governance. This issue was the only piece of business from 10 a.m. until dismissal at 8:45 a/m. with the result being a 613 to 161 affirmative vote.

Nearly 900 delegates passed the morning's common agreement of mutual recognition of Baptism by a 92% margin. The main point of contention is that in order for other denominations to recognize baptism from the UCC, the Trinitarian formula, "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" must be used in the Sacrament.

We heard a report from the executives about about articulation of the core values of the UCC. Three core values were identified; continuing testament, extravagant welcome and changing lives. Geoffrey Black, General Minister, encouraged synod delegates to take back the 11-1-11 to 11-11-11 challenge for hunger related issues. (Read my previous blogs for more information about Mission1.
or visit the website at www.ucc.org/mission1

What this would mean for us in the church year, since it begins on a Tuesday and ends on a Friday is that kickoff of the event would be Sunday Oct. 30, Communion on November 6 and wrap up on Sunday the 13th which is also Stewardship Sunday.

Geoffrey Black also laid out his five goals as General Minister;
1. Be a Growing Church
2. Widely recognized in the public square
3. To be a catalyst for excellence in Ministry and church life
4. That Environmental Stewardship is essential to our practice of the Christian faith
5. That the UCC be relevant and reflective of the age and race demographics of the U.S.

The three things we can do to make these goals real is to;
1. Get behind Mission1.
2. Be Ambassadors for OCWM and Stewardship Giving.
3. Partner your church with a church that is very different from your own.

He ended by reminding us that hard work is not alien to our tradition.

You may want to check out a new UCC sponsored program begun by two twin brothers who are traveling the U.S. interviewing people who are working in mission. Their videos may be viewed at www.Twinmaps.com

On this fourth of July we were reminded that 11 of the original 52 signers of the Declaration of Independence were UCC members. (Congregationalists of which 11 % of UCC churches pre-date the founding of our nation.)

Tomorrow is the final day of synod. 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

More Synod Materials

2011-07-03T20:14:00.000-04:00

If anyone is interested in reading current books about the cultural changes that are influencing our congregations, I picked up a suggested reading list compiled by the Faculty of Eden Seminary. Suggestions include; Strategic Leadership for a Change by Kenneth McFayden, Toward a Hopeful Future: Why the Emergent Church is Good News for Mainline Congregations by Phil Snyder and Emily Bowen, and Almost Christian: What the Faith of our Teenagers is telling the American Church by Kenneth Dean.

I also ran into an old friend, Lorin Cope, today. Lorin is now the Director of Donor Relations for Crossroad in Fort Wayne, Indiana. (Crossroad is more familiarly know as Fort Wayne Children's Home to some.) He spoke about the ways Crossroad has changed in the last decade to keep up with current social service needs of young people. They are now involved in more outsourcing for parents and children and have fewer residents. At Trinity, we often discuss Crossroad as a mission partner and try to find ways to support their work. One church is raising money to sponsor a fall festival for the residents. Other special needs are periodic as well. Lorin offered to come to Trinity to speak and interpret the work that is now being done at Crossroad. I am bringing back materials for our committee to consider.

I have been invited to the OCWM (Our Church's Wider Mission) luncheon tomorrow (July 4) as a representative of a congregation that faithfully supports wider church mission. They haven't given any more detail than that, but I will bring back information from that event as well. Our Synod day tomorrow begins at 7 a.m. and will conclude at 8:45 p.m. so that we can adjourn in time for 4th of July fireworks over the Bay. The Tampa Convention Center sits right at the top of the Bay and we will be able to watch fireworks from the riverwalk area.

The Global Ministries booth has a constant stream of speakers. Today I was able to hear from several African Church leaders. Someone from Swaziland spoke about the efforts of the church to stem the tide of violence in places like Sudan and Libya through the working relationship with Muslim religious leaders. Another speaker talked about the challenges of the church in South Africa. An interesting and consistent theme was their desire to resist secularism and a passion to hold on to their religious rituals and way of life.

I attended a workshop today titled, "10 keys to becoming an open and affirming church". In my conversation with Paul Shupe from Lexington, Mass, he spoke about this same issue and ways that Hancock UCC is approaching education and affirmation. More information can be found at www.ucc/lgbt There is an ecumenical "Welcoming Church Coalition" which suggests that step one is to create a leadership group to explore possibilities. I also picked up a booklet that our finance committee will find helpful "10 Ways to Increase Giving in Tough Financial Times".

Other workshops with interesting titles that I have flagged to attend over the next two days are; "3 strategies for reaching new people", "2 Ways to keep your church building from killing your congregation", 5 key elements of growing a Stillspeaking church", "5 key elements of Hospitality", "20 tips to improve Church Hospitality", "6 ways to improve your Church Newsletter" and "5 ways stillspeaking can increase worship attendance". These are offered at various times through the day and I hope to bring back resources for our committees and church leaders. I still need to make a run on the bookstore too. There are a lot of good resources to be found there.

Synod Day Three

2011-07-03T19:25:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning at Synod I saw Ruth and Lori Tisher and Joyce Schoer.

Joyce and I were both assigned to attend the committee hearing which concerns issues that UCC Pastors and employees have with the Pension boards Health care benefits. We worked in committee for about four hours crafting laguage to present to the General Synod on either Monday or Tuesday.

I commissioned Ruth Tisher as our Mission Chair to do two things this fall; first to get us on board with the UCC's 11-1-11 to 11-11-11 mission emphasis to fight hunger and the second is to help move Trinity toward being recognized as a "Global Mission Church". This will be a good agenda for our work this fall.

Synod Day Two

2011-07-02T12:31:00.001-04:00

Here is a brief recap of the first day of Synod;

The UCC has a very good start on General Synod 28. Representatives from about 100 new church starts came forward with signs printed with the names of the new churches. We have a five year total of 173 new churches in the UCC. The Center for Progressive Renewal executive director, Cameron Trimble spoke briefly about their work and encouraged each local church to think about it's role in creating and renewing local UCC churches.

Some of the larger issues facing Synod this time are unified governance, frequency of General Synod gatherings, and mutual recognition of Baptism.

Two new leaders are nominated for important positions in the National setting; Ben Guess is nominated to head the Local Church Ministries as Executive Minister and Jim Moos has been nominated for election as executive Minister of Wider Church Ministries. Acceptance speeches from both of these leaders can be found on the UCC website www.ucc.org/synod/

In addition to my family, Ella, Samuel and Shannon as visitors. Names you may also know; Rich Plant, Gary Friend, John Schluep, Lori and Ruth Tisher, Jim and Sharon Nelson, Sandy Lueschen, Ray Deuring, Bob Molsberry.

A prominent theme is Mission:1.
11.1.11-11.11.11
That they may all be 1.
One United Church for 11 powerful days to feed the hungry and confront food-related injustice.

More information can be found at www.ucc.org/mission1

Mission Committee take note; The goal is for UCC churches to collect more than 1 million items of healthy food and household items for local outreach.
Online contributions of more than $111,111 for Neighbors in Need (We observe NIN on World Communion on the first Sunday of October.)
11,111 letters to congress asking our government to reform foreign assistance to effectively provide benefits for hungry people. This is being called an "offering of letters".

Everyone told me that it would be unbearably hot in Tampa at this time of year, but actually it has been in the high 70's to low 80's with very enjoyable nights.

Tomorrow morning we begin conversations in our smaller committee working groups. I was assigned to the "Affirming Health Care Coverage" committee. Charged with bringing a concise statement before the larger body, each committee brings together a variety of opinions and suggestions for implementation and makes a presentation of less than 20 minutes for consideration.

Synod continues through Tuesday, July 5th.

One of the more interesting signs in Florida!

Won Week One

2011-06-23T17:03:00.001-04:00

One week of sabbatical under my belt. Caught up on neglected home repairs, car repairs and people repairs that were badly needed. I won week one. For those with out access to our church newsletter, I wanted to print my fairly aggressive itinerary ahead; June 28 through July 8 in Tampa Florida at General Synod as an Ohio Conference delegate, July 15 through 20 in Frederick, Maryland for a course on Native American religion and ritual, August 4 through 6 inSelinsgrove, PA for the Center for Progressive Renewal's Clergy Leadership training, and August 17 in Pittsburgh at a workshop on techniques to relieve anxiety. (Not that anyone needs anxiety relief.)

I have several interviews planned with Pastors who are serving churches similar to Trinity to talk about effective programs in their churches. The first interview was with Paul Shupe, Pastor of Hancock UCC in Lexington, MA. They have some very interesting programs that may be helpful at Trinity. I'll write a full blog later on some of the interesting programs that are happening at Hancock.

Sunday mornings are quite different as my internal clock is still set for 5 a.m. On Sunday, June 19th I went back to my home church Henrietta UCC to worship. Henrietta is "yoked" with St. John UCC in South Amherst. This was the second year in a row that I have been able to worship there.

I have a lot of memories in that place.It caused me to revisit the question about why God called me into ministry. Reflection is part of the work of Sabbatical I guess.

When my mother was in assisted living in Lorain, I took one of my vacation Sundays in 2005 and Elijah and I traveled up to take her to worship. Over the next three years to the end of her life, she didn't remember a thing, but often when I visited her, she would always ask, "Remember that day we went to Henrietta church?" One Sunday morning in church was something that stuck. Her faith was deeply ingrained in her mind.
My mother's enduring friendships were all formed in that church. A woman who had worked with my Mom in the public schools told me how my mother had given her an apron and a glass bowl that she still kept as a memory of their friendship.

I plan to write more reflections on Hancock and Henrietta later.

Inaugural Blog

2011-06-04T18:26:00.000-04:00

I'm looking forward to putting thoughts to cyber during my Sabattical. A full summer schedule lies ahead for me and I want to enjoy the time yet use it wisely to bring back much needed information and enthusiasm for the Church's mission. I also have to admit to "playing" with the blog today while I have the chance just to get it up and running. This is a busy weekend. Dinner tonight with family, worship tomorrow featuring our graduating youth (high school and college) and Wooster High School Graduation tomorrow at 2. Hoping for good weather so that it can be outside. Elijah graduated from the College of Wooster on May 16th and with the weather threatening had an indoor ceremony. Elijah's High School Graduation was also in the gymn due to weather. Let's hope tomorrow will break the streak.